Ch. 16 Mage Isolin
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 16 – Mage Isolin
“Wh-what should we do?!”
“Just do something! Attack or whatever!”
I shouted urgently in response to Isolin’s voice coming from below. My body was spinning so rapidly that I couldn’t tell which way was up or down.
“Eeeek!”
I screamed and flailed my arms, trying to grab the tentacle wrapped around my ankle. But with gravity pulling me in every direction, my hands only flailed in the air.
At this point, I couldn’t even tell if I was spinning or if Isolin was spinning. I mustered all my strength and grabbed onto the tentacle gripping my ankle.
“Eeeek!”
“F-fire…! It’s moving too much, it’s hard to aim!”
Whoosh— Whoosh—
Isolin’s magic whizzed dangerously close. It seemed the erratic movements of the tentacle made it difficult for her to aim.
But it was fine. At least I had a grip on the tentacle now.
I clenched the slippery tentacle tightly and curled my upper body. Finally, the mysterious tentacle revealed itself. Its black body and suction cups resembled an octopus’s arm.
[Level 10]
[Fragment of Great Power]
As soon as I recognized the monster, its level and name naturally came to mind. Fragment of Great Power? The unfamiliar name caught me off guard, but I didn’t stop moving.
[Holy Strike!]
Flash—!
As soon as I activated the skill, a pure white light erupted. The holy light emanating from my fingertips struck the tentacle wrapped around my ankle with a powerful blow.
-Whoooosh—!
The creature seemed to feel pain from my only offensive skill, as it thrashed its tentacle even more violently than before. And of course, I was still caught in its grip.
“Eeeek!”
I was spinning uncontrollably again.
I had no idea how much time had passed. Isolin, who had been darting around in every direction, cast her magic several times in a panic.
When a blinding light filled my vision, a transparent gust of wind shot out from her staff and grazed the tentacle around my ankle.
Sssssk—!
A chilling sound echoed, and the grip around my ankle loosened. But without any way to stop the spinning, my body was flung away.
I flew through the air and slammed into a large tree.
Thud—!
“Ugh…!”
A short scream followed by a secondary impact. As my vision turned white, I quickly activated [Heal] and [Holy Shield]. My dwindling health rapidly recovered, and a white barrier protected me from further damage.
“Supreme…!”
Hearing Isolin’s voice, I quickly got up. A massive shadow loomed over me.
A split-second decision could mean life or death. Without hesitation, I rolled away.
Thud thud— Crash!
As I tumbled down the slope, the giant tentacle slammed into the spot where I had just been. Rocks, grass, and dirt flew everywhere, some even getting into my mouth, but I had no time to spit them out.
We came here to catch fish, but now it seemed like we were about to become fish food. I grabbed Isolin’s hand, which was still holding her staff, and we ran.
“Run!”
“W-wait, I think we almost had it…!”
Whether we could catch it or not was a question for later, once we were safe. Isolin, being a mage, could freely cast offensive spells because I had been drawing the creature’s attention.
If I were gone, Isolin would surely be caught by the tentacle and spun around like I was.
We ran and ran and ran. Pushing through the thick underbrush, our cheeks and clothes were torn by branches. Blood trickled down, but we didn’t stop.
Boom—! Crash—!
The heavy thuds echoed behind us. The long tentacle flailed wildly, trying to reach us as we ran.
However, no matter how long the tentacle was, its range was limited to the area near the lake. After sprinting out of the lakeside, Isolin and I turned to look back.
Squirm squirm— The long tentacle flailed around, searching for us. I watched it and asked Isolin:
“You think we can take it down?”
“Hmm…”
Isolin made an unsure expression at my question. I sighed and nodded.
“Well, we should be safe here.”
If the tentacle creature had a body that could move outside the lake, things would be different. But from what I could tell, the tentacle seemed to be its entire body.
The lake wasn’t that big. A monster capable of wielding a tentacle several meters long couldn’t possibly live in such a small lake.
Plus, the tentacle’s name was [Fragment of Great Power]. By now, even someone clueless would realize what that meant.
It was a foreshadowing of a future giant boss monster. In RPGs, you often encounter these kinds of events.
“If I attack from here, it won’t come charging out of the lake, right…?”
I shook my head at Isolin’s question. If the tentacle creature could really move, it would have chased us all the way here.
“Then I’ll trust you and attack for real?”
“Yeah. Go for it.”
Isolin nodded, gripping her staff tightly. She began unleashing every offensive spell she had.
Ice Spear, Fireball, Wind Cutter—various elemental spells shot out from her staff. Of course, the accuracy was terrible due to the distance and the tentacle’s constant thrashing, but the continuous attacks were enough to eventually bring it down.
Crash—!
The tentacle slumped outside the lake, showing no signs of movement. The world’s system also confirmed that the creature was dead, but Isolin and I couldn’t bring ourselves to approach it.
The fear we felt facing that massive tentacle hadn’t faded yet.
“Sh-shouldn’t we get closer? There might be drop items…”
“Hmm…”
Isolin was right. Holding each other’s hands tightly, we cautiously approached the lakeside.
The lakeside was a mess from the tentacle’s rampage. The dense trees surrounding the area had been knocked over, and the crushed grapes oozed juice everywhere.
Our fishing rods were also in ruins. The rods crushed under a large boulder barely retained their shape, greeting us as we returned.
“Ah…”
Isolin looked at the fishing rods with regret. I led her toward the giant tentacle.
“What even was this thing? A field boss?”
“I don’t know. It didn’t feel that strong for a boss.”
“True…”
If this tentacle had been an actual field boss, Isolin’s attacks alone wouldn’t have been enough to take it down.
As we approached the tentacle, Isolin poked the giant suction cups with her staff.
“It’s slimy and slippery…”
“Well, duh… it’s a tentacle…”
“It’d feel gross if it touched you…”
“It did feel gross.”
I looked down at my right ankle. The fluid from the tentacle had hardened into a white crust around it.
“Ah, an item!”
After wandering around the lakeside for a while, Isolin dashed over and pulled something out from under the tentacle, holding it up triumphantly.
[Enlightenment]
- Level Requirement: 0
- Equip Restriction: All Classes
- Mana Regeneration +5 per second
- Cooldown Reduction: 5%
- For the pursuit of great knowledge—
The item Isolin pulled out was a ring. Made of twisted leather, it gave off an weird feeling.
However, the item’s stats were decent. It had no level or class restrictions, and it provided mana regeneration and cooldown reduction. It was an item anyone would wish, regardless of their class.
“Here, you take it.”
“Me…?”
As I was quietly examining the item’s stats, Isolin handed the ring to me.
The ring glinted ominously on her small palm.
“Yeah. I already have a ring I got from the Goblin Dungeon. The stats aren’t that different.”
“Ah.”
Indeed, Isolin had already equipped two rings from the Goblin Dungeon. From a DPS perspective, she didn’t need this [Enlightenment] ring.
I took the ring and asked her:
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to take this? You’re the one who took it down.”
“Yeah.”
“You could sell it to someone else for a lot of gold, though?”
“Yeah.”
Isolin simply smiled brightly and nodded, as if it didn’t matter. Her small head movement made her pink twin tails and large pointed hat sway back and forth.
Coincidentally, I did have an empty ring slot. I slid the ring onto my left index finger.
Snap—
The ring, which had been slightly too big for me, automatically resized to fit my finger. It was one of the game-like conveniences of this world.
The ring didn’t feel too bad to wear.
Before leaving the lakeside, I asked Isolin, who was still looking at the lake with regret:
“Hey, Isolin.”
“Yeah?”
“The person who told you about this lake…”
“Ah, that older sister?”
“Yeah. Did she mention anything about this tentacle appearing?”
“Uh… no. I didn’t hear about that…”
“Hmm…”
There were too many suspicious things about today. I nodded and headed back to Foxtail with Isolin.
That night, I had a dream. A dream of a giant eye staring down at me.
The giant eye simply watched me in silence.
Vrslop_translator
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