Ch. 36 Edge of the Forest

When night was about to fall, the three of them arrived at the edge of the forest.

Because they had set off relatively late, they hadn’t traveled very far.

It was the first time Mia had seen such a distinct boundary between a forest and grassland in real life; on one side was dimness, on the other was brightness.

On flat ground, Mia couldn’t see how big the forest really was.

But she could see that the stretching canopy had almost no gaps.

” Kalé, stay a bit further away from us.

” ” Let’s go in tomorrow.

” The light at night was already dim; if they were to walk into the dense forest at this time, they wouldn’t be able to see the road at all without torches.

” Will there be Royal Army patrols inside?

” Mia suddenly asked.

” If we haven’t attracted attention, ” Wilden said, ” then King Godrick shouldn’t have stationed sentries in a place like this.

” ” What does ‘ not attracting attention ‘ mean?

” Mia chewed on these words, recalling the experiences from the time she left the Stranded Graveyard until now.

They hadn’t encountered other Godrick Soldier along the way; the only encounter was the Tree Sentinel.

But did slipping out from under the Tree Sentinel’s nose count as attracting attention?

Wilden added: ” But I can’t say for sure, because I don’t even know how many years I was trapped in that cave.

” Except for the map, all his intelligence was outdated.

” Well.

” The girl shrugged indifferently: ” At worst, we can just sneak past them later.

” The three began preparing for the night, and Mia lit a campfire at the edge of the forest.

Thinking about camping again today, the girl couldn’t help but look melancholy.

Even though she had storage space, there wasn’t a single usable tent.

Mia stared blankly at the campfire, where a Cracked Pot filled with water was placed.

Perhaps because they hadn’t walked many steps today and had rested well last night, she didn’t feel tired at all.

The water inside the Cracked Pot began to bubble and boil.

The girl cast a youthful mini version of Fire Protection that only worked on herself.

Then she reached her hand directly into the fire to pick up the Cracked Pot, holding the jar and blowing on it symbolically.

The water, having just left the flames, was still bubbling under the influence of the residual heat of the jar.

Mia tilted her head back and gulped down the boiling hot water.

Putting down the jar, Mia opened her mouth and exhaled a large cloud of steam.

“…

That’s really convenient.

” The girl sighed.

After adding Fire Protection to herself, 100-degree boiling water was no different from room temperature.

Kalé looked at Mia as if she were a monster.

The latter had no self-awareness of having done something heaven-defying and gave a silly smile: ” This is also part of the practice.

” Anyway, energy could recover over time, it wasn’t strictly necessary to have Cerulean Flasks.

” Wilden, ” Mia suddenly called out.

The Soldier looked over at the sound.

Mia, with the golden sword strapped to her waist, walked toward him and raised her head: ” Can you teach me swordsmanship?

” The girl had previously seen Wilden’s heroic posture on the battlefield; whether it was a greatsword or a straight sword, Wilden used them with ease.

She saw the sword blade flashing continuously, killing countless rat-men, perhaps even more than Mia had burned to death with her own flames, yet Wilden hadn’t suffered a single injury.

The combat skills accumulated over countless years were decisive and swift.

Mia had the thought of wanting to learn almost at that very instant.

Although she positioned herself as a sorcerer, even spellcasters needed to defend themselves!

If she didn’t even know how to use a sword, then like before in Nuln, if she suddenly encountered a rat-man around a corner, casting a spell definitely wouldn’t be fast enough.

Furthermore, if the battle she experienced that day exhausted her blue bar, and even her Flasks were finished, all she could rely on would be conventional weapons.

What if she encountered that kind of…

tentacle monster that sucked your magic in the future!

Mia was a magical girl now, after all.

Therefore, even as a spellcaster, if she didn’t want to get finished off by just anything after running out of mana…

She still had to have a melee weapon she was good with for self-defense!

Although Mia had already acquired basic combat skills through the memory of grace from when she transmigrated, she felt it still wasn’t enough!

She had to master a few more skills; having more skills never hurts, and who knows when they might come in handy.

Mia liked being an all-around talent, developing in all directions.

Not only Prayer, but also magic, and even more so, swordsmanship.

Since she could research Prayer by herself, and would go find teacher Sellen to learn magic later, as for swordsmanship, the closest swordsmanship expert was only Wilden.

Oh, besides swordsmanship, Wilden’s spearmanship should also be quite good.

When Mia first met Wilden, his weapons were a greatshield and a spear.

Coincidentally, Mia’s starting weapon was also a spear, so she might as well learn both spearmanship and swordsmanship.

It was just the right way to vent the energy she hadn’t used today.

The girl looked at Wilden with great anticipation, and the Soldier didn’t decline, nodding in agreement.

Thus, the two stood opposite each other not far from the campfire.

Mia was using a longsword and didn’t have a shield, so Wilden also put down his shield and held a straight sword with both hands.

The Soldier spoke calmly and coolly: ” I’m coming at you.

” ” Mm.

” Mia stared intently at Wilden, also gripping the sword with both hands, striking a combat pose.

Although she had never formally sparred with anyone in swordsmanship.

But having lived in the internet era of data explosion in her previous life, Mia knew a trick or two.

She had watched some weapon combat videos like ” Single Blade vs.

Spear ” or ” Eastern vs.

Western Swordsmanship, ” and had played relatively realistic RPG games with melee weapon backgrounds, like those featuring the Bohemian Sword Saint.

The theory of sword moves was quite rich.

Mia stared straight at Wilden’s hands, her mind constantly guessing what moves he would make.

Her whole body was tense, ready at any moment to defend against attacks coming from any direction.

The Soldier strode forward, his longsword shining brightly under the firelight.

Kalé, as the audience, also stared nervously at this, wanting to watch a ” peak duel.

” Mia saw the movement in Wilden’s hands; the longsword swung toward her, and Mia swung her sword to parry it.

Then, with a clink, the sound of metal clashing rang out just once, and Wilden’s blade pressed against Mia’s forehead.

“Eh?” The blade pressed tightly against her fair skin, leaving a shallow cut on the young girl’s forehead, and a drop of bright red blood trickled down from between her brows.

“It itches.” “Sorry.” Seeing that Mia had been hurt, Wilden immediately withdrew his sword.

He rarely sparred with others.

When he used a sword, it was primarily on the battlefield; his swordsmanship had been honed there as well, consisting of sword techniques he had perfected purely for the sake of killing enemies more efficiently.

While sparring with Mia, he hadn’t managed to hold back his strength in the moment.

Mia blinked.

What happened?

She had just blocked the first attack, and then what?

How did she ‘die’?

Wilden seemed to notice Mia’s confusion.

“You…

well, you were too hesitant,” Wilden said.

“Hesitant?” Mia frowned.

A sharp, invigorating pain radiated from the wound on her forehead.

She roughly understood what Wilden meant.

She had been overthinking, staring at Wilden’s sword while trying to analyze all his attacking patterns.

In the end, she hadn’t left herself any reaction time to adapt.

“I see…” Mia wiped the drop of blood from her forehead with her index finger and sucked on it.

Very little blood had flowed out, so all she could taste was the saltiness of her own sweat…

“Let’s go again!” Raising her sword again, Mia nodded to Wilden.

Without practical sparring, and with only thinking, it would be impossible to overcome the shortcomings she had discovered.

Seeing that Mia hadn’t backed down, Wilden also resumed his stance.

Just as they were about to clash again.

“Wait a moment!” Mia suddenly shouted.

Then she looked around: “Wait for me!” She repeated.

Then she ducked behind a bush that could hide her.

Before long.

She came running out wearing that tattered Prophet robe.

Wilden’s sword was sharpened, and she couldn’t risk damaging that comfortable noble traveler’s outfit.

After standing back in front of Wilden, Mia raised her sword again.

“Alright, please don’t hold back!” The young girl shouted energetically.

It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?

“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”