Inside the magically camouflaged tent, a tense silence had settled like fog.
Alex had just relayed Aurora's warning to Sherry: they were surrounded.
A pack of Silverback Monkeys had followed them during the night, slipping through the crimson forest with silent, deliberate malice. Now they lay in wait—concealed behind tangled roots, nestled in the canopy, even perched directly above the tent. All poised to strike the instant Alex and Sherry stepped outside.
Sherry's expression hardened, her brows knitting in concern.
"What do we do?" she whispered. "I could summon Bellio outside... let him draw their attention while we escape in the other direction."
Alex didn't answer immediately. He considered the idea carefully.
Bellio was fast, elusive. He could cause chaos among the enemy ranks, make them chase him instead. But it was still a gamble—too reliant on distraction and lacking control.
Aurora, still floating just overhead like a disinterested observer, offered her input with that same dry tone she always used when danger wasn't her problem.
"Why don't you just shoot them?" she said. "You can dual-cast. Try multicast. Dark Bullets in all directions. Problem solved."
Alex blinked. The simplicity of the suggestion was almost insulting.
"Multicast…" he murmured. 'I haven't tried that yet.'
Not seriously, anyway.
He had experience with wide-area casting—but only in a focused, linear form. Like the time he'd electrocuted that Poison Treant Territory Boss Monster, reducing it to a smoldering husk from a distance.
But that was one target. One direction. One shot.
This would be different. Simultaneous projection. Multiple angles. Controlled bursts in every direction.
Alex closed his eyes for a moment, centering his thoughts as he traced the foundations of spellcasting.
For apprentice mages, a visible magic circle formed at the palm served as a stabilizing guide. That's how spells were taught—through familiarity, through focus. The circuits in the hands were naturally active and easy to channel.
But that was just training wheels.
High level mages could cast beyond their hands—through their limbs, through their surroundings, even directly into the air—by will alone and precise mana manipulation. He'd done it once, unintentionally.
Now he had to do it again. Intentionally.
Not just once—many times.
Alex took a deep breath, letting the roiling pressure inside him settle.
Multicasting demanded strong mental strength—and above all, focus. Forcing out multiple spells at once without a clear lock on the targets wasn't just reckless. It was wasteful. The Silverback Monkeys weren't going to stand still and politely take the hit. They were fast, agile, and vanished the moment danger neared.
He could try multicasting, but spraying dark bullets into the mist and hoping for the best wouldn't cut it.
He needed accuracy.
Fortunately, he had just the thing.
Tracking Mark—another one of his newly acquired D-rank skills.
==============================
Skill: Tracking Mark (Active)
Rank: D
Description:
- Allows the user to mark up to a maximum of 5 targets, causing ranged or projectile attacks to automatically home in on them.
- Increases hit accuracy by subtly guiding attacks toward the marked targets.
- The effect's duration and range are limited by the weapon or attack used.
==============================
'Perfect.' The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
With this, even if the bullets weren't perfectly aimed, the skill would kick in—correcting their trajectory mid-flight and homing in on the targets with deadly precision.
There was only one hurdle left: marking the targets.
He had to see or sense the Silverback Monkeys in order to mark them—and with their advanced stealth, he could do neither.
But of course, he wasn't alone.
"I can help with that," Aurora chimed in lightly. "I've already got eyes on all of them. I can show you their positions."
Alex raised a brow. "How?"
"I can link my senses to yours," she said, voice soft but firm, "and you'll be able to feel where they are. Not perfectly detailed, but precise enough to mark them."
Alex nodded slightly. "That'll work."
As she was now bound to Alex as a Soul Slave, Aurora could easily lend him her senses through the connection. More than that—if permitted—she could take control of his body, and he hers.
He opened himself to the link. In an instant, everything shifted.
A surge of awareness flooded his nerves. His eyes couldn't see the Silverback Monkeys, but at the back of his mind, he could perceive distinct presences—sharp impressions hovering on the edge of instinct.
"There are more than five," Aurora confirmed, "but if you take out the closest ones first, the rest will scatter. They rely on ambush tactics, not direct confrontation."
"Then I'll take the worst of them off the board."
He didn't hesitate.
In a flash, he marked five.
Nothing changed on the outside—but he could feel it: five targets locked. One above. Two behind the root-ridge. One in the canopy to the left. Another just beyond a knotted bush to the east.
"Alex?" Sherry's voice broke the silence behind him. She'd been quietly watching. "What are you doing? Is everything okay?"
He turned to her, calm but resolute.
"Everything's fine." he assured her. "But I need you to stay in the tent. No matter what happens, don't come out unless I say so. Got it?"
Sherry's brows knit together, worry flickering in her pink eyes. But she nodded.
"…Okay. Just—be careful."
"I will." he said softly. "Trust me."
Alex inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly, letting his heartbeat fall into rhythm. He shut his eyes and activated his skill: Focus.
Multicasting demanded more than just mana—it required control, clarity, and an strong mentality. To conjure multiple magic circles at once, one had to not only visualize but simultaneously construct them. The mental strain alone could shatter lesser minds.
Beside him, Aurora watched with narrowed eyes.
"Remember," she said quietly, her voice like a whisper of wind through glass, "each circle must be perfect, or it won't activate."
Alex didn't respond. He didn't need to.
Outside the tent, suspended in the air, over a dozen magic circles began to take form.
Then—
His eyes snapped open.
The forest exploded.
More than a dozen
Not all the bullets were precisely aimed—but that wasn't the point.
The five marked targets—Silverback Monkeys hidden nearby, poised for ambush—dropped instantly. No cries, no struggle. Their bodies collapsed in eerie unison, like marionettes with their strings cut.
The spell had locked on like a predator. Tracking Mark ensured the bullets bent mid-flight, shifting course with uncanny precision. There would be no escape.
Stray projectiles tore through the mist. One unmarked Silverback Monkey yelped and bolted. Another tumbled from a branch, screeching as it vanished into the thick fog.
And just like that—
The ambush collapsed.
Aurora hovered in stunned silence, her eyes wide, unblinking.
'How many did he cast…?' she wondered, her gaze drifting over the fading traces of magic still suspended in the air. 'Twelve? Fourteen?'
A dazed expression crossed her face. 'And he did this on his first try?'
Even veteran mages struggled to multicast more than two or three
But this?
This was far beyond anything she'd anticipated.
Inside the tent, Alex let out a slow breath and a faint grin tugging at his lips as he looked at the system notifications.
[A new technique has been registered]
==============================
Technique: Multicast
Description: The caster simultaneously constructs and activates multiple copies of the same spell by visualizing several magic circles at once.
==============================
"Wow…" he murmured. "That was easier than I thought it'd be. Though aiming so many of them at once was a pain."
Sherry, still crouched near the corner of the tent, stared at him with wide eyes. "That was… you?"
Alex nodded.
"No wonder it sounded like a sudden storm out there." she said softly, her voice a mix of awe and concern.
"Yeah, well," he replied, "the good news is, we can walk out of here without worrying about getting ambushed."
Still, something tugged at the edge of his thoughts.
'I only fired a dozen or so Dark Bullets… but the mana cost was insane.' he thought, frowning. 'It burned through more than double what it would've taken if I cast them one at a time.'
Before he could dwell on it further, Aurora—who had been floating nearby in uncharacteristic silence—suddenly twitched, as if she'd just remembered she had a body.
She blinked, then straightened, folding her arms tightly across her chest.
"N-Not bad for your first try." She said stiffly, clearly trying to sound composed. "Pfft. Impressive—if you were trying to shoot the trees."
She cleared her throat, then added quickly, "B-But you really need to work on your accuracy. Most of those shots missed."
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
For the next two to three days, Alex and Sherry pushed forward, relentlessly hunting monsters without pause.
They expanded their range, venturing into new areas and encountering a wider variety of B-rank monsters like the Ironcoil Serpents and the Prowlers.
By the end of the third day, they'd amassed over half a million points—cementing their place among the top 100.