episode_0068

“What’s inside the pond?” “…I’m not sure.” Grace had dipped her long ears into the pond, listening for sounds. But, as if she didn’t hear anything, she shook her head. If so, it was my turn now. I immediately extended my senses to check what was inside. But.

“It’s deeper than I thought?” “Right?” For a small pond, the space was so vast that the bottom wasn’t visible and couldn’t be felt by senses either.

“Just looking at it, it seems like a place made artificially?” Noah summoned darkness and created something, then threw it into the pond. It was a small, cute black slime. But the moment the slime entered the pond. It melted away.

“Something’s strange?” When Noah put her hand in the pond. “Aaaaaaack!!!!!” She suddenly screamed and quickly pulled her hand out.

“What’s wrong?” “It’s not ordinary water!” “Really?” Immediately, Grace sniffed around, and I also lightly put my hand in the water. But there was nothing different.

“?” “Am I the only one like this?” Immediately, Noah cautiously put her finger in. “Uuugh…!!!” The moment Noah groaned, faint smoke began to rise from her finger. Seeing that, Grace picked up Noah and threw her out of the pond.

“It hurts!!!” Noah was holding her finger and shaking it back and forth. Hmm, is it that bad? I also put my finger in. There was no problem at all. Rather, it felt like power was seeping into me from the water.

“…I’ll go in.” Kailuk, our vanguard leader, had already tied a rope around himself and dived into the pond. High-rising splashes of water flew everywhere. The news that Noah, who was touched by it, instantly almost died again wasn’t important. What was important was that Kailuk came up halfway.

“There was nothing inside!” “How deep is it?” “It’s 10 times my height!” Kailuk is roughly 2 meters 20? tall. That means it’s at least 20 meters deep. Considering the pond is not even 10 meters wide, it’s absurdly deep.

“But you said there was nothing inside?” “That’s right!!” “For now, it seems like people don’t die just by going in, so Luca, you go in.” Perhaps something would be different if Luca, the subject of the trial, went in. I immediately tied a rope around Luca’s body and threw her in.

About 1 minute after Luca went in. Changes slowly began to occur. Boil boil boil. An enormous amount of bubbles began to rise to the surface of the pond. What on earth had happened? That question was quickly answered.

Fwoosh!!! Along with a strong current, splashes of water rose up, and something massive surged out of the pond, blocking the sunlight and casting a shadow. A giant fish. Luca, on the verge of being eaten by that fish, was struggling in a power contest.

Judging immediately that I needed to help Luca, I used a card I had kept in my pocket. [Crush] Mana quickly shot forward, grabbing the fish’s body and beginning to crush it. However, its skin was extremely tough, and not a single scratch appeared.

“Shoot!!!” As soon as Kailuk shot an arrow, Grace began to freeze the pond. The pond quickly froze over. But the giant fish, which had even bounced off Kailuk’s arrow, rushed back into the pond. Crackkk!!! Breaking the ice, the fish entered the pond again. Luca was pulled inside too.

“It’s dangerous.” Just as I was debating whether to go into the water immediately to save Luca. A splash of water surged high. “Luca!!!” As soon as Grace recovered Luca, who had surged high. The pond regained its tranquility. As if nothing had happened.

*

The first day ended in failure. Luca, having regained her senses, went back into the pond, but the fish did not reappear. “It seems only one comes out per day.” That was the conclusion we reached, and we immediately packed up and left.

The tiger beast-kin, as if she already knew we would fail, was waiting in front. “You’re not going to tell us what that is, are you?” “Those who undertake the trial must find out for themselves.” Quickly ignoring our question, she closed the wooden door.

The sun set, and we spent another day in the beast-kin village. “From tomorrow, I’m just going to rest nearby.” Noah said she wouldn’t join from the next trial, and I told her that was fine. Because she had a seizure just by touching that water. Given that it seemed to damage the Apostle of the Evil God, perhaps it was something similar to water of purification? I couldn’t send Noah to such a dangerous? place. She wasn’t our party member anyway, so there was no reason for her to go. Maybe it would be better for her to just stay quietly, receiving hospitality as a guest.

Immediately after dinner, we were given free time. Kailuk left, saying he would spar with the beast-kin warriors. Luca was taken somewhere. Noah had gone to find the children she saw earlier. Naturally, only Grace and I remained.

“I got the information you asked for.” As expected of a master of affinity, Grace had somehow brought back the information I wanted from the beast-kin. We immediately got permission from the chieftain and headed somewhere.

“Here!” The place we arrived at with Grace was the only orphanage in the beast-kin village. In front of it, numerous child beast-kin were gathered, playing together.

“Beast-kin raise children communally as a rule. They say all children over 3 years old become independent from their parents and are raised in the orphanage.” “Isn’t that too much?” “Maybe beast-kin are different. Outside, don’t animals and monsters also become independent and not live under their parents?” “That’s true.” Indeed, apart from the human race, other animals and monsters do become independent as soon as they are no longer infants. But still, isn’t 3 years old too early?

“But is there really information about Kaman here?” “Exactly speaking, they say this is the only place in the beast-kin village with materials for study.” Knock knock. When we knocked on the large door and went inside. Small beast-kin children came rushing out.

“Wow! An elf!” The children were very happy to see Grace. “That person is too scary!!!” They didn’t like me much. Well, thanks to that, all the children swarmed Grace, and I could comfortably enter inside.

Inside, the proportion of children was high, but there were quite a few adult beast-kin as well. These were all teachers who taught the child beast-kin. One of them, a goat beast-kin, approached me. “I heard from the chieftain. You’re looking for history books?” “Yes.” “Please follow me here.”

Following her, leaving Grace behind, I arrived alone at a building in the corner. “This is where we keep materials to teach the children. I hope you find what you’re looking for among these.” She gave me the key and left. Watching her, I felt she was very gentle. Perhaps it’s a beast-kin trait, a feeling that they trust people easily and don’t have bad thoughts. There was a reason why beast-kin were popular even within the labyrinth city. Didn’t they say that if you provoked them unnecessarily, a deep-level explorer who suspiciously liked beast-kin would come looking for you? Well, I’ll think about that later. I opened the door with the key and went inside.

The moment I entered, I felt a sense of neatness. A資料室 that was too well-organized, like the inside of a Magic Tower. Since most of the beast-kin village, to put it nicely, overflowed with wild beauty, I felt a slight sense of incongruity.

“Ah.” I roughly knew the reason. Traces of the chieftain’s mana visible here and there. As a rare mage among beast-kin. He seemed closer to being a mage than a beast-kin. Thanks to that, I could read well-preserved and neat books.

But even reading them, it wasn’t easy to find the desired information. The sheer volume of books was one thing, but. At least a keyword about what era Kaman was in and what he did here would be nice. ‘If a statue was even built for him, he must not have been an ordinary person.’ But information about Kaman was not easy to find. Nevertheless, one thing I did gain was.

[About Wildness] I found a book that might be helpful to Luca.

*

Second day of the trial. Excluding Noah, the four of us gathered before the pond again. But we were different from yesterday. Because I had roughly figured out the strategy.

“The master of this pond can only be harmed by a beast-kin possessing [Wildness]. Moreover, this water is sacred water passed down through generations of the beast-kin village, so it’s not affected by magic.” In other words, no one but Luca could inflict damage. “Then what can we do? Should we just stand on the side and eat grass?” But then there would be no reason to call in outsiders to the beast-kin village in the first place.

“Our role is to keep Luca safe and subdue her in case of an emergency.” “Huh?” “Wildness Release is the act of awakening a beast-kin’s instincts. We must not interfere.” Perhaps the chieftain allowing me to go to the orphanage’s library was also naturally intended to let me know this information.

“Are we really supposed to just stand around doing nothing?” “Yes.” That’s the conclusion. We can’t do anything anyway. So, the three of us kept a suitable distance from the pond and waited for Luca.

Immediately, splashes of water surged up, and Luca and the fish engaged in a fierce battle. But it was different from yesterday. Perhaps because we weren’t nearby, the fish didn’t disappear and continued fighting Luca.

“…Ugh.” Luca got injured and came back, got treated, and even after going back, the fish reappeared. It seemed they could keep fighting as long as there was no external intervention. That’s how two hours passed. As time went by, Luca’s body accumulated more injuries, her already few words decreased, and malice began to appear in her eyes. But despite that, we only watched her. Because, after all, it was her turn now.

7th challenge. Luca inflicted a significant wound on the fish’s body. And I knew that was when we had to step in.

“Uwaaaaaaaa!!!!!” Luca shouted as if using [Taunt]. A red aura erupted haphazardly around her. Simultaneously, her eyes began to glow red.

“Are we supposed to step in now?” To Grace’s question, I quietly waited for the moment. “Not yet.” It was within the range permitted by the status window.

Luca immediately slumped down. “Luca!!!!” Grace rushed forward desperately, but I raised my hand to stop her. Seeing my signal and Kailuk quietly closing his eyes, she sat back down.

“Uuuh……!!!” Luca got up. And dove into the pond one more time. Before long, along with the water splashing high into the sky, the fish and Luca burst out again. The two struggled in a contest of strength. But Luca was being pushed back. Her axe flew out and fell near us, embedding itself in the ground. Did she lose? Just as that thought was dominating my mind. Mutated claws appeared on Luca’s body along with a red aura. Slash!! When she slashed with her claws, intense claw marks were left on the fish’s body.

The biggest achievement so far. “The attack finally connected properly!!” Grace shouted as if she was happy. But unfortunately, that was as far as it went. Because Luca, hit by the fish’s thrashing, flew towards us.

Thud!! Bang!! Roll roll!! Luca, who bounced a few times on the ground and rolled before stopping. Simultaneously, the fish went back into the pond.

“That was close.” “I think we can do it next time!!!” While Kailuk and Grace were feeling regretful. Luca slowly began to get up. And.

Ding!!! 『Killing intent has been detected. Drawing 3 cards.』 3 cards were drawn. Seeing that, Grace and Kailuk immediately understood what was happening.

“Get ready!!” The moment I shouted, Grace stepped forward and Kailuk fell back. And immediately, a red aura erupted haphazardly from Luca.

“Grrrrrrr!!!!” As if she had completely become a wild beast. Luca stared at us with two crimson eyes that had lost reason, drooling from her mouth.

“Is that Wildness Release?” “Yes. Though it’s not complete.” Luca뿜어냈다 a red aura. A power unique to beast-kin, different from mana. She couldn’t control it and erupted it haphazardly.

“Why did they tell us to subdue something like this? The deep-level explorer could just do it, couldn’t he?” “There must be a reason. There’s no way anything in this world is without reason.” I checked my hand. [Freeze(2)] [Force Field(2)] [Shield(1)] Not bad. At least I had cards good for subduing Luca, who was worked up. Immediately, I threw a card. [Freeze]

[Freeze] enhanced by [Cat’s Paw]. Cold air began to gather around me. As if she sensed that was the start of the battle. Luca quickly ran towards us. On four legs, not two.

“Huh?!” Grace, who hadn’t expected Luca to run on all fours, reacted slowly. And more than that, Luca’s movements became incredibly fast. Approaching Grace at a speed much faster than usual, she swung her red claws. But she flinched. Perhaps Luca saw Grace’s face, but her swinging arm stopped momentarily.

“It seems this is why they called us.” Luca hasn’t completely lost her reason. There is hesitation in her attack because she is worried Grace might get hurt.

I immediately shot out cold air. But Luca strangely twisted her body sideways and dodged it immediately. While the freeze passed through the air, Kailuk shot a subduing arrow. Swishhhh!! Bang!!! The arrow hit Luca’s body accurately. The arrowhead was blunted to remove lethality. But the enchantment within it activated. Luca’s whole body vibrated. As if shockwaves were massaging her entire body. Seeing that, I also threw a card. [Force Field]

Immediately, a thick shield appeared in front of me. And I manipulated it. After going to the Magic Tower, manipulating magic had become a little easier. Inverting the force field and aligning it horizontally with the ground, I brought it down towards Luca. Boom!!!! A powerful shockwave spread around.

“Grrr…” Luca, pinned by the force field, moved her legs and arms, but Grace and Kailuk climbed onto her, preventing her from moving at all. “Grrrrrrrr!!!!” Luca, who was making strange noises and flailing her limbs, stopped moving. I immediately removed the force field and checked her condition. Luca was lying unconscious. It seems today’s training is over.

“It seems it will take quite some time.” “Indeed.” With that thought, I stepped outside. But the tiger beast-kin standing before us greeted us.

“Faster than I expected?” “Really?” “It seems you even managed to control her a bit in the middle. There is great trust between you!” The tiger beast-kin’s cold tone was gone, and she seemed genuinely happy for us. But then something seemed to occur to her. She switched back to cold soldier mode. “Still, it won’t take long. Hurry to the village and get her treated.”

*

Night fell again. Luca was taken somewhere again. Excluding Kailuk, who had gone for training. I came to the orphanage with Noah and Grace.

“There was a place like this!!!” Noah rubbed her hands and entered the orphanage. Unlike an Apostle of the Evil God, she easily got along with the children. While the attention was drawn to the arrival of a new face. Grace and I headed back to the library.

“It’s certainly neat for a beast-kin village.” “Right?” “So, we just need to find the name Kaman, right?” We immediately began rummaging through books. With two people instead of one, the speed was doubled. Perhaps thanks to that. We managed to find a clue.

“Could it be this?” What Grace brought was a book titled [Chieftain Genealogy]. It contained information about the chieftains who had led the beast-kin village so far. And among them was the name of a chieftain who had led the beast-kin village for a short period of 5 years. Kaman. That was the name of the beast-kin chieftain from about 500 years ago.