HTNSA 26

Chapter 26

At first, Felix had wondered if Eila simply didn’t grasp the forest’s dangers—but now, he knew better.

His gaze lingered on the heavy backpack strapped to her shoulders.

‘So this is why she refused to let me carry it.’

Eila tilted her head at him, still standing frozen.

“Let’s hurry. We don’t have much time.”

Felix nodded solemnly and followed her deeper into the gloom-shrouded woods.

Felix’s blade flashed silver as he lunged forward.

Whoosh!

A wolf’s head tumbled to the ground, severed mid-leap. The remaining pack recoiled with yelps, retreating from his ruthless precision.

‘How is this forest allowed to exist behind the academy?’

The full moon had roused the beasts into a frenzy—their aggression bordering on monstrous.

Panting, Felix planted his sword into the earth.

‘No mistake. These things are real mana-infested monsters.’

He’d expected his first extermination mission to come much later as an upperclassman.

A sidelong glance at Eila revealed her steady composure despite her ragged breaths. Initially, he’d doubted she could handle this—today was her first encounter with monsters, after all. Most novices froze in terror.

Yet she’d shattered his assumptions.

Far from cowering behind him, Eila had supported him with pre-prepared potions: paralyzing elixirs, pain-amplifying powders—each deployed with chilling efficiency.

‘I thought she was timid. Was I wrong?’

This Eila bore no resemblance to the fragile, easily wounded girl from campus rumors.

“You know a lot about monsters. Fought them before?” he asked between clashes.

“No.”

“Then how—?”

Screeeech!

Another creature lunged before he could finish. Felix cleaved through it, abruptly changing topics.

“We’ll exhaust ourselves before finding your herbs. Do you know their location?”

Eila nodded. “The forest’s heart.”

Felix didn’t bother questioning how she knew. He focused on carving their path forward.

Moonlight bathed the clearing at the forest’s core, illuminating rare herbs thriving around an ancient tree.

Eila knelt to harvest them, her movements meticulous. “Don’t help. Damaged roots ruin their potency.”

Felix’s frown deepened when she pointed toward a cluster of cerulean blooms—guarded by a slumbering, spike-backed monstrosity.

“A Drake,” he muttered. “A high-tier monster. Should I kill it?”

Eila shook her head. “It won’t wake for mere flower-picking.”

She’d read the original story: Drakes hibernated deeply under full moons. Risking its wrath was unnecessary—especially with Felix’s capabilities still unproven against such foes.

But as she crept toward the flowers, Felix gripped his sword. “If it stirs, I’m coming.”

Gratitude flickered in Eila’s smile before she began uprooting the blossoms bare-handed, careful not to nick a single thread-like root.

Ten pristine specimens later, she tucked them into her pouch—

Crunch.

Something round and gelatinous shattered under her retreating heel.

A frozen heartbeat. Then—

“EILA!”

Her head snapped up.

Two slit-pupiled yellow eyes glared down, dripping with rage.

“ROOOAR—!”

The Drake exploded upward. Eila barely rolled away as its claws cratered the ground where she’d stood.

‘If I’d been slower—!’

Felix sprinted toward her, but the Drake’s spiked tail was already whipping through the air—

‘I can’t die here. Not yet.’

The injustice she’d suffered, Roshia’s secrets, the mastermind behind her exile—all still demanded vengeance.

Adrenaline ignited her veins.

Her body moved faster than humanly possible.