Chapter 8

"Take a good look."

Tall started stomping a few steps in front of the tree, while Sora, standing a little further away, watched him intently, holding her staff.

The wooden sword had already been removed from the sword belt and was now held in Tall's right hand.

His arms hung loosely, with no tension in any part of his body.

He looked as if he were strolling leisurely through the streets.

Of course, this was in the middle of a forest, with no bustling crowds of people.

The only sounds were the wind rustling through the branches and leaves, and the occasional crunch of undergrowth under the dappled sunlight.

The tip of the sword swayed gently.

It moved back and forth, swaying in rhythm with his stomping.

Gradually, the sword began to trace circles.

Round and round it went.

It happened suddenly.

Sora, distracted by the movement of the wooden sword, missed that crucial moment.

When she realized, something had already leaped up to Tall's thigh.

It was a brown mass, about the size of a person's head.

A large hole had appeared at Tall's feet, seemingly out of nowhere.

The brown mass, emerging from underground, rushed towards Tall's chest with terrifying speed.

Sora barely noticed that the front part of the mass was sharply pointed.

If it continued, it would pierce through—

The girl instinctively gripped her staff tightly, but in the next instant, she realized her worry was unnecessary.

Tall's body moved silently backward, deftly evading the attack from below.

His arm, which had been hanging loosely, snapped like a whip, and the wooden sword struck the tip of the mass forcefully.

The movement of pulling back and slashing upward seemed to be connected by an invisible thread, so swift was it.

The sword, now pointing skyward, cut through the air and came down.

It rose and fell again, roaring with each strike.

In the brief moment he took a half-step back, Tall had delivered four sword blows.

Unable to evade in mid-air, the brown mass was flung away, scattering dirt.

The creature, now on the ground, twisted its neck to face Tall.

It had a stout body with abnormally large front paws and long claws.

Its entire body was covered in dark brown fur, and though the details were unclear, a prominent, sharp, horn-like protrusion on its face stood out.

And one more thing.

Red blood, like tears, was streaming intensely from what seemed to be the monster's eyes.

The beast let out a sharp cry, as if exhaling, and in an instant, it dug into the ground with its long claws and disappeared.

Tall, having witnessed this, shifted his position a few steps and began stomping again.

"It's coming again, take a good look."

"Wow, Tall, you hit it three times! Amazing!"

Tall glanced at the excited Sora and continued in a gruff tone.

"You were watching closely. When you think you can do it, give it a try."

"Okay."

Almost simultaneously with her response, the ground at Tall's feet began to rise.

This time, Sora, who was fully focused, opened her eyes wide and did not miss the movement.

The monster, covered in dirt, shot out of the ground with incredible speed and charged at Tall again.

The girl's eyes captured the entire sequence of movements, along with the surrounding space.

—<Reversal>.

The shock that should have been generated changed direction and was returned to its source.

With a squelching sound, the tip of the brown mass, which had been flying through the air, suddenly deformed.

Tall, who had been waiting, gripped the wooden sword with both hands and struck it sharply.

The skull shattered, and white fragments mixed with blood were scattered in the air.

The monster, its brain crushed, fell to the ground, bounced once, and then lay still.

"Yay, Tall, wow!"

Sora, who had rushed over, couldn't help but exclaim at the sight of Tall.

He had been drenched in brain matter and blood, but it couldn't be helped.

Using <Restoration> to remove the traces of battle from his clothes, Tall bent down and grabbed the hind leg of the freshly killed prey and lifted it.

"Is this a Horned Mole?"

"Yeah, I might have gone a bit overboard."

"Really?"

"The horns are gone."

The face of the monster, which had been thrown back by its own momentum, was indented inward.

As a result, the horn-like snout was completely crushed.

Most of an adventurer's income comes from monster bounties.

However, without proof of the kill, they cannot receive the reward.

For this reason, they must bring back the designated parts.

"...Sorry, Tall."

"No, it'll be fine."

Remembering how he had returned spilled slime to its shell, Tall touched the monster's head.

The body of the hanging Horned Mole instantly returned to a state without a single wound, as if it were about to move at any moment.

Sora, startled, quickly grabbed the sleeve of Tall's shirt.

"Did you bring it back to life?"

"That's impossible. The soul is the domain of the creators. All I can do is restore a corpse to its pre-death state."

Moreover, it only applies to monsters defeated in battle, not to those that died naturally.

He secretly tried it later, but it was impossible to revert the monster to its pre-mutation state before it was transformed by miasma.

This was because the transformation was caused by the power of the god of destruction.

Tall used a dissection knife to cut off the regrown mole's horn.

He immediately used <Restoration> to cut it off at a deeper position.

By the third attempt, Sora was staring intently.

"Tall, are you cheating?"

"Just a little check. Besides, my family has grown, so I need to increase my income. Don't worry, I'll do it to a degree that won't raise suspicion."

"Huh, oh, right. Um, isn't it bad to just go around killing monsters normally?"

Unable to hide the smile that came to her face at the mention of family, Sora tilted her head.

"Horned Moles in this forest are rare. If you find one in an hour, that's a lot."

"Really? That few?"

"Since it's close to the city. The miasma is thin here, and there are many other adventurers."

As she said this, Sora recalled that they had just passed by other adventurers.

Ignoring the nodding girl, Tall tied the hind leg of the decapitated Horned Mole with hemp rope and hung it from a tree to bleed it out.

"Wow, the claws are really big."

Sora, peering over, exclaimed with interest.

"They use these to dig through the ground."

"Oh, that's why this area is so bumpy."

Sora, noticing the mounded earth around the roots, pointed it out.

"These creatures make their homes near trees and attack by listening for footsteps. Be careful not to approach trees with disturbed roots."

At Tall's words, Sora's face tensed, and she took a step back.

"Yeah, monsters have territories. If one is present, there won't be others nearby, so you can relax. Also, Horned Moles are slow. If you dodge the first attack, you can easily run away."

"The first attack is the hardest to avoid."

Tall nudged Sora's chest, who had a reluctant look on her face.

"That's what the chest plate is for. Moles aim for the heart, so they're relatively easy to dodge."

"That's true. I was really surprised by how fast you moved just now."

"Yeah, I've been <Restoring> different parts of my body. As I get more used to it, I'll be able to move even better."

"So that's why you were touching your body all over today."

"...You really do pay attention."

"Of course, I pay attention. You're just too cool, Tall."

While Sora flirted casually, Tall was thinking about something entirely different.

In the battle just now, Sora had adapted almost instantly after just one look.

Thanks to her, what would have taken Tall twenty minutes alone was over in three minutes.

Even though she grew up in the countryside, Sora didn't have such keen eyesight before.

Was it due to her near-death experience, or perhaps because she had been in a state of <Stasis> for a long time?

Curious, Tall gently placed his hand on Sora's shoulder.

Focusing on the area above her head, a white trunk appeared in his mind.

Sora's skill tree, unlike Tall's spiral, was a straight column.

Though still short, a branch of <Reversal> had grown horizontally.

At the bottom of the trunk, Tall noticed a small, slightly swollen white fruit.

As soon as he noticed, words flowed through his mind.

<Spatial Perception>—Detailed grasp of the target's space.

Activation: Automatic / Effect: Small / Range: Visual

It seemed to be a spatial version of Tall's <Temporal Perception>.

It was unclear whether it was an innate root trait or a trunk fruit trait obtained by defeating a special monster.

As he continued to touch it, Sora's skill tree began to wobble strangely.

Seeing this familiar sight, Tall reaffirmed the depth of his <Restoration>.

"What, what's wrong, Tall?"

"No, don't worry about it."

Letting go of Sora's shoulder, Tall acted as if nothing had happened, despite her blushing and closed eyes.

He then touched his right wrist.

When he struck the Horned Mole, it didn't bend as much as he expected, so he <Restored> it to the state it was at age twenty-five.

At age twenty, his muscles were well-defined, but he exerted too much force.

His eighteen-year-old waist felt like a different person, but it was too light and made him move too much.

He considered adding a few years to make it heavier.

By testing and adjusting each part to find the perfect balance of muscle and experience, Tall aimed to make his body move even better than in his prime.

Confirming his impossibly light body, Tall muttered to himself.

"...It seems I can reach deeper into the forest sooner than I thought."