The Transmigrated Author

[Location: Island Of The East: Monster Infested - West Side - Outer section]

Lyra watched him closely from her perch in the tree.

He'd readied his crossbow, a clear shot at the goblins from his concealed position.

The next thing she knew, the plan was scrapped.

His stance changed and he walked out into the open right in front of the pack of goblins.

There was no mana or elemental attribute that came out of him, the idea was recklessness that seemed out of character for him.

Was this the same Rel she knew? The one who always prioritized caution?

This felt different.

Dangerous.

Right before Lyra's eyes, she saw a strength that she hadn't witnessed from him before...

BANG!

Wind whipped around him, obliterating the goblins, and blasting a hole through the forest itself.

Nearby creatures took flight, fleeing the sudden chaos.

"What... the? That can't be... was he holding back all along?"

Lyra was at a loss for words... It defied belief, she had always assumed Rel was lacking, intentionally holding himself back.

Yet this raw display of physical strength shattered those assumptions, leaving only suspicion and confusion.

For a while she had been watching Rel with a careful eye, searching if he had any hint of hidden power, the potential to challenge what she called the 'Big 3'.

The big 3 consisted of Jan, Louise and Valencia.

They earned that title because each was exceptional and had unique abilities or traits that separated them from the rest.

The strongest out of the 3 was Jan.

From all these years of seeing his fighting capabilities, Lyra knew very well Jan never held back when it mattered.

What he was mainly known for was that his aura exceeded any person of their age.

Valencia being number 2 was simple, she was the sword saint.

When it came to techniques, she was almost unrivalled in terms of mastering them and utilising them in combat.

Her damage output was unmatched... any opponent she fought would always result in her victory.

And at number 3 was Louise, His incredible recovery ability gave him the stamina to win drawn-out battles, and while his aura was impressive for his age, Jan's raw talent still outshone him.

But now, seeing Rel... it forced her to reconsider. Could there be a 'Big 4'?

"Just with physical strength..."

He'd obliterated goblins and thornback spiders with devastating force.

If this power was always there, was his performance in the tournament a farce?

There was no way he was just messing around right?

If that was the case then that meant the battle with Valencia... it was all true.

He was testing her, trying to see if she was worth him going all out!

The idea was crazy exciting, but Lyra shoved it aside.

"I could be wrong though..."

This was Rel. He probably hid his strength just because... well, because he could.

huup!

Dropping from the tree, Lyra scanned the ground, trying to figure out where he'd gone.

"Lyra?" A familiar voice startled her from behind.

Eek!

Whirling around, she found herself face to face with...

"Rel?"

"That's me," he said, holding a hand up to prove it was really him.

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

Lyra tried to sound casual, but after what she'd just seen...

"Just passing by. Heard a big noise, so I came to check it out."

"Oh, I see."

Lyra's eyebrow twitched.

ƿσ!ωƹгҽƌ-*ɓү-

He was lying to her face!

She'd seen it all, yet that expression... like he thought no one had witnessed a thing.

Keeping up her end of the charade, she asked, "So, where are you headed next?"

She studied his face, searching for any crack in his facade.

"I'm gonna head elsewhere, I can't help but feel that I'm being watched"

Rel squinted his eyes with a furrowed brow.

"...!"

Lyra flinched just slightly at his stare.

"Uh, ah... That sucks, doesn't it? Well, good luck then!"

Lyra felt he had caught on to her.

Just a simple hunch and now this day marks a memory that she shouldn't underestimate him from now on. Not ever.

***

[3 Hours Later...]

{Rel's POV}

[Location: Island Of The East: Monster Infested - South Side - Inner-Middle-Section]

TAK!, TAK!, TAK!

[Critical hit has been amplified!]

uuuu....uuu!

SHAAAAA!!!

Pulling back the string of my crossbow I shot out 3 arrows in a swift fluid motion and as they soared through the air each shot pierced the Woodlings cleanly and the rise of my fire attribute burnt them down to a crisp.

"that's about 55... in the past 4 hours."

[Score Counter:]

[+3^][1-A: 442 - 398 :1-B][+5^]

Glancing down at my watch, the scores between both classes were surprisingly close.

I know that there's been a lot of action going around, especially in the centre of the island.

I even found myself watching other extras from our class fight it out over a monster.

It was something I didn't have ticked on my bucket list but I ultimately stole the kill from 1-B once they won the battle.

They were clueless screaming "Did we get that monster or not?!"

And then the reactions followed as the counter for our class went up by 1+

Easily the funniest thing I've done.

But seriously, I need to try find these monsters sooner... I want to go home.

_____________

To be continued...

_____________

Authors notes:

- The way Rel's ability: Monster Hunter works with numbers is explained with this:

x be the base damage:

Base damage (100%) = x

Damage against lower-class monsters (150% boost) = x + (x * 150%) = x + 1.5x = 2.5x

So when facing lower-class monsters (Grades E Class to B+ Class), his actual damage output would be 2.5 times his base damage.

strength: 59 x 2.5 = 147.5

ʢ ͡⎚◞ ͡⎚ʡ

- It wasn't a hole Rel made in the forest rather he changed the area of the forest with his punch.

- Core Section: The innermost layer, closest to the centre.

Inner-Middle Section: Between the core and inner sectors.

Middle-Outer Section: Between the inner and outer sectors.

Outermost Section: The outermost layer, farthest from the centre.

- Thiago's Elemental Attribute: Wind