Chapter 46: Eight-Legged Walk
A bizarre creature was moving through the forest, where plants and trees grew thick.
It had a massive body and eight legs, and the way it moved those legs with a clattering sound made it look like a spider.
“Shlshlshl”
The true identity of this creature was none other than yours truly, Fuetou Kouya.
I was currently testing a new method of locomotion that I had recently come up with.
Eight kusarigama (chain sickles) were stepping on the ground, carrying my body.
The kusarigama had sickles at their tips, but they also had weights at the ends of their handles.
I was extending those weights and using them as legs.
“(Alright, turn right, right!)”
I skillfully manipulated the kusarigama, turning my body to the right.
Controlling eight weapons was as nerve-wracking as controlling eight limbs. But that’s what practice is for.
By continuing my eight-legged walking training, my parallel processing had improved considerably.
If it was just for moving, there were no problems.
“(It’s been a week since I defeated the Red Monster, and all that daily practice has paid off.)”
A week. Yes, it had been a week.
That’s how much time had passed since the destruction of my hometown.
I was depressed right after the destruction, but now I’ve gotten over it.
“(Phew, there it is.)”
After walking a little further, I arrived at my destination.
Or rather, my current dwelling.
It was an area densely packed with colorful flowers and fruit trees.
A strange bird with one eye, two pairs of wings, three legs, and four-colored feathers used to live here, but I defeated it and now I live here.
“(Alright, grow big and strong!)”
I approached the plants and poured the water I had stored inside my body.
I had just gone to fetch this water.
“(Hmm, using the kusarigama is so much easier after all.)”
While pouring water with holes like a watering can, I thought about that.
Slimes use stamina to transform.
But with 〖Replicant Form〗, I can ignore that restriction.
No matter how much I move the chain part, there’s no fatigue. That’s why I was using the kusarigama as legs.
When I create a hollow space inside my body, I have to focus on maintaining it, which is a bit of a hassle.
Well, you could ask if using the kusarigama as legs isn’t just as much of a hassle, and you’d be right.
But if I’m going to do it anyway, I wanted to choose the option that would be a little bit of training.
“(Alright, watering is done. Next is nourishment, Lightning Strike!)”
I continuously consumed 〖Mana〗 and kept emitting lightning.
The lightning arced and fell to the ground. From there, I carefully manipulated it to change its landing position.
Eventually, I stopped emitting lightning when I had covered the usual area.
“(Alright, done!)”
My daily nourishment supply was complete.
This was a performance test of my 【Unique Skill】. I was dropping lightning in the same area every day and comparing the growth rate there with other places.
~Unique Skill Details~
【Earth Growth Thunderbolt】
・Maximizes harvest yield.
・Can manipulate lightning that strengthens the earth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Up until now, I had only used it as an 〖Experience Points〗 boost, but it actually had this effect as well.
I didn’t know how effective it actually was, but I decided to investigate it.
It had only been a little less than a week since I started the experiment, but the effects were already visible.
The fruit trees that I watered were full of fruit on their branches, and the plants near where I dropped lightning were flourishing.
The former was probably the effect of ‘Harvest Maximization,’ and the latter was probably the effect of ‘Earth Strengthening.’
As I had predicted, my lightning seemed to make the earth fertile.
“(Since it’s called ‘strengthening,’ I was worried it would become all hard and stiff.)”
While thinking about that, I checked my own growth over the past week.
Race: Jewel Armory Slime
Beast Rank: Dire Beast
Soul Accumulation Value (Level): 96
Stats
Life: 1253/649
Mana: 682/640
Power: 354
Toughness: 3807
Resist: 417
Speed: 261
Skills
Self-Regeneration, Sense of Direction, Cover, Climbing
Block, Perfect Defense, Fleeing Instinct
Unyielding, Whip, Compact Whip
Combo, Folly, Understanding
Slash, Compact Slash, Gesture, Telepathy
Weapon Body, Flowing Weapon Arts, Body Repair, Dance
Swimming, Flee, Flash Step, Cross Counter
Challenge, Focus, Air Jump
Plummet, Stockpile, Transport
Weapon Storage, Replicant Form, Bewitching Glimmer
Thrust, Antibody, Surprise Attack, Night Vision
Compact Thrust, Shoot, Snipe
Decomposition Fluid, Charge Thrust, Rampage
Charge Slash (NEW), Compact Shoot (NEW), Stealth → Stealth (NEW)
Flexibility Exercise → Soft Body (NEW), Throwing → All-Out Throw, Landing → Parry (NEW), Bite → Tear (NEW)
Unique Skill: Earth Growth Thunderbolt
My 〖Level〗 increase was modest, but I had gained a large number of 〖Skills〗.
This was partly due to how I had been spending my time.
Lately, I had been focusing more on training my 〖Skills〗 than on raising my 〖Level〗.
There were some 〖Skills〗 that seemed like they were about to evolve, and some that I wasn’t using, so I decided to take some time to try them out.
And this was the result.
~Skill Details~
Rampage: When charging, boosts leg strength. When charging, boosts the power of the charge.
Charge Slash: Can charge at high speed and unleash a slash with that speed.
Compact Shoot: Can unleash a quick shot.
Stealth: Can reduce the sound, smell, and 〖Mana〗 presence of oneself. Can reduce secondary sounds.
Soft Body: Constantly boosts the flexibility of the body. Constantly boosts resistance to blunt attacks.
All-Out Throw: When throwing, boosts arm strength. Can perform a powerful throw by consuming stamina.
Parry: When landing, boosts shock absorption. Constantly boosts the technique of deflecting shocks.
Tear: When biting, boosts the sharpness of the teeth. When biting, boosts the power of the jaw.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was my achievement for the week.
The pure increase in effect from the evolution, and the addition of new effects.
Thanks to that, I had become even stronger.
But it’s still not enough.
Actually, after defeating the Red Monster, I went to challenge the Forest Turtle.
I was heading towards the denser 〖Mana〗, and I encountered it at the end of that path.
However, I gave up on the challenge at first sight.
My instincts were screaming at me that I couldn’t win.
I could tell the absolute difference in our fighting power because I had become stronger than before.
The pressure of the 〖Mana〗 surrounding the Forest Turtle was intensely palpable even from a distance.
“(Time for training again today!)”
I would also raise my 〖Level〗 since I felt like I was close to 〖Evolution〗, but I would also train my 〖Skills〗 in parallel.
I understood it directly. I would probably reach the same 〖Beast Rank〗 as the Forest Turtle in my next 〖Evolution〗.
But that alone wouldn’t be enough. It had more experience.
Just like how there’s a big difference between 〖Level 60〗 and 〖Level 90〗 even if they’re both 〖Dire Beasts〗, the Forest Turtle had probably raised its 〖Level〗 for a long time after 〖Evolution〗.
And even if I had a 【Unique Skill】, the speed of raising my 〖Level〗 would decrease as there were fewer opponents of the same rank.
That’s why I had to increase the means to gain an advantage other than 〖Level〗.
“I finally found you!”
Just as I was reaffirming that policy, I heard a somewhat nostalgic voice.