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Chapter 58: Heilige…what the hell is that thing?! [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2020-04-13 00:08:44 +0000 UTCLEFT! LEFT! LEFT! DODGE LEFT!
Although none of my skills besides [Parallel Thoughts] could speak with me, the combined warning from my [Prediction] and [Danger Perception] was so audible that it sounded like a voice was telling me to dodge left to protect my life.
At this stage of my life, I have learned to trust my skills when my life depended on it. Without a single other thought, I tensed up my legs and jumped to the side, at the same time the snake launched its mouth at me, destroying the tree that I was just standing on.
[“Heilige Scheiße, how fast was that?!”] I shouted out, unable to keep my surprise to myself.
The snake head of that [Vellestra Leviathan], the first A rank monster I’ve seen in my life, not only did it splinter the tree into little pieces like it was nothing, but it honestly felt like had I hesitated for a single millisecond, my body would have been caught.
That was after I immediately acted on the warning that my skill was telling me. I was hopelessly outclassed by this thing, and even in my dragon form, I don’t know if I could handle it. Should I transform back for my maximum Agility or stay small?
As I let my parallel minds figure out an answer to this question, I made no mistake to stay shocked for long, choosing to act and defend myself from this fearsome beast.
My instincts told me that this was not a fight that I could win, it was unwinnable at my current state and only fleeing would be the correct choice to do.
“Sacred Field!”
Draining my mana like a sink tap, I invested a huge amount of mana into my [Sacred Field] to increases its effective area to the size of a baseball field, however, at the same time I did that, the snake launched another attack.
“Aaaaah!”
While I managed to avoid being mauled by that attack, I didn’t expect that once it hit the ground, it had enough power behind it that it sent me flying from the sheer wind pressure and impact shockwave.
Flying backwards, Rajah’s shadow snakes helped me regain my bearing, preventing me from crashing on the ground. At the same time, my parallel minds finished casting my spells, materializing magic circles around me and in front of the snake.
Activating them, [Bedrock Blades] burst from the ground and pounded its sharp edges on the snake’s scales; [Inferno Beam] and [Banishment Beam] pushed the head away with continuous rays of magic; lastly, [Spiral Hellfire], my highest levelled fire spell, sent out a huge screw-like fire at the snake, drilling and forcing it to back away from me.
As a last measure, a thick stone wall as high as the trees grew up from the ground, separating me from that thing.
…My spells did barely any damage…
Due to the wall, I had to stop my beam spell, however, I could still hear my [Spiral Hellfire] and [Bedrock Blades] doing work from over here, so this should give everybody around me enough time to get out of sight. Looking around, I let out a silent sigh of relief that every single lizardman was on my side of the wall. I could also see their wounds recover due to [Sacred Field]’s continuous effect. They should be healthy enough to run now.
[“Caszcur, I know you’re still hurt, but I have to ask you for a favor,”] I said as I turned my head towards the actual leader of this rescue party.
“Spare your breath, little lady, I’ve lost an arm, not my mind. I’ll get these krill eaters away from here, so you just concentrate on your own survival,” Caszcur, ever the quick thinker despite his brutish appearance, quickly understood the meaning of my words. “Shouting at others is literally my job, so leave this to me…EVERYONE, FOLLOW ME!”
His loud voice and immediate action showed results as he quickly roused the scared lizardmen and the guards to run deeper into the forest. With Tasianna re-joining me and Rajah, I was about to follow the rest, when my [Prediction] warned me of another attack.
Knowing that it would hit the lizardmen group, I cast [Sanctuary] to protect the group behind me, while Tasianna wordlessly cast [Frozen Shield]. In the middle of its materialization, the white snake effortlessly busted through my [Terra Wall] and shattered my light barrier, even pulverizing Tasianna’s shield.
“Kyaaaaaah!” terrified by the sudden attack, my body instinctively stepped to the side to dodge it while letting out a shriek.
Anticipating the powerful impact this time, the shockwave wasn't enough to blow me away. Now standing beside its head, my tiny eyes met the large beast's, huge enough that I was able to see my whole body being reflected by it.
<Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Identity Blocker Lv. 3] evolved into [Identity Blocker Lv. 4]>
Wha-? Did it just use [Identify] on me?! Crap, how much information did it manage to get from my Status Board?! Did my [Identity Blocker] even block his skill?!
That was when something stirred inside me, a desire to know if I could do it; letting my curiosity control me, I ignited a flame around my claws by grinding them against each other, poured in more mana to empower it even further and then crashed it into the beast’s eye.
As if I was trying to punch a wooden door like a normal human being, my claws managed to dent the eye, shooting out a dark red fluid out of it, but the hardiness of the organ was too much for my arm, as cracking and snapping sounds coming from my arm could be heard.
“Hiiiiiieeeee!”
“Ssssssssssssschiellaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Overwhelmed by our respective pain, we flailed around as we tried to separate ourselves from each other. The large snake, being the massive beast that it was, swung its huge body into the air, trying to remove my claws from its eye, while I tried to push myself out of it.
It all ended when the shadow snakes reappeared from Rajah’s legs, attached themselves to another tree and pulled me towards it, freeing me from the rampaging snake. Dazed from all that shaking and swinging around, I clenched my teeth and grabbed my broken arm. With a loud crack, I re-adjusted it back to its correct position before pushing some bones back into my body.
Once everything was back inside me, I held onto my arm which had its entire bones either broken, sticking outside my body, or splintered into pieces.
[“Oh, my goodness, Lady Hestia…”] Tasianna said with a gasp.
“Mreow!” Rajah was equally shocked by the state of my arm.
However, I simply ignored them. There was no time to feel sorry for myself when I’m still not outside of the danger zone.
Using the same method that I used to repair Rajah’s leg, I cast [Major Heal] on it, making sure that my arm would come out even healthier than before.
Once my arm was back to normal, I let out a sigh of relief that the pain disappeared, but I couldn’t relax long as my skills began warning me again.
Reflexively constructing another [Terra Wall], I ducked my body down as my skill instructed me to. As if the air was being pierced, a clear beam flashed past me, destroying my stone wall and the tree behind me like paper.
“Uhiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeh!” I shrieked once more from witnessing this tremendous power.
I was able to sense mana from that attack, so it was likely that it was either a spell or maybe a racial ability like my [Spark Fire Dragon] skill. Whether it was or not didn’t matter as it only mattered that it was a water attack, something that my body was incredibly weak to.
Stat difference and elemental difference?! Ok, fuck this, I’m outta here!
I bought enough time for everybody to escape. I’ve done all I can! All I have to do now is to get out with my party members alive!
[“Run for your lives!”] I called out. (Nigerundayo!)
[“Retreat!”] Tasianna shouted.
“Mreow!” and Rajah agreed to both of us.
As we ran for our dear lives, more beams of concentrated water were shot at us as we delved deeper into the rainforest. Probably due to the monster’s skills, every hit was so accurate that if I hadn’t blocked it by throwing my own spells at it, I would have probably lost a limb or so.
After a couple of shots, the snake used its long body to pursue us as it began pushing away any tree in its path, persistent enough or driven by anger to kill us. Due to its encroaching mouth, I was able to confirm that those water beams were indeed spells, as I could faintly see a blue magic circle inside its mouth.
Still dodging all the beams, I had to continue blasting stuff like [Spiral Hellfire] and [Bedrock Blades] at it so it couldn’t catch up. The Agility difference was so high that if I hadn’t used [Wind Blast] with Rajah’s shadow snakes, swinging around the trees like Tarzan or Spiderman, then I probably would have ended up as leviathan food.
Eventually, we made it away as it seems like the snake couldn't follow us anymore. I guess it has reached the maximum length that it could travel. The [Identify] description did tell me this snake was just one of many heads of an even larger behemoth. It still continued blasting spells at us, but I luckily could rely on my mana to avoid dying at this point.
When I finally found a save spot, I dropped to the ground and immediately puked, “Ooooooof, urrrrrrrrgh…ha ha, kurgh. Urgh, ha ha ha.”
Tasianna jumped off my shoulder and flew up to my face, clearly worried, [“Lady Hestia! No, are you alright?! You used so many spells, are you alright?!”]
Hearing the panicked cries of Tasianna, I quickly had my parallel minds check my body, confirming that I was at my limit, arcane corruption-wise. The nauseous feeling of going overboard with my magic, spamming countless of high-tier spells without controlling the mana consumption due to my own flight or fight instinct.
It can be called a success as I made it out alive, so I’ll forgive myself for forgetting the magic lessons I got from Tasianna. Keeping a cool head was the most important part, and when even my parallel minds had a problem staying focus due to my fear of death influencing them, then I think I shouldn’t beat myself over it.
Learn from this and get better…
[“Sorry, I’m…not feeling good. Too much mana used,”] I told Tasianna after recovering from puking my breakfast out.
[“Headache, tensed body, nausea; symptoms of arcane corruption. Urgh, I need a break…”]
I was making sure to reduce the amount that I was saying due to being unable to speak in my current form. [Telepathy] used mana so I needed to be careful to not make my condition even worse.
[“My Princess, I’m sorry, if only I’ve could’ve been more useful to you…”] Tasianna said dejectedly while cleaning my mouth using her water spell.
After she was finished, she told Rajah to help pull my weakened body towards a tree, resting me there. Once again, shadow snakes appeared out of his legs. I knew at this point who was actually behind those things, so asking Rajah about it would be redundant. I’ll just confront that person when we get back…if we can find our way back.
Leaving Rajah as my guard, Tasianna told me, “I saw something that can help.”, before flying away. I wanted to stand up, but the lethargy in my body wouldn’t go away. Magic wouldn’t help here, actually, it would make my condition even worse.
So, I just stroke Rajah’s fur while patiently waiting for Tasianna. When she did come back, she was holding onto a bundle of leaves that was larger than her body, preventing her from flying properly. After she got Rajah to help her, she laid the stack beside me and then pulled one of them out to show me.
["I thought I was imagining it when I flew past them these past days, but after smelling them, I can confirm that these are Fulinoe leaves,"] Tasianna said with an optimistic smile. [“I only know them growing around our village, but it seems we’re lucky that they have spread so far, even reaching the Belzac forest. Here, let me use [Identify] in your stead, Lady Hestia!”]
That skill needed mana to use so it was awfully considerate of her to do this for me. Enthusiastic about it, words began streaming into my head.
<Fulinoe Leaf: A leaf from the Fulinoe plant that can only grow around areas with high mana density. These leaves have a soothing smell that can alleviate headaches caused my mana problems>
Smelling it, I did feel a bit better, but it wasn’t effective enough to rid my dizziness. Confused why Tasianna thought this would help me, I had to ask her to explain.
[“He he, naturally you wouldn’t know this but if you use these leaves to make tea out of them, you can reduce the effects of arcane corruption, speeding up the recovery process,”] Tasianna said while puffing her chest up, looking proud. [“Us fairies hate the taste as it's too bitter, so it has more or less become something only elves indulged in. Not many people outside our forest know about this. That's why I'm so fascinated that they can be found in the Belzac forest. We are truly lucky.”]
Having no reason to deny her help, I helped her create a fire by just sliding my claws against each other. Creating sparks didn’t require any mana, only increasing the volume of the fire needed mana, so I was safe to help her.
Once I carved a crude hole in a rock, Tasianna filled it with water, added the leaves, and then placed it over the flame.
[“Please forgive me for the lackluster quality, but it should help you nonetheless,”] Tasianna offered me the now finished tea. [“Please, let me help you drink. It will be bitter so please don’t be surprised.”]
Opening my mouth, I allowed Tasianna to pour in the liquid inside it. Allowing the tea to cover my tongue, I was quickly assaulted by that bitter taste that Tasianna warned me about, but somehow, I wasn’t revolted by it. It was actually quite nostalgic.
Can this be? Coffee?
Finishing the beverage, I was fully convinced of what it reminded me of.
[“Bleg, bitter,”] I said while sticking my tongue out. [“However, it helped me. Thank you, Tasianna.”]
[“Of course, it was the least that I could’ve done, my Princess,”] Tasianna said with a fulfilling smile.
[“Also, could you please grab some seeds? I want to grow them,”] I asked, trying my best to describe the Earth beverage with as little words as needed.
She couldn't believe it, until I told her about how using milk and sugar was a good way to sweeten it, which cleared everything up for her.
It seems like fairies don't drink much milk, so they usually enjoy tea leaves that had a pleasant taste on its own.
Happy to help, Tasianna picked them up with Rajah's help and we stayed at that location, drinking tea until it was night time.
That was when my [Detection Sensor] noticed a group approaching us. Due to the tea, I’ve recovered quite a bit from my arcane corruption, so I was ready to fight, or at the very least to flee.
However, my worry was unwarranted when a familiar face appeared.
“Little Lady! Thank Marsven, you’re still alive,” the one-armed lizardman, Caszcur said with a relieved laugh.
[“Caszcur…y-you came back for us?”] I asked, surprised that he was willing to lead all these lizardmen just to find us.
[“What?! Has that giant thing rocked your head so much that it turned to a slug? How many times have I said that I’m indebted to you?”] he shouted, actually angry that I would question him for coming to help me.
After I apologized to him, we both shared what happened when we got separated. I told him about my current problem and that I needed rest, while he explained that it took a bit of convincing but he managed to persuade everybody to come, calling it a "debt worth giving up our life" and that they would dishonour themselves if they didn't come to help.
Seems like the snake’s rampage made it easy to look for me, you only needed to follow the destroyed trees.
[“Uhhh, so is this why they are cleaning me, now?”] I asked Caszcur, confused why the female lizardmen were cleaning my body.
“Ha ha, yeah, that fight must have really pushed you to your limits. You look nothing like when you narrowly saved my life; all that blood fits your appearance but not your personality, little lady,” Caszcur said with a calm nod. “Just accept it. It’s the same thing after you healed everybody in the clinic. We lizardmen don’t forget a debt this big that easily.”
Tasianna, taking her role as my retainer seriously, was directing everybody on how to help me, using the water that she was creating. As I had recovered, I also took out some already dismantled meat from my storage, which caused all the lizardmen to celebrate at the fact, telling me that they will create a feast for me.
“So…you mind telling me about your sudden…transformation?” Caszcur asked, pointing at my wings and head.
Sighing, I realized that I was in a bit of pickle now. Whether it was ‘cause I trusted him or due to my fatigue, I elucidate to him about my dragon origin. Of course, I wasn’t about to tell him anything about being a Reincarnator. While exposing myself as a dragon was already nerve-wracking, I knew that telling him about my other secret would be a mistake.
It also seemed like the dragon stuff was already too much for him to handle.
A dragonewt was one thing, but a dragon? He assured me that Apsala would go crazy if she heard this. After the feast, I decided to transform back to my preferred form, shocking every single lizardman who didn't know about it. They told me, "Your other form was so much more attractive" and "Human skin sure is weak, you should stay in your proper form".
My proper form would shock you even more…
After that, we rested for the night and began traveling on the next day. During this time, I also successfully reattached Caszcur’s arm. I first tried to regrow it with my spells but that was seemingly impossible even with [Major Heal], so I was glad that I quickly thought of freezing Caszcur’s stump and arm.
The frozen cells were a problem but that was still easily mended with my healing spells. Caszcur told me that he was just continuously accumulating more and more debts and was visibly depressed by that fact.
It took us about two days until we finally returned back to the camp. Arriving, a crowd was already assembling at the entrance, probably ‘cause of certain someone…
The cheers that I could hear was incredible, so full of energy of seeing their friends again. The five siblings even came up to me to thank me personally for doing it. Not only did they thank me for killing those panguanas but also for bringing all their friends back.
It was honestly awesome that I was able to see all of this, warming my heart that our party was able to help them.
“Hestia…” a voice came behind me, tightly embracing me. “I was so worried…You are too reckless for your own good, Hestia, but I am glad that you are alright.”
“Hey, Miss Spy. Sorry for showing you that pitiful sight, guess you were right once again, huh?” I said, holding onto her arms as I remembered our fight. “I’m sorry for making you worry like that, despite how much you were against it.”
[“Of course, I was correct! Do you think it was a good…,”] Saori interrupted herself, as I felt something wet drop down my head. ["No, I should not scold you about it. I-I worry, yeah, maybe too much? I should just be glad that I didn’t lose you. Tasianna, I thank you so very much for keeping her safe, if you were not there then I probably would have ran, after I saw all of that."]
[“Of course, Miss Saori, it was my duty…even if wasn’t enough. I promise to get stronger,”] Tasianna said while bowing.
Nodding to Tasianna’s show of, Saori then turned towards Rajah, [“You, Rajah, are just the best. You brave little boy, you did exactly what I asked you too. Good work.”]
“Mreow!”
It seems I was correct to assume that those snakes and that black coating around Rajah were Saori's work. Using [Shadow Armament] to coat his legs and then leaving dormant [Shadow Snakes], she was able to see through those things and help me.
I knew it was weird when I felt my mana leaving my body, but it seems they were sucking them out of me to be used. After I had the opportunity, I used [Identify] on them.
<Shadow Snake: A dark element spell that conjures a semi-sentient snake made out of shadows. The user may transfer their senses into it to see what they can see. Can be used remotely only if the shadow is still connected with the user>
As [Shadow Armament] was an extension of Saori’s mana, the snakes were able to stay dormant into them, using my mana once Saori thought she had to. Guess that also meant that she kept an eye on us by having Rajah follow me.
She's so sneaky…but she did prevent me from being eaten so all is fair.
“So, did I miss anything while I was gone?” I asked Saori who was wiping the tears off her face.
“…Yeah,” Saori averted her eyes, fidgeting her hands as she kept hugging me. “The mother woke up.”
<Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Draconic Claws Lv. 5] [Prediction Lv. 9] [Danger Perception Lv. 3] [Detection Sensor Lv. 3] [Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 3] [Fear Resistance Lv. 2] [Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 6] [Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 6] [Poison Creation Lv. 5] gained>
