The borders of Atlan and Kolnman face each other.

The Helmir Forest lies in the north of these two countries. Recently, with the increasing appearance of magical beasts in this area, the people living in the border zone suffered greatly.

Atlan and Kolnman speculated that these were the acts of dark sorcerers and sent a few high-ranking sorcerers to maintain the protective barrier.

However, if the magical beasts attacked in groups, even the sturdy barrier would crumble. The magical beasts would breach the protective barrier and turn the villages adjacent to the border into ruins.

The people who couldn’t endure this decided to protect themselves and began participating in the magical beast hunts, thus starting the trend of monster hunters.

Ever since Hyle Robert first took Ariel on a monster hunt, she became completely absorbed in practicing swordsmanship.

Day by day, her sword skills and mana affinity improved, and she gained wealth and honor as a bonus.

However, even after four years since she started participating in monster hunts, she couldn’t seem to reach the mastery level. But finally, in that year, she became a swordmaster.

***

Bright daylight.

A golden-black light, like a crescent moon visible even under the dazzling sun, passed through the neck of the prey.

Blue blood, shooting into the sky, dropped to the ground along with that neck.

Ariel, standing a few steps behind, sheathed her sword in its scabbard.

Then she looked at the blood splatter on her white leather boots, seemingly disgusted.

She was able to return home clean and in the same condition as when she left home, but somehow a drop of blood splattered on my boots. Mumbling about her bad luck, she bent down and picked up a fallen leaf from the ground, hastily wiping off the blood.

But screams could be heard not far away.

It wasn’t the voice of one person. It was the scream of a crowd.

Ariel quickly turned around and ran towards the source of the sound after putting her sword on her shoulder.

There, a giant monster was lying down in front of a small cave beneath a cliff.

When its enormous hand couldn’t reach inside the cave, it hit the cave with its fist. As a result, fragments of rock flew into the air, and the cliff shook.

It seemed like the cave would collapse soon.

Ariel approached to assess the situation. Only then did the giant monster notice her presence and stood up.

His eyes were filled with mischief. In comparison to other giant monsters, his stature was small.

‘He must be a young giant monster.’

She thought she should deal with it quickly before any support arrived. Without hesitation, she jumped up, grabbed the monster’s pants, climbed up, passed his back, and reached his shoulder.

Since the giant monster was still young, it hadn’t encountered monster hunters often.

Therefore, in an attempt to grab Ariel, the giant monster shook its body in confusion.

However, Ariel had already jumped down while holding onto the shoulder strap of the monster’s top, and she plunged her sword into his heart.

Hyle’s sword emitted a vibration of mana towards the giant’s heart. Ariel could immediately recognize that it was a vulnerable spot.

The giant let out a final scream and collapsed.

Before the giant’s body could touch the ground, Ariel let go of the hand that had been grabbing his clothes and landed safely on the ground.

To evacuate the people, she immediately headed towards the cave.

The people in the cave were poor orphans who sustained a meager living by selling the claws and teeth of monsters that hunters had failed to collect.

“Come on, kids, hurry up and come out.”

Ariel embraced the children’s shoulders.

Although she herself was only eighteen years old, she took good care of the children who were trembling in fear, which reminded her of her past life before possession.

But before they could all get out, a strong vibration could be felt from the ground.

The ground shook as though there were a powerful earthquake. When the trees firmly rooted in the ground began to shake, the birds that had perched on the trees scattered in the sky.

A haze of dust rose in the distance.

Sensing an ominous atmosphere, Ariel gathered the four children and climbed up the cliff.

This was possible because she had made her body stronger with mana.

After placing the children down, she stared into their eyes, one by one.

The children’s bodies trembled like bamboo in the wind, seized by fear.

‘Should I reassure frightened children? We can’t let your guard down and get hurt, so it’s better to face reality, even if it means the children would be tormented.’

Ariel opened her eyes wide and spoke in a rather gentle tone.

“Don’t think about escaping to another place because it’s dangerous, just stay inside the defense barrier. Until I come back.”

When they felt that she might leave, they grabbed onto her hunting clothes in fear.

Then, she let out a faint breath and gently caressed the head of the smallest child with her hand.

“Don’t worry. This little one will protect you.”

Ariel put her hand inside her vest and took out a magic tool.

She placed the cylindrical magic tool on the ground, and when she pressed a switch, a shield was created.

It would give the children some time if they were in danger for her to come running.

After setting it up, Ariel covered herself in mana and safely jumped off the high cliff.

The ground still trembled, and a faint dusty cloud rose in the distance.

Ariel ran at full speed, trying to get as far away from the cliff as possible to attract attention.

The magical beasts that sensed her movement changed direction and chased after her.

In the midst of the dust that filled the forest, a group of giant magical beasts appeared.

Ariel took out a sword from the sheath on her waist. Her white and small hands gripped the dark blue hilt and pulled out a longsword from the scabbard.

She sent mana through the longsword, creating a sword energy. The shimmering golden mana enveloped the blade.

Using the mana, she realized that more than thirty beings were running towards her.

The number of magical beasts wasn’t important to her.

She had enough ability and mana to kill them all, even if it took some time.

However, it was uncertain whether she could eliminate all of them before they approached the children.

Tension rose sharply, and her throat became dry. Sweat dripped from the hand that gripped the sword.

Zing, zing.

The red star embedded in the scabbard emitted light and vibrated.

‘Now.’

She flew towards the direction the sword’s blade was pointing. The sword accurately struck the center of the giant’s forehead, splitting it in half with the golden mana enveloping the blade.

Before the giant’s remains touched the ground, she stepped on its shoulder and jumped into the air.

She quickly climbed onto the back of another giant. Golden flames rose and burned the giant’s neck.

Flying through the air, she swung her sword, navigating through the gaps between the giants.

As the bodies piled up on the ground, a warning alarm and screams echoed from the cliffside.

‘What I feared has happened.’

Ariel forcefully turned her body and swung the sword. Her hair swirled in the air, forming a circle. Soon, the torso of the giant that was blocking her path was split into two.

She lightly stepped on the falling giant’s body and flew up to the cliff to assess the situation. The giants were about to attack the children by climbing up the cliff.

There were five giants. And the magical shield had reached its limit.

If they were cut down one by one, the giants who didn’t die could attack or abduct the children.

But Ariel had no way to kill these huge monsters all at once.

What should she do? Ariel’s mind raced as she ran towards the children.

Seeing the helpless figure of the children with their heads covered with both hands, it felt like she was seeing her past self, and a burning sensation welled up in her chest.

Memories of her school days before possessing Ariel came to mind, where she lived a life like an orphan despite having parents. Those days when she would work late into the night with an empty stomach after school on a cold winter day. Sitting in a room with inadequate heating, eating cold instant noodles.

The sadness and loneliness that she had forgotten all this time shook her from the depths of her being.

A deep green anger filled her emerald eyes.

She lightly wrapped the golden mana around the sword in her hand. Then she added more mana on top of it.

One layer, two layers, three layers—the sword began to get thicker with each layer.

It was a layered sword technique that could be used when reaching the level of a swordmaster.