The Giant Viper.
Why did you have to show up at this time, dude? I was just about to leave. Couldn't you have waited just 10 minutes?
I cursed at my shitty luck this time and prepared my Katana to attack anytime.
Meanwhile, I used Appraisal on the Giant Viper.
Name: Agiran
Age: 8 years
Gender: Male
Race: Giant Viper
---
Level: 55
HP: 580/650
MP: 10/10
---
Titles Acquired:
The guardian of Forest of Demise(Entrance), Glutton, Kin Eater
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Stats:
STR: 240
DEX: 100
DEF: 170
AGI: 250
VIT: 190
INT: 40
Luck: 0
---
Abilities:
Bite III, Jump II, Dash III, Tight Grip II, Leadership II, Fear II, Venom III
***
It was the first named monster that I had encountered since coming to this world.
Did this guy level up from 47 to 55 in just one day?! What kind of XP grind are you doing?!
Other than that, his stats were also the highest I had seen so far. Still far below mine but well, I was an absurdity here. By normal standards, he was like the boss monster of this region. And I had to now face him in a PvP(Player vs Player)— no, PvM (Player vs Monster) battle.
"Alright boss monster, become my XP if you're not gonna leave us alone!"
I decided to make a preemptive strike toward his lower body. But he slid to avoid it. He then immediately attacked me with his tail but comparing the STR stats, it couldn't even budge me.
Holy shit, I feel like Superman! That force should have been enough to break the bones.
I felt the force but the impact itself was so diluted it felt like his body was made out of soft cushions.
The Giant Viper noticed that absurdity and for a while appeared like he was in doubt.
"What? You didn't expect me to be this strong? Haha, sucks for you buddy. Now let's kick things up a notch."
I cast
The attack was going quite well until I realized the missed fireballs went towards its back and the grass and bushes were starting to catch on fire.
Oh, fuck!! This might turn into a forest fire if I didn't kill it immediately.
I immediately summoned a wall of water using Water Magic and poured it all over the places where the forest was starting to burn.
Phew… WOAH! The hell?!
While I was busy, I lost focus on the Giant Viper for just a few seconds but in those few seconds, he had pulled a sneaky attack on me and sprayed a strange green fluid. I barely noticed it before it reached less than half a meter in front of my head. I immediately cast a barrier in front of me and somehow managed to block that attack.
[New ability "Poison Resistance" acquired.]
Huh? I'm sorry, what? Just like that?
While it was perplexing, apparently I acquired poison resistance from blocking that attack. I immediately checked my Character Profile to confirm and sure thing it was there, and at level II at that! The problem was, that my HP had also decreased by about 30 points.
After a close inspection, I found out that the barrier I cast in hurry was only covering half of my body. It definitely avoided the direct attack on my head but the venom fell on the ground and created a few sprinkles which somehow got on my legs. My pants had holes now and the venom must have sneaked in through that space.
Fuck! That was dangerous! I was poisoned. I'll have to check it out later.
I wanted to curse myself for not focusing on my opponent's attack but right now I had a bigger issue to deal with. The boss monster seemed to have realized the gap in our strength and was turning in towards the little girl who was still unconscious inside my barrier.
"Oy, bastard! Don't you even fucking dare okay?!"
I cast
Alright, me. Let's do this stuff seriously now. You need to stop fooling around. This isn't a game battle. It's real. Lives are on the line here.
With my newfound motivation, I formulated a plan to defeat him.
I launched a barrage of
The next moment, he tried closing in the distance with his mouth wide open. He launched a few Venom attacks but this time I cast a proper barrier and stopped all of them. As he closed in on the distance, he sprang his body and then launched itself like a screw towards me, his mouth wide open.
He probably planned to bite me with those two protruding teeth which most definitely had venom in them. But I jumped to the side and from the side slashed my Katana on his head, slicing it off his body. The attack I had just performed was by no means something a normal person could perform without training but I seemed to have developed a higher sense while fighting and was able to perceive things as if they were moving in slow-motion.
The Giant Viper's head detached from his body and fell but his tail still curled up on me.
The hell? I just cut its head. How is he still moving??
I checked his status and his HP was in the 20s, decreasing quickly.
Apparently, even if your head was cut off but you had some HP, you could move your body. Or perhaps it was something unique to the snake-type or boss-type monsters. I didn't know.
I pulled his tail off me using my hands and a three-digit STR status and threw it on the ground where it squirmed for a few seconds before stopping all moments.
And that was it for the fight with Giant Viper.
I was surprised that I had managed to defeat a monster bigger than my own size by a few times but the corpse lying in front of me was undisputed proof of it.
[You've leveled up!]
[New Abilities have been acquired!]
[New Jobs have been unlocked!]
I took a peek at the girl I had kept inside my Barrier. She was still unconscious. It was good that she didn't wake up while the fight was going on or she must have been terrified from all the gore. She definitely would have freaked out.
I kept the dead body parts of Giant Viper and others inside my Inventory and went near the girl.
While I laid her on the ground, I finally got to see the face of the girl and what do you know, it was the girl at the village chief's house.
So her name was Lulatina. It's a nice name.
I thought it was quite a lovely name for a girl. She was a decent-looking girl with good features now that I was looking at her closely. I wondered how she got taken by the goblins though.
I took out some water that I had stored in a container inside my Inventory and sprayed some water on her slowly. She sluggishly opened up her eyes and was sitting straight in a daze before realizing she wasn't at home.
"Where…?"
"Are you Lulatina?"
She looked at me and her eyes grew wide.
"Ah, y-you're the guest who lives with us."
"Yep. Do you remember what happened? How did you get caught by the goblins?"
"I-I was playing with the others… and decided to hide near a bush slightly inside the forest when I saw the green monsters… I-I couldn't even scream and then I don't remember…"
She seemed to have fallen unconscious by the shock and probably stayed like that until I finally woke her up. In a way, it was good for her. She would have definitely been horrified if she'd woken up in between and been hurt if the monsters found her to be struggling. Why did they take in a little girl anyway? They hadn't hurt her and were staring at her like crazy when I was them. I didn't understand the nature of goblins so all I could do was wonder about them.
"… I was really scared. I thought they would eat me when I was those scary red eyes and tooth."
She started shivering as she said those words. The fear of death and pain must have finally dawned and overwhelmed her.
I took out a glass and filled it with drinkable water and gave it to her. As she drank and calmed down, I patted her head and reassured her that she was now safe and that we would now go back home. It was starting to pass the 30 minutes mark according to my watch, and the villagers must have been getting ready to enter the forest. That would be unwanted since I was already done with the rescue.
I sat down and asked her to climb on my back. I couldn't let her walk all the way. Plus, it would have been faster this way since I could run fast, even if a little weight it added. After checking my surroundings once again and keeping all the stuff inside Inventory, I dashed at near full speed towards the exit.
"Mr. Rio?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you defeat all those monsters?"
"Yeah. I defeated them all."
"… Even the big one?"
"The goblin general?"
"Mm."
"Yeah. Him too. He wasn't all that powerful honestly. I may not look like it but I'm quite strong you know. Ah, but please don't tell anyone about it. They'll worry needlessly."
"Okay."
"You're a good girl, Lulatina."
I said and I smiled reassuringly.
"Mr. Rio… T-Thank you… for coming to save me."
"Oh, don't mention it. Your parents have been taking care of me after all. And saving you was kinda the right thing to do."
"But… But you came for me. What if you hadn't? They would have eaten me."
"Well, then it's great that I came just in time."
That was the end of our little conversation but I felt better after talking to her. It felt like she wasn't as shy to me now as she was before this. Too bad I was gonna leave her house the next morning though.
I reached the exit and slowed down the pace a little. The villagers were getting ready to enter the forest but when they saw me coming back with Lulatina they sighed in relief.
The village chief came running to me and hugged her as I had barely managed to put her down.
"Oh Lula, ye' foolish girl, why did ye' enter that crooked forest?! Ye' know it's dangerous, right? ... Ye' made everyone worry."
"I-I'm very sorry father… I'll never make that mistake again."
"Yeah. Ye' do that."
He embraced her even tighter as they both shed tears.
I watched their touching reunion as Jack and Hawk came to me to ask for the details.
I told them about the fact that she was taken in by goblins to their hideout but I
found her in time and saved her after defeating them all.
"Oh boy. I'm so glad she wasn't sullied by those fiendish cretins. I don't know what I would have done after losing my only child at this old age…"
The old chief's words made me suddenly realize what I had truly done. I hadn't just saved a little girl from the grasp of monsters trying to eat her. No, they were not going to eat her in the first place, but used her body to fulfill their sexual desire.
Fucking hell?! I remember reading that some of the monsters like Orcs were known for their large sexual appetite, often kidnapping women and defiling them to satiate their monstrous lust. But even goblins? Those green fuckers have ugly looks and even uglier characters.
It was dark, very dark. It made me sick to the core. To think they had such vile intentions towards an innocent little girl. They were truly monsters. Fiends in the most real sense of the word.
Jack came near me as I was watching the emotional reunion of the parent and child.
"You're really strong, huh? You went and came back from the forest even though it was almost dark. You really can't make light of magicians at all. Are all mages this strong? Makes me wonder if the swordsmen and other non-magical combatants have any use."
In reality, I killed the boss monster using my Katana but I left him to think on his own. I couldn't explain my secrets to him, since I felt it would only cause misunderstanding.
The village chief then came to me and bowed down. Seeing him suddenly behave that way, I got flustered and asked him to raise his head.
"Please, you don't have to do that!"
"Thank you very much boy, for saving my precious daughter. She's the only child I and my wife have. I don't know what we'd have done if she didn't come back alive. The very thought scares me… I don't know how to thank you properly other than bowing my head to ye."
"Please don't think too much of it. I've been in your care so I was more than ready to help you out. And I'm also glad nothing bad happened."
"I understand… Now come, let's go back to the house. It's getting dark here."
"Yeah."
The old chief then turned to the rest of the villagers who were all murmuring in themselves, probably glad that the chief's daughter was safe and that they didn't have to enter that forest. Some even talked about my gallant actions.
"Ye' lot too! Now that Lula is back, ye' guys can go back home. There's no need to enter that crooked forest."
Everyone went back to their respective homes, including us.
That night I was also thanked by the old lady quite feverishly as she hugged her daughter while crying.
After everyone had calmed down, we all had dinner together. Lula carefully served me and her father food, without any reserve this time. Such an obedient child. She was helping her mother even though she wasn't that old. Apparently, kids in this world started working and helping their parents from quite an early age. When I was as old as her, I was still watching cartoons.
Looking at Lulatina made me remember that I also had a little sister around that age, but doing this would be unthinkable for her. She never helped her parents. Mostly because she was spoiled rotten by my parents. They absolutely adored her. As for me… I wouldn't have minded replacing my sister with Lulatina. I and my sister weren't exactly on good terms.
With such silly thoughts, the day came to an end.
***
After getting a good night's rest and getting my cleaned clothes back from the old lady, I once again thanked my benefactors and proceeded to the gate where my ride awaited. It was time to bid farewell to this starter village and continue my journey in this new world. It was a nice and memorable experience though, especially towards the end.
But before that, there was one more memorable scene that I couldn't skimp through.
As I was leaving the village chief's house, the chief gave me a small pouch with something metallic inside. I looked inside and found about 20 copper coins inside.
They are shaped like coins. Is this perhaps the currency of this country?
He told me that to enter the town I needed a permit and if one doesn't have it, then they would require 1 silver to make a temporary one. The rest of it was to buy daily necessities and other expenses since he was aware I didn't have any currency from this country. I had asked the chief about the nature of currency but of course, I never explicitly asked for any since that would have been inappropriate and rude.
Incidentally, he explained to me the currency system as well.
It was something like this:
10 Copper = 1 Silver
10 Silver = 1 Large Silver
10 Large Silver = 1 Gold
It was simple to understand. 4 types of coins, each valued at 10 times its smaller counterpart.
So, since 1 Silver meant 10 Coppers. So he gave me 2 Silvers. It was probably not much to live comfortably but I was really glad to have received some currency. While barter was an option here, I was told that towns and major cities had a strict rule of using currency.
Also, Lulatina came running from her house and gave me a necklace made up of beads and small rocks. It was apparently a Thank You gift to me for saving her. The old lady told me she woke up early in the morning to make it for me, hearing which Lulatina blushed and hid behind the old lady.
Her gestures were so adorable. I smiled and thanked her for the kind and lovely gift.
I had just received my good luck charm. Not that I believed in such unscientific things, but who knew? Maybe this world's good luck charms actually worked using magic. Of course, it was purely my speculation and nothing else.
I wore it on my neck. Honestly, it suited my village boy attire.
After I once again thanked them, I left towards the village gates where my ride awaited.
***