"Monster, is that it?"
"Little demon, Sona, are you two sure these are all monsters we've encountered? They're too weak. I haven't even broken a sweat yet."
"Just a massacre?"
The wilderness.
Night had fallen.
In the pitch-black cave, only a campfire surged with orange-red flames. Chen Yu, Sona, and the little demon sat around the fire. In front of him were piles of bones, teeth, horns, and tails.
These were the spoils of war Chen Yu had collected on his journey.
According to Sona and the others, these materials were quite valuable, so he kept them. kAnshu伍.ξà
"Why aren't you two saying anything?"
After waiting for a long time without a response, Chen Yu frowned slightly and glanced over, only to see the demon girl and Sona staring at him as if he were a monster.
"Uh, why are you looking at me like that?"
Feeling a bit uneasy under their gaze, Chen Yu blinked.
"What kind of freak are you?" the demon girl couldn't help but frown after a long silence. "You're just a beginner mage, why are you slaughtering monsters like chickens?"
"Ah, this..."
Chen Yu, not understanding, whispered tentatively.
"Could it be that those monsters were very strong?"
Impossible?!
Recalling his journey, after the demon girl and Sona confirmed the route, Chen Yu and the others headed straight for the monster-infested areas.
In less than three days.
He had cleared dozens of monster-infested caves, encountering situations where multiple monsters occupied a single cave several times.
But—
He hadn't been in any danger.
Instant kill.
Perhaps, saying instant kill was a bit exaggerated. But those monsters had indeed posed no threat to him, not even any pressure.
They weren't even as imposing as the jungle wolves Chen Yu had encountered initially.
Chanting magic.
Boom!
Great fire burns.
Before he could even chant a second fireball, he had already received the cave notification.
[Magic Crystal +1]
What could he do?
He was desperate too.
He had prepared himself for a hard-fought battle, only to find that it was a smooth push, a complete stomp.
"Weak?"
Facing Chen Yu's questioning gaze, the demon girl nodded and chuckled twice.
"Yes, everything you said is correct."
???
What kind of passive-aggressive answer was that?
Frankly, Chen Yu was quite puzzled. Barbara seemed to be in a state of anger almost all the time. If he said anything, she would get upset and then refuse to communicate in a passive-aggressive manner.
If it were any other time,
Chen Yu wouldn't deny that he was deliberately trying to provoke Barbara. The problem was that he was sincerely seeking knowledge right now.
Looking at the situation.
It seemed unlikely he would get an answer from the demon girl, so Chen Yu shifted his gaze to Sona.
"Sona?"
"The strength of the monsters we've encountered so far is indeed uneven. Most of them wouldn't pose any threat to you at your current level, but—" Sona pursed her lips and whispered, "there are indeed many dangerous monsters. For example, the phantom wolf you encountered this morning. Although its combat power is lower during the day than at night, I don't think you should be its match."
"Phantom wolf, that black-furred wolf?"
Chen Yu raised an eyebrow.
He then looked down at the spoils in front of him and took out a tooth about fifteen centimeters long.
"It?"
Sona nodded slightly, and Chen Yu frowned.
"Is it strong?"
Chen Yu did remember this wolf. It was about the same size as a forest wolf, but relatively more agile and very fast.
Its fangs were also very sharp and long.
The problem was—
Chen Yu killed it with just one encounter, instantly casting a fireball.
Recalling carefully.
When Sona saw the phantom wolf, her eyes indeed showed some surprise. After it was instantly killed by Chen Yu, the surprise in her eyes became even more pronounced.
Chen Yu didn't pay much attention.
If Sona hadn't mentioned it now, Chen Yu would have dismissed it as just an ordinary wild beast.
"Perhaps, it wasn't strong."
Facing Chen Yu's question, Sona seemed to have resigned herself and sighed.
She had nothing more to say.
Whether the phantom wolf was strong or not, to her, the phantom wolf was certainly not strong. It was actually considered a lower-tier monster.
She didn't even need to be at her peak. Even after joining the Holy See.
It was easy for her to instantly kill a phantom wolf.
The problem was,
At that time, she had already been practicing magic for several years and could skillfully use advanced magic.
Chen Yu was a beginner.
Even though his fireball possessed the effect of an intermediate magic, he couldn't directly kill an adult phantom wolf.
Among low-level monsters, the phantom wolf posed a very high threat.
If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Sona would never have believed that a beginner mage could go toe-to-toe with a phantom wolf.
Oh, no!
It should be said that he instantly killed the phantom wolf.
This was simply unrealistic.
When she saw the phantom wolf at the time, she thought she could gauge Chen Yu's strength. But she never expected that even the phantom wolf wouldn't show any sign of weakness in Chen Yu.
Black Obsidian Realm?
Could Chen Yu's magical strength have reached the Black Obsidian level?
This, was impossible.
A long silence and unbelievable suspicion spread in Sona's heart. In the end, she could only sigh.
"It seems your magical strength doesn't need to be tested. You won't encounter any more monsters outside the cave that can threaten you. We can go back."
"Ah?!"
Chen Yu was taken aback by her words.
"Go back?"
This was too sudden.
He came to the cave to hunt monsters for excitement, but he hadn't experienced any thrill. Instead, it had made him overconfident, even a little arrogant.
He needed to encounter some setbacks.
Otherwise, he was truly afraid of becoming boastful.
"What else can we do?" Sona spread her hands. "The phantom wolf, the fire bird, neither could threaten you. So, even if we continue exploring, we won't encounter anything stronger than them."
"Aren't the cave planes all disrupted?"
"Yes, but do you think the survivors who could provide you with coordinates would survive encountering high-level monsters? That's simply impossible."
Sona said with certainty.
Although Chen Yu had given her a big shock, she didn't believe that others had any chance of survival when encountering high-level monsters.
High-level monsters had much sharper senses than low-level monsters.
Furthermore, their territories were vast, and they would be aware of any living beings entering immediately. Even some experts at the Black Obsidian Realm had a slim chance of survival against high-level monsters.
"Then what now, really retreat?"
Although he wasn't completely satisfied, since Sona had suggested returning to the camp, Chen Yu couldn't say much more. Moreover, if the other monsters they encountered posed no threat to him, he really had no desire to continue.
"Let's go."
Sona sighed helplessly. In the end, she couldn't figure out Chen Yu's true depth, and she was actually a little disappointed.
Chen Yu stretched lazily. Just as he was about to take out a teleportation scroll to return—
"Hey, I remember the next monster cave is very close to here, right?"
"Mmm~"
"Why don't we go take a look?"