Three bodies hung from the tree.
“Erwen, cut them down.”
We lowered the bodies and examined them.
“The wounds are clean.”
“Judging by the cuts, the weapon was a sword. About this long.”
“…It seems likely that they were killed by other explorers.”
The mage and the assassin, both experts in their respective fields, agreed that the wounds were inflicted by a weapon.
“But… there are monsters that use weapons, aren’t there?”
The navigator, a non-combatant, naively voiced his opinion, but no one took him seriously.
The bodies were hanging from a tree.
“Monsters have never displayed this kind of behavior. Lokrob, you’ve seen it yourself, haven’t you? Monsters attack explorers on sight, but they don’t show any interest in dead bodies.”
“Ah… Now that you ntion it, that’s true.”
Bersil’s explanation was convincing enough for Auyen to imdiately agree.
But…
“What happened here…?”
“I don’t know. Maybe there was a conflict within the Silver Lion Clan? Or maybe these explorers betrayed them. One thing’s for sure, it wasn’t a monster.”
Bersil’s theory wasn't conclusive.
There was always the possibility of a new species with unknown behavior patterns.
“ntal contamination.”
“…What?”
“They might have been driven mad. Monsters don’t do this, but humans driven by madness are capable of anything.”
That possibility couldn't be ignored.
As the leader, I had to take every precaution.
“Bersil, cast Tranquility.”
“Okay.”
We prepared for the worst.
Soul Barrier was the most effective spell against ntal contamination, but it consud a lot of mana. Tranquility was a good alternative.
“Can you maintain Tranquility indefinitely?”
“Yes, don’t worry.”
Okay, I would give her further instructions if necessary.
I looked up at the tree where the bodies had been hanging.
And then I turned to Misha.
“Misha.”
“Y-Yes?!”
“What was your first impression when you saw the bodies?”
“Um… well…? It seed like… a display… Like they were showing off their kills…”
I see.
“Emily, you?”
“It felt more like a warning to . They were hanging right at the entrance…”
“Like a ‘Do Not Enter’ sign?”
“Exactly.”
Alia nodded.
“What about you?”
“Sa as you. It felt like a warning.”
As I said that, I heard a strange sound next to .
“Ugh.”
“What’s wrong, Misha?”
“Nothing…”
I decided to end the conversation.
I wasn’t interested in who had killed them.
It wasn’t a monster, that much was certain. But even if it was another explorer, it didn't make sense.
‘We’ll find out eventually.’
If we wanted to know what was going on, we had to explore.
That was the explorer’s motto.
“Let’s move.”
We entered the jungle, Auyen diligently mapping the area as we went.
And after a while…
“Eek! The tree… it’s moving!”
We encountered our first monster.
It wasn't the ‘Diamond’ that Wyte had told us about.
“A new species.”
Its na and rank were unknown.
But it was definitely a plant-type monster.
Moving trees weren’t classified as beasts or nature spirits.
Whiiiish!
A vine lashed out like a whip.
That seed to be its basic attack.
Thump!
The impact against my shield wasn't that strong.
Considering it was a basic attack, it was probably around 5th-grade.
But it was too early to let our guard down.
Mages were known for their weak basic attacks.
Trrrrrr-!
The branches trembled, and glowing orbs started falling from the leaves.
The orbs, initially small, grew rapidly as they fell.
And by the ti they reached the ground, they had grown several tis larger and taken on a distinct shape.
“Seedria!”
The 5th-grade plant-type monster, Seedria.
It was small and made cute noises, but it was still a 5th-grade monster, on par with the Troll.
[Beep, beep…!]
It had summoned Seedria, so its skill had to be [Growing Seed].
What about its other skills?
We continued fighting the seven Seedria, and soon we saw another skill.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Mana orbs rained down like bullets.
It was the [Mana Barrage] of the 4th-grade aquatic monster, Palpupura.
Pffff-!
And the dust-like particles… that had to be [Charming Powder].
‘Overall, it’s around 4th-grade.’
We waited for it to use more skills, but it didn't.
I still wasn’t sure about its passive skill.
But there was no point in dragging the fight out any longer.
Kwang!
I swung my hamr with all my might, splitting the giant tree in half.
“Did we kill it?”
But the body didn't dissolve into particles of light.
What? Did it have a resurrection passive?
As I cautiously approached the tree…
[Kyu?]
A tiny creature erged from a knot in the wood and stared at us before scurrying away.
I knew instinctively.
“That’s the main body! Erwen, don’t let it escape!”
Erwen imdiately fired a [Fire Arrow].
Fwoosh!
The arrow struck its target and exploded.
「Squirrel slain.」
Two items remained.
A magic stone, probably around 4th-grade.
And…
「No. 9999 Beginner’s Luck activated.」
…an essence.
_________________________
“What should we do with it?”
“It’s a new species. We’re taking it.”
Bersil collected the essence, and I thought for a mont.
“This essence probably won’t be very useful.”
“It’s true… We don’t know its essence yet, but its skills weren’t that powerful.”
Misha chid in, agreeing with Alia.
It was a little unusual.
She had been avoiding the other teammates throughout the expedition.
‘Is she finally opening up?’
It wasn’t much of a conversation, but it was a good sign. She wasn't completely shutting us out.
I played along.
“Well, you never know.”
“What do you an?”
“Parasites often have hidden abilities.”
So parasites could enhance their host’s skills or even grant them new ones.
“We’ll have to check its abilities in the Archives later.”
“What about the na?”
“Does it matter? They probably already have a na for it.”
“…We might be the first to discover it. I’ll na it Nanari.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
I had a feeling there would be a monster nad ‘Nanari’ eventually, anyway.
“Um… Nanari is a good na, but… it summons Seedria and uses the Palpupura’s skills, so… how about Seedpura…?”
“Stop.”
Bersil, what are you doing?
“It’s Nanari. We’ll call it Nanari until we confirm its official na.”
I made the final decision.
“…Alright.”
Alia seed pleased.
‘So that settles the na…’
After collecting Nanari’s essence, we resud our exploration.
“…This island is creepy.”
Auyen’s comnt was t with unanimous agreent.
The jungle itself was normal enough, and the darkness wasn't a problem for experienced explorers.
But the details were unsettling.
“Ugh… I stepped on it again…”
As we walked through the bushes, we kept stepping on sothing soft and squishy.
Like mud.
When we looked closer, we found chunks of flesh and bone scattered among the bushes.
“This is disgusting. Why is there so much of this…?”
“At least it doesn’t sll.”
That was true, but the sight itself was grotesque.
It was as if soone had taken different monsters, mashed them together, and then scattered the remains throughout the jungle.
‘Why is there an eyeball sticking out of that…?’
We continued mapping the area, carefully avoiding the… remains.
“Battle stations!”
A monster ambushed us.
It was the ‘Diamond’ that Wyte had told us about.
「Diamond slain.」
The battle itself wasn't difficult, but we spent about 40 minutes testing its abilities.
And finally, we identified its essence.
[Impure].
It reduced the maximum number of essences by one, but increased the power of all active skills by 50%.
‘I was expecting a high-grade passive, since its active skills are all 3rd-grade.’
But the passive itself was only 5th-grade.
It was a little disappointing.
‘If it had a good passive, it would have been a great essence.’
[Hellfire] was a powerful skill, even if its base stats were low.
‘New combinations are interesting, but it’s going to be difficult to find the right ones…’
“Mister!”
Erwen suddenly shouted.
Another monster? We had just finished a battle…
“It’s not a monster! It’s people!”
That was important information.
“People?”
“Four of them. They’re running this way.”
“Are they coming towards us? I don’t sense any other presences.”
“No, they’re not.”
“Then why are they running?”
“…They were captured by the monsters on this island… and they just escaped.”
I see.
“Let’s go. I’m curious what happened.”
We quickly regrouped and followed Erwen.
“We should be able to intercept them soon!”
We changed our formation to pursuit mode and increased our pace.
“There they are!”
Erwen stopped, and we saw a group of explorers running through the jungle.
“Ah…!”
Their expressions were a mixture of emotions.
Surprise, fear, relief, hope…
And then, as they recognized …
“We’re saved!”
“…Help us!”
They dropped their weapons and ran towards us.
That was my least favorite type of explorer.
I understood their desperation, but…
“What were you running from?”
“A… a monster! A monster on this island…!”
“Are they chasing you? I don’t sense anything.”
“N-No, I don’t think so!”
“Then why were you running?”
“…We were captured… by the monsters… and we just escaped…”
“I see.”
I released my grip on his shoulder.
“Stay alert, even if there are no monsters nearby.”
We switched back to exploration mode. There was no need to maintain battle formation.
“So… tell . What do you an by ‘captured’?”
“It’s… exactly what it sounds like… There’s a village… a monster village on this island…”
“A colony?”
“N-No, it’s different… It’s difficult to explain…”
The explorer stamred, unable to articulate his thoughts.
The woman next to him spoke up.
“Baron, those monsters were different.”
“Different how?”
“They communicated with each other using a complex language system. One of our mages said it sounded like ancient language… Ah! That’s not important.”
She shook her head and continued.
“The village… it was huge. There were houses, and… families… children…”
“….”
“Like… natives…”
Natives…
That was an interesting concept.
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