The goblins were small, barely reaching Daif’s waist. However, Daif seemed tense, perhaps not expecting to encounter so many of them.

Daif stood at the front, taking the vanguard position. Karin stayed close behind him, while Linne stood next to Leon, her arrow nocked and ready.

Leon was curious about how they would handle the seven goblins with just the three of them.

"Hup!"

Daif shouted as he charged at the goblins, clearly intending to draw their attention.

"Kerrk."

"Kekeke."

Several goblins scattered and formed a formation in response to the noise.

‘They seem to have some intelligence,’ Leon thought.

Daif’s greatsword swept through where a goblin had been standing, smashing through a wooden club reinforced with iron and cutting down one goblin mercilessly.

‘He’s strong, but what about his next move...’

Just as Leon was pondering this, Daif quickly pulled back, raising his greatsword to block the incoming blow from another goblin’s club. His swift movements and the strength needed to wield the greatsword were impressive.

Not all the remaining six goblins were focused on Daif.

Karin took on one or two goblins, stabbing them with her dagger whenever an opportunity arose. Meanwhile, Linne targeted the goblins that were in positions too difficult for Daif or Karin to reach.

It took quite a bit of time to take down all seven goblins, as they carefully and methodically dealt with them.

"Linne!"

Daif, who had been holding off four goblins, shouted.

One of the goblins feigned an attack on Daif and then charged toward Linne. She hesitated as she was about to shoot an arrow at another goblin.

Leon raised his palm.

"Pluvia."

Leon created a large enough water bubble to envelop the goblin, submerging it completely.

Gurgle—

The goblin thrashed about, unable to escape the water bubble, and eventually drowned.

Leon refrained from using any more magic. The Daif party seemed to understand that Leon was testing their abilities and fought the monsters with determination.

The last goblin fell to Karin’s dagger.

Daif wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve.

"Phew... I didn’t expect seven to show up all at once."

"Isn’t that a good thing?"

Karin grinned as she sliced open a goblin’s corpse with her dagger, extracting a small black stone fragment from inside.

"Is that a mana stone?"

"Yes, it supposedly contains magical energy... but it’s full of impurities, so it has to be refined before it can be used. They say it’s also used in crafting artifacts."

Leon raised his eyebrows and nodded.

‘So the main buyers are magicians.’

Mana stones, in contrast, were pure mana condensed into a usable form, while these stones needed to be refined. They were, in a sense, a lower-grade version of mana stones.

"You mentioned you’re a third-rank magician, so you can instantly cast spells three times, correct?"

Daif cautiously approached Leon and asked, while Karin continued to dissect the corpses.

It seemed Daif was familiar with the concept of memorized spells.

‘Now that I think about it, after using three spells, I’d need to chant longer for the rest.’

Since becoming a Mystic magician, Leon no longer needed lengthy chants, but since they knew about the memorization technique, he had no choice but to play along.

After that, the party ventured deeper into the forest.

The monsters they mostly encountered were goblins. Occasionally, they came across packs of kobolds.

Groups of seven were rare; most consisted of only four or five monsters.

After the first battle, Leon no longer felt the need to test the party's abilities. He used water waves to disrupt enemy formations or wind blades to sweep away the goblins in a single strike. Each time, Daif’s party members were visibly relieved. With their stamina conserved and their hunting speed increased, they quickly collected the necessary monster corpses for their mission.

The issue came afterward, although it wasn’t a major one—just a small inconvenience for Leon.

After casting three spells instantly, he had to follow up with longer chants.

"Source of life, flow according to my will..."

"Power of the free wind, surround me..."

While it was true that longer chants resulted in more precise magic, the difference wasn’t significant, even for a Mystic magician.

For Leon, who could summon nine lightning bolts with just a single word, it felt frustrating. It was odd to have to chant for so long when the spell’s true power could be invoked with just its keyword.

For example...

"Mighty magic strong enough to sweep away all enemies, descend upon us."

Even if he only spoke the keyword correctly, the magic would still manifest.

"Everyone, stay sharp! The magician is preparing a powerful spell!"

"...."

Of course, after that, Leon didn’t bother with lengthy chants anymore.

•  

After hunting dozens of goblins, Leon realized they didn’t seem particularly resistant to mana, nor did they have any proper defense mechanisms.

‘Will it be different when stronger monsters appear?’

According to Kito, the place where she hid her core was somewhere even a high-level magician wouldn’t dare enter, so it was unlikely that all monsters would be this easy to defeat.

‘If it takes a week to fly there...’

Considering the one-month time limit, with the time spent getting to Crest and then heading to the destination, Leon had about two weeks left. Though Kito knew the location precisely, Leon still had to account for any unexpected monsters that might slow him down.

‘I’m also running low on nutrient fruits...’

Remembering this, Leon asked Daif about it.

"I’ve never heard of such a fruit, magician."

Daif paused mid-bite into a greasy roast pork leg and replied politely.

They were currently having dinner together after finishing the hunt, around early evening.

Ever since he saw five kobolds get skewered by fire arrows, Daif had been treating Leon with even more respect than before. Leon, knowing there was no stopping this attitude, didn’t mind too much.

‘Maybe I’ll find it in a bigger magic city?’

Leon hadn’t been able to find any nutrient fruits even in Widia, so he didn’t have high hopes.

If he planned to stay in the Forest of Beasts for up to three weeks, he’d need to stock up on a large amount of food. While he couldn’t store it in the orb due to the time difference, he could secure some supplies using a preservation jar.

"So, how was it?"

As Leon was lost in thought, Daif asked while Leon sipped on a simple stew.

"I can see why you’re confident about the first zone."

"Really? Haha..."

Daif looked pleased when Leon offered him a bit of praise.

"Ahem, we were surprised too."

"Absolutely!"

Karin, excited by Leon’s compliment, quickly chimed in, cutting off Daif’s awkward attempt to return the praise. This time, Daif didn’t try to stop her.

"Actually, this isn’t our first time forming a party with a magician."

Karin glanced at Linne as she spoke.

"Wasn’t the first magician we met a second-rank apprentice?"

"Yeah."

"There’s definitely a difference!"

"I didn’t realize the gap between ranks was this big."

As Karin began to chatter on her own, Daif glanced at Leon before taking another bite of his roast pork leg, chewing hungrily.

Leon, feeling sorry for Daif having to eat his meal while watching others, took another sip of the stew. After eating nothing but nutrient fruits, he thought the sudden intake of meat might upset his stomach, so he stuck to the stew.

The rich broth carried the deep flavors of spices, which felt a bit too intense for Leon’s taste.

"As expected, even your dining habits are elegant, magician."

"Karin."

"Are you telling me I can’t even say that?"

She had previously suggested going out for a drink after the hunt, only to be firmly stopped by Daif. It was clear that inviting Leon, who didn’t even look like an adult, to drink wasn’t a normal thing to do.

‘It’s not a big deal, but...’

In truth, Leon was curious about the taste of alcohol in this world.

But now wasn’t the time to indulge in such things.

"Are we heading to the second zone tomorrow?"

"If that’s alright with you, magician?"

"You mentioned that gnolls and lizardmen appear in the second zone, right?"

"Yes, that’s correct."

"Considering if seven lizardmen appear at once like today..."

Leon trailed off, and Daif awkwardly laughed.

"That’s why we haven’t gone yet. We can handle two or three, but we’re cautious about unexpected situations."

Given that variables arose even with seven goblins, it seemed it might indeed be difficult for them to manage alone.

However, Leon wasn’t entirely opposed to going to the second zone.

It seemed feasible.

Seeing the goblins fall so easily to his attack magic made him confident.

It wasn’t so much about their skills, but more about their lack of numbers. With two more people of similar skill, the second zone would be manageable.

"Haha, well... we’re very close-knit, and there are also issues with dividing up the rewards..."

So it was a matter of money? Leon didn’t quite understand.

Wouldn’t it be better to recruit two more people to help take down the second zone monsters?

It seemed that their closeness was the real reason, rather than the money. It felt more like they were avoiding others rather than that others were reluctant to join.

‘Well, everyone has their reasons.’

Leon decided not to delve deeper. After all, he was only temporarily with them.

"The rewards from this mission will go to you, magician..."

"I’ll take an equal share."

They had handed over all the monster corpses to the guild for processing. For a fee, they handled everything.

While Leon didn’t need the rewards, refusing outright might not go over well.

Ignoring Daif’s barely concealed delight, Leon asked another question.

"What kinds of monsters appear in the third zone and beyond?"

"Well, only the most experienced adventurers... I mean, gold-level adventurers venture beyond the third zone. From what I’ve heard, orcs, ogres, and even trolls appear there."

‘Those are all familiar names.’

Leon nodded and asked again.

"What is the skill level of a gold-level adventurer?"

"I once heard a rumor about a dispute between a third-rank apprentice magician and a gold-level adventurer... apparently, the adventurer was thoroughly defeated."

"Is that so?"

"No matter how skilled a gold-level adventurer is, they can’t fly."

"..."

"That’s not to say magicians have never suffered injuries, though."

Daif cautiously continued, watching Leon’s reaction.

"Since magicians rely on that memo...rization? When they run out of those spells, some have been killed from behind. However..."

Daif smiled bitterly.

"Unfortunately for them, the magician belonged to the Magic Tower... the one who killed him soon disappeared without a trace. It was never proven that the Magic Tower was involved, but no one messes with magicians anymore."

Knowing the deviousness of magicians, it was likely the Magic Tower was behind it. Even in a free city, messing with a magician could have dire consequences, so they probably took care of it quietly.

Leon could easily imagine how it played out.

Just as Leon's curiosity was being satisfied, Karin grinned and spoke up.

"You could also take a day off tomorrow to explore the city. I’d be happy to show you around!"

Leon immediately shook his head.

"Let’s go tomorrow."

"Aww."

She pouted her lips in disappointment.

"Kar..."

"Sorry for the interruption, magician."

Daif’s attempt to scold Karin was cut short by the arrival of an unexpected guest at the table.

It was a man with blonde hair, a tanned face, and sharp, distinct features. His green eyes gleamed with a certain keenness, and a slightly crooked smile played on his lips. He was tall and wore light leather armor, which bore scratches that spoke of experience.

He nodded politely to Leon before turning to Daif.

"I wasn’t eavesdropping... but you’re heading to the second zone tomorrow, right?"

"Sengor..."

Daif’s face showed a hint of wariness as he looked at the man. It was clear the two knew each other.

"Looks like you got lucky. You wouldn’t join our party, but now you’ve found a magician and get to go somewhere you’d never reach otherwise, huh?"

"Never reach? That’s just your opinion."

"You’ve only got three members in your party, and you keep turning others away. How do you plan to handle the second zone?"

The tension between the two was palpable, evident even from a few words exchanged. It was clear they didn’t get along.

After a moment of glaring at each other, Sengor abruptly turned his gaze to Leon.

"Magician, how about joining our party instead?"

The tension had now shifted to Leon. Despite his casual appearance, Sengor’s proposal was polite.

"Our party consists of five members, and we’re confident we can protect you while you cast your spells. We could also offer you better treatment than they can."