Eli and Juli continued with their hunt for Mossbacks.

She gave Eli sideline coaching beforehand, and he prepared for the third round.

A boxer’s bounce loosened his shoulders and legs, priming his body and bleeding off the last of his jitters.

He approached the third Mossback and performed the same move, stepping inside on the first charge, but his angle was too steep and the blade caught the edge of the plate instead of the gap.

Juli yelled at him to adjust his shoulder, and the second attempt landed clean.

[Hunt Quest: Mossbacks (3/10)]

[+25 EXP]

The fourth was smaller and faster. It changed direction in the middle of its charge, a move the other three hadn’t done, and Eli ate dirt for the first time since the coaching started.

"Your eyes! Watch the damn legs, not the head, you dummy! The legs tell you where it’s going before the head does!"

Eli spat out a mouthful of soil and focused on its legs. On his second attempt, he cleanly killed the hasty boar.

[4/10]

[+25 EXP]

By the fifth round, his body no longer resisted stepping inside. The movement and footwork felt as natural as water flowing down the river.

When the boar charged, the body followed automatically with a charge of its own. Juli noticed the decisiveness.

"Better! You’re not fighting your own body anymore!"

The kill happened in one clean stab.

[5/10]

[+25 EXP]

[EXP: 130/200]

Eli was already halfway through the quest. His arms ached, and his bruises throbbed. Breathing grew harder, but the rhythm was settling in. He was in a flow state — every boar looked like prey waiting to be skewered.

Each fight was shorter than the last. The sixth ended in five seconds. The seventh ended in three. Even though this feat was exceptional, arguably on the level of a genius, his stamina was a problem.

Eli was panting with every thrust. By the eighth, even with all his strength behind it, the sword did not bite deep enough. The boar broke free of the blade’s clutch and reeled him to the ground.

He ate dirt for the fourth time... or was it fifth? He had stopped counting.

Eli instantly rolled over and propped himself up.

Juli yelled from the boulder:

"Relax your grip! You’re using more muscle than need be! It’s draining your stamina!"

He listened to her and nodded.

The Mossback came back at him for another duel. Eli let the blade find its way instead of squeezing on the hilt and muscling the thrust through.

And sank deeper it did — effortless, too. The boar collapsed, and Eli felt the difference in his forearms immediately: less strain, but greater strength. He had no clue how the anatomy behind it worked, but as long as it did, there was nothing to complain about.

’She’s right... I mean, she’s always been right.’

[8/10]

"See? Let the sword do the work! You’re not hammering a nail!"

Eli shook out his wrist and moved on.

Before the ninth round, Juli told him to keep breathing through the step instead of holding his breath, and he did just that.

His breathing was steadier, his steps were intentional and confident, and the blade found the gap fast as lightning.

[9/10]

[+25 EXP]

[EXP: 180/200]

’One more!’

Juli stayed quiet for that one, which meant he did it right.

Now, the last one. It was the biggest one yet. He could tell from the deeper grinding of its plates and the way the ground shook under each step.

’What the hell!? Is this a running joke or something? Why is the last one always the biggest one?’

Eli shook his head and kept his gaze straight.

He stepped inside on the first charge. The boar was so heavy that the impact of passing each other nearly threw him off balance, but his feet held their ground.

The gap opened like clockwork, and Eli thrust.

The blade sank in, but the boar was too massive to deal any significant damage. It didn’t care about the sword at all — it just kept going, dragging Eli forward with it as the blade stayed lodged in its neck. His boots carved two lines through the dirt.

’Oh no you don’t!’

Eli planted his back foot and twisted his hips the way Juli had been screaming about in all of the rounds. He had failed to mimic her hip movements every time, but as this dumb boar tried to take him into woods, his body seemed to listen to him for once.

He wrenched the blade sideways with his remaining stamina, and a wet squelch rang under the canopy.

The Mossback let out a guttural wheeze, its front legs folded, and its towering body collapsed with a heavy thud. Birds flew away with the leaves, carried by the gentle wind.

[Lv. 8 Mossback (1★)]

[Mossback Core (F) obtained.]

[Mossy Bark (Common) obtained.]

[+25 EXP]

[LEVEL UP!]

[Level 2 → Level 3]

[STR 33 → 34 | AGI 38 → 39 | END 21 → 22 | MAG 6 → 7 | AUR 7 → 8]

[Hunt Quest: Frostfangs — Complete!]

Unlike the first quest where it had a EXP multiplier, Eli could claim this one immediately. The [Skill Enhance] was looking mighty delicious right now.

So without further hesitation, he claimed the juicy rewards.

[Ironbark Sap (Rare) obtained.]

[Ability Enhance x1 obtained.]

[Please choose an ability to enhance.]

This one was a no-brainer. He put the enhancement on [The Hero], the only EX-Rank ability he possessed.

[The Hero (EX) has reached Level 2!]

Eli then excitedly checked the skill description to see what had been enhanced.

╭────-·ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────╮

[The Hero] · Rank: EX · Level: 2/50

[The path of a hero is an arduous one. As the Hero Successor, you’re the one to change people’s destinies.]

[Level up increases all stats by 1.]

[Stat limit +21]

[Combat mastery rate +101%]

[Stat growth +51%]

[Bond growth +51%]

[Link Efficacy +51%] 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

[Access to heroines’ status window]

[Dual mastery of Aura and Magic]

╰────-·ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────╯

’I see...’

The changes were negligible at 1% in most of the passives, but the accumulation toward level 50 would be massive. An additional 70 stat limit was as overpowered as it could be.

Eli hadn’t even checked what Bond and Link were. He had noticed them when he opened Irene’s window back at the estate, but he had been so busy sorting everything out in his head that he’d forgotten.

Sighing, he took a look at the stat sheet for good measure.

╭────-·ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────╮

[────HERO STATUS────]

Name: Elise Moreau

Title: [Hero Successor], [Lady’s Maid]

Class: None · Rank: I · Level: 3/20

EXP: 5/500

[────STATS────]

STR 34/121 (E)

AGI 39/121 (E)

END 22/121 (E)

MAG 7/121 (F)

AUR 8/121 (F)

[Stat Point Available: 4]

[────ABILITIES────]

Passive: [The Hero] (EX-2), [Maid’s Intuition] (S-2), [Maid’s Dexterity] (B-2)

Active: [Rapid Step] (D-2)

Songs: —

╰────-·ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────╯

’Disappointing! Not even one natural stat growth when I’m battered like this! Where can I sue this bullshit system?’

Eli shook his head and sighed in disbelief.

From afar, Juli slid off her boulder and walked over, clapping slowly.

"Ten Mossbacks. In one afternoon..."

She stopped in front of him and flicked his forehead.

"You’re insane, you know that!?"

He only smiled, too exhausted to come up with a retort.