In front of me was a dark forest. It took us about 5 hours to get here so it was almost the evening.
Rumble~
Crap, I should've eaten something before I got here. Actually, I should've brought some food before I got to the guild if I knew this was going to happen.
"Here it is, the forest of vex." Lanzo Reigai said as he turned around.
"Sir, why is it called the forest of vex?" Someone asked.
"The reason why it's called the forest of vex is because it is home to the most dangerous and disgusting creatures in this world." Iris Lynx answered.
"And what would those be? Another person asked.
"GOBLINS! STUPID, UGLY, GOBLINS!" Alex Cruciful yelled so loud that it made almost everyone jump, even Lanzo who was standing right next to him.
Goblins huh? Why is it always goblins? Why must there be goblins? Not all stupid fantasy worlds need goblins, you know. Well, at least I don't have to feel guilty about killing goblins. Even if they are just children.
I looked around and most of the adventurers(mostly female), were shivering. So it's those kinds of goblins, alright then.
"There are five camps inhabited by goblins and we are tasked to destroy and burn down every single one of them. I hope you are all ready. Goblins may be weak but they are great in huge sizes. Let's also not forget, goblins are not the only ones. Hobgoblins are large and they can smash you into bits if you are not on alert. And most importantly, do not get caught by a pooka," Lanzo said seriously.
"Pooka?" Someone asked.
"A pooka is a kind of creature that can become any animal you'd find in the wild. A rabbit, a bird, heck, it can even take the appearance of a human. But the only thing is that it can't talk as a human. So be cautious and watch your groupmate's back. A pooka is extremely dangerous to handle alone, so be careful."
Lanzo cross his arms and cleared his throat.
"Alright, we will be picking four of you. You will be led by one of us to take down one of the goblin camps. So then, let's get to business. Who will take the pleasure to choose first?" Lanzo asked Alex, Iris, Tia, and Minori.
"I'll go first," Alex said and he walked forward. He pointed at four of us and those four walked towards him. Next was Iris. Uoo, I think I want to go with her, I mean who wouldn't go with the sexy-looking elf?
However, my hopes and dreams were instantly crushed when she didn't point at me. Damn it, maybe next time. Next was Lanzo himself. Oh oh, I want to go with the cool samurai guy!
Again, I wasn't chosen.
Next was Tia. Wait a minute, if I'm not chosen, then I'll be leftover with the catgirl! Please don't choose me, please don't choose me!
"And you," Tia said as she pointed directly at me.
"M-me?" I said, pointing to myself. Oh no, why, why did I have to be picked? Do my fantasies and dreams always have to be crushed?
"No, the one behind you." She said and there was relief in my heart.
Now there were the leftovers, but for me, I was glad I was a leftover. That meant that I get to be in the catgirl's group. Thank god. If I'm not gonna be leftover with the thick elf or the cool ass samurai, then I'd rather be with the catgirl.
"Alright then, now that your groups are formed, let us depart. We will meet back at the north gate of Albion at dawn."
And then we all departed.
***
We were walking through the dense forest of vex. The bushes, the trees, heck, even the plants were large. Some of them even looked like they were rotting. The air smelled like garbage mixed in with sewage water. Disgusting. Even Shikkoku was disgusted by the smell.
One of my group members got curious and approached a weird glowing, looking plant. Luckily, he was stopped by Minori.
"Don't touch that! Once slight touch and you'll be getting rashes all over your body. The effects won't disappear unless you sleep in horse feces." She said and that immediately got the guy to pull away.
It's a good thing we have experienced adventurers to lead us. If we didn't we would've probably done what that guy would've done. Good thing he actually didn't do it, though. But I actually do wanna see how he would've ended up looking like.
While we continued to get deeper into the forest, I heard a strange noise coming from the bushes. It almost sounded like a squealing pig.
I turned and my group was still walking forward. It would be a bad idea to separate from them, but I can catch up. I did have Shikkoku remember their smell so we can catch up with them.
I slowly stepped back and then ran into the bushes.
I couldn't see anything since it was so dark but with my ability to manipulate darkness, I can give myself vision in the dark.
With my provided vision, I looked around, searching for whatever uttered that noise. However, there was nothing to be seen in sight. But then I noticed something strange hanging from the tree.
Is that… a bat?
It was a huge one too. I never seen such a huge bat. It had strange orange glowing eyes and two large fangs. If I were to name this, it would be a saber-toothed bat or something.
[Analyzing…]
[Analysis complete.]
[This is a tusk bat.]
What a dumb name for a dumb-looking creature. I was starting to get annoyed by its retarded appearance. Those fangs or tusk do not fit its appearance.
I should just leave it. It probably doesn't even mean any harm anyway.
Ding!
Huh? What is it now?
[Task: Kill the pooka]
"Pooka?"
Then the bat was suddenly engulfed in darkness and then hanging in its place was a large snake with spikes all over its body. Well, this isn't a good. I already encountered the one thing that I supposedly can't defeat alone. Glad I have Shikkoku by my side though.
Shikkoku acted fast and attacked first, tackling the snake, or pooka. She attempted to bite its head off but the spikes were in her way so she retreated.
I would think of a clear image in my mind. What I need right now is a ranged weapon. If I can't get close, then I'll get it from far away. And for that, I would need-
A bow!
A bow made of dark energy appeared in my hand. I would also make arrows made of fire, fused with dark energy, giving it purple and near-black flames. I would repeatedly fire the arrows at the pooka. The arrows easily sinking into the pooka's snake scales.
The pooka hissed and dropped from the trees. Then it began changing again, a crocodile in its place.
"You think changing forms will save you?"
I raised my hands and commanded the darkness to rain spikes. Then I plunged my hands towards the ground, spikes made of dark energy fell from the tree above the pooka.
Shink!
The spikes impaled the pooka easily and the pooka hissed once more. But when I thought I killed it, it suddenly changed forms again, this time becoming a panther.
Damn it, why won't it die? Where is its weak point?
[Answer: To kill a pooka, you must impale the heart with a sword.]
So I need to kill it with Peacemonger? Well, I was actually gonna do that.
I drew Peacemonger from its sheath and pointed it at the pooka.
"C'mon, I'll be sure to kill you this time." My voice came out strangely, like I was talking in both my monkey and human form. Whoa, that was kind of weird.
The pooka hissed at me and dashed towards me. But it was intercepted by Shikkoku. Shikkoku and the pooka were having a cat fight. Scratching and biting each other.
"Come on Shikkoku, pin it down so I can take it out!"
I could see the Shikkoku was actually trying or was it the pooka? I was confused because the pooka had the same appearance as Shikkoku. I literally can't tell the difference because they look alike.
I knew this was going to be difficult. I could mistake the pooka as Shikkoku and accidentally kill Shikkoku instead of the pooka. But I believe Shikkoku will be the one to win. An imposter would never win against the real one.
Eventually, one of them was pinned down. The one on top looked at me and looked at me as if it was signalling me to kill the one at the bottom.
I walked over and hovered my sword over the one on the bottom.
"Finally, that took long enough."
I would raise my sword higher, correcting my aim. But then I realized something strange. The panther on top, it had orange eyes and the one on the bottom had red eyes.
So that means…
The one on the top is the imposter!
I slashed the pooka, knocking it off of Shikkoku.
The injured pooka fell on the ground and struggled to get up, but I was one step ahead of it and I drove my Peacemonger through its body. Its corpse limped a few seconds after getting impaled.
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Task Completed!]
[New Skill(s): Earth Manipulation]
[???(Skill) has been unlocked!]
[Skill Unlocked: Crimson Dragon Claw]
Crimson Dragon Claw? That sounds cool. I should try it out.
I guess I should try it on a tree. Or I could just try it on the pooka's corpse.
I looked down at the pooka's corpse and activated [Crimson Dragon Claw]. Energy surged into the end of my fingers and glowed a deep red color.
[Mp: 4,915,204,859/5,857,093,280]
Are you kidding me?! Nearly 1 billion Mp was expended for this skill? If it takes that much Mp, then it has to be an overpowered skill.
I swiped my hand in the direction of the pooka and then I heard a strange sound, like the sound of a portal opening up. The space in front of me distorted and then 4 small claw-shaped portals opened up. The portals had a dark red outline and when you look into it, there was nothing but darkness. I felt an eerie feeling oozing from the portals. A few seconds later, the portals disappeared. Then the pooka's corpse split into five pieces. Blood instantly splattered as soon as those portals opened.
"Whoa! D-did I do that?"
I looked at my hands, still glowing. I would swipe my hands at a nearby tree and the portals opened once again. Then as soon as they vanished, the tree was instantly cut, tumbling down onto the ground.
Is this really what [Crimson Dragon Claw] does? This thing is so… overpowered... and dangerous! I think I won't have to use this skill until I'm in a desperate situation, so just gonna store that away in my arsenal until future notice.
When I wanted [Crimson Dragon Claw] to go away, the energy in my hands faded away. Well, good thing I can deactivate this skill at will.
Now then, I think I should go rejoin the group.
A few minutes later, I rejoined with my group. They were pretty distracted by everything that they didn't even notice I was gone.
After that, we walked through the forest for a while and we still haven't encountered anything. Then Minori said, "We are here."
I looked ahead and beyond the trees was a camp. There were goblins and hobgoblins sitting and eating. They had a campfire, tents, and even towers! What is this, a goblin civilization?
I didn't notice this detail until someone next to be spoke, "They… they are eating a human." she said with her eyes wide open.
I used my dark vision so I could see better and sure enough in one of the goblin's hand was a human leg. Disgusting creatures, you can't disagree.
"Let's get to business," Minori said as she drew a wand out. So she must also be some kind of mage, like Iris. Everyone else drew their weapons and moved forward. I decided to stay behind. I want to see how these guys perform. I might take out some if I want to. Though I'm only doing it for the levels, and the satisfaction of killing a goblin.
.
.
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