Chapter 84
On the day a storm raged, the lightning spirit that had contracted with Whid nodded in agreement.
Though, as a spirit, it had no need to flap its wings, it flapped them just like Whid.
Crackle!
-What kind of place is it? You’ll know when you get there. It isn’t as large as the villa, but it has a certain charm. It’s also very precious to the four of us.
As a lower-ranking spirit, the lightning spirit had few ways to express itself.
It could not speak, either.
But perhaps because they were both spirits, Silestin somehow understood what the lightning spirit was saying.
-You have to give her credit for being so sociable.
“Silestin has always been like that.”
-But are we going to raise Eit slowly?
Elestra asked, pretending to be curious.
That was because Jade could raise Eit to a higher-ranking spirit immediately if he put his mind to it, yet he chose not to.
“There’s no reason to rush, is there? We have an interpreter, too.”
Jade chuckled as he looked at Silestin chatting with Whid and the lightning spirit.
Elestra, who was beside him, also had more than enough ability to serve as an interpreter; she just didn’t do it often.
-True. At the level of a high-ranking spirit, it wouldn’t add much to our current strength—even if it is the lightning spirit with the greatest destructive power.
“If it becomes a highest-ranking spirit, will it be stronger than you?”
-In terms of pure destructive power? But it depends on the situation. And don’t underestimate the years we’ve lived. We climbed up from the bottom, too. I was once an Undine myself.
“I wonder what Elestra was like when she was a snot-nosed little kid.”
-Hmph. No one but me knows what I looked like back then.
“I think the Water Spirit King would know.”
-Gasp!
Perhaps it was something Elestra had never expected to hear.
A crack appeared in Elestra’s previously relaxed expression.
“I’ll remember that and ask about it later.”
-D-do you really need to remember that? The present is what matters, not the past!
“I’m curious. About Elestra’s dark history.”
-Hahaha! We’re almost home!
Unlike usual, Elestra stammered and raised her voice as she subtly fled toward Whid.
She thought there was no need to continue the conversation and make him remember it.
-I’m curious too! Let’s be sure to ask her together later!
“Sure.”
-Why are you curious about that…….
With Silestin joining in as well, Elestra, who had naturally tried to change the subject, pulled a long face.
At the same time, she blamed herself for opening her mouth.
It seemed the situation had reached this point because she had brought up something useless for no reason.
Crackle!
Just then, Eit returned after exploring the surroundings at Jade’s command.
Unlike the lightning spirit contracted with Whid, Eit had the form of a winged male lion. It approached Jade, rubbed its head against him once, and reported the results of its search.
“What did it say?”
-It says there don’t seem to be any spirit stones nearby with a similar aura.
“So they’re rare even in the Great Forest.”
-We’re still in the outskirts. It’ll be different once we go farther in.
Eit reported diligently, but unfortunately, Jade could not understand what it was saying.
So Silestin translated for him.
“Good work, Eit.”
Grrr!
Jade chuckled at Eit’s lionlike cry after its form had changed and patted its head.
It had a mane made of lightning, but it was much smaller than a real male lion, so it looked cute rather than fierce.
Perhaps because its behavior had been influenced by Whid, it was more like a cat than a lion.
-We’re here!
While Jade was praising Eit, they reached the house where they had lived in the Great Forest.
It was much smaller than the villa in Baden Village, but it was cozier.
He had built it himself, too.
-The only thing that’s changed is the weeds growing like crazy.
Unlike Silestin, who immediately scurried around the area upon arrival, Elestra checked the vegetable garden first.
Perhaps because she surprisingly enjoyed tending the garden despite not being an earth spirit, Elestra furrowed her brow and stared at it.
Rooooar!
Whid roared several times as if proclaiming the area his territory.
He was announcing that he had grown stronger yet again.
In fact, his body had grown even larger over the past few days.
He was now nearly five meters in size.
-The villa is nice, but I think home is still the best.
“Because we have so many memories here. It was hard at times, too.”
-Looking back, I think even that has become a memory. It’s a time that will never come back.
“But we didn’t live here for all that long.”
-Does time matter? What matters is how you spent it!
Jade shook his head at Silestin, who was even more energetic than usual today.
It was obvious that responding to her would only make her louder.
Besides, he didn’t need to humor her every time.
Grrr!
-Whid thinks so too, right?
Crackle!
Leaving Whid, who was busy making his presence known, and the lightning spirit, who was frantically exploring the unfamiliar place, Jade went inside the house.
A little later, after checking the room, which had not changed in the slightest, Jade went out into the backyard.
As in the vegetable garden, weeds had grown thickly, but Jade calmly crouched down and began digging into the earth.
-Are we planting it here?
“Yeah. No matter how I think about it, I can’t imagine a better place. It’s on the outskirts, so there aren’t any powerful monsters, and even if there are, they can’t come anywhere near this place.”
-I hope the spirit tree grows well.
“If it dies, there’s nothing we can do.”
-It won’t die easily.
Jade planted the spirit tree sapling the Merchants’ Guild had given him as a gift.
Then, as if she had been waiting for it, Elestra watered it.
She could have summoned an Undine, but Elestra deliberately sprinkled it with water imbued with her own energy.
She did so while praying that the spirit tree would grow well.
“I asked Arelia, and she said we could just plant it.”
-It doesn’t need anything else. Despite its appearance, it grows much like any other tree. It’s simply friendly with spirits, and spirits like it.
“It doesn’t need mana like a spirit, either, so there’s nothing I can really do for it.”
-Sometimes, simply waiting is enough.
“I should come see this little guy more often.”
Jade said as he looked down at the still-small spirit tree.
He hoped that it would eventually become a true spirit tree.
-It will grow well because there’s plenty of mana and the soil is fertile. It’s safe, too. Who would approach the place where the king of the western forest resides? You don’t need to worry too much.
“I hope it’s grown enough to look noticeably different by the next time we come.”
-That’s too much to ask. Even a sapling can’t grow that fast.
“I’m just looking forward to it. Do you really think I’m seriously wishing for that?”
Jade gently stroked the sapling with a finger, as he would Whid and Eit, then turned around.
Now that he had planted the spirit tree, he intended to take care of what he had actually come for.
Crunch, crunch!
The Twin-Headed Troll, which had torn apart a Minotaur that had fearlessly charged it in an instant, chewed without pause.
It had seized the Minotaur’s thighs in both arms and was tearing into them.
Rooooar!
Whid, high in the sky, roared disdainfully at the troll eating arrogantly as if it were the king of this place.
It seemed to think the troll was being far too arrogant over killing a mere Minotaur.
Grr?
At Whid’s roar from the sky, the Twin-Headed Troll, which had been leisurely enjoying its meal, turned its heads.
It looked exactly toward where Whid was.
-Blow it away, Whid!
-At Whid’s current level, he should be able to take on the Twin-Headed Troll.
Even after seeing Whid, the Twin-Headed Troll did not become frightened.
It seemed to think it could take on an immature drake.
After all, Whid was clearly smaller than it was.
Perhaps because of that, the Twin-Headed Troll also roared at the sky.
Raaaar! Graaah!
Its two heads howled simultaneously.
It was a challenging roar, as if daring Whid to come at it.
Jade, who was riding on Whid’s back, chuckled at the sight.
“Get it.”
Perhaps because it was confident in its own strength, the Twin-Headed Troll let out a fierce roar at Whid instead of being intimidated, so Jade switched to Eit.
He moved out of the way so Whid could rampage freely.
Crackle!
Perhaps it sensed Jade’s intention.
No sooner had Jade switched mounts than Whid unleashed a breath attack at the Twin-Headed Troll for the first time in a long while.
But even after taking Whid’s breath attack head-on, the Twin-Headed Troll was unharmed.
It endured because its hide was thick, but also because it naturally possessed considerable resistance to elemental attacks.
Grrrr!
An ordinary troll might have been stunned even if it did not die instantly, but the Twin-Headed Troll was different.
As if proving it was no ordinary mutation among trolls, it endured the attack head-on, and Whid scowled.
It wasn’t that he had expected to finish it with one breath, but the troll was far too unscathed.
Roooooar!
By contrast, the Twin-Headed Troll was feeling extremely emboldened.
The breath had been more powerful than expected, but still bearable, so the Twin-Headed Troll thumped its chest and taunted Whid.
As if to say that was all Whid had.
But Whid did not fall for the Twin-Headed Troll’s provocation.
Crackle!
Instead, Whid assessed the situation with the utmost calm and attacked the Twin-Headed Troll.
He kept targeting the weakness of the Twin-Headed Troll, which could not fly.
The breath’s effect was not very great because of its strong resistance, but the important thing was that it did have some effect.
Whid relentlessly exploited that fact.
Raaaargh!
Avoiding a direct confrontation and continuing to fire breath attacks, the Twin-Headed Troll let out an irritated roar.
It also uprooted and threw nearby rocks and trees, but there was no way its attacks, hurled in its agitation, could be accurate.
Whid instead used the Twin-Headed Troll’s attacks against it.
He drove a breath attack into the opening that appeared for an instant.
Boom!
After gradually accumulating damage like that, Whid performed a body slam by dropping from high altitude the moment the Twin-Headed Troll’s movements became sluggish.
He used gravity to multiply the impact.
Unaware of this, the Twin-Headed Troll simply threw a punch, and one of its arms shattered as it crashed into the ground.
Squelch!
Taking advantage of the opening, Whid climbed onto the Twin-Headed Troll’s body.
He pinned the Twin-Headed Troll down with his weight, biting down on and pulling its right head with his jaws and its left head with his tail.
Gnnnngh!
Once Whid had bitten and seized its necks in an instant, the Twin-Headed Troll went berserk.
It struggled desperately to escape the crisis somehow.
At the same time, it regenerated its right arm with its absurd regenerative ability, but Whid reacted faster.
His mana-filled forelegs gouged into its chest and tore out its heart.
Guhurk!
With its heart ripped out while still alive, the Twin-Headed Troll collapsed with an agonized death cry.
Despite the imposing impression it had made at first, its end was utterly anticlimactic.
It had fallen without even putting up much resistance.
Rooooar!
Whid, on the other hand, celebrated his victory by chewing on the Twin-Headed Troll’s heart.
As dictated by the law of the jungle, he claimed his spoils as the victor.
-Well done, our Whid!
Crackle! Crackle!
Silestin and the lightning spirit flew over to Whid, who was reveling in the joy of victory.
They had come to celebrate the victory with him.
Although she did not fly over with them, Elestra also wore a proud expression.
Elestra gave him high marks because he had won not simply through physical prowess, but by using his wits.
-He’s grown so much.
“He even knows how to copy techniques.”
-You mean moving mana?
“Yeah. Other monsters also use the method of simply enhancing their physical abilities with mana, but what Whid used just now was similar to human techniques. It was even more precise and streamlined than the beastfolk’s.”
-He sees that every day, after all. But to think he’d already know how to apply it in actual combat. Whid might be a genius, too.
Elestra looked at Whid with eyes full of affection.
Like a mother looking at her child.
Whuuu!
Just then, Whid came dragging the Twin-Headed Troll’s corpse, whining.
Because it was bigger than he was, he could not fly with it and had dragged it along the ground. Then he stopped in front of Jade and looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
He looked as if he were asking to be praised.
“You rascal.”
Since Jade knew exactly why Whid had dragged the Twin-Headed Troll’s corpse over, he let out a wry chuckle.