Chapter 9: Pika Pika and traumatising a guard

  HidingInTheNovels

  Luna Pov

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  Teleportation is a difficult magic. It requires a good imagination, as you need to be able to envision exactly where you want to go. Luckily, that part can be done through magic. The most challenging part is actually how much Magic Power one needs.

  It is by far less common than subdimension magic and requires a far greater dispcement than my simple dispcement spell.

  However, I found a solution to that as well. Not that I'm conceited enough to think I'm the only one who thought of this solution. It is simple, really. Instead of imagining myself moving there, I imagine myself going to a subdimension and then there. The main advantage of this approach is that it always takes the same amount of MP. Also, opening a subdimension is not hard.

  This solution changes the concept of what I want to achieve. Instead of travelling to a pce instantly, I move into my subdimension and then from there to my target. Therefore, the Magic Power needed is as much as I need for two subdimension magics. This only works because the distance from any point in the subdimension to any point in the real dimension is always the same.

  The only disadvantage is that it functions more like a portal, and therefore isn't as fast as instant movement.

  Anyway, that's how I am capable of using teleportation with ease.

  Today, after waking up and getting ready, I'm already on my way to the adventurer's guild. Soon, I reach the building. I enter it, noticing it's still mostly empty and make my way to the bulletin board. Several quests immediately get my attention:

  "Demon Wolf Subjugation (D-Rank difficulty, no limit)

  "Reward for every corpse, dependent on the quality of its fur and the edibility of its flesh. (up to twenty Mon)"

  I see. So it's more of a buy offer than a quest. However, since it happens through the guild, the adventurer can be assured that the prices will be fair. Sure, 20 Mon seem to be very little at first gnce. However, if you look at the inn prices, then with just two perfectly preserved Wolves, you can live for a whole week in the inn, with food included.

  Of course, this does not account for the fact that party members have to split the loot and you need to pay for equipment maintenance, but it is still a lucrative offer.

  "MP Herb Gathering (F-Rank difficulty, no limit)

  "Reward one Mon for every herb. Pluck without stem."

  Same as before, I guess. You only need to pluck seven herbs a day, and the day's survival is secured.

  "Escort (C-Rank required, 6/10)

  "Please escort me to the neighbouring town of Gruk. Reward is 1000 Mon per person."

  An escort quest? Now that's weird. In this kingdom, every slightly bigger street and every vilge has so-called intimidation stones. These stones are pretty common and are capable of imitating the aura of a high-level monster. In general, this means that the only danger for normal people travelling is other people. But if this guy feared bandits, D-Rank would have been more than enough, as bandits in the area are weak. The local lord is doing a great job at catching them.

  Oh, and while the other ones only had difficulty levels, this one has a rank requirement. Makes sense that you don't care how mutited the adventurer gets when he goes wolf hunting or herb gathering. However, if the guy is supposed to protect you, then you do want him to be capable.

  Furthermore, this one has a limited number of participants. Also, not hard to understand.

  I then go to the guild receptionist.

  "Excuse me?"

  "Yes?"

  "Can you walk me through the basics? I know guild ranks and so on, but how do I go about accepting quests?"

  She makes a slightly guilty face. "Oh, I forgot about that yesterday. You have my apologies. To accept a quest with a limited number of participants or a fixed schedule, come here with the form from the board. Otherwise, just do the quest, and when you return, report its completion."

  "Ok, thank you."

  "It was my pleasure."

  I turn around and walk out of the guild building. Then I leave the city. Soon, I arrive at the forest. This time, instead of taking the main road, I enter the forest at another pce. To make the experience more exciting, I purposefully avoid using rge-scale detection magic. I stroll through the forest in the hopes of getting attacked.

  Half an hour ter, my wish comes true. A wolf pounces toward me from behind. So I need to make its fur as preserved as possible, huh? Not my problem. Otherwise, how can I have fun? I take my wooden sword from my subdimension and slice off the wolf's head in one swing after increasing the sword's sharpness and endurance with magic. The other wolves of the pack pounce on me at once.

  I close the distance, having already applied body-strengthening magic. The first wolf gets stabbed straight through the skull. I pull out my sword, duck under a pounce, and use an upward swing to vertically cleave another wolf in two. I jump up several meters before using magic to create a foothold midair and then pouncing toward another wolf. It is unable to dodge my vertical mid-air ssh and gets cleanly sliced in half. I make a salto before nding and redirect my momentum into a horizontal cleave, taking out two more wolves.

  Now only one wolf is left. It slowly backs off. I take an Iai stance. Suddenly, I take off, arriving behind the wolf. Its head falls off cleanly.

  Okay, that didn't look cool at all with a greatsword.

  Happily, I collect all the pieces of the wolves in my dimensional storage.

  That was really satisfying. However, I guess it would've felt even better if I didn't use a sword. I suppose I'll use my sword against humanoids and fight monsters without a sword.

  Then I continue strolling through the woods. Soon, another pack of wolves attacks. This time, I bash their skulls in. Ripping them apart really feels good. However, these corpses don’t seem worth much. I look around. Bashed in skulls, ripped open stomachs, ripped off heads. Yeah, I really went overboard. Welp, guess my good reputation is gone now.

  I hunt for another few hours, making no attempt to rein in my violence. In the end, I'm left with ninety-three corpses. Interestingly enough, I didn't meet any other types of monsters.

  I leave the forest and enter Bruk again and approach the gate.

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  Pov Change

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  I'm Gatek Eeper. I'm one of two gatekeepers of the forest gate of Bruk. Today, like always in the evenings, I am watching the gate. Suddenly, I see a...thing. I don't know how to describe it in any other way. The thing comes closer. Soon, I can identify a vaguely humanoid shape. It's all red. A deep blood red. The shoulder-length hair is as red as every other part. However, I can identify stretches of white.

  But what freaks me out the most is those eyes. How can red eyes stick out so much in a red face?! They feel like needles, piercing. As if looking straight at my soul and considering whether I'd be a tasty meal. Soon, I identify what the red is. It's blood. Dripping blood. I freak out even more. "Who are you?! Identify yourself!" I shout, my spear pointed toward it, though my trembling shows my fear.

  The figure slightly cocks her head as if perplexed. "I'm the girl from yesterday," it answers.

  "Girl?"

  "Yes, I'm a girl. We met yesterday at the gate. You were surprised by my subdimension."

  Slowly, something clicks. Is it that girl? Right, she did have white hair and red eyes. Her height fits as well.

  "It's you!"

  "How come you couldn't recognise me?"

  Is she for real?! "You should take a look at the mirror."

  "Huh?" Suddenly, a rock appears from the ground, transforming into a mirror.

  “Oh, my bad,” she says, sticking out her tongue and raising an eyebrow like a guilty child. Right after, the blood suddenly disappears.

  "So can I enter now?" She asks.

  HidingInTheNovels