Helpers and the Hunt

The next day.

After arriving at the guild, Cain headed straight for the library. Ever since changing his approach yesterday, he felt that as long as he could find suitable monster fur...

Then this attempt would definitely succeed.

So after finishing his daily training in the Gravity Room and eating something quickly, he hurriedly dragged Erza to the guild.

Looking at the excited Cain, Erza felt that he finally looked like a child of ten or so. Usually, Cain was far too mature and steady, almost like an adult.

The moment he entered the library, Cain saw Levy sitting on the floor, silently turning the pages of a book in her hands.

Cain immediately slowed his steps so as not to disturb her reading.

Then Cain suddenly remembered that finding suitable monsters would not be easy. Why not ask Levy for help?

He walked over to Levy and asked softly, "Levy, can you do me a favor?"

Levy had noticed Cain as soon as he arrived and had been about to greet him. She had not expected Cain to speak to her first, and asked curiously,

"What is it, Cain?"

Cain then explained that he was planning to make a Storage Pouch and needed monster fur capable of supporting a spatial magic array.

When Levy heard that Cain wanted to make a Storage Pouch, she looked at him in shock. No one in this world had ever considered storage equipment before.

Levy was extremely interested as well. "So what kind of monster fur are you planning to use as the main material for the array?"

Cain had already formed a rough idea last night and said,

"It would be best to use the fur of spatial monsters. Failing that, water-, earth-, light-, or dark-element monsters could work too. But this is mainly an experiment,

to see whether we can select the most compatible material from them."

After hearing Cain's explanation, Levy nodded in understanding, and the two began searching for monsters with the relevant attributes.

Water- and earth-element monsters were relatively easy to find. Light- and dark-element monsters were more difficult, while spatial monsters were the rarest of all.

They spent an entire day searching and found monsters of all four attributes—water, earth, light, and dark—but not a single spatial monster.

The result left them somewhat discouraged. They knew spatial monsters were rare, but they had not expected them to be this rare.

Cain checked the time and said to Levy, "Levy, let's stop here for today. Go back and rest first. We'll continue looking tomorrow."

"Mm. See you tomorrow, Cain."

After saying goodbye to Levy, Cain left the library and found Erza already waiting for him.

Looking at that scarlet figure, Cain felt inexplicably at ease. He walked up to her and said happily,

"Come on. I'll make you a feast tonight."

Erza looked at the cheerful Cain curiously. "Why are you so happy today? Did your Storage Pouch research make a breakthrough?"

"A little. But mostly, I'm happy because I saw Erza."

Cain's blunt words made Erza's cheeks grow warm. Why was he suddenly saying something like that?

That evening, Cain prepared a lavish dinner for Erza. It was so lavish that after they finished eating, the two could only lie motionless on the sofa.

After that, Cain lived a simple routine. During the day, he searched through the library with Levy and sorted through monster records; at night, he returned home to cook and train.

A month passed just like that, without a ripple.

One day in the library, Cain excitedly said to Levy beside him,

"Found it, Levy! I found it!"

Hearing Cain's voice, Levy hurried over and took the book from his hand. Written inside was Space-Piercing Mouse, a monster capable of teleportation magic.

However, it could only move about ten meters at a time. It liked gnawing on crop roots, ate very little, and posed almost no threat.

Seeing this, Levy realized that she and Cain had been searching in the wrong direction.

The two had assumed that spatial monsters had to be extremely powerful, so they had been looking among monsters with immense threat levels.

They had indeed found spatial monsters such as the Silver Dragon and the Ring Snake, but leaving aside whether they could even find them, could they handle them if they did?

Levy could not help sighing. "I never expected there to be spatial monsters this weak."

"Yeah. But now we can begin the experiments," Cain said expectantly.

Levy counted on her fingers. "Giant-Bellied Frog, Earthrock Lizard, Silvermoon Wolf, Dark Cat Demon, and Space-Piercing Mouse. That makes five kinds. Which monster should we hunt first?"

Cain smiled and rubbed Levy's head. "To save time, of course we'll go after all five kinds at once."

Cain's words left Levy confused. How could they act at the same time? The monsters were not all in the same place.

Cain smiled and explained, "Levy, have you forgotten where we are?"

Only then did Levy realize it. This was a Mage guild, and what were guilds for if not for Mages to accept commissions?

"Cain, you want to post commissions and have everyone in the guild help."

"Exactly. But the Silvermoon Wolves are more dangerous, so I'll handle those myself."

Levy immediately raised her hand. "The Shadow Gear Team requests permission to deploy!"

Seeing how eager Levy was, Cain did not want to dampen her enthusiasm and nodded.

"Very well. The Shadow Gear Team is authorized to deploy. Leave the Space-Piercing Mice to you."

"Mission guaranteed."

Levy even gave him a strange little salute, making Cain unable to hold back his laughter.

After arriving in the guild hall, Cain quickly posted three commissions. After thinking it over, he posted commissions for the Silvermoon Wolves and Space-Piercing Mice as well.

He then had Erza take the Silvermoon Wolf commission and Levy take the Space-Piercing Mouse commission.

The other three commissions were quickly claimed by other guild members. It could not be helped—Cain's rewards were simply too high, and Giant-Bellied Frogs, Earthrock Lizards, and Dark Cat Demons were not particularly strong monsters.

Cain and Erza took a Magic Train to the Northern Forest of the Fiore Kingdom.

After searching for roughly two hours, a pack of Silvermoon Wolves appeared before them.

Erza looked at the six Silvermoon Wolves ahead and asked Cain beside her, "Cain, should I kill them all?"

"No need. This is only for an experiment. The fur from one will be enough."

"Alright. Cain, leave it to me. Requip."

A flash of light passed by, and Erza appeared before Cain clad in silver-white steel armor.

The armor had two pairs of steel wings on its back. The upper half covered only her chest, leaving her shoulders, waist, abdomen, and other areas exposed.

The lower half was a heavy armored skirt. Looking at the familiar armor, Cain could not help thinking, Isn't this Heaven's Wheel Armor from later on?

It was just a child-sized version.

Once her requip was complete, Erza charged at the wolf pack, Wind Dance in one hand and an ordinary longsword in the other.

With a single sweep of her twin swords, she instantly left two sword marks on the alpha wolf.

She pushed off the ground and leaped into the air, dodging the pack's pounce. Her steel wings gave a light flutter behind her, holding her suspended in the air rather than letting her fall.

Heavenly Wheel: Chaotic Sword

One longsword after another was summoned by Erza, forming a ring of countless blades behind her.

Then the swords within the ring poured down like raindrops, bombarding the six Silvermoon Wolves.

When the smoke dispersed, all six Silvermoon Wolves were dead.

Looking at the six Silvermoon Wolves that had been pierced into honeycombs, Erza said regretfully, "It was my first time using it, so I didn't control my strength well. Cain, can these still be used?"

Seeing that the six Silvermoon Wolves could not even provide one intact piece of fur between them, Cain smiled wryly. "Looks like we'll have to find another pack, Erza."

Erza patted her gently heaving chest and said confidently, "Don't worry. I definitely won't do that next time. Let's go."