Chapter 8

Finally, we came face to face with the horde of undead... and their boss, Goulhead.

The horde consisted solely of wights, the most common monsters in *Magic World*. They were reanimated corpses infused with tainted mana. There were nearly thirty of them, but all were wights, with no other types of monsters.

I was somewhat relieved by this. In *Magic World*, it's not uncommon for troublesome monsters to sneak into a group.

And then there was the boss, Goulhead.

"Uaaaaaah!"

A giant, green zombie head with legs and thick arms sprouted from it. Its comical appearance only heightened the sense of revulsion and aversion.

"...The club he's holding isn't anything special, either."

I checked the club Goulhead held, feeling relieved. Sometimes, these kinds of monsters have rare items with low probability, which can be a problem. In a game, it's just a quirk of the developers, but in this world, it's not that simple. It would be disastrous to be wiped out by such a rare occurrence.

"Alright, Tail, Paul! Follow me as my vanguard! The rest of you, reduce the number of wights as much as you can!"

Goutan said this, then charged forward with his axe. The red mage Tail and the swordsman Paul followed behind.

...Watching Goutan's rough command made me uneasy. Well, I'll just reduce the number of wights as quickly as possible. I don't want to face Goulhead at my current level, and I'd only get in Goutan's way.

"Let's quickly take care of that big-faced boss's minions."

I said this to the surrounding adventurers.

"Are you really going to charge into that many monsters? Even if they're wights, you could get hit if they get behind you. I thought Goutan would scatter them, but it looks like he's going to focus on the boss..."

One adventurer said this hesitantly.

Ah, that's why they seemed so hesitant...

Everyone here is facing a horde of monsters for the first time. Especially with the unsettling appearance of the undead, and with a commander who charges ahead without giving proper orders, it's understandable that they're hesitant.

There are seven of us here. However, I want to act independently.

"Split into groups of three. Cover each other's backs, and you won't be at a disadvantage against wights. I'll move alone and draw the wights' attention, reducing the number heading your way. Is that okay?"

"No, no, we'll do that..."

None of the adventurers objected to my suggestion. They had looked down on me during the journey, like Tail, but now they seemed to rely on me after seeing my calmness in this situation.

"If anything unexpected happens, inform your companions immediately. I'll come to help."

We charged into the horde of wights.

I moved alone and was quickly surrounded by wights, but wights are low-level monsters. Moreover, undead tend to move slowly and have large, predictable movements.

"Parry! Parry!"

I moved nimbly, deflecting their attacks with my sword and disrupting their stance. I had practiced the timing of wight attacks extensively in *Magic World*.

I also had the sword skills to fully utilize the knowledge from *Magic World*. In this world, the personal abilities of the head of a family determine the family's authority. Even if I'm no longer the heir, I was once the next in line for the Edvahn family. Dealing with wight attacks is nothing for me.

"Good... Parry is working even better than I imagined."

The skill Parry is powerful but requires the ability to perfectly read the enemy's attack timing. Without knowledge and skill, it's difficult to use effectively. Whether or not one can master Parry significantly affects a heavy knight's evaluation.

I used Parry to disrupt the wights' stance, then struck with the blade of Disarm to reduce their attack power. I then followed up with a counterattack, using my armor to block.

"Wall Return!"

The wight's right arm exploded and flew away.

[You have gained 11 experience points.]

[Your level has increased from 12 to 13.]

[You have gained 1 skill point.]

Good...!

I want to keep leveling up at this rate. This number of enemies at this level is efficient. In that sense, this was a great request.

I dodged, deflected, and executed Wall Return one after another. Before I knew it, I had created nearly ten wight corpses. In *Magic World*, the amount of experience gained decreases rapidly as the level difference increases, but I still managed to level up.

[You have gained 4 experience points.]

[Your level has increased from 15 to 16.]

[You have gained 1 skill point.]

Good, good, it's going smoothly.

I now have 5 skill points. I'm looking forward to allocating them.

-------------------------

[Elma Edvahn]

Class: Heavy Knight

Lv: 16

HP: 29/47

MP: 14/19

Attack: 13+5

Defense: 34+5

Magic: 15

Speed: 15

[Equipment]

<Low-Rank Soldier's Sword>

<Iron Armor>

[Special Skills]

<None>

[Normal Skills]

<Wall Return>

<Disarm>

<Parry>

[Titles]

<Immovable>

<F-Class Adventurer>

-------------------------

Good, good, it's going smoothly.

"That guy said he'd draw the wights, right? He's taking down most of them alone."

"He's a heavy knight, right? Why is he so agile... and why can he blow them away with such ridiculous power?"

I could hear the other adventurers whispering and pointing at me.

My status isn't particularly fast compared to other adventurers of the same level. However, wights move slowly and have large, predictable movements, so my preemptive and precise actions make me seem faster.

Wall Return is just a basic monster-hunting skill. It looks impressive because of the defense boost from the early-game skill Oath of Heavy Armor.

"...He's reliable, but I'm starting to fear him more than the wights."

Hey, I can hear you...

To be honest, I'm not fully utilizing the strengths of a heavy knight yet. I want to level up a bit more so I can allocate skill points more freely.