Moonlight spilled down through the gaps in the canopy, thin and gentle, illuminating the forest depths.
The air was cool and damp, carrying the smell of dirt and leaves, and the trees creaked softly as they shifted in the breeze. Crickets chirped in the dark, steady and familiar, making the silence feel less heavy.
With my spear in one hand and mirror-shield in the other, I headed east, the opposite direction of the setting sun.
I wore a fitted linen tunic with reinforced leggings, which would've been a normal-looking outfit if not for the mirror-sized mirror attached to my back. Its malformed frame looping over my shoulders like backpack straps, but they didn't shift or flex like fabric, remaining rigid no matter how I moved.
Listen, while it may look absolutely ridiculous, it was genius.
This contraption allowed me to have eyes behind my back and protect me from backshots.
And I must say, my frame making skills have improved a lot—in functionality, not design.
It was challenging and quite fun to make the frame straps, and because I couldn't figure out how to make it look good, I instead opted to make it as ugly as possible so it seemed like an obvious joke.
Thus, in the dead of night, I carried a monstrous mirror monstrosity on my back through the forest.
The thought amused me, which might be why I wasn't all that terrified despite treading these dangerous lands.
Well, 'dangerous' might be a stretch.
For the past two hours, I hadn't stumbled upon any monsters.
It seemed the wolf pack had also passed through and cleared this area judging by the claw marks left within the dirt.
I guess I was kinda exaggerating before, this wasn't really a monster infested forest.
…Actually, isn't it kind of rude to call them 'infesting?' Don't they live here?
Ehh, whatever. Not many live here anymore.
...
Another hour passed and nothing eventful happened, though I believe that'll change soon.
I had strayed off course from the path of wolf marks for quite some time now.
To prepare for possible upcoming fights, I went into my mirror realm to take a break to hydrate and satiate myself.
While resting, a great idea hit me: I should make extra mini-mirrors and store attacks inside them.
Before I set off, I had already placed an attack in my mirror shield and 'backpack,' but I can create more and put them in my pockets, allowing me to use them in a pinch.
Quickly, I got to work, making two rectangular pocket sized mirrors, around 8 cm in diameter with no frame.
Then, taking out my spear, I used it to carve out a divot in a tree to place the mirror at my chest to upper-torso level, the most natural striking position.
After backing up, with a firm two handed grip on my spear, I channeled my essence into its runes and precisely thrusted while performing a short lunge forward.
A streak of silver accompanied by a vortex of windblades struck the mirror.
"Fuck…" I mumbled.
The mirror had shattered and the tree was devastated.
It was because I was too far from the mirror, out of range to activate Specular Vault to store the attack.
Juna snapped awake, startled by the loud noise. After offering her a treat and some pets, I coaxed her back to sleep.
When she fell back asleep, I headed back to the real world to resume enacting my plan.
This time, I held my spear closer to the spearhead and didn't back up as far away. The power of my strike was going to diminish, but it had to be done.
Performing the same attack again, the spear and wind vortex pierced straight into the mirror.
And this time, it appeared nothing happened–the mirror and tree remaining completely unaffected, which indicated it was a success.
Following that, I began repeating the process four more times to have one for all pockets (2 for front, 2 for back, the 1 already made was for breast pocket), but I soon realized a problem.
After the third one, the strain became immense to the point it would drastically negatively affect my battle prowess rather than assist me.
It felt like a strong pressure built behind my eyes and mirrors began trembling.
I'd felt it before, but the effect was minimal. I guess four is my limit for now.
Also, the essence cost of storing five attacks broke my equilibrium of essence regeneration and use, causing me to steadily lose essence every second.
Unable to withstand the strain anymore, I pointed the mirror away and activated Reverberent Release, a phantom flash of silver striking before me followed by the windblade vortex.
They struck a tree, absolutely decimating that poor bloke.
I smiled at the destruction, thinking about how unexpected and devastating it would be in a fight.
An assassin encroaches behind me, about to stab me through the heart before this shit pops out my back pocket.
With that, I shamelessly littered my three discarded mirrors, and went on my way after taking out my phone to check I was heading in the correct direction.
…Yes, I realized that the compass app works offline, something to do with electromagnetics I suspect.
Fifteen minutes later, I began to see various signs of life appearing for the first time since I passed the wolf pack.
Birds took flight in the skies, small animals darted through brush, and heavier shapes watched from deeper shadow.
Then I gulped. I could spot three monsters in my line of sight and they seemed to return my gaze.
Could I take them?
Separately, I'm rather confident. However, I feared the chance of them ganging up on me once they realize my superior strength would be quite high.
Thus, I believed it was wiser to avoid a clash.
Besides training with my instructor, my only combat experience was against a guy drunk out of his mind at midnight. And in a forest full of monsters, that didn't count for much, so I wanted to start cautiously.
Just one opponent at a time if I could have it my way.
Though, it seemed like the world had different plans, instantly crushing my wish.
As I planned to take a detour around the monsters, a low growl emanated out from the brush, joined by the scrape of claws on bark, then the heavy thud of something shifting its weight nearby.
Three shapes emerged from different angles: a boar swollen with knotty muscle and tusks warped too long, a wolf with a second jaw split along its neck, and a stag whose antlers had grown thick and jagged like broken branches.
They didn't rush me. Instead, they spread out, closing distance with the quiet confidence of beasts that knew this land belonged to them.
The boar blocked my path in the middle, the wolf and deer to its side.
Whatever rivalries they had were set aside when I crossed into their territory; they unanimously deciding to work together to expel the intruder like they've done this before.
A fight was imminent.
I couldn't retreat here, I needed to cross this area to make it to the hills and the Etern Empire, so with a sharp exhale of breath, I prepared for battle.
My grip on my spear and shield lightly tightened, gaze narrowed in observation, the cold, calculating mindset returning.
There was no place for panic during a battle. I could only panic beforehand, or in grave circumstances, but never in immediate peril.
A/N: Don't know how to properly phrase my final sentence, so I'll clarify.
"Grave circumstances" refer to a situation that's not immediately dire, like when Caissa was stranded in the forest with no navigation. Momentary panic or not then wouldn't really make a difference as there's plenty of time for thought before the situation turned deadly.
In comparison, during the caravan attack or the 1v3 right now, I consider that "immediate peril," where panic has a very negative effect.