Chapter 61 – Inefficient Growth
The forest closed in around them the further they moved away from Sanguina, the structured ground and controlled space giving way to uneven terrain, dense undergrowth, and the kind of natural silence that never truly meant quiet.
Jack slowed slightly as they advanced, not because he needed to, but because the environment demanded it, his awareness spreading outward as he tracked the movement of his squad just as carefully as anything ahead of them.
The others followed his pace without needing to be told, which in itself marked progress.
A few days ago, they would have either clustered too closely or spread too far.
Now they held a distance that allowed support without interference.
Sophie moved on his right.
Her posture had changed since the previous day, not dramatically, but in a way that showed she was no longer reacting to movement, but anticipating it, her attention shifting constantly between the terrain and the space ahead rather than locking onto a single point.
“Contact,” she said quietly.
Jack had already seen them.
A group of Ironhide Boars (Lv.11–12) moved through the undergrowth ahead, their bodies thick and low, their hide layered in a way that made them look more like moving armor than flesh.
They weren’t fast.
They didn’t need to be.
Jack raised a hand slightly, signaling the group to slow without stopping, his gaze following the way the boars shifted their weight as they moved, the subtle tells that showed how they would react once engaged.
“They’ll charge once they notice us,” he said. “Don’t meet it directly.”
One of the Sisters nodded, adjusting her stance slightly.
Sophie didn’t say anything.
She didn’t need to.
The first Ironhide Boar lifted its head.
It noticed them.
The shift was immediate.
The entire group reacted at once, their movement changing from steady to aggressive as they lowered their heads and began to charge.
Jack stepped forward.
“Blood Bolt.”
The projectile formed instantly, striking the leading Ironhide Boar in the side of its head, not enough to stop it, but enough to shift its angle just slightly.
That was all he needed.
“Split them,” he said.
The squad moved.
Not perfectly.
But well enough.
The charge broke apart instead of hitting as a single force, each boar forced to adjust its path as the group shifted position, turning a dangerous impact into separate engagements.
Sophie intercepted one.
She didn’t try to stop it.
She moved with it.
Her body shifted to the side at the last moment, letting the Ironhide Boar pass just enough that its momentum worked against it, her blade striking along its flank as it moved past her.
The hit didn’t cut deep.
Too much armor.
She adjusted immediately.
Second strike.
Better placement.
The boar staggered.
Jack stepped in.
“Blood Scythe.”
The arc cut through the weakened section, the bleed taking hold immediately as the strike landed with far more force than Sophie’s had managed.
[You have defeated: Ironhide Boar (Lv.11)]
[Experience Gained: 380 EXP]
Jack stepped back.
Let them continue.
Another Ironhide Boar broke toward the center, its movement slower but heavier as it forced its way toward one of the less experienced Sisters.
She hesitated.
Just slightly.
Sophie moved first.
“Left,” she said.
The Sister adjusted too late.
The boar clipped her, not a full hit, but enough to knock her off balance.
Jack felt the shift immediately.
He didn’t intervene yet.
Sophie did.
She stepped in, using the boar’s movement instead of trying to stop it, redirecting its path just enough that it missed the follow-up, her own strike landing in the gap it created.
Not enough to kill it.
But enough to stabilize the situation.
“Move,” she said.
The other Sister recovered and repositioned.
Jack watched that carefully.
That mattered more than the kill.
He stepped in again as another Ironhide Boar pushed too close to the group.
“Blood Bolt.”
The projectile hit its shoulder, shifting its movement just enough to break its approach before it could fully commit.
He followed with another strike.
“Blood Scythe.”
The bleed stacked.
The boar slowed.
Then dropped.
[You have defeated: Ironhide Boar (Lv.12)]
[Experience Gained: 420 EXP]
The rest of the fight resolved quickly after that, the remaining Ironhide Boars cut down without the formation breaking, the squad adjusting around each other in a way that was still rough, but functional.
No one went down.
Jack noted that first.
Then he noted something else.
The system notifications.
[Experience Gained: 380 EXP]
[Experience Gained: 420 EXP]
[Experience Gained: 390 EXP]
He didn’t open the full interface.
He didn’t need to.
It wasn’t enough.
The effort, the coordination, the risk of mistakes that could still cost them—none of it matched what they were gaining.
Jack exhaled slowly.
The fight had been clean.
Efficient.
Controlled.
And it hadn’t mattered.
Sophie stepped back, rolling her shoulder slightly where she had taken the earlier hit, her breathing steady as she looked over the field.
“That went better,” she said.
“It did,” Jack replied.
She glanced at him.
“You don’t sound convinced.”
Jack looked at the bodies of the Ironhide Boars, then at the forest beyond them, then back at his squad.
“It worked,” he said.
Sophie waited.
“That’s not the same thing,” he added.
She frowned slightly, then looked back at the fallen boars, her expression shifting as she considered it.
“…Not enough?” she asked.
Jack nodded.
“Not enough,” he said.