Chapter 78

The monster's eyes, I thought, had only wings, but it seemed I was wrong.

The eyes themselves seemed to have mouths.

Moreover, on the upper and lower parts of the eyeball.

From the opened mouths, strangely long tongues were extending.

I could see fangs too.

Yeah.

It was creepy.

The monster suddenly turned toward Helix.

What?

It seemed that Helix, who was flying in the sky, had lost balance for a moment.

No.

It seemed to have been attacked.

Helix's HP bar had decreased slightly.

Was it magic?

I didn't hear any spell incantation.

No, could this be the monster's special ability?

This time, an attack was directed at me and Crescent Moon.

No doubt about it.

It was an attack I had seen before.

Force Bullet.

It seemed that after closing its eyes, the monster would launch an attack similar to a spell when it opened them again.

Hmm?

Was the time it kept its eyes closed a bit longer?

It was dangerous.

That was what my intuition was shouting.

I made Crescent Moon dash to put some distance between us and the monster.

But it was too late.

A cold wave seemed to have spread from the place where we were standing.

Was it a full-area ice magic spell?

Not only me, but Crescent Moon and Rig also took damage.

It was cold.

More than that, it was painful!

But the fact that the monster kept its eyes closed for a long time might have been fortunate.

The monster had taken a direct hit from Helix's attack.

Moreover, on the eyeball.

"ZYYYYYYYYY?"

A sound that was hard to put into words was coming from the monster's mouth.

I think it was a scream.

But it didn't sound like a scream.

It didn't seem to be a roar of anger either.

What was it?

A curse might be the closest description.

The monster, which had been attacked, started to drift in the air.

Helix attacked the monster's wings.

The monster, which had completely lost its balance, fell to the ground.

Naturally, Crescent Moon rushed over.

The monster's eyes blinked repeatedly.

Each time, a rock about the size of a fist flew.

If not for Crescent Moon's speed, it wouldn't have been able to avoid them.

Stone Bullet, right?

It seemed to have low power.

The monster closed its eyes again.

It didn't open them immediately.

I stayed on Crescent Moon and thrust the rod at the monster.

The rod hit the monster as it opened its eyes.

The monster's attack didn't seem to have been activated.

The monster started to roll on the ground in agony.

I made Crescent Moon turn and charge.

While galloping over the monster, I trampled its body with the hooves.

The monster's HP bar seemed to have been completely depleted.

Well.

The monster's corpse was in a pretty bad state, but what would I get from it?

When I stuck the skinning knife, I got this:

[Material Item] Crystal Ball Quality C+ Rarity 3 Weight 0+

A crystal ball polished into a perfect sphere.

The description is too short.

But from the quality and rarity, it seems to be quite valuable.

I put it in the [Item Box].

Both I and Helix had taken some damage, but I used potions to almost fully recover.

Still, what was this monster?

It used three different special abilities that seemed like attack spells in just this battle.

There shouldn't have been any spell incantation.

It seemed to launch an attack when it opened its eyes after closing them.

Hmm.

It didn't seem to be very compatible with the slime Rig.

Should I keep this formation?

From a distance, I could see a forest, and beyond that, a mountain range.

The mountains seemed to get higher as you went east.

There were also slightly higher mountains on the west side, with peaks that stood like walls.

I checked the wide-area map.

It seemed that the other side of those peaks was the next map.

The N1W2 map appeared to have a mountainous terrain.

After a quick look around the forest, it might be good to return to the Wind Spirit Village.

Before that, I took out some portable food and continued moving while eating a little at a time.

It was already almost noon.

The forest had a similar atmosphere to the area around Regias.

Since it was only one map different, it was natural that it would be similar.

But I don't think the monsters have to be similar too.

A wild silver pheasant (female) monster was coming towards me, as if to threaten.

This one.

In the forest, with the Forest Walk, Crescent Moon's mobility was still decent.

I thought I could win a normal battle easily.

That's what I thought.

But due to a series of miscalculations, I'm having a hard time.

First, Helix.

The forest was too deep for it to show its true potential.

That was entirely my fault for not switching.

Rig was the same.

It couldn't show its true potential unless it could stick to the monster.

That was also my responsibility.

Crescent Moon.

Indeed, there was no problem with mobility in the forest.

But it wasn't as easy as moving on a plain.

What I mean is, the monster was surprisingly fast.

I had already identified it.

Wild Silver Pheasant (female) Level 2

Monster Target for Elimination Active

What was different?

It moved freely through the grass and pecked at Crescent Moon.

Then it hid and moved through the grass again.

It attacked me again.

It was a troublesome opponent.

I decided to get off Crescent Moon and intercept it myself.

If I could catch it, I could do anything.

It came.

But it was towards Crescent Moon, not me.

"Forest Walk!"

I didn't have time to check the effect of the spell.

I approached the place where the grass was moving.

The monster jumped towards Crescent Moon.

I hit its neck with the rod.

What?

The feel was different.

Wasn't it unusually hard?

I tried to kick it away, but it was heavy.

And hard.

I was hitting it pretty well, but the monster's HP bar had only decreased by about 10%.

What a tough chicken.

Helix also attacked the monster, but it had gone into the grass.

Helix flew out of the grass.

Where was the monster?

It was coming towards me again.

This time, it was definitely me.

I let go of the rod.

I had to stop its movement.

I charged at it.

The monster's beak was coming towards me as it jumped.

I grabbed its neck and pinned it to the ground.

It was incredibly strong.

It almost threw me off with my own weight.

But reinforcements were coming.

Rig.

It was crawling towards me.

Rig, which had attached itself to the monster, covered its entire neck.

Then it covered the upper body.

I stomped on the monster's wings.

Crescent Moon stomped on the other one.

All that was left was to wait.

It took surprisingly long to kill the monster.

What was this thing?

I stuck the skinning knife into it.

Sure enough, the wings came off.

[Material Item] Golden Chicken Wing Raw Material Quality C Rarity 2 Weight 1

The wing of a wild silver pheasant. Generally used as fletching material.

What?

Gold?

Not silver?

Did I misidentify it again?

No, it was a trap by the developers.

That's what I decided to think.

This formation in the forest needs to be changed.

The movement speed will be slightly sacrificed, but there's no choice.

I boldly switched everyone.

I recalled Crescent Moon, Helix, and Rig.

What to summon?

For exploration and vigilance, Obsidian.

For traversing the forest, I summoned the Oni and the Guardian Oni.

"Kehehe"

"Guge"

The Oni and the Guardian Oni seemed to be having some kind of conversation.

But it was also strange that they seemed to have no interest in each other.

No, they were just focused on Obsidian.

It's good that they get along.

But that's a separate matter.

The Guardian Oni was equipped and ready.

No.

I cast the Forest Walk spell on the Oni and the Guardian Oni.

Now we're ready.

How effective is Forest Walk?

Forest Walk is amazing.

The sensation is not much different from running on a plain.

Maybe a little slower.

I ran to experience the difference.

It felt like that.

If you run, it's not a walk anymore!

I also tried walking.

The difference wasn't noticeable, but it did feel easier to traverse.

But what caught my attention was that the Guardian Oni was jumping from branch to branch.

Could I do that too?

The branches were too thin, so I passed.

[Material Item] Golden Chicken Egg Raw Material Quality C Rarity 2 Weight 0+

The egg of a wild silver pheasant. Known for its large yolk and delicious taste.

So, the Guardian Oni was plundering eggs from a nest without a parent.

The Oni and the Guardian Oni were also complaining about something.

Not good.

I won't give them anything unless it's cooked!

While hunting wild silver pheasants (female) and moving east through the forest, I found a suspicious cave along the way, but I ignored it.

Just before the map was about to change to W1, I finally encountered another monster.

It looked like a fox, but what kind of monster was it?

I identified it.

Polka Dot Fox Level 5

Monster Target for Elimination Active

I don't get it.

It looked like a fox.

But it had polka dots.

The Guardian Oni shot an arrow first.

It seemed to have hit, but it didn't reach the fox.

There were floating water balls in the air.

The arrow hit the water ball but didn't penetrate it.

It seemed to be a defensive spell similar to Water Shield, but not as strong.

It seemed to have a troublesome special ability.

The Oni approached the monster.

It tried to run up and punch it.

It couldn't.

Several water balls hit the Oni, pinning it in place.

The Oni took a direct hit and its HP bar dropped to 80%.

This thing.

The water balls seemed to have both offensive and defensive properties.

The water balls that had blocked the Oni's attack returned to the fox and started circling it.

What to call it.

It was another troublesome opponent.

"Resist Aqua!"

If I knew it was water-based, I had a way to deal with it.

I cast a spell to give myself water resistance and approached the monster.

Water balls came at me in quick succession.

I took half of them.

But I knocked down the other half with the rod.

The arrow from the Guardian Oni was dodged, but Obsidian took advantage of the opening to attack.

By the time I had dealt with the water balls, the Oni was approaching the monster.

The Oni's fist came down on the monster.

I kicked it in the stomach as it tried to dodge.

I felt a solid impact in my toes.

I must have dealt a significant amount of damage.

The monster's HP bar was cut down by nearly half.

More water balls appeared, but there weren't enough to cover all directions.

Obsidian attacked from behind.

I kicked the rolling monster away.

The final blow was the Oni's fist hitting the monster's stomach.

[Material Item] Polka Dot Fox Skin Raw Material Quality C Rarity 2 Weight 1

The skin of a Polka Dot Fox. Thin and soft with high insulation properties.

What to say.

Another skin.

The Parallel Raccoon also had a skin, right?

Some kind of symbol?

What comes to mind is insulation.

No way.

No way, right?

Is it telling me to make a winter coat and climb a mountain?

There were wild silver pheasant nests in the trees