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Volume 3 Chapter 38
The Fourth Day
Today, I am walking again within the dense forest. The surrounding area all look the same, so it'll be a disaster if I ever get lost... Fortunately, I have no problems with water thanks to my water magic. And there're even greens and magical beasts that can be eaten around here, so there're no problems in that regard.
As I was thinking those sort of things to myself, I suddenly felt the presence of humans from ahead.
There's a person here? In a place like this? Moreover, alone? Hmm... but then again, I did come here all by myself, so I guess it wouldn't be too strange for there to be another person aside from me... I wonder if it's an adventurer who came here to collect something.
I approached the presence I felt while keeping my guard up. When I did, a man wearing an armor made of tree appeared before me. His body was covered in wounds all over, and blood was incessantly flowing out of him as he laid unconscious. A corpse? But just as I thought that, the man groaned.
"Ugh..." [Man]
"Are you still alive!? 'Light Ball'!" [Ryouma]
I fired a shot of Light Ball toward the man. It's to ensure that the man is not an undead-type magical beast. There are cases of corpses becoming undead and wraiths possessing bodies, so I have to check first before I try to save him.
From the looks of things, the man doesn't seem to be able to talk, so this is the fastest way of confirming things.
The Light Ball I shot went straight for the man, but the man didn't show any changes. And since he neither vanished nor show any signs of pain, I guess that means he's human.
"I'll save you now!" [Ryouma]
I ran toward the man while keeping wary.
"Are you alright? Can you hear me?" [Ryouma]
"U-Ugh... [Man]
I called out to the man as I ran toward him to confirm whether he was conscious or not, but all I got in response was a groan. In any case, healing comes first!
"'High Heal' 'High Heal' 'High Heal' 'High Heal'" [Ryouma]
I casted healing magic all over the man's body. The bleeding from the man's feet were especially severe. Like this the man won't be able to walk, much less fight, right? For some reason, no matter how much I casted healing magic, the bleeding wouldn't stop.
In any case, I better transport him to the Dimension Home first, and have the heal slimes help. And if anything, the Dimension Home is at least safe.
As I thought that, I held the man, and was about to bring him to the Dimension Home, but---'
"!?" [Ryouma]
As I was about to use Dimension Home, the moment I stopped focusing on the man, the man's body suddenly crumbled.
The bones throughout the man's body suddenly vanished, turning his body extremely soft. And suddenly, the man took into him the arms that I was holding him with as he threw his leaned toward me with his chest out.
"Pshaw!" [Ryouma]
I was surprised for a moment, but I quickly gathered myself, and calmly responded by wrapping my body in electricity. As a result, the man who had tried to swallow my arms into his body was electrocuted, and he stopped moving. In that instance, I recovered my strength and shook the man, no, the something that looked like a man, into the ground, and then I kicked him.
That something that was kicked, crashed into a tree, and then crumbled. Continuing, I unsheathed my katana, and clad it in flames. Then with a stroke, I cut the something from its right leg all the way to its left armpit.
But that "something" didn't seem to be fazed by it, and instead it tried to run away. The "something" that was before me did not possess the same regenerative abilities that the undead snake possessed, so instead it tried to run away by throwing away its lower body, and using only its arms to crawl away.
Then in the next instance, that "something" lost its human form, and it transformed into the form of a small Take Ostrich.
"Ah!?" [Ryouma]
The "something" ran with a speed comparable to the real Take Ostrich, but unfortunately for it, I had no plans of letting it go. If I ever had such thoughts, it disappeared just now!
"'Barricade'! 'Bind Ivy'!!" [Ryouma]
With the wood element magic, I controlled the plants in the surrounding area, and created a wall, blocking the ostrich. And with another wood element magic, I tried to capture the ostrich with the vines. The result: success. These two magic make use of the surrounding greens, so it's difficult to use in places with no greens. But here in the Great Forest of Shurus? It's quite easy to use.
... But it can also become an obstacle to me, so I need to be careful when I use it.
"Oops. You think I'll let you escape!?" [Ryouma]
The "something" that was bound with ivy suddenly broke its form as it tried to escape. But seeing it attempt to run, I quickly contracted it!
The moment I invocated the contract, the "something" stopped moving. And a connection of magic power formed between us, indicating that the contract succeeded.
I brought it with me to the Dimension Home, and there I used Monster Identify to reveal the true identity of that "something".
"Just as I thought... I had my suspicions when I saw it change its form from the upper portion of a man's torso into a take ostrich, but from the looks of things, I seem to be right." [Ryouma]
This is the result of the Monster Identify.
Mimic Slime
Skills
Mimic Lv10
Mimic Memory Lv2
High-Speed Movement Lv8
Lure Prey Lv2
Enlarge Lv7
Compress Lv7
Consume Prey Lv3
Digestion Lv4
Absorption Lv4
This thing is neither a human nor a take ostrich. It was able to trick me with its Mimic Lv10 skill, but there's no doubt that it's a slime.
"You fooled me well. I thought you were a real human until the moment you attacked me. Hmm... thinking of that time when you tried to use High-Speed Movement to try to run away as you turned into a take ostrich... could it be? Are you also able to copy the abilities of the opponent you mimic? The consume prey does seem like a skill a take ostrich would have..." [Ryouma]
As I thought that to myself, I ordered the mimic slime to transform into a take ostrich. After making it run around the Dimension Home, I was able to confirm that its speed was the same as a real take ostrich's. Well this is amazing...
The Mimic Memory that accompanies the mimic skill is probably the skill that allows the slime to learn the skills of its target. At that, I wondered whether the mimic slime would be able to transform into something else, but unfortunately, it could only transform into either a take ostrich or a raptor.
The form it took a while ago as a man was apparently a one-time thing. It can't transform into that anymore. There's probably some sort of condition that needs to be fulfilled before it's able to freely mimic.
As for the Enlarge and Compress skills, I was a bit surprised at first, but thinking about it now, the skills are probably for changing its size to match with its target. It is after all only the size of a basketball before mimicking. At that size, it could become a sort of portable magical beast, but there's no way it'd be able to trick its enemies.
Lastly, there's the Consume Prey skill...
"I take it this means that this slime is a predator, and not a prey." [Ryouma]
Slimes are generally at the bottom of the food chain, and are always being killed by humans and preyed upon by other magical beasts. But apparently, this slime has been living in such a ruthless environment that it actually transformed from a prey into a predator. This is just something I thought of just now, but I think it might have something to do with the fact that it hunts and then eats its prey.
What's strange about this slime is that it doesn't have the Split skill that other slimes have. I don't know how this slime manages to reproduce, but that's not something I can find out immediately, so I'll put it on hold for now.
In any case, I was surprised for a bit, but with this the matter has been settled.
I left the Dimension Home, and walked through the dense forest again. An hour passed, and I began to see an area where the trees have been knocked down.
"The lake's close." [Ryouma]
This trees that have been knocked down is proof that I'm close to the lake. Why? Because the magical beast that knocked this trees down is the Cannonball Rhinos. A large magical beast with the length of 3m. And as you'd expect, they live near water, and prey on fallen trees.
Incidentally, the Cannonball Rhinos is a B Rank magical beast, but unless you attack first, they won't do anything. They do tend to get worked up during breeding season, but as long as you take care not to get too close to them and offend them, then they won't attack. They're generally gentle magical beasts.
As long as you don't piss one off anyway. If you do, it won't be funny. The greatest special trait of the Cannonball Rhinos is the skin and hair covering its body. These two things are so hard it makes one question whether the Rhinos is truly a living thing. Even magic is inefficient against it. In fact, if it's only its defenses that we're considering, then it's definitely comparable to an A Rank magical beast.
Moreover, the Cannonball Rhinos is faster than its large frame would like you to believe. And after becoming an adult, it can even use the neutral magic, Strengthen Body.
A durable and heavy body coupled with a power that won't lose out. And on top of all that, a magic power that further strengthens it. With all that put together, it's charge is a thing to be feared. Take one directly, and you'll definitely incur a life-threatening wound.
Note though that the Cannonball Rhinos does not only live in the Great Forest of Shurus. There are some lost ones that have also been spotted in other plains and forests. There were also some who had apparently broken some gates and walls in the past. It's such that the Cannonball Rhinos received the nickname, "Wallsmasher."
As I recalled that information that I researched in the past, the lake came into view.
... Although I say lake, the water is muddy. It might be possible to drink it, but for humans we'll definitely need to boil it first. Not that it matters to me or anything since I can use water magic... As for the surrounding area...
"... There doesn't seem to be anything. Good." [Ryouma]
I was worrying whether there'd be Cannonball Rhinoses around, but fortunately that doesn't seem to be the case. I should take this opportunity, and pass through this area as soonas I can.
"If I head directly east from here, I should make it to Cormi Village in 4 hours... Looks like I should be able to make it to the village today." [Ryouma]
Using the compass I had prepared, I confirmed the direction, and headed east.
Along th way, I was attacked several times by raptors and blade rats. Naturally, I defeated those as I continued along my way.
The raptors don't really matter much, but the blade rats are actually quite difficult to fight. They might look small and cute, but their attacks aren't funny.
The blade rats spread their limbs and membrane part to glide through the air, but sharp, blade-like objects can be seen in its membrane part. With those, the blade rats fly through the air, attacking as they aimed for the carotid artery and throat.
No one should underestimate a magical beast just because it's small.
As I continued to walk along while paying attention to my surroundings, the presence of living beings gradually decreased. Until eventually, I spotted the figure of a person.
"Another person... No, a zombie, huh?"
It might've been because of the sound of the grass being pushed, but the "person" responded, and it faced toward me. When it did, I saw its abdomen gouged out and its windpipe bitten off by something. Obviously, it wasn't a person.
"'Light Ball'" [Ryouma]
I looked at the oncoming zombie with dead eyes as I shot Light Ball toward it. There's no reason for me to wait until it got closer. The Light Ball I shot cleanly blew off the head of the zombie.
With this, the problem was easily solved, but...
"Shuraaaa!" [Undead]
"Hy-... Hyu..." [Undead]
"GARURURUu..." [Undead]
"'Light Ball' Tch!" [Ryouma]
One hour passed after that. For some reason, the magical beasts that appeared were nothing but undead. The undead that appeared were the usual wraiths and zombies. There were also magical beast corpses turned undead, the beast zombies.
There were many kinds of beast zombie. Of course, there were raptors and blade rats. But there was also the C Rank magical beast, the Anchor Chameleon. It had the ability to change its body's color to meld with its surroundings, while it attacked vital spots with the hard end of its long tongue. And there was also the Doping Bee. The doping bee has a body colored red and purple. It's poisonous, and when I saw a zombiefied doping bee, I couldn't help but break out cold sweat.
The doping bee is an A Rank magical beast. But unless its nest is attacked, it won't go out of its way to attack humans. Its individual strength isn't much either. In fact, its fighting prowess isn't much different from that of a normal bee. At most it's only really a pain to kill since it's small and fast. And if one adequately prepared for it, then it's possible to defeat them even as an E Rank adventurer.
As for why a magical beast like that was classified as A Rank, well that's because of the doping bee's poison and mode of life. The doping bee's poison has the effect of strengthening the body of magical beasts as well as making them go feral.
In exchange for its lack of power, it has the ability to strengthen other magical beasts with its poison. It's a kind of magical beast that makes use of other magical beasts to protect their nest. I did wonder at first whether the berserked magical beasts would be a danger to the nests as well, but apparently, because of the poison, the beasts won't attack their nest.
In addition, the doping bee's needle and honey can be turned into various medicines, making them highly profitable. But because it's not possible to go around the nests of doping bee's without risking one to death at the hands of one of their guardian magical beasts, there's not much of their needles and honey being sold.
Then again, they're not even the sort of magical beast that lie in limited places, so it's not even possible to plan ahead. Consequently, their nests and magical beasts that have been stabbed by their needles are rarely s
Because of that, adventurers rush in droves whenever a magical beast that has been affected by their poison is spotted. Speaking of which, the way to identify whether a magical beast has been affected by the doping bee's poison is to look at their eyes and the place where they were stabbed. Their eyes should have an abnormal congestion in it. And the place they were stabbed should have a vivid violet speck on it.
The doping bees here have all lost their special abilities though. They've all been zombiefied so it's not really strange. Even if they were still alive, their poison wouldn't work on zombies. So in the end there's still no problem.
"Right now, it's the raptors who's a pain and not the doping bees." {Ryouma}
Zombie raptors have lost their intelligence and can no longer fight as a group, but their agility remains strong, making them faster than the ghouls.
The sun has also set... I guess it can't be helped. I fired Light Shot in all four directions, quickly blowing away the undead in the surrounding area. And then---
"'Holy Space' 'Dimension Home'" [Ryouma]
Using the Holy Space that I had directly learned from Remiri-san, I created a safe area. Afterwards, I brought out the light slimes and the grave slimes.
"I didn't bring them out before because it would make our pace too slow. But since I'm not moving anymore, I decided to let them show their strength." [Ryouma]
After that... well it turned into a fixed operation.
The grave slimes used Attract Ghosts to lure the enemies, and swallow them. While the light slimes dealt with the violent ones with their light magic. When non-undead magical beasts came around, I protected the slimes while subjugating all of them.
Dealing with the undead wasn't a problem, but there were many amongst the undead that went wild. The undead here were much more resistant to Attract Ghosts than the ones in the Town of Departed Spirits.
I'm a bit concerned, but oh well. It's already dark, so I decided to retire for the day.
I hope I can get to Cormi Village by tomorrow.
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