Strongest Swordman’s Re:START

CHAPTER 17 – THE ADVENTURERS’ STRENGTH

“… You’re quite eager to greet us.”

Jonahim said, a wry smirk on his face. A line of Velche had stopped the party in its tracks around halfway up the mountain.

They still had a long way to go till they reached the Cave of Horror. Despite this, they already encountered a group of Velche who were most likely working as scouts.

“Merc, get back. There are 16 of them, huh. Elea, Luka, can you take care of eight?”

“Of course!”

“… Likely.”

The members of Blazing Impact instantly took up combat stances when Merc took a step back.

Jonahim took the right flank, while Elea took the left. Luka took a position behind Elea. This was most likely their typical battle formation.

Well then, let’s see what you’ve got.

Merc stood peacefully with her arms folded, watching the adventurers.

Of course, she intended to assist them if necessary; nevertheless, if they were the kind of people who struggled with a group of Velche, they had little hope of defeating the Ghezo Velche.

Merc thought that as long as they had the ability and confidence, they wouldn’t have any problems.

“Awooooo!”

A solitary Velche dashed down the mountain’s slope, charging at Jonahim. And just as it was about to jump up and fly……

“… Ha!”

Jonahim managed to go around the Velche’s side. He was also quietly putting his sword back into its sheath, which he had drawn before anybody could see.

The Velche he had passed through abruptly came to a halt, and blood poured from its whole body. The Velche crumbled and died in a flicker. If it hadn’t been for Merc’s trained eyes, she would have missed the lightning-fast swordsmanship and the acuity that went with it.

“Damn.”

Even Merc couldn’t disguise her amazement at Jonahim’s swordsmanship, as he slashed the Velche multiple times in such a short period of time.

She felt compelled to compliment the adventurer known as Jonahim. Given that Jonahim was wielding Foldia’s sword and the swordsmanship he displayed just now, Merc was certain that he was Foldia’s disciple.

“HAA!”

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Elea, on the other hand, was doing well too.

She thrust her spear from afar and pierced an oncoming Velche. While another Velche pounced on Elea as she was bringing out her spear, Luka, who was standing behind her, spread her hands and shot a spell.

It was a well-executed teamwork.

“… Fufufu, Merc, I’ll show you something good.”

Elea said as she turned to face Merc in the midst of the battle. With a smile on her face, she turned around and glanced directly at an approaching Velche.

Elea struck the oncoming Velche in the same way she had just done, just as Merc was considering what she would do. The Velche burst into flames the following moment.

“… An igniting spear?”

As the Velche writhed in anguish, Elea drew out her spear and gazed at Merc provocatively.

“What do you say? Scary, isn’t it?”

“Uhm… Yes, you’re quite skilled.”

“Of course I am!”

Elea turned back to fighting the remaining Velche as soon as Merc commended her. As she observed Elea from behind, Merc stood with a smile on her face and her hand on the wooden stick’s handle.

That’s the Liquid-Ignition Spear, from what I recall. When Mana is channeled via the blade, it ignites whatever liquid it comes into contact with. It’s a frightening weapon, to say the least.

By looking through her memories of her past life, Merc was able to recall the weapon Elea was wielding.

That spear had been discovered in a labyrinth within the Kingdom of Lambada, which was near the continent’s center. According to her memory, it belonged to a famous adventurer, but Merc couldn’t figure out how it ended up in Elea’s possession.

The more Velche were scorched by the spear’s strikes, the less interested Merc became. As the liquid inside their bodies, their blood, ignited, the pathetic Magic Beasts burst into flames one by one.

It was a dreadful death.

“Fire Arrow!”

The magician girl standing behind Elea didn’t lose out to her one bit.

The mass of flames released from Luka’s black wand soared and froze in mid-air, then fragmented into a swarm of fire arrows that crashed into the Velche.

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“Grrr?”

“Howl!!!”

Each arrow deftly penetrated the Velche’s sturdy fur and struck their flesh, inflicting a great deal of damage.

The monsters who didn’t manage to flee in time were showered with arrows and their bodies were burnt to a crisp. Merc thought to herself as she saw the incident develop that she wouldn’t want to die in such a manner.

“Blazing Impact, huh. Well, they’ve certainly got the blazing part down.”

Merc made an understanding face as a scorching breeze blew through the area. Merc deduced that Luka’s main element was likely fire based on the way she expertly regulated her Mana output without sacrificing casting speed or accuracy.

The combination of Luka’s spells and Elea’s Liquid-Ignition Spear truly lived up to the name “Blazing.”

On the other side, despite murdering the Velche with the sword he’d obtained from Foldia, their leader, Jonahim, showed no sign of utilizing fire at all.

Merc wasn’t sure whether he was hiding his trump cards or simply didn’t use fire at all.

Although I suppose it would be simple to counter them if they all concentrated solely on fire. After all, there are instances when a name is used solely to deceive.

An adventurer party’s enemies were not only limited to Magic Beasts. There were times when they had to deal with other parties, depending on the time and place. If a party’s weakness could be inferred from their name alone, it couldn’t be dubbed excellent.

Blazing Impact, at least, didn’t appear to be that foolish, according to Merc.

“Jonahim. What grade is your party?”

As the adventurers were slaying, or more accurately, slaughtering the Velche, Merc inquired.

Since accepting the invitation to subjugate the Ghezo Velche, Merc had already deduced that they weren’t your average adventurers. However, given how quickly they eliminated this swarm of Velche, they exceeded her expectations.

They weren’t simply “slightly above average.”

“Did I forget to mention it? We’re Grade 3 Adventurers. However, if all goes as planned and we finish our task, we will advance to Grade 2.”

“Grade 2, eh… At your age, making it to Grade 2 is quite an accomplishment.”

Parties were classified into six grades, beginning with Grade 6 and progressing to Grade 1, according to the official Adventurers’ Guild party ranking system.

If Merc included her party from when she was still known as Estert, the total number of Grade 1 Adventurers would be merely five. And the Grade 2 Adventurer parties, to which Jonahim’s Blazing Impact was about to join, numbered approximately 50 over the entire continent.

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Merc had no idea how the statistics had altered over the previous 15 years, but she assumed they hadn’t shifted much. With that in mind, the Blazing Impact party’s strength may be deemed fairly strong, given that they were set to enter Grade 2 at their age.

“What’s the deal with that condescending expression?”

Elea asked, irritated, as Merc honestly discussed the party’s accomplishments. The Estert portion hidden within Merc had shown a little as a result of Merc being so amazed.

“I apologize if I sounded that way. However, it is true that I admire your achievements. I believe you have the ability to advance to Grade 1 one day.”

“Hmph! Of course we will!”

Elea was taken aback since she hadn’t expected Merc to raise her head and speak such things so frankly.

Elea chose her standard routine and triumphantly puffed up her chest after a brief period of deliberation on how to reply.

Elea’s companions smiled wryly at her antics, while Merc was confronted with her face to face.

Damn, they’re huge…

Merc’s lecherous gaze was drawn to the two protruding peaks below, rather than Elea’s face.