No More Pain For This Villain.

[Somewhere in the Balcker Forest.]

Fush

Thud

The inferno bolt and air spike struck simultaneously, and the snake-like mana beast fell on the spot.

"Phew, let's rest a bit," I said while lying on the ground. The tiredness was taking over me.

"Yeah,we can continue later." Anabelle also sat beside me.

I am in the midst of the Balcker Forest's restricted part. For the last two days, we've been grinding in this forest,trying to kill as many mana beasts as possible, and because of that, we were able to gather a hefty sum of a few gold coins by selling their core and other useful materials to the guild.

"Take this." Anabelle passed a water bottle to me; I took the bottle and drank it from it.

"Are we going to stop here?" Anabelle asked; unlike the first day, where only I was the one getting tired, today Anabelle seemed like she overworked herself.

"Nope, I think a little bit more won't hurt." I said that we've been hunting for like three continuous hours, but I still think that there are more mana beasts around here.

"Hup, okay, then break time is over,"Anabelle jumped up from her place as she offered a hand for me to get up. I took her hand and stood up while brushing the dust off my clothes.

In these few days, a lot of changes have occurred in such a short time, like my chasing skills and control over fire mana being increased, I am learning a new spell called fire tornado, and last but not least, the relationship between me and Anabelle.

At first we were just co-workers who work for their own benefit, like she works for money while I work for experience, but now the air between us feels more like friends—if you ask me, a purely platonic friendship.

'A man and woman can't be friends with my boy, hehe,' said the saint Blaze from the back of my mind.

'Haha, so funny.'I transmitted my sarcastic reply.

Regarding Blaze, I've made the decision that if he annoys me, I'll shut him down through the system, to which he agreed, but he still throws in some jokes in between conversations, and I can bear with that much.

"Hey, Miss Ana." I called her because there was a question I'd been itching to ask for a long time.

"Just Ana is fine; you using honorifics makes me feel like an old hag." Anabelle complained about the way I addressed her.

"Okay, Ana, there's been something on my mind; you won't mind if I ask, right?" I was a little hesitant; what if she gets upset?

"And what is it?" Anabelle asked,

"It's about your other party members; why don't you hang out with them,like right now since they are more in number, they'd literally be more helpful in this hunt,right?" I asked, and whenever she says that she is going to meet her co-workers, she gets a little sad, so I thought that there must be something going on between them.

"Ah, it's not like we are fighting or they are bullying me; it's just that they just don't want to work on their holidays." Anabelle answered cheerfully,but it wasn't the usual cheerful expression she showed me for the last few days; it seemed forced.

"Is that all? You can hide it if you don't want to tell." I said, It's alright if she doesn't want to talk about it; everyone has a secret or two. I just inquired because she looked like she was in trouble.

Sigh

"You are quite an observant one, huh? That is the exact opposite of the impression you give." Anabelle sighed,

"Then you're going to tell me or not."

Chuckle 

"And also pretty impatient," Anabelle chuckled a little when she saw me inquiring further," well, it's about a dream that I have, and that dream is drawing a line between me and my friends." Anabelle showed an indescribable expression of sadness and acceptance.

"Why would your dream be their concern?" I was perplexed by her statement. If it's her dream, then it's none of their business, right?

"They are ticked off by the fact that I'll have to quit my mercenary work and leave all the people that I've been friends with for ten years behind to complete my dream," Anabelle explained.

"Makes sense," it totally does now,

"So any advice or guidance for me?" Anabelle asked curiously.

"Nah, not really; it's your problem to deal with." I was not going to get myself into someone else's personal problem, even if that person is a friend.

S t a r e

"I don't know what I was expecting from you," Anabelle said, giving me an extremely blank look.

We chatted like that for a few more minutes and then decided to continue the hunt. This time, I suggested that we go in two different directions to locate more mana beasts.

Anabelle was sceptical at first, saying that it was not safe, but eventually gave in to my persuasion.

....

Walking deeper into the forest, I kept my senses heightened to sense any incoming attacks.

Rustle

A rustling sound came from the left. I took a fighting stance and waited for the mana beast to come out, not to mention that I'd learned to create a blade with my lightning powers.

"Jackpot !!!" A lean guy appeared in front of me, followed by another one.

"Hey Kyle,we found him." said the one who came after, Who's Kyle?

Another seven-foot-tall, tanned giant came after him, and this one is familiar. It's the same guy that I fought with in the guild on my first day; it looks like his name is Kyle.

"Ho ho, surprise!" Kyle said, Soon three more guys followed after him; the whole goon crew is here, huh?

Fuu

Now there are two options in front of me:

[1] First, fight them all at once.

[2] Ask for help from Anabelle.

The first option is invalid because my mana reserves are about half depleted.

The second one is also discarded because it risks Anabelle's safety.

"Then the third is it." The third option is the best in these kinds of situations, and that is

R u n

I ran away with everything I had, leaving them behind me.

"Huh!? "Kill that bastard!!!" I heard gruesome noises behind me as they all shot in the direction I ran.

.... 

This part of the forest is very dark, and the trees are as large as skyscrapers, which gives me the advantage of hiding.

I climbed a tree and hid on its high branch.

Footsteps

"Hmm?" I heard footsteps, so I looked down to see who it was. I saw two guys from the same goon crew.

"Hey, look there; I'll go in this direction." One of the guys walked deeper into the forest while leaving behind the other.

"Has nobody told them that you should never leave your friends behind in these kinds of chasing scenes?' Blaze said after reading my thoughts:

I dropped down with a quiet thud behind one of the goons. This man had a very lanky build. While lean muscles were visible, he didn't seem too strong and was only armed with a long knife.

Startled by the soft thud, Lanky turned around, probably expecting a curious weasel or rat. His face twisted into a mixture of surprise and amusement when he saw me.

But before he had the chance to even speak, I lunged upward towards his neck. I infused lightning mana into the blade of my hand that I'd created, turning it into a sharp edge.

"Hieii!" He flinched back reflexively, his hands trying to reach where his face was to guard against the boy shooting towards him.

But it was too late.

S l a s h

I take a quick swipe at the jugular, taking his vocal chord out along with his carotid artery. A stream of blood sprayed out of his neck immediately as I landed behind him, supporting his lifeless body and gently placing him down to avoid making noise.

"Ey Crow! Where are you? What the?!" A voice came from the other side; it was the same guy who had split before. He came and froze when he saw his friend's dead body.

J U M P

While the other goons' attention was directed at the corpse of lanky, currently lying, I jumped out from front and stabbed the side of his neck with the knife immediately.

S i l e n c e.

There was a deathly silence throughout the area. Two human bodies are laying around like some lost luggage and the wound I used to stab them was gushing blood.

"It's addictive." I muttered these words under my breath. I've killed a lot in my previous life, but nothing can compare to the feeling I am feeling right now; it's just addictive, and I want more.

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[A/N: a d di ct iv e?]