Monsters Of The Northern Lands (2)

“Uruuururun!”

“This is our territory! If you come closer, we won’t stay still, they say.”

“What’s with the ‘run’ at the end of their words?”

“I just tried it because their howls end with ‘run.’”

“Hmm, too bothersome, just knock them out. They’re big, so let’s consider them as candidates.”

“Got it, run!”

“Stop making weird noises!”

“Got it, aaang!”

“What’s with the ‘aaang’?”

“Got it! You’re really annoying! It’s my way, run!”

Rurin glared, ready to knock out the white monster. But at that moment, two smaller white monsters, probably its offspring, appeared, trembling and crying,

“Lurun! Lurun!”

Behind them, another slightly smaller white monster, probably the mother, held the little ones and crouched.

That one seems to be the mother.

“Wait, Rurin.”

I felt uneasy and stopped Rurin. They looked like a family and were trembling. The way they waved their club didn’t seem like they were used to fighting.

They’re not ferocious like orcs or ogres, just trembling, so knocking them out seems a bit harsh.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Tell them we’re not enemies and to calm down.”

“But we are enemies?”

“They look too pitiful. Let’s find out what kind of monsters they are first and then decide.”

“You can’t judge monsters by their appearance! The trembling ones are even worse. You’re too soft!”

For once, this dragon is right.

I was about to urge her, but then more monsters appeared. They looked furious but dumb.

They are fierce monsters generally called trolls.

They were draped in white fur, clearly from the trembling white monsters before us. It seemed they killed the white monsters for their fur because of the cold.

The food chain became clear in an instant.

“Rurin, using those trolls to manage the lair wouldn’t be right, would it?”

Nod, nod.

Rurin frowned with a look of horror. It meant absolutely not.

I nodded and conjured a whirlwind spell. A massive tornado formed within a 500-meter radius, sparing the center where the white monsters were, and blew everything away.

“Guoooo!”

The trolls surrounding us screamed as they were swept away by the tornado. Clean, nice and clean.

“Uuuuruurun…”

The white monster family watched in disbelief, their mouths agape. Despair was evident on their faces.

“Hehehe, I like the white ones better than those trolls. It’s decided.”

Rurin said that and approached the despairing white monster.

“Rururururun urururun!”

“They say they’ll give their fur if we spare their family! These guys are cheeky.”

“How dare they bargain with me?”

Rurin spread his aura and began to threaten the family of white monsters.

The white monsters, realizing the identity of the being before them, prostrated themselves and began to beg. They still protected their children with their bodies.

I felt like a perfect villain.

I grabbed Rurin’s scruff and pulled her towards me. Rurin, holding onto my arm, smiled innocently and spoke savage lines.

“You, you. They’re cheeky, but we can take them if we break their spirits.”

“They look really gentle; there’s no need for that. Translate.”

“Huh?”

Rurin doesn’t speak the white monsters’ language. Dragons have the specialty of directly conveying their intentions mentally. Dragons can make their thoughts resonate in the minds of any species.

“First, ask them their name. I’m curious since it’s a monster I’ve never seen before.”

Rurin had a look of ‘what’s the point of knowing the name of such a lowly creature’, but at my urging, she looked at the white monsters.

Soon, the leader who had been prostrating began to mutter something.

“Uruururun!”

“We are the Lurun species!”

“This northern land is originally our home! One by one, we were captured, killed, and skinned by the big ones that came. We are now on the brink of extinction. If you save my children and mate, I will do anything!”

The translator started working flawlessly.

Monsters that originally lived in this northern land?

Indeed, considering their massive fur, they are well-suited for the northern land.

They were peaceful monsters living in the northern land, but after losing the War, the ferocious large monsters that migrated here brutally slaughtered them, bringing them to the brink of extinction.

It’s reminiscent of the Native Americans who lived in the Americas.

“Ask if they were being chased by those trolls earlier.”

Rurin nodded and looked at the Luruns. The Luruns began to bow deeply. It was clear that it was a positive response.

“Uruurun!”

“They say yes.”

“Then tell them not to worry, we won’t harm them, and they can go. Let’s not bother creatures on the brink of extinction and catch something else.”

“If you say so, I’ll do it. Because I’m kind. But in return, a hug.”

“Why a hug there? It’s completely unrelated.”

“Uruurun! Uruurun!”

“Hey, even if you imitate their cries, they won’t understand you. Just convey the message quickly.”

“Huh. Got it!”

Rurin nodded and glared at the Lurun family. Why glare?

Anyway, the Luruns suddenly started stretching and bowing intensely, then began howling again.

“They say, as their benefactors who saved them from the trolls, they want to repay us. They have manners, after all. Hehe.”

Rurin nodded, and the leader Lurun exhaled, pointed to his mate Lurun, and then gestured for us to follow him with his fluffy hand.

Following them, we arrived at a wooden structure, similar to a nest. Compared to a human-built hut, it was far inferior, but it was enough to shelter from the rain and lie down to sleep.

“Hmm, they live in places like this while being chased.”

The leader Lurun gestured and made ‘uruun uruun’ sounds, then started taking something out from a nearby tree.

“They say they’ll give this to us instead of fur. It’s a black thing.”

Even I could see it was a black thing. It looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

“They say it’s a food they enjoy. It doesn’t look tasty!”

“Wait a minute, Rurin.”

I took the black lump handed over by the Lurun, my eyes shining. I smelled it. This lump and its scent.

This is definitely a truffle. A truffle.

The truffle that is thousands of times more precious than pine mushrooms. In English, it’s called a truffle. In French, truffe. It looks like a black broccoli head.

Its price in modern times exceeds 100 million won for about 1.2kg, a crazy ingredient. The taste aside.

“They’ll give us this? Ask if they have a lot of these, Rurin.”

Rurin nodded with a look that said she wouldn’t eat this even if given. The Lurun then nodded vigorously and took out more truffles from inside the tree.

Then the Lurun started making sniffing noises.

“Rurururun!”

“They said it’s their staple food and they can find it growing in the ground. I don’t know why they’re so proud of this.”

“That’s not it.”

I patted Rurin’s head, who had a look of confusion, and spoke.

“This is considered a top delicacy by those familiar with it. Preferences vary by region, but it has value.”

“This thing?”

Rurin, curious, bit into the truffle. Her curiosity seemed to have exploded at the mention of it being a delicacy. But she soon grimaced.

The truffle, when first eaten, has a vague taste and aroma like a mix of vinegar and meat. It wouldn’t be a familiar taste for Rurin, who’s used to the monton mushrooms I use.

But this truffle has immense value, especially in modern times.

So it’s an item better than gold bars to offer when summoning something.

“It’s tasteless, you!”

“It’s okay. It’s expensive, so we can make good use of it. They can find these?”

I suddenly thought I should persuade the Lurun. Instead of going extinct here, we can let them live peacefully managing the dragon lair, and in return, we can get some truffles. The whole family can manage the lair.

The Lurun, with an innocent face, handed over the truffles while looking at Rurin, who had a disgusted expression, as if it did not understand. It was a pitiful look.

“Rurururunururun!”

“What is it this time?”

The Lurun family began hugging each other and trembling again. Trolls’ cries filled the surroundings.

Whether the cries called out for the whole clan, the number of trolls gathering now was incomparable to before. Trolls were swarming from beyond the forest and from behind.

It seemed these trolls were the monsters ruling the area Rurin and I teleported to.

“You, those stupid ones came again.”

“Indeed.”

“Uruurun!”

“They’re telling us to run away. After eating that tasteless thing, they’re acting strange.”

“No harm in telling us to run away, right? Anyway, it’s not tasteless. It’s one of the finest delicacies, as I said. This is perfect. I wanted to test something also.”

I grabbed Rurin’s hand and pulled her back towards me, then looked at the trolls. Then I started channeling my mana.

Last night, I clearly felt my mana exceeding its limits due to the dragon orb.

The flow of mana, which felt trapped in an infinite space, seemed to break through and overflow like waves, absorbing the power of the orb.

It’s hard to express. So, I have to experiment directly. But I can’t test it in Greek City. Too many eyes.

This vast northern land.

The only witnesses are Rurin and the monsters.

So there’s no better place for an experiment. I used the strongest magic I knew, Meteor, with a feeling akin to conducting a nuclear test.

Mana touched the sky. And spread out.

Gugugugugu!

Meteors were summoned and began to fall towards the trolls surrounding us. The size of the meteors was like the gathered and trembling Luruns.

But even this size alone has immense power. It’s a spell that creates craters and scorches everything in its impact radius.

However, the Meteor spell itself was something I could use before.

But at this moment, I successfully summoned a total of four meteors in all directions where the trolls were. Before, one was the limit. That was the limit of my mana.

Kwaaang!

The usage of Meteor, which was limited to one, has now drastically increased. That’s my current mana. The power of the dragon orb was exactly as Rurin said.

Kwaaaaang!

Kwaaaaang!

Kwaaaaang!

Kwaang!

The hills collapsed in four places, creating massive craters, scorching the trolls. The surviving trolls fled in terror, and all that was left was flattened land.

The area, except for the small space where Rurin and the Lurun family stood, was completely flattened.

Dust rose all around.

“Oh! You! When did you become this strong! As expected of you!”

The dragon, seeing this, was very happy and jumped into my arms.