Level Eater

Chapter 8: The ‘Blech’

On a white gravel path by a brook, one could hear the footsteps of two people.

Even though they had been walking for two hours straight, all they saw was the endless scenery of a forest untouched by human civilization. During their walk, they had expected to receive reception from strange life forms similar to the giant caterpillars before but none came. Because of such idleness, the two gradually lost their vigilance and soon found themselves sleepy.

"Haaaaaaa I'm sleepy-." (Ai)

"Haaa Me too" (Tatsuro)

Seeing Ai yawn, Tatsuro gave one in reply. Whipping out his phone, Tatsuro checked the current time. On his screen, the time displayed corresponded to that of night-time but the sun was in disagreement. It was still in the process of rising, declaring that noon was yet to come.

"Guess another world means a huge time difference, huh?" (Tatsuro)

"It was so dark when we first came here so I thought it was already after sunset but who would have thought that it was still daybreak?" (Ai)

At that moment, both of them yawned again.

"I want to sleep but if we sleep at this time, we're gonna have to walk at night." (Tatsuro)

"Mhmm. And we don't even know when the caterpy will attack us so camping outside could be dangerous." (Ai)

"Caterpy??? Ah! Those caterpillars?" (Tatsuro)

"It's hard to recognize them by name so I gave them a nickname." (Ai)

Ai said that while sticking out her chest, face beaming with confidence.

"Nick name?" (Tatsuro)

Not wanting to ruin her mood, Tatsuro paid her no mind and started practicing his magic while walking.

Now, even without the help of the skill, he was able to produce a decent sphere out of his mana. To master the attributes, he tried mixing them together while also practicing how to release the magic.

"That looks fun." (Ai)

"Ah, a bit more and I'll be able to use a new magic." (Tatsuro)

"New magic??" (Ai)

"Yeah, something called [Compound Magic], using different attributes at the same time." (Tatsuro)

"Sounds interesting. I'll be expecting it, okay!" (Ai)

"Leave it to me!" (Tatsuro)

Incidentally, the only reason why Tatsuro knew about [Compound Magic] was because of No, it might be better to say that it's thanks to Light and Dark Magic.

At first, due to how expensive they were, Tatsuro thought that Light and Dark attribute magic would possess a high damage potential. However, as light and darkness are non-material in nature, they didn't pack the punch that he thought they would.

Upon learning that, he asked Help about the usage of the two attributes and was replied with [Compound Magic].

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By mixing them with the magic of other attributes, the resulting magic would be stronger than the original due to the change in nature. One could even say that by acquiring both Light and Darkness attributes, a whole new diversity of magic was born.

Tatsuro, with his knowledge about a certain useless goblin, immediately started practicing [Compound Magic] to prevent the two attributes from becoming a waste and that brings us to where he is now.

Thirty minutes passed. The two continued walking while exchanging a light-hearted conversation. In the midst of that, Tatsuro kept practicing and finally felt like he had a grasp on what creating [Compound Magic] should feel like.

About 10 meters away from his current position, Tatsuro saw something that got his attention.

"What's that?" (Tatsuro)

"Eh, what Blech" (Ai)

"Girls shouldn't be saying things like blech'." (Tatsuro)

That "blech" was something that could be seen sprouting magnificently in a certain space between the trees.

That something was a budding flower about 2 meters wide. Even though it was emitting a bioluminescent shocking pink color, it had a patched pattern of yellow and blue on its body while its leaves and stem had a tinge of dark red.

The one thing, or maybe it's better to call them things, that made it most blech' to Ai were the yellow tentacles with green pointed tips stemming from inside the petals, twisting and turning all around the plant.

"Yeah, we're gonna call it a blech from now on" (Ai)

"Well, that's not much of a name but it's somehow a great fit." (Tatsuro)

"Isn't it? But why does it look like you're not too happy about it?" (Ai)

"To be fair, I never asked if that thing even existed." (Tatsuro)

"Mee too!" (Ai) (TL.N: She said this in English instead of Japanese)

"Why in English?" is what Tatsuro thought but right now, he was focused on the thing in front of him.

The problem is, if they were to continue walking this way, they'd have to pass by the blech.

If they chose to walk by the river's edge, they'll be away from the forest trees but whether they could cross safely is another issue.

Their information on blech was also lacking. They had no idea how far its tentacles could reach or whether it had ranged attacks like throwing a seed, or some other things like that. They had no clue what those "other things" could be.

"And so Sensei, please help me!" (Tatsuro)

"I just need to throw more stones, right?!" (Ai)

"Close, but this time, it will be a bit different." (Tatsuro)

Saying that, he grinned while whispering something to Ai who also grinned back at him.

"And what do you mean by that?" (Ai)

"I'll try making something that you can use as ammo with magic!" (Tatsuro)

"Hoo, what are you thinking of?" (Ai)

"I'm thinking of making something like a Frisbee." (Tatsuro)

"Frisbee, huh My [Throwing] is already at Lv 6 so I think I can throw about most things and hit." (Ai)

"Now, I just need to try and see if I can make it." (Tatsuro)

And so, Tatsuro started to collect pieces of flat pebbles on the gravel road.

"Can I help with something?" (Ai)

"Yeah, find more flat pebbles, I guess." (Tatsuro)

"Roger that!!!" (Ai)

After about 10 minutes, Tatsuro sat down and started assembling the pebbles. Stopping by, Ai watched him, curious about what he was going to do.

"First, is to mold these pebbles into a disk shape." (Tatsuro)

"Hmm hmm." (Ai)

With that said, Tatsuro started randomly arranging the pebbles. Once he's done, he placed his hand above the stones and used Earth Magic. The stones started to stick to each other like magnets and about three minutes later, formed a stone dorayaki with a diameter of about 40 centimeters.

"That looks kind of clumsy, doesn't it?" (Ai)

"Uhh This is the best a Lv.1 skill can do so" (Tatsuro)

Carrying on, Tatsuro made 3 more Frisbees (Baptized in the name of the Valkyrie Ai) with the leftover pebbles and gathered them beside Ai. They were a bit heavy for Tatsuro but for Ai and her status correction, they were basically the same as a plastic toy.

"Then, I can throw these things now, right?" (Ai)

"Wait Can I check if I can use [Level Eater] at this distance first?" (Tatsuro)

"Please, go ahead." (Ai)

With those words from Ai, he dropped all formalities and used [Level Eater].

Same as with the caterpillars, a black sphere appeared in his mouth and he blew it towards the blech.

It moved as slowly as before, but at about 10 meters distance, he felt that it was getting unstable. Tatsuro increased his focus to prevent the sphere from vanishing. The further it got, the harder it was for him to keep the connection with the sphere, forcing him to be mindful of his breathing.

(Not yet, not yet)

Repeating that thought in his head, he kept his attention on the sphere until it finally made contact with the blech. When he tried to collect the information of his target, it had a slight delay that's probably due to the distance between them.

Level: 14

Skill(s): [Camouflage Lv 5], [Bite Lv 5], [Compressed Muscles Lv 3]

[Stronger Acids Lv 3], [Digging Lv 3], [Thread Weaving Lv 1]

([Thread Weaving Lv1]? That thing can weave!? [Digging Lv 3] too, looks a bit off on a plant butWhat's with the [Stronger Acids Lv 3] and [Bite Lv 5]? Is this thing really a plant? And it even has [Camouflage] at Lv 5 too! If you have that, then make your petals look more beautiful! Alright, I give up Thanks for everything, then) He thought

Level: 1

Skill(s): [Camouflage Lv 0], [Compressed Muscles Lv 0], [Stronger Acids Lv 0]

[Digging Lv 0], [Thread Weaving Lv 0], [Bite Lv 0]

(Finally It's harder and much more time-consuming if I'm too far from the target. I should take note of how long it actually takes to absorb everything next time.) He thought.

Tatsuro felt more tired than when he was fighting the caterpillars. While swallowing the black sphere, he was thinking about how he would use [Level Eater] in the future.

After draining it of its level and skills, the blech's petals opened up and fell flat on the ground, revealing its disgusting tentacles which continued swinging around.

"Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew!!!" (Ai)

"" (Tatsuro)

Ai, disgusted by the wretched sight in front of her, was rubbing her arms in hopes of coping with the goosebumps she got. Tatsuro, on the other hand, was fatigued from his earlier stunt and slumped onto the ground, wordlessly.

"Tatsuro, you okay?" (Ai)

"I'm fine. Just a bit tired can't stand" (Tatsuro)

"OK! Just rest there for a bit! I'll make sure this blech is erased from this world using my Frisbees!" (Ai)

Positioning herself to throw the Frisbees, Ai took a deep breath, held it for a while, and let go, alongside the Frisbee.

With the sound of cutting through the air, the Frisbee sliced through several tentacles and hit the blech. Releasing a high-pitched scream, purple liquid started spurting out from the cut made by the Frisbee.

"EEEEEEEEE!"

As the plant cried out, Ai threw another one. This time she aimed it lower as if to cut the plant down from the base. The Frisbee cut gracefully through the air and the root of the tentacles, truly a beautiful throw.

"HIT!!!" (Ai)

Was what she thought as the event unfolded? What were supposed to be joints with detached limbs suddenly started swelling up.

ROAAARRRR

With its angry voice reverberating all around, the belch suddenly rose up into what one would describe as a dark red spider that's about 3m tall.

"Ueee" (Ai)

"Is this thing for real?" (Tatsuro)

On the spider's back was a collection of purple petals which spurted out purple liquid before so they both naturally assumed that this was the real body of Blech.

Looking around with an intimidating glance, it wasn't long before the spider caught a glimpse of the two.

Tatsuro knew that they were spotted, but he was still too tired to move. He gazed at Ai with a worried face and Ai, seeing that, grabbed a Frisbee on each hand and stood in front of him.

"RUN!!!" is what Tatsuro tried to say but his feeble voice was drowned out by the screams of Ai and the spider. (TL.Notes: Run??? Tatsuro is really in love with Ai. Unlike the single loner reading/translating this novel. (~_~) )

"EAT THIS! HYAAAA" (Ai)

In response to Ai's scream, the spider shouted back with its weird shriek.

Releasing the Frisbee from her left hand like how one would throw a bowling ball, it proceeded towards the spider's left legs and cut through two of them in its path.

The spider, unable to cope with the pain of losing its legs, collapsed towards the side with its missing ones.

Seeing that, Ai ran forward. She was still wary of it as the spider continued to stare at them in anger despite losing two of its legs. When it finally adjusted itself and tried to stand up, Ai was already on a trajectory toward the top of its head.

"HAAAAA" (Ai)

The spider, unable to comprehend the flow of events, stopped moving momentarily. That window of opportunity was all Ai needed. She landed on top of the spider's head and started to pound away with the other Frisbee in her hand.

Despite releasing another earth-shattering shriek, the spider's head was slowly being ripped apart.