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 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.

what I thought

"Kyuuuuuueee—!"

across the forest as Kevin appeared

the humongous bat that was lying dead on the ground,

the last

"Yup, now move aside"

merrily walked towards the

-Spurt!

the bat, Kevin shook his

one had a core. If there was one thing he learned from Gilbert's class was that finding a core was

up, the probability of getting a core is really small so you

—Vuum! —Vuum!

continuously pulsated a purple hue, I raised my brow towards Kevin as a smirk inadvertently appeared

didn't quite get what

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

"Congratulations..."

"Mhhhm"

satisfaction, I couldn't help but slowly caress the purple orb in my hand. Did

was this due to Kevin's

the orb in my dimensional space, I merrily

"Let's go"

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

to walk? I think we've pretty much

green vines, squatting down and placing my hand on the floor, after a

we are pretty much

"Here?"

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

"...I don't see anything"

my

because you can't

-Slash! -Slash!

I then proceeded to hack towards the

vines in front of me. Soon after, a large rumbling sound started becoming discernible by both me and Kevin

a small light appear from the gaps of the vines,

"Alright"

-Slash!

time, the scenery before me and Kevin changed one more time as a large waterfall

-Rumble!

"Is that a waterfall?"

"Yup"

space that contained a large pond and a waterfall appeared before

-Splash! -Splash!

hard rocks on the ground, a small rainbow appeared in the area. It

daze, Kevin looked

we

and pants, without hesitation, I jumped into the small pond

aside from

-Splash!

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

I waited for

-Splash!

to signal him to follow me, using breaststroke, I

tunnel. Glancing at Kevin behind me,

tunnel, Kevin nodded his head and proceeded to follow

...

-Splash! -Splash!