Before everything went wrong, they were lucky that another person showed up. There was nothing between Marina and the Behemoth for a moment.
Then, as if they had just gone for a walk, a person stood there. The figure raised one hand, and a sword appeared out of nowhere, shining so brightly that it hurt to look at it.
The Behemoth's foot hit the ground. The figure swung the sword in a lazy way.
There was a flash of light and a sound like thunder, and then the Behemoth was sliced in pieces. Not dead, just parts. The stone pieces were falling apart like a sculpture that had lost its shape because they had been cut cleanly through in several places.
The figure waved away their sword and turned to face the shocked adventurers. He was in his early twenties, had silver hair and golden eyes that looked bored, even though he had just killed a class A monster with one blow. His clothes were clean and expensive, with no dirt on them even though they were in the woods.
"Pathetic," the figure said, his voice full of disgust.
"A Stonejaw Behemoth should never have gotten this close to a busy road."
"Where are the patrols of the guild? And the guards at the border?"
"Does no one in this backward area know how to do their jobs?"
"Who the hell are you?" Denna yelled, still holding on to her axe.
The figure's eyes looked at them with clear disdain. "Elias Grimhart. Rank S adventurer, holder of the record for the fastest dungeon clear in the eastern continent, and apparently the only person within a hundred miles who knows what they're doing."
"We had it under control," Marina said, but even she didn't sound sure.
Elias laughed, and it wasn't a comfortable sound. "Under control? You were going to be paste."
"If I hadn't been passing through and seen the mana disruption, your little bronze-rank party would be decorating the forest floor right now."
Kael said, "We're silver rank."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Elias said in a fake serious tone. "Rank Silver, eh? That's very impressive. I bet those extra guild points make a big difference when you're up against an apex predator."
Greg was getting more and more annoyed as he watched this. "Just seeing him appear out of nowhere with a hero entrance... I bet that he's someone with a really high ego."
"The sword he's holding... the craftsman of it was phenomenal, and I bet that it came from a blacksmith who knows what he's doing."
"But still..."
Elias's attitude, the way he held himself, the casual arrogance, and the dismissive tone. It made him think of nobles from his past life, people who thought they were better than everyone else because they had power.
"...the way he acts, I really wanted to break his teeth."
"Thank you for the help," Marina said, clearly trying to keep things civil even though she had just been insulted. "But we have to tell someone about this."
"There is a reason why Stonejaw Behemoths don't leave their territory."
"Of course," Elias said, looking at his nails like he was bored.
"The forest is going through a huge mana disruption."
"There is something or someone doing big magical tests in the mountains. The monsters are going crazy because of the extra energy, which is making them leave their homes."
"You knew this?" Ryn asked, and her analytical mind immediately began to process the information. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I did tell them," Elias said with a lot of patience. "Three days ago."
"The guild, it seems, decided that the situation wasn't important enough to address. That's why I'm here, as usual, to clean up their mess."
"And of course it was child's play. I can't believe someone struggles with that kind of thing." Elias started to show his smug smile while cleaning his sword.
He was about to leave, but then he stopped as if he had remembered something. His golden eyes were on Greg, and for the first time, he didn't look bored but rather interested because he started to figure out quickly something that Greg hides.
Elias pointed at Greg and said, "You."
"You're not an adventurer like them."
You appeared different due to your incorrect position, inappropriate gear, and overall mismatched appearance. But you have a strange kind of touch of Mana, like it didn't belong here originally." Elias started to hold his chin while both of his eyes started to glow.
Greg's heart starts to beat really fast because he knows what is going to happen next. And it seems like he's stuck between it, he can't find any good excuses for what's about to come from his arrogant mouth.
"Ah, yes... so you're no different than me. We're one who was blessed by a system that made us something special in this world called 'Realiverse'."
Realiverse. This is the first time Greg heard the name of the new world he's living in now, and of course the system never told him about that.
"What's the meaning of all this, system...?" Greg asked in his mind.
[He was right. Realiverse is the world where you're currently enjoying life with your weird creation right now.]
[And you guess it... he's one of the reincarnators, just like you and Felix.]
[But... he's kind of a dick, as you predicted. All of that ego on his mind could even make the gravity itself.]
"A Blacksmith System...? Now I see it... you looked like one as well, trying to blend in."
Greg knew the answer already, but he would rather not say anything. "I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just your friendly neighborhood blacksmith."
Elias's eyes got smaller. "Don't make a fool out of me! You really are one of the reincarnators, just like me."
The statement hung in the air like a bomb. The Crimson Falcons looked confused, but Greg's heart sank. Elias had figured out Greg's identity in seconds, a fact that even Felix's luck system couldn't conceal.
Greg said carefully, "Like I said... I don't know what you're talking about."
"Please," Elias said, waving his hand. "I can feel system signatures from a mile away."
"I know how to do it. You are definitely a reincarnator, even though you are not excellent at hiding it.
"I bet you're trying to live a quiet life, refusing to accept your fate?"
"How are you so sure about Greg being like that?" Marina asked, moving her hand toward her frying pan.
Elias said, "Because I'm also a reincarnator."
"And I actually liked my role, unlike some people. Got the power, moved up the ranks, and became someone people looked up to."
"So, what are you? A blacksmith?"
""Make things for the house?" He laughed. "What a waste of potential."
Denna said, "You don't have to be an asshole to be powerful."
Elias's face grew dark. "I can be whatever I want because I'm powerful."
"The rules that keep weaklings like you in line don't apply to me."
He turned around and called back as he walked away. "The mana disruption is happening about thirty miles northeast of here. If you want to be useful instead of just being a useless piece of shit, then help get people out of the villages in the area."
"The monster displacement is only going to get worse, but of course, it's going to be a lot of use for me because they gave me a lot of EXP so that I can rank up even more and become even stronger until I'm satisfied!!!"
He then vanished into the woods, moving so quickly that it seemed like he was no longer fully human. The Crimson Falcons stood there in shock, trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Did he just say we were useless pieces of shits!?" Denna asked with an angry tone.
"More importantly," Ryn said, "he called Greg a reincarnator."
"What does that mean?"
Everyone looked at Greg, who suddenly wished he could go back to his workshop and deal with Felix's mess instead of this. "Fuck..."
"...me."