Calian and Wolvin stared straight at a giant monster that suddenly appeared and blocked their path. The two of them just stood frozen, as if the time around them had also stopped for a moment.
In the midst of that tension, a hint of awe actually slipped into Calian's heart.
Is this what it is like to be in the outside world? Calian thought to himself, his eyes unblinking as he stared at the flapping of transparent wings that created a fairly strong wind in front of him. For years my life was only spent inside the confinement of the lonely West Pavilion. I never imagined that on my first day officially becoming an adventurer in this Erthland Empire, I would instead be immediately presented with the form of a wild monster that I had never seen before.
This is truly great! Calian continued in his heart, his blood rushing as he felt the sensation of a true adventure. Did my spouse also always face and fight terrifying monsters like this in the wild, just like when he fought three ogres alone in the forest that time?
However, Calian's daydream of admiration could not last any longer. The monster's buzzing sound grew higher and deafening.
"Darling, this monster in front of us is going to attack!" Wolvin whispered in an urgent tone, pulling his husband out of his thoughts. The golden eyes of the Night Wolf youth narrowed sharply, reading the movements of the monster in front of him. "Prepare your stasis magic to stop its movements, and let me be the one to behead it!"
Instantly, Calian's consciousness returned completely. He focused his gaze and immediately prepared to use the power of his [Time Loop] blessing.
Just as Wolvin finished giving his warning and Calian prepared his magic, the Yellow Bee immediately took action. The insect monster darted through the air at a very high speed, like a black-striped yellow arrow released from a giant bow.
The monster flew in a sharp dive, ready to paralyze the target standing at the very front. Its stinger, which was large, sharp, and dripping with poisonous liquid, was aimed straight right at Calian's face.
Even though the threat of death was hurtling toward him at an unreasonable speed, the purple-haired youth remained standing calmly. His feet did not shift a single inch. His cold eyes continued to stare intently at the tip of the monster's stinger that was threatening his life.
Right when the Yellow Bee had only moved a few dozen centimeters...
"Stasis!"
One flat-toned word came out of Calian's lips.
At that very second, the Yellow Bee that was darting at full speed immediately stopped moving. Its large body was halted and hovered silently in the air, as if a small fraction of space in that forest had suddenly turned into an empty vacuum of space that completely lacked the laws of gravity or momentum.
The noisy buzzing sound of the bee's flapping wings disappeared without a trace, replaced by the absolute silence of the forest. However, not all parts of the monster were frozen. Only its head could still move jerkily, turning left and right with its antennae twitching in panic. Its pair of compound eyes appeared to emit extraordinary confusion at what was happening to its body that it could not move.
Seeing his target was already helpless and hanging ridiculously in the air, Calian tilted his head slightly.
"Wolvin, are you going to behead it now?" Calian asked casually, as if he had just caught a worm on the ground. "If you do not move soon, I am afraid if suddenly another adventurer passes by and sees my ability in an open place like this."
The Night Wolf youth very much understood his husband's worry of always wanting to hide his true power. He then turned to look at Calian, then nodded firmly.
"Of course I will kill it!" Wolvin answered firmly, without the slightest bit of doubt in his eyes. "It tried to attack my husband right in front of my eyes. Of course I must eliminate all dangers that dare to threaten your safety!"
Without wasting a single second, Wolvin channeled his mana. He took two combat daggers from inside his dimensional space necklace. His fingers gripped the handles of the weapons tightly, lowering his body posture, and preparing to deliver the final attack.
"Twilight Dance!" Wolvin chanted in a low voice.
Whoosh!
Wolvin's body moved incredibly fast, nearly blending with the shadows of the trees, until he seemed to disappear from his standing position. His speed far exceeded the limits of normal human eyesight. He leaped into the air, positioning himself right above the neck of the frozen monster.
Slash! Slash!
A double dagger slash had been launched by Wolvin with movements that were extremely fast, graceful, yet full of lethal precision. The cold metal blades pierced through the gap in the monster's natural armor. In an instant, the Yellow Bee's head separated smoothly from its still-hovering body.
Seeing that perfect execution, Calian immediately snapped his fingers slowly.
"Release!"
As soon as the word of cancellation was spoken, the stasis magic that had been restraining the monster's body evaporated and disappeared. The law of gravity immediately took back over that space.
Thud!
A fairly loud and heavy thudding sound echoed among the trees, right after the Yellow Bee's carcass and its separated head slammed into the ground surface covered in moss and dry leaves.
Wolvin landed on the ground very lightly, storing his two daggers back into his dimensional storage necklace after making sure the monster was truly dead.
"Good job, Wolvin!" Calian praised sincerely, stepping closer to his spouse. "A very clean attack. Can you put the carcass of this large monster into that necklace? Maybe later we can sell it at the adventurer guild."
Wolvin looked down, staring at the two-meter-sized Yellow Bee body lying and taking up space on the ground. He then touched the dimensional necklace on his neck, feeling a little unsure if the small-sized artifact could hold a monster body this large along with their other belongings.
"I do not know." Wolvin answered a bit hesitantly, gently scratching the back of his head. "At the very least, I will try to store it first."
Wolvin focused the flow of his mana toward the necklace on his chest, then stared sharply and imagined the Yellow Bee's body along with its head lying on the ground being pulled into the vacuum of space inside his dimensional storage necklace.
Zip!
Instantly, the giant body of the Yellow Bee in front of them disappeared without leaving a single trace or bloodstain on the ground.
Calian and Wolvin looked at each other for a moment. Both looked a little surprised, but at the same time felt very relieved because the necklace given by their mother was indeed truly capable of holding extremely large-sized objects.
"Darling, let's immediately return to the capital!" suggested Wolvin, who did not want to linger in the forest, afraid if another swarm of monsters would come following after smelling the pheromone scent from the Yellow Bee earlier. "Our mission to gather herbal plants is also finished, right?"
"Yes, you are right!" Calian answered, who also did not want to be in the wild any longer after his goal was achieved. "We have gotten everything we need today."
Calian extended his right hand forward.
Wolvin, seeing his husband's hand extending to him, immediately smiled brightly. Without the slightest hesitation, the Night Wolf youth welcomed and grasped that hand tightly and full of warmth.
"Let's go home, Wolvin." Calian continued in a tone much softer than usual, after feeling his fingers being gripped tightly by his spouse.
"Yes, Darling, let's go home!" Wolvin replied enthusiastically.
With a highly successful first mission and an unexpected hunting catch, the young married couple walked side by side leaving the depths of the East Forest, treading the trail back toward the gates of the Erthland Empire's capital.