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.

was what I thought

"Kyuuuuuueee—!"

the forest as Kevin appeared

dead on the ground,

be the last one

"Yup, now move aside"

unsheathing my sword I merrily walked towards the bat

-Spurt!

skin the bat, Kevin shook

monsters they had killed, not one had a core. If there was one thing he learned from Gilbert's class was that finding a core was just as hard as

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

—Vuum! —Vuum!

object that continuously pulsated

didn't quite get what you were

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

"Congratulations..."

"Mhhhm"

but slowly caress the purple orb in my hand.

was this due

the orb in my dimensional space,

"Let's go"

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

have to walk? I think we've pretty much crossed half

down and placing my

are pretty

"Here?"

confused as all he saw were thick vines and trees everywhere. In fact, the vegetation was so thick here that he

"...I don't see anything"

my neck,

you can't see it

-Slash! -Slash!

sword, I then proceeded to hack towards

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

ahead, and seeing a small light appear from the gaps of the vines, a

"Alright"

-Slash!

one more time, the scenery before me and Kevin changed one

-Rumble!

"Is that a waterfall?"

"Yup"

pocket-like space that contained a large pond and a waterfall appeared before us. Looking up, we could

-Splash! -Splash!

on the ground, a small rainbow appeared in the area. It was a truly

his daze, Kevin looked around

do we do

Kevin, taking off my shirt and pants, without hesitation, I

else aside

-Splash!

I said those words, diving deep into the water, I felt my skin

I waited for Kevin to dive

-Splash!

the water. Using my hand to signal him to follow me, using breaststroke, I swam towards the deeper end of the

small black tunnel. Glancing at Kevin behind me, and

tunnel, Kevin nodded his head and proceeded to follow

...

-Splash! -Splash!