Under the night sky and the faint light of the shattered moon, we headed north at the fastest pace possible.
Slowly, the sand beneath our feet began to lessen until at some point it disappeared and was replaced by dry dirt.
Even that did not last long, because a wall of tall grass soon appeared before us.
Well, when I say tall, it was really tall.
I raised my head as I looked at the wall of thick grass in front of us, more than three meters high, while I heard Izel complain beside me.
"Great, from a massive stone maze to grassy plains that look like they were made for giants."
"Giants?... Correction, giant monsters," I replied while wondering how grass could even become this tall... was this thing watered with essence instead of rain?
"Personally, I would rather not find anything, and of course, I would also prefer that nothing finds us," Leona added while Ellen stepped closer to the wall of grass.
"This will block our vision completely, and we will not be able to detect any threats approaching us." She spoke in the same strict and familiar tone, as though she were on a military mission.
"What is the problem with that? Our danger sensor will warn us before anything gets close." Elliot pointed at me as he said that... perhaps he was trying to provoke me with those simple words after I had mocked the rooms and beds he made earlier.
But all I did was ignore him while looking at the wall of grass.
"We will move depending on my senses, like he said."
With that, I stepped forward with one of my swords in hand, then with a light swing, I cut through a mass of the dark grass, every stalk thicker than an adult human’s arm.
With a rustling sound, it fell to the side while a short path formed before us.
I turned my head to look at Elliot.
"Come on, help me instead of standing there and watching uselessly."
Letting out a breath filled with some dissatisfaction, Elliot stepped forward as he drew his sword and swung it beside me, removing another mass of grass before moving ahead and doing it again quickly.
He turned his head toward me.
"Come on, why are you standing there staring like an idiot?"
Wow, I almost let out an impressed whistle... was he really annoyed by my words... or was it the way I spoke to him as if he were some simple servant.
I shrugged as I stepped forward and swung my sword.
"Sorry that this poor farmer seems useless to you, great hero."
I heard a loud sigh from behind me.
"Please, someone shut their mouths." Of course, the source of that was Izel.
...
The tall grass fell before us like tree trunks while Elliot and I continued carving a path forward, guided by the stars so we would not lose our way and unconsciously change direction.
Behind us, the others walked while staying ready for anything that might jump at us, but I did not feel anything interesting nearby... well, aside from a few insects that were slightly too large.
Which sometimes came toward us only to end up cut apart or burned.
I looked behind me to see the long path we had carved behind us over the hours.
Because of this grass, our pace had become much slower, and who knew how far this place stretched.
And because of this, our movements had also become noisy due to the falling grass... I mean, it was a full three meters tall, what did you expect... of course it would make a loud sound when it fell... I did not even know if it was right to call it grass.
We continued moving and opening the way before us while time passed and the fragments of the moon slowly moved above us.
Then finally, something changed.
Well, the grass did not disappear or anything nice happen. Instead, I felt three strong souls enter the range of my senses from the northeast and move toward us.
I frowned slightly as I formed a rough image of them through my senses and estimated their strength.
Above average Rank 3.
Great, they were not a deadly threat to us, so I saw no reason to avoid them even if it was dangerous.
So I kept moving on the same path so that we would run into them before warning the others.
I turned my head while speaking.
"There are three Rank 3 monsters coming directly toward us from the north, so get ready."
"Finally," Elliot muttered beside me in a low voice.
He seemed truly excited to fight... or more precisely, to become stronger, especially recently after what happened in Asfaria and after I reached Rank 3.
Well, that was good for all of us, because I was not planning to avoid any battle we could handle.
It did not take long for those things to get close enough for us to hear the rustling of the grass caused by their movement.
Slowly, the sound of their large feet hitting the ground became clearer, followed by a strange sound resembling a high-pitched snort.
All of us prepared ourselves while Elliot and I stopped cutting the grass and waited for the guests to arrive.
And soon they did.
With torsos towering above the grass at a height nearing five meters, three monsters stood on their bent legs that resembled a deer’s, their hooves stamping the ground beneath them.
In addition to four arms hanging downward, waiting to grab something and tear it apart, while thick fur covered their bodies and hung down.
These things quickly noticed us, their black eyes without any white staring at us hungrily while lines of saliva dripped from their long jaws bent downward, as if all three of them had somehow broken them by accident.
The first opened its mouth and a high-pitched snort came out before it charged toward us.
Or at least, it tried to.
Because I was already beneath it.
With my body enhanced by essence and a strong, thick layer covering both my swords, I reached beneath the first monster in a single instant.
The moment I arrived beneath its long, thick legs, using the momentum from my rapid movement, I redirected that force while spinning one hundred and eighty degrees as my sword cut forward with tremendous strength.
I felt the sword collide with the thick and hard skin of this monster, but after reaching Rank 3, cutting through this was no longer too difficult for me.
The sword wrapped in essence passed through skin, then flesh, before cutting through the bones themselves.
In a single moment, I severed the first monster’s leg, and before it could begin to fall, with the remaining force of the movement, I raised my other sword and did the same thing to its other leg while an arc of light formed in the air.
Its legs separated from the rest of its body while blood sprayed heavily, staining the grass around us and even me.
The sound of the monster’s painful scream echoed as it fell forward while I moved to the side so I would not be crushed by its massive body.
A loud crash echoed as its huge hands struck the ground, trying to hold itself up before it collapsed completely.
More essence surged through my body and my muscles contracted powerfully while I reached the upper part of its body, which had fallen beside me only a step away, my glowing sword passing through its thick neck without mercy and ending its life in an instant.
Its large head hit the ground and its hands lost their strength, letting go of its body to complete the fall while a small fountain of bright red blood flew up, nearly spraying the others.
I turned my head toward the others to see Elliot already before one of them, his sword carving an arc of light through the air and sending it toward the other monster, reaching its chest in an instant.
The monster raised its hands to defend itself only to receive a deep wound while its long hair there on its arms burned.
In the next moment, Ellen’s blade arrived, piercing its black eyes and blinding it, while Elliot reached its leg and cut toward it with a sword wrapped in pure light.
A huge wound appeared on the monster’s leg and the sound of its screams, resembling a crow’s cry, echoed through the area.
I looked away from that since Elliot had already taken care of it and looked toward the other one to find arrows already piercing its eyes while orange flames reached it, burning its fur and then its flesh.
For a moment, I almost felt sorry for these monsters... I mean, they were Rank 3, stronger than us, and here they were getting thoroughly beaten by us.
I smiled as essence surged through my body while I charged toward it.
...
After some time, I stood there with my hand on one of the three corpses while essence flowed into my body, nourishing me.
I looked at the three corpses lying on the ground before turning my gaze toward the others, a smile forming on my lips.
"So, what do you think about having this for dinner?"