First, I used Presence Concealment Magic so the Monsters wouldn’t find me, and Soundproofing Magic so they wouldn’t hear sounds from the bushes. As long as I don’t mess up, I should be fine.

Then, I slowly entered the Forest from its entrance. It was dim, and with the Miasma, an eerie atmosphere hung in the air. After walking a bit, I spotted her, cautiously surveying her surroundings. As long as I maintain my Presence Concealment Magic, I won’t be discovered, so I decided to follow her.

After a while, a Monster appeared in front of her. A grotesque face existed on a thick, withered tree trunk, moving with its roots as legs. Furthermore, it emitted Miasma from branches here and there… Its name was Woodmail, I think. It didn’t feel out of place in the game, but appearing in the real world like this, it’s quite eerie. It’s no wonder the Villagers feel Fear.

Since it’s a Forest, animal-type Monsters also appear, but plant-type ones like that do too. Since it seems to be acting alone, I think it’s fine, but if it gets dangerous, I’ll step in to support her right away.

The battle began. Sofia had the first move. She approached the slowly moving Woodmail, which was observing, and unleashed a horizontal slash.

It landed cleanly, and the Monster flinched a little. But it immediately countered with a body slam. Sofia, in turn, dodged by moving sideways.

But Woodmail’s attack wasn’t over. It immediately spun around and attacked again. Not a body slam, but an attack using its branches. Looking closely, the branches had become sharp like blades, attacking her as if swinging a sword.

Sofia parried it with her blade. The sword and branches made a dry clang, indicating considerable hardness. She immediately became wary of the branches. She kept her distance and began to consider how to respond.

If she attacked carelessly, she was sure to get injured by a counter-attack. But she herself didn’t have a way to quickly defeat the Monster—

As she was thinking that, Sofia ran. The Monster prepared to respond, raising its branches as if to land a counter. But the next moment, the Magic Power of the sword she held swelled.

Could it be an attack power enhancement— As I thought that, she closed the distance and unleashed a slash before the Monster could react.

The attack was a success. As the sword entered, she stepped in further.

“Tear it apart—!”

With her voice, a swirling Wind appeared in front of her. This is—the Lower-tier Magic, “Wind Slash”.

It’s a Magic that creates a Wind Blade directly in front of the user and shoots it at the Monster. It’s the lowest-tier Wind Magic, so its power isn’t that high. But when the Magic directly hit the staggering Woodmail, which had just taken a slash, it completely lost its balance.

It was likely a connecting Magic, cast to add a follow-up sword attack rather than to finish it off with Magic—Immediately after realizing this, her Sword Strike vertically landed on the Monster.

Then, the Monster was cut in two and fell to the ground. At the same time, its body decayed and turned into something like soil.

There are several types of Monsters; for example, cases where animals go berserk due to Demonic Miasma, and also patterns where Monsters are formed by the influence of Miasma. The Woodmail that Sofia defeated was the latter. Therefore, when defeated, it disappears without a trace.

I looked at Sofia again. After steadying her breathing, she confirmed that the Monster was completely gone, then immediately began to move.

…The finishing attack was incredibly clean. Her sword movements were fluid, and most importantly, she used Magic at an exquisite timing, defeating it without giving it a chance to counter. She has a talent for combat. In fact, compared to me, who relied on a Brute Force fighting style after continuously leveling up, her battle variations might be superior.

While I was thinking, she proceeded deeper into the Forest. Eventually, a Y-junction appeared. Sofia hesitated for a moment, then chose the right path.

I’ve seen that fork in the road before. The correct path is left; the right path is a dead end where an accessory should be dropped.

In that case, deeper inside is… While I was thinking, I encountered a Monster. This time, it was a Goblin.

Goblins, which appear in various media like games and novels, were quite popular in the fantasy worlds of my previous life… In this world, Goblins are like imps, about half the height of Humans. They have grotesque faces, like distorted Human faces, and are armed with swords and armor.

It seems they are the lowest-ranking Soldiers in the Demon Lord’s Army… This means that as long as there are Goblins here, this place is somewhere the Demon King’s faction has been active.

However, Goblins also vary in strength. Like Demons, they are color-coded, with the weakest being green. Above that is red, but… this time we encountered red ones. In the game, they were called Red Goblins. And there were two of them.

Sofia immediately readied her sword. Even if red is the second weakest, it must be quite strong for Sofia’s level. Moreover, since they appeared in multiples, there’s a possibility she could be ambushed and defeated.

The Goblins moved. First, one charged ahead. The other one hadn’t moved yet… Was it observing, or did it think one was enough?

I don’t know what the Monster was thinking—but this was undoubtedly an opportunity. The ideal fighting method was definitely to defeat them one by one. The Goblins were moving individually, making this a perfect chance to do so.

However, with two against one, there were options like keeping her distance, but… Sofia’s decision was quick. She immediately emitted Magic Power and, at the same time, slashed at the approaching Goblin.

The emitted Magic Power, by feel, was an auxiliary Magic to increase attack power—The Goblin tried to parry Sofia’s sword with its own, but she pushed through and landed a hit. However, it didn’t fall yet. In the meantime, the other Goblin also started to move… but Sofia’s actions were faster.

“Lightning!”

Magic activated. A lightning orb appeared directly in front of her and flew towards the first Goblin she was clashing with, hitting it directly. This was a Lower-tier Magic called “Thunderbolt,” which was more powerful than the “Wind Slash” she had just cast and consumed slightly more Magic Power.

As a result, the first Goblin was charred black, and then defeated by a series of attacks. The second one then charged in. Sofia immediately parried its unleashed sword and struck in a flash. The Goblin couldn’t defend and took a hit.

Then, a follow-up technique—this time the lower-tier technique, “Cross Slash.” As the name suggests, it’s a technique that slashes the enemy in a cross shape; it had low SP consumption and was quite easy to use.

The Goblin fell due to her follow-up attack. It vanished again, and Sofia let out a big sigh.

“…Alright, let’s move on.”

She spoke to encourage herself, then, after steadying her breath, began to walk.

After that, Sofia hit a dead end. But in that spot, she discovered a purple Bracelet. She didn’t know how such an item ended up there, but it seemed items still existed just as they did in the game.

She picked it up and, recognizing it, put it on her right arm. There were also poisonous Monsters in the Forest, but with this, she would be immune—Her Waist Pouch also contained Antidote for this request, but it looked like she wouldn’t end up using it.

I observed her back as she returned the way we came. Her silver hair swayed with each step, exuding a charm so captivating that I was mesmerized even in the strange Forest.

Watching her, I analyzed the previous battle. First, her Magic. It was all Lower-tier Magic, but they were all Magic she had learned in the game. However, her Sword Technique was different. She had acquired a new skill.

The only sword techniques she remembers in the game are the lower-tier skills “Blunt Strike” and “Gale Sword.” The former has less power than a normal attack but temporarily stops the opponent’s movement. The latter is an attack imbued with wind, using both SP and MP. It adds wind attribute and is more powerful than a normal attack. This technique is categorized as a “Magic Sword Technique” and cannot be used without learning magic.

In the game, any character had the potential to learn skills. However, there were sometimes conditions for learning skills, and unique skills also existed.

Broadly, there were three types of skills: “Generic Techniques” that anyone could learn, “Magic Sword Techniques” which combined magic and could be learned by characters who had learned magic, and “Unique Techniques” which could only be learned by specific characters. Furthermore, these techniques had three tiers: lower, intermediate, and advanced, and intermediate or higher tiers could not be learned unless a certain level was reached.

The “Cross Slash” she just demonstrated is a lower-tier Generic Technique. Her level is not an issue, but the fact that she can use a technique she didn’t originally remember is probably because she herself had the technique stored in her mind. It’s questionable whether everyone can use techniques and magic in the same way now that it’s the real world… but since she has learned sword techniques, she might be able to learn the Generic Techniques that existed in the game.

Sofia returned the way she came and continued further. Along the way, she engaged in combat with monsters, including Woodmail… and noticed something.

She is undoubtedly leveling up by repeatedly engaging in combat.

After passing through several branching paths, she encountered two goblins. This time, the goblins attacked simultaneously, but Sofia staggered one with a “Wind Slash” and quickly swung her sword. She defeated the enemy with three attacks… but the power of her slashes seemed to have increased.

At the very least, her experience is making her deal with monsters faster… there is no doubt about her growth potential.

As I pondered, Sofia continued onward. Compared to when she first entered the forest, she was dealing with monsters with appropriate actions, and so far, it could even be called perfect.

She sometimes encountered dead ends and sighed, but she quickly pulled herself together and acted without giving up. The forest is much more complex than in the game, so I thought she should make a landmark to avoid getting lost, but she didn’t even do that. Or rather, she never once stepped on the same path after getting lost. She seems to remember every place she has walked.

Her mental fortitude, appropriate judgment, and memory, even against multiple monsters… one could say she’s perfect as a warrior. If she also grows quickly, then–

Sofia encountered goblins again. This time there were three, and I thought there was a possibility she would be overwhelmed by their numbers… but then she started some kind of incantation. Hmm, it’s a little different from before, but–

“–Burst!”

With her words, magic activated. It wasn’t the beginner-level wind or lightning she had shown before. What she unleashed against the approaching goblins were multiple, slicing wind blades.

When they hit the goblins, they didn’t defeat them in one blow, but they were greatly staggered. Sofia didn’t miss that chance, approached, and defeated the goblins one by one, who were damaged and unable to move.

Excellent… and what she cast was probably “Aerial Sword.” It’s a magic that unleashes wind blades at enemies in a straight line, and while it’s certainly a lower-tier magic, it’s more powerful than “Wind Slash.” She didn’t possess it in the game, but the fact that she could learn it means she has knowledge of such magic, just like sword techniques. It’s likely she became able to use it as her level increased… a normal person wouldn’t be able to do this.

For example, there were such cases with companions like Phili and Kati, who accompanied him. I don’t understand the logic, but there seems to be a significant difference between characters who became companions in the game and others. Now that it’s the real world, perhaps it can be called “talent”… and it seems certain that Sofia also possesses a kind of “talent,” similar to Phili and Eina, even if she can only use it at the beginning of the scenario.

If so, it’s clear that she will become stronger if she trains… and she also possesses Sage’s Blood. Thinking about it that way, could she acquire the power to defeat the Demon King, just like the five protagonists in the game, for example…? However, I also think it’s dangerous to actually try this. Since there’s no going back, if nothing happens after defeating the Five Great Demons, the continent will collapse.

So personally, I’d like one of the five protagonists to take the lead… As I was thinking, Sofia finally reached the innermost part.

“This is…”

A place even denser with miasma in the miasma-filled forest. What was there was a bizarre plant.

Its name is Chimera Plant. It uses the trunks of the surrounding trees as its body, with colorful flowers and countless thick vines and branches growing from it, sitting enthroned in the depths of the forest.

The Chimera Plant, noticing Sofia, slightly vibrated its magic power… This thing doesn’t move. But if you get close, it will counterattack with its thick vines and branches. Furthermore, if you keep your distance, its roots will spring out from underground to attack. Its HP is high for its level, making it a difficult enemy that often leads to prolonged battles.

The saving grace is that its main attacks are single-target, so in the game, it almost never results in a party wipe. However, this time it’s just Sofia. I thought it would be difficult to defeat it, but for now, I decided to observe how things unfold.

The monster made the first move. Several vines were aimed straight at Sofia.

She quickly parried them, and at the same time, began an incantation.

“Burst!”

With her voice, “Aerial Sword” was unleashed. The wind blade directly hit the monster and gouged out a bit of its trunk, but it didn’t seem to do much damage.

Sofia continued to incantate. She hadn’t continuously cast magic like this before, but perhaps judging the entity before her to be the master of this forest, she seemed to be summoning her remaining strength.

Wind blades in quick succession. The Chimera Plant’s weakness is fire, but she hadn’t learned any fire-type magic, as I recall. If she were to use it here, it would mean she had awakened even more magic, but–

Before I knew it, Sofia had retreated beyond the attack range of the vines. She must have discerned the monster’s attack and moved out of its range. Her instantaneous judgment is also high, and above all, she has the insight to instantly grasp the opponent’s range.

However, that was also a trap—in an instant, the ground beneath her feet slightly swelled.