Standing at the peak of the mountain, I notice that the forest is gradually growing thicker and taller as it gets further from the mountain, indicating signs of the elf kingdom. The mountain is similar to a barrier dividing two different regions.
Amid gigantic trees is a wiggly worm trying to struggle and break free from its restrain. Upon closer inspection, there are trails of its movement in the forest. Fallen trees with huge trenches lead to the worm.
A Deathworm is a gigantic worm-like creature that has a huge hole at one end with layers after layers of sharp teeth. Presumably its mouth.
If things go wrong, is my plot armour enough to save me? How does my plot armour rank work?
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Your plot armour rank only indicates your survivability.
Aspects such as fortune, strength, status, and wealth play a big part in increasing your rank as it increases your chance of survival.
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So in short, I'm on my own. Got it.
?!
A very faint smell of blood and fluctuation of atmosphere mana. I test out my theory by gathering mana around my palm, the mana starts to vibrate and disperse soon after.
Traces of demonic energy. That demon summoner is still here? What is it planning?
...
No, let's not bother about that. I am only here for the Deathworm. Besides, it's a demon, something only the foundation establishment realm and above can fight.
I activate the concealing scroll and wrapped the cloth around my face and over my head, leaving only the eyes exposed before jumping down the mountain. I land on slopes protruding out one after another until I reach the base and dash towards the worm. After a while, I can finally see it up close. I stood on a branch of the giant trees surrounding the worm to scout.
I check my wallet while waiting and count the money in it. I spent every dime buying the poison and sword. The storage I am using is low-quality storage, only able to store at least one Deathworm and a few small objects.
There are 7 elves here. Each is busy strengthening the restrain.
I take out a glass vial of Venis poison and unscrew the metal cap.
Soon, the worm screams a high pitched shriek and used all of its strength to break free.
!!
"W-What?"
More elves came to help. Some even attempt to attack the Deathworm but to no avail.
As a last resort, the Deathworm chewed the part of its body that is restrained and separated itself from it.
Blood spewed all over as the Deathworm cried in pain but it did not stop trying to escape.
!!!!!
Nice! The Deathworm is now critically injured because of its rash action.
Finally, the Deathworm managed to wiggle out and crash onto some elves.
The Venis poison is made from the blood of several monsters such as Kobolds and desert scorpions, most of which are the prey of Deathworms. That's why the poison is very effective at agitating and attracting Deathworms.
The Deathworm starts to rush in my direction. I take out the sword from the storage ring and spread the poison evenly on the blade.
"A human?" The elves gasp as they notice that I am the reason for the Deathworm's weird behaviour
As the Deathworm crashes through nature, I jump aside to dodge its advance.
The outer shell of a Deathworm protects it from any physical attacks. The inner membrane protects it from magic attacks. However, the reason why it's only a Category 5 is that it has a vital weakness.
As the Deathworm tries to stop its momentum by forcing its head into the ground. I skim through its body searching for its birthmark. A Deathworm's birth has one resemblance to a human. The mother feeds its offspring through an umbilical cord. After birth, the umbilical cord detaches and leaves behind something like a navel. That is its first weakness as the shell cannot be formed there.
Before I was able to find the navel, the Deathworm has regained its composure.
!
The long body sways to the side before launching towards me at an incredible speed.
I leap off the ground in time to avoid it as its body destroys surrounding nature. The elves were evacuating in a hurry.
Blood was splattered everywhere. The Deathworm will soon die of blood loss but I do not have the time to wait until then. Reinforcements are coming and I need to finish up.
As its body collides with the mountains to stop the momentum, I spot its Navel.
The Deathworm is mostly white with its shell being a brownish-grey. However, the Navel is just a pale black, easy to spot when it's not moving.
I dash towards the creature as it tries to recover and stab deep into the Navel.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!"
Three.
Two.
One.
I pull out the sword and jump off immediately as an explosion occurs at the Navel.
Ironically, when the blood of Deathworm and Venis poison reacts, it causes an explosion despite the poison containing most of its prey's blood.
I somersault as I land on the ground to mitigate the momentum. It's now or never.
As the Deathworm continues to scream in pain, I spread another layer of poison on my sword and run towards its mouth.
*BOOM!* *BOOOM!*
It wiggles in pain as it leans against the mountain.
Using the mountain as a boost, I leap and climb to the Deathworm's mouth and jump in.
The second weakness of a Deathworm is inside it. The walls of red tissue have zero protection, unlike the shell on the outside. Not to mention, its nerves and brain are around the mouth, making this the perfect fatality.
I slash a small wound beside one of its teeth and pour all the vials of poison in it before quickly escaping from its mouth, using the teeth as platforms.
As I jump out, the Deathworms start convulsing, the area around its mouth starts to throb and explosions ensue, instantly killing it.
The mass of meat lump collapsed on the mountain and stop moving after a few more wiggles.
A horn can be heard. Reinforcement. I throw a glance in the direction of the sound. A group of knights in full silver armour is marching towards my location. There are also several mages behind, about 5. The person at the front leading is my father.
!!
I notice Mina fidgeting with a staff. Mina is one of the mages following the army. Her rank is already that high?!
I immediately store the entire corpse in my storage ring and make my escape to the other side of the mountain back to the Capital, leaving only a bloody scene of chaos and destruction.
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I heave a huge sigh of relief when I manage to escape into my room in my home. With the remaining time, I went into the storage ring and start cutting the shells out. First, I repeatedly brute force until the shell in one area is partially cracked. Afterwards, I pluck out the cracked shell and plunge the butcher's knife blade behind the surrounding shell, breaking the membrane holding the shell and tissue together. I did so for the rest of the shells and stacked all of my loot in one corner.
Next, teeth. Since the teeth need to be strong, even after the explosion, they survived. These can be good materials for alchemy. I collect them and place them in a plastic container.
Next, I extract the blood. I connect a syringe to a tube and slide it into the blood vessels which are connected to a container. After a while, the blood is fully extracted.
Now for the jackpot, the core. I carefully cut the meat into pieces, exposing the core.
A greenish bright jade. The core of a Deathworm. Its abundant energy can be felt radiating.
...
I sigh. This core can be sold for a hefty price, but what do I need the most right now? I can still sell the other parts and still earn quite a lot of money. Besides, the tournament is coming up soon.
Sadly, the money I earned cannot be used to improve my family's wealth; it will be questioned by my parents. Even if I tell the truth, they will not believe it. After all, a regular core formation can't even go head to head with a Deathworm but I, a 3rd stage qi condensation with mere 6th stage sword intent, managed to defeat a Deathworm unscathed?
However, the grand price for achieving first place in the yearly tournament is 100 platinum coins. Enough to help my family's wealth.
That settles it. I consume the core and digest the immense energy. It took 6 hours, till dinner time to completely absorb everything.
I let out a steady breath as I open my eyes. I clench my fist tightly, a small impact can be heard. I've finally reached the 5th stage of Qi condensation. Inspecting my physique, I have gained some packs too.
My mother opens the door at the perfect time to see me topless.
...
"Hi," I say.
"Hi. Nice muscles, dinner is ready." says my mother and she closes the door on her way out.
...
I think I have an idea why she married my father.