My Level Zero System

All four Rocs were eliminated, yet Kain didn't relax his body. Instead, he suddenly bent down and arched backward, performing a roll with both hands on the ground.

And just as Kain did that, a large mouth full of jagged teeth appeared from beneath the spot where he had just stood, belonging to a creature with mottled brown and black skin like the earth itself.

It was a Moled, a monster species that, as mentioned before, also hunted by locating sound waves, similar to a Roc. But it differed from a Roc in two ways: a Moled's vibration sensing ability was far more acute, enough to detect even very small vibrations caused by footsteps if the distance wasn't too great. Along with that, Moled also possessed a type of innate [Earth Magic] that allowed this monster species to move freely within the ground as a fish swims in water.

And thinking about it, a Moled truly did resemble a fish, though its mouth and teeth were ridiculously exaggerated, as if intentionally modified.

And the way Kain sensed the impending Moled ambush was precisely because of its ability to move underground. Although Moled "swam" through earth and rock like fish through water, it couldn't do so without some vibration, especially when it was about to surface and snap at its target, which was Kain here.

And Kain, with the keen senses and swift reactions of a hunter, was able to evade that "surprise" bite.

He even launched an immediate counterattack.

Having just completed a roll, Kain's body stabilized. At the same time, two daggers sprang from the armored sections on Kain's hands. As soon as Kain's toes touched the ground, he coiled, using the compressed force from his toes to powerfully launch himself forward, aiming directly at the Moled which hadn't managed to retreat back underground after its failed attack.

[Thunder Bullet].

A simple magic skill was activated, causing the Moled's movements to freeze due to paralysis and damage. Unlike a Roc, this monster still had organic flesh, so it was susceptible to paralysis from [Thunder Magic].

Coupled with a fatal cut, Kain almost completely sliced through the Moled, instantly taking its life. The position he chose to cut was just behind the monster's mouth, so the monster's protruding teeth couldn't even touch him.

With the task done, Kain stood up and brushed off his clothes. Neither the sturdy Rocs nor the grotesque Moleds were a concern for him anymore.

Unlike Kain, who was moving through a place known as dangerous like the Dungeon, hunting monsters as his prey, Mera, on the outside, had become the prey, pursued by Magus hunters.

Although she had successfully killed two out of the five pursuing mid-class Magus, three remained. One of them even possessed mid-class [Air Magic], fully capable of catching her.

Therefore, after successfully killing the Magus wielding [Fire Magic] and [Water Magic], Mera had no desire to fight further, nor was she still intoxicated by the thrill of victory. She quickly exerted all her strength to flee back to Whesling.

Her decision was, of course, very sensible at that moment. However, upon returning to Whesling, Mera was still spotted by Ron's informants positioned around the Mayor's mansion, which was also Mera's home.

This was only natural; monitoring and finding clues across an entire city couldn't be accomplished with just five mid-class Magus. More accurately, those five mid-class Magus were mainly responsible for combat or protecting Ron. Most of those tracking and digging for clues were ordinary people or low-class Magus.

"A bunch of useless idiots! Five of them, and they still let a newly advanced mid-class Magus escape."

In his private room, Ron furiously slammed the table. He was always a very cautious individual, whether in his investigations for the organization or in playing the role of a merchant's son to others.

For this mission to capture and interrogate Mera, sending two veteran mid-class Magus was already considered giving Mera enough importance. Ron had been so careful that he even dispatched all the mid-class Magus combat strength under his command to prepare for failure, as he knew Mera hadn't returned to Whesling alone but with someone named Kain, who also appeared to be a mid-class Magus.

However, Ron had observed for several days that Kain had separated from her immediately after they arrived at the Mayor's mansion, and Kain hadn't reappeared since. Only then did Ron feel confident enough to act against Mera, who was currently without allies.

Despite all that preparation, Mera still managed to escape?

Ron truly just wanted to curse the useless subordinates who constantly boasted that Mera was no threat.

If he knew that Mera had not only escaped but also decisively dealt with two of his subordinates, Ron would probably be even more enraged.

…

In her disheveled state, Mera returned to the mansion.

Upon seeing his daughter return in an evening gown that now resembled beggar's rags, Wilfred was so startled he almost called for help.

However, Mera quickly reassured her father.

"There's something I want to tell you, Father."

"This will be a secret."

Seeing her calm demeanor, a stark contrast to her disheveled appearance, Wilfred could only suppress the impulsiveness in his heart and heed his daughter's suggestion.

In Wilfred's private study, Mera calmly recounted how she had been followed by a mid-class Magus with hostile intentions. She had led him out of the city to counter-ambush him and had succeeded.

That's right, it was one mid-class Magus, not five, as that would be far too shocking and outlandish. At the same time, Mera didn't reveal the true reason those Magus sought her, only speaking vaguely.

Although Wilfred wasn't directly involved in the incident, through his daughter's account, he somewhat sensed the danger of the situation. And without Mera needing to say anything more, Wilfred immediately deduced that some political enemy might have tried to target him by attempting to kidnap his daughter.

This filled Wilfred with immense indignation. He also felt a sense of danger; in Whesling, few could command a mid-class Magus, and these individuals had no reason to target Wilfred, unless there was some hidden faction.

This meant that this incident would likely have to remain quiet, as there was no evidence.

After his anger subsided, Wilfred looked at Mera's calm demeanor and smiled.

"You've changed." He said, as if reminiscing.

"You've become a strong young woman; no longer that mischievous little girl."

"Hmph, that's just me." Mera smirked, making Wilfred feel nostalgic. His daughter had grown up, but that arrogant tone hadn't changed at all.

"So, what do you think we should do now?" For the first time, an experienced politician like Wilfred asked his daughter for her opinion. He knew Mera was now mature enough to make her own decisions.

"I'll stay in the mansion for now, until Kain returns, then we'll go back to Kanzax Academy. As for you, Father, you need to be careful these next few days. I don't think the force that sent that mid-class Magus will give up so easily."

"All right, I understand. It's late now, Mera. Go get some rest." Wilfred felt relieved.

However, as soon as she stepped out of the room, Mera's relaxed expression changed.

In truth, she had only told her father just enough to make him wary of potential danger, but not the whole truth, because he shouldn't get involved in this. Wilfred himself wasn't a mid-class Magus, so his safety wouldn't be guaranteed if he intentionally provoked "them."

Therefore, Mera wanted to handle it herself in secret.

This time, she also wanted Kain's help, because Mera had a feeling that this pursuit, and whatever was related to her mother, would absolutely not be simple.

…

"Hmph, I guess that's about done." Kain thought to himself, looking at the Roc's ruined body.

The rock cave area didn't disappoint him. There were many monsters, and they located targets very quickly and from afar, saving Kain a lot of travel time.

These characteristics were truly a nightmare for Adventurers, but for Kain, it was like a flock of prey willingly jumping into the trap set by a hunter like him—extremely convenient.

And after what could be called a near-complete clear-out of this area, Kain finally accumulated enough skill points to upgrade [Mind Disturbed].

[Mind Disturbed level 1] 0/500 (+396)

And just like with the [Mind Protection] magic skill before it, Kain wanted to experiment. He could vaguely imagine how this magic skill worked: using his own spiritual wavelength to overlap and disturb the target's spiritual wavelength, similar to how ripples created by two disturbances on a lake surface would bend or overlap each other.

Kain activated [Mind Disturbed]. From a spiritual perspective, Kain felt his spiritual wavelength being confined, causing a rebounding feedback, much like when he used [Mind Protection].

But unlike [Mind Protection], which created an invisible boundary around the spiritual wavelength to rebound it entirely, [Mind Disturbed]'s "boundary" consisted of two diagonal lines, with their bases close and their tips far apart, resembling a folding fan.

When the spiritual wavelength spread into these two boundary lines, it would continuously rebound and feedback within a narrow range. These two boundary lines also acted as the attack path. Once the spiritual wavelength had rebounded strongly and repeatedly enough along these two boundary lines, it would impact the opponent's spiritual wavelength with much greater force than a simple, direct collision.

With this magic skill, even someone with a larger spiritual wavelength could be pierced by a smaller one, because while the other party's spiritual wavelength might be larger, its intensity of rebound would be inferior.