Poverty had plagued her life for so long that she couldn't afford to overlook even the smallest opportunity to make money.
"Maybe I really am the type to trade my life for a few coins," Ash muttered to herself with a bitter laugh.
Gripping her multipurpose tool tightly, she returned to the waterfall.
Biting back the ache in her body, she began pressing her hands inch by inch against the plants covering the rocky surface, searching meticulously for any hidden crevices.
After advancing about fifty or sixty meters along the mossy wall, Ash's hand finally found something—a slight depression beneath a thick layer of vines.
Her heart skipped a beat.
However, before she could use her tool to clear the plants away, an intense chill suddenly crept up her spine.
It was so sharp and biting that every hair on her body stood on end.
What's going on?! she thought, alarmed.
Ash barely had time to turn around when she felt a faint vibration in the air behind her.
It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but it sent her instincts into overdrive.
Then, without warning, a fierce gust of wind erupted, shaking the trees and causing leaves to rustle noisily.
Ash didn't waste a second wondering what was behind her.
A primal sense of danger surged through her, and without hesitation, she dove to the side.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two sharp, whistling sounds pierced the air.
Thick needles—each as wide as an adult's finger—sliced past her backpack and embedded themselves into the ground where she had been standing just moments ago.
The impact shattered chunks of rock, sending debris flying everywhere.
Ash lay sprawled on the ground, her breath coming in shallow gasps.
Her heart pounded wildly as she glanced at the jagged shards of stone scattered nearby.
That was close—too close.
If she hadn't reacted so quickly, those deadly needles wouldn't have just grazed her—they would've impaled her, leaving her in the same shattered state as the rocks behind her.
Ash gasped sharply, scrambling to her feet in a panic.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
Three more sharp needles whistled through the air, aiming straight for her head, back, and thigh.
Ash barely managed to dodge with a desperate roll, but one of the needles still grazed her arm, leaving a sharp, stinging pain.
There was no time to inspect the wound, though.
Her focus was entirely on her assailant—a giant, pitch-black Vespitoxin with a body diameter exceeding a meter!
"Damn it!" Ash couldn't stop herself from cursing out loud.
Seriously? The cliché 'take out the small ones and attract the boss' plot actually happened to me? Is my luck really this bad?
But this was no time for self-pity.
The Vespitoxin had already locked onto her as its target.
Without hesitation, Ash turned around and bolted into the forest, hoping the dense foliage and undergrowth would provide enough cover to help her escape.
I'm not an overpowered protagonist who can tank an attack from a Spirit Beast head-on!
However, this Vespitoxin was nothing like the ones Ash had seen in the Spirit Beast Compendium.