Chapter 85
Jade continued exploring.
Whid would occasionally step forward as if he wanted to train as well, so they did not move very quickly, but Jade had been taking his time from the start and did not hurry.
He had never expected to find one on the first day.
-This is my first time this way.
“We haven’t come this deep before.”
-Heh, so you think you can handle it now?
Silestin nudged Jade with her elbow, grinning mischievously.
But Jade merely shrugged.
“You must’ve come because you’re confident, right?”
-I suppose. The fact that Jade, who always puts safety first, is venturing out like this means there must be something he can rely on.
“You only get one life. The Great Forest is one of the worst forbidden zones.”
-But you’re the king of the west, Jade!
Silestin giggled.
It was Jade who had shattered the Wolf King’s ambition.
Moreover, since he had taken beastfolk under his command and was effectively ruling the western Great Forest, Silestin wasn’t entirely joking.
There was a reason monsters didn’t even approach the area around Jade’s dwelling.
“Maybe because it’s a swamp. There are definitely a lot of lizardmen. Most are amphibian-type monsters.”
-Gross!
“A spirit herb or something? You’d think there’d be some here, but I can’t sense any.”
Jade smacked his lips.
Despite flying low and spreading his senses as far as possible, he could not sense anything with a particularly unusual aura.
There ought to be something like wild ginseng here, but strangely, he couldn’t see any.
-A spirit herb?
“To put it simply, you could call it a mysterious plant. They can live for hundreds or thousands of years and absorb the energy of nature.”
-Like the World Tree?
“It’s a little different.”
Even as Jade talked, Whid continued flying.
Whenever he spotted a lizardman that looked particularly strong, his eyes gleamed intensely.
They had fought ogres and minotaurs on the way here, but apparently that still wasn’t enough.
-Would finding one help a lot?
“It would. It makes your mana increase dramatically, though that’s only if you absorb it properly.”
Even now, his mana was at a level difficult to believe a human possessed, but by Jade’s standards, it was woefully insufficient.
Even with his current mana, it was difficult to summon four highest-ranking spirits.
He needed to be able to summon them before he could train or practice coordinating with them, but that was difficult for now.
-It’s only our first day, so let’s keep looking.
-There are easier ways, too.
The moment Elestra finished speaking, a canyon came into view.
Unusually, it was a massive canyon connected to the swamp, and a tremendous presence could be felt within it.
-It’s a basilisk!
Perhaps it had sensed Whid’s presence, because the enormous snake that had claimed a spot in the canyon opened its eyes.
It merely opened its eyes while coiled, yet it still exuded tremendous pressure.
Grrrr!
Whid seemed particularly intimidated by it; the instant their eyes met, Whid’s scales stood on end.
But the basilisk did not spare Whid even a glance.
It stared only at Jade from beginning to end.
-It’s definitely huge. I suppose that’s to be expected of a basilisk raised in the Great Forest.
“It’s no wonder this is one of the worst forbidden zones.”
Hiss!
At Jade’s mutter, the basilisk flicked its tongue.
As it did so, it slowly rose, and its size was astounding.
Even at a glance, it was well over twenty meters long.
Its torso was also extraordinarily thick.
-Be careful of the third eye on its forehead! It’s usually closed, but when it opens, it fires petrification rays!
Silestin said this as she inspected the cobra-like basilisk from every angle.
She had quickly explained the precautions.
“You two, stay back.”
Meeting the basilisk’s fixed gaze, Jade launched himself forward.
He landed on the ground so Whid and Eit would not get caught up in the fight.
Even so, Jade did not take his eyes off the basilisk either.
-We’ll join you!
“Of course. I’ll see how far I can get with my sword first, but I doubt I’ll be able to land an effective hit.”
The basilisk was a monster that humans regarded as another name for calamity.
Because it was so horrifyingly powerful, Jade drew his sword while raising his mana.
At that moment, the basilisk moved.
The instant Jade drew his sword, it swung its enormous tail.
Boom!
The tail attack came crashing down like lightning, shaking the very earth.
Its enormous size was one thing, but the force carried in its tail was monstrous.
Moreover, it was incredibly nimble for its tremendous size.
Seeing that its speed was anything but sluggish, Jade accelerated further and conjured an aura blade.
Vmmm!
As a vast amount of mana was poured into it, the sword began to howl.
The sheer amount of mana caused a sword cry to ring out on its own.
Even so, Jade compressed the aura, then compressed it again.
He had raised its density to the absolute limit.
Clang!
Yet even the aura blade sharpened as much as possible could not cut through the basilisk’s scales.
The aura blade was said to be able to cut anything, but the basilisk’s defensive power exceeded its destructive force.
“Hup!”
Seeing that he had done no more than leave a scratch, Jade quickly retreated.
If he made one wrong move, the basilisk might crush him, so Jade withdrew without hesitation.
Boom! Crash!
The basilisk swung its tail as if it had been waiting for that.
It used its elongated body to the fullest to drive Jade back.
‘As expected, it’s still too much for me.’
Because the difference in their size was so enormous, Jade avoided a direct confrontation.
He saw no reason to fight on terms favorable to the basilisk.
Of course, he was not simply running away.
Jade tried out every technique he had developed and practiced up to then.
He used them all at least once, even if they did not work.
Since he had to know his limits precisely in order to improve, Jade attacked the basilisk in various ways instead of becoming discouraged.
‘In the end, should I target its eyes or mouth?’
Jade’s gaze hardened.
He had tried attacking in various ways, but not one had landed effectively.
If anything, he had only provoked it.
Even though he was fighting as a Sword Master, no less.
-It’s about to spit poison darts! Brace yourself!
-Wouldn’t that be venom rather than poison darts?
-Same difference!
Perhaps Jade’s experiments had irritated it.
The basilisk’s upper body churned.
With its reptilian eyes gleaming eerily, it sprayed a brownish venomous liquid.
Sizzle!
It felt distinctly different from a breath attack, but it had one thing in common.
It was devastatingly powerful.
The venom, sprayed in a jet, melted everything into a sagging mess.
Trees and rocks, even the earth itself, melted away.
-From now on, be careful even when you breathe! You won’t die instantly, but the moment you inhale the poisonous mist, your physical abilities will plummet!
Silestin, who had fought a basilisk in the past, warned him incessantly.
She was worried Jade might breathe it in.
But Jade had already stopped breathing, as though he had anticipated it.
Kwooo! Kwooo!
The poisonous mist blanketed the area thickly, but the basilisk was not satisfied.
It continued spraying venom toward where Jade stood.
‘It’s still too much for me as a Sword Master. Then…’
-Is it finally my turn to step in?
-Aren’t you a bad match for it?
-No! I’m a perfect match for it! I’m the only one who can push this poisonous mist away!
Perhaps they had been thinking the same thing as Jade, because Silestin and Elestra both spoke up.
Both thought it was time for them to step in.
But Jade chose neither of them.
“Ignis.”
-Don’t you only call me when you really need me?
“I called you because it’s time to fight. Fighting is what you like most.”
-So that’s how you’re going to get out of it?
A sharp-featured man wreathed in flames appeared in midair.
It was Ignis, the highest-ranking Fire Spirit.
“Then should I summon you normally, too?”
-Forget it. I’d rather sleep in the spirit realm.
“Then why are you complaining?”
-Because it feels like you forgot about me?
Ignis grinned, shaking his long hair made of flames.
But despite saying that, his eyes were filled with delight at seeing Jade.
“As if I could forget you.”
-So it’s a basilisk this time.
“Yeah. Not a bad opponent, right?”
-Excellent. For warming up after so long. Spirit Armor?
“Yeah. Just you for now.”
Ignis’s smile deepened.
He was excited about fighting for the first time in a while.
Of course, it was disappointing that he could not rampage freely, but it was still a battle.
And since this was a basilisk, one of the powerful giant monsters, Ignis grinned and covered Jade’s body.
Flash! Fwoosh!
Meanwhile, the basilisk began firing petrification rays randomly.
Unable to sense even the slightest presence, it began shooting blindly in every direction.
But Jade was not foolish enough to be hit by such indiscriminate attacks.
Fwoosh!
The instant Ignis transformed into Spirit Armor, hot vapor rose around Jade.
The poisonous mist evaporated from the extreme heat radiating from the Spirit Armor.
Ssss!
And at that moment, the basilisk’s tail crashed down like a bolt of lightning.
The basilisk attacked the instant it heard the hiss of evaporation.
It was even more threatening because it swung the tail stealthily, using the poisonous mist to obscure Jade’s view.
Clang!
Yet Jade did not budge even under the full-force downward strike.
He had blocked the basilisk’s tail with a shield formed from Ignis’s power.
Hiss!
At that sight, the basilisk’s pupils wavered for the first time.
Jade’s changed response, after doing nothing but dodge before, was one thing, but the basilisk was also shaken because its own attack seemed not to have inflicted even the slightest damage.
But it was too soon for it to be surprised.
Kwoooosh!
Instead of an aura blade, the superheated flames wrapped around the sword transformed into a huge inferno and engulfed the basilisk.
At the same time, they instantly evaporated the poisonous mist filling the canyon.
Squeee!
The basilisk let out its first cry of pain as flames that melted everything around them in a way entirely different from its own venom engulfed it.
Its scales did not melt, but the heat was the problem.
As its skin grew bright red from the intense heat, the basilisk roared and quickly retreated.
It was flustered by burns it had experienced for the first time in its life.
Flash!
But even as it retreated, the basilisk attacked Jade.
It fired a succession of petrification rays.
But it was not difficult to evade them, since there was quite a distance between them.
-Are you just going to let it go like this?
“Of course not.”
At Ignis’s voice, Jade spread open his left hand.
Then he spoke the name of another highest-ranking spirit.
“Noeanen.”
-Is it my turn this time?
“Yeah. Your turn.”
-Good.
A heavily muscled man grinned and changed form.
He became a single spear, as Jade intended.
Jade hurled it powerfully at the basilisk.
Saaaaa!
The long spear, five meters in length, flew at a terrifying speed.
Filled not only with its original power but also with Jade’s mana, it shot precisely toward the basilisk.
Squeal!
Seeing it, the basilisk shrieked in alarm and sprayed venom, but unfortunately, it had no effect.
Rather than melting, the spear spun with even greater force, tore through the venom, and continued its charge, so the basilisk grimaced and moved aside.
It had decided to dodge if it could not deflect it.
But Noeanen reached it first.
Boom!
Flying like a ray of light, Noeanen pierced straight through the basilisk’s torso in an instant.
The spear had pierced its exposed upper body.
Squeeeee!
The scales that had remained intact even against the aura blade tore like paper, and black blood gushed out.
But Jade’s attack was only beginning now.
Tap.
Jade alighted on the basilisk’s body, which was thrashing in pain.
He had approached this far before he knew it while the basilisk was rampaging.
“Hold it.”