We were all standing in a forest, with me holding a sword and an E-Rank monster ready to pounce on me.
So how did we get here?
---
After some flying, we landed in a forest to rest.
Raven came up to me, and I looked at him curiously.
Raven soon said,
"Sir, I was a little hesitant before, but I think I should tell you something."
I asked,
"What exactly?"
Raven said as softly as possible,
"Sir, you have better senses than me. Even when I wasn't able to sense assassins, you did. And not only that—you sensed their exact numbers and locations. In fact, even with soldiers, it was you who noticed them first."
I nodded.
Raven continued,
"Though I don't know how that's possible, it is not my place to question it."
I replied,
"You came just to say this?"
Raven shook his head and then said,
"No, sir. You can also teleport, but back then you were caught. Someone else might not have found it strange, but I think you could have escaped if you really wanted to."
Yeah, rub salt where it hurts, huh…
I sighed and replied,
"What do you want to say?"
Raven continued,
"Your powers are more powerful than you. You can't fully utilize them. You don't have enough experience, sir."
What he said, I had already realized in prison, and honestly, I knew it even before that.
I looked at Raven seriously and asked,
"So, what do you suggest?"
Raven gave me a look, as if to say, Seriously? You want me to spell it out? Then he sighed and replied,
"Sir, whenever we let the Sky Dogs rest, you should fight monsters."
Hmmmm…
Well, he's right. I can't improve just by sparring with Raven and the others.
Raven continued,
"We should start now, sir."
Raven was just my hired escort, yet out of goodwill, he wanted to help me. He rarely spoke much. I had tried talking to him before, but he usually kept it professional, sticking to mission-related matters.
Others were extending their hands to help me, so it was my duty to at least do this much for myself.
I nodded.
---
And so here we are.
I didn't use my Sixth Sense actively, because I didn't need to. I could already feel when the monster would pounce and exactly where.
He's targeting my head.
As he jumped, I ducked, spun on my leg to turn quickly, and faced the monster again.
Then I heard clapping.
Emma and Emilia were clapping while eating snacks. Those two are the worst. At least don't eat while I'm fighting.
I felt the monster's intent again—this time, it was going to charge at me and swipe at my chest with its claws.
I gripped the ground firmly with my legs, taking a stable stance, and swung my sword.
My sword met its paw.
Now, after much training, I could handle that level of force.
Then, tilting my sword slightly, I let the monster's claws slide off. With the force equilibrium broken, I felt a torque. Using that torque with my legs as the pivot, I rotated, switched footing, and ended up at the monster's side—near its neck.
During all of this, my sword naturally shifted into the perfect stance for a downward slash. And so, I slashed.
The blade cut cleanly through the monster's neck, separating its head from its body. The corpse fell to the ground.
Raven walked toward me and commented,
"As I said, your senses are sharper than mine. Monsters of equal strength and speed are just practice for you. We can slowly increase the level."
I nodded.
After this, I killed four more monsters.
Then I wanted to try something different, so I said to Lucas,
"When I face my next monster, can you use earth magic to remove any uneven ground and obstacles?"
Lucas gave me an okay sign.
The sixth E-Rank monster appeared—a bear-shaped creature with a spiky shell on its back. Lucas did just as I asked.
Then, slowly, I closed my eyes. My body tensed up, nervous, but I knew I wasn't truly in danger. If something went wrong, Raven would step in.
So I relied on my Sixth Sense. It was still passive—I didn't need its active form for this.
I felt the monster's intent—it was going to tackle me. At the right moment, I rolled sideways.
The monster approached again, more cautiously this time, perhaps noticing my closed eyes. When it came close, it swiped at my head. I ducked.
But it didn't stop there. With its hand already raised above me, it brought it down like a karate chop meant to break bricks. I rolled sideways again, knowing its weight was behind the strike, and blocking it would only harm me.
Then, I rushed toward it. I sensed it preparing to twist its spiky shell toward me. Smiling, I leapt over it to the other side. If the shell was on the other side, that meant its soft belly was exposed here.
I thrust my sword into its belly, then dragged the blade along, cutting it open.
Its insides spilled out. The monster would die even if I left it alone, but it still tried to take me with it, swiping its paw at my chest. I deflected it easily without needing to block fully.
After that desperate strike, the monster collapsed and died.
I opened my eyes.
The sight before me was that of a monster I had just slain. The Claw members were staring at me with eyes so wide it looked like their eyeballs might pop out.
You see, I could sense intentions, but I could still trip. That's why I had asked Lucas to even the ground for me.
As for the Claw members' surprise—well, I had just killed a monster with my eyes closed.
But then again, it's not called Nature Force for no reason.
I was totally exhausted. Real combat drains you far more, maybe because of the mental strain.
---
Now it was time to move up.
I went to Raven.
"I think I'm ready for D-Rank."
Raven nodded and agreed.
"Seeing your last fight made me think so too. Alright then, fight one or two D-Rank monsters, and we'll continue the journey."
I nodded.
And here we are.
In front of me stood an ape-like monster, with bulging muscles in its arms and legs. It's height was 5 meters.
I took a deep breath.
I felt its intent—to run at me and slap me with the back of its hand.
But what surprised me was its speed. Much faster, as expected of a D-Rank. It reached me in an instant, but I was already anticipating. Rotating, I faced its arm as it swung down, and I brought my sword down with full force.
Our combined power resulted in a clean cut—the ape's hand was severed up to the elbow.
The ape screamed, swung its other arm down, but I felt its anxiety. It quickly pulled back, scared.
Then, grinning, it looked at a tree.
I sensed its intent and paled.
I quickly used a wind spell under my soles, accelerating toward it.
By now, it had half-uprooted the tree. If it hadn't lost an arm, it would have fully uprooted it already.
But noticing me closing in, it tilted the half-uprooted tree and used it as a shield.
My sword cut halfway through before getting stuck.
Even though the tree was in the way, I felt its intent to grab me. Immediately, I let go of the sword, used the tree as a foothold, and jumped.
The ape's grab found nothing.
The half-sliced tree, weakened, broke with one hand. The ape raised it, intending to use it as a club.
I quickly formed a fireball and hurled it at the ape's face.
The spell didn't injure it much, but it forced the ape to release the tree and stagger back, clutching its face.
I avoided the falling tree, retrieved my sword, and jumped again—using the stump of the broken tree as a foothold.
When the ape lowered its hand, it found me right in front of its eye.
I threw my sword straight into its eye. The blade pierced through, killing it instantly.
I fell, landing on my legs, but then collapsed backward, staring at the sky. My chest heaved heavily.
After a while, I calmed down and stood. I pulled my sword free from the ape's eye.
During the fight, when I had struck at the tree and thrown my sword, my muscles overstretched. On landing, I had also sprained my ankle.
I was in no state to fight another monster.
Raven examined me and said,
"That monster was too much for you right now. Let's continue our journey after you wash your sword."
I was puzzled until I saw the other Claw members grinning.
Then I looked at my sword and realized why. It was dripping with sticky liquid.
I sighed, walked to a nearby river, and washed it clean.
Then, we continued our journey.