Chapter 93

The cracked beetle shells fell to the ground one after another, stirring up clouds of sand.

Muu was surprised by the rapid disintegration of the rocks.

"Wow! Did you do this, Grandma Yuril?"

"Yes, I did."

"Amazing! Just as I expected from Grandma Yuril!"

The delighted child jumped up and hugged Yuril tightly.

With his head nestled just below her chest, he rubbed his cheek against her, purring.

"Grandma Yuril is so soft. Soft, soft."

"Oh, that tickles, Muu."

Muu, who had been playfully roughhousing with Yuril like a mother and child, suddenly looked up with a curious expression.

"Grandma Yuril, you feel kind of cool."

"Oh, it must be because of this."

Yuril lowered her collar to reveal the ash-silver glow around her neck.

It was the sacred artifact, the Frost Collar, bestowed upon her at the Exploration Temple.

This necklace, made from the spine of a Frost Giant, an upper-class spirit dwelling in the northern lands, was said to enhance the power of ice-based magic.

"When I wear this, it feels a bit cooler. Since it's quite dry here, the difference is very noticeable."

"Hmm, when I stick to you, it feels nice and cold!"

"Hey, that's not fair, Muu. Me too, me too!"

Yuril, who was being clung to by the warm-bodied girl and child, blushed slightly.

Toll, approaching the playful trio, praised the incredible results of the powerful magic.

"I had heard about it, but the power is truly amazing. I'm impressed."

"Yes, with this and my staff, I think I can manage even here."

The silver-haired beauty smiled confidently, and Toll nodded deeply.

She had demonstrated her ability to slay a tough monster using only a magic skill from a lower branch.

Toll once again appreciated the strength of his party members.

Turning his gaze back to the rock beetle, he saw a strange block of ice peeking out from the collapsed shell.

It had transparent branches extending in various directions, somewhat resembling a tree.

"That is..."

"Yes, it's the body fluid of the rock beetle. I was told that it stores a significant amount of water in its body."

Toll had also learned this during the training session.

The outer shell is tough, but the inside is mostly water and quite fragile.

By freezing the body fluid, the volume expands, shattering the rock from the inside.

Approaching the monster that had collapsed from the inside, Toll observed that the beetle, with its rock shell peeled off, showed no signs of movement.

After a while, it seemed to be completely dead.

Peering inside the rock, the eerie internal structure became apparent.

The large head with powerful jaws was snugly fitted inside the shell.

The two long antennae were coiled in a spiral.

Perhaps because it had abandoned movement, the six legs were completely embedded in the ground.

This was how it absorbed water from the soil.

The internal organs, which had burst, were in a terrible state.

All the organs had been crushed by the ice tree.

Toll sighed, about to start the laborious task of finding the desired part, when Sora, who had also approached, spoke to him.

"Toll, you forgot this."

The girl held out the dissection knife she had thrown earlier.

"Oh, sorry. I'll take the proof of the kill first."

"Which part of this monster?"

"The curled-up part. Be careful, it can cut your finger if you touch it carelessly."

"Okay. Wow, it's a bit soft but also hard. Strange feeling."

The two antennae were of different lengths, with the right one having a jagged tip.

It seemed to use this saw-like part to cut prey and the other antenna to retrieve the cut pieces.

Without Sora's <Fix> earlier, Toll's left hand might have been bitten off.

Sora carefully cut off the tip of the right antenna and stored it in a leather bag.

Then, she stuck to Toll and peered into the rock beetle's interior.

"Looking for something?"

"Yeah, there should be a white stone lump... It's too messy to tell. Is that it?"

Suddenly plunging her hand into the beetle's body, Sora lifted a large lump.

Or rather, she tried to lift it, but was surprised by its weight.

"What is this, it's so heavy!"

"Oh, there it is. That's the Hard White Stone."

The Hard White Stone is the ore used to make White Hard Copper.

This rare mineral is not found in the ground but is generated inside the rock beetle.

"Let me try... Wow, it's really heavy."

The ore he managed to pull out was larger than both of his palms.

It was so heavy that it might easily tear the bottom of a backpack.

He placed it on a sled, but dragging it through the wind would be a bit troublesome.

"Toll, I'm hungry!"

Muu, who had been playing with Yuril, seemed to remember his hunger.

He poked his head out from Toll's side and pointed at the dead rock beetle.

"Are you not going to eat that, Toll?"

"It seems there's no edible part."

"Really? It's so big."

"It's mostly mixed with rocks. We'll take a break soon, so just hold on."

"Ugh, ugh!"

In the end, they decided to leave the Hard White Stone, one of their objectives.

They weren't abandoning it but planned to retrieve it on the way back.

This area, with its numerous rock formations, likely harbored a large number of rock beetles.

With Yuril's magic, harvesting them would be easy, so there was no need to rush.

The return trip with a tailwind would make transportation a bit easier.

From then on, they made good progress.

Muu used <Electro Sense> to detect their locations, and Toll acted as a decoy to draw out the antennae.

Sora ensured safety with <Fix> or <Reverse>, and Yuril delivered the final blow.

Gathering only the antennae, they finally reached the area with larger rocks in the center by mid-afternoon.