Let's Hunt Rhino!

Morning in Death Valley.

Cien, along with his small family, had finished breakfast. Kirana offered to do the dishes, while Lilinette simply enjoyed her warm tea.

Not long after, the sound of the shop's doorbell rang, and with a cheerful tone, Sella arrived.

Upon hearing Sella's arrival, Lilinette made her way down to meet the shop's only employee.

Lilinette listened and gave some guidance on Sella's continuing studies.

After dealing with Sella, Lilinette bid farewell to her uncle and cousin and headed towards Yelina's restaurant to begin her teaching duties to the children.

Kirana was a bit surprised to see Lilinette's behavior.

When Cien told her that her cousin was now serving as a teacher in the village, she hadn't expected Lilinette to take on such a role.

Cien explained to his daughter that Lilinette was now free from her shackles. She was free to make her own choices and live her life here.

Cien and Kirana chatted for a while before guests arrived at the shop. Legia and Reiss, who had been in the village, finally approached Cien.

Cien was delighted to see both of them in good spirits. Legia and Reiss both expressed their thoughts on the development of the shop, which had now turned into a village.

Cien could only smile as he listened to them. He himself had not expected his place to transform into a village.

Reiss then told Cien that he intended to stay in Death Valley for a while. He also shared the current situation in Farnodt.

"I don't mind that. But I think there's no empty house available for you to stay in right now. Do you want to go back to the cave?" Cien asked.

"Ha ha ha…" Reiss chuckled flatly, "Please don't. No need to build a house; a treehouse up there is enough for me. Plus, I can also be a temporary security guard here, just like Terrion."

"Ooh~ I really appreciate it. But Terrion earns a living by hunting, not by being a security guard. It's just a title he gave himself. He just enjoys patrolling while hunting every day."

"...damn, so he really just considers himself a security guard, huh?"

"Not exactly. All the villagers here already see it as his profession, including me. The only difference is that the job is unpaid. So, which one do you choose? To become an official security guard, I'll pay you for it. Or just like Terrion?"

"…"

Reiss fell silent for a moment before ultimately choosing the same profession as Terrion.

For now, Reiss remained as a Marina soldier. He didn't want to commit to another job, and hunting seemed more enjoyable.

Most of Reiss's time in Cien's place had been spent on hunting, so he was familiar with the task.

After getting Reiss's answer, Cien turned to Legia, asking what she planned to do after obtaining her weapon.

"I'm still on vacation. Before it ends, it's not a bad idea to spend time here. So, for the next few weeks, I'll be a burden to you all."

Cien nodded. As for Legia's place to stay, she would stay with Mia. They had known each other since the mission to escort Sravati from Ethyria to Huntara. So, there was no problem for them to share accommodations.

After the initial greetings, Cien immediately took out Crimsonagin and showed it to Legia. A dark-colored spear that looked menacing.

"This spear is called Crimsonagin."

Cien explained, elaborating on the materials used to make the weapon and the various powers and skills it possessed.

As everyone listened to the skills Cien described, they couldn't hide their astonishment. All the skills seemed formidable and frightening.

Legia, who had ordered the weapon herself, trembled, feeling that the spear was too extraordinary for her.

"Lord Millard… this… I think this is far from the price we agreed upon earlier."

Cien chuckled at her reaction and explained that when he was working on Legia's order, he got a bit inspired and applied some additional enhancements.

He admitted that even he hadn't expected Crimsonagin to turn out this powerful.

Truly, Cien had completely surpassed his own expectations.

Legia inquired about the price she should pay, but Cien took a moment to think and then answered that she should only pay the originally agreed-upon price.

However, Legia refused to accept this and luckily had brought some extra money with her.

She handed over all her money to Cien, even though she still felt it might not be enough. Cien, however, declined Legia's offer to pay the rest in the future.

"This is enough. I made it because you ordered it. You're my friend, and now I know you're also Kirana's friend. Consider it a small gift for being friends with my daughter. But in the future, there will be no exceptions like this," Cien said firmly.

Without further ado, Cien handed Crimsonagin to Legia, officially declaring her as the owner of the magical spear.

Legia was overjoyed and couldn't wait to try out her new weapon. Without hesitation, she told Cien that she would go hunting right away.

"Go ahead," Cien replied shortly.

Reiss, standing next to them, felt a tinge of jealousy seeing Legia's new weapon.

Unfortunately, Reiss hadn't brought enough money to order a unique weapon from Cien. In fact, he didn't have any money at all.

For now, Reiss was content with his Fire Glove. Seeing Legia leave, Reiss followed suit, curious to witness the spear's capabilities in action.

Watching her two friends head off to try out Crimsonagin, Kirana felt torn. She wanted to join them, but she didn't want to leave her father.

"Just go," Cien said shortly.

"But..."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here. So, go and play!"

Hearing Cien's words, Kirana felt a sense of relief for some reason.

She smiled and quickly rushed to her room, grabbing her rapier. Then, she looked back at her father from the second-floor balcony.

"Father! Kiran's leaving to play!"

With that, Kirana jumped from the balcony on the second floor, chasing after Legia and Reiss who were already ahead.

Cien was momentarily taken aback by his daughter's actions. He then chuckled, feeling that his daughter was still the same.

"Goddamn it, she hasn't changed at all."

Commander Kirana Kataleya. When on duty as a military officer, Kirana always appeared cold and reserved with her words. However, it was precisely this demeanor that earned her respect from both friends and foes at such a young age.

But there were times when Kirana's personality drastically changed. She could become a cheerful and unruly woman when she was with her parents, Ethel and now Cien.

In their eyes, that was Kirana's true nature, a playful and adventurous child. The cold and authoritative facade was just an image she built to prevent her enemies from underestimating her.

Seeing Kirana leave, Cien told Sella that he would be busy again in the alchemy room. Cien then went back to his work, which was far from being completed.

***

Several hours later, in an area quite far from Cien's protective formation territory, Kirana, Legia, Reiss, Terrion, and Veronica were seen engaged in a battle with a large rhinoceros-like monster.

Kirana swiftly ran to the side of the beast and unleashed her ice magic.

"[Ice Lock]!"

Instantly, all six legs of the rhinoceros that had been running around were frozen, causing it to come to a halt. The other four people took advantage of the opportunity. Reiss attacked with his sword.

Tang!

"Shit! Its skin is too tough," cursed Reiss as he quickly stepped back, planning to use his Fire Glove.

Terrion experienced the same frustration as Reiss. His sword couldn't even scratch the monster's tough hide, and his attacks seemed to only make the creature more enraged.

Kirana, who had moved slightly away, swiftly ran back towards the group.

"Veronica! Distract it!" She called out.

"Got it! [Water Arrows]!"

Three water arrows instantly attacked the rhinoceros' head, managing to scratch its skin slightly below its eye, but the wound didn't draw any blood. It was merely a minor scratch.

Veronica sighed in disappointment.

"Good job! That's more than enough! Legia! Reiss!"

"[Tongue of Fire]!"

"[Tornado]!"

Two spells of fire and wind were cast simultaneously, merging into a large fire tornado that engulfed the beast.

However, the rhinoceros' tough skin remained resilient. Only a few burn marks were visible on its skin, but it didn't seem to injure it significantly.

Despite that, the attack was enough to allow Kirana to approach unnoticed, and she immediately thrust her rapier towards the area around the rhinoceros' eye.

Observing the result, Kirana was confident that the skin around its eyes was softer than other parts of its body.

Stab!

As expected, the tip of Kirana's sword successfully pierced the monster's eye.

The creature instantly groaned in pain, its body trembling violently, shattering the ice that had trapped its three pairs of legs.

"GROOOWWLLL!!"

The monster became even angrier. Its body suddenly doubled in size, turning into a giant that almost matched the height of the surrounding trees.

"What the fu*k is this monster?!"

Reiss exclaimed as he quickly jumped away. Meanwhile, Legia, who was beside him, leaped onto a tree.

"Damn it, Veronica, come here!" Terrion ran while calling for Veronica, pulling her away to safety.

Kirana, with her sword still embedded in the monster's eye, couldn't release it, and as a result, she was carried up and thrown by the beast's head swing.

Kirana spun in the air and landed on one of the tree branches.

From her position, Kirana glanced at a woman who was now standing behind the monster's back, attempting to stab its back but failing.

"Legia, the eye!"

Kirana shouted, and Legia immediately understood.

She sensed the monster starting to panic, moving erratically. The ground around them shook like an earthquake, with large chunks of earth attacking wildly.

"[Surf]!"

Legia cast her magic, creating water currents beneath her feet that propelled her rapidly towards the creature's head. As she approached its eye, Legia thrust her spear into the area previously injured by Kirana.

Once it was in, Legia immediately used the power of her spear, [Queen of Blood], to draw blood from the monster.

Of course, the monster wouldn't just let it happen. It threw Legia off its head, but a significant amount of blood had been sucked, causing the creature to lose consciousness slightly.

Not wasting any opportunity, Legia manipulated the blood that Crimsonagin had absorbed into a large sickle-shaped blade. The spear now resembled the scythe of a death angel.

"[Physical Amplification]! [Speed Amplification]!"

Swoosh!

"[Blood Slash]!"

Sraaaat!

Legia approached and swiftly cut off the head of the now-distracted rhinoceros, weakened from the blood loss.

The monster collapsed, returning to its original large size. Its head rolled away, leaving a trail of blood, which Legia instinctively absorbed into Crimsonagin.

"Sigh… What rank is this monster?" Legia asked, breathing heavily and feeling tired.

"Rank 6. But it seems it had some magic to enhance its defenses, which is why many of our attacks failed."

Kirana answered, landing beside Legia. The other three approaches to see the monster they had just hunted.

"Good job, Legia. With that weapon, I'm not sure I'd want to face you in a fight," praised Kirana, who didn't expect the boundaries of ranks to be surpassed just by using a weapon created by her father.

Legia, a Rank 4 fighter, had managed to take down a Rank 6 monster.

Although with the help of several others, it couldn't be denied that Legia played a significant role in defeating the creature.

"You'll surely get a great weapon from Lord Millard too, Commander. After all, he's your father!"

"Hmm… Honestly, I'm also curious about what kind of weapons my father can make. It would be amazing to own one of his creations."