Chapter 244
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Race: Corundum Lizard Lv. 63–67
Job: Assassin Lv. 3–7
【Vitality Enhancement】
【Strength Enhancement】
【Extreme Defense Enhancement】
【Agility Enhancement】
【Crushing Fangs】
【Treasure Scales】
【Heavy Tail】
【Stone Eater】
【Night Vision】
【Stealth】
【Soft Step】
【Ambush】
【Assassination】
【Physical Resistance】
【Magic Resistance】
【Status Ailment Resistance】
【Earth Attribute Nullification】
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The lizards that appeared were Corundum Lizards, monsters that excelled at defense. Their levels were lower than ours, but they possessed several Skills that seemed to be evolved forms I had never seen before. If we let our guard down, we could suffer serious injuries. In any case, we would have to fight them and see what they could do.
"They're highly resistant to both physical attacks and magic, and their defense is high. Earth attribute attacks are useless, so don't use them."
"I can't use them from the start, so it doesn't matter!"
"Cal, hold them back. Iris, restrain them. Toji, try cutting them. Mikero, stay back and attack with your Magic Eyes. Wool, sing a song that boosts Toji's Agility and Dexterity to support her."
"Gwooo!"
"Leave it to me! Mmee-eh, mmee-eh!"
Cal moved to the front, making use of his huge body, while Toji maneuvered to sandwich the enemies between them. Iris's tentacles stretched out to bind them, and beams fired from Mikero's Magic Eyes. I used magic from behind them, but Wool's voice beside me sounded doubled. This wasn't a bug or anything; Wool currently had two mouths.
Wool looked like nothing more than a large, unusually colored sheep, but he was actually a type of Demon called a Nightmare. Hidden beneath his soft fur, a large mouth had appeared on his abdomen, allowing him to produce a separate voice from the mouth on his head.
Singing the same song with both mouths increased its effect, while singing different songs allowed him to activate two effects simultaneously. His songs were apparently especially potent when it came to sleep, to the point that even 【Status Ailment Resistance】 had difficulty blocking them. Wool was becoming an expert at providing support.
Making use of that trait, he was singing the songs Toji needed at the same time. Only monsters could probably sing two or more songs simultaneously. Monsters had a hard time assembling equipment, but they had advantages like this.
"Gwooh! Grrrrrrrr!"
"Oh! It's heavy!"
Cal bit into one of them with his fangs, but its scales were so hard that he seemed unable even to wound it. Iris also extended her tentacles and wrapped one up, but apparently even restraining it was difficult.
Combat wasn't her specialty, but Iris had high Strength from handling various items, including heavy metals. She was overwhelmingly stronger than I was. Even with that strength, was lifting a Corundum Lizard still difficult?
The fact that Cal's fangs were ineffective meant that the scales must have the same hardness and weight as corundum. They were undoubtedly first-rate materials. I was already looking forward to seeing what items they would drop.
"Ahahahaha! It's so fun being able to move exactly as I want!"
Unlike Cal and Iris, who were struggling, Toji had her stats enhanced and was skillfully using two curved swords to wound the Corundum Lizards. Fighting in such a confined space should have been difficult, but she fought as gracefully as ever, dancing across the battlefield.
Her 【Acrobatics】 Skill allowed her to run along walls and perform somersaults in midair with ease. The swords she swung amid her flashy movements caught the light inside the cave and flashed, slicing through the gaps between the Corundum Lizards' scales, which seemed to be as hard as corundum itself.
"Juraaah!"
"Gishaaaaah!"
The Corundum Lizards weren't content simply to take hits, either. They snapped at us with their powerful jaws and struck with their tails, which were covered in hard scales. Looking closely, their teeth were spiral-shaped like drills, and a single bite looked capable of causing serious injury. Their knobby tails seemed like nothing but weapons.
"Rhombus Magic Formation, Spell Adjustment, Magic Lance."
It was my job to make sure they had no opportunity to attack. Since I was in the safe position at the rear, I had to do my part properly.
They seemed resistant to magic, so I chose a spell that was less powerful but more efficient and easier to cast repeatedly. As expected, the damage remained unchanged, but disrupting their attacks before they could get started was enough. I would continue keeping them in check like this.
"Grrr... Gwooooooooo!"
"Whoa..."
Cal seemed to have lost patience after his fangs failed to penetrate their hides no matter how many times he bit them. He savagely threw one of the Corundum Lizards against the cave wall, then slammed his tail into it with all his might. Cal's tremendous strength and sword-like tail crushed the Corundum Lizard's scales and dug into its torso.
I couldn't help being astonished that it still had enough vitality left to remain alive, but Cal's follow-up tail strike blew away the rest of its HP and finished it off. As expected of Cal, he was strong enough to treat ordinary lizards as no threat at all.
"We can't let them outdo us!"
"Yes, I agree."
Perhaps inspired by Cal taking down one of them, Toji and Mikero intensified their assault. Light from Mikero's Magic Eyes burned away the one Iris had captured, while Toji darted around in every direction, confusing and slicing apart the others.
Wool supported us with his cries, and I continued providing magical support. The Corundum Lizard pack had been equal to us in numbers, but we defeated them without ever finding ourselves in serious danger.
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You won the battle.
Your Race level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your Job level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
【Intelligence Enhancement】 level has increased.
【Spirit Enhancement】 level has increased.
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"Is that it? They weren't weak, but they weren't especially strong, either."
"They're on a completely different level from that flying Wyvern."
"Quite so."
"More importantly, the materials!"
"Hope there are some gooood ones!"
We immediately stripped the materials from the monsters. Because of the rough way Cal had killed his target, the only thing it dropped was an earth-attribute magic stone. That was unavoidable under the system, which caused the types and quality of dropped items to vary according to how a monster was killed. However, we obtained some interesting things from the remaining individuals.
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Colorless Corundum Scale Quality: Fair Rarity: S (Special Grade)
A colorless, transparent scale taken from a Corundum Lizard.
Scales containing large amounts of the rock it consumed are extremely hard.
It can be processed in the same manner as metal and should make an excellent material for weapons and armor.
Red Corundum Scale Quality: Good Rarity: T (Treasure Grade)
A red scale taken from a Corundum Lizard.
Scales containing large amounts of the rock it consumed are extremely hard.
Colored scales are rare and more highly prized than gemstones of the same size.
It could be used not only as an excellent material for weapons and armor, but also for high-quality ornaments.
Giant Lizard Drilling Fang Quality: Good Rarity: S (Special Grade)
A spiral-shaped fang taken from a Corundum Lizard.
It is specialized for grinding away hard rock.
Once processed, it could become a dagger or arrowhead with special effects.
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So the colored scales were the rare drop. The ruby-like scales, with lines resembling tree rings, certainly possessed a unique beauty, and I could understand why they could be used for ornaments. They were too large for rings, so they would probably make good pendants.
The colorless scales and screw-like fangs were versatile materials that seemed to have many uses as well. In particular, finding material for the new arrowheads Shio had been hoping for was excellent news. I wanted to bring back a good supply.
"Not only is this place full of ore deposits, but the monsters drop excellent materials too! This is a treasure trove of materials!"
"That is certainly true, but you haven't forgotten our original objective of making contact with the Metallica, have you?"
"Oh, that's right."
Iris had been so excited that she had almost forgotten why we had come here in the first place. Well, I couldn't say I didn't understand how she felt. It was only natural to be distracted by materials right in front of you rather than focus on searching for a race we hadn't even seen in person yet.
We weren't in any particular hurry, so we could continue at this pace, checking Mining Points and hunting unfamiliar monsters as we advanced. Naturally, I also wanted them to keep the Metallica in the back of their minds.
We resumed our exploration. Mining Points were scattered everywhere without end, and our stockpiling of materials was proceeding smoothly. We also encountered a variety of monsters none of us had ever seen before.
There were the Raikou Maimai, which carried ore-like shells similar to those of the Corundum Lizards, spat powerful acid from their mouths, and wielded lightning magic. Their presumed natural enemies were the Maimai Kaburi Overeaters, which could run freely along the cave walls and attack with their powerful jaws.
The most interesting was a monster called the Gold Tortoise King, which plodded through the cave. It was over level 90. As its name suggested, it was a gigantic land turtle with a golden shell, and its body was larger than Cal's.
It seemed extremely gentle and friendly. When we approached, it brought its nose close and let out an adorable cry, as if greeting us. We felt no hostility from it, and while we were agonizing over how to deal with a high-level monster we were reluctant to fight, Cal became friends with it. So we didn't just refrain from killing it—we never even fought it.
However, there was no need to defeat it. The Gold Tortoise King had a Mining Point on its back, and it willingly let us use it. The ore we mined while nervously steeling ourselves against the possibility of angering it was this!
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Golden Tortoiseshell Ore Quality: Excellent Rarity: T (Treasure Grade)
Ore harvested from a lump growing on the Gold Tortoise King's gleaming golden shell.
High-quality ore cannot be harvested from a dead individual.
It contains a generous amount of the Gold Tortoise King's high-quality mana. It is difficult to process, but should become a versatile material.
Golden Tortoiseshell Fragment Quality: Excellent Rarity: T (Treasure Grade)
A fragment of the Gold Tortoise King's gleaming golden shell.
High-quality fragments cannot be harvested from a dead individual.
It contains a generous amount of the Gold Tortoise King's high-quality mana. It is difficult to process, but should become a versatile material.
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The correct answer had actually been 'not defeating it.' We had obtained both the ore growing on top of the tortoiseshell and the tortoiseshell itself. More precisely, that Mining Point had apparently been a lump on the Gold Tortoise King's back. It had made a pleased-sounding cry when we mined it, so perhaps it actually enjoyed being mined. If we encountered a similar individual, we should try approaching it in a friendly manner.
We also came across the heartwarming sight of Gold Tortoises, which seemed to be the Gold Tortoise King's pre-evolution, Silver Tortoises, and Metal Tortoises that appeared to be children, all walking in a line. Since this was immediately after the Gold Tortoise King had done us a favor, we didn't fight any of these monsters.
"Exploring is fun and profitable, but there isn't a single Metallica anywhere."
"There isn't even a trace of them, is there?"
As we walked through the cave, Toji and Iris suddenly muttered this. I had been thinking the same thing, but after searching this much without finding even a trace of them... Perhaps they weren't in this cave at all. If that was the case, should we stop exploring and switch to looking for a way home?
"Hmm? Can't you hear something?"
"A sound? Now that you mention it, I can faintly hear what sounds like a monster roaring."
Wool, who had been walking beside me, noticed some kind of sound. Once he pointed it out, I listened carefully and realized that we could indeed hear something that sounded like a monster. If monsters were fighting each other, we might be able to take advantage of the situation. We headed toward the source of the sound.