Chapter 37 | The Seventh Witch

... ...

“Oh? So something like that actually happened!”

Semilis listened to Shulim's account of today's encounter with an expression full of interest.

“Hahaha! That little girl named Fran really is a magnet for disaster! She probably won't be able to sleep for a long time, huh?”

Seeing Semilis's expression—which held not a single shred of sympathy, but was instead filled with gloating amusement—Shulim glanced helplessly at her sleeve.

“Perhaps. It seems she really was terrified...”

After all, when she had handed her over to the guards, Fran had clung to her arm and refused to let go no matter what, looking as if everyone except Shulim was going to kidnap her.

But how was she going to explain this torn sleeve when she got back?

“Never mind about Fran. By the way... Semilis, why haven't we done any combat training these past few days? Instead, you've just been having me constantly practice the magic I've already learned.”

“Ah—about that...”

Semilis stopped laughing, looked at Shulim, and fell into deep thought.

“Indeed. It feels like you've mostly finished adjusting, so it's time to officially move on to the next phase.”

“The next phase?”

“Yep, exactly. You, Shulim, can start learning Third-Tier magic.”

“Eh?”

Semilis's sudden announcement made Shulim's eyes widen.

“Third-Tier... you mean? Has my mana already reached C-Class?”

Semilis nodded. “Indeed it has. You reached it a few days ago, but to ensure there wouldn't be any issues, I waited a couple of days first. However, looking at it now, your mana has truly stabilized at C-Class.”

【Shulim Hayeral

Race: Human (Female)

Age: Nine

Life: D+-Class

Mana: C-Class

Magic Aptitude:

Fire Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Fire Blessing)

Water Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Water Blessing)

Earth Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Earth Blessing)

Wind Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Wind Blessing)

Light Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Light Blessing)

Dark Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Dark Blessing)

Non-Elemental Affinity S-Class (Fairy Queen's Non-Elemental Blessing)

... ...

】

“Third-Tier...”

Receiving Semilis's confirmation, Shulim felt a bit dazed for a moment. Her heartbeat, which hadn't accelerated much even during her fight earlier, couldn't help but quicken slightly now.

C-Class.

Although it didn't sound particularly high, this rank was vastly different from D-Class and E-Class. D-Class and E-Class were generally considered the realm of novices or low-tier individuals.

On the other hand, C-Class was already a bona fide symbol of a veteran and a mainstay. Among adventurers, it was a synonym for reliability and a badge of strength. Even in the military, it was a power tier where one would be directly appointed as a squad leader. It could be said that C-Class individuals were never negligible anywhere; they represented the elite forces of every race.

One had to keep in mind that in the entire Mente Town, there were only a handful of people whose strength was publicly known to have reached C-Class, and one of them was Shulim's father, Rezerian.

“...Is my strength already about to reach my father's level?”

Because she suddenly had a clear and concrete point of reference, Shulim finally realized just how far she had progressed.

“Haha, no matter how you look at it, Shulim, you won't immediately be on par with someone who has been C-Class for years. You still have to study, as well as...”

“Train?”

“Exactly! Train!”

Shulim's excitement gradually settled, and she then spoke in her usual calm tone:

“I know what I need to do next.”

“Mhm, good! Full of energy! Very commendable!”

Semilis raised her chin as she praised Shulim. Then, her body gradually drifted upward into the air, her wings emitting waves of green light.

“So then—”

“—our lessons for Third-Tier magic are about to take off!”

“Wait... Semilis, what is this? And what do you mean by ‘take off’?”

Watching the green glow cover her as well, Shulim suddenly had an ominous premonition.

“Haha, taking off is, of course—”

“—flying!”

“Aaaah!!!”

High above the forest canopy, Shulim's rapidly receding scream echoed through the sky.

... ...

Whoosh—!

Deep in the Monster Forest.

A storm suddenly descended from the sky onto a mountain peak. In an instant, the creatures across the entire mountain were frightened and fled into the distance.

“Ah—!”

Shulim fell to the ground, her face slightly pale, and her stomach churning violently as if turned upside down.

“This won't do, Shulim. You'll have to learn how to fly like this yourself in the future, you know. How can you look so motion-sick? It's simply unseemly.”

“Semilis, you... urgh—”

The intense dizziness made Shulim feel like she was going to throw up the moment she opened her mouth.

She could only shut her mouth tightly and focus on recovering.

Only after quite a while did Shulim feel slightly better. She then stared at Semilis with a look of pure grievance.

“Semilis, no matter how you look at it, that was way too sudden! We were flying so fast that the wind wouldn't even let me open my eyes!”

“Well, there, there. Don't be mad. I'll warn you first next time.”

Semilis spoke with absolutely no trace of apology in her voice.

“What? Does that mean there's going to be a next time...?”

Shulim's eyes dimmed considerably for a moment.

“Alright, let's leave it at that. What do you think of this place? I spent quite some time looking for it. You won't have to worry about anyone disturbing us here!”

Hearing Semilis say this, Shulim finally noticed her surroundings.

Looking up, she saw an endless expanse of forest in every direction, stretching as far as the eye could see.

“Hey... Semilis, where... is this place?”

“This is deep within the Monster Forest!”

Wait, isn't this an extremely dangerous place?!

The Monster Forest was a massive woodland that spanned more than ten nations, including the Pasara Empire. Because a vast number of monsters inhabited its depths, it had been named the Monster Forest. It was said that it went by a different name long ago, but that name had long since been forgotten by history, and people today only remembered this one.

For the vast majority of people, the Monster Forest was an extremely perilous forbidden zone. Even groups of C-Class adventurers only dared to operate in its outer regions. Only high-ranking adventurers of B-Class or above dared to set foot in its depths.

The Mente Mine had originally been discovered in the border areas of the Monster Forest, and the so-called development referred to campaigns of conquest against the forest. It was easy to imagine how high the price was for conducting operations in such a dangerous territory. Of course, the returns on this investment were equally immense, which was why the Hayeral family had insisted on participating in the effort all those years ago, despite the vast distance of ten thousand li.

And now, she, someone who hadn't even reached C-Class yet, had arrived in the depths where even the imperial army did not dare to tread lightly back then...

She turned her head to look at the fairy beside her, who was looking completely relaxed and leisurely.

Semilis: “?”

Correction: the Fairy Queen.

Shulim suddenly felt that the depths of the Monster Forest weren't all that special after all; it was just trees as far as the eye could see.

“Semilis, why did you suddenly bring me here?”

Was her next training session going to be something like wilderness survival, just like what Big Brother Sieg went through?

“Naturally, it's because Third-Tier magic is too conspicuous. If we kept training back there, you'd be discovered in no time!”

That was true, a very reasonable justification.

“And other than that?”

“Eh—”

Semilis gave Shulim a surprised look.

“Well... there's also the fact that we can easily find quite a few suitable opponents around here.”

“I see. So there was indeed that reason.”

Shulim's composure actually caught Semilis off guard.

“Eh?! Just like that?”

“Why are you the one who is surprised, Semilis? Weren't you the one who brought me here? More importantly, what is the first Third-Tier spell I'm going to learn?”