Once I finished my sparring match with Debra, I began to ponder my circumstances.

Are my fighting abilities that insane? Why is it only me? This does not make any sense.

Could it be that I have the abilities inherited from Caal? If that is the case, what is to say that I cannot also inherit his abilities? Why is it that I have less abilities than Caal? I do remember checking the status plate briefly before the dream ended and it showed the proper status. What is the significance of me not having them?

What if I cannot conceal my appearance? Once I visit other regions, will they not discriminate against me? I heard that elves are discriminated against in human regions. I have not seen any of it yet, but there is no reason to let my guard down.

Many more questions like this surfaced to my mind as I was advancing along the path. Once I returned to the designated area where my group was, I saw the blue orb that Shield was carrying. He did not seem interested in eavesdropping our planning, so I asked the team to huddle together for a brief discussion.

“Emily, Fil, Serge, could I ask you guys to escort me to a slightly deeper part of the One region? They were right. The piles of people moving around in this region are only doing so out of tradition. If we were to advance a bit more, I think we would be able to encounter something more appropriate for our training.” I ask, not particularly quiet so Shield can hear.

“Ehh? Isn’t our exam to survive in the low threat regions?” Asked Emily.

Shield cut in before anybody could get a word in, “Ahem… May I cut in here?”

“I know I know. We are only required to survive in the lower threat regions to pass the test, right? However, when you said specialized test, you intended for this to begin with, did you not? Isn’t your orb thing to track our abilities? I think it would be a waste if we did not advance any further, using none of our abilities.” I asked.

“That is true. What we were informed with was that this region was infested with moderately high-level monsters. However, if this stampede of people is passing by, I suppose we won’t get our assessment, right? Approved then.” Added Shield.

Once he said that, he once again went invisible and sounded like he was taking a bit of distance. The blue orb also floated away and faded out.

“There you have it. Let’s move out!” I said.

Guuuuhhhh… My head is being grabbed pretty tightly. Owowowow.

“Woah! Wait a minute!! Who died and made you our leader?! Just how far do you intend us to go in??” Said Fil, impatiently.

“That’s right. With how things are, we may be going into a region we aren’t quite prepared to handle, am I right?” Said Serge.

“That’s true. I will make sure to properly protect everyone. See you in the battlefield!” I concluded.

After I walk ahead in the direction of the pillar, I can hear some mumblings from Fil, “Goddamn piece of trash bagworm… I will definitely get him for this…”

I internally gasp.

At once, we decided to head to the slightly deeper part of the area leading to the One Pillar.

We occasionally encountered the odd mob, getting slightly more difficult as we carry on. Of course, I still am only slicing them with my hand. This is why I made that decision to ask permission to go further. It does not seem that the government would stand by and give me a good grading based solely on my ability to kill monsters in a region with less monsters.

I was watching our surroundings, but most monsters would just stare at us with the intent to kill and then do nothing more. Is this because my abilities are beyond them, or are they waiting for us to lower our guards? Is it possible that they see the pile of bodies leading here as a way to determine if they should attack?

Once I went around killing enough monsters, the sun began to go down. Oh yeah, the sun is a thing, it just goes down waaay slower.

Serge all of a sudden blurted out, “Alright, I will help set up camp. Fil and Sword, please stand guard while me and Emily set up the tents.”

S***!! I knew it!! Serge set me up to get murdered by Fil!! Help me!!

Once we left the vicinity of the tent builders, Fil gradually turned to me glaring fiercer and fiercer as we distance ourselves more.

“S********tttttbaaaagggggg….. It’s time for your killing!!” Shouted Fil.

AH!

“Help me....”

After we almost set up camp, I noticed that the earth started to shake and rumble.

We would have set up camp a little close to the crowd of people to ensure our safety while sleeping, but it seems that instead we can gather information here.

“Earthquake?!” Someone shouts, from the distance.

“Wha- AN EMERGENCY HAS JUST BEEN DECLARED! Apparently, S-Rank monsters are heading straight this way at breakneck speed!! Everyone run!!” Another person shouts.

“S-Rank threats?!?! WAIT A MINUTE!! The regions were established because S-Rank monsters were not supposed to do that, right?! We might get murdered!! NOOOO!!” Said one more person.

As we were preparing for the worst, it definitely felt like an immense power was approaching.

So, you wanted to come to me, huh? I suppose this will do too.

The people in the crowd were panicking and starting to get rowdy and run towards a place. I stop somebody.

“Hello. What are the people doing? Don’t you have emergency plans for situations like this?” I ask.

The man immediately points at me and looks down on me, “Haaaaahhhh?? Are you mad?! Emergency defense measures only work if the monster’s rank is B or below!! Don’t you already know that??” Shouts the man, impatiently.

“Is that so…? What on earth are they here for then?” I state, rhetorically.

“This has never happened before!! Our emergency measures could prepare us for 1 A-Rank threat AT BEST. How the heck could this have happened?!” He states with a wobbly voice, kneeled down and gripping his panicked face.

“Wait!! The monsters are… not killing people? What the heck is this report on about?!” Said one person.

“Is that true?! We may be able to run with our lives then!!” Shouted the man who was kneeling down.

The crowd of people started scattering like bugs away from this area and the rumbling ground got louder.

As it got louder, I pondered something.

Should I not prepare for a situation where I can ambush them? I guess that would be optimal. I certainly hope Shield can watch this display.

“Preparing to cast!” I shout.

As I say that, I jump into a tree up high. The trees in this forest are abnormally tall, so I could get some significant height.

“[Redescription: Conceal!!] [Redescription: Assassination!!]” This used quite a bit of my MP.