Chapter 161 Part 2: Wilderness (The City Of Venen)

As I gazed out into the forest, my eyes glowed with enthusiasm. It's a good place to put my newfound strength to the test. Then, without further thought, I wandered towards the wilderness.

I checked the wilderness map 20 minutes later to figure out where I was.

After looking at it, I determined that I'm around the center of the outer area. This region is mostly deserted. Aside from the lovely green foliage, no monsters can be discovered.

I realized this as a result of the excessive killing throughout the years. The amount of creatures prowling the surrounding area has been dramatically reduced. The remaining monsters withdrew further into the depths.

I remembered my previous visit here. I was in a similar scenario at the time. But I didn't give it much thought because I was focused on Jake.

Now that I have the opportunity, I must plan properly. If I can't find a single monster in this area, I'll have to venture deeper. I let out a deep sigh, it's possible that the situation will force me into the inner city.

THUP, THUP, THUP, THUP

I was considering my choices when I heard footsteps in the distance. I became vigilant. I took close note of my surroundings.

There is a larger chance of encountering humans here than of encountering a monster. I continued to hear faint footsteps as time passed.

To avoid being alerted by whatever it is. I didn't make any hasty moves. I want to make certain that there is no adventurers' party in the area.

5 minutes later,

I discovered the source of the sound was something else.  Then I rapidly wandered over to where I heard that sound. As I got closer to the location, my eyes were drawn to a strange scene. There is closely packed vegetation in front of me. A set of ears protrude above the bushes among the foliage.

"System, probe the monster in front of me," I said.

[Ding! The host's voice is recognized]

[Ding! The command is being executed %]

[Status Panel]

[Name: Brown Rabbit]

[Level: Half-Order]

[Strength: 8]

[Vitality: 7]

[Speed: 12]

[Stamina: 9]

[Skill: hopping]

A faint smile appeared on my lips as I saw the status panel in front of me. Without further ado, I acted quickly.

"Gravity Field"

An invisible gravitational field burst around me as I swiftly cast the magic. Due to gravitational force, a tremendous pressure formed within the field. It immediately shattered whatever was in my field into shreds.

PFFF

The half-step rabbit has been totally turned into flesh paste inside my field. When I realized this, I instantly dispelled the spell and proceeded to the corpse.

"Where can I find it?" I sighed.

The school's lectures and movies taught me about wilderness monsters.

As far as I know, monsters can be differentiated like wizards. In our Wizard System, we normally rank a mage's power from Level-1 to Level-10.

The monsters are classified from first to tenth order. The first order monster is as powerful as a Level 1 wizard. Similarly, the strength of the 10th order monster is equivalent to that of a Level-10 wizard.

I suddenly remembered something. The wilderness studies' teacher in my school mentioned monsters in our city. He claimed there was no powerful monster in our city at the time.

"What exactly does he mean?" I said.

I'm sure a powerful monster in his eyes had to be a monster of the fourth order or above. If there were a presence of 5th order monsters in the city, the police wizards would not remain silent.

They would have deployed their department heads immediately to eradicate such a threat.

In my eyes, a glint flashes.

The most powerful monster in this wilderness, in my opinion, is a 4th-order monster. The 4th order monster in this area acts as an overlord to the 3rd order monsters.

The adventurers' union must have strategies for this. They can only earn money if this wilderness contains a particular quantity of monsters.

These are simply my assumptions. Who knows, maybe there's a variable? After I go home, I'll need to brush up on my wilderness knowledge.

Then, I stared at the dead body.

In the monster's brain section, there is something called a crystal gem.

Inside the rabbit brain, I discovered a red-colored peanut-sized gem. I examined the gem carefully after taking it out. It is the rabbit monster's source of power.

According to the data on the status panel, this peanut-sized gem of the monster has half the strength of the level-1 limit.

The monster must have recently attained half-order power, because the stats are so low.

According to what I've heard, the crystal gem will grow in size as the monster progresses through the levels.

Then I put the stone inside my storage bracelet. I'm sure just this crystal gem brought me a lot of money. The gem is mostly used as an ingredient in potions.

As a result, there are always buyers for these monster gems. After inspecting the corpse, I sighed. I should be more cautious with my magic in the future.

Aside from crystal gems, every restaurant craves rabbit meat. Mana steaks made from rabbits have a delicate flavor that everyone enjoys. Fatty used to eat a lot of steaks like this.

I'm curious how he'd react if I told him I turned his favorite dish into paste.

Dispelling the ideas, I am determined to take care not to hurt the monster's body in the future.

I then wandered towards the woods in search of my next target.

A few minutes later, three people appeared in front of the rabbit carcass. The group exchanged glances as they assessed the monster's condition. The group's leader is the person in the middle. He examined the pasted meat with interest.

"What exactly is this magic?" One of the members questioned.

"This pasted meat can't be sold," observed another warrior standing near the leader, enviously.

"What a waste of resources!" He complained.

The leader remained silent. He knelt down to examine the magic. They can guess the wizard possesses fire-type magic power if there is a source of heat.

However, the person looking at the site has a complicated gaze because he finds no common elemental traces from it. Suddenly, he notices that the surroundings have changed.

The devastation occurred in a circular pattern. As a result, it is not the typical single type of spell. His attention was then directed to the pasted meat and adjoining crushed foliage.

As an experienced adventurer, he noticed that there was a lot of damage done within the circular area. "Is it related to wind element magic?" He grumbled to himself. The veteran adventurer couldn't think of anything except the wind element.

There is no indication of fire, water, earth, or metal magic. Only wind magic, he believes, is difficult to trace.

He then rose up from the ground, dismissing the ideas. He shared his thoughts with his teammates. Following that, three of them went hunting in another direction.

The veteran adventurer didn't want to offend the wizard with a unique wind spell.

Their mistake saved Vincent's time.

In the blink of an eye, time passes.

Noon

"Phew!" As I perched on the tree branch, I exhaled a sigh of relief. I didn't come across any other monsters in this area after I finished hunting the rabbit monster.

It's quite aggravating. It comes as no surprise that the adventurers spend the entire day and night hunting their prey. Then I take the wilderness map from my storage bracelet to view it.

It's been several hours since I entered the wilderness.  It's time to figure out where I am right now. I calculated my distance from the communication watch. Then I utilized the map to estimate my current location.

I soon discovered I was in the midst of the outside region. If I keep walking like this, I'll shortly reach the border of the outer area.

My instincts tell me to venture towards the inner area. Finding that half-order rabbit monster is purely coincidental. It is unlikely to occur frequently.

Then I leaped from the tree branch to land on the ground.

I walked deeper into the area without further ado. Aside from monsters, I didn't come across any other adventurers. Which leads me to believe that, aside from me, others proceeded to the inner area. It seems only a matter of time before I run into some monsters.

I arrived at the edge of the outer area an hour later. I didn't rush inside the inner area after arriving at the location. I'm curious to see whether there are any monsters lurking around here.

So far, I've realized that my survival skills are poor. Having only theoretical knowledge will not help me find the monsters. I'll need to learn the necessary skills.

I sighed, but it didn't bother me too much. It's only been a month since I acquired my magical ability. So I have lots of time to practice survival skills. I then began to look into the surroundings while disguising my presence.