The Author's POV

"You..."

Staring at Ren's back for a couple of seconds, Kevin couldn't find any words to say. Though he had a bit of a hunch regarding Ren's strength, when he saw it in person, he was at a loss for words

...fast.

So incredibly fast and efficient.

Although his attention wasn't directed towards Ren at the time he attacked, in the blink of an eye, all of the night lizards were killed.

...not one was spared.

Eleven night lizards were dissected in a blink of an eye. Something that would've taken him quite a while to accomplish.

Recalling the lightning-fast attack that came from behind him, Kevin couldn't help but think to himself

'Could I have stopped that?'

Closing his eyes, Kevin envisioned himself defending himself against that attack. In the end, after a couple of seconds, he shook his head.

...he didn't know. Perhaps when he was fully alert he could, but...if he wasn't paying attention.

Stopping his thoughts there, Kevin didn't want to think about it. Just the thought of him facing such lightning-fast attack made him shudder.

"huuu..."

Taking a deep breath and looking at Ren walking upfront, Kevin had so many questions in his mind, but he refrained from voicing them out. Everyone had their secret, and he knew this fact better than anyone else.

After all, he was hiding a pretty big secret himself...

Although he didn't know why Ren was trying to hide his strength, he knew better than anyone to just shut up and go move on.

"Come on, we still got a bit to cover"

Glancing at Kevin who was deep into his own thoughts, a faint smile appeared on my lips.

Knowing Kevin, he was most likely comparing himself to me. It was a habit of his. Be it friend or foe he would always compare his strength to others.

...It was just engraved into his system. The hot-blooded mindset of a youth seeking to compare himself to someone else and see who was better. That's what Kevin was experiencing...

Shaking my head, I couldn't help but bitterly smile.

'...I'm too old for that'

Though I also wanted to get stronger, I didn't have the same hot-blooded mindest a youth had. Maybe at times, but usually I preferred to stay calm.

Although when I first came into this world I was anything but calm, as I adjusted myself to this place, I somehow regained my confidence and became much calmer.

Moreover, well, he was misunderstanding the true extent of my strength. Although the night lizards were indeed creatures that were hard to kill for him, they were a breeze for someone like me who could just kill them with my incredible speed.

...either way, it doesn't really matter. I wanted to get over with this dungeon as fast as possible.

After all, I had many things to do in preparation for the many tasks I had to complete by the end of the month.

Thus, glancing at Kevin, I picked up my speed.

"Hurry up, we've still got half a day worth of distance to cover..."

Like that, for about the next five hours or so, Kevin and I swiftly moved around the dungeon and killed any monster that obstructed our paths.

Of course, whenever we killed a <D> ranked monster, I would quickly skin it alive and try to see if it had a core, however, somehow, lady luck wasn't on my side today.

Well, that was what I thought until...

"Kyuuuuuueee—!"

A loud desperate cry resounded across the forest as Kevin appeared on top of a large bat-like monster.

Glancing at the humongous bat that was lying dead on the ground, glancing at me, Kevin asked

"This should be the last one no?"

"Yup, now move aside"

Nodding my head, unsheathing my sword I merrily walked towards the bat and stabbed towards its chest area.

-Spurt!

Watching me skin the bat, Kevin shook his head.

Out of the hundreds of monsters they had killed, not one had a core. If there was one thing he learned from Gilbert's class was that finding a core was just as hard as winning the lottery. The chances were almost slim to none.

"Just give up, the probability of getting a core is really small so you better just b—"

—Vuum! —Vuum!

Just as Kevin was telling me to give up, pulling a purple orb-like object that continuously pulsated a purple hue, I raised my brow towards Kevin as a smirk inadvertently appeared on my face

"Sorry, I didn't quite get what you were trying to say?"

Staring at my smirking face, a vein bulged on Kevin's forehead. Trying his best to calm himself down, an awkward smile appeared on his face.

"Congratulations..."

"Mhhhm"

Nodding my head in satisfaction, I couldn't help but slowly caress the purple orb in my hand. Did my E+ rank luck finally work?

...or was this due to Kevin's luck?

Either way, placing the orb in my dimensional space, I merrily walked towards the forest.

"Let's go"

Walking for a further two hundred meters, Kevin couldn't help but ask

"How much longer do we have to walk? I think we've pretty much crossed half of the dungeon already"

Halting my steps in front of a large area filled with large thick green vines, squatting down and placing my hand on the floor, after a couple of seconds, looking up towards Kevin I slowly said

"Actually, we are pretty much already here?"

"Here?"

Looking around, Kevin couldn't help but be confused as all he saw were thick vines and trees everywhere. In fact, the vegetation was so thick here that he couldn't even see the sun.

"...I don't see anything"

Standing up, cracking my neck, I said

"That's because you can't see it yet"

-Slash! -Slash!

Unsheathing my sword, I then proceeded to hack towards the large vines.

Like that, for the next five minutes, I continuously cut down the large vines in front of me. Soon after, a large rumbling sound started becoming discernible by both me and Kevin as the ground below us shook slightly.

Looking up ahead, and seeing a small light appear from the gaps of the vines, a smile appeared on my face

"Alright"

-Slash!

Slashing one more time, the scenery before me and Kevin changed one more time as a large waterfall appeared before us.

-Rumble!

"Is that a waterfall?"

"Yup"

Simultaneously halting our footsteps, Kevin and I watched as an enormous waterfall appeared before us. Surrounded by vines, a pocket-like space that contained a large pond and a waterfall appeared before us. Looking up, we could finally once again see the sun shining down on the land.

-Splash! -Splash!

As the water fell and crashed against the hard rocks on the ground, a small rainbow appeared in the area. It was a truly mesmerizing sight.

Snapping out of his daze, Kevin looked around and asked

"What do we do now?"

Glancing at Kevin, taking off my shirt and pants, without hesitation, I jumped into the small pond below the waterfall

"...What else aside from swimming"

-Splash!

Soon after I said those words, diving deep into the water, I felt my skin sting due to the cold sensation of the water brushing against my skin.

Gritting my teeth and remaining underwater, I waited for Kevin to dive as well.

-Splash!

Not a minute after, Kevin's figure appeared next to me beneath the water. Using my hand to signal him to follow me, using breaststroke, I swam towards the deeper end of the water.

As I swam, appearing in my view was a small black tunnel. Glancing at Kevin behind me, and making sure he was following me, I pointed towards the tunnel and swam in it.

Looking at the tunnel, Kevin nodded his head and proceeded to follow me.

...

-Splash! -Splash!

Inside of a dark cave, the tranquil pond that did not ripple for years, suddenly rippled as shortly after two large heads appeared from beneath the water.

"Huuuuuua!"

"Huuuuuua!"

Appearing from beneath the water, I along with Kevin, heavily gulped for air as we floated in the water.

"l-let's get out, it's a bit too cold"

As my teeth chattered, using breaststroke, I moved towards the edge of the pond and quickly got out of the water.

...getting out of the water, I couldn't help but shiver due to the cold. Although I was somehow more resistant to the cold, it still didn't prevent me from getting cold.

Shortly after, taking out a towel from my dimensional space I dried my body and put on my clothes.

After making sure I had all my clothes on, turning towards Kevin, who was also dressed up, I nodded towards him and moved deeper into the cave.

"Alright follow me, we're close"

"Okay..."

Drying his hair with a towel, Kevin nodded his head and followed me into a dark path inside of the cave.

As we were walking deeper into the cave, five minutes in, a strong residual magical energy could be felt in the air. The closer we walked, the more stifling the atmosphere became.

—Vuam! —Vuam!

Opening his eyes wide, feeling the intense magical energy, Kevin looked at me to which I nodded back.

"Yes, we're here"

Thereafter, turning right of the passageway, a large purple gate appeared before us. However, contrary to a regular gate, this one had evident signs of human tampering as thick black pillars appeared on its sides along with some tall statues of what seemed to be gargoyles.

Stopping before the large gate, I rubbed my hand together and said

"Welp, this is as far as I can go"

Nodding his head slowly, without looking away from the gate, Kevin opened his mouth and quietly asked

"...is this where I can find the sword art?"

Nodding my head, I made sure to remind him of a few things that I had previously told him on our way here

"Yeah, make sure you follow the instructions that I told you on the way to the dungeon, only look for a golden book at the center of the palace and don't go anywhere else as I can't control..."

Staring at the gate in a daze, most of my words went from one ear to the other. Noticing this, I sighed and just stopped talking.

"I'm going"

Seeing that I was done talking, Kevin took a step towards the gate

"Bye"

Helplessly smiling, I waved at him

However, just as Kevin was about to enter, recalling something, Kevin turned around and looked at me straight into my eyes. Seriously nodding his head, he solemnly said

"Thank you, if I really get the sword art, I'll keep the end of my deal"

Smiling without responding, I watched as Kevin subsequently entered the portal.

—Vuam!

"Huaamm..."

Watching Kevin's figure disappear into the portal, I lazily yawned and leaned against one of the statues next to the portal.

'This might take a bit...'