Level Eater

Chapter 26: Bears, Once Again

On the cobblestone road that stretched out to what seemed like an infinite horizon, a horse-drawn wagon was moving along at a consistently high speed. Above that said wagon sat two kids who had decided to be adventurers on the way.

Thinking that they could somehow make do with the profession took a burden off Zendo's shoulders.

"If you don't have too many connections, then being an adventurer might be a good choice, so why not try it? If it doesn't work then I might not look like it, but I can give you jobs at my place." (Zendo)

"Now that you mention it, what do you do for a living, Zendo-san?" (Ai)

"Me? I'm a salt merchant!" (Zendo)

""Salt merchant?""

Zendo plastered a proud of myself' smile as he gave a thumbs up to the two, who were still shocked by what they heard.

As their faces reminded him that they were severely lacking in common sense, he started to explain how the salt trade works in Obsul.

"From now on, you kids will be entering the town we call Obsul. It's a town famous enough to have its name spread far and wide." (Zendo)

""Really?""

"You know why?" (Zendo)

" Salt, right?" (Tatsuro)

"You got it!" (Zendo)

Tatsuro was able to get the answer from the old man's words earlier. While he was touching one of the pots that contained salt, Zendo nodded at him in satisfaction.

"But how is it famous from just that?" (Tatsuro)

"Hmm First, this place is the best in the whole kingdom in just the sheer output of pure salt. The same goes for the quality of the salt, it tops every other town. Next is, there's nothing more to it than that AHAHAHAHAHA." (Zendo)

"I see." (Tatsuro)

"So it's like that." (Ai)

Seeing the two in full admiration, Zendo's speech grew a bit more relaxed.

"You remember the junction earlier, right? On the other path, there's a lake at the end of it that's basically a gold mine, but with salt instead of gold! Then, the job of us salt traders is to harvest that salt and refine it into one that is purer and higher in quality. That salt then gets transported and sold all across the country, including the nobles and even the royal family! It's not an exaggeration to say that this town is powered just by the money earned from the salt trade!" (Zendo)

"Then, in this town of Obsul, this job where you refine salt, isn't that the most common one here?" (Tatsuro)

"Hou You sure know your stuff don't you, Tatsuro?" (Zendo)

"Ehhh Are you saying that I'm an idiot!?" (Ai)

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"GAHAHAHA. Don't sulk too much, missy. I'm just saying that your hubby here guessed correctly." (Zendo)

" Hubby, eh" (Ai)

Seeing Ai's face turn red and her lips curving upwards with just a few sentences made Tatsuro feel embarrassed as well. Zendo, who perceived the innocence of these two lovebirds, once again opened his mouth in a hearty laugh.

"But a salt lake, huh I want to see it too, okay, Tatsuro?" (Ai)

"Ah, yeah Zendo-san, we can go to that lake, right?" (Tatsuro)

"Of course! As long as you kids don't pollute it or something, it's all free for sightseeing!" (Zendo)

"So Tatsuro" (Ai)

"Ah, once we get our free time, let's go together, okay?" (Tatsuro)

"Mhmm." (Ai)

Hearing that the two will visit the lake that the town, and he himself as well, takes pride in, Zendo's mood made a turn for the better. Apart from those who frequent the place, not many people know of its existence.

"Actually, between us salt traders, there's this thing about that lake The Four Faces." (Zendo)

""The Four faces?""

"Ah, if you have the spare time, try to visit the lake once at any time from morning to noon, once in the evening, once during a polar night, and once during the first lunar phase." (Zendo)

"Heee" {What's a polar night and the first lunar phase?} (Ai)

{If it means the same events on Earth, a polar night should be when it's dark for the whole day because the sun doesn't rise; the first lunar phase is literally a new moon.} "Is there something special that's gonna happen when we do that?" (Tatsuro)

"If I tell you, it'll spoil the surprise." (Zendo)

"That's right, Tatsuro!" {So it's like that!} (Ai)

As the two were fluidly switching between speaking and telepathy, Zendo, who remembered something, quickly added something else.

"Ah, that's right. For your first time, go there during the day. The surprise is gonna be better if you know what the lake normally looks like." (Zendo)

"Alright, I guess we'll do that." (Tatsuro)

"We definitely have to go visit on all those days, Tatsuro!" (Ai)

Seeing the two happily chatting with their arms linked made Zendo want to see his wife, whom he had often neglected in favor of work, soon too. Without a second thought, he pulled on the reins and made the horses run a little faster.

(T/N: St*pid Lovebirds, can't believe they made the old man to want to meet his wife!)

The three continued to share their stories as the cart moved along the path. All of a sudden, the horses that pulled the cart stopped moving, seemingly afraid of something.

"What the Calm down, Gar, Jee!" (Zendo)

Trying his best to calm his horses down, Zendo only managed to make them sit down as they continued to shrivel in fear. Feeling something amiss about the situation, Tatsuro immediately used his search magic to scout out the area in front of them the trees on the sides of the path, to be exact.

Doing so alerted him of the presence of a few bears, similar to what they faced yesterday.

With their attributes and skills, Tatsuro and Ai could easily run away from them but doing so would mean that they would be leaving Zendo for dead.

"AI, THE BEARS ARE COMING!" (Tatsuro)

"The bearrr YOU MEAN THAT BEAR!?" (Ai)

The two still remember the horror they experienced when they faced the golden bear. However, if they were to abandon Zendo who has been kind to them up till now, they wouldn't be human anymore.

"How many are there?" (Ai)

"Two. I feel like they're a bit smaller so they might be weaker than the ones we fought before." (Tatsuro)

"Then all the better!" (Ai)

"ARGHHHHH Here we go again!" (Tatsuro)

Suddenly hearing about a bear and whatnot, Zendo wasn't able to follow their conversation as they jumped out of the cart.

"Oi, what's with the bear and all this shit?" (Zendo)

"You'll know soon. Look, they're here!" (Tatsuro)

"Just hang in there for a bit, okay, Grandpa?" (Ai)

A few moments later, two bears walked out of the forest's cover and into plain sight.

GRAAAAAA

"EH? Are those white-shelled Defurstal. Why are they even here!?" (Zendo)

Disregarding the shocked old man, the two went on to face the enemy.

In front of them were bears similar to what they fought yesterday, the only difference being that they had white shells instead and were more or less only two meters tall.

While Ai and Tatsuro thought that they were simply lesser evolutions of their stronger counterparts, they did not grow conceited as they saw the terrified expression on Zendo's face.

"I'll take the one on the left." (Ai)

"Then I'm going right." (Tatsuro)

Hearing the two speak so lightly about this matter, Zendo grabbed ahold of himself and raised his voice to call them back.

"KIDS, RUN AWAY. I'll distract them so you can just leave me here! Rather than this old man, it'd be better if the two of you survive!" (Zendo)

When the two heard that, they apologized internally for all the doubt they had when they first met Zendo.

And this was exactly why they decided that they'd never let this grandpa die here.

"That's terrible advice coming from you, gramps." (Ai)

"We can't just let a nice person like you be a decoy, you know?" (Tatsuro)

"But you" (Zendo)

"LET'S GO!" (Tatsuro)

"Roger that!" (Ai)

Interrupting Zendo mid-speech, the two moved out towards their own targets.

Ai pulled out a kunai from her item box and threw it at the bear, wanting to test how tough their shells were. At the same time, Tatsuro summoned his signature eight spheres of light and shot their beams toward his own opponent.

The bear on the right took the kunai straight on with the shell on its head while the other curled up into a defensive position to protect itself from the barrage of lasers.

CRACK

The shattering sound that echoed out momentarily stunned the two.

GROOOOOOWL!!!

"What?" (Tatsuro)

"Eh?" (Ai)

Seeing the shell, which the enemy took pride in for its hardness, break so easily left the two mouths open in shock.

Meanwhile, the bears trembled in rage.

Recovering his composure, Tatsuro immediately gathered his spheres together to form a giant laser, aiming for both the foreleg and hind leg of his opponent. Ai, on the other hand, started advancing toward her target while throwing another two kunai knives toward her enemy's head.

What happened next was what you would expect.

Tatsuro's laser beam hit true and vaporized both of the bear's legs, causing it to fall flat onto the ground while Ai's kunai knives both found their mark. The first kunai struck the bear's head, cracking its skull open. The second one hit the exact same spot, pushing through the crack deep into the bear's head, killing it instantly.

Looking at how quickly Ai finished her opponent made Tatsuro aware of his weakness once again. Not wanting to be left in the dust by Ai, Tatsuro activated [Level Eater] on his enemy who was on the verge of death.

Level: 17

Skill(s): [Bite Lv 4], [Enhanced Olfactory Perception Lv 1], [Scratch Lv 3], [Charge Lv 2]

(I know it's pretty low-leveled, but isn't this a bit too few skills and levels? They look similar but other than that, it's hard to call these the lower evolutions of the Goldie.)

Level: 1

Skill(s): [Bite Lv 0], [Enhanced Olfactory Perception Lv 0], [Scratch Lv 0], [Charge Lv 0]

With that, Tatsuro gratefully devoured the bear's levels. He then gathered his spheres together again for one giant laser and shot it at the bear's head.

The bear's fate was promptly sealed by the light's judgment.