AbyssRaven

Chapter 215: Whipsword and Hammer Duet. [Release Version] (Patreon)

Published:

2021-08-25 00:32:10

Edited:

2021-10-03 03:32:48

Imported:

2022-06

Content

Hestia's POV first then Ellaine's.

__________________

“Alright, I’m not ignorant enough to underestimate your party’s powers, Hestia. But, may I have the reason why you want me to stay out of this? Do you want all the experience for yourself?” Muraina raised an eyebrow at my request, leaning her bow on her shoulder as if to show she was itching for some action.

“Well, that is one reason, but we just don’t want to show our abilities to others, if possible.” I was speaking of Klea’Hatma. Even if Aurena and Plesia allowed Ellaine to use her demonic powers, considering how people reacted to Ellaine’s and my decision to keep her alive, we didn’t want this information to spread.

“If that is the case, then I could just stand at the side, no? I don’t need to participate in the fight. And, like I said before, you do know you can trust me with a secret, right?” Muraina wasn’t showing any disappointment or anger at my request, looking at me with a deadpan expression as if she was used to being distrusted. Weirdly enough, a lack of emotion made me feel guiltier.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that—” As I was thinking of an excuse, Muraina interrupted me with a simple wave of her hand and a smile.

“No need to explain. It’s alright, I’ll be staying outside, so shout when you need backup.” Muraina then activated [Air Walk] and jumped into the air before speaking a bit more. “Just a tip, adventurers shouldn’t be afraid of asking for support.” She jumped onto the branch of a tree and told us “good luck.” The 23 high elven, wind elven, and dark elven Haireti gave us a salute before climbing up the trees as well, disappearing in the canopy and hiding their presence with stealth skills.

Jeez, that’s scary. I can still detect most of them, but Muraina is completely gone. Before my very eyes!

Once I returned my attention back to my party, Tasianna was ready to activate measures to avoid those bolushzi’s senses. Information was king; knowing that they were blind and deaf but could detect their prey by heat and tremor sense, we knew what to do. Muraina did interrupt before we were able to learn how they attacked and so on, but we could learn that on the field. My healing and buffs would leave us room for a few mistakes.

I moved over to Ellaine and Grimnir and clapped their shoulders. “Alright, have fun you two!”

*************************************************

<[Blessing of the Goddess of Light (Moderate)] inflicted on [Human, Ellaine Fiero Helvas]>

[“Ahahaha, finally, some action! I lust for battle, Ellaine! Ahhhh, nothing would be better than to quench this need after a good long nap!”]

Noisy. You are always so noisy…

It was dark inside this cave. Hestia lit up a torch to light the way for me, since I was the only one among Saori, Tasianna, Master Grimnir, and Hestia who couldn’t see in pitch-black darkness yet. My [Night Vision] was still only level three.

Considering our enemies — a pack of bolushzi — could detect heat, it sounded like a horrendous plan to bring a lit torch with us. If we were normal adventurers, taking on a Quest to slay tremor and heat-sensing monsters inside a cave should have been an instant rejection. It would be foolish.

However, we weren’t a normal party. We were Aurora. We had a B rank [Young Sunfang Dragon] with the blood of the Dragon God Kargryxmor as our leader. Our second-in-command was a B rank [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir] descended from the legendary fenrir, Belzac. In addition, both of them were reincarnators and had the attention of gods on them.

Aside from them, we also had an incredibly powerful ice mage fairy with a catalyst blessed by Goddess Zephira and a master taz blacksmith and runesmith who was slowly building up multiple new innovations in manatech armaments and armor. And then there was me, Ellaine Fiero Helvas, an ordinary noble girl who was crazy enough to join this ridiculous party.

What could I do?

[“I sense two in front of us. They aren’t moving, so they probably haven’t found us yet,”] Saori’s voice entered my mind through [Telepathy]. The monsters were deaf, but we didn’t want to risk our voices causing any tremors.

If they haven’t found us yet despite our torch, then there should be a good amount of distance between us. As expected of Saori, she is an incredible scout!

I turned around to Saori, only to see her inside a transparent, floating ice ball with Hestia and Tasianna. This was a creation of Tasianna’s [Cryokinesis], a skill that allowed her to control her ice perfectly. [“Alright, we’ll be engaging them now. Master Grimnir, are you ready?”]

He showed me a thumbs up. Taz and Inko dwarves couldn’t expel mana out of their body except through a medium, which meant Master Grimnir couldn’t buy the skill [Telepathy] from the skill shop like I had. He could still hear us, though.

Also, the reason why Aurora’s three powerhouses were currently floating inside that ice crystal was for them to hide away from the monsters. Hestia’s body temperature was higher than any conventional fire and she would be easy to detect if it weren’t for the [Air Shield] and ice ball around her.

Normally, Hestia and Master Grimnir would be standing in front like knights to lure enemies towards them, while Saori, Tasiana, and I thinned the foes down. However, for today’s Quest, until we met the B rank bolushzu alpha, Master Grimnir and I would work together to take down as many C rank as possible. This was our request. My own selfishness to test out my new abilities.

[“Klea’Hatma?”]

[“Always, dear. Let this world witness the power of a true okl’luthier once again! Come on, climax with me.”]

In my two weeks of training with Father, Hestia, Saori, and sometimes Mother, I was unsuccessful in gaining enough proficiency to reach level two in [Okl’Luthier’s Power]. According to [Identify], that can only mean that my body hasn’t adapted enough to Klea’Hatma’s power yet.

However, I did familiarise myself with using [Claw] and [Whiplash]. And, not to forget, my whipsword. I can’t compare to a normal knight just yet, but I sure will increase my training to make Father and Mother proud. And… hopefully, Brother too. Until then, I need to steel my body and mind, and become someone able to control this demonic power on my hand.

Taking my earth-attuned spell ring from my left hand, I placed it on my right and drew my sword. Whiplash, I whispered inside my mind and used my mana to begin manifesting Klea’Hatma’s powers. My skin tingled uncomfortably. It felt as if insects were crawling on it as pain surged through my arms. This was a side effect of materializing flesh using your mana, according to Klea’Hatma.

I threw the torch into the air, where Hestia kept the fire floating with [Pyrokinesis], leaving the torch stick to fall to the ground, causing a wooden sound to echo through the tunnel. [“They reacted,”] Saori commented as I cast [Swift Winds] and [Sturdy Earth] on myself, sprinting forward with the rest following behind.

Stay calm, steady your heart. Rely on your senses and skills to detect any ambush… focus… found them!

My skin prickled in pain once again as pink flesh tendrils seeped through the openings of my gauntlets and splattered themselves onto my whipsword like goo, before hardening themself into sickles and muscles. On the tip of my sword, a four-fanged claw formed, like a beast’s mouth.

Claw!

Vine-like tentacles covered my left arm like armor before forming claws on my fingers. Due to dividing my rings between my two hands, the flesh manifestation was weakened since the rings needed to be close to work at their full power. This meant neither [Whiplash] nor [Claw] was fully powered, but it gave me something more crucial — flexibility.

[“Don’t forget, two ahead. Hit and run, first. With your current skills, use earth and wind magic liberally while attempting to wrap them in my whiplash. Wait for the dwarf man, then ravage them! Draw their blood, Ellaine!”]

My eyes still needed to adjust more to fully see in this low light, but I could sense the bolushzi with [Enhanced Enemy Sense]. They were approaching me. First, they walked, then they stopped, noticing my footsteps. Now they were running.

[Prediction] and [Danger Perception] activated, warning me of an incoming attack. When I turned the corner, there they were — the enemy. Two monsters around the size of Saori’s garms, moving on all fours with a long bony tail. Their skin was furless and flabby, revealing veins of blood under its pale pinkness, making it easy for me to detect them. Their neck and head, as expected, were similar to a worm’s.

Blind and deaf, they could only detect me through my footsteps. And with that knowledge, they raised their necks up like snakes before their round mouths protruded and revealed a beak-like jaw, shooting out some green goo at me with frightening accuracy. However, I wasn’t alarmed and my mind was calm; I’ve fought enough monsters with Aurora to know not to panic!

Wind Blast! I blasted myself away from the first acid spit before extending my sword into its whip form, shooting it forward at the wall to pull myself towards it like Saori’s shadow tendrils, avoiding the shot of the second bolushzu.

There are only two. I’ve fought against multiple fire mages at once, avoiding each of their spells! I can do this!

Using my claws, I hung on the wall like a cat before causing the flesh on my left hand to tremble. I jumped off the wall to avoid the next acid spit and activated [Whiplash] once again, this time on my left arm. I winded it back and then shot the amalgamation of tendrils at the ceiling, swinging myself forward.

Boosting my aerial movements with another [Wind Blast], I closed the distance between me and the two monsters with ease before preparing my counterattack. Aiming at the bolushzu behind the front one, I activated my newly learned whip ability, [Piercing Shot]. Some of my stamina disappeared and information streamed into my head on how to execute the attack.

The blue “eye” on the crossguard of my sword lit up; the mana threads inside it lit up as I poured mana into my sword. The flesh on the sword quivered, as if it was excited for what was about to happen. I shot the shards of my whipsword forward. The four-fanged claw on the tip widened into a bite, crunching into the beast’s flabby skin and penetrating its flesh with the blade.

It screamed painfully loud and I quickly cast [Air Shield] to protect myself from the sound. With my blade acting like an anchor, I pulled myself towards the monster while shooting out multiple [Tornado Bullets] at its head, dazing it. Landing on its body, I pulled out my sword, ripping a large chunk of meat from it. Looking at it, it felt as if the four-fanged claw was eating it.

[“Ohoho! Good, Ellaine! Good! You exceeded my expectations, dear! But don’t celebrate just yet, this one still has a buddy.”] At Klea’Hatma’s warning, the other bolushzu turned around and spat goo at me again, apparently not caring that it would hit its ally.

Terra Wall! Bedrock Blades!

Multi-casting, I first blocked its spit with a sturdy wall and then used [Bedrock Blades] to send giant rock blades at it, pushing it further away from the one I was standing on. These monsters were C rank, while I currently have the level and stats of a C rank human adventurer. I was standing up against them not with fear, but with confidence that I could succeed.

It was then that I heard some sound, no, it was music to my ears!

<[Music Resonation (Moderate)] [My Darkest Thoughts] [Sanctified Blaze: Halo of Consecration] [Battle Frenzy (Limited)] [Various Spell Buffs] inflicted on [Human, Ellaine Fiero Helvas]>

My armor’s [Battle Frenzy] function finally activated as the pounding of my heart became audible to me. Forged for me using Hestia’s blood, if I was fighting in a difficult battle, it would grant me additional stats and resource regeneration. Adding onto [Idol]’s buff-sharing function, I was far stronger than I had been a few seconds ago.

Looking down to my sword, I saw a white flame flickering on the bottom of my blade before they covered the entire weapon in Hestia’s [White Flames]. It was cool to my touch, but the bolushzu quivered in pain as the flames scorched its back.

“Don’t hog all the action to yourself like a battle fanatic, lass! I’m here to test my stuff, too!” In the next moment, the sound of rocks cracking and breaking reverberated through the air. The howl of the other bolushzu entered my ears after I dispelled my [Air Shield]. “Bladdarg! These things are resistant against blunt damage! Gotta hit harder then!”

As I began to hear the sounds of cogs moving, the bolushzu I was standing on began to rampage, trying to throw me off its back. Although I wanted to produce claws on my sabatons to hang on, I had to use my left hand to grab hold to prevent myself from falling off.

Currently, the reason for why I couldn’t do this was due to [Okl’Luthier’s Power]. According to the demoness herself, she explained the Goddess’s power imbued in that skill was acting as a safeguard, purifying the demonic mana depending on my body’s tolerance for it. I couldn’t manifest the flesh tendrils any further than my shoulders, as the skill deemed I wasn’t ready for it, yet.

It was disappointing, but I respected this decision. I would be a ticking bomb if I didn’t restrain my need for power and follow Hestia’s and the Goddess’s opinions on this matter. They acquiesced to my selfish request, so the least I could do was handle these new powers responsibly!

As I was hanging onto the bolushzu, there was again a sound of earth cracking, prompting me to look in that direction. The [Terra Wall] I’d materialized was broken through and the second bolushzu flew through it, shrieking. A mechanical sound echoed through the cave again, drawing my gaze towards a horned man in full dragon scale armor slamming his tower shield at the beast I was riding on.

“Time to slay them, Ellaine!” Master Grimnir shouted through his full-face helmet, which now had a beard guard. I nodded to his order and jumped off, after wrapping my whip around the beast’s head and neck.

“Kwreeeeeeh!” it shrieked as the flames burned its skin. Once I landed, I pulled onto my sword, tightening the hold onto the beast, enabling the blade shards to dig deeper into its skin.

“‘Attack Rune: Blood Bane,’ activate!” The moment I saw blood seep out from those wounds, I activated one of the runes on my sword. As it lit up red, the blue mana threads holding my sword shards together lit up and caused the blood seeping from the wounds to explode, causing the bolushzu even more damage.

Nice!

<Dragonclaw Whipblade: A finesse weapon made using the claws of a sunfang dragon and the horn of a forest drake, bound together with white voldunna alloy. This weapon was forged in the flames of a high-rank dragon, infusing the dragon’s mana into the nature of the weapon and increasing the amount of mana in the blade. A combination of high-quality materials and artificer work, this unorthodox weapon acts not only as a sword but also as a powerful whip

Attack Power: 1877

Skill: [Mana Conductor Lv. 5] [Mana Efficiency Lv. 4] [True Sword Mastery Lv.1] [Decreased Weight Lv. 5] [All Damage Enhancement Lv. 1] [Herculean Power Lv. 1] [Speed of Sound Lv. 1] [Aerial Fighter Lv. 8] [Mid-Air Maneuvering Lv. 5] [Mind’s Eye Lv. 1] [Durability Loss Reduction Lv. 10] [Improved Abnormal Status Infliction Lv. 6]

Runes: [Utility Rune: Retrieval] [Defense Rune: Pavise] [Defense Rune: Auracoil] [Passive Rune: Life Steal] [Passive Rune: Clean Blade] [Attack Rune: Blood Bane] [Attack Rune: Defense Ripper]>

This was my weapon after Master Grimnir added all the runes onto it. There were Pavise and Auracoil, which would be useful defensive measures until I got the bone wing, Retrieval so I wouldn’t lose my sword’s shards, Life Steal to heal myself upon inflicting damage.

The three remaining ones were there to synergize with my whipsword. Clean Blade to ensure gore and blood wouldn’t stick onto the blade shards and mana threads, sabotaging the weapon during a fight. Blood Bane and Defense Ripper were there to enhance the whip part of my weapon. Even if I only landed a glancing blow, the moment I hit an enemy, I could temporarily reduce their total Vitality. If I drew blood, then even the tiniest droplet of blood could cause even more damage with the blood bane rune.

With Master Grimnir in front of me acting as my guard, I could fully concentrate on attacking. I drew my sword back, pulling the shards back to me, leaving long gashes behind on the bolushzu’s neck for blood bane to activate once again, causing them to explode and damage the monster even further.

From a distance, I swung my whip around, slicing and opening more wounds on the monster's body. Even though it tried to close the distance, it couldn’t with Master Grimnir keep it far away from me. Activating [Attack Rune: Blood Bane] once again, the monster staggered from the explosion, leaving it open for me to wrap my whipsword around its neck again.

I then poured mana through the fleshy tendrils around my blade, manipulating the four-fanged claw to extend itself and dig into the monster’s neck, slowly gouging meat out until it finally breathed its last.

Such a shame! Maybe I should’ve reminded everybody to change their Jobs before we departed… talk about wasted experience.

As I announced to Grimnir how the monster was dead, my [Prediction] rang inside my head warning me of an attack coming from behind its corpse. As if he felt it also, Master Grimnir jumped in front of me, activated [Defense Rune: Pavise] to conjure up a large mana shield to block the attack from a long beak.

As the dust settled, it became clear that the perpetrator of this attack was the other bolushzu. Not only was it able to shoot out acid spit but also extend its beak-like tongue to attack us. I whipped the air as I saw this as a good test for my new whip abilities.

[“Klea’Hatma?”]

[“Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Let’s just get this over with, quickly. Hestia’s song is just turning me off, urgh,”] the demon complained about [My Darkest Thoughts] playing in the background, created by Hestia’s [Idol] and [Aerokinesis].

I wanted to thank Hestia for helping me control this demon once again, but there was little time to do so as I began to notice more entities coming our way. “Master Grimnir, we need to speed this up! More incoming!”

“Aye, got it, lass. You better make a good showing with that weapon, ‘cause I made it, you hear? Hahaha! Umslid kain, kawuk kaan, fie Crustacia!” Master Grimnir then charged forward with his shield held up, shouting “Honor lost, in death regained, for Crustacia” in dwarven. It was a popular dwarven war cry.

The two of us moved forward. Master Grimnir would block attacks and counter whenever he could, while I focused on hitting the monster. Even if he couldn’t block some of the tongue attacks, I was agile enough with [Wind Blast] and [Whiplash] to dart around this enclosed tunnel.

Once an opening appeared, I activated [Stamina Strike] and [Mana Strike] and slashed off its tongue. While it was dazed, I used [Piercing Shot] to attach the four-fanged claw to the monster’s neck. Holding onto the thread, I manipulated the whip to wrap itself around its front legs, immobilizing it.

Urgh! Heavy!

The beast struggled, of course. My Strength was barely enough to hold onto the threads without being flung towards it, but the actual reason why I wasn’t pulled in was due to my right gauntlet. With the spider threads added onto the fingertips, it greatly improved my grip. Master Grimnir truly blessed me with this magnificent armor.

Pouring mana into the flesh again, I used this chance to kill the monster in the same way as the other. This cave’s floor was drenched in gore once it was over.

[“Good job, you two!”] A cheerful voice entered my mind. It was Hestia’s. [“However, don’t celebrate just yet. More are coming. You guys need help?”]

“Haaaa— No, thank you!”

“Haha, as if! Just a buncha C ranks!”

[“You two can do it, yaaaay, or whatever. Hurry up and get to the boss, yes?”]

With [Sanctified Blaze: Halo of Consecration] and the bottles of dragorade and mana potion we brought with us, we didn’t need to worry about our Health and Mana. If our Stamina dropped, Hestia could switch to [The Will to Fight and Survive] to help us restore it. This was an incredibly harsh training moment, but Master Grimnir and I took it with excitement. We needed levels.

Although we were sharing the experience with Hestia, Saori, and Tasianna, they were only taking enough to level up their Jobs. We would get the lion’s share until those three entered the battle. We had to work hard.

“““Kwreeeeh!””” The shrieks intensified and Master Grimnir and I stiffened. We knew through our [Enhanced Enemy Sense] that there were more than just two bolushzi. Even if we were stronger now, taking on all of these C ranks head-on would be foolish. As such, we used this time until then to place bombs, mana threads, and other traps.

The moment one of them triggered a trap, a chain reaction happened. Master Grimnir and I performed a “Blitzkrieg” as Hestia described it later on. Using his blashammer and my whiplash, we unleashed our attacks on any trapped bolushzi while we used our shield and spell respectively to push away the others, effectively dividing the forces.

Blood Bane exploded and showed its full potential in this mess, as it also affected the monster’s allies. The offensive power of Klea’Hatma’s powers was at full display here. The power was savage and ferocious, but I felt compelled to use it more strategically, as the individual attacks weren’t as destructive as Hestia’s powers. I couldn’t rush forward and break through any opposition like a rampaging herd of equerochs.

“Haaaaa, haaaaaa.” I huffed and puffed, filling my tired lungs with bloody-smelling air. Defeating these many C ranks was already too much for me. I have reached my limit.

“Oh man, all of these bolushzi were only around level zero or one. They are all newly spawned monsters! No wonder we got so little experience, they were all so weak!” Hestia cried out in annoyance.

“…” I could only look in disbelief as I heard this. If I remember correctly, some low-level C ranks can be considered about as strong as a high leveled D rank, depending on the race. You could say Master Grimnir and I didn’t fight true C ranks.

… There is still much for me to improve. I need more power— Oof! As I was contemplating what I was still lacking, I suddenly received a strong smack on my back, nearly knocking me down. I snapped my head around, looking at the person with a pout.

“You look too down after that amazing fight, lass. Smile, hahahaha!” It was Master Grimnir, who had taken off his helmet. He burst into laughter as if he wasn’t exhausted at all after that battle. “No need to take the princess’s words too seriously, Ellaine. Your whipsword skills did not disappoint. After all, we took those things down with only the two of us.”

“I guess, but why did you have to hit me that hard on my back? You’re always so rough on me, especially during my artisan training, Master Grimnir! I’m not a dwarven boy doing his blacksmith training!” I responded, puffing my cheeks even more.

“Hahaha!” he unleashed another laugh before looking at me with a serious expression, although it looked a little off since his beard hasn’t regrown yet. It made me gulp instinctively. “As long as you are inside my smithy, I’m gonna harden you up, lass. We’ll make an adventurer out of you yet!”

“MASTER GRIMNIR!!!”

After we finished dismantling the corpses, we moved deeper into the cave. During this time, I had Klea’Hatma teach me about my new [Musclemass] ability. Essentially, it increases my physical abilities in that area.

[“Stronger arms to throw boulders, legs able to run up walls, or fingers able to pinch off bone chunks. However, you still are limited to your shoulders, so you can’t wall-run just yet. It makes you a bit bulkier, but this is my ability you see, so you don’t need to worry about looking like a mountain of muscles. You will still be attractive, in a fit way.”]

Manifesting the ability, I confirmed Klea’Hatma’s statement. Compared to the first two abilities, [Musclemass] looked relatively normal, since it only gave my arms more pronounced muscles. Otherwise, the pink skin was smooth. Then again, I looked a bit too bulky for my liking.

Now that I think about it, I have become bulkier in general since I accepted father’s training. Jeeeeeez.

We eventually found the end of the tunnel, entering it to see a large bolushzu sleeping soundly in the middle of it. It was a little bit smaller than Astalos, but otherwise, it matched the limited description we’d received of the alpha of this pack. The moment I stepped into the room, the bolushzu moved, turning his head over to us.

“Hmm, I think we need your help now, you three,” Master Grimnir announced not a moment into this encounter. As I looked at him with confusion, he explained his reasoning to me, “You barely had enough time to rest, lass. Your breathing might have recovered, but your Stamina hasn’t, right? Leveling up recovered your Health and Mana, but not your Stamina. We trained enough, let’s do this as a team.”

I couldn’t disagree. Looking at my profile, my Stamina had barely recovered a quarter. This was a difficult challenge now, since the hunter’s guild recommended five B rankers to fight against a single B rank monster. I knew exactly what a B rank could do after I fought Astalos. Even with my new abilities, I wasn’t arrogant enough to believe myself able to fight this beast.

“Alright, let’s get this over with. Catalysts out, people.” After the ice ball was dispelled, Hestia warmed her arms up and activated her catalyst, producing a pretty warm aura from it. “Oh, how nice, isn’t this like a ZONE! Hmm, maybe I actually can do something with this.”

“Kwreeee!” The [Earth-Caller Bolushzu] roared out, cracking the earth around it. Earth formed at its call, creating giant spears to attack the invaders of its nest — Aurora. Its first action would intimidate any new hunter.

…

But it was coincidentally also its last attack.

I stared in bafflement at the three ladies and the four garms standing next to the now-deceased bolushzu alpha. The smell of charred rocks and flesh entered my nose as I looked around the area, noticing burnt marks caused by explosions and black thunder. Ice spears had pinned the limbs and tail of the bolushzu down and you could see numerous wounds having exploded open from the blood bane rune.

Looking at the body a little bit more, I could make out what Saori had called Lichtenberg scars running from its head to tail, evidence that somebody had electrocuted it significantly. There was a large hole in the middle of its chest, and I could see Master Grimnir replacing the mana battery in his hammer. However, the most grisly part was the fact the monster was decapitated, while the tail edge of a certain dragonewt priestess was awfully bloody, dripping the red liquid onto the ground.

… Isn’t this as anti-climatic as the one in the Cedaraille dungeon? Where Hestia killed a whole group of felgheist and their C rank alpha?

There was a difference that I should finally understand. There were the newly born B ranks like this bolushzu, who hadn’t fully figured out its abilities yet. Then there were the experienced B rank monsters like Astalos, the slazzigula, and the rachonoid queen. And, finally, there were the mutated B rank monsters like Hestia, Saori, and to a certain extent, Tasianna.

“More training. I will become a worthy Aurora member,” I murmured to myself.

[“Ambition is good, it always gives you a reason to move forward in life. The moment you have nothing left, that is when you things becomes unbearably boring.”] I nodded to Klea’Hatma’s advice. She might be a demon, but that doesn't mean I shouldn’t accept appropriate wisdom.

The dismantling work took a while due to how large the monster was but after we were done, we decided to explore the cave a bit, seeing as there might be the possibility of treasure. Considering how fast we slayed the alpha, we could afford it.

Following down another tunnel, we found a few holes on the way, large enough for a single bolushzu to fit in. Up until now, we hadn’t managed to find any valuables but the mystery of where these bolushzi came from intrigued us, pushing us to explore even more.

When we finally found a hole large enough to fit the alpha bolushzu, Saori and Grimnir joked about how there might be something good down there. “The most mysterious places would usually have something of value,” they said, but it was quickly rejected by Hestia.

“Argh, scheiße, what a waste of time. Okay, everybody, let’s get out of this plac—Huh?!” The floor began to tremble under us, interrupting Hestia. My [Enhanced Enemy Sense] felt something approaching us, no, multiple signals were approaching us at the same time.

“Evade it!” Saori shouted, prompting everybody to move out of the way of the signals. In the next moment, the earth erupted, sending rocks and dirt into the air.

“““Skuch. Skuch.””” Weird sounds came from the dust cloud, causing us to raise our guards. When it dissipated, the silhouette of the monster became clearer.

It was a bug-type monster with a carapace torso and spiked shell abdomen as its “tail.” It had six limbs; four of them were long, around the size of the torso and abdomen, with three sharp talons while the two front legs had an elongated sickle as the middle finger. The third pair were shorter and located under its body, which it used to hold onto a ball of dirt. With the head of a beetle, three of these monsters looked at us with their mandibles bared open.

But before any of us could do anything, an arrow shot past us and penetrated the head of the monster, causing it to explode from the impact.

“What in the six is going on in our forest?! Why are these things here?!”

It was Muraina and Whisperia.