NOVEL NEXT Chapter 28: Forest Exploration and Boss Encounter
We were looking for the rampaging chicken, but it hadn't shown up since then. It appeared after we defeated the chick, so we thought we'd run into it if we did the same thing, but a chick didn't appear either. The greed sensor is working too hard.
Instead, I'll introduce you to the ones I ran into along the way. First, this guy.
Spider Lv4
Summon Monster Subjugation Target Active
A spider appeared when Lily got caught in a spider's web.
"It's sticky~. I can't move~. Takuto, help me~"
"Ion, please. I'll defeat it with magic"
"I understand. I don't have a choice"
I defeated the spider with fire and Ion cut the spider's web and rescued Lily.
"Ion-chan, thank you"
"Please don't stick to me! I'll get all sticky!"
They joked with each other. Here are the dismantling results.
Spider Thread: Rarity 2 Material item Quality E-
Adhesive thread used by spiders to build their webs. It's sticky.
The next one I came across was this one.
Caterpillar Lv3
Tame Monster Subjugation Target Active
Perhaps because of the spider web incident earlier, Lily charged the caterpillar and finished it off. Here are the results of the dismantling.
Caterpillar Thread: Rarity 2 Material Item Quality E-
Thread produced by the caterpillar. It gets harder as time passes.
It was two threads in a row. Do they have different uses? The next one I encountered was a trauma class monster.
Bee Lv5
Summon Monster Subjugation Target Active
Gray found the Bee early on, which was a big help. There were quite a few of them, but fortunately they were far enough away that Konoha's and my magic was enough to finish them off. Here are the drops.
Honey: Rarity 2 Ingredient Item Quality E
Honey produced by a Bee. It's sweet and has a unique flavor.
Bee Stinger: Rarity 2 Material Item Quality E
A stinger used by Bees when attacking. It has a poisonous effect.
I got a lot of honey, so I took one out and licked it. It has a sweet taste with a hint of sourness. I wonder if it's honey from the lotus plant. Honey tastes different depending on the flowers, grasses and trees that the bees collect. Naturally, it does not go well with every dish. Therefore, I confirmed that I felt a line of sight and looked there.
"It looks delicious, Takuto"
"There's a lot of it, isn't there?"
""Gau~""
"Hoo~"
Everyone was happy when I fed them. Lily, Ion and Gray's reactions were particularly dramatic.
""Swe~et~""
Their faces were melting. After all, girls like sweets, don't they? Gray's tail was moving like crazy. And then there was the silent eye attack. But I fight back.
"If you eat it all here, I won't have enough to cook"
Yes, I've won. And here's the next opponent.
Squirrel Lv3
Tame Monster Subjugation Target Active
This one hit me with a nut. And it's provoking me on the tree.
"Kyu! Kyu!"
It seems to be saying, 「Come here~」. I can use magic without going or better yet, let Konoha attack it, but I look at the nuts. I wonder if I can do that thing I used to be addicted to? Let's give it a try.
I set the nut on my right thumb and pop it like a pin. The popped nut passed right by the squirrel.
"Tsk......miss"
But the squirrel's face turns pale. Then info will flow.
『Throwing skill has been released』
He~, it's throwing. This. I think it's more like stone throwing or gravel, but......I used something called a finger division. It is a famous Chinese weaponry technique that is normally used to pop iron coins, lead coins and stones. I used to practice it with pachinko coins because of an anime I saw as a child. Naturally, it was dangerous, so I got angry and stopped doing it. But this is the world of games, so don't be shy.
I took out a lot of stones from the inventory and set them in both hands. When the squirrel saw this, it panicked and crouched down. Good decision. But these finger bombs are surprisingly versatile~I can do this by adjusting the shape of the stone, the playing style and the amount of force.
When I shot the stone, the stone that I shot hit the crouching squirrel while drawing a curve. The squirrel falls from the branch.
I shoot a series of stones at the falling squirrel. The squirrel, stuck in midair, became a beehive and died. Was it a bad move at least? There were no drops. But this is where my identification skill leveled up.
Name Takuto Summoner Lv12
Vitality 18
Magic Power 48
Strength 14
Defense 7
Agility 12
Dexterity 26
Skills
Bare-handed Lv2
Kicking Lv3
Staff Lv4
Summoning Magic Lv6
Alchemy Lv4
Mining Lv6
Dismantling Lv6
Appraisal Lv7
Identification Lv3→Lv4
Wind Magic Lv1
Fire Magic Lv4
Earth Magic Lv1
Water Magic Lv1
Dark Magic Lv1
Light Magic Lv5
Lightning Magic Lv1
Explosion Magic Lv1
Wood Magic Lv1
Ice Magic Lv1
Space-time Magic Lv1
Reading Lv4
Cooking Lv7
Feeding Lv3
The next one we met was the Sickle Killer.
Sickle Killer Lv6
Tame monster Subjugation Monster Active
I thought the name was a joke, but this guy was strong. To my surprise, Lily's blow collided with Sickle Killer's sickle and it didn't blow off. This surprised me. Ion stopped Sickle Killer's attack when it tried to attack Lily with one of its sickles. Ion couldn't hold on, so Kotetsu quickly bit into the sickle and tore it off. With one arm missing, Sickle Killer was beaten up by all of them. And this guy didn't drop anything either. I'd say at least drop your own sickle. But since Ion leveled up, I'll forgive it.
Name Ion Dragonewt Lv5 → Lv6
Vitality 16→17
Magic Power 16→17
Strength 12→13
Defense 8→9
Agility 28→30
Dexterity 22→24
Skills
Dual Wield Lv4
Underwater Action Lv1
The last one I met was Big Ant.
Big Ant Lv5
Tame Monster Subjugation Target Active
As the name suggests, it was a big ant. I thought of a game I used to play with my friends that had ants like this and fought it. This thing only had a bite attack, but it was pretty strong because of its size, but Ion cut off all of its legs, so I avoided the front and we all beat it up. And no items. I'm not convinced. But here's where each magic and summoning magic leveled up, except for fire and light.
Name Takuto Summoner Lv12
Vitality 18
Magic Power 48
Strength 14
Defense 7
Agility 12
Dexterity 26
Skills
Bare-handed Lv2
Kicking Lv3
Staff Lv4
Summoning Magic Lv6→Lv7
Alchemy Lv4
Mining Lv6
Dismantling Lv6
Appraisal Lv7
Identification Lv4
Wind Magic Lv1→Lv2
Fire Magic Lv4
Earth Magic Lv1→Lv2
Water Magic Lv1→Lv2
Dark Magic Lv1→Lv2
Light Magic Lv5
Lightning Magic Lv1→Lv2
Explosion Magic Lv1→Lv2
Wood Magic Lv1→Lv2
Ice Magic Lv1→Lv2
Space-time Magic Lv1
Reading Lv4
Cooking Lv7
Feeding Lv3
I thought it was almost lunchtime and was about to return when something flew towards me. I quickly dodged it and the flying object hit the ground. I looked at it and saw it was a player. He didn't move...it looked like a corpse. No, he was actually dead, with the word "DEAD" appearing on him, but then they started flying at me one after another. What is this? Is this a new kind of attack?
After a while, nothing is flying. When we move in the direction of the attacks, Gray lets out a roar. It looks like there's someone in trouble. And what I found was a huge plant monster, over three meters long. When I identify it, it displays a name as expected.
Gerbera Grow Lv?
Boss??
Yeah, that's bad...it has four HP bars and there are parts of it that are invisible to the identification skill. And the identification skill has leveled up again. I just identified the Gerbera Grow. And there were about ten players down around the Gerbera Grow. Lily asked me if I wanted to fight, but I chose to retreat here. For a moment, I wondered how far I could go with Lily using Quick, but the number of players who flew in was four. The party limit was six. This meant that it was most likely three parties of eighteen that had challenged this guy. If they had made it this far, they were probably good players. But they were wiped out. And then there was Gerbera Grow, whose HP hadn't been reduced. I don't think I can win with this. I use the return spell.
Gerbera Grow kept looking at me until the spell was activated. I returned to the inn with Return, feeling strangely uncomfortable. Then the info about space-time magic level up came on and I logged out.
Name Takuto Summoner Lv12
Vitality 18
Magic Power 48
Strength 14
Defense 7
Agility 12
Dexterity 26
Skills
Bare-handed Lv2
Kicking Lv3
Staff Lv4
Summoning Magic Lv7
Alchemy Lv4
Mining Lv6
Dismantling Lv6
Appraisal Lv7
Identification Lv4→Lv5
Wind Magic Lv2
Fire Magic Lv4
Earth Magic Lv2
Water Magic Lv2
Dark Magic Lv2
Light Magic Lv5
Lightning Magic Lv2
Explosion Magic Lv2
Wood Magic Lv2
Ice Magic Lv2
Space-Time Magic Lv1→Lv2
Reading Lv4
Cooking Lv7
Feeding Lv3
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Author note:
This was the episode where Gerbera Grow appeared.
Next time, there will be a chat with Ruin and the others.
I'm going to explain about the party system in EO.