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The golem went on a rampage in a section of the town. Its only objective was to destroy anything in sight, without exception or hesitation. Once it reached the height of its mayhem, a second golem walked out from the warehouse.

The second golem ran at a speed that did not seem to match its large body, running through the main street heading to the outer wall. It did not care about any pedestrians on its way, kicking and crushing them ruthlessly on its path, dashing towards the wall.

The golem reached the wall in just a matter of minutes. The guards protecting it scrambled to their posts, while the magicians began chanting. Armed with swords and spears, the guards shouted at whoever was controlling the golem to stop. But there was no one there listening to those shouts. The golem’s master was nowhere nearby.

With no other choice left, the guards’ commander ordered the magicians to act, many spells being launched at the golem simultaneously, black smoke rising from the hits. However, the golem did not stop. It broke through the smoke, appearing completely unharmed.

All magicians working for the guards had to be roughly as skillful as a rank D adventurer as a minimum to be accepted. The golem had to be unnaturally strong to resist so many attacks at the same time.

As the guards began to despair, the golem accelerated and leaped over the wall and guards. It was a nimble and tall jump, hard to imagine from a heavy golem with a metallic body.

The guards stared at the sky, amazed and lost for words as the golem vanished behind them, before snapping out of it and contacting their headquarters.

We continue killing nocturnal monsters as Jane leads us further into the forest, and we finally reach the place where the Shaman Apes are conducting their ritual. We hide inside the bushes, and I lower the brightness of Float Light to its minimum before getting closer to observe. A ritual is really the perfect word to describe what the Shaman Apes are doing.

There’s a pile of bones in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by many Shaman Apes kneeling down, like they’re praying at the bones. There’s also countless vague specks of pale blue light floating in the air, like creepy disembodied souls.

“Ophelia told me about this before, but apparently those bones are from powerful monsters, which they use as mediums to attract magic power to evolve themselves faster. I don’t really know many details about it, but I think this is the moment when we can obtain the highest quality materials from them.”

Physical maturity, experience, and magic power. Ophelia taught me that those were some of the many requisites needed for a monster to evolve. Shaman Apes use this ritual to quickly gain the magic power necessary.

“It seems they haven’t noticed our presence yet. Mir, how many bodies’ worth of bones do you need again?”
“I’m pretty sure five bodies should get me enough.”
“Five, huh. Killing them is easy enough, but doing so while preserving their bodies is more complicated.”

Jane is right. It takes a special skill to defeat monsters while keeping the parts used as materials intact. On top of that, both Mir and Jane use close-range weapons, which work best with crushing attacks. That makes it really easy to damage the bones.

I guess I have no choice.

Ophelia warned me to not do too much alone, but I think this is a permissible exception.

“I’ll get enough bodies as we need. You two can go afterwards to kill the remaining apes.”
“Wait wait wait, are you sure you can do that on your own?”

Danny doesn’t look convinced, so I take Black Hawk out.

“I can kill them using the least force necessary with this.”
“I see, I guess you do have a point. Let’s go with your plan then.”

Jane had seen me perform well with Black Hawk on our way here, so she quickly nods in approval. Mir nods too.

“Let’s do it then, are you ready?”
“Yes, everything’s in order.”
“I’m ready to go.”

I nod back at them, and support myself on one knee while aiming my gun.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to shoot from here. Even an expert archer would struggle from this distance.”
“Shut up, Danny.”

They are barely inside the effective shooting range. But considering how steady my movements are, and Black Hawk’s accuracy, I can do it. Luckily there is a source of light around them, though dim, and the Shaman Apes aren’t moving. This is the perfect chance.

My eye, the rear sight, front sight, and my target all line up. The target is still. I pull the trigger and a short gunshot breaks the night silence.

My target can’t move anymore.

The other Shaman Apes raise their heads, but they’re too slow. I quickly switch targets, and bore holes into a defenseless head and heart.

With every gunshot, a Shaman Ape falls down.

The apes look confused, not understanding where the attacks are coming from. That gives me enough time to continue whittling their numbers.

“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s go Mir!”
“Okay!”

Jane determines there are enough bodies, so I put my gun down. She and Mir charge ahead with a battlecry, and the monkeys can’t think of a way to fight back so they quickly disperse in all directions.

“You actually hit them from this distance, amazing.”
“I’m always training after all.”

Danny looks at my gun impressed, but I’m more concerned about our surroundings.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I don’t sense any other monsters nearby.”
“I see. I still struggle noticing that, but that’s reassuring to know.”
“Hmmm, I guess magic automatons really aren’t good at sensing less physical stuff like that.”

I don’t remember being able to feel someone’s presence even in my past life, so I don’t think that’s related to me being an automaton now. Though I don’t feel like explaining all that to him.

“Gii, GIIIIII!”