I proceeded in the direction where I had picked up the human presences. Gently and quietly, I walked, paying close attention to how much sound I was making. Since I’ve got such a massive frame, this won’t bring me peace of mind, but it will do somethin’ for my mood, for one. So, I don’t care if Partner’s rattling her head around or whatever. Nope, don’t give a damn.
“Gaw-! Gawgh!”
…Wonder if I can split her off from me. I seem to recall that both halves of an earthworm could move, even when completely split into left and right parts, so couldn’t we do somethin’ to that effect? If I use ⟨Fabricate Life⟩ on Partner after decapitatin’ her, then—… actually… I’d rather not put that to the test.
As I drew closer, I faintly felt the presence of something else in addition to the two human presences. Also coming from their presences was a feeling of… trepidation. Don’t tell me they’re locked in battle with a monster! If that’s the case, then I should rush on over, right?
I’d hate to leave the humans for dead, and besides, I’m indebted to the Litōvear Tribe for those tributes.
I whirled my head around to look behind me as Wight, who had been trotting along, stopped suddenly at my feet.
“Gwogh…”
I indicated down to the ground and backwards with my forefoot to convey to Wight to just stay here and wait for me. Wight faced ahead of where they had been walking toward moments prior and nodded affirmatively, letting out a muted clack. I guess it’s thanks to Wight’s ⟨Wicked Dragon’s Minion⟩ title skill that I can so easily communicate my intentions with such subtle gestures. That much I’m grateful for. However, I don’t exactly feel easy about leavin’ Wight here by their bonesome and goin’ out.
I stroked my forefoot against a largish tree that was within foreleg’s reach. I really don’t want to use ⟨Fabricate Life⟩ without much forethought, but… Wight needs to have something keeping guard on them, you know? Also, the little treants all had the ⟨Wicked Dragon’s Minion⟩ title skill on them as well, meaning if I give one an order, it should obey that order.
Partner, can you monsterize this tree?
“Gaw-!”
Partner nodded as she raised her voice and cried out, followed by black light enveloping the tree… However, once the black light dissipated, the tree remained unchanged.
All I’ve ever tried the skill on were chunks of flesh, bones, and saplings, so… I guess full-on trees were a bit out of our league. Maybe it’s just a problem with the skill level.
…But again, it’s a bit too dangerous to just leave Wight here. Since I don’t really have the time to be trying one thing after another, should I just stick with what works and stick Wight in my mouth? Though the worst case scenario then would be if the Litōvear Tribe so much as catches a glimpse of me doin’ that. It would invite an unmitigated disaster of a misunderstandin’, right? Throwin’ a whole-ass skeleton into my mouth, tellin’ the Litōvear Tribe they’ve got it all wrong, then tellin’ them that I’m not eatin’ the skeleton, but protectin’ it, and on and on… There’s no way in hell I’d be able to get them to believe me. Yeah, they’d be runnin’ away from me cryin’.
But, if what’s happenin’ in front of me right now turns grave, I know I’ll regret it later… Well, for now, so long as I keep my mouth shut no matter what, I’ll be fine, right?
“Gaaaawgh!”
Partner roared with even greater strength than before, which caused the black light, covering a larger volume than last time, to completely envelope the entire tree.
As the bark on the tree warped, it took on the form of a human face, followed by the tree’s thick roots pulling themselves out of the ground, creating fissures across the earth. Yep, it’s on a different scale than the saplings I’ve been doin’ this to.
“Greeeaaaak!”
The tree loudly cried out as it slammed both of its branches on either side of its trunk against the ground, scattering torn-up leaves around itself.
Seems in order to monsterize somethin’ big, you need to tune the power of the magic going into it accordingly. It won’t be a problem with how deep my power budget for magic goes… ‘Least I don’t see it being a problem.
Species: Lesser Treant
Condition: Cursed
Level: 1/25
HP: 25/25
MP: 20/20
Attack: 15
Defense: 22
Magic: 20
Speed: 10
Rank: D
Characteristic Skills:
⟨Dark Element: Lv –⟩
Resistance Skills:
⟨Physical Resistance: Lv 2⟩
General Skills:
⟨Radicate Roots: Lv 3⟩ ⟨Earth: Lv 2⟩ ⟨Rest: Lv 1⟩
Title Skills:
⟨Wicked Dragon’s Minion: Lv –⟩
Sure, it’s stronger than Wight… but will this be enough? …I’ll make a monster that’s a little bit stronger. After that… I’ll…
Wight was poking and prodding at my leg. What is it? What’s wrong?
I lowered my head, bringing my face closer to Wight. Wight pointed in the direction where the humans were situated.
The Litōvear Tribe are composed of Wight’s friends and family from when Wight was alive. Maybe it’s just one of those things that wights instinctively think about.
“Gwogh.”
I shifted my gaze from Wight to the treant that I had just now brought to life. I’m entrusting you with Wight.
“Greeeaaaak!”
Ah, it understands me… I think, right? It’s waving around its branches, but it’s not coming at me with an attack.
I turned to face the direction of the human presences and headed toward them while looking over my shoulder every so often. During my approach, I slowly started to hear the sounds of the Litōvear Tribe and the monster fighting. A familiar sensation sent a sudden, shuddering chill down my spine. I don’t know why, but this feeling is giving me some bad déjà vu. I quickened my pace.
“Lei, Kvei, Zhes!”
“Hai–! ‘i-yaaaa–! Se-ya–!”
The humans were unmistakably from the Litōvear Tribe. There was one man—a large man—wielding a large spear that had ornamentation applied to it and one woman who looked and dressed very much like a shrine maiden who had also been among those in the group that had brought me those tributes. The woman kept her eyes shut as she chanted something I couldn’t understand, but which sounded like an incantation.
The chills running down my spine were right on the mark. The large man was fighting that humonstrous insect—the abyss.
“VeeeEEEEEGH!”
The abyss wriggled its eight disproportionately long legs, running circles around the large man. It looked as abominable as ever and moved as uncannily as ever.
For purportedly being a C ranked monster, an abyss can fight pretty well. A single one is far superior to Hagen and about the only person it’d be inferior to would be Adhoff, but even then by just a tad. What I thought was a curiously large and overbuilt spear was in fact perhaps made to an exact length such that it would make it easier to fight an abyss.
The abyss was said to feed on creatures smaller than itself according to the information that Voice of God had provided me. If there are a lot of them, then that would probably make them a significant threat as far as the Litōvear Tribe is concerned.
“Kvei! Kvei! Leitu!”
When the woman, dressed as a shrine maiden, raised her voice, the abyss’ physical existence jumped without warning.
For a brief moment, I wondered if the abyss had scuttled away, but just as suddenly as it disappeared, it reappeared behind the large man. The large man, putting his full weight into his spear, swung it, and as the spear came around, the tip solidly struck the abyss’ fangs, bringing with it its accumulated angular momentum. Despite the abyss catching the large man completely in his blind spot, the large man reacted as if it was second nature. If it were me in place of that abyss, I probably would’ve been takin’ that blow too.
“Zhes! Zhes!”
The large man, timed with the woman’s voice, went ahead and dealt more attacks with his spear directed toward the abyss, which was now arching backwards—underside exposed. The abyss, for its part, zig-zagged backwards, and as it did so, took some distance from the large man, slipping away into the thick brush of the forest. The way it moved, as always, could not look more unnerving and wrong. The large man, after also seeing the abyss scuttle away into the bush, seemed to become relaxed and had stood his spear up on its blunt end. The abyss then, quietly and suddenly, appeared right behind the large man.
“Kvei–!”
As the woman shouted, the large man hurriedly readied his spear and turned around. There’s no telling if he was going to make it in time. I leapt out of the forest and crushed the abyss with my forefoot.
“VeBL–…VUGH”
Bodily fluids in the color of dehydrated piss gushed forth and splattered out of the abyss’ mouth. The abyss’ many limbs flailed, wriggled, and struggled panickedly. The ticklish feelings it was giving me were rather unpleasant, so I put more weight into my forefoot. Though its legs stopped wriggling, bodily fluids burst out from its back like a broken dam.
⦋126 experience points have been acquired.⦌
⦋Due to the title skill ⟨Walking Egg: Lv –⟩, an additional 126 experience points have been acquired.⦌
… I… I just totally did that with my bare forefeet.
“Gaw…”
Partner cried out in a voice stricken with enough grief that you’d think she was lamenting that the world was coming to an end. Even I couldn’t help but feel like howling. I wiped my forefoot on the ground to clean it of the abyss’ bodily fluids.
Damnit. God damnit. It won’t come off and it reeks like hell, like some kind of distilled stink bug crap.
“Ryu– Ryujin-sama…?”
The large man was looking up at me with his jaw dropped to the floor, and as if following his jaw, his oversized spear clanged against the ground. Widening his eyes as if surprised by the sound of his falling spear, he stooped over and dropped to his knees, as if following it.
Pl– Please, you don’t need to go through the effort to humble yourself so much… If anything, it actually makes me nervous.