Chapter 283
You Should Have Said You Had Experience Sooner
“There’s something big under the swamp, be careful.”
As soon as Sherlock summoned the mud eagle, he immediately warned his companions: “When I summoned the mud eagle, I felt a lot of pressure coming from the swamp.”
Normally, summoning a mud eagle felt like pulling a few clumps out of half-kneaded, sticky dough. But Sherlock felt as though the dough was squeezing his hands from all directions as he pulled.
This usually meant there was something massive moving in the swamp, exerting pressure. Or, there was some kind of barrier beneath the swamp.
Just in case, Sherlock first alerted them to the most dangerous possibility.
And soon, his warning came to use—
The ground suddenly began to shake violently, causing Sherlock to stumble and almost fall.
At this moment, a gray thread shot out from behind him, hanging him from a tree.
Sherlock breathed a sigh of relief. But before he could express his gratitude, the ground began to shake a second, more violent time—
It was a bizarre, giant creature, about fifteen to sixteen meters long, with an oval shell on its back.
It resembled a giant tortoise, a soft-shelled turtle, and a cockroach. Its shell was about six to seven meters wide at its broadest, making its volume six times larger than Haina’s bedroom. It had uprooted trees as it emerged.
Its head was a ferocious, bare white bone, but the gaps between the bones were completely clogged with damp, soft mud, making its head look like a giant taro.
Its limbs were not flat like a turtle’s but were thick and powerful—also made of bone and clay. Its shell was made of heavy black rock.
As soon as it appeared, it swallowed a headless Und nearby. It made a crispy crunching sound, like chewing on a crunchy snack.
Eivass’s expression suddenly turned solemn.
“This is a Mud Skeleton Tortoise,” Eivass warned, “at least Fourth Tier—and these creatures are gregarious!”
This creature was a classic gregarious low-level monster from the 0 version.
Its strength wasn’t high, but it was disgusting… because they were trap-triggered monsters. Once you stepped on one, a large group would rise from all directions, surrounding you in an instant. And with such a large volume, they could easily split the party apart… leaving fragile professions alone was dangerous, even with a Tier advantage.
Usually, the bigger this creature was, the stronger it was, but without other Mud Skeleton Tortoises for comparison, Eivass wasn’t sure if this one was large or medium-sized.
There was also a Sixth Tier elite version called a Dragon Skeleton Tortoise—after devouring a large number of bones, it turned into a dragon-headed Und covered in a turtle shell. Although not a dragon, it could breathe dragon’s breath.
…But while this creature was a minion in version 0, it wasn’t the case now!
Facing a giant turtle, two meters tall when lying down, capable of standing three to four meters tall, and fifteen to sixteen meters long… the few of them were truly in a difficult spot.
And the Mud Skeleton Tortoise was clearly highly aggressive.
As soon as it appeared, it let out an extremely unpleasant roar.
The sound, as if its throat was clogged with mud, triggered a terrible change.
Yellowish-brown ripples spread outwards from its body, softening the already soft mud and making it even more viscous and pliable. It was impossible to exert normal force, and the slippery, gooey surface was disgusting. Yet, it could swim freely in the muck, and its speed actually increased.
Fortunately, Lily was there—she reacted instantly, hanging her teammates onto trees one by one. They stood on the branches, their bodies secured by the gray spiderweb.
As the Mud Skeleton Tortoise charged towards a tree one of them was on, Lily quickly wiggled her fingers, swinging the companion on that tree to another location.
At least until the surrounding trees were knocked down, they should be safe… probably.
“Where is its weak point?”
Sherlock urgently asked Eivass.
For some reason, he subconsciously felt Eivass would know.
Or rather, as expected…
Eivass answered without hesitation: “A large area in the center of its back! But the thickness of its back shell is almost a meter…”
If a melee profession had a high enough level, they could climb up and finish it with one strike.
But now, it was clearly difficult for Lily, armed with a dagger, or Haina, fighting bare-handed… or even the juvenile Gryphon. It wasn’t that they couldn’t defeat it, but their attack range was too short, and they couldn’t penetrate that sticky, slippery, mud-covered rock armor.
This creature was a pain even in monster games… a hard shell covered in thick mud, continuously creating muddy terrain, and moving incredibly fast. If it ate Und, it could even heal.
Most importantly, the mud armor on its back was not Und tissue but pure rock. Eivass’s purification spells couldn’t remove it.
Eivass hesitated, wondering if he should summon the Butterfly of Rebellion.
…But the problem wasn’t just about using a powerful summon against a small monster.
It was because they were in a swamp, and dense forest. There were marsh gases everywhere, and this forest was connected to the surrounding mountains.
If he used a turret-type summon like the Butterfly of Rebellion here… it could directly cause a massive forest fire.
But Eivass made up his mind.
If they were truly in danger, no matter the cost, he couldn’t hold back…
“Let me try first!”
Sherlock shouted decisively.
—This complex situation was precisely when a Mage should act.
He casually grabbed a mud eagle from nearby and transformed it into pure elemental energy.
Eivass reminded him: “Don’t use Earth attribute attacks against it!”
“You didn’t say that earlier!”
Sherlock cursed: “Lily, throw the wine from my backpack over!”
He was too small now, so his belongings were with Lily.
Lily reacted quickly.
Sherlock had already organized those items by category, so she easily found the glass wine bottle, about a finger high, like a lipstick case.
She quickly threw it towards Sherlock. Sherlock lifted the Earth elemental energy in his hand and rolled it over.
The brittle glass shattered instantly. The glass and the alcohol mixed into the vortex in Sherlock’s hand, and a fierce change occurred, erupting into a sticky flame that crackled and burned.
Eivass recognized Sherlock’s spell.
It was “Sharp Rock Spear,” an Earth attribute spell.
But Sherlock had clearly mastered the art of attribute conversion; he was now casting this spell by mixing alcohol with some Fire attribute mana.
—But could this penetrate the shell?
However, Eivass quickly realized—Sherlock wasn’t trying to penetrate the shell, but to enter through the fleshy part!
The rock couldn’t be penetrated, but the skeleton mixed with mud still could be!
In that case…
Eivass had an inspiration.
He took out two tubes of chamomile essential oil and Immort essential oil from his pocket, crushed their stoppers, and poured the contents of both tubes into his left palm.
“I beseech the Candlemaster, God of Holy Number Three, God of Sin Thorns Binding the Body, God of Burning Body Chasing Darkness—”
Eivass chanted loudly: “Grant me the fire of purification!”
The essential oils in his hand immediately ignited, emitting golden flames.
Eivass then quickly placed his burning left hand on Sherlock’s right hand, startling him.
“You—”
Sherlock was about to curse when he realized his spell was not being interfered with.
Instead, the golden flames were absorbed, accelerating the formation of his spell.
Finally, the flames in Sherlock’s hand condensed into an arrow without a fletching.
But its tip burned with golden light.
Sherlock looked at Eivass with disbelief, then gritted his teeth and released the spell he had never seen before.
A golden light shot out—Sherlock guided the spell’s trajectory with his will.
It pierced into the Mud Skeleton Tortoise’s head. The fire of purification instantly melted the bones, and the remaining mud could not stop Sherlock’s spell.
It easily penetrated into the Mud Skeleton Tortoise’s body.
After a while, it swayed and fell. Small sparks of light could be seen erupting from within. The bones quietly burned with golden flames, gradually turning into nothingness, while the mud, losing its support, also gradually melted.
It soon lost its form, leaving only its giant shell and the mud filling the five gaps.
“That was dangerous…”
Eivass sighed. “It seems we…”
Just as he was about to say something, a notification appeared before him:
[Killed a Fourth Tier monster, gained 26 Free Experience.]
Huh?
Eivass’s head snapped up, his eyes suddenly lighting up.
—There was experience?
“…It seems we need to help the villagers clear them out. Otherwise, it will be bad for them if they encounter danger.”
Eivass immediately changed his tune.
Update complete!
