There’s Apparently a Great Hunting Ground

「Hey, Mylia. Do you want to party up for just a while?」

「Party up?」

「Yeah. I want to farm some EXP, but it’ll take time if I’m alone. But with your firepower, we can kill monsters left and right.」

It’s not a bad deal for her… I think. With a Sage’s Skills, finding monsters is easy. I just draw an enemy’s attention and she can take it down without much trouble. She should get three times better results than when she goes hunting solo. The question now is if she’s willing to or not…

「Partying up with you… are you sure?」

She was befuddled for an instant after hearing my suggestion.

「Of course. Only for about a month, most likely. We split the reward 50-50. Is that okay?」

「50-50… Are you sure about that?」

「Yeah. Rewards are pretty much always split equally between members of a party. If you want, I can teach you ways to get stronger as well. They have some drawbacks, so it’s up to you if you want to follow them or not.」

「I get to party up with a strong adventurer like you and split the reward equally? I think I just hit the jackpot. Of course I accept. I’m also curious about this method to get stronger as well.」

Looks like we have a party then.

「I hope we get along.」

「Same here!」

We then shook hands. With this, I can get lots of levels in one go! The problem now is where I can do that.

「Mylia, do you know of a place that’s great for farming EXP?」

「A place that’s great for farming EXP… How about the Plains of Serhell? It’s about forty kilometres away and directly across the royal capital from here. There are plenty of E-ranked Sand Moles that are easy to hunt in that place. Beginner adventurers usually go there.」

「The EXP you get from an rank E monster is too low. Somewhere with lots of B-ranked monsters would be good.」

If I were alone, I would’ve gone for a place with C-ranked monsters, but with Mylia, it should be fine to go to a hunting ground with B-ranked monsters. If she reorganizes her Skill Tree to that of a decent one, we could even go to where A-ranked monsters roam about in numbers.

As I was pondering our options, Mylia’s expression went grim.

「A place with plenty of B-ranked monsters… Don’t tell me you want to hunt monsters in the Forest of Death?」

「Forest of Death?」

That’s an ominous-sounding name.

「Yeah. There’s no other place nearby with lots of B-ranked monsters. Of those who go deep in the forest, only about 10% make it back. It’s the worst danger zone around here.」

A ten percent survival rate is awfully low. That means nine out of ten dies in the forest.

「Why’s the death rate so high?」

「Because there are lots of rank B monsters in there. If there’s a Shielder that can defend against A-ranked monsters like you, you can farm an awful lot of EXP, but it’s ordinarily impossible.」

I see… In this world, a tank’s abilities are not enough against B-ranked monsters and would only lead to the demise of the whole party.

If I decided to fight a formidable monster, I’d have to gather members myself and teach them how to organize their Skills and how to fight. I would teach them delicate and high-level fighting techniques, but mentoring them would be difficult since there’s no safe place to learn and train. However, I could teach them other fighting styles that would give room for them to play it safe.

Then again, a Sage can fight alone so I can go solo for a while.

「Is the Forest of Death close?」

「It’s closer than the Plains of Serhell, about a day’s travel on foot. The closest town from the forest, Desire, is a comfortable place to live in as long as you stay away from the Forest of Death.」

「All right. Let’s check the place out a bit.」

The Forest of Death.
The name itself screams danger, but if we can steadily hunt B-ranked monsters there, it’s the perfect place to farm EXP. But first I’d have to use my Magic Search a number of times before going in to be safe.

「Check the place out a bit? Are you serious?」

「Damn right, I am. I’ll check if it’s safe beforehand. Going in a dangerous forest without any means to detect monsters is plain suicidal. Magic Search.」

I uttered the spell on purpose so she’d hear it. Not a moment later, I was aware of the location of every monster nearby and their type.

「300 meters in that direction, there’s a racoon-type monster. Right over this side, 500 meters away is a wolf-type monster. And there’s a sheep-type monster about 800 meters away in that direction.」

Mylia stared blankly for a moment as I spoke, then her expression quickly changed to that of surprise.

「Did you just locate every monster in the area in that instant?」

「I did. Do you want to verify it? Incidentally, I found you fighting with the Raging Ape with this spell.」

「…I know now that common sense doesn’t apply to you. Going to the Forest of Death is a risky gamble, but it should be worth it. The Forest of Death is over there. We might as well cover as much ground today so we’ll have it easy tomorrow.」

She pointed at a direction. I expected no less from an adventurer with an alias. She knows where the towns are located.

「All right. Lead the way.」

「Roger that!」

With that, we dashed off to the town of Desire. A great hunting ground is waiting for us.