Chapter 38
Fwish!
'Ow, that stings!'
Combat underwater was no easy feat.
They were clearly much weaker than me, but the difference in ‘environment’ was more oppressive than I'd expected.
While I had to run around the coral zone on two legs, my enemies darted about with their tail fins flapping.
The most breathing room I had was right after I summoned the mermaid horde.
Ding-
[Activating skill ‘Confusion.’]
Still, I wasn't just taking a beating. I'd learned a trick from the previous fight.
I used a skill to confuse the enemies, and those that came within a certain range began fighting among themselves.
Thanks to that, I barely escaped being massacred within a few minutes.
The ones firing spears from afar were another matter... but inside the dense coral zone, numerical superiority was meaningless.
'Take out the ones in the distance first!'
I split up my forces. If I rashly leaped outside the coral zone, I'd end up like a porcupine, so I had my summons deal with the spear throwers.
The strategy was a huge success.
In what felt like about two hours, I obtained around 250 intermediate essences.
Ding-
[Summoning time has ended.]
[The summons are being dismissed.]
The second group of mermaids I summoned dispersed like smoke and vanished. Every one of them emitted a faint glow from its body. They seemed to be beings created entirely from my mana.
'......The haul's pretty good. So what now?'
I looked at the boss that remained.
A wide-open clearing stretched across the middle of the coral zone. Right in its center, a gigantic crayfish sat there, stubbornly holding its ground. Its sturdy green carapace was striking, as were the pincers tucked tightly against its body as though it were hunkering down.
Fortunately, I'd been able to figure out the monster's attack style in advance.
'...It looks like a mantis shrimp.'
It was a species commonly called a mantis shrimp. It normally kept its pincers tucked in, then shot them out like springs when prey approached, striking its opponent with explosively powerful force.
They said it could even break most ordinary shells.
'......It should be worth a shot.'
Now that I knew its means of attack, I found myself thinking it might be worth fighting.
I kicked off the coral hard and shot forward.
Rumble-!!!
'...!?'
But I instantly sensed that something had gone wrong.
The instant I moved, one of its arms shot out.
I thought I was well beyond its reach, but something came flying toward me at incredible speed.
Wham-!
'Urgh!!!'
I felt every bone in my body vibrate.
It was like being hit head-on by a gigantic dud rocket.
Despite being underwater, I was shoved backward at insane speed, and only came to a slow stop after smashing through several coral formations.
'Auuugh...'
Tingling.
My joints creaked, and I couldn't feel my skin.
My vision blurred from the dizziness, and I barely managed to hide myself among the coral and recover for a while.
Watching the thing pound away outside as it searched for me, I thought,
'......It was a ranged attack. I don't know whether it was a water cannon or what.'
That much was certain. Unless its arm was made of rubber, I had been far too distant to be hit directly.
And that meant... a hulking creature whose upper body alone measured at least three meters was more agile than ordinary mermaids and even possessed a ranged striking technique.
If I charged in carelessly, I'd get all my teeth knocked out with one punch.
'......Let's be careful.'
If things were like this, I'd have to revise my plan.
My original strategy had been to dodge its attacks and harass it as I had at the lighthouse, but now I had no choice but to engage it directly. I had to break its carapace before I could do anything.
And if I succeeded in getting close and breaking its carapace...
...!
Suddenly, I thought of the terrifying parasitic wasps from movies.
Once I'd finished planning, I made my way through the coral toward it, moving stealthily so it wouldn't sense my mana waves.
Before long, I reached the underside of the mantis shrimp and kicked the lower end of my trident upward, aiming it at its carapace.
Because of my claws, stabbing it directly was awkward.
Rumble- Crack!
'I... I did it!'
Fortunately, it worked. I quickly leaped up and grabbed the broken carapace.
As the attacked creature twisted its body wildly like a whirlwind, I kissed my ring and plunged it deep into the flesh.
'A-aaah!!!!!'
From there on, it was total chaos.
The rotational force sent me flying, and I somehow hid among the coral and ran for my life while it smashed up the entire area trying to find me.
The mana I sensed was only slightly stronger than the lighthouse boss's. But this place was its perfect home turf.
In the end, I was 'grazed' by its attacks until I was nearly out of it, and only after quite some time did I get a chance to counterattack.
At some point, the mantis shrimp began slowing down rapidly. I sensed that the Pygmies who had infiltrated it were doing their job and delivered the final blow.
'Eyeball—!!!!'
Wham...!
A boss-defeated message appeared.
***
Plop-!
The moment I came out, I collapsed onto the bed.
My mana was completely drained, and I was exhausted.
At least my bodily injuries had healed completely.
"But seriously, what on earth is this..."
I'd been too eager to escape to examine it beforehand.
Forcing my drooping eyes open, I took out the item I'd obtained.
[Cradle of Regeneration Blueprint (Consumable)]
-------------------------------------
A blueprint carried by the Warden of the Cradle.
Creates a space of absolute recovery.
Status: Usable
Use effect: Acquire design knowledge
Increases base recovery speed
------------------------------------
Shop purchase price: - G
Shop sale price: 0 G
------------------------------------
......0 G? Seriously, all sorts of weird things keep popping up.
I used it immediately.
To be honest, I was disappointed that I couldn't put it to use right away, but I was a craftsman, after all.
Even if it took some time, I wanted to try making it.
And so I drifted off to sleep.
'W-what is this!!!'
But when I looked at the blueprint in the morning, I nearly fainted.
The complexity was absurd.
The one fortunate thing was that the materials themselves were simple, but their quantities were anything but.
‘5,500 Regenerative Corals or Immortal Tree Cores, 1,800 Intermediate Essences, 1 Special Essence, and 250 Advanced Essences.’
......The wood alone costs 3.63 million G.
"They gave me this blueprint so I could make it, right?"
Considering the process of scraping out the thread-like core at the exact center of each tree, it would take at least several months.
Thinking I wouldn't be able to sleep at night, I let out a deep sigh.
Thirsty, I opened the door and found Han Jihye sitting at the table.
She crossed her arms when she saw me.
"Did you sleep well, Lady Raebi?"
"Hehe... I opened the door and came out first, Ms. Jihye. You overslept, didn't you?"
Han Jihye gave me an enigmatic smile.
"It's five in the morning, Lady Raebi."
"......What? No way."
That couldn't be. I'd definitely fallen asleep around one, and as always, once I fell asleep, I couldn't wake up easily.
It wasn't as if I'd merely woken up—I felt completely refreshed. Could I really have slept only four hours?
But Han Jihye silently pointed at the clock. The hour hand was pointing exactly at five.
"I-it really is?"
"You seem to be in a good mood. Shall I wake the kitchen attendant?"
"No, I'll go out to eat with you, Ms. Jihye."
"Pardon?"
I needed a change of pace.
I made Han Jihye come along on a walk, and we had a decent breakfast somewhere outside.
After that, whenever I had a spare moment, I worked on the materials every day.
I repeatedly extracted the cores, put the massive amount of waste into my inventory, and deleted it.
One day, I suddenly grew curious about where it all went, but a message appeared saying, 'Entry is not yet possible.'
There was too much to do, so I gave up on it for the time being.
After that, I gradually got the hang of it, and my speed steadily increased as the days passed.
By the time I had painstakingly extracted all 5,500 cores, a month had already passed.
By then, everyone except the failing students had completed their traditional-subject courses.
"Hello, everyone! I'm Enrico Meitner, and starting today, I'll be teaching 'Gate Materials Science' and 'Item Crafting'! Nice to meet youuu!"
The Hunter Theory term had begun. Other than Monster Behavior Studies, all the remaining subjects were electives.
Naturally, I chose Materials Science and Crafting, where I could meet fellow newly enrolled students who dreamed of becoming craftsmen. I also spotted one familiar face among them.
And, for some reason, I was assigned a teacher who made me want to punch him in the mouth.
"As you~ all know~, the field you chose is the only one in the first semester with a practical exam! It's 'Item Crafting,' so of course it would, right?"
'Hmm. Is the translation weird, or is that person weird?'
It didn't really matter, I supposed.
"Teacher Enrico. I have a question."
"Yesss! Student Raebi."
"Does the practical exam include using what we make?"
"Only making it. For reference, you won't need to take a separate exam in the second semester either. The judges in the game will score you directly."
After that, the classes proper began.
Gate Materials Science covered the types of magical beasts, the body parts that could be put to use, and materials that could be harvested from dungeons.
Of course, these were things I'd already been studying in advance.
When I passed the test in only two days, Enrico was overjoyed and said,
"Student Raebi is the fastest person to pass! Your learning speed is S, and your score is 97! Unfortunately, your written explanation in the applied section was a little lacking!"
'...Aw, man.'
I was disappointed. Since Materials Science was simple theory, perfect scores occasionally appeared, so I'd rushed it too much.
But when learning speed was added in as well, I still ranked a clear first overall, and all the students looked at me with expressions that said, 'Whoa.'
But then, someone suddenly raised a hand.
"I object. Even if it isn't a perfect score, this is too fast. I request a 'student verification.'"
'Student verification?'
……It meant exactly what it sounded like.
Several students randomly posed questions, and the person being verified solved them.
It wasn't particularly difficult, but I heard it was rarely done. After all, passing theory only required a minimum score.
Then who, exactly, had made such an annoying proposal?
"That's a legitimate concern. I'll approve it, Student Li Qin. Wow—I'm nervous too, since this is my first time. You'll do well, right, Student Raebi?"
Li Qin Haiyan.
The Chinese clan April had mentioned.
......You're doing something you'll regret.