Galvez had not chosen Roland as the protagonist of his coursework on a whim.

As a bard who had traveled the continent for many years, Galvez had seen far too many young people blessed with extraordinary talent.

But those people were either arrogant and dismissive of his proposal, or they drowned in the superiority their talent brought them and neglected their training in the end.

Among all those geniuses, Roland was different.

He treated people with humility and warmth. Even when Galvez pestered him with relentless questions, he would at most change the subject in helpless silence. He never spoke harshly.

More than that, this young man had mastered superb combat techniques at such a young age, trained a Knight breathing method in only a few days, and could now use battle aura with growing skill.

Rarest of all, even with such outstanding talent, he maintained nearly exacting self-discipline, investing almost all his time into tempering techniques and improving his strength.

Galvez often thought:

"Isn't a young man like this the perfect protagonist?"

But unlike Galvez himself, whose purpose was simple, Avril was a different matter entirely.

Thinking of that dangerous woman who had betrayed the Elven race and fled from her own people, Galvez shivered.

The rumors that she had colluded with Drow had yet to be confirmed, but her achievements against underground creatures alone proved one thing.

She was no innocent, naive girl. She was a decisive warrior who killed without hesitation.

Then why had she hidden her identity and approached Roland?

"Surely she didn't actually fall for Roland's handsome face?"

Galvez muttered inwardly, then rejected the absurd thought at once.

He truly could not connect that cold-blooded Valkyrie of the Silvermoon Guard with the image of a girl in love.

"Forget it..."

The bard shook his head, picked up his quill again, and continued recording the inspiration he had accumulated over the past month.

"Just like Roland said, Avril has shown no malice so far. As for hunting the Bugbear..."

Thinking of the savage creature recorded in ancient texts, Galvez showed no fear at all.

"If we truly run into danger, and Avril still insists on maintaining her disguise... then I will act."

"I cannot let the protagonist under my pen die quietly in some remote backwater."

As the quill scratched across the paper, fragments of the journey flowed onto the page.

Flipping through the increasingly thick notebook, Galvez smiled in satisfaction.

"Ha! Choosing Roland as the protagonist was the right call!"

He muttered to himself, excited.

"Give him a little more time, and even that Rudolf from Teacher Vesna's writing will surely be surpassed by Roland!"

"After all, how can someone who vanished into the river of history for no clear reason compare with a living legend?"

While the bard was still immersed in grand fantasies about the future, Teresa and Avril completed their tasks with astonishing efficiency.

Only a day later, the four of them once again sat around the inn's wooden table.

Dim candlelight cast wavering shadows across the rough tabletop. Teresa unfolded a yellowed parchment and tapped the ferocious outline sketched in charcoal.

"According to the information provided by the Adventurer's Guild..."

Her voice was low and grave. Her fingertip slid across the paper.

"The Bugbear is the height of two adult men stacked together, and its shoulders are wider than a tavern doorframe."

She paused, allowing the terrifying image to settle in everyone's minds.

"Its strength is enough to tear iron armor apart bare-handed, yet its speed is so fast it can cross fallen leaves without making a sound. Even more dangerous is its intelligence..."

Her finger moved across a written passage, and her voice lowered further.

"It knows how to set traps, chooses the most favorable moment to strike, and most troublesome of all, once it senses the situation turning against it, it flees without hesitation. Then it hides in the dark like a ghost and waits for the next chance at revenge."

Teresa looked around at everyone and spoke each word clearly.

"A conservative estimate says it would take at least three to five Transcendent-level warriors working together flawlessly to have any chance of killing it, assuming it does not flee."

"No need to worry about that."

Avril suddenly took over, her light tone cutting through the heavy mood at just the right moment.

Her slender fingertip traced a smooth circle on the table.

"I scouted Echo Valley's terrain."

The Elf girl's silver hair swayed as she blinked playfully.

"There are many caves inside, and the paths are tangled, but every exit is still within the valley."

Her mouth curved with confidence.

"As long as we block the only way out of Echo Valley... it can only face us head-on. Right..."

Avril seemed to remember something and added, "Because of the Bugbear's arrival, all the monsters that originally occupied Echo Valley appear to have vanished."

"That is good news."

Roland nodded lightly.

Those ordinary monsters could not threaten them, but fewer variables meant fewer accidents.

Roland's fingers tapped the tabletop in a steady rhythm as he sorted through the information the two had brought back.

After thinking for a moment, he picked up the quill and heavily circled the words "skilled at ambush" on Teresa's parchment.

"In that case..."

Roland set down the pen, his voice steady.

"We act during the day, use smoke to force it out of the cave, and compel it to fight us head-on."

His gaze moved over each companion.

"Battle deployment remains the same. Teresa and I handle close combat, while Avril and Galvez provide ranged support. Any problems?"

Everyone nodded, and Roland refined the plan in detail.

At dawn the next day, the four rode the carriage toward Echo Valley.

Just as Avril had said, this former monster gathering place was now terrifyingly quiet.

Under the glare of the morning sun, Roland tightened his grip on his sword hilt and led the party cautiously deeper into the valley.

After they passed through the narrow entrance, the view opened before them.

Within the ring of mountains lay a broad clearing.

Several enormous cave entrances and dozens of smaller holes were scattered across the surrounding cliffs.

After confirming that the area was safe, Roland gave orders in a low voice.

Soon, several piles of firewood were lit at the main cave entrances, and rolling smoke began spreading inward.

Time passed second by second. When smoke started seeping from the smaller holes, a dull boom echoed through the valley.

Everyone looked toward the sound and saw a huge figure shoot from a cave like lightning.

Without pause, it crossed the distance with a sharp whistle and appeared in front of Roland, who stood at the lead.

The weapon in its hand became a black bolt, chopping down at his head with terrifying force.

Roland had been prepared. He reacted at once, raising the fine iron round shield in his hand to catch the heavy strike.

Bang!

The piercing clash of metal echoed through the valley.

Roland's expression tightened. Numbness surged through his shield arm, and his fingertips prickled with pain.

What startled him even more was that after one exchange, the fine iron shield already bore an obvious dent.

Such strength...

The thought flashed through his mind, but his hands did not stop.

The mithril longsword cut a silver line through the air, whistling toward the enemy's vitals.

The black shadow was exceptionally cunning.

When its ambush failed, it pressed its heavy weapon hard against the shield. Using the recoil, its massive body retreated with featherlike lightness.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Almost at the same instant, three feathered arrows cut through the air and sank deep into the ground where the shadow had stood, their tails trembling violently.

"Roar!"

Amid the deafening roar, Roland lowered his shield with caution and narrowed his eyes to examine the enemy before him.

Just as Teresa's drawing had shown, the monster was enormous, its muscles knotted. It was clearly the target of this trip.

A Bugbear.

But up close, its appearance was far removed from a "bear." Its ferocious face was more like a horrifying fusion of Orc and Goblin.

Its brown skin was covered in thick fur, its protruding tusks gleamed yellow, and its scarlet eyes held both cunning and cruelty.

Before the Bugbear's roar had finished echoing through the valley, the battle erupted again.

Teresa moved first.

She cut into the battlefield like silver lightning, her rapier becoming a storm of cold gleams that stabbed toward the gaps around the Bugbear's joints.

The crisp sounds of tink, tink, tink rang out in a chain, but the sword tip left only shallow white marks on its rough skin.

"Its hide is harder than iron armor!"

Teresa shouted while retreating rapidly, her wrist already numb from the recoil.

The instant the Bugbear swung a claw toward her, three sharp arrows arrived in a triangular formation.

Avril stood on the cliff wall, her bowstring still trembling.

The arrows shot toward its eye socket, throat, and the back of its knee at vicious angles, forcing the Bugbear to roar and withdraw its attack.

Just as the Bugbear prepared to strike again, Galvez's song pierced the battlefield.

His fingertips drew rippling sound waves from the harp, and the Bugbear's movements froze for a visible instant.

"Now!"

After a low roar, Roland thrust his sword like a venomous snake, and the mithril tip erupted with dazzling light.

With a ripping sound, the blade finally tore through fur and opened a bloody wound deep enough to reveal bone beneath the Bugbear's ribs.

Foul blood gushed out, but the Bugbear released a strange, mad laugh.

It abruptly turned and lunged toward the valley entrance.

That was the only escape route.

"Don't even think about it!"

Roland had already placed himself across the path, sword held horizontally.

Sword and shield clashed, bursting with dazzling sparks, and the gravel beneath their feet instantly turned to powder.

With its retreat sealed completely, the Bugbear suddenly went still.

The blood flowing from its wound steamed into red mist, and its brown skin rapidly turned a lava-like crimson.

"Roooar!"

With a roar, the Bugbear swung its weapon with all its strength. The wild wind it raised blew Teresa three steps backward.

Then it hurled the weapon toward the cliff wall where Avril stood, accompanied by a shriek that tore through the air.

Boom!

Half the cliff wall collapsed in response.

Amid the rain of flying stones, the monster turned around, both eyes blood-red. Lava-like drool dripped from the corners of its twisted mouth, and every step branded deep prints into the ground.

Seeing this, Roland held nothing back.

[Fighting Spirit], activate!

"Roar!"

The Bugbear's huge claw tore through the air and slapped toward him. Roland raised his shield to meet it head-on.

Bang!

The fine steel shield instantly dented inward like a bowl, and Roland flew backward like a kite with its string cut, his leather boots carving deep marks into the ground.

Before he could catch his breath, the next attack arrived.

Roland gritted his teeth and rolled aside, avoiding the follow-up strike. The place where he had just stood was blasted into a pit half a meter deep.

He barely raised his sword to block. Blood from his split thumb webbing ran down the hilt, and every collision made his arm bones groan under the burden.

But amid the intensifying battle, his blood began to boil.

After three blocks, the bleeding web of his hand stopped trembling.

After five dodges, his heavy legs grew nimble.

When sparks burst from the tenth collision between sword and claw, Roland could already keep up with the speed of that crimson afterimage.

"Not enough..."

He growled hoarsely. The [Focus] Trait circulated at full strength, and the surging Knight breathing method accelerated madly through his scorching blood.

Those stagnant nodes were washed again and again by a burning current, like frozen earth breaking apart under spring floodwaters.

A wondrous change occurred.

Faint white steam rose from his skin. Every breath carried a burning pain, but that pain was turning into a trembling excitement.

When the Bugbear's burning claw tore through the air again, Roland's mouth lifted in a fierce smile.

He could feel his blood boiling, his heart beating violently like a war drum.

Not from fear, but from excitement he had not felt in a long time.

Since his spar with "Iron Wall" Gundar of the Golden Valley Kingdom, he had not met an opponent that could force him to go all out.

Ordinary monsters could not even warm him up.

Now, facing this berserk beast, every combat instinct in his body was cheering.

"Good!"

Roland raised his shield and met the blow. The enormous impact drove both his legs deep into the ground.

Gravel flew. His eyes shone with heat.

This pressure on the edge of life and death, this tension where every second could decide survival, was the battle he craved.

As the effect of [Fighting Spirit] manifested, Roland could clearly feel his strength rising.

But astonishingly, the Bugbear's berserk state continued to strengthen as well.

This battle was like two rising tides crashing against each other. Whoever reached the peak first would drown the other.

Roland's sword moves grew sharper, but the Bugbear's counterattacks were just as brutal.

Their clashes were like two erupting volcanoes colliding, every exchange setting off a violent burst of power.

The ground kept collapsing beneath their feet, and deep cracks spread across the surrounding cliff walls.

Bit by bit, Roland began to gain the upper hand in this tug-of-war.

His breathing method circulated more smoothly, and the sluggishness in his sword moves faded away.

Even so, the Bugbear resisted stubbornly. Every counterattack still carried enough threat to kill.

The roar of battle continued to echo through the valley, though only a few moments had passed.

Avril stood on the cliff wall, her longbow drawn full like the moon. The deep green current that had originally gathered on the arrow suddenly scattered.

She bit her lower lip, curiosity deepening in her emerald eyes. Then she nocked another arrow and drew again. Three feathered arrows cut through the air, shooting toward the back of the Bugbear's knee.

"Looks like I don't need to act..."

Galvez watched Roland's heroic figure in battle with excitement, nearly tempted to pull out paper and pen on the spot.

But the bard finally remembered that the battle had not stopped, and his fingers continued plucking the strings.

Sound waves turned into pale golden ripples visible to the naked eye, coating Roland's sword edge in sharp light.

Teresa's bright eyes flickered, and her figure cut into the battlefield like a silver swallow.

Her rapier could not pierce the Bugbear's iron-hard hide, but every cunning thrust landed precisely at a joint.

"Left!"

She called sharply. Her sword tip touched the Bugbear's elbow joint and withdrew, forcing the giant beast's attack to pause for a fraction of a second.

That tiny opening was enough.

Roland's mithril longsword struck like a snake flicking its tongue, tearing open a bloody wound across the Bugbear's chest.

The giant beast roared in pain, and its sweeping claw only shredded the afterimage Teresa left behind.

"Beautiful coordination!"

Avril cheered from the distance, her bowstring vibrating again and again as arrows fell like rain to seal the Bugbear's retreat.

Each arrow landed exactly where it wanted to move, forcing the giant beast to face Roland's increasingly sharp sword moves head-on.

At the center of the battlefield, Roland had completely grasped the rhythm.

Every breath he took carried scorching white vapor, and the mithril longsword bloomed with dazzling silver light under the support of the battle song.

The Bugbear's berserk attacks were still fierce, but under the restraint of the three companions, its flaws had begun to appear everywhere.

It retreated more and more often, and fear began to mix into the brutality in its eyes.

After another fierce collision, Roland used the recoil to draw back half a step, and a hard glint sharpened in his eyes.

Then he made a move that shocked everyone.

It was not defense.

It was an attack.

"Ha!"

With a low shout, Roland hurled the fine iron round shield at the Bugbear's face with all his strength. The shield was already covered in cracks and deeply dented at the center, but it flew like a heavy hammer.

The shield roared forward.

The Bugbear clearly had not expected its opponent to abandon this final protection. Brutal savagery surged in its scarlet eyes.

It did not dodge. Its huge claw carried destructive force and met the shield head-on.

Boom! Crack!

A deafening crash echoed through the valley, far louder than any previous metallic collision.

The fine iron round shield shattered under the Bugbear's furious strike, breaking apart like fragile pottery.

Twisted metal fragments shot in every direction with searing heat, a deadly rain of iron that embedded deep into nearby stone and soil.

The shield was gone.

But in the instant when the fragments still filled the air and blocked part of the Bugbear's vision, in the instant when it instinctively relaxed after destroying its opponent's defense...

Roland moved.

There was no panic in his eyes after losing his shield. Only premeditated, almost cold focus.

His right hand remained steady on the sword, the mithril longsword still pointed ahead.

His left hand, however, shot to his waist like a venomous snake long lying in wait and drew a sharp dagger.

[Twin Martial Performance]!

Roland's body seemed to lose the restraints of bone, becoming flexible as flowing water.

With an extreme sidestep and twist that almost defied human structure, he avoided the Bugbear's huge claw by a hair's breadth. The claw had smashed through the shield and had not yet retracted.

At the same time, the mithril longsword became a silver rainbow tearing through the air, stabbing straight toward the Bugbear's exposed throat. The sharp tip screamed under Galvez's battle song.

The dagger that had just left its sheath cut toward the tendon inside the Bugbear's supporting knee at a vicious angle, silent and ruthless as a scorpion's stinger.

Two weapons. Two entirely different paths. Two deadly intentions.

Yet in Roland's hands, they achieved perfect harmony.

His movements were so smooth there was no hesitation at all, as though he had been born to fight this way.

Hiss!

Pfft!

Two sounds of blades entering flesh rang out almost together.

The Bugbear's roar turned into a howl of pain.

It narrowly turned its head and avoided a fatal wound to the throat, but the sword still cut through tough fur and sent dark red blood gushing out.

The cunning slash inside its knee made its enormous body tilt, strength draining sharply from that supporting leg.

This sudden double strike changed the rhythm of battle and shattered the Bugbear's tempo.

It had no choice but to wave its remaining claw wildly, trying to block attacks coming from left and right, from tricky angles and with heavy force.

A sharp light crossed Roland's eyes.

His body suddenly paused, and his fluid offensive showed a deliberate, subtle hitch. He even exposed the left side of his waist and ribs within range of the Bugbear's still-moving right claw.

"Roar!"

The vicious light of a desperate counterattack burst from the Bugbear's scarlet eyes.

It had no time to consider whether this was a trap. The dying beast saw only its last chance to tear its opponent apart.

It gathered every bit of strength left in its body. With the resolve to perish together and a shriek that tore through the air, its huge claw swung down toward the "opening" Roland had exposed.

This strike was fast as lightning and fierce as thunder.

It seemed ready to tear Roland in half at the waist.

At that critical instant, the physical ability Roland had pushed to the limit through [Fighting Spirit] and the Knight breathing method erupted fully.

"[Crescent Moon Draw]!"

With a low shout, Roland's left arm circled back at an angle and speed beyond the limits of the human body.

The dagger was no longer a stabbing snake. It became a silver arc of guiding force, meeting the Bugbear's destructive claw strike with flawless precision.

Clang! Crack!

A dull, heart-stopping boom exploded together with the crisp sound of shattering.

The instant the fine iron dagger touched the Bugbear's claw, it seemed to endure the collapse of a mountain. The blade groaned under the unbearable burden, then shattered inch by inch.

At the moment of contact, however, Roland's left hand, wrist, arm, and entire body completed an exquisite redirection of force.

Like a matador guiding a charging bull with a red cloth.

The Bugbear's fatal strike, filled with all its strength and certainty, was violently pulled off course by a clever circular force at the instant the dagger sacrificed itself.

The huge claw brushed past Roland's waist, carrying mountain-toppling power, and smashed heavily into the hard ground beside him.

Boom!

The earth shook.

Shattered stones shot out like cannonballs.

A huge pit formed in an instant.

Because this full-strength strike missed, the Bugbear's enormous momentum made it lose balance completely. Its huge body lunged forward, and its ferocious head, filled with disbelief and shock, was left defenseless before Roland.

An opening.

A killing opening.

A sharp light erupted in Roland's eyes, and he did not hesitate.

Gravel exploded beneath his feet. His body released like a bowstring pulled to its limit.

The mithril longsword borrowed both his forward rush and the Bugbear's off-balance fall, tracing a terrifying silver line so fast it blurred in the eye.

"[Cleave]!"

The sword edge split the air, producing a shriek that seemed to pierce the eardrums.

Its target was...

The Bugbear's thick neck.

The shadow of death enveloped the Bugbear.

Its scarlet eyes widened to the limit.

In the depths of its pupils, the predator's madness, ferocity, and cunning...

Everything was replaced in that instant by pure fear born from the instinct of life.

It was the most primal despair of prey before the butcher's blade fell.

At the instant death's scythe was about to kiss the skin of its neck...

An unexpected change occurred.

On the Bugbear's thick finger, an unremarkable ring set with a cloudy crystal suddenly burst with faint light.

Buzz!

A visible transparent film, rippling like water, appeared out of thin air and covered the Bugbear's entire body.

The mithril longsword, which tore through the air with enough force to cut through everything, slammed heavily onto the sudden transparent film.

Clang!

A shrill, teeth-aching hum, far more piercing than any clash of metal, resounded through the valley.

It was like countless steel needles stabbing into the eardrums at the same time.

The film violently rippled and caved inward, like water struck by a heavy stone, producing layer after layer of dense waves.

Enormous recoil traveled through the sword and numbed Roland's arm.

The frozen fear in the Bugbear's eyes loosened, and wild joy and mockery began to surface.

But that luck had only just appeared.

"Break... for me!"

Roland's roar rang out like thunder.

The magma-like current surging within his body circulated at an unprecedented speed.

All his battle aura poured into the sword edge like a flood bursting through a dam.

The terrifying strength brought by the [Fighting Spirit] Trait had stacked layer upon layer through this life-and-death fight. Mixed with the force of [Cleave], it detonated completely in that instant.

The mithril longsword emitted a high-frequency trembling hum, almost unable to bear the strain.

Pop!

A soft sound like a bubble bursting rang out.

The seemingly indestructible film instantly filled with spiderweb cracks like fragile glass. Then...

It shattered with a crash, turning into specks of fading light.

The Bugbear's wild joy and mockery froze completely at the instant the film shattered.

What replaced them was despair ten times deeper than before, despair that sank into its bones.

The sword edge had no more obstruction.

The cold light of mithril, carrying the resolve to sever everything, cut cleanly into the Bugbear's tough fur, thick muscle, and hard neck bone.

Pfft!

The muffled sound of a sharp blade cutting flesh and bone became the clearest sound on the battlefield.

Time seemed to stretch at this moment.

The Bugbear's ferocious head, with ultimate fear and disbelief frozen on its face, left its neck, pushed upward by a fountain-like column of dark red blood.

Blood rained down, dyeing the cracked ground red.

That huge head traced a grim arc through the air and finally struck the gravel not far away with a heavy thud.

It rolled several times, eyes wide open, staring emptily at the headless body that had once belonged to it, now spraying blood like a fountain.

That enormous headless body stood rigidly in place for an instant that felt stretched beyond reason. Then it collapsed forward as though all its bones had been pulled out, stirring up a cloud of dust.