Demon beast studies. It was a mandatory subject across elementary, middle, and high school.
While not a subject with separate exams, anyone with a good head on their shoulders wouldn't dare neglect it.
Even in modern society, where advancements in technology allow us to predict the emergence of gates, deaths caused by demon beasts are incessant.
This often happens even in the capitals of developed countries.
No matter how many Hunters, Heroes, Mages, or countless superhumans reside, misfortune never ceases.
Just like the Heimlich maneuver and basic self-defense, ordinary people, unable to confront demon beasts directly, always needed to be aware of general knowledge about demon beasts to survive the misfortune that might befall them someday.
Growl…
The bipedal, muscular canine's form was something I remembered from textbooks.
"…Kobold Warrior."
Kobolds, along with goblins, are known as some of the weakest demon beasts—weak enough that armed ordinary people can theoretically kill them.
However, among these demon beasts, there were special individuals, known as elite individuals, famous for exhibiting significantly stronger performance than other demon beasts of the same species.
Among them, the most famous and infamous was the Kobold Warrior, who could wield a greatsword with ease.
If you asked if their D+ ranking meant they were easy to deal with, the answer was a resounding "I don't know."
This was my first time facing a demon beast, and D+ meant nothing. Until recently, I was just an ordinary person.
"Isn't this a bit much to throw at me right from the start?"
Regardless of the automatically uttered lament, all my body's resources were already geared towards combat.
And the same went for the Kobold Warrior. Gripping its greatsword, ready to charge at me at any moment, it heightened the tension.
"Weakness Detection."
Whoosh – As soon as I activated the skill, an intangible wave brushed past it.
Unsurprisingly, the weaknesses I found were the usual for any living creature: brain, heart, lungs.
"For an epic-grade skill, that's pathetic…!"
KRAAAAAH!!!
Seeing that I wasn't making any moves, the Kobold Warrior must have thought the reconnaissance was over because it immediately started charging towards me.
The distance between us was less than 30 meters, far too short.
Even if it was bipedal, a dog was still a dog, much faster than a human.
The fastest short-distance sprinter among dog breeds, the deerhound, boasts speeds of up to 64 km/h.
Of course, that didn't mean the Kobold Warrior was that fast. But it was close, and in the blink of an eye, its greatsword was being swung at my head.
BANG!!
The barrier and the accelerated greatsword collided, creating a booming sound and sparks.
The beast hadn't anticipated the barrier, and I could see the bewilderment on its face from the moment its attack was blocked.
"Die."
Before it knew it, the wooden wand was aimed at its head.
Immediately after, a magic circle emitting a red light appeared at the tip of the wand.
"Fire Spear."
A concentrated blast of fire accurately pierced the Kobold Warrior's forehead, burning its head clean off.
The fatal damage caused the Kobold Warrior to collapse to the ground, scattering its charred brain matter.
"Haa…"
Anyone watching might say it was an anticlimactic battle that ended in the blink of an eye.
But for me, at least, it was an intense moment that teetered between life and death.
What if I hadn't deployed the barrier the moment I saw the Kobold Warrior?
What if it could sense magic and knew I had erected a barrier?
What if the first attack was a feint, and another attack was prepared afterward?
What if the magic contained within the barrier wasn't enough to block its downward slash?
If even one thing had gone wrong, I would be lying on the ground right now.
Thinking about it made cold sweat pour down my body like rain.
"The magic consumption is no joke…"
I had poured too much magic into the barrier, and the same went for the Fire Spear.
As a result, I now had less than half of my magic left.
I had no choice but to focus the remaining magic on the barrier and then meditate to absorb natural mana to recover my magic.
No matter how much of a buff I had regarding magic self-hypnosis, high-speed magic recovery without meditation was a difficult task.
I had accepted a massive amount of mana, ready to die, when I reached the 2nd Circle, but I couldn't do that now.
I had to absorb it little by little, as much as my body could handle.
It would take about 30 minutes to replenish my magic, and I couldn't help grinding my teeth at the thought that I had used up too much power in the first battle.
Ding-
[You have defeated a Kobold Warrior.]
[First Kill Reward: 100 coins]
"…This is supposed to be a dating app, right?"
I couldn't help but feel that the app's identity was becoming increasingly strange.
***
Dungeon exploration continued, along with mapping.
Of course, so did battles with demon beasts.
KIEEEEEK!!!
A Poison Spider that melts its prey's limbs with acidic venom before devouring them alive.
Its rank was D+, the same as the Kobold Warrior.
It was troublesome because it approached with front legs that could cut through steel, breaking through the barrier twice in a row. But I managed to dodge by rolling forward the moment it spat venom and then charged into its chest, unleashing a barrage of fireballs.
Unable to overcome its weakness to fire, as is typical for insects, it died with a terrible stench.
[You have defeated a Poison Spider.]
[First Kill Reward: 100 coins]
I used 30% of my magic here.
It was encouraging. It meant that there was improvement compared to the previous battle, where I had used up more than half of my magic with one barrier and one attack spell.
After the battle, extreme fatigue set in.
I quenched my thirst with mineral water and replenished my sugar levels with chocolate before setting off again.
It was only the first floor, but as expected of a place that sealed and stored the relics of the World Tree, there were constant forks in the road.
And with that came traps.
The first trap I fell for was a classic one where arrows shot out of the walls when you stepped on a pressure plate.
"That freaking hurts."
The word "classic" also means, conversely, that it works well.
I dodged as much as I could, but an arrow still pierced my shoulder.
Fortunately, it wasn't poisoned.
After taking some makeshift first aid, I started walking again. For the record, mages cannot use healing magic. The ability to heal belongs exclusively to priests.
Before long, the road split again.
This time, into three paths.
"You've got to be kidding me."
[Time Remaining for Matching: 09:12:41]
About 2 hours had passed since I entered the dungeon.
Considering that I had passed a total of three forks in the road to get here, I could say that it was progressing smoothly.
But that also meant that the dungeon was vast.
I couldn't tell how much time it would take to clear just the first floor.
Of course, this wasn't a dungeon where treasure chests were hidden like other dungeons, so as long as I could find the path to the 2nd floor, it would be enough. But the problem was that the path to the 2nd floor might be among the forks I had already passed.
"How can you not know the layout of the dungeon you created?"
To be honest, even though I said that, I entered the dungeon for my own growth, so it was best to wander around as much as possible.
"Let's keep going for now."
I could stop here and go back to take the other paths I had passed.
But that wasn't a good choice.
Just like how there's a formula to stick to the left or right wall to escape a maze, exploring a dungeon probably wasn't much different.
I decided to keep moving forward as far as I could.
"That is…"
For the record, the torches lighting the dungeon passages are only lit around me.
In other words, the torches further away from me automatically go out.
That distance is about 50 meters.
Unless it's a fork in the road or something, that's about the limit of my visibility.
And now, something was revealing itself in the darkness 50 meters ahead of me.
"Isn't this… a bit much?"
CRACKLE!
GRAAAH!
What appeared from the edge of the darkness in the passage were two Kobold Warriors.
No, to be exact, it was slightly different.
One of the Kobold Warriors had a greatsword like the one I had seen before, but the other had a bow.
And my worries became reality.
The moment they recognized me, they started roaring fiercely. And only the Kobold Warrior with the greatsword charged towards me.
The one with the bow, as expected, knelt on one knee and started preparing to shoot.
"You've got to be freaking kidding me!"
I had about 60% of my magic left now. What was the best thing to do here?
It was to deal with the greatsword while keeping the archer in check.
But that wasn't as easy as it sounded.
Clang!
"Ugh?!"
The barrier shattered when I blocked the descending greatsword attack.
It was so fast that the distance of 50 meters was insignificant.
Of course, blocking wasn't difficult. The barrier shattered because I made it using only the necessary amount of magic to avoid wasting it.
But there was a problem.
Thwack-
"Shit, damn it…!!"
As the greatsword shattered my barrier, the arrow that flew in as if to take advantage of the gap pierced my thigh.
If this was a 1-on-1 situation, I would have taken the opportunity to burn off its head like before when the barrier shattered.
But this was a 2-on-1.
The intense pain that was incomparable to when I was hit by a trap and an arrow pierced my shoulder surged through my neck.
Even so, I had to move. The greatsword wielding beast, taking advantage of my stumble after being hit by the arrow, was charging at me again after regaining its stance.
'Barrier…!'
BANG!!
The barrier shattered again from the greatsword coming down once more.
The problem was that the hastily created barrier consumed more magic than expected.
Without realizing it, I was pushed back by its momentum and ended up investing more magic into the barrier than before.
As I was momentarily flustered by the mistake, an arrow flew towards my forehead.
The arrow was already close enough to touch if I reached out.
How much time was left until that arrow pierced my forehead? 0.1 seconds? 0.01 seconds?
Thoughts accelerated in the face of extreme circumstances.
There wasn't much time.
I gathered all the resources in my brain and focused on barrier magic.
The basics of transformation magic focus on simple changes in output. Power, range, speed, etc.
But what if I went one step further?
Ting!
"Fire Sword."
The sword of fire that surged out through the wand bisected the body of the beast wielding the greatsword.
Thus, on the ground lay the severed corpse and the arrow deflected by the barrier.
"…Hey."
Keuk…?
I tampered with the magic circle of the barrier magic to create a barrier that only formed on my forehead instead of enveloping my entire body.
Thanks to this, the activation time and magic consumption were drastically reduced.
"Was it fun shooting arrows from behind, huh?"
It didn't take me 3 minutes to deal with the remaining Kobold Warrior.