A Girl Who Was Told “You Have No Talent” Turned Out To Be A Talented Monster

Girl, Doing Her Best in the Demon Forest

“Hiyaaaa～～!”

After a few minutes of walking through the forest, the girl was being chased by a giant salamander that could devour an adult human with ease.

In addition, one had to be wary of wildfire, as it was a dangerous monster that breathed fire.

The fear was immeasurable as such a giant lizard approached at a speed that did not match its appearance.

However, the girl was not devoured by it. The way she weaved her way through the trees and took advantage of the terrain to escape was not unlike that of an ordinary village girl.

She finally managed to get away by hiding in the shadow of a large rock at the end of a slope.

But her relief was short-lived. Radiant flames shot out of the salamander’s mouth.

“Ugh, no way…!”

She couldn’t help but yell out. The tree ignited and the flames began to spread. The girl could not stand the thought of a wildfire.

Just as she was growing anxious about what to do, she saw something flying toward her.

It was a bird-shaped monster named Supra, which dodged branches and flew around, spraying water like a sprinkler.

The girl was grateful to the Supra for getting rid of the fire, but the demon did not save her. It appeared to be water, but it was droppings.

By spreading it around, they were securing their territory.

The reason why the forest was not easily set on fire by the salamander’s fire was because of the existence of this ecosystem.

The girl was naturally terrified to encounter these extraordinary creatures soon after entering the forest.

But at the same time, she was excited. This was a magical forest, and this was an adventure. An adventurer fighting against such a wilderness to weave a tale together.

The girl couldn’t stay still for the rewarding experience that did not betray her expectations.

“I guess this is it…”

What had fallen was a simple tree branch. Even if she wielded it, it would not be a deterrent even against a human.

The girl gripped the unreliable branch, thinking that it was better than nothing. She swung it around to feel its weight.

She had done this many times when she was in the village. She had no experience in actual combat, but she was now less anxious than before.

It was thick and had a certain amount of weight. It seemed rather sturdy, perhaps because it was from a tree in this forest.

To survive for a week, she needed food, water and a place to hide. In a forest where she knew neither right nor left, the first thing she did was to go for a walk.

She silently walked around, listening to her surroundings so as not to be found by the demons again.

Finally, she found a small cave and decided to settle down there.

The rest was food and water. She hoped to find some berries, but since they were growing in such a place, there was no guarantee that they would not be poisonous. The girl had decided.

The salamander was too much to handle, so she decided to go for a smaller monster. The “Yangra”, with its large antlers reminiscent of a deer, stood out.

Even that would be a threat to an unarmed human, but the girl was confident. Without hesitation, she leapt at it from behind and swung a tree branch.

“Haah!”

“Gee!”

She crushed its hind leg, and when it leaned back, she continued to strike down on its head, finishing it off. Looking down at the motionless Yangra, she took a deep breath.

She was a novice at fighting, but she had done well in her first attempt.

She had witnessed Aldis’s swordsmanship and Dorland’s body art, and had them burned into her memory.

She had learned it all by watching them. She was completely unaware of her innate sense of power, which was entirely new to her, but she didn’t think she was just a village girl.

“Hmmm…I guess I would still be called untalented…Aldis-san would have been able to beat it much quicker. I’ll have to work harder…”

She murmured and dragged it along by holding its hind legs with both hands. She was relieved that she now had food, but then she remembered something important.

“How am I going to skin it…?”

She had actively helped to skin prey since she was in the village, so she knew what she was doing. But without a blade, there was nothing she could do.

So, she came up with the idea of finding a handy stone and sharpening it. She was not a professional craftsman, and it would take time.

Even so, the girl worked diligently, grinding stone against stone.

After skinning and cutting her prey with the irregular stone knife she had made, the next problem was fire. She gathered some dead wood and held one hand out to it.

“…Fire.”

She shoots fire magic from the palm of her hand, though it was poor in comparison to Bandera’s magic.

Bandera’s magic was tremendously powerful, and the girl had once trembled as she ran around, trying not to get caught in it.

However, she burned the magic in her mind by watching and imitating the magic in action.

She feasted on the roasted meat, and by the time she finished eating and put out the fire, the sun was just about to go down. At night, visibility would be poor, and it would be dangerous to walk around.

She decided to spend the night in a small cave as a place to sleep.

***

The third day was uneventful until the morning. In this small cave, if she did not overdo things, she might be able to finish the deal safely. But the girl was painfully aware of her lack of ability.

She had no choice but to gain strength and be recognized by Aldis, who told her that she had no talent.

The girl who did not know that she had been abandoned was still as wholesome and earnest as ever.

But it made the girl stronger.

She carried a wooden stick in one hand and an ugly stone knife in the other. She wanted to be able to defeat a demon stronger than a Yangra, the one she defeated yesterday.

The equipment was too weak for that, but the girl did not compromise herself in any way.

It should have been impossible to fight without a weapon at hand, and she was not even been taught how to fight in the first place. But such excuses were not registered on the girl’s mind.

She was dedicated, earnest, optimistic, and honest, in the future this temperament led her to greater heights of success.

“Oh, that bird…!”

It was the Supra that saved the girl on the first day unintentionally. It was flying around at a not-so-low height, as if on patrol.

On the first day, Supra didn’t happen to find the girl. But now its round eyes caught the girl in its sights.

The girl was fast in her initial movement. Quickly, she threw a stone picked from the ground and aimed at the head of the swooping Supra.

The Supra flew in the opposite direction, losing the sight of the girl, while doing so. The girl, who did not miss the opportunity, threw another stone for the second time.

Holding the stone in both hands, she aimed at the Supra like a volley of bullets. The accuracy of the hit would be astonishing to a Thief who was good at throwing stones.

As a result, the girl was able to kill the Supra, which was by no means a weak monster, just by throwing stones at it.

Although she was not aware of it, the stone hit every vital spot on the Supra. Otherwise, she could not have knocked down Supra just by throwing stones.

“Ha! Thank God, thank God…”

Alone, the girl was relieved. Thinking that this could also be food, she carried it to her cave and started to skin it. The girl was impressed with the meat, which was different from that of the Yangra.

With her stomach filled, she shifted to the next problem, which was water. It would be nice if there was a pond, but there could be demons around it.

The girl might not be able to compete with them.

She walked carefully so that the salamander would not find her. Finally, she found a small river. She scooped up some water with both hands and began to drink.

It was cold and felt good, soaking into her body. The girl felt satisfied and listened to the rustling of the river.

***

After days of survival, the promised date was finally tomorrow.

Since then, the girl had been able to hunt Yangra and Supra consistently, but she still avoided the giant salamanders.

Not only was its body huge, it also had a thick skin, which was not something she could pierce with a stone knife. Was it all right to continue like this? The girl was pondering.

Compared to the first day, she was aware that she had become stronger.

But the Demon Forest was vast. There were areas where demons stronger than salamanders roamed.

As one would expect, even the girl would be exhausted after a week of camping out in such a place. For a girl who was thrown out without any preparation, the result was far from satisfactory.

But in the girl’s mind, the hero Aldis stood on a higher plane, and she never stopped comparing herself to Aldis-san and aspiring to be better.

It was like a kind of drug, but now, combined with the potential that a girl inherently possessed, she also gained experience in actual combat.

If Aldis was to see the girl now, he would be surprised. But he did not intend to meet her again here.

The sun was about to set, and the girl decided to get some sleep. Then, she had a dream.

***

It was dusk, after the harvest was over, looking out over the fields from a hilltop. The girl was sitting alongside her father, resting.

“You still want to be an adventurer?”

“Yes. I want to see things with my own eyes, roam around… and have adventures.”

“Farming is laborious work. You work hard, but a disaster can ruin everything. It’s the same for adventurers, isn’t it? It’s not always good.”

“Yes, but…”

“When times are tough, you might want to run away. And adventurers even lose their lives… it’s best to live like this, in peace, in quiet and without many challenges.”

“I know. However, there are times when father and mother let me eat but the two of you hardly eat, you know?”

“Didn’t we say that we will eat later…?”

“That’s a lie. I heard from an uncle talking about how they were barely making ends meet in this village. And yet, they raised me…so… I don’t just want to be an adventurer. I want to repay both of you and the village.”

“I’m glad you would like to do that. But it will be dangerous…”

“Even the crops bear fruit this way, and I’m happy about it. Adventurers can be dangerous and have hard times. But there are definitely happy things too!”

“Yes, I agree. But your mother and father don’t want you to do anything life-threatening… you have to understand that.”

“I know, but…”

***

The girl suddenly woke up from her sleep with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Sensing something stepping on the grass and trees approaching her location, she immediately became alert. Her breath became hectic when she saw someone peeking out into the cave.

“Wha, what?!”

If that initial reaction had been delayed, the girl’s life would have been lost. Without being frightened, she ran toward the entrance, i.e., towards the demon.

Just after she escaped through the gap between the demon’s face and the entrance, flames filled the cave. It was a giant salamander. She did not know if it was the same one she met on the first day.

Maybe it followed her scent, or it was some sort of habit. The fact that this place had not been sniffed out until now was due to luck.

The girl sensed this and was ashamed of her inexperience. With a tree branch and a stone knife in hand, there was nothing to do but run.

But then she reconsidered. There was no way she could keep running all night.

She was in the woods, where it was dark, and she could not see. It would be too late to fight, even if she wanted to.

She resolutely stayed her ground and plunged her stone knife into the eye of the approaching salamander.

Blood spilled from one eye, and the salamander’s body shook with rage.

Jumping into the air, she swung the tree branch down on the salamander’s back. but that blow did little to no harm to its thick skin.

The stone knife remained stuck in one eye. It did some damage, but it was far from fatal. It would be worse if it breathed fire at this point.

The girl was thinking. How could she deal a fatal blow to this monster?

“That’s the only way!”

She had no choice but to end it before the salamander breathed fire.

She rushed forward. The small girl lunged at a stone knife. The stone knife that had pierced the salamander’s eye penetrated deeper.

The screaming salamander sprawled out, rolled over, and gradually stopped moving.

She was still unable to finish it off, but leaving it like this should have killed it.

“The knife…I’ll have it back.”

As soon as she pulled the stone knife out of the salamander’s eye, the Salamander collapsed on the ground. If she had been a little slower, it would have survived.

If the stone knife had been shorter, it might not have reached the inside. Without thinking, the girl sat down right there.

It took her a moment to catch her breath.

“This is the only weapon I have left…. I don’t have time to make another stone knife now.”

She mumbled to no one in particular. The sun had already set, and the place was blanketed in darkness, so she had to leave. There was a possibility that other demons, smelling the scent of blood, would come close to this place.

It was hard to imagine that there would be any other cave that would be so convenient. The girl’s heart raced with tension and impatience, even though the day of the meeting was almost over.

T/N: There is another chapter coming in few minutes. See you there.