Monsters Uprising

As the carriages began to move when the day had already dawned, the adventurers helped the wagoners steer while a few others were already far ahead of the carriage, scouting the area.

Milo stood with his arms crossed and chin raised as he faced Sief, who held a small leather pouch.

"Is this really necessary?" Sief stared at the object and shook it, hearing the jingle of coins as he spoke. "You know if I wanted these coins, I could easily lie to you without any trouble. But I know which path I'm choosing from the start, and you do too."

"I know that. I tried to convince you all night, but you wouldn't even agree to sleep or take the path I chose." He sighed, dropping his tough stance. "If Lu Xian were here, he could definitely convince you."

"I bet he couldn't. My sister used to try to persuade me with those puppy eyes, and I wouldn't give in to her either." Sief rubbed his eyes and blinked heavily, looking tired with deep circles under his eyes. "But it was for a good cause. You taught me better mana control, so I think with that visual training, it'll be easier for me to use my ability."

"There isn't just one way to control mana, but it's better to stick with what you've learned for now. All I did was give you some pointers..." The healer noticed something flying overhead and smiled, extending his arm. "I think with this, you'll be able to use your ability with your eyes open. It's quite an interesting ability to use, but to advance in more dangerous zones, you'll need more than just this..."

As Milo finished his sentence, before Sief could respond, a large bird swooped down and landed on Milo's arm. He smiled upon seeing Kujura, its black feathers shining, as it perched and looked up expectantly.

Milo took a letter from his pocket that he had written the previous night detailing the events in Dokkel, attaching a coin to it, and curiously inspecting the bird's pouch. Sief raised an eyebrow at this, but then noticed another letter being retrieved.

"I heard that in the past, birds used to carry letters in their claws, but this one is different." He brought his backpack to his abdomen and also took out a letter. "How do I call it?"

"You already knew it has access to this teleportation magic, so there's no need for it to carry in its claw, even if there were several Kujuras, they'd end up overloaded with letters." As the bird was about to take flight, the healer reached into its pouch and extended his arm toward Sief. "Just do the same, keep your arm straight so you don't drop it, and say the sender's name. Mine was directly for the Story Teller."

Facing the bird nervously, Sief extended his arm and said, "Easy, birdie..."

The healer withdrew his hand from the bird's pouch as it looked at Sief, slowly moving but with steady steps, until it placed a foot on Sief's hand and hopped onto his forearm, gazing at him with a curious tilt of its head.

"Deliver this to... Mr. Tom from Forta..."

The bird's eyes widened, chirping softly, spreading its wings and swiftly taking flight, leaving Sief blushing as he whispered softly, "How cute..."

"Cute is the word you're going to use to describe Kujura?" Milo hid his smile, making Sief furrow his brow slightly as the healer continued. "What's written in the letter? Is it for that swordsman's father? Why not send one to the swordsman too?"

"In short, I said I'm okay, I've reached Dokkel, and he probably already knows what happened from the rumors. But I also said I'm going to continue searching for my sister and hope the offer to live with him is still open." He smiled, crossing his arms and still watching the bird disappear over the horizon. "I could send one to Edgar, but I think it's unnecessary. Maybe later just to say I'm still alive, but he must have other concerns now besides me, though he must know I wouldn't throw away everything he taught me. It was practically the only thing he asked of me."

Sief continued to smile as he looked at the horizon where the Kujura had flown off to, Milo also had a slight smile on his face, but turned to the young man and said, "Speaking of teaching, there are a few things I want to tell you that might help, along with some opinions..."

"No judgments, please." Sief raised his eyebrows, looking back at the healer.

"I can't promise that... but I'll try."

Milo placed both hands on his hips awkwardly, scratching his hair and finally saying, "I really don't approve of your attitude of taking the most dangerous route. It's with that arrogant mindset that many adventurers die and give more strength to monsters. Zones that were once not so dangerous are now hell because of people who think like that..." He then removed one of his hands and extended it, saying, "But I understand your thinking. If even after tonight you haven't given up, there are no words to convince you. So I can only wish you luck. You're a creative kid in your way of fighting from what I've heard; you can still evolve a lot. But if you want to pass through the strong green zone, you'll be forced to evolve when you get there."

"Forced to evolve?" Sief narrowed his eyes slightly, looking confused. "What does that mean?"

"As I said, your way of using mana is unique and eye-catching, but it's also quite simple and works because you're in light green zones. But there are monsters where your poison won't work... especially those without physical bodies or with tougher skin than your dagger can pierce." He looked at the weapon on Sief's other arm and said, "It's not a bad weapon, but even my amateur eye can tell it's dull. In non-magical weapons, the wielder's attributes matter a lot, and skills can enhance the weapon, but if it's not decent itself, it'll be a waste of energy and might break in the middle of battle... Your poisoning is a skill, but using it as fuel to create a unique skill, or turning it into a unique skill, which can help or hinder depending on the path you take."

"Unique skill?" He furrowed his brow slightly, looking confused, but then heard the carriages moving to depart. "I wish I had heard this yesterday. Can you tell me how to do that?"

"Unique skills are powerful skills, either a single skill enhanced to the maximum or a set of skills that form one, amplifying your destructive potential. But for that, you'll have to learn to use more than one skill at a time or gradually enhance yours while killing monsters." The healer smiled awkwardly and turned away. "I don't want you to go through the dark green zone; it's a low blow on my part... but believe me, creating something like that is much more difficult... and if you don't have something close to that, you won't be able to get past that place without severe damage."

Milo turned his face and followed the carriage with slow steps, until he said, "I'm sorry, Sief. You can hate me if you want, but I know what that place is like, and I don't want you to go."

Once again, he turned to face the young man before running and jumping towards the carriage, then turned and finally leaned forward as if apologizing, making Sief squint as he turned in the opposite direction of the carriage, starting a fast walk that soon turned into a run.

"I guess fear can change a person's decision; maybe that's what he tried." He sighed as he ran and muttered, "What a weird way to play tough..."

As time passed, Sief followed the outskirts of Dokkel, running among the trees with his dagger in hand, looking back to see some goblins leaping through the trees. Sief clicked his tongue and concluded, "There's no escaping; the terrain favors them."

Sief looked at his hand, and slowly an aura enveloped his dagger, glowing in a greenish hue. As he lifted his head, he saw one of the goblins leap above him, causing him to quickly turn.

The monster aimed for Sief's head, but the boy stopped running, dodging the blow and swiftly cutting the goblin's back, causing it to scream, land quickly, and turn to continue advancing.

However, the creature's body felt heavy, and it grunted, falling to its knees. More goblins advanced on the assassin, who raised his dagger.

One leaped to strike, but Sief passed under the monster's armpit and slashed. Another stabbed, but Sief jumped over it and plunged the dagger into the monster's head, continuing to run, but soon fell lifeless.

And so it went with others who tried to strike the boy but were thwarted by his agility, ending up being cut down one by one as he walked away.

"I feel as light as a feather, much more than yesterday and the other days."

He looked back and saw the goblins weak on the ground, some just trembling while others tried to advance but couldn't run. Sief sighed in relief as he looked at his dagger and saw the aura still active.

"So, it was really my focus; it's hard to keep an ability active while taking a beating. And although it's weaker now that I can't see the image clearly, it's still effective where I am, but only because it's a much weaker zone... or am I getting stronger?" He continued to stare at his dagger until a shadow covered him, and finally, he thought, "But it has potential for improvement."

The wind was cut, and Sief jumped forward, dodging a slashing blow that narrowly missed him. As he turned, he saw a goblin, much larger than all the others and standing out among those he had seen.

It appeared to be at least two meters tall, wearing a leather chest piece and a helmet on its head. In one of its hands was a huge broken sword used as a cleaver, while the other wielded a shield. Sief stared at this monster with weapons much larger than those of an average human, giving him a slight smile as he faced the goblin.

"The local alpha, I have to follow a meticulous path if I don't want to encounter you, right?" He wrapped his dagger in the green aura, still smiling, and the monster tightened its grip on its sword. "You're the Goblin King, right? I like the crown."

Sief smiled, and the monster charged in one motion, already lifting its weapon and striking, aiming for Sief's head.