Read Novel Full Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Chapter 179 – Cute Monster
“Hey, wait!”
My voice echoes through the forest for the umpteenth time.
It’s around 3 pm.
After completing the Biblons Swamp skill objective in the morning as planned, I’m now heading into the deep interior of the E-rank hunting grounds of Calcume Forest, located east of Lipsum.
It’s been about two hours since I started hunting here.
While lamenting the lackluster results of my hunt so far, I chased after the mysterious monster that ran in front of me―a Layard Fairy.
It looked like a small, furry squirrel and was quite cute.
It was also the smallest monster I’d ever seen, about 20 centimeters long, and it was a strange creature that ran around quite fast.
Needless to say, the first thing I asked was, “What are those wings for?”
It was a pesky monster.
It wasn’t strong in terms of combat power.
The information in the guild materials that it ‘heals monsters’ didn’t help me when I could kill orcs and boars―peaky boars―in one hit.
It didn’t resurrect, and I didn’t feel threatened by its direct attacks.
No, you could say that the fact that it didn’t make any direct attacks at all created this miserable situation.
For some reason, the Layard Fairy keeps running away from me.
As a result, I can’t even see the Layard Fairy within the range of my Investigation, let alone use my Presence Detection.
It was clear that she had already moved away before I could get within range.
Even if I could get her location with Investigation, it’s still hard from there.
The targets were small and fast, and if there were hollows in the trees or other places to hide, they would hide there, quickly climbing up the trees and blending into the foliage.
There were also a lot of things in the forest that blocked the line of sight, so using magic to kill them from a distance didn’t work very well.
Frustration was building.
I’m sure the orcs and peaky boars that were the outlet for that frustration didn’t enjoy being beaten up.
“Damn, they’ve run back into the trees again. I won’t let them get away!”
I jump up after them and fly through the air.
I know where they’re hiding.
Don’t underestimate my glasses-free Farsightedness!
After two hours, I finally got my fifth.
And now…
“Cheeeeestooo!!!”
A mighty blow that tears through the branch.
But…
“Wh-what?!”
At the moment of impact, the Layard Fairy spreads its wings and takes flight from the branch.
It looks like a flying squirrel.
It then jumps from branch to branch, escaping from the reach of the Investigation…
“Da-da-dammit!
“Bugiiii?!”
I yell as I deliver a straight punch to the nose of the Peaky Boar, who has conveniently come running to take revenge on me.
This is a formidable enemy, like that certain silver slime that has a huge amount of experience points.
“I can’t help but think that in addition to the healing skills mentioned in the information, it must also have some kind of special skill…”
Since it was so difficult to defeat, I searched for the mysterious fairy again, hoping for a good result in the ensuing battle.
▽ ▼ ▽ ▼ ▽
In my room at the inn, I twirled the pen around in front of my desk.
Like a habit, I twirled the pen in one hand while checking and analyzing the data on the status screen and in my notebook.
(Hmm, should I stick with this or move on? What should I do?)
I finished Biblons Marsh this morning, so I guess that’s as good as planned.
There were a lot of skills that would be useful, but they weren’t super useful, and there weren’t any monsters with exceptionally high skill levels.
The skills and their levels obtained in Biblons Marsh are as follows.
Myconid (Poisonous Mushroom)
Spores Lv4: Cannot be used.
Paralysis Resistance Lv4: Increases resistance to Paralysis, always active, MP cost: 0
Sleep Resistance Lv4: Increases resistance to Sleep. Always active. MP cost: 0.
Growlhound (Dirty Dog)
Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv4: Temporarily increases sense of smell. The degree of increase depends on skill level. MP cost 0.
Stealthy Steps Lv4: When used, it allows you to move silently and hide your presence depending on your skill level. MP cost: 10 per minute.
Swift Steps Lv5: Your movement action is corrected, making you faster. Always active. MP cost: 0.
Grey Ooze (Pudding)
Mudform Lv4: Cannot be used.
Earth Elemental Resistance Lv4: Increases resistance to earth elemental magic. Always active. MP cost 0.
Earth Magic Lv4: Allows the use of earth magic with an MP cost of less than 40.
Giant Worm (Giant Earthworm)
Stomp Lv4: Attacks down with a power equal to 250% of the user’s stats. MP cost: 13.
Some of the monsters’ skills were level 3, but on average, they were around level 2.
If I want to go up one level from here, I’ll have to kill about 500 monsters, which will take more than a week.
If there are skills here that can only be obtained by visiting different hunting grounds, I guess I’ll have to work hard again.
As for the other monster-specific skills in the other slots―Spores, Smell Enhancement, Mud Form, and Stomp―I can’t even use two of them.
So the problem is the Calcum Forest.
A new species I found, the Peaky Boar, only has the Charge skill, and as I expected, there were some parts that were disappointing…
I think about this while looking at the skill details of the Layard Fairy, which I finally defeated after three hours and five kills.
Healing Magic Lv1: Can cast healing magic that consumes less than 10 MP.
Insight Lv1: You can easily detect the difference in strength between the creature in your sight and yourself. MP cost: 0.
Escape Lv1: You can run at 150% of your speed when being chased by something. MP cost: 10 every 30 seconds.
The experience points didn’t come in as much as the silver slime.
The level of the skills they possessed were also all E-rank, as you would expect.
So you can’t say that they’re particularly valuable monsters, but still, they all had three new skills that I hadn’t learned yet.
And the new skill added to the other slot, the monster-only skill Insight, just feels like a useful skill.
“Even if it’s just a rough estimate, being able to tell the difference in strength is pretty amazing…”
Since the detailed explanation says “slight,” I don’t think I can expect much accuracy from it.
However, the Layard Fairy used the Insight skill at level 1 to keep its distance from me, and when I chased it, it actually ran away using the Escape skill.
――Does that mean it is hard to tell unless there is a significant difference in ability?
――Or does it mean that it is difficult to tell the specific difference?
Either way, if it is possible to distinguish between objects by sight, it is definitely a skill that will be very useful in the future.
There is also the possibility that it can be used to decide whether to attack or retreat when you encounter a king ant or a higher-level individual like the one Reimi-san was talking about.
Knock, knock, knock…
The sound of my fingers tapping on the table echoes in my quiet inn room.
Besides, even if Escape is okay, Healing Magic is definitely a skill that wouldn’t be a loss.
Besides, the white line that extends from Healing Magic and connects to Light Magic shows that it is a high-level magic that appears after the conditions for acquiring Light Magic have been met.
If I can jump and pick up the experience points for high-level skills directly, then, of course, I should actively pick them up.
(But the question is, how do I defeat them in a stable way?)
I want to get through as many of them as I can somehow.
But I don’t have any good ideas.
Fire Magic―unless it’s extremely weak, it’s out of the question in the forest.
Lightning Magic―I almost started a fire today when I used it.
Earth Magic―it’s slow to generate, and if it hits a tree trunk, it won’t penetrate.
Wind Magic―It wasn’t impossible, but if there were a lot of obstacles and the distance was far, the power would decrease considerably.
Water Magic―The only use for this is to put out fires after they’ve started.
(Hmm… maybe I should use Time Magic to slow it down? But even if I use Body Strengthening to chase it, if I lose more magic power here, it’ll be a long hunt…)
I grunt and think as I look at the status screen.
If I had a party member here, I could consult them, but as a solo player, I have to think for myself and come up with the answer to open the path.
I look at the skills I have acquired from the status screen and imagine what would be effective in today’s environment…
“Ah, that’s right… that’s right, I’ve got it.”
After that, I keep my eyes on the skills, and it’s just a matter of combining them.
The image of myself mindlessly hunting for skills flashed through my mind, and I couldn’t help but smile.
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