Mistress Of The Evil Forest

Case 16: A brand new weapon.

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Name: --              

Race: Zircon Commander Orc                   Title: --

Level: 23

HP: 62/80                    MP: 62/65

STR: 4.8                     INT: 4.0

AGI: 4.4                    STA: 4.4

Skill: [Smash Lv.6], [Physical Nullification Lv.5],
[Berserk Lv.4], [HP Regeneration Lv.3],
[Prediction Lv.3], [Pain Tolerance Lv.3],
[Mental Nullification Lv.2].

State: Enraged.

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''What's the strategy?'' Ariel asks.

''He can probably dodge our decisive attacks with [Prediction], so find a way to restrain him.'' I reply. ''Ariel and Smiley will apply the debuffs.''

''Alright!''

auf

''I think can cast two chains now, Lady Aurora. That should be enough to immobilize him for some seconds.''

''Alright. We'll go in at the same time, make it quick.'' I jump off the tree and activate [Stealth].

As I run at full speed toward the orc, I can see it looking around furiously, likely trying to find the culprit who burned his house. 

[Sharp Claw], [Blink], [Domination].

''!!''

The orc immediately holds his Katana up and turns around to block my sneak attack. My claw sword collides with the spine of his Katana, and even though I'm pressing him down with my weight, he doesn't budge at all. Realizing that I'm inferior in terms of strength, he quickly flings me away easily, sending me rolling on the ground.

Unfortunately for him, right when he is about to charge at me, two golden chains have already caught his ankles, leaving him struggling to move. On top of that, the atmosphere around him suddenly turns bright red and a certain banshee creeps up behind him.

GYAÂÆΦδØšÈ

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Needless to say, the orc is stunned.

''Two, one...'' I count as I rise to my feet.

[Blink].

I blink to behind the orc, and as soon as I can make out what is in front of me, I activate my gauntlet combo again, aiming at his heart.

ARGHH

''Die.''

clank

''!!''

Right when I'm about to burst his heart, the orc somehow manages to break the chains and immediately turns around with a horizontal slash that would have almost taken my head off if I hadn't ducked.

That's stupid, how can he recover that fast under three mental debuffs?!

I jump back and activate [Stealth] again, running into the bushes with Smiley. Luckily, the orc doesn't seem to pay any attention to me, as he's blindingly chasing Ariel right now. He won't be able to do anything to Ariel though, as she does not have a physical body. The only way to deal with Ariel is to either expose her to sunlight, attack her with light magic, or use an exorcism skill on her, that's what Skely said.

And here's the problem, we cannot just let Ariel play with him to drain his STA or MP, because based on our estimation, it would be morning very soon. Skely and Ariel will die. 

''Lady Aurora, what should we do now?'' Skely suddenly appears behind me.

''Let me think... Wait.''

I wasn't thinking it through at all. Who said that I'm only able to pair my gauntlet with my claws? It takes precision to aim exactly at the heart, but can't I just blast ice magic freely inside its torso?

''Lady Aurora?''

''Let's do it like before, one more time. I'll get it.''

''Understood.'' Skely immediately runs off in another direction.

''Hu...'' I breathe out lightly, staring intently at the orc, the back of him, to be exact.

[Sharp Claw], [Blink], [Domination].

clang

My sword collides with his Katana once again, and unlike before, I'm on the ground. Right when he's about to deliver a kick to me, I jump back first.

''!!'' 

ROARR

The orc lets out a piercing roar as this time, three chains are locking his movement, two wrapped around his ankles, one around his sword-holding hand.

auf

''Me too~!''

Just in time, the other two also throw in their debuffs. Thanks, seriously.

I blink behind the orc and aim my hand at the center of his torso. Naturally and decisively, I activate my new ice gauntlet combo as he keeps struggling to no avail.

URGH

And to my delight, the orc's skin gradually turns bluer and bluer, his movements slowing by the second until he almost stands still like a corpse, but not quite. To finish him off, I simply thrust my claw at his heart, ending the fight entirely.

Blue messages pop up rapidly as the lifeless body of the orc falls to the ground.

[You have defeated a Lv.23 Zircon Commander Orc]

[Proficiency achieved a certain level]

[Being: Aurora Lv.15 has become Lv.18]

[3 skill points acquired]

[Skill proficiency achieved a certain level]

[Skill: Sharp Claw Lv.4 has become Lv.5]

[Skill proficiency achieved a certain level]

[Skill: Ice Magic Lv.1 has become Lv.2]

Good harvest, good harvest~

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Name: Aurora              

Race: Owl-kin                    Title: The Underdog

Level: 18

HP: 47/47                    MP: 68/68

STR: 3.6                     INT: 8.2

AGI: 3.9                    STA: 3.5

Skill: [Sharp Claw Lv.5], [Domination Lv.3],
[Enhanced Hearing Lv.2], [Stealth Lv.2],
[Inspect Lv.2], [Ice Magic Lv.2],
[Night Vision Lv.2], [Pain Tolerance Lv.1],
[Heal Lv.1], [MP Regeneration Lv.1],
[Language Lv.1], [Blink Lv.1],
[Acceleration Lv.1].

State: Normal.

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''Yay~ We did it!'' Ariel is excited as usual.

''Oh, well done, Skely.'' I turn around and tell Skely, who's walking toward me. ''And you too, little guy.'' Not to forget Smiley.

''I'm honored.'' 

''And... This Katana.'' I pick up the ridiculously long Katana with the blue-tinted blade on the ground and its black scabbard on the waist of the dead orc.

I stab the Katana down slightly to measure its length, and to my surprise, the blade alone reaches my chest. My nipples, to be exact. Talk about chest and nipples, it seems like I have grown again, and judging by this size... I think I might soon reach my previous physique.

''Why don't you keep that sword, Lady Aurora?'' Skely says. ''It looks like a good sword to me.''

Well, Skely doesn't use a weapon, while the other two are... Yeah, I should keep this one. Better pick up the belt as well.

''Thanks.'' I reply.

Just in time, I notice the sky getting a bit brighter. It's daytime again, and owls don't stay awake during the day, probably, I'm not sure.

''Let's all teleport back to the cave. I need some sleep.'' I extend my arms for the siblings, and my foot for Smiley.

I just leveled up, so the MP cost is my treat...!

Hmm, what skill should I buy next... I currently have four skill points, so a purple skill is buyable. Normally I would just go with something like [Parallel Thinking] or [Prediction], but now I'm considering using a weapon - this Katana. So according to Skely, I should buy [Swordsmanship], which would make me good at swinging swords, instead.

Okay, let's think about it this way, my primary attack options right now are by claws and by ice magic. If I were to buy [Swordsmanship], wouldn't I be able to increase the effectiveness of my usual claw sword, and even imbue ice on my sword?

''...''

Fine, let's just buy it.

[Skill: Swordsmanship acquired]

[Swordsmanship: Enable the user to wield swords more proficiently] [Rare]

So two left... I want my HP to recover faster, too, even if I don't get myself hurt all that much. Let's take [HP Regeneration] and be done with it.

[Skill: HP Regeneration acquired]

[Skill requirements met]

[Skill: HP Regeneration has merged with MP Regeneration]

[Skill: Auto Regeneration acquired]

Oh, so they merge as well? There I was wondering why HP and MP regen existed when auto regen was basically both of them combined.

Either way, now that I have new skills and a new weapon, I suddenly have the urge to kill something, like a fish for example. That sounded wrong? Yes. Do I care? No.

I slowly rise to my feet, looking around Skely's room in the cave. Both siblings are still sleeping, it seems. Even though I'm an owl - a nocturnal creature, I still sleep for only eight or nine hours a day, according to my estimation. So it's still noon right now after I slept in the morning.

Better use this time before they wake up to practice. Just in time, I feel like eating some fish as well.

''Let's go, Smiley. We're going on a walk.'' I say quietly to the puppy, who's nuzzling my foot.

It's definitely not about the fish, okay?