Chapter 61 – Search
#061.
Kwajik! The tail, which had been disconnected with a crackling sound, fell off in an instant.
“Kraaaaa!!”
Having lost his best means of attack in a sudden surprise attack, he was startled and tried to run away.
However, there was no way Gaon would leave such a thing unattended.
He blocked the escape route by throwing the dagger hanging from his waist at the guy who intentionally threw dust and blocked his sight, wasting time.
After a few seconds passed, he stopped smoking the dust and rushed at Gaon, as if he thought he couldn’t escape easily.
Perhaps because of his evolution while living in the desert, he showed a remarkable leaping power even in this place where his feet were sinking.
The one who jumped up from the bottom in an instant and tried to attack Gaon,
“Entangle!”
At the same time as Chorin’s cry came out of the shade, he fell headlong to the ground, tied to the roots of a tree rising from the ground.
“Queuck!”
After leaping, his waist was tied and his head stuck to the floor, and he struggled with a foolish cry.
Gaon, who had been looking down at him, struck his spear and split his head in two.
And as soon as he retrieved his spear, his physical abilities surged due to the absorption of karma.
The sense that the experience accumulated in the soul settles in the body brings tremendous pleasure comparable to sex.
As I was holding my breath to drive away the excitement, Chorin came closer and looked at my whole body and asked anxiously.
“Gaon, why are you like this? Are you hurt?”
“It’s nothing. Anyway, the magic was great. Thanks to you, I caught it very easily.”
“Huh! What. This is pretty basic. It’s because Mr. Gaon cut off his tail first.”
When I looked at her tail, which had been cut off by her horse, the flame that had been burning at her distal end was extinguished before I knew it. Considering that I felt the magic power when I saw it earlier, it seems that it was caused by it being separated from her body.
Even in the previous life, the tail of the fire lizard was used as a valuable research material. I heard that the magic circuit engraved there has the effect of amplifying fire-attribute magic?
Eventually, something similar to a canvas using it was also made.
Gaon shook her head while thinking about whether she should take care of that. No matter how you look at it, that’s way too bulky. There’s no problem with one, but if you’re only going to take care of this, it’s better to leave it alone.
Anyway, the use of the fire lizard’s tail has not yet been properly revealed, so there is no demand for it, so there is no request from the mercenary guild.
Gaon turned around to see if he had anything to pack, but the only thing he had was a mouse the size of his forearm that he had been diligently carrying in her mouth.
If she didn’t have any food, she’d brought more than enough to eat, but she had no reason to bring it.
Gaon stood up, shaking her hand without any hesitation.
“Looks like you have nothing to worry about. Then let’s start again.”
“Yes! I’m glad I’m not as strong as I thought.”
“Yes. At this level, we can grow safely.”
According to the story I heard from Aris, it must be a monster that is stronger in magic than in the flesh.
But even taking that into consideration, his physical abilities weren’t particularly outstanding.
The speed at the end of the jump was quite fast, but it was at that level that even Chorin could avoid it, so there was no need to be very nervous.
Gaon left the shadow of the rock with Chorin, who had relieved the tension a little.
Just in time, an autumn wind blew, and the sand bit by bit swallowed the corpse of the fire lizard on the floor.
***
Wheei-
Desert nights are cold.
As the sun went down and the wind blew, I felt the coolness of real autumn weather.
“Ugh… The temperature suddenly dropped.”
“It is a desert. Please put on your cloak.”
“Yes… Thank you.”
At Gaon’s words, Chorin blocked the wind by covering her skin with the cloak she had bought for homelessness in the bag she was carrying on her back.
It’s Gaon, mana rotates in the danteon in real time and maintains an appropriate body temperature, so I didn’t feel particularly cold.
‘It’s time to come out soon…’
Gaon, who knew from the map that there was a rock cave where he could rest in moderation, concentrated mana to expand his field of vision and looked around her.
Due to the nature of the desert, the hills that existed yesterday often disappear today.
Of course, even if that happens, there is a very slim chance that the entire rock cave will be completely covered. It must have been that there was a hill between them and the cave, blocking their view.
Gaon moved from place to place for a while, using a map to pinpoint the location through cactuses and various landmarks around the rock cave.
That was the moment.
In Gaon’s eyes, he saw a scorpion digging into the sand in the distance. It was only for a moment, but when the sand collapsed and the hole was revealed, the material that was visible was clearly a rock.
Gaon immediately looked at Chorin, winked at her and lowered his stance.
“Lee Cho-rin, it seems that the rock cave is now occupied by scorpion monsters.”
“A scorpion?”
“Yes. Didn’t I say that there are two types of monsters here? Scorpions dig sand and live in pits inside, so they seem to think that caves are good nests and live there.”
Digging into the sand and going inside to harden the inside is quite a hassle. However, if a solid space had been built in advance, it was natural for him to think that he had caught on.
“… So what? Should I look elsewhere? Or not… Kill?”
“Let’s kill. Anyway, you have to learn the battle pattern while fighting the scorpion. Let’s approach it slowly. There may be several of them.”
“Yes. I will prepare the magic in advance.”
The two were already aware of all the precautions to be taken when dealing with scorpions. Since they always live underground, their eyesight itself is not that good.
Perhaps that is why the senses for detecting vibrations are highly developed, but the range itself is not very wide. At least it was shorter than Gaon’s feeling.
So he didn’t notice Gaon’s approach until he thoroughly inspected the inside of the cave.
“Lee Cho-rin, there is only one. Then I will lure you right away.”
“Yes. I’ll wait.”
Gaon left Chorin and went a little closer, raised his spear and slammed it into the sand pit.
Pooh-!
The blade of the spear pierced the floor gently.
Sand was scattered loudly, and before a second had passed, a scorpion came out of the pit.
“Kissyaaaaagh!”
Its appearance resembles that of an emperor scorpion.
Its black body, large pincers on both sides, and a bloody poison needle bent over its head.
The guy, who had grown to about 3m in size, immediately attacked Gaon by diligently moving his four pairs of feet.
The shape of the claws wide open makes it seem like they are trying to fix it and stab it with a poisonous needle to kill it. However, there is no reason for Gaon to silently respond to such a simple attack.
Caang!
When the flying claw hit the spear, sparks flew with the sound of metal clashing. As the scorpion flinched, Gaon lightly backstabbed and kept his distance from him.
‘As expected, it’s hard.’
He’s a tough guy to catch. Unless you know if it attacks the joints, an aura was essential to kill it easily.
As Gaon retreated, the scorpion followed.
The creature, which was less than half its size, swiftly evaded attacks here and there, and it attacked it like crazy.
Of course, all of them couldn’t even brush Gaon’s collar, and they just hollowed out a hole in the sand.
In the moment that such a boring workshop continued, Chorin’s magic flew in.
“Entangle!”
A tree root protruding from the floor blocked one of its claws. As he lost his balance and struggled, he immediately used the rest of his claws to cut down the roots of the tree.
But that’s enough.
The guy is now incapacitated on both feet.
There was no way Gaon would miss such an opportunity, and he approached in an instant, focused the aura on the tip of the spear and thrust it straight into the mantle.
Kwajijik-!
The blade of the spear broke his teeth and went inside, until it was halfway into the spear shaft.
“Key, keyieek… !”
However, as if that was not enough, the tough life was not completely cut off, and he threatened Gaon with a poisonous needle.
Of course, it wasn’t an instant death, but it was true that the attack just now was fatal, so its movements were slow.
At such a moment of crisis, bright green magic light burst from the roots of the tree along with Chorin’s soft voice of ‘Buyeo!’
At the same time, tree roots multiplied in an instant and rode up the body of the scorpion, restraining the stinger’s tail so that it could not move.
The guy, whose energy was much weaker than usual, couldn’t get out of the restraints and trembled and competed for strength.
Feeling his physical ability rise once again, Gaon exhaled and retrieved his spear.
As soon as the deeply embedded spear was pulled out, blue blood poured out of his mouth and wet the sand.
Gaon, who confirmed the evidence with his own two eyes that was clearly different from that of humans, swung his spear to shake off the blood and turned back.
“It was great. If you give life force to magic, it has that effect.”
“Whoops! I tried it once and luckily it worked. It seems to have a growth effect because it is a tree. I think plant magic suits you well.”
“It certainly is. Rather, let’s go into the cave. I’ll have to look inside and see if it’s worth it.”
“Yes! Let’s go together!”
Gaon dragged the scorpion’s body to one side and threw it aside, then dug a pit with Chorin and went inside.
“Hmm… It seems pretty good.”
“Yes. It’s too dark, but it’s satisfying enough.”
“Yes. Then, let’s temporarily cover the entrance and go to sleep.”
“Yes! Now I can express my feelings, so there is no need to light a bonfire.”
Of course, even if there was a feeling, it was uncomfortable in the dark, but it was not at the level of being completely incapacitated.
It was dangerous to light a fire carelessly in a pit like this, so I decided to just sleep for today.
Ga-on and Cho-rin simply decided on a night watch, then went to sleep after dinner.
It was our first night in the desert.
