8 The Green Forest (1)

The first thing that greeted me was the quest notification window.

Complete the following objectives:

[Hunt 10 green slimes]

[Hunt 5 Horn Rabbits]

[Save the Rookies, 4/4]

{Huh? What? The first two objectives I understood, but the last one, what do you mean [Save the Rookies]?}

[The Green Forest has always been the training field for Rookie adventures since ancient times; however, recently, things have been a little bit weird and dangerous around here.]

That's it? Well,  that didn't tell me much, ok, so I need to save a group of rookies and hunt some wildlife. I got it. I looked around, and it's really magical; it's like I'm in another world. Wait, so I'm being isekaid in a transmigration...my mind.

{Let's not think about it anymore. Still,  this place feels amazing with the green grass and the big trees. I think this kind of nature only exists in fantasy novels. Wait, fantasy novels. Rookie adventures. The Green Forest. I'm in a fantasy novel, isn't it?}

[The dungeon keys are a projection of events that have happened in the omniverse, and since the system is a fantasy-based system, it has chosen fantasy-omniversal options.]

{I see, so I'm really in another world or a memory of another world, amazing}

Until now, I haven't questioned my system or the situation I'm in right now. Why would I? It's not like I will get some answers, but still, the amount of power to do this—just who in the hell made this possible?

I feel a breeze past my shoulders. Okay,  let's start with getting familiar with my skills; after all, in real life, you can't shoot fire or wind out of your hands that casually and don't get caught and get sent to the government.

The first one is [fireball]. I remember the first time I tried this skill, I almost burned up the entire barn.

"Alright, let's aim for something that doesn't burst out into flames." Looking around in my area, I found something.

"Oh, look at that; there's a big rock over there".

[Fireball] As soon as I recite the name of the spell in my mind, a medium-sized ball of fire shoots out of my right hand and impacts itself into the big rock, leaving a black spot where the fireball was. Then I feel a little bit of pressure in my brain, which is not that significant compared with a few years ago.

{hmm... maybe it's because I put points into [Mind]}

[Mind: It's in charge of your mental power (MP) and mental resistance (MS).]

{I see, so it really was because of that}.

Maybe I can cast this spell 10 times before I feel any pain in my brain, but now that I have more spells, I will need to focus more on [Mind] from now on.

Next is [Wind Slash], and in my right hand, I gather a small ball of wind, and when I aim it at the rock, it transforms into a thin diagonal wind shape that shoots itself into the rock, leaving a fine diagonal cut that is not too deep but not so superficial either.

Good Both spells had the same weight pressure in my brain. As for my last spell, this rock is perfect [Rock Golem]. The huge rock in front of me started to move, and I couldn't get more excited.

In front of me, it's a 6-foot-tall rock formation. It has arms but no hands, and it has feet but no toes. Also, what I assumed was the head was in the middle of his body. What a peculiar form. I feel my brain starting to hurt.

"So this big boy consumes a lot of MP, huh".

It was looking at me; I could feel it, so I said, "Follow me and protect me," in which he started to move, and I finally saw the downside of this summoned creature: it's slow, like painfully slow.

I dismissed my golem, so I need a new plan. I think summoning this guy when there are multiple enemies around me is better for this skill, and if there are just a few of them, I will just kill them with my other skills.Kill.Right, I will need to kill other things to level up, and who's to say that I will not need to kill other human beings?

Looking up into the sky that is covered by clouds, "I think I will think about it more when I get to that point".

***********

I'm Eric I recently graduated from the Adventure Academy of Raas, and with me are my companions Ari, Mary, and Guts. We were classroommates, so when we graduate, we form a party. We still don't have a name that is assigned by the guild when we garner enough reputation.

This is our first mission [Hunt 10 Hornet Rabbits]. According to other adventures, this is always the first mission because [Hornet Rabbits] teach how to move, attack, and react to a faster and more dangerous creature instead of the test dummies of the academy.

Strangely enough, we hadn't seen any of them—only [Slimes] here and there.

"Something is not right," said my companion Guts, carrying on his shoulders an iron broadsword.

"What do you feel, Guts?" asked Mary. She was carrying a scepter, which signified that she was the [Healer] of our group.

"The forest feels dark; something evil is in here." Guts is a [Barbarian]; he relays in his instinct to fight and survive, so it's worth keeping his opinion in mind.

"Ari, what do you see?" I said to our scout, who was only a couple of feet ahead of us, in case I needed to assist her; after all, it's my duty to protect them as the [Noble Fighter] of the party.

"All I can see are [Slimes]. Eric, I think we need to go deeper into the forest to find them". 

That confirmed something is up here; according to the intel of the guild, this zone should be for [Slimes] and [Hornet Rabbits]. Something or someone is hunting [Hornet Rabbits] exclusively.

"Team, we have two options: we stop here and go back to inform the guild, or we go deeper into the forest to figure it out ourselves".

"I say we go deeper," said Ari, who's always been the hothead of the group.

"Even if we go back, we need proof of our claim" that it's true. Mary always thinks logically.

"I will go wherever you guys go." That's my brother's guts.

"Very well, we go deeper, stay alert, and don't forget our training". 

"Yeah, yeah".

 "Understood".

 "Got it".

Like that, the four rookie adventures went deep inside the forest, where their lives would change forever.