A Terrifying Injury

"It's him, it's him..."

After spotting the dark figure in the distance, the short, pudgy middle-aged man immediately started shouting loudly.

"Uh... are you sure?"

Ul looked at the dark figure bouncing toward them like a rabbit, his gaze full of doubt.

"No mistake, it's definitely him!" The middle-aged man's expression was panicked, as if he'd seen some terrifying demon.

Ul was about to say something else, but when the dark figure fully revealed its true form, Ul's expression uncontrollably flickered with a moment of shock, then he nodded.

"Alright... you're right!"

Staring at the wild boar that leaped several meters high with every bound, moving more nimbly than a rabbit, Ul felt his mood grow somewhat complicated.

The wild boar was fast!

After a few bounces, it had already entered the farm.

Clearly, after the last incident, this wild boar no longer regarded humans as a threat at all.

Once inside the farm!

The boar's pace actually became more relaxed.

It first swept a contemptuous glance at Ul and the middle-aged man trembling with a wooden stick in hand, then sauntered to the center of the farm and began munching on the vegetables, completely ignoring the two of them.

"Damn!!!"

Seeing the boar's attitude, Ul's eyes went wide.

Though he'd already gathered from the middle-aged man's description that this boar was arrogant, he never imagined it would be this cocky.

It was practically treating him as invisible!

"Lord Mage, this..."

Watching the boar ravage his farm again, the middle-aged man was so frantic that tears and snot nearly started flowing again...

Luckily, Ul was quick on the draw and swiftly reached out to cut off the middle-aged man's next words, saying, "Don't worry, as long as I'm here, I won't let this beast run wild..."

Ul's words were spoken with such righteous fervor that the middle-aged man was almost moved to tears!

But!

If one of Ul's friends from his past life were here, they'd know just how perfunctory that statement really was.

Still, Ul had no choice!

Ever since arriving in this world, he hadn't used such hollow words in a long time.

If it weren't for how utterly off-putting this middle-aged man was today, Ul really wouldn't have resorted to brushing him off like this.

After Ul's "righteous" speech, the middle-aged man finally quieted down for the moment!

Seizing the opportunity, Ul began gathering information on the wild boar.

From the outside, this boar didn't look much different from an ordinary one—Ul's best guess was that it was just slightly larger in build.

But in reality!

As Ul had suspected earlier, this boar was a "monster," because he detected a fluctuation of Magic Power within it, though the ripple was still very faint.

In terms of raw Magic Power alone, the boar's was not far off from Ul's!

If Ul's guess was correct, this boar was just a beast that had recently been tainted by Magic Power and was beginning its transformation into a "monster," rather than a natural-born monster or the offspring of one.

That was also why the boar's aggression wasn't as intense—unlike most monsters, it didn't immediately lunge at humans to devour them...

Still, while the boar's Magic Power wasn't strong, its intelligence was considerable, which was the main reason Ul hadn't acted rashly.

The boar "monster" continued to snort and root through the farm's vegetables, looking perfectly at ease. Even with two humans standing nearby, it didn't care at all.

After its last fight, this boar "monster" was feeling incredibly full of itself!

The humans it once feared were now completely beneath its notice!

Watching the boar steadily destroy his hard work, the middle-aged man's gaze kept darting to Ul, his mouth opening and closing, but every time he remembered Ul's earlier words, he swallowed back the urging he was about to say...

But as the boar wrecked more and more crops...

Finally!

The middle-aged man couldn't hold it in any longer!

Just as he gritted his teeth and was about to speak to Ul, suddenly, Ul—who had been motionless until now—moved!

Slap!

Under the middle-aged man's gaze, Ul's hands suddenly pressed together, and in the next moment, a dun-yellow Magic Circle swiftly materialized beneath the boar "monster," Magic Power rapidly radiating outward...

Lower-ranked magic—Earth Spike!

Shiiing!

The Magic Circle blazed with light, and the next second, a razor-sharp earthen spike drilled up from the circle, aimed straight at the boar "monster's" belly.

Almost the instant the Magic Circle appeared!

The boar "monster" had already sensed the danger, letting out a strange cry as it prepared to flee...

But for this ambush, Ul had deliberately waited so long, specifically choosing a moment when the boar "monster" was completely relaxed—how could he let it escape so easily?

So although this boar was as nimble as a rabbit, in the end it only managed to dodge a vital spot by a hair's breadth...

And then!

The earthen spike formed by Earth Spike struck a part of the boar "monster" that was even more vital than a vital spot...

"Owww~~"

A shrill, piercing scream instantly tore through the entire night.

Hearing this bloodcurdling howl, Ul and the middle-aged man couldn't help but clench their legs and suck in a sharp breath.

"Sss!!!"

Both of their expressions turned slightly unnatural.

Especially when they saw a certain thing between the boar "monster's" hind legs that had been skewered clean through by the Earth Spike—their faces couldn't help but turn a bit pale.

There are some injuries in this world that, just by looking at them, make one's heart tremble with fear.

And now...

The injury the boar "monster" had suffered was exactly one of those.