Chapter 2

When the troll first swung its club, Ariel raised her arm to defend herself.

It wasn’t really intentional.

Ariel was distracted by the fairy, and when the club came down, she reflexively raised her arm.

With a loud *whoosh*, a strong gust of wind blew around them. The troll’s club must have been quite powerful.

But it didn’t do any damage to Ariel. She felt the impact on her arm, but that was it.

No damage at all. No pain, no injuries.

Considering Ariel’s defense stat, this was a reasonable outcome.

Defense: 9999999…

With infinite defense, it made no sense for her to get hurt by a troll’s club.

“Guh?”

“Huh?”

The troll and the fairy made dumbfounded noises.

They were stunned to see Ariel standing there unharmed, when she should have been turned into mush.

The troll raised its club again, and the fairy shouted at Ariel to run.

Ariel looked up and watched as the troll’s club came down.

It was a terrifying sight, but it wouldn’t do any damage. No matter what the troll did, it couldn’t hurt Ariel.

Still, Ariel decided to move.

Her defense had been proven, so now it was time to test her attack power.

Just before the troll’s club hit, Ariel left an afterimage and disappeared.

A speed close to the speed of sound.

Thanks to her infinite agility, Ariel could move at any speed she desired.

The troll’s club slammed down where Ariel had been standing.

*Whoosh!!*

The roar was even louder than before, and the ground caved in.

“Guh-guh-guh.”

The troll laughed, shrugging its shoulders. It was convinced that the little elf had been turned into a bloody mess.

If the troll had been a bit smarter, it would have realized that its club hadn’t hit anything and been puzzled.

But trolls are monsters with very low intelligence.

Drooling at the thought of eating the little elf was all the troll could do.

As the troll brushed away the dirt, the spot where the club had landed was revealed.

There was nothing there. Just a dent in the ground.

“Guh?”

The troll was even more confused than before. Earlier, at least the little elf hadn’t disappeared. It was strange that she was unharmed, but at least she had been standing there.

But this time, she had vanished without a trace. To the low-intelligence troll, it was like magic.

The troll rolled its big eyes around, searching for the little elf.

And soon found her.

The little elf had climbed up a tree. She looked down at the troll with the same calm expression as before.

The troll was angry. It wanted to eat the little elf right away, but things weren’t going as planned.

*Groooar!*

The troll let out its signature “ferocious roar” and charged at the little elf.

Even as the troll charged, the little elf remained calm. She simply waited for the troll to get closer, then pulled her arm back and thrust her fist forward.

To the troll, the little elf’s fist was tiny. Being hit by such a small fist wouldn’t even tickle.

Moreover, troll skin is incredibly tough among monsters. Most weapons can’t even scratch it.

The troll found it laughable, almost cute.

That was the troll’s last thought.

*Splat!* The troll’s head disappeared.

*

A refreshing forest rain turned red.

Mixed in the rain were mushy chunks and bones.

This was the result of the troll’s head disappearing.

The pouring red liquid was blood, and the mushy chunks were brains.

Ariel stood in the red rain, recalling what had just happened.

Moments ago, Ariel had dodged the troll’s club and climbed up a nearby tree.

Then, as the troll approached, she thrust out her fist.

She hadn’t adjusted her strength. She just threw a normal punch.

But the power was beyond imagination. The moment Ariel’s fist made contact, the troll’s head exploded like a watermelon.

The headless troll collapsed and didn’t move again.

Ariel was convinced. Her attack power was definitely infinite.

Anyway, now that she had confirmed it, she decided to continue her adventure.

“W-wait, hold on!”

As she was about to leave, a voice called out from behind.

It was the fairy from earlier.

“Are you just going to leave, sis? We’re from the same forest, aren’t we? We’re like relatives, right? Please get me out of here!”

The fairy was desperate. If Ariel left now, who knows what would happen to him.

He was likely to rot in the magic cage alongside the troll’s corpse, unable to escape.

“Please, sis!”

At first, he had spoken casually, calling her “little elf,” but now she was clearly a powerful sister.

He had never seen or heard of anyone taking out a troll’s head with a single punch.

Trolls were harder to kill than ogres, thanks to their unique regenerative abilities.

Most wounds would heal quickly, so the best way to kill a troll was to take it out in one hit.

But that was easier said than done.

Countless times, people had been caught trying to target the troll’s head and ended up as its meal, or had their bodies twisted at grotesque angles by the troll’s club and died instantly.

But Ariel had dodged the troll’s club at an invisible speed and taken it down with a single, casual punch.

It was only natural for her to go from “little elf” to “sis.”

The fairy even pretended to bow inside the magic cage, but Ariel remained indifferent.

She had already planned to let him out anyway. It wasn’t a big deal.

Ariel grabbed the door of the magic cage. At that moment, she felt some kind of resistance.

“Sis, this door is enchanted. Are you, by any chance, a mage?”

Ariel nodded. After all, her job was technically a mage.

“That’s great!”

The fairy clapped his hands.

“Then you’ll need to dispel the magic first. That’s the only way to open the cage door! Humans, seriously, who even thinks of making something like this…?”

Ariel simply pulled on the magic cage door. She was a mage, but she didn’t know how to dispel magic. She had to rely on brute force.

*Thud! Thud-thud!*

The magic on the cage shattered, and the door was torn off.

“Huh…?”

The fairy blinked in surprise. There had been no sign of Ariel dispelling the magic. She had just ripped it open with sheer strength.

Even the troll couldn’t have done that.

“So… it was possible with strength after all.”

The fairy scratched his head and flew out of the cage. Then, with a burst of energy, he started flying around Ariel in circles.

He was trying to show off his elegant flying and beauty, but to Ariel, he just looked like a buzzing fly.

“By the way, you’re really beautiful up close, sis. You’re small now, but when you grow up, you’ll be a stunning beauty.”

The fairy kept fluttering around Ariel, trying to chat her up.

“My name’s Roo! Can I know your name?”

“Ariel…”

“Sis Ariel! Nice to meet you! You were amazing earlier, taking out that troll! That troll had been carrying me around for days, being so rude! He even took me with him when he… you know…”

The fairy was naturally talkative, but this one was on another level.

Ariel half-listened to Roo’s chatter as she started walking.

Anyway, it was time to continue her adventure.

Just then, Roo grabbed the hem of Ariel’s clothes.

“Sis! You’re not just going to leave like this, are you? That troll’s corpse is worth a lot! Not as much as a fairy, but it’s still pretty valuable. It’s such a waste to just let it rot there!”

Ariel stopped and glanced at the troll’s corpse. That thing was worth a lot?

“Hmm… But it would be too much for you to carry that huge body alone, sis. At least take some of the blood…”

As Roo muttered, Ariel trudged over to the troll’s corpse and reached out her hand.

Roo tilted his head, unable to understand what Ariel was doing.

“Sis? What are you…?”

In the next moment, the troll’s corpse disappeared without a trace.

“Whoa!”

Roo’s eyes widened like saucers.

“Wh-what just happened?”

Ariel had simply stored the troll’s corpse in her inventory, but to Roo, it was an incomprehensible phenomenon.

Wait, was it magic? Fairies only had the ability to sprinkle powder, so he wasn’t sure, but if it was magic, then anything was possible.

—Don’t try to understand magic with your head.

That’s what the human mage who had captured Roo had said. At the time, Roo thought it was nonsense, but now it seemed to make sense. Well, that mage had been eaten by a troll less than an hour after saying that.

“Sis, where are you going now?”

Roo fluttered his wings and asked.

“Do you have a destination in mind?”

Ariel gazed into the distance and answered.

“Adventure…”

That single word made Roo’s body start to glow.

Adventure! What an exciting word!

Roo’s goal was also adventure. The fairy village was peaceful but boring. Unable to bear the boredom, Roo had run away from the village.

To explore the world!

But it was dangerous for a fairy to wander alone. While admiring flowers in the forest, Roo had been captured by a human mage.

It had only been a day since he had boldly left the fairy village.

“Sis! Take me with you!”

Roo pretended to bow again in mid-air.

“I may look like this, but I’m actually quite useful! You know, fairy powder has all sorts of abilities! I can heal you if you get hurt, let you fly, or even help you sleep peacefully! So please, let me join your adventure!”

Ariel looked at Roo with an expressionless face. Outwardly, she seemed indifferent, but inside, she was quite intrigued.

Of course, Roo’s healing or sleep powder wouldn’t be of much use to Ariel. With infinite defense, she wouldn’t get hurt, and she slept well anyway.

But the flying powder was interesting. She had always wanted to fly.

“Flying powder.”

Ariel held out her hand to Roo, asking for the flying powder.

A delighted smile spread across Roo’s face.