Chapter 1-35 : Grinding Days (part 2)
「That’s our first prey for today. Levy, are you ready?」(Alice)
「Kyu!」(Levy)
「Alright, let’s do it!」(Alice)
I drew my wakizashi and dashed toward the giant tree python ahead.
It was hard to see its entire body since its color blended very well with the trunk of the tree, but I could see its eyes. It looked at me as soon as it noticed me coming.
As I approached the snake at high speed, I activated my【Sever】skill then I could see a bright red line right under its head.
「Levy, I’m going to chop its head off. Can you attack it first?」(Alice)
「Kyu!」(Levy)
I was thinking of weakening it first before attacking, so I told Levy to attack it. However, just right after Levy spat out a water bullet, the snake quickly unwrapped its body and jumped to another tree.
It managed to dodge the water bullet. As a result, Levy’s water bullet only hit the tree and broke it in half.
「What!?」(Alice)
「Kyu!?」(Levy)
I wasn’t expecting that, but I immediately changed direction toward the tree it had just jumped onto.
However, it quickly jumped again to another tree before we could attack it. It jumped again and again.
It began to jump from tree to tree like a ninja. I was surprised by how agile it was despite its huge body.
「It’s fast… But!」(Alice)
One thing I notice is that it’s only jumping between the same trees. It’s fast, but its movements are predictable.
「Levy, wait until it jumps to that tree and shoot it. Got it?」(Alice)
「Kyu.」(Levy)
As expected from my smart partner. Levy understood my intention right away and nodded.
After waiting while carefully watching the python’s movements, we finally found an opening to attack it.
「Now!」(Alice)
「Kyuuu!!」(Levy)
Right before it could reach the tree in front of us, Levy shot a water bullet and hit the python in the air.
「Bullseye! Good job, Levy!」(Alice)
「Kyu!」(Levy)
The python fell to the ground and writhed in pain.
I didn’t want to miss this opportunity, so I immediately dashed toward it and swung my blade.
「Hyaa!」(Alice)
The python’s movements slowed down thanks to Levy, allowing me to easily hit the red line under its head and completely separate its head from its body.
It was still wriggling for a few seconds even after I chopped its head off, but then it stopped moving and died.
「We did it. It wasn’t that strong, but it was very quick for a huge snake.」(Alice)
「Kyu.」(Levy)
Its corpse remains on the ground due to my【Hunter】skill, so I can collect it.
I’ve never eaten snake meat before, but it’s most likely edible. I wonder what it tastes like.
Looking forward to eating it as soon as I learn how to cook in this game, I put it in my【Storage】.
「One Tree Python down. Nine more to go. Other than that, I still need to kill ten Forest Serpents and an Earth Viper. This is gonna be a long day.」(Alice)
「Kyu.」(Levy)
After collecting the python’s corpse, I continued walking deeper into the forest, looking for my next prey.
ーーーーー
I spent about eight hours wandering around the forest and hunting snake-type monsters. I don’t know exactly where I am currenlty, but I think this is the deepest part of the forest.
By the way, Forest Serpents were as large and as fast as Tree Pythons, but if we were talking about the difficulty, killing Forest Serpents were a bit harder since they spat venom. Still, I managed to find their weaknesses and defeat them.
The quests from the guild to subjugate these monsters were intended for a party of at least two people, but thanks to Levy, I had been able to carry out the mission without any difficulties.
At least… until I found my last target…
「What is that snake…? It’s tremendously huge!!」(Alice)
I’ve killed ten Tree Pythons and ten Forest Serpents so far, and now I need to kill an Earth Viper to finish all the quests.
I finally found one after searching for a while, but… I didn’t expect it would be this huge. It’s about three times the size of Tree Pythons and Forest Serpents.
Although it’s not as gigantic as Levy’s true form, it still looks intimidating. Not only does it have a huge body, but it also has hard and sharp-looking keeled scales that can easily cut you if you touch them.
I couldn’t help but hide behind a tree as soon as I spotted it from afar.
「Uwahh… That’s clearly not a regular monster…」(Alice)
The reward of killing it is 1000G. It’s a huge sum of money for killing just one monster, meaning it’s not a regular enemy.
It’s probably a boss, but I don’t see its minions. Boss monsters usually have minions. Even if it’s not a boss, it’s at least an elite-class monster, and normally, you need at least five people to defeat a monster of that type.
「Kyu kyu?」(Levy)
Levy looked at me and tilted their head as if saying, “Are we going to fight it?”
「Well, we can try, but of course, it won’t be an easy fight.」(Alice)
「Kyu kyu!」(Levy)
I think Levy says, “No problem!”
「That’s my partner! Alright, are you ready?」(Alice)
「Kyu!」(Levy)
The giant viper is currently coiling on the ground and doesn’t seem to have noticed my presence. I think it’s sleeping.
Thinking I might be able to sneak attack it, I moved toward it quietly while taking cover behind the trees and bushes.
When I was close enough, I activated my【Sever】skill, and just like the other snake-type monsters, I could see a red line under its head.
「Alright. Hopefully I can kill it in one hit.」(Alice)
There was still no sign of it waking up, so I drew my wakizashi and jumped toward it.
「Haa!!」(Alice)
I swung my blade and hit the red line on its neck, butー
ーCLANK!!
「Whaー!?」(Alice)
The scales were much harder than I thought. I could barely graze it even with my【Sever】skill activated.
Realizing it was being attacked, the viper woke up and immediately tried to attack me.
ーSHAAAAAAAAA!!
It opened its mouth, showing its huge fangs, and extended its head toward me.
I was still shocked, so I couldn’t react immediately, but luckily, I have a reliable partner.
「Kyuuu!!」(Levy)
Levy quickly shot a water bullet at the viper’s head, forcing it to draw back. Thanks to that, I had enough time to jump away and create some distance from the giant viper.
「Phew, that was close. Thank you, Levy.」(Alice)
「Kyu!」(Levy)
「I hit it but… Those scales are very hard…」(Alice)
This is just my guess, but… I see now…
I was wondering why it was sleeping nonchalantly as if it wasn’t afraid of being attacked at all, but I think I know the reason.
This giant viper is probably a defensive-type monster.
That’s right. A monster with extremely high defensive capabilities. In other words, it’s very hard to kill.
It was sleeping not because it was careless, but because it was confident in its hard scales. It believes no one can hurt it as long as it has those scales.
If that’s the case, then there’s no way I can kill it right now. Not with my current weapon. This beginner’s weapon is too weak to penetrate the viper’s defense.
「Can’t be helped… Levy, I think we should retreat for now.」(Alice)
「Kyu.」(Levy)
Levy nodded, agreeing with me.
I can’t defeat it now, but I think I’ll be able to with a stronger weapon. For that, I need to wait for Walter-san to finish my new wakizashi.
With that in mind, I decided to retreat, but before leaving, I glared at the viper, pointed my blade toward it, and shouted.
「You wait for me! I’m going to claim that head of yours for sure! Until then, make sure no one claims it before me!」(Alice)
SSHHHHHHH!!
I don’t know if it understands what I say, but it replies to me with a hiss.
I then put back my wakizashi into its sheath and left the giant viper alone… for now.
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