The day after my fierce battle with the Slime Lord. I explored Area 5 today as well.
I thought that since I fought the Slime Lord yesterday in the southern region, I should go explore a different area.
There might be another strong monster like the Slime Lord…
And in the eastern region, there was a ma.s.sive 20 meter long snake, the Dopplesnake. Its body was the thickness of a barrel.
As befitted its name, it had a skill that let it create clones of itself.
It was a skill that made clones identical to the user.
I was surprised to see a clone disappear like an illusion after I defeated it.
In addition, it seemed that if the skill level was high enough, then the clones’ strength could exceed the user’s.
But I was disappointed at the long awaited user’s relative weakness.
Its combat abilities were inferior to the demonic beasts that lived in Area 4. No, if it had made use of its ma.s.sive body then it would have been plenty strong, but…because it was hiding in such a cramped place, it couldn’t use its full strength. I found the original hidden underground and immediately ended its life.
『Huhuhu, thanks to that, my attack stat doubled.』
I immediately tried out the Clone Creation skill, but…
“Huh? I’m not a sword…”
『The heck, that’s me before I reincarnated.』
That’s right, the clone that Clone Creation made was in the form of my body back when I was a human. Thanks to the skill Divided Thought that I got from the Dopplesnake, I was able to move both the sword and the clone at the same time.
“Huh? Doesn’t this mean I don’t need a wielder?”
『For real? How strong is the clone?』
I thought to myself, ‘Can’t I have my clone wield me?’ but things didn’t work out that easily.
Currently, my clone had a time limit. It lasted 5 minutes.
In addition, the clone was extremely weak. It had an average stat value of 5, making it weaker than even goblins.
Even worse, its skills were weak. My clone could use my skills, but they were all at level 1.
I couldn’t use it like this.
And it was naked. Thankfully, no one was here to see it. I tested it out multiple times, but all I could do was make it covered in rags. Could it be because my Clone Creation skill’s level was low?
I’d probably use this skill as bait. But because the mana cost was so high, it took over 500 MP to even make a weak one.
The truth is, at this rate this skill will be completely useless.
Beyond those, the snake only had skills I couldn’t use like Shed Skin, Sense Heat, and Regenerate Scales.
The only valuable and useful skill it had was the upgraded venom skill, Deadly Venom. It was the upgraded version of Severe Venom, the one I already had.
『I’d better try out Deadly Venom in a real fight.』
I should put the Dopplesnake in my storage for now.
Dimensional Storage still wasn’t full despite storing the huge snake. Its capacity is beyond what I can imagine.
I went towards the northern region since this afternoon.
Of course, I moved while hunting and storing demonic beasts.
I realized, after attacking the southern and eastern areas, that in each of the Area 5’s vast cardinal directions, there was one boss monster that ruled its respective region.
I guess they were kind of like regional bosses.
Because the only demonic beasts that I considered strong that I found here were the Slime Lord and Dopplesnake. The rest were likely those regional bosses’ prey.
So I decided to go for the northern region’s boss next.
『I can’t wait for the regional boss. It’ll probably have strong skills.』
There I found a tortoise demonic beast, the smallest regional boss I had met until now. But it had just as much mana as the other regional bosses.
It was 5 meters long. There were ten pipes sticking out of its s.h.i.+ny, black sh.e.l.l, and there was a thick gun barrel sticking out from the middle. I found its name with Appraisal.
『So it’s a Blast Tortoise.』
It seems to be an upgraded form of the Cannon Tortoise, the one I beat before. This one also had the ability to suck in air, compress, and shoot it through its cannon.
“Guwhoooooooooa!”
But it will likely be more powerful the more pipes it has.
In addition, it seemed to have a search ability with a long range befitting a long range attacking demonic beast.
It fixed its cannon on me, already considering me its target despite my being quite a ways away from it.
“Guwhoa!”
Ba-bang!
It fired consecutive blasts of compressed air.
『Uwah!』
I never thought that it could fire multiple times in a row. The Cannon Tortoise couldn’t fire without reloading after every shot; this one is definitely an upgraded version.
Ba-ba-bang!
Another barrage of high speed air missiles.
『Hyah!』
I flew up to avoid them but…
Ba-bang!
『Gyah!』
The air missiles suddenly exploded. The air missile exploded in all directions, hitting me. It did a lot of damage.
Just the splash damage did this much to me!
It can even remotely detonate them? That’s way too OP!
『Kugh, this is super dangerous!』
With my movements impeded, air missiles continuously flew towards me.
My durability went down a lot after each hit.
I saw more coming this way.
I need to escape.
I dodged its air missiles by falling immediately with the Telekinetic Caatapault.
I evaded its barrage by moving as fast as I could in a zig zag pattern.
『You arrogant little!』
I slowly moved towards it while receiving heavy damage.
『Got you!』
As long as I can get close, you’re mine.
I aimed my blade at its exposed throat and——failed to cut it.
『Ack! Don’t run away!』
Not expecting such fast movements from the typically slow tortoises, I saw it retract its throat and limbs.
I attacked its sh.e.l.l in a blind rage, but I couldn’t even scratch it.
I’d likely be able to penetrate it after a dozen or so attacks, but…
『But of course you won’t let me!』
Fwup-fwup-fwup-fwup-fwup!
The turtle, after hiding its neck, began spinning in place. Just like Gamera (tn: the t.i.tular monster from a j.a.panese movie series. Can pull in its limbs and head to emit flames, allowing it to fly by spinning like a flying saucer).
And it indiscriminately fired air missiles.
It was difficult to dodge these unaimed attacks because I couldn’t read where it would fire.
The air missiles landed around me, blowing up the ground.
But even if I increased my distance from it, the air missiles would just home in on me again.
It may have been able to tell my location by using a sensing-type skill as, though I moved to be above its sh.e.l.l, the tortoise tilted its sh.e.l.l and shot its air missiles upwards.
『Uwagh! This is bad!』
Above is no good.
Then I should go below.
It probably won’t be able to fire all the way to the ground.
I fiddled with my Status Window while dodging its air missiles.
Thanks to the Divided Thought skill that I got from the Dopplesnake, I was able to dodge and adjust my Status without a problem.
I used some of the Cla.s.s points I had left to increase my Earth Magic to 4.
I remembered where I got this earth magic. From the Gourmet Orc mages. They also had an earth magic skill of 4.
『There it is, there it is!』
I was now able to use the spell I wanted.
I was able to dig a hole just like the Gourmet Orc Mages did.
『——Earth Digger!』
I plunged into the hole I magically dug. And I continually cast it.
I was able to be right underneath the tortoise.
Though I couldn’t see it, I could roughly sense its location.
『Earth Wall.』
And while I was directly underneath it, I used the level 3 earth magic, Earth Wall. It was originally a spell that raised the earth near someone’s feet to create a wall, but I used it to lift the tortoise’s ma.s.sive body.
The earth wall extended about two meters underneath the Blast Tortoise’s sh.e.l.l, lifting it slightly.
“Guu?”
『Take this!』
The tortoise was confused as it no longer felt the ground underneath it.
And that was when I hit it with a full-body headb.u.t.t.
Clang!
But my goal wasn’t to damage it.
『Just as I thought!』
I charged at it from below to push it off balance. With its body elevated by Earth Wall, the tortoise tipped over from my attack. Its ma.s.sive body was on its back.
It tried to use its tail to right itself, but it didn’t work.
Kukuku. It won’t be able to run away while it’s like that.
Then the tortoise fully extended its neck and legs to turn itself back.
But there was no way I was going to miss this chance.
My fastest attack, the one I used to kill the Slime Lord, the Telekinetic Catapult, landed on the tortoise’s neck.
In the end, it was a tortoise. It couldn’t handle my genius ideas.
『Victory!』
But that was extremely dangerous. I really can’t underestimate Area 5.
I dug my way in through its exposed neck and absorbed its magic crystal after finding it next to its heart.
Of course, I stored the Blast Tortoise as well.
Shockingly, I had still not fully filled the storage.
『I don’t have much MP left. I should go back.』
I put off exploring Area 5’s western region for tomorrow.
Plus I wanted to try out the skills I got from the tortoise.
After that, I tested out the skills when I was back at the pedestal, but the only skills I could use were Air Compression and Shoot Air Missile. Well, I didn’t mind because these skills were useful.
Shoot Air Missile gathered the air around me and shot it like a bullet. The Blast Tortoise was likely able to fire continuously by storing air in its sh.e.l.l and using it with its skill.
As for me, repeated fire was possible by using Air Current Manipulation or wind magic.
Air Compression at first glance is a useless skill, but the truth is it was really fun.
For example, by combining it with Shoot Air Missile, I could increase the power of each shot. Or I could compress the air in front of me to make a s.h.i.+eld. It wasn’t that strong, but it had a lot of use if combined with another skill.
『I’m glad that I have a lot of good skills, but if I want to be able to use them freely, I need to practice more.』
The stronger the skill, the harder it was to use it freely.
Next day in the afternoon.
I was in a fierce battle with the last regional boss.
Its name was the Tyrant Saber-toothed Tiger.
It was basically a tiger with ma.s.sive fangs, but it was over 4 meters tall and over 10 meters long.
It was a formidable opponent as, in addition to its size, it was able to move almost too fast to be seen and it could even jump on the air, allowing it to move freely in all 3 dimensions.
It also had multiple skills that let it control vibrations; it was sufficient to say that its attacks were abominably strong.
And because of its mana-infused fur and strong muscles, my blade wasn’t able to properly cut it.
I moved out of the way of the tiger’s hind claws and tried to slash at its side, but I was stopped.
“Roooooaar!”
『Kugh! I need to retreat!』
I somehow dodged the Tyrant Saber-toothed Tiger’s attack by twisting my body. But a terribly strong impact landed on my blade.
『Was that its skill?!』
All it did was graze it but the impact was enormous!
I might even burst into pieces if it lands a direct blow.
I suppose it was a blessing that it didn’t have any long-range attacks so it couldn’t attack me when I tried to keep my distance. But because it was incredibly fast and had that air running skill, it was hard to keep any kind of distance. Even if I fly into the sky, it keeps following me.
『Fire Arrow!』
“Roar!”
All my flame bolt did was singe its fur a little.
It’s not very effective!
If I didn’t slash with a lot of force, then I did almost no damage. And my magic had no real effect on it at all.
“Kwaa!”
But the tiger isn’t unscathed. I annoyed it at least a little. As a result, the only thing adding up was the Tyrant Saber-toothed Tiger’s rage.
『At this rate, thing’s will only get worse.』
My only two choices are to either make a suicide attack for its vitals or to use an effective skill on it.
I searched desperately for a skill that might work on it while dodging the tiger’s lunges.
And I found it.
『This is it!』
But will using this as it is right now really make me win?
I decided to use my Cla.s.s points to prepare for all outcomes.
<15 cla.s.s="" points="" have="" been="" used="" to="" evolve="" deadly="" venomous="" fangs="" into="" demonic="" venomous="" fangs="">
That’s right. The skill I was looking for was Deadly Venomous Fangs.
The Tyrant Saber-toothed Tiger didn’t have a Poison Resistance skill. Deadly Venomous Fangs will probably have an effect. Plus, I evolved it by using my Cla.s.s points.
If this doesn’t work out, then I should run away.
While thinking that, I stabbed the Tyrant Saber-toothed Tiger with my blade.
『How’s that!』
I appraised it while running away.
『Great, it’s a victory for me』
As I had planned, the Tyrant Saber-toothed Tiger was envenomed. It’s health was draining rapidly.
“Kwaaaahhh!!”
The Tyrant Saber-toothed Tiger’s attacks intensified. But to kill it before the venom did and to continue spreading the venom, I kept attacking it.
3 hours later.
『I wooooon!』
I pointed my sword towards the sky and screamed victory.
The thing below me was the last and strongest of Area 5’s bosses, the Tyrant Saber-toothed Tiger.
I may have envenomed the tiger, but it was relentless. It entered berserk mode after it lost half its health, and I was almost overwhelmed.
The truth is, I thought that I was losing.
Though the risk came with several rewards.
First come the skills.
My newly gained skills, Vibration Pierce and Vibration Fang, were amazing.
Vibration Pierce was a skill that used vibrations to destroy things from the inside out.
And Vibration Fang used ultrasonic vibrations to amplify the sharpness of teeth; it was the so-called ultrasonic vibration blade. I had great synergy with these skills as they explosively enhanced my slas.h.i.+ng power.
Another reward was that I had ranked up. Because each of the regional bosses gave me more than 150 to my Magic Crystal Count, all the magic crystals I harvested in Area 4 and the bosses resulted in me being able to evolve.
Name: Unknown
Race: Intelligence Weapon
Attack: 392 MP: 1650/1650 Durability 1450/1450
Cla.s.s Skills: Appraisal 6, Attack Boost [weak], High Speed Self-recovery, Skill Sharing, Wielder Recovery Boost [weak], Wielder Stat Boost [weak], Telekinesis, Telekinesis Boost [weak], Telepathy, MP Boost [weak], Demonic Beast Knowledge, Magic User, Memory Increase [weak]
And thanks to Cla.s.s, I had completely recovered.