Meep (2)

Bang!
Bang!

The weight in my hand and the greatsword of the [Lizardman Warrior] clashed against each other.

“Krralak!”

Perhaps it had a fairly high level of [Swordsmanship], as it displayed some notable skill.

The shockwave of the heavy sword, which concentrated all its force, traveled up to my wrist.

Kwa-Kwa!
Bang!

‘Damn, this isn’t easy.’

I had the upper hand in speed and technique.
So, what was the problem?
It was the toughness and strength the creature possessed.

Our weapons clashed again.

Sparks flew out.
The two-second-long contest of strength made one thing clear.

The [Lizardman Warrior] was a typical bruiser-type monster.

As far as I remembered, it had a [Super Strength] skill, which supported its raw power.

More precisely, it was known to possess the rare ability called [Monstrous Strength], which was of a higher grade.

“My stats should be higher…”

Once again, I realized how crucial skills were as I retreated slightly.

There was no need to play into its rhythm.

As I suddenly widened the distance, the excited <Lizardman Warrior> charged recklessly.

Boom, boom, boom!

Swinging its greatsword wildly.

“Kr-Kruruk?!”

However, no matter how much it swung, it couldn’t hit me, and confusion filled its eyes.

The result was possible because the [Powerful Agility] and [Dash]-based <Movement Speed> adjustment ability granted me a speed one step faster than it.

And it needed to understand one thing.

“I am not alone.”
“Kruk?!”

Bang!

“[Push Shield]!”
“Kuwaaah!”

A timely assist from Meowi, who was waiting for an opportunity.

Simultaneously, [Slasla]’s cooldown finished.

As I infused magic, [Slime’s Arsenal] activated.

Before I knew it, the [Saint’s Sword] had replaced the [Gravity Sword] in my hand.

With the considerably lighter weight, I surged forward like a streak of lightning.

The <Lizardman Warrior>, flustered by the sudden increase in speed, hurriedly raised its greatsword.

But it was too late.
The [Saint’s Sword] dug into its neck in an instant.

“Kr-Khrrk!”

Oh, this one was stubborn.
It tensed its neck muscles and scales to halt my blade.

“Do as you please then…”

Crack!

“Khrk?!”

The blue aura enveloping the blade turned red in a flash.

The power of the [Overlord Sword Technique] at level 3.

The terrifying release of mana instilled fear in its eyes.

Swoosh!
Slash!

The dance of the fatal sword swung without restraint.
Finally, splitting its head in two, the battle was over.

A deep smile spread across my lips as additional information appeared on the screen.

“Meeoow.”
“I-I’ll help you.”
“Meow! Thank you, Senior.”
“Meeep…! B-But, Junior? J-Just one more time…”
“Meow? Senior?”
“Meep!”

After the battle ended.
Meowi butchered usable parts from the fallen monsters’ corpses.

Choi Mari, who was kneeling beside, helped by casting [Purification].

There weren’t many monsters, so it wouldn’t take long.
Still, there was enough time to choose an option.
I took this opportunity to claim the sweet reward of victory.

‘First…’

I decided to examine the <Frogman> I first captured.

‘…Hmm.’

The choices were a bit ambiguous.

Not bad, but I couldn’t help but think, ‘Is it really necessary?’

I chose without much hesitation.

It was an advanced evolution of [Underwater Breathing], allowing free breathing underwater.

Although Speed +1 was attractive, I decided to collect the highest grade skills possible, so I didn’t hesitate much.

‘And next…’

In my hand now was a <Lizardman Warrior> in the middle of being butchered.

‘…Ah.’

Unlike a moment ago, both choices had value.

‘My current strength stat is 35.’

As the highest stat I had, it was the hardest to increase.

And it would only get harder as time went on.

In fact, even now, there were many instances where the skill level increased but the stat didn’t go up at all.

Commonly, once you break through the bottleneck known as [40] in development, it would become even more so.

In this situation, increasing strength by +2 was a very tempting option.

It wasn’t like [Monstrous Strength] was bad either.

‘But.’

In the end, it was all interconnected.

[Strange Monstrous Strength] was a trait that amplified strength just by possessing it.

As the term [Strange] implied, it allowed one to exert even greater strength than [Monstrous Strength].

It was too valuable a skill to pass up.

‘Well, I can gradually increase my abilities.’

Smiling in satisfaction, I heard Meowi’s sharp remark.

“Meow? Seha. Have you already mined all the mana stones?”
“Oh, oops! There’s one left.”
“Meow! Don’t be lazy!”

Apologizing, I took Meowi’s reprimand to heart and quickly mined the remaining mana stone.

The strategy for the [Underground Waterway] was efficient and swift.

“[Push Shield]!”
“[Flowing Slash]!”

Bang!
Shuck!
Grrr! Grrrk!

Me and Meowi.

Since we had fought back-to-back as comrades for so long, our teamwork was practically flawless.

And such coordination led to the frogs and lizards being effortlessly defeated.

It wasn’t that they were weak.

“It’s because we’re too strong.”
“…Meow, Seha, that line is too cringeworthy.”

Anyway, with no significant injuries and having defeated the monsters, we eventually reached the deepest region.

Just as we were certain the [Boss Room] was near, we sensed something strange.

“…Meow…? There are too few enemies.”

Meowi’s words were accurate.

The reptiles that used to appear with a ‘Hehe, you can’t pass!’ attitude suddenly seemed to vanish completely.

Instead, there was nothing but an outer wall.

Statues began to appear, standing with a dignified posture.

Statues standing like [Objects].

I didn’t particularly mention it to the party, but I carefully observed the statues as we advanced.

Because I knew what these guys were from the beginning.

‘…They should appear soon, right?’

It was at that moment when I finished my thought.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Rumble! One of the statues began to move.

Surprisingly, there was no sound at all.
It was due to the Uncommon skill, [Silence], applied to the [Statues] themselves.

“Two enemies.”
“Meep?”
“Meow? Wh-Where? No detection, no sound… Ah! Senior Mari. Behind, behind you, the statue is moving!”
“M-M-Meep?!”

“Clatter!”

The statue creaked open.

From inside, a skeletal [Lizardman] holding a scimitar emerged.

It was wrapped in bandages and adorned with accessories reminiscent of Egyptian mummies, giving off an assassin-like vibe.

[Bone Lizardman].

It was an undead monster that stealthily emerged from a statue under the [Silence] spell to launch a surprise attack.

Their most notable trait was attacking from the rear.

They possessed a skill called [Hide Critical] that guaranteed a critical hit when attacking from behind.

The creature charged at me without any sign of hesitation as soon as it saw me.

The scimitar’s blade came down in an instant.
I blocked the attack, but my brows furrowed.

Like all <Assassins>, they lose strength when discovered in advance.

However, this one was a bit of an exception.

Even though I blocked it, the shockwave traveled through my wrist.

Swoosh!

“Meeeow, Seha?!”
“I’m fine.”

The shockwave cut my shoulder into tiny pieces, causing bleeding.

The reason these creatures were troublesome was not just their surprise attacks, but also that.

[Difference in Firmness].

It was a skill unique to the <Bone Lizardman>, which allowed it to deal unavoidable damage if its defense exceeded its opponent’s.

Because of this skill, the [Bone Lizardman] was a tricky B-grade monster that was hard to ignore even if it failed in a surprise attack.

“Meow! Seha, I’ll join in!”
“No, let me handle it instead.”

Here, [Difference in Firmness] had the characteristic of increasing in power as the number of opponents increased.

In other words, it was best to face it one-on-one.

Originally, it would have been quite a tough opponent.
Its weakness was clear.

In short…

‘I just need a higher defense than it, right?’

Bang, bang, clang!

“Rattle?!”

At some point, when [Difference in Firmness] stopped activating, it showed a puzzled gesture.

‘It has to be that way.’

My stats grown through training, combined with [Stone Hardening].

Before I knew it, my defense had risen to a level where I could instantly gain an advantage over a <Bone Lizardman>.

The only troublesome aspect of it was the [Difference in Firmness].

Without that, it was no more than a rattling pile of bones.

“Clatter, clatter!”

And of course, the fact that I was wielding the [Saint’s Sword] made a huge difference.

I raised the [Saint’s Sword] and struck the creature’s scimitar high.

I pulled my left hand back.
Using [Rapid Strike], I landed multiple hits on its torso.

Due to the nature of the bone-constructed creature, it was more vulnerable to impacts than slashes.

An attack that exploited its weakness easily shattered the superior durability of the <Bone Lizardman> and brought an effortless victory.

As expected, the activation of [Eyes of Reversed Heaven] was a bonus.

After dealing with the <Bone Lizardman>, we took a break.
We took some time to regroup.

“Meeoow.”

Squeeze, stretch.

“M-Meeeeoooow…”

Squeeeeeze!!!

“Meeeow. Stretch, stretch.”

“Hehe…”

<Healing>.

Everyone may have their own ideas of what “healing” means, but I can say this with certainty:

‘For me, healing is…’

Placing my favorite character on my lap and pulling their cheek, I thought that it must be the purest form of happiness.

“Hehe…”
“Meeeooow…”
“So, so jealous…”

Of course, it was only mental healing.
It didn’t heal the physical wounds.

Both of us had sustained minor scrapes from the attacks of the <Frogman>, <Lizardman>.
And some from the attack of the <Bone Lizardman>, who had disguised as a statue.

But it wasn’t a big deal.

Because the precious <Divinity User> was right beside us now.

“Heal, <Heal>!”

Choi Mari, who was looking at me with a jealous face, closed her eyes and offered a prayer.

‘…As expected of a 4★ character from birth.’

An astonishingly strong Divinity could be felt from Choi Mari’s body.

Surely, her [Divinity] stat far exceeded 30, evident from the aura she radiated.

But…

The result was so poor that it was hard to believe such great Divinity.

“…Meep.”

I didn’t mind, as I already knew that Choi Mari, in her [Innocent] state, was a character who couldn’t pull her weight.
But she seemed deeply embarrassed.

She hung her head low, her face reddened with shame.

“…S-Sorry. I’m sorry for being a senior who can’t pull her weight…”
“N-No, it’s fine…”

Besides, we were now right in front of the [Boss Room].

If things went the way I expected, Choi Mari would soon be able to unleash her full power.

About 10 minutes later.
The wounds finally healed.

“Next up is our Junior Hana~”
“…Meow, S-Senior, you’re drooling.”
“Ah, s-sorry.”

Choi Mari chuckled as she healed Meowi’s wounds.

Hmm, as expected…

‘It’s taking too long.’

I glanced at the waterway we had passed.
A cave filled only with darkness…

The crimson world unfurled by [Unprecedented Sense] informed me that monsters were respawning slowly.

At this rate, a fully restored wave of enemies would soon attack us again.

There was no other choice.

We couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

“Uh… Senior Mari. I’m sorry.”
“…What?”

Looking at Choi Mari, who tilted her head in confusion, I extended my hand over Meowi’s wound.

Unlike Choi Mari, the wound healed instantly.

Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight.

“Did you… also learn divine magic?”
“Haha, yes.”

To be precise, I learned it yesterday.
The old tome given to me by Divine Light Garam.
The power prepared by Guild Master Su Ok-bin was the very [Healing] used by Choi Mari.

‘…It must be unbelievably expensive…’

Where on earth did Su Ok-bin get something like this?

Thanks to this, I acquired [Healing].
Maybe because my Divinity stat was high.
I was able to <Evolve> it immediately.

Perhaps because there were no other options.
It was applied instantly.

Unlike regular [Healing], [Rapid Healing] was a useful ability that could be used even in battle.

Instead, it had the drawback of a lesser recovery amount and a 20-minute cooldown compared to [Healing].
But the advantage of instant activation overshadowed all these drawbacks.

“……”

As soon as I healed Meowi’s wound, Choi Mari looked at me with a vacant expression.

Feeling a bit guilty, I scratched my head and stood up.

“Th-Then shall we continue?”
“Meep… Yes.”

Choi Mari sighed and tightly closed her eyes.

Feeling useless, she hung her head low and quietly stood up.