The Garden Of Pearl Spitting Tortoise (2)

Jaaang!

With the blue magic wave, that sensation I had experienced before was reproduced here.

The sensation of my physical body being completely moved to another world.
It was the oversaturated wave of magic commonly described as ‘crossing the gate’.

‘Ugh, I feel a bit dizzy.’

“…! A-are you okay?”

Meowi, who had gone in first and was waiting, approached me.

Unable to stay still, she clenched her adorable fists and lightly punched my back.

I-is this like the massage-time meow punch…?

‘…Should I keep pretending to be dizzy till the end?’

Yes, let’s pretend to be in more pain on purpose.

It’s rare to get a chance to experience our Meowi’s meow punch.

“…Hehe.”
“…You’re fine, aren’t you?”

Ah, I can’t control this laughter at all.

She removed her hand slightly as she looked at me with a salty gaze.

Oh no!!!

“Ah, no! I’m dizzy! Do it more!”
“…It doesn’t seem like you’re dizzy, though.”
“Just 10 more times!!! Please!!!”
“Meeeow. Alright, just 10 more times…”

Even as I felt the blissful elation of bouncing joy, I diligently activated [Unprecedented Sense].

No matter how important our cute Meowi’s antics were, one must never let their guard down in a dungeon.

Whoooosh!

As I infused magic, the red wavelengths spread wildly, as if they had been waiting.

‘Again, what a messy body.’

I adjusted my breathing to control the range and output.

Having used it a few times, I realized that [Unprecedented Sense] could expand and contract like a living amoeba.

‘…This could be even more useful if used properly.’

Anyway, that was enough thinking.

I looked around and reminded myself of this place once again.

‘Goblin Habitat (E).’

It was an E-rank dungeon, a lower-grade dungeon than the Goblin Tribe site (D) that we entered with Moon Bora.

However, there was no substantial difference between the two dungeons to point out.

It was just a matter of whether beast-type mobs appeared or not at all.

Naturally, both the difficulty and the rewards were pathetic.

‘If there’s anything special, it’s that there’s a huge lake for some reason.’

But that didn’t mean there were fish monsters.

Occasionally, rare fish imbued with mana would be caught, attracting hunters with a hobby for fishing.

So why did I choose this place?

If hunting was the goal, there were plenty of better dungeons.

‘It’s simple.’

Because what I was targeting existed in this place alone.

“…Seha.”

It happened about 20 minutes into our walk.

Meowi, who was leading, quietly stopped.

Her two tails, bound like a belt, twitched, and the cat ears on her head pricked up.

Her [Cat’s Intuition] seemed to activate, emitting a faint magic presence from her.

“There’s an enemy. I’m not sure how many. Probably goblins.”

She decided not to mention that there were exactly three out there.

I had already figured it out long ago with my [Unprecedented Sense], but I wasn’t tactless enough to state it outright and hurt her feelings.

Meowi pointed, and I turned my gaze in that direction.

The eyes peering through the bushes flinched.

Realizing they had been spotted, one creature burst out with a rustle.

“Kereuk!!!”

With a distinctive shriek, it charged foolishly right at us.

Green skin and a truly disgustingly ugly face.

A small body, about the size of a 5-year-old boy.

In its hand was a rusted hand axe, likely discarded by hunters who visited the dungeon earlier.

It had the typical appearance of a goblin.

‘…Damn it.’

However, there was one unexpected thing.
It was the creature’s physical characteristics.

‘What…? It’s a female?’

Suppressing the feeling that my eyes were going to rot at the sight of where it indicated femininity, I tried to focus.

Damn. I didn’t expect this kind of mental damage.
Should I just hit this monster?

“Meowi. Monsters don’t usually have genders, right?”
“Some green-skinned ones, like goblins, do have genders. Anyway… here it comes. I’ll engage.”

Having finished speaking, Meowi pulled out a shield and charged forward.

Thump!

A clear, appropriately metallic resonance.

Meowi neatly blocked the goblin’s crudely made axe with her shield.

“Kyareureuk!”

The goblin screamed bizarrely and rapidly hammered the shield with its rusted hand axe.

Meowi, undamaged, stoically blocked the attack like a mountain.

The equipment had been repaired, and it showcased her true worth in perfect condition, exhausting the goblin in return.

“..Keureuk… Keuk.“

The moment the monster paused to catch its breath.

Meowi moved her hand swiftly to her waist.

Whooosh!
Thud!

“Keuk!”

Like a hunter lying in wait, she drew her dagger swiftly.

The blade, held in a reverse grip, pierced precisely through the goblin’s nape.

She used her shield to block the splattering green blood.

Pleased with her clean work, she smiled, but then a red signal flashed near the monster’s forehead.

‘Are they coming out now?’

The two monsters that I had sensed but hadn’t attacked us yet.

Feeling it was an opportunity to ambush, they had already risen and tightly pulled their bowstrings.

A crude but seemingly useful short bow.

Slightly better clothes than the one she first killed.

A glass bottle, suspected to contain poison, was attached to the shabby belt they had.

It was the evolved species Moon Bora had told me about. [Goblin Archer].

“Ker-ruck!”
“Kack!”

Two arrows flew straight at me.

Normally, I would dodge, but instead, I bent my waist, preparing my skill.

Knowing for sure that she would protect me.

Shashak!

Sure enough.

With the sound of brushing grass, Meowi appeared like lightning in front of me, solidly shielding me, as sturdy as a fortress.

Tangtang! The arrows bounced off immediately.

At the same time, Meowi’s shouting voice became a signal.

“Seha.”
“Uh!”

Kwadeuk!

I tensed the muscles in my forelegs.

My grip on the sword hilt gathered a strange strength, and the veins on the back of my hand bulged out.

A blazing flame-like energy. ‘Magic’ once again responded to my will, creating a unique phenomenon.

I felt something alien and distinctive deep within my flesh flowing into the sword.

The power’s vibrations were even stronger than when I first used [Flowing Slash].

Instinctively realizing this was the power of [Rune], I did not resist and sublimated it throughout my body.

Crack.

The ground crumbled slightly.

At the same time, my body ‘charged’ forward.

My body, flying forward without stopping, was a powerful mass in itself.

Swooosh!

The act of swinging the sword, embedding that speed and mass into it, was unmistakably a secret technique deserving of the term ‘one-hit kill.’

“…Keuk?“

“…Keureuk?!“

The two goblin archers were greatly startled by my movement, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.

It seemed they wanted to try something, but it was already too late.

Shueuk!

A sword strike shone in silver.

With clean cutting power, the heads of the two goblin archers spun round and round in the air.

Wow, even I think it looks cool.

Alright, should I stop like this…?

‘Huh? What’s this…?’

My feet won’t stop?

Thud!

“Ack, shit!”
“…! S-Seha!”

Meowi, startled to see me crash into a tree right in front of her, rushed over.

“Are you okay?”

“Ugh. I’m fine. Ouch… it hurts.”

I rubbed my forehead and wiped away the tears that had formed on my body.

“Is this your first time using a ‘Rune’? I’ve never had a Rune either, so I don’t know much, but I heard it takes a long time to adapt. Especially since Seha’s is an immediate [Charge] skill, right? It seems like you’ll need a lot of practice.”
“…I guess so.”

I thought the characters in ‘GAL’ would adapt quickly and easily… but it wasn’t as comfortable as I expected.

‘…I need to consider the ending form of the skill when using it.’

Otherwise, I might end up destroying myself by misusing a forward spell.

A deceitful additional effect followed.

But the battle had already ended, rendering the effect meaningless.

“Shall I butcher them then?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll help.”

Crunch!

While helping Meowi butcher, I deeply pondered about [Flowing Slash].

It was an impeccable stage for my debut using [Runes].

Not only was the power impressive, but I was particularly satisfied with how it compensated for my weaknesses.

‘Originally, the main drawback of Flowing Slash is its poor mobility, making it difficult to hit the target…’

The [Charge] skill had secured mobility beyond my expectations.

From what I remembered, the speed stat of a ‘Goblin Archer’ was 8.

While their speed stat might not seem high, due to the advantages of their ranged position and keen eyesight, their perceived effectiveness rises to about 9-10.

‘Not being able to handle that and still cutting them down is definitely a pass.’

However, it also revealed some problems that this technique possessed.

Like earlier, it was hard to control the direction, but I could overcome that with effort.

The biggest problem was that magic consumption had increased.

‘It feels like it’s about 20% more than before.’

In ‘GAL’, [Runes] don’t particularly need to be used due to balance reasons, but merely possessing them already increases the usual magic consumption.

And when a skill is equipped with [Rune], the magic consumption further increases.

Especially, the more options attached or the rarer the rune, the higher this increase goes, and some even require a completely different resource.

‘Like life force, for instance.’

Perhaps the [Kappa Rhino] I had just consumed, being a C+ rare rune, seemed to consume magic even more.

[Runes], with a few exceptions, do not basically come with ‘stat increases’.

So, having many high-grade runes doesn’t necessarily mean a good deal.

Conversely, the magic power consumption could be so high that it renders one incapable of doing anything.

Ultimately, the fundamental and foundational stats must be supported for the person to be perfect.

‘…Originally, I could do Flowing Slash three times in a row. But now, twice is the limit.’

I had to increase my magic stat soon.

With [Eyes of Reversed Heaven], I should somehow acquire another usable skill.

If I were gasping after using just a few skills, I would fail as a dealer.

“…Impressive.”
“Huh?”

Her sudden remark brought me out of my thoughts.

She pointed at the severed neck area of the archers.

“Seha is truly amazing. I felt it when we first formed a party together… Seha’s swordsmanship… is no joke. With your charge attack added… it was so cool how you swiftly cut down the enemies.”

Caught off guard by the sudden praise, I was slightly taken aback.

“…Look at this. It’s cut so cleanly. Not a single piece of bone flew out, you know? I’ve seen attacks from other melee DPS classes, but… this is the first time I’ve seen such sharp cutting power.”

“…Uh, uh…”

“Indeed, a Sword Saint is different. With me… Ah, sorry. You told me not to put myself down, right?”

Meowi, smiling broadly, blushed slightly and scratched her cheek.

“…I’ll try harder.”
“Huh?”
“…To be by Seha’s side… even more so.”
“……”

Meowi seemed embarrassed by her own words and blushed even more.

Her two tails and ears fluttered gently.

‘Ahhha!!’

I, tormented by the tightening in my heart at her cuteness, couldn’t help but place my hand on Meowi’s.

Then, I gave her a fervent petting.

“…M-my hair’s getting messed up.”
“Euk…!”
“M-meow…”

Clang!

A distinctive metallic sound rang out as the goblin archer’s pelvis was split in half.

“Meowi, hand me the dagger.”
“Okay.”

Without hesitation, I kicked the archer’s jaw apart, then cut off its dangling tongue with a knife and collected it in a long bottle at my waist.

Inside the bottle were the poisons used by the archers and the tongues of the goblins.

“Seha. I’ve actually been curious…”

“About?”

“Why do you collect goblin tongues? They’re a worthless by-product. Plus, they contain a slight poison… nobody deals with them.”

It was a valid point.

Goblins were only valuable for the magic stones in their torsos and the materials in their eyes and ears used for magic potions.

“It’s okay. I need that poison.”
“…?”

5 minutes later.

As I continued to advance, I sensed that we had arrived at our destination, due to the subtle yet distinct changes in the bushes.

Turning to the side, I saw an unnaturally dark side path.

And next to it, a wooden sign that read ‘Warning’.

‘This is the right place, then.’

Without hesitation, I headed towards the side path, and Meowi, who had been leading, suddenly ran back in shock.

Thud!

She hugged my waist, trying to stop me from going in.

“S-Seha! This place is dangerous! This isn’t the regular route.”

Her worried eyes were incredibly endearing to look at.

I chuckled and stroked her head.

“Don’t worry. Meowi. This is the right way.”
“M-meow? B-But this path is…”
“Right. This is a path we are not supposed to take.”

And so, it was where the treasure was located.

‘The Hidden Piece.’