"Boom, boom, boom!"
A multitude of spikes suddenly erupted from the ground, surrounding Aria in a deadly forest of sharpened points. Yet her body reacted with controlled fluidity.
She dodged the first attacks with a swift pivot to the side, leapt backward to avoid the next, and counterattacked without the slightest hesitation. Her compressed water projectiles shot forth instantly, shattering several targets that exploded into fragments on impact.
Then, anticipating another spike she felt before it even appeared, Aria sprang into the air, dodging the attack with a perfectly timed leap.
She landed smoothly right in front of Logan, her face lit up with a wide smile, proud of her performance.
She had just reached a new milestone. After twelve weeks of relentless training, she had finally managed to dodge the entire combo.
Her light laughter rang out across the clearing: "Who's the best now?!"
A final spike suddenly shot up from the ground and struck her square on the head, sending her rolling away in a cloud of dust.
Aria landed headfirst in the ground, her legs still sticking up in the air.
"Ouch!" she cried, clumsily getting back up, a huge bump already forming on her forehead.
This time it was Logan who burst out laughing, arms crossed, a genuine smile on his lips.
"Don't get too cocky."
His tone was amused, but his gaze remained serious.
Aria pouted and crossed her arms.
"I finally managed to dodge everything! Don't I have the right to be happy?"
"You do, but without arrogance would be better," Logan replied calmly.
"But…"
The word had barely left her lips when another spike shot up and struck her right on the backside, knocking her back onto the ground.
"No buts, young lady."
Face red with embarrassment, Aria jumped back to her feet, this time without protesting.
The twelve weeks of training had finally come to an end. It was time for them to leave the Circular Forest, at least temporarily. Their bags were overflowing with materials and loot gathered from the defeated monsters. Even the dimensional bag had reached its limit. They now needed to return briefly to town, sell the materials, and buy new supplies.
The main issue weighing on Logan's mind was the repayment of the item bag.
Since their departure, the debt had of course increased. With an interest rate of ten gold coins per month, the total sum had now exceeded fifty gold coins—a considerable amount.
"In this world, there are four types of coins: copper, silver, gold, and platinum," Logan recalled mentally, summarizing the currency system. If I compared it to my old world:
Iron coins represent the basic currency unit and are worth about €1.Copper coins are worth 100 iron, about €100.Silver coins are worth 100 copper, about €10,000.Gold coins are worth 100 silver, about €1,000,000.Platinum coins are worth 10 gold, about €10,000,000.
Each currency type follows an exponential progression, making transactions easier according to trade scale:
100 iron coins = 1 copper coin;100 copper coins = 1 silver coin;100 silver coins = 1 gold coin;10 gold coins = 1 platinum coin.
A well-organized and easy-to-understand system.
They retraced their steps and left the Circular Forest, passing through the city's great gates. Their first destination was obvious: the guild.
Upon entering the bustling building, they headed straight for the counter where Marie awaited them, as always, with a warm smile.
"It's been three months since you left. I was starting to worry. I feared something might have happened to you," she said with a hint of relief.
"No, fortunately," Logan replied calmly. "But we won't be staying long. We plan to leave again soon."
"I see…" Marie nodded. "And how did the training go?"
"Very well so far," Logan answered, exchanging a knowing glance with Aria. "By the way, can you inspect our item bag?"
"Of course."
Marie took the item bag and began analyzing its contents. She carefully removed, sorted, and inspected every proof of subjugation and harvested material. She made sure not to touch the silver spider threads or the silver wolf pelts that Logan wanted to keep.
After a complete and detailed evaluation, she made the calculations and handed a gold coin to Logan.
"Here's your payment."
Logan took the coin, examining it between his fingers for a moment.
"Logan, by the way, one of Macron's men came by the guild looking for you."
Logan paused briefly, unsurprised.
"I suppose he came to check on my payments. Can you do me a favor?"
"Of course."
"If that man comes back, just tell him Logan keeps his commitments and will pay his debt."
Marie nodded with a faint smile, while Logan was already turning to leave. But as he walked away, she called out again, her tone this time a little more serious:
"One last thing: several groups of adventurers have recently gone missing after entering the Circular Forest. All of them were aiming for the center."
Logan stopped again, his gaze sharpening slightly.
"Has this ever happened before?"
"No, never. That's precisely why we're investigating right now. So please be very careful."
"Understood. Thank you for the warning."
Their exchange over, Logan and Aria left the counter. But before they reached the door, Marie gently called out to Aria, a sincere smile on her lips:
"Take good care of Logan."
Surprised, Aria turned back, then replied with a brief nod and a small, discreet smile. A simple gesture, but full of respect and gratitude.
After their visit to the guild, Logan took advantage of their short stay in town to make some essential purchases. He replenished their food supplies a bit more than before. While their meals still consisted mainly of monster meat, some dried vegetables and seasonings would add variety to their diet.
This time, he also bought some spices and real cooking utensils. For months, they had cooked meat on nothing more than a crude metal plate. From now on, he could prepare slightly more elaborate dishes.
Once the shopping was done and their bags reorganized, they left the city once again, passing through the great gates with the same determination as before.
The path inevitably led them back to the Circular Forest, and this time, the training wouldn't concern only Aria. Logan, too, wanted to grow even more.
On the way back, they encountered again the familiar creatures of the Circular Forest's outer zones. Wolves, silver spiders, Noras, and other low-level monsters appeared one after another along their path.
But this time, they posed no threat whatsoever.
In mere moments, the monsters were swept aside, crushed under Logan and Aria's coordinated attacks. Their progress was far faster and smoother than before. Battles that once required caution and strategy were now mere formalities.
Finally, they returned to the very spot where their intense training had begun.
It was at that moment that Aria suddenly felt her ears twitch, catching an unusual shift of air. Without thinking, she dove to the side.
A spike shot up from the ground exactly where she'd been standing a second earlier—and the attacks didn't stop. Several more spikes erupted in quick succession, forcing Aria to chain evasions in an unpredictable dance.
"Argh!" she cried as a sharp pain shot through her shoulder.
A quick glance showed a clean cut. These were no longer the rounded training spikes. No, this time, they were sharpened, ready to pierce.
Looking up, she spotted Logan at a distance, in a battle stance, his gaze focused.
"Come at me, Aria!" he called out firmly, his tone a mix of challenge and seriousness.
An instinctive smile curved Aria's lips, excitement rising.
"You won't have to tell me twice!"
She drew her sword in a flash and charged full speed at Logan. Spikes kept erupting all around her, fracturing the ground beneath her feet, creating unpredictable obstacles. But her agility had been honed over months of training.
With a powerful leap, she soared into the air, simultaneously launching several compressed water spheres toward Logan. But instantly, a massive stone wall rose before him, absorbing the impact of the projectiles. The wall shook, marked by the shots, but did not give way.
Landing a few meters away, Aria pressed forward, determined to close the distance and engage in close combat.
"If I can get close enough, he won't have time to defend himself." Aria thought, her eyes locked on Logan.
With that thought firmly anchored, she suddenly accelerated beyond the speed she had trained at so far. Her attacks doubled in intensity and frequency, a veritable barrage of compressed water hammering relentlessly against the stone wall shielding Logan.
The impacts kept coming; the wall quickly began to crack under the repeated pressure. Logan attempted to reform another barrier instantly, but at that very moment, a shadow loomed above him.
A massive sphere of water had materialized midair and was falling straight toward his head.
Caught off guard, Logan had to dodge, momentarily breaking his contact with the ground. That was the opening Aria had been waiting for.
She dashed forward immediately, taking advantage of this moment of vulnerability. Her sword was now wrapped in a swirling layer of water, amplifying the power of her strike.
As she dove toward him, Logan calmly raised his bare hand and caught the blade of her sword with his hand, stopping it dead in its tracks right before Aria's wide eyes.
"What?!"
Without giving her time to react, Logan gripped the blade firmly and twisted, hurling Aria several meters away in an uncontrolled tumble. And new spikes erupted from the ground, resuming their relentless assault.
The exchanges started anew with even greater intensity. Aria, still at range, unleashed her attacks while dodging the spikes shooting up in rapid succession. Yet as the minutes passed, she felt her mana dangerously depleting.
"If this keeps up, I'll be out… and then the fight will be over for me! And him… he doesn't even look tired!" she thought, frustrated.
Meanwhile, Logan continued without pause, analyzing each move of his disciple.
"She's starting to understand. Deprived of her ice element and unable to reach me in close combat, she's burning through her mana in a war of attrition she can't win like this."
He remained calm:
"But that's exactly why this is perfect training: a real fight against a stronger opponent. When a beast is cornered, that's often when it reveals its true potential. And you, Aria… you have a card to play. Now's the time. Show me!"
As if in response to his thoughts, everything suddenly shifted.
In one instant, Logan's protective wall exploded into pieces under a single water bullet, far denser than all the previous ones. The following projectiles crashed into the wall's debris, completely pulverizing it.
Logan then made spikes erupt all over the battlefield, making them explode and hurl debris in every direction, raising a massive cloud of dust.
Through this haze, a silhouette emerged.
Aria advanced, her eyes blazing, an aura of power radiating from her entire being. Her appearance had changed wild, raw, dangerously feral.
________
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