Unorthodox Guild

..........

"..."

The monster in front of them had stopped moving.

"..."

I looked around again.

Seeing that no one had escaped, Kaya put the arrows nocked on the bowstring back into the quiver behind him.

What happened today?

"There are just too many monsters along the way."

If it weren't for Kaya's presence over the past few years, constantly hunting monsters in the forest...

Based on the number and level of monsters he encountered today, he found it hard to believe the Adventurers' Guild's rating of this forest secret realm.

"...It's at least a high-level secret realm on the border of the Demon King's territory."

He casually drew his bow again, shattering a blue slime not far away: "If it weren't for my decent melee ability and stamina... those few elite monsters would have been enough to give an average novice adventurer a hard time."

......

Not to mention, the few adventurers around here are all super idiots in their own guilds.

"..."

This left Kaya somewhat puzzled: how could such a small town with such a low concentration of magic spawn so many elite monsters?

"For the next few days, let those idiots stay out of the forest."

Although Kaya knew that Elisa had defeated several high-level slimes a few days ago.

However, there are fundamental differences between ordinary monsters and elite monsters, both in terms of characteristics and combat power.

For example, the elite slime he just encountered:

Logically speaking, slimes are among the slowest monsters in the monster family.

Otherwise, monsters with high physical and magical resistance wouldn't be classified as low-level monsters.

"..."

But the slime just now was completely different from the impression of a slime.

If one cannot observe and analyze in advance to discover that it has gained the elite attribute bonus called "Movement Speed ​​Boost", then even experienced adventurers will inevitably suffer.

"We need to set up some magical items to lure the monsters away; we can't let them enter the town."

Kaya thought to himself as he gazed into the depths of the forest.

After all, it was unknown how long this anomaly would last, and besides himself, there were very few adventurers in the town who could independently deal with elite monsters.

In order to prevent monsters from harming people.

"We need to take some basic precautions first, and then find an investigator from the Adventurers' Guild to conduct an investigation."

Lilia goes without saying, and Alyssa and Yura have only recently joined the guild and are not yet capable of independently defeating monsters.

If this situation continues, I definitely won't be able to deal with so many high-level monsters on my own.

If the monsters get out of control, first the guild of that silly cat will be affected, and then the cat town next to the forest will also suffer.

Although Kaya desperately hoped that this sudden increase in monsters was just a coincidence, the most important thing right now was...

Rumble...

"..."

What's that noise?

Just as Kaya was about to turn around and head to contact the foreign aid.

The low, untimely sound came from deep within the forest.

"Such a loud commotion, could it be another monster?"

He habitually placed his hand on the scabbard at his waist... Even though there wasn't a short sword in the scabbard now, he couldn't care less about that.

"..."

"Something's not right; it'd be better to retreat."

Reason made Kaya abandon the idea of ​​continuing forward.

Today, the Forest of Cuteness gave him a strange sense of unease.

Even though Kaya was trying his best to control his magic consumption, the continuous appearance of high-level monsters reduced his magic reserves to less than half of what they were at their peak.

Not to mention his equipment... well, let's not go into that. In short, it's not suitable to go any further.

It coldly gazed into the depths of the forest.

Now he is all alone, with no priests or healers by his side.

Even if one is familiar with the paths and layout of the forest, venturing any further would be too risky.

He shook his head and turned away.

"Let's contact adventurers from other guilds in the next few days and form a basic exploration team before..."

But before Kaya could finish speaking...

"Rumble..."

The low, rumbling sounds from the depths of the forest became increasingly clear and distinct.

"?"

Is it moving closer to me...?

"But the voice doesn't sound like a monster."

"..."

Somewhat puzzled, Kaya was about to turn around and look for the source of the noise.

"..."

"this....."

But I accidentally looked up and noticed that...

"What is this thing...?"

Suddenly appearing behind me, a black beam of light pierced the sky.

.........

Meanwhile, in Cat Town.

At this moment, the entire shopping street seemed to have been paused.

Whether it was a food stall owner or a girl playing, everyone stopped what they were doing and their eyes were drawn to the black beam of light in the distance.

"Oh my gosh, Elisa, look, meow!!!"

The purple catgirl, her body wrapped up like a dumpling in her new clothes, excitedly grabbed Elisa's little hand.

"Wow, look at that! How spectacular!"

The girl's mouth was wide open as she stared blankly at the distant sky.

"Oh my, which fellow cultivator is undergoing tribulation?"

"Meow?"

"However, that seems to be the direction of the guild."

"Meow?!"

..............

Boom boom boom!!!

A huge noise came from it.

What followed was a fierce and powerful storm originating from the depths of the forest.

Crack, crack...

Several saplings that had not yet grown could not withstand the wind pressure.

Bang!

It was uprooted and swept away by the wind and waves to a distant place.

"Hmm."

Kaya quickly found a relatively large tree to hide under.

Even so, I had to hold my hands up to my eyes to barely open them amidst the wind and waves.

"It's magic...?"

This is just too terrifying.

"If the source of the magic is humans... then it's already at least at the level of a mage in a hero's party."

Feel the black magic emanating from the pillar of light.

As if recalling something, Kaya unconsciously compared this magic power with the figure in her memory.

"..."

There was just one thing that Kaya didn't quite understand.

"That's such terrifying magic, how could it appear out of nowhere deep in the Moe Forest... wait a minute."

Seemingly sensing a familiarity with the color, Kaya channeled some of his magic power, capturing a wisp of black light that was about to escape into the distance.

"..."

"..."

Looking at the palm of my hand, I felt a familiar aura emanating from the dark magic that seemed to be drawn by invisible threads.

The black-haired boy, who had just been sighing, suddenly froze in place as if he had touched an electric wire, even though the wind was still strong.

"How could it be her?"

Kaya cursed under his breath.

Although he could hardly believe that such a loud commotion came from that guy.

Looking at the dark magic in his hand: but the facts were right in front of him, and he had no choice but to believe it.

"Children, what can I say?"

Kaya's expression at that moment was quite peculiar.

"I didn't expect that guy wouldn't be able to give me any peace of mind either. Wind spirit, lift me up..."

Kaya's complaints never stopped.

Without the slightest hesitation, he began chanting the acceleration spell.

Bang!

The gray figure disappeared from the spot, already running wildly into the depths of the forest.

.............