Endless Memoir - Seraph Wedd (read a book .TXT) 📗

the last time? It was something similar. In case of Demon Hunter, there are two. One: Increased Strength. Two: Increased Sensitivity to Demons. These two.”

I thought it was like a bonus money for every kill. What a letdown…

“Still, I already decided to take this job. I am not planning on changing it until I tried it first.”

I said these determinedly. The three of them gave worried looks.

“… Well, it’s your life after all. It’s not like we have jurisdiction over your choices.”

Blaire stood up and left her half-finished plate. Walking towards the dining room’s door.

“… Don’t push yourself too much okay?”

Soon Mary followed leaving words showing her worry.

Seeing the two leave, Nina quickened her eating pace and finished her meal before running towards them. Left alone, I ate quietly and slowly before going back to my room and sleeping once more.

I woke up early, feeling great. Looks like my mana was fully recovered.

I took an early breakfast and after leaving a message to the three girls at the counter, I headed out.

The street was already full of pedestrians. Looks like the day starts earlier here in the capital. I quietly walked around gathering information then headed towards and out of the gate. When the guards asked where I’m going, after telling them that I’m a Demon Hunter, they had a worried face while letting me pass. They even wished me good luck.

I walked for about an hour in total. I finally reached a thick forest that was near the capital’s walls.

As I have heard, there seemed to be a Greater Demon somewhere here. My aim was to find out how strong a greater demon is. If possible, I wish to try and successfully hunt one.

The moment I entered the forest, I felt the change in the air. It suddenly felt heavier. Like something will jump out of the bushes on any moment.

“ROOOOAAAARRRR!!!”

Just as I had thought, a demon in the shape of a wild dog jumped out from the bushes. Out of reflex, I applied mana to my right hand and punched it. The head of the dog demon comically flew to the other direction and the limp body fell to the ground.

“… That was a surprise…”

If I wasn’t paying attention to that bush, I may have received some injuries from that. Looks like this is the effect of the Demon Hunter job… Increased sensitivity towards demons, huh…

As a measure against any future surprise attacks, I activated the magic circles on my boots.

[Weaving through the endless sky! Unstoppable might prevails! Gather! Converge! Follow the command of the contractor of the sixth gate! «Blitz»!!!]

After the chant, the boots turned into the cool looking pair of glowing white knee high boots. Looking closely, particles of light was slowly emitted from it. That must be the wasted mana I presume.

With a power-up in tow, I continued my demon hunt.

I met several demons like the dog before and slayed them almost as instant as they appeared.

After a long time of walking, I finally reached the center of the forest. I can feel warning signs from all around me the moment I stepped at the clearing at the center.

I looked up and noticed a weir phenomenon.

“… The sun… is … red?”

The color of the sun was of a bloody red. It’s nowhere near from how it normally looks. Using my gaming knowledge, all I can assume was that either I came into a different dimension while inside the forest, or a certain barrier was placed, making the scenery turn like this.

When I reached the dead center of the clearing, suddenly, the warning signs around me rang loudly. I quickly followed my instincts and jumped to the side. Not long after, on the spot I was at a few moments ago, a thick, sharp, wooden protrusion appeared. If I didn’t jump just now… Never mind.

I quickly regained my bearings and stared at the enemy. On the far side of the clearing, a large hollow tree about 3 meters tall with a pair of large and nasty looking red eyes stood imposingly. It has a ragged crack across the trunk that looks like a wicked smile. Branches on both sides looks like a pair of arms.

“Haha… So… This is… A Greater Demon…”

I can’t help but give a bitter laugh.

Chapter 15: The Reward

I stared at the enemy in front of me. The tree-like demon stared back.

I can feel cold sweat running down my back. My hands were trembling from fear. The madness and strength I can feel coming from this Greater Demon alone is more than a dozen-fold of a normal demon’s strength.

I haven’t tried receiving a blow from a normal demon yet but I know that getting hit by this one will lead to a terrible ending. That’s what my senses are telling me.

When I felt another warning from my mind, I jumped away.

Similar to before, a sharp tipped wooden protrusion appeared. Looking closely, it was the greater demon, the tree demon’s root.

The tree demon attacked continuously making me jump around like a rabbit. Honestly, it slightly makes me feel a bit irritated. However, the attacks never came more than one at a time. Also…

“… Looks like I’m still a bit faster than the enemy’s attacks… The problem is…”

After I figured out the attack pattern of the enemy, I started to fight back.

I dodged the next attack and quickly dashed towards the tree-demon. As expected, once I reached the range of its branches, I was attacked. I dashed to the side to avoid. However, the demon couldn’t turn around quick enough.

“So that’s your weakness…”

I have now found a total of 3 exploits. This was already good enough. I dashed to the tree-demon’s back and let out a spinning kick.

The tree demon was surprised after having been attacked from the back. It let out a loud cry, seemingly in pain. Due to it being slow in turning around, I kept my position standing behind it.

Of course, I didn’t let the chance escape and piled up one attack after another, not giving the enemy a chance to counterattack. After my tenth kick, the trunk suddenly cracked and broke down.

The tree-demon stopped moving and the black colored bark turned into light grey. Looks like it was already defeated. The moment I realized that, the sound of glass being broken resounded in the surroundings.

“What the…”

When I looked up, I noticed that the sky was cracking. Just like glass, the cracks ran wildly and pieces started falling down. Then, when the cracks finally covered the whole sky, it broke with a loud crash.

What was revealed was the normal looking sun hanging up in the sky. The barrier or something seems to have been destroyed together with the greater demon.

“Oh, right! I need to get the proof…”

After asking around earlier, I came to know that there was something like a core inside demons.

The core seems to be the reason how demons can keep their corporeal form in this world. Also, the size and color of the cores vary from demon to demon.

I searched the body of the tree-demon and found a green looking orb deep inside it. It was about the size of a softball. Being made with something like glass in texture, it was a bit hard to hold. I quickly placed it inside my pocket, making it bulge.

The warning sounds didn’t ring on my way back. It seems that there were no more demons here. Or maybe, they disappeared together with the broken barrier. That sounds possible.

When I reached the capital’s gates once again, the sun was almost at the zenith. I greeted the guards casually and entered. I didn’t need to go and stand in line as I properly made preparations and got a permit that allows one to enter and exit easily.

My stomach was already grumbling the moment I reached the Adventurer’s Guild. I quickly headed towards the counter and presented the orb.

“Good noon! Well, if it isn’t Nazo? What may be your business here?”

The lady at the counter quickly noticed me. She’s the one whom I asked for details this morning so she knew my name then. If I recall, her name should be…

“Good noon, miss Brune. I came here to submit this proof of subjugation.”

As I greeted, her attention quickly turned to the large glass ball that I placed above the counter.

“… That’s quite a peculiar core… And is even abnormally large… Wait a moment, okay?”

As it seems that she couldn’t identify the core by appearance, she headed towards the office at the back. After about a minute, she came back while carrying a small contraption. She quietly placed it above the counter as I stared.

It looks like a weighing scale with a bowl shaped part above a white rectangular base. It looks plain but after inspecting, I noticed a magic circle engraved at both sides of the base.

“Thanks for waiting! I will now confirm the core. Please place the core here.”

She quickly spoke while pointing at the bowl shaped part. I did so as she told me to.

Then, a second later, the core floated a little while the device’s magic circles release light particles. The light particles slowly gathered in front of the device and gradually built a figure. About half a minute passed and finally a clear 3D rotating image could be seen. It was a mini version of the tree demon I fought.

“……!”

For some reason, Brune’s face turned pale after seeing the monster’s image. When I asked if there’s something wrong, she asked questions instead while slightly stuttering.

“I-Is this core… That of the Greater demon in the nearby forest…?”

“Yeah. That’s what’s being shown right now right?”

“… D-Did your party subjugate it? I-If I remember correctly, you just asked about it this morning right?”

“I fought it alone though. As I don’t know the degree of danger it possesses. It was frightening at first but I quickly got used to it while fighting.”

After hearing my answer, her face turned even paler. Is she feeling sick or something? Then, once again, she told me to wait and she carefully brought the device together with the core towards the inner office.

A couple of minutes passed but she still hasn’t returned. I quietly spent my time waiting while looking at the few crowds of Adventurers hanging around the interior of the guild. I could feel that the number of gazes towards me was more than this morning despite having less crowd. Was it my imagination?

“Ye’r Nazo?”

A rough voice suddenly came from behind me. When I turned around, a burly man full of scars all around his body and face was standing behind the counter. I was slightly taken aback by his intimidating appearance. Then, I noticed that miss Brune was standing slightly behind the man while holding two brown leather bags.

“… That’s me alright… Is something wrong?”

I asked while forcefully pushing back the goosebumps that I felt. Hearing my answer, he leaned against the counter and scrutinized my appearance up close. He swept his eyes from head to toes. His eyes turned wide when his stare reached my legs.

“… ‘S dat a magic tool…?”

He asked while pointing towards my boots. When I looked towards it, I saw that I forgot to turn it back to normal. It was still on the form of the knee-high silvery-white boots.

“… Yes…” I answered with a small voice.

His sharp eyes squinted into slits as if he was appraising me. It felt a bit uncomfortable but I stood still. A few moment later, he withdrew and motioned towards miss Brune. In turn, she quickly moved and handed me the two brown leathers.

“The first bag is the reward for the posted subjugation request by the city while the second is the payment for you as a Demon Hunter. As for the core, we will be handling it. Thank you for your hard work.”

She quickly explained with a slightly strained smile. I took the bags and peeked inside only to be surprised with the amount inside. I could see a couple of white golds, several large gold and even silvers. It was a large amount enough to make me live comfortably for a year. On the other bag, the amount is only at the range of 2 large golds and tons of silver but still, it’s quite a large sum.

“… Isn’t this some kind of mistake…?”

I skeptically asked. I couldn’t think of a demon being worth this much gold. However, miss Brune quickly shook her head in denial.

“This is the price put up by the city for the successful subjugation of