A girl fell from the sky.
Or rather, from the ceiling. Before I could correct that, or even think about what to do, my body was already moving.
“(〖Replicant Form〗!)”
While moving to the girl’s landing point, I ‘converged’ my 〖Zone Control〗, mimicking a mineral shield.
The mineral was the same impact-absorbing material used to coat explosive arrows.
I held it up, and the moment her back touched the surface, I pulled back.
Thanks to the 〖Parry〗 correction, the speed was reduced extremely smoothly, but that alone wasn’t enough.
Depending on this girl’s 〖Toughness〗, catching her at this speed would most likely crush her.
Even with the center of my body caved in to create distance, it wasn’t sufficient.
So, I used another 〖Skill〗.
“(〖Parry〗!)”
I redirected the downward vector on the shield to the side.
The girl fell into the dent in the center of my body.
Her body, deflected sideways there, naturally rolled up the depression.
It looked like she was about to fly out, so I transformed into a tube shape like a pipe. This would also protect her from falling rocks.
The girl spun around twice inside the pipe before stopping.
She lay limp at the bottom of the pipe.
『Are you okay!?』
I asked via 〖Telepathic Communication〗, but there was no reply.
There were no external injuries, so she probably just lost consciousness from the fear of falling.
“(…………)”
I protected the girl and the Queen Ant materials from falling rocks for a while.
The other Steel Ants would get crushed, but I had fought them several times on the way to the hall.
I had gathered enough necessary materials, so I wouldn’t miss them even if I couldn’t retrieve them.
More than that, I was curious about how this girl had fallen.
Even if she was caught in the collapse, she would have had to come to the Ferocious Beast Zone alone… I didn’t think she was that capable.
…Well, I could ask her when she woke up.
The collapse had stopped, so it was time to move.
I slowly crawled out onto the fallen rocks.
“(First, I should return to the surface. The cave might be dangerous.)”
I used 〖Air Jump〗 a few times and entered the passage beyond the ceiling.
I continued to climb using Forest Shackles.
Operating the Forest Shackles required almost no stamina or concentration, so moving while in a tube shape wasn’t difficult.
Eventually, I could see the light outside.
“(Hmm, did the 〖Mana〗 get thinner…? And it’s a bit hot.)”
However, the place I emerged was completely different from the food storage I had fallen into at first.
Well, I knew that the entry and exit routes were different thanks to my 〖Sense of Direction〗, so I wasn’t surprised.
When entering, I mainly went east, and when exiting, I moved roughly north, so it was natural to come out in a different place.
“(Hmm, it looks like it will take a little longer for this girl to wake up…)”
I thought as I watched the girl toss and turn in her sleep, looking uncomfortable.
It was boring just waiting, so I decided to make some weapons in the meantime.
“(Expanding my 〖Zone Control〗… First, the Black Ant’s.)”
It was a rare species of Steel Ant with a special carapace that changed color for camouflage.
I had processed it into a shield immediately after defeating it, but it was still rough since it was improvised.
I made fine adjustments to the size, the seams between materials, and the composition of the special effects.
As a result, it became a weapon more suited for surprise attacks in combination with 〖Stealth〗 than for defense.
“(And next is the main event.)”
Of course, my gaze was on the Queen Ant’s materials.
I had finished analyzing them while escaping from the cave. All that was left was to decide what kind of weapon to process them into.
“(I guess one of them should be a spear.)”
The Queen Ant’s needles were extremely sharp and strong, and there were many special effects that could be added.
And the best way to maximize the use of those needles would be a spear.
“(〖Weapon Crafter〗)”
So, I made one right away. An Ant Spear about ten meters long, with a needle at the tip and a part of the carapace used for the shaft.
The silver spear, which looked like it was made of iron, had another unique power in addition to being a top-class spear.
“(Acidic Liquid Launch!)”
I poured 〖Mana〗 into the spear’s shaft.
Then, the 〖Mana〗 was conducted to the tip, and a light green liquid shot out with the force of a water jet.
The acidic liquid reached the cliff of the mountain opposite, dissolving and eroding the rock face.
“(Electrification!)”
When lightning ran through the metallic spear, the force of the acidic liquid increased.
This was also an advantage of using the Queen Ant, a metallic Demon Beast, as a material.
I stopped immediately because it was too conspicuous, but the 〖Mana〗 consumption was much lighter than 〖Thousand Blades Burst〗.
I couldn’t change its trajectory like the ants, but I thought it had become a pretty good weapon.
“(And the other one… should I make it a single-edged sword?)”
There was a reason why it was single-edged this time.
Until now, I had enough materials, so even double-edged blades, or rather, even using the entire blade as fangs, claws, or bones, was sufficient.
But that wasn’t the case with the Queen Ant. Her claws and jaws were small.
So, to make effective use of the few I had, I concentrated on making it single-edged.
“(–Alright, it’s done!)”
What I made was a curved sword (katana) with a blade length of about ten meters, just like the spear.
Well, I thought of making it a sword-like shape along the way, and it turned out surprisingly well.
I didn’t know the real method of making a katana, and it only looked similar, but for now, I decided to call this an Ant Blade.
If a sword expert found out, they would probably get angry, but there were no such people in this other world!
“(…………)”
…When I was in the forest. I casually asked Ergo, but he didn’t seem to know about reincarnators, transmigrators, or stories about Japan or Earth.
Was it just that it wasn’t well-known? Was I the first one? Was someone controlling the information?
In any case, it wasn’t within the scope of knowledge that an ordinary person could obtain.
I didn’t particularly want to know urgently, but not knowing the reason made me feel like I had something stuck in my teeth.
“(–Well, that doesn’t matter right now.)”
I brought my attention back to the Ant Blade.
Its most notable feature was its Earth Affinity. This ability, which all Steel Ants possessed, was most effective with the Queen Ant.
The Ant Blade would now take care of Earth-type opponents, replacing the Earth Affinity spear that I hadn’t used in a while.
It would be especially useful in this mine.
In addition to that, it also had the ability to extend the blade.
As the name suggests, it could extend the steel blade by spending 〖Mana〗.
The Queen Ant’s claws were unusually long, but it seemed that she had temporarily extended them with a 〖Skill〗, and the blade extension was a special effect based on that.
After that, I made some smaller weapons like arrows and daggers, and just as that was coming to an end, the girl next to me stirred.
“I… when did I fall asleep…”
The white-haired girl rubbed her eyes and sat up.
After looking around for a while and tilting her head, she noticed the blue cube standing next to her.
“What is this…”
『Good morning. Are you okay?』
“……Huh?”
The girl’s bright red eyes widened.