After Jaan left, Taufik continued his training, but instead of focusing on training, Taufik now was deep in thought.
'... How exactly am I going to get stronger? The quest only tells me to get stronger, but it doesn't tell me how, nor the limit of how much I have to grow to complete it...'
The quest didn't tell Taufik how to proceed, so he didn't know what kind of training he had to do.
"Should I train my body? Or my soul? System, do you have any suggestions?"
He asked the system because the quest was issued by it, so maybe it had some clue.
[...]
But there were no answers from the system, so Taufik asked again.
"...System?"
[Yes, Master, how can I help you?]
"My question!! Your answers are?"
[...]
"..."
Seeing that the system didn't want to answer his questions, Taufik gave up.
"What The Fuck is 'I'm here to assist the Master' bullshit? I just asked a simple question, but you don't even answer it, Tch!"
[...]
"Ahhh! Forget it... I'll just train my SwordMagic: Divine Technique... Maybe if I perfect all the forms, the quest will be complete somehow"
Taufik said in frustration; having decided on what aspect he wanted to train in, Taufik began his training.
But because of the incident with Jaan earlier, he didn't have much time left for training today, and without realizing it, the night was approaching.
--------
"*Hufft~* Alright, that's it for today... Let's get ready to go home"
Taufik said, this was Taufik's first time being in this forest at this hour.
Jenn always reminded him not to stay in the forest at night, but when Taufik asked why, she only said it was too dangerous and never explained the reason.
'... If Jenn knew I was in the forest this late, she'd probably be mad. She just said it was too dangerous, but she didn't tell me exactly why. Maybe some ghost or something?'
Taufik thought as he looked around him, but then a laugh came out of his mouth.
"Ahaha~ Who am I kidding? There's no way a ghost or something would suddenly appear in front of me-"
But Taufik's words were suddenly cut off by a woman's eerie giggle.
"Hihi~ Hihihihi~ HIHIHIHIHI~"
The laughter grew louder and louder by the second.
"!!!"
Of course, Taufik was startled by this, which made him quickly take out his katana, ready to strike at anything that would come at him.
'This giggle… Is it a Kuntilanak?'
Taufik thought as he heard the laughter.
Kuntilanak is one of Indonesia's most famous urban legends. Kuntilanak, often abbreviated as 'Kunti' is believed to be the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant or during childbirth, leaving her unborn child behind. That 'hihihi' sound is their signature trait. Although it sounds like laughter, it is actually the sound of them crying, mourning for their lost children.
'Since I can't sense her location, she isn't a living being… Is this a real Kuntilanak?'
After what happened with Jenn, Taufik had trained his senses to the maximum, afraid that the same kind of accident might happen again.
Even though it had only been a month, Taufik could now sense all living things within a five-kilometer radius.
So any living being within that range couldn't escape his senses.
'This is a problem. If I can't sense her, then I'll have to rely on instinct when she attacks. But can a ghost even attack a human? From what I can tell, I can't sense any mana from her either… So what will she use to attack?'
"Where's my child~? Ahh, my poor child~ hihihi~"
With those words and an eerie laugh, a woman in a plain white house dress with long black hair covering her entire face appeared in front of Taufik, floating in the air.
"Do you know where my child is~? Where's my child~? You definitely know where my child is~"
"..."
"Hihihi~ Why aren't you answering~? Are you the one who took my child~? Hihihi~"
"..."
"Where's my child~, hihihi~... Hey... GIVE ME MY CHILD BACK!!!"
With that, the woman showed his eyes; they were fiery red and filled with hatred. Then flew toward Taufik, trying to attack him with her sharp nails.
"GIVE ME MY CHILD BACK!!!"
But with his enhanced reflexes, he easily avoided the attack by tilting his body slightly to the side to avoid Kuntilanak's attack, and then with a swift movement, he slashed his katana horizontally towards Kuntilanak, intending to end her in one slash, however...
*Slash!*
Instead of cutting through the Kuntilanak, Taufik's katana simply passed through her body.
This made Taufik shocked, he wasn't even using SwordMagic: Water Form, yet the katana still phased through her.
'What!?'
Seeing his attack fail, Taufik quickly thought of using the Light Form, which could cut through anything.
When the Kunti saw her attack fail, she turned around and prepared to attack again. But Taufik didn't give her the chance and struck first.
Seeing Taufik attack, the Kuntilanak didn't try to dodge or block because she thought it probably would pass through her just like before.
Seeing this, a smirk appeared on Taufik's face, though.
'... You're so done'
And just like that, the Kuntilanak, who thought Taufik's attack would be useless, was cut in two. She disintegrated into countless particles that scattered everywhere, leaving nothing behind.
Seeing this, Taufik took a while to process what he just encountered, before he said
"What was that?... Fuck, this world just got even more complicated"
--------
After the Kuntilanak disappeared, Taufik looked around to see if anything else would show up. Seeing nothing, he left the forest.
When he arrived home, Taufik told Jenn about his experience.
Jenn, hearing his story, was worried, but since he was fine, she felt relieved.
"*Sigh* That's why I told you not to stay there after sunset"
"But what exactly was that? Was it really a Kuntilanak?"
"Yes, they were real Kuntilanak, but people involved in the supernatural prefer to call them 'inferior demons' because they are creatures made purely from human emotions. Kuntilanak, in particular, are born from the sorrow of parents who lost their children in that forest and never got them back"
"Inferior demons? Are they strong?"
Taufik asked, getting interested in this new term.
"They're not that powerful, only a few of them are truly dangerous. But because physical and magical attacks don't really work on them, we magicians prefer to avoid them"
"How so? Then how can someone kill them?"
"Only an exorcist can deal with them. They have their own secret methods"
"Wow… First, it was magicians, then spirits, and now exorcists? This world keeps getting more complicated"
Taufik sighed after learning about yet another hidden force in this world.
"Hahaha~ You don't have to worry. As long as you don't fight them, everything will be fine"
"But I already killed one"
"...WHAT!?! YOU KILLED ONE!? HOW!?"
Jenn was shocked by what she heard from Taufik.
"I just cut her with my katana. Nothing special..."
"...You're the only one who would think killing an inferior demon is 'nothing special.... If the Exorcist Society knew about this, they might think you stole their methods! You never stop surprising me... What's next? Are you going to tell me you're not human or something? Ahaha~"
Jenn said, laughing, trying to joke, until she noticed Taufik's silence.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...What!? You're NOT HUMAN!?"
She asked, but Taufik remained silent.
"..."
"Explain yourself! NOW!!!"
....
...
..
.