The next day after the announcement, we set out with our supplies in caravans to the Empire's border, a journey that would take us approximately two and a half days to reach. Luckily, monsters were few on that side of the Kingdom's forests, but the same couldn't be said about where we were now.

  "C-can we please turn back? I'm getting some really bad vibes from this," Matilda pleaded, but I politely turned her down,

  "And waste another two and a half days when we're running out of time?"

  "Daphne, I think we should listen to her," Lucia said with a worried expression on her face. I could tell she wanted to say more, but I couldn't afford to heed such a request, and it wasn't just because of the time. I had to consider supplies as well. That would be a combined five days of rations gone for nothing, I thought with a pained look on my face.

  "Sorry, but we must march on," I answered definitively, silencing any and all objections like a dictator. I mean, I kinda was, but... yeah, this is getting me nowhere. As I rode on silently atop my new "borrowed" horse, I remembered everything I learned about the Empire's borders in the past few days. The Empire shared two natural borders with the Kingdom, the Tolset Highnds, and the Abandoned Woods.

  The Tolset Highnds was a mountain range that acted as a natural boundary between the Kingdom and the Empire. It extended deep into both nations and was known for its tall, imposing peaks and blisteringly cold climate. This coupled with sightings of Ice Dragons and other dangerous flying monsters made it sound like a true nightmare to traverse. So, I immediately ruled it out and went for the next option, the Abandoned Woods.

  The Kingdom was home to many forests, but the Abandoned Woods was one of the more notorious ones. Beginning from the northwestern side of Camelia to the border, there were several monsters, unexplored caves, and rumors flying around about it. From people ciming to lose their sense of direction to stories about ghosts, I knew we were in for a ride, but what other choice did we have? Wait until the Empire wins? No thanks... However, I couldn't shake off the suspicion growing within me. These are the only two borders, and both options seem terrible for an army the size of the Empire's. How did they invade?

  Just then, the rustling of a few leaves interrupted my thoughts, stopping me in my tracks. It's close, I thought to myself as I prepared myself for battle with everybody following suit, taking their respective pre-arranged positions. I'd been enjoying the benefits of [Nature's Bounty] so far, and I had gained more experience with the sword from all my training with Kimmel, so I wasn't too worried about myself. If anything, I'm more worried about the others. I wouldn't want these monsters to chip away at our numbers, I thought to myself as I tightened the grip on my bow.

  With everyone on high alert, anticipating an attack from every possible direction, the rustling suddenly stopped. Five minutes, ten, fifteen minutes went by in deathly silence. We braced ourselves for what seemed to be nothing, eventually deciding to move on, as it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain our state of high alert. I hope they remain vigint...

  I'd open the map occasionally, relying on our fliers for visual confirmation of where we should go. We were starting to make some progress, but I couldn't shake off the feeling that we were being watched. It was ter that evening that my suspicions were finally confirmed. Physically and mentally exhausted from our long trek, we started setting up our tents. The pn was to have different sets of parties on Nightwatch, but the monsters chose that exact moment to attack.

  "Shit, HellHounds!" I cursed. They swiftly attacked the moment we let our guards down, going primarily for the weaker soldiers and adventurers in the Company. I won't let you! I thought as I kicked one away mere moments before it could dig its fangs into one of our healers. She wanted to thank me, but I shouted, "Find somepce to hide, now!"

  "Okay, Commander Daphne," She said before running into her tent. Commander Daphne? That has a nice ring to it, I thought vainly as I stared down the HellHound. Its blood-red eyes were fierce, and its bck fur made it hard to spot in the dark, but Lucia shot a fire spell into the air, lighting up the area enough for us to momentarily fight them.

  It was probably sizing me up to determine if I was an easy target or not, something that would've been impossible for Everst Dynasty HellHounds. It honestly made me feel uneasy, but I could not dwell on such thoughts for too long. I brought out my bow in a fsh and fired three arrows at normal speed. It swiftly dodged them and countered with a fireball that emerged from its mouth, which I easily dodged. Great, so it's at least at level 50, I thought to myself quite gloomily as I whistled for my horse. Once I hopped on it, the HellHound howled and before I knew it, more of its companions had ganged up against me. I'm impressed. It correctly judged that I was hiding my strength and brought back up.

  "Daphne!" Kimmel shouted, but I simply smiled and said,

  "Don't worry about me, Kimmel! I'll be fine!" This time, I decided to shoot at full speed, but they tried to cancel it out by creating a wall of fire. Of course, a few arrows still went through and managed to kill some HellHounds, but their teamwork was impeccable, almost scary even. This is getting more and more interesting, I thought to myself as I grabbed my sword. It started with a slow gallop, then picking up the pace, I accelerated to the height of my speed. In this state, the world was like a blur, so I'd learned to move in short bursts of speed so as not to be disoriented. I would "teleport" to one of the HellHounds, cut them down, and move on to the next till they were all dead.

  "I see you've gotten better at controlling your speed," Phildina commented as she hovered above me. I told her about my skill, and she took it upon herself to train me on how to effectively use my speed in combat. Kimmel and Phildina had truly taught me a lot. I was grateful, but she picked a bad time.

  "Yeah, but shouldn't you be helping the others?" I asked with an annoyed look.

  "Sorry, I was just checking up on you!" She said with a giggle as she took off to assist the others. Eventually, we got the situation under control and defeated the pack of HellHounds. I'd gained a decent amount of EXP and even leveled up!

  DaphneLV 61HP622 + 40%Str341 + 40%Dex425 + 40%Spd338 + 40%Luck 283 + 40%P-DEF275 + 40%M-DEF420 + 40%Status-----CompatibilityLuciaHowever, the behavior of the monsters was... concerning. If ordinary monsters moved like that, how would bosses act? Maybe Matilda had a point, I thought, but I quickly shook it off. I can't start second-guessing myself here. I'll just need to handle whatever comes my way to the best of my ability. There is no other way, I thought to myself that night as we entered our tent.

  Kureous

  [colpse]