Two days have passed since Theo left Aeston. It wasn't that hard for him to leave Aeston. He had said his goodbyes, and he had done everything he needed to do in Aeston. Even without giving Miki a proper farewell, nothing burdens him down. He had a little bit of doubt in his heart about his decision to leave Mary, but his conversation with her the night before cemented his resolve.

He always thought of leaving his dream and settle down with her, but he had chosen his path. Whatever the path he chose entails, there was no going back now. The bridge has been burned. Not really. He could still go back, but that wouldn't be interesting wouldn't it?

Back in the Adventurer guild, Theo saw some quest offering those who could guard them during their trip to the capital with quite the amount of gold. The road between the capital and Aeston wasn't known for its safety, so a quest like that wasn't rare, but Theo didn't take it. He wanted to be alone. At least during his travel to the capital. It had been a long time since he was out in the wilderness without a quest or time limit. He chose to go into the forest to cut the travel time and to train his senses again.

The night was already late. Theo rested his bodies at the foot of a tree in the forest. In front of him was a shoddy campfire that he made. It was not a pretty campfire by any means, but it worked. It kept him warm and illuminated his surrounding.

On his right, Panes rest on his shoulder. On the ground next to him lies his chest and leg armor. If he wanted to train his senses, he has to place himself in danger, there was no point otherwise.

He closed his eyes and took a deep relaxing breath.

He could feel the wind dancing around him. The air already turned cold. Soon autumn will come, then the winter. He hoped to arrive in the Eternal City before winter. The sound of insect singing in the forest was clear to his ears. The sound of animal walking and the grass being stomped. The sound of leaf rustling, water flowing...... and the breath of a stalking predator.

Stalking and watching him from the shadow.

Theo chuckled. A pack of wolves might be a fine practice. A jungle panther or two also fine, or maybe he wanted a Chimera. He couldn't decide. Though a chimera wasn't a realistic choice since he wasn't that far from the main road. Whatever it was, it better comes fast.

---

Now!

Theo jumped from his position, turned his body midair, grabbed the sword and unsheathed it at the same times. Then a perfect landing, he could do a pose too if he wanted.

Theo clicked his tongue to show his disappointment. His eyes still closed. The beast stalked him for an hour in the shadow. It circled him again and again without attacking. It made Theo impatient.

A cracking sound was followed by a loud thump, enough to send the birds flying. It was the tree that Theo leaned his body on before. If the beast was strong enough to destroy a tree trunk in one hit, it was a chimera. "Heh," Theo said.

There was an urge to open his eyes, but he fought those urges. A chimera was not a high enough threat to demand his vision. He readied his sword and held it in two hands. He made sure his feet were light and his arm flexible, ready to move at any moment.

A roar erupted. The beast was taunting him.

He didn't move, not a finger.

The hissing of a snake, the roar of a lion, and .... what sound did goat make? Baa..ed?

The beast jumped with its hind legs and swiped the air with its claw.

He sidestepped it while slashing at the beast direction. He felt the resistance when a blade cut through flesh. It was only a slight resistance, the blade didn't cut deep.

Theo jumped back as he sensed the hissing of the snake coming to his right. The fast flowing air in front of his face confirmed his suspicion. The snake part was coming to bite him. And just like before, he retaliated.

A swift upward strike sent the snake part flying.

Theo smiled when he barely felt any resistance. It was just like Andre said, the most beautiful among the beauty that he has ever made. While the sword was far from the best among all the sword Theo had ever wielded. It was by far the best sword that he owned.

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The blade length, the shape, the edges, the sharpness, the grip, the guards, comfort, center of mass, balance, everything was perfect for him. Including the pommel, in case he needed to end his enemies rightly.

He ducked the sweeping claws, sidestepped the closing jaw, and blocked the coming horn with his sword.

This time, instead of attacking back, Theo ran straight to a tree with his eyes closed. But He was not without a plan. The beast was chasing him by his tail.

Before his body hit the tree, he jumped upward, high enough to reach the branches. He let the beast crashed into the tree headfirst. And just as the tree was about to fall, he jumped again. This time on the beast's head.

'[Monster beheading]' He screamed inside his mind. With a mighty shout and a thundering thump, he brought the blade down.

The goat head was split, splattered to a pulp of blood and flesh. This left only the lion head. The sound of the beast struggling in pain was as clear to his ears as a shout. It hesitated, now realizing who's the prey and who's the predator.

The beast took a step back.

Theo took two steps forward.

It roared and lashed out, it won't give up. But a half-hearted attack like that won't work. Theo ran his blade through the beast's skull, killing where it stood.

Theo slowly opened his eyes and looked at the beast's corpse. That was a good exercise. He was fighting the urges to open his eyes the whole time, and it paid off, he succeeded.

He approached the corpse and inspected it. It was strange to see a chimera this close to the main road, something must be happening inside the forest. Something bad enough to drove a mighty Chimera near the main road. Theo wondered whether it has something to do with the prophecy he got from the unique dungeon. It did say something about the monsters will rise. He has to report it to the Adventurer guild once he reached the capital so that they could dispatch a party to investigate it. It would be disastrous if a beast like a chimera attacked Aeston.

He used a knife to cut the lion head and take it as a trophy he could exchange later at the adventurer guild. Then he took a crumpled paper from one of his pouches and opened it. There were symbols and runes written on it. It was a magic paper, used by adventurers who can't cast magic to use magic, but its effectiveness was very limited, and it was pretty expensive. Even a tier one spell could cost tens of silver.

The paper vanished, consumed by a fire that did not emit any heat. A normal person who saw it would have jumped as it was so sudden, but Theo had seen it numerous times. He used the magic to slow down the decay of the head. The higher the quality of the trophy, the more he could earn from it.

After cleaning the mess, which includes dumping the massive chimera's body somewhere, he returned to his destroyed campfire. His things were scattered all over the place because of the chimera. He collected his things, remade his campfire, and prepared to rest for the night. There shouldn't be any beast or monster that brave enough to attack him now that he was carrying a severed head of a chimera. Unless that monster or beast was stronger than a chimera.

----

Three days passed without anything eventful happened. Some desperate wolves attacked him, but it was nothing. Most beast and monster stayed away from him because of the chimera's head he carried. In those uneventful days, he was able to confirm his suspicion. Something happened in the forest between Aeston and the capital, something bad enough to drive many monsters and beast near the main road. Despite this, Theo still took the forest road to cut travel time, it's not like any monster was a threat to him anyway.

Two more days and he will arrive at the capital of Amaryn kingdom, Redmound. That was, of course, if everything went well. Just like every night before, Theo sat at the foot of a tree facing his shoddily made campfire. He closed his eyes and rest his armorless body, but his mind was wide-awake.

His eyes jolted open. There was a presence in the forest, not too far from him. It wasn't a monster, it was a humanoid.
'Two? No, Three.' He thought. What were they doing there? Adventurers maybe, but it was rare for an adventurer to have only a party of three.

He stood up and went to where they were to investigate. He watched his feet to not make any sound since he wasn't sure who those people were. They could be friendly, or they could be hostile.

Soon he reached a clearing in the forest. He hid in the bushes and watched as three people stepped out from the shadow of the forest into the clearing. They were all dressed in a long black robe that covered every detail about their appearance. Another person appeared from the opposite direction of the first three. He or she, or whatever it was, also wore the same long black robe.

He could feel the tense air between the first three and the new person. He watched and listened as they talked. He strained his ears so that he didn't miss a single detail of what they were discussing. Not long after they started talking, they left. The three returned from where they came, and the single person also returned from the direction which it came.

Theo smiled.

He put his hand over his mouth so that his laugh didn't come out. He was happy, elated, the feeling was indescribable. He could only thank those up above for what happened that night.

His original plan was to create an accident that would involve the princesses. He would arrive as their savior so that he could win their favor and be seen as heroes by the populace. Now he didn't need to do that. Someone else was trying to kidnap the princess, and he heard every detail of their plan.

He could thwart their plan by informing the royal guard, but why would he do that? Preventing a disaster from happening is much less appreciated than saving someone from the disaster or stopping the disaster once it happened, and he wanted to be appreciated.