Chapter 6

Takami no Kago – Chapter 6

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In a forest, about 15 minutes away on foot from the city of Brett, this is the place where the Sharp Wolves from the subjugation request we took live . That being said, there are also other monsters that assertively attack people here . Even when we were talking, we were still dealing with another monster .

“Haa!!”

Ayla slashes her sword at the [slime], cutting it into two and settling the battle .

“Good work . ”

As I called out to her, Ayla replied while handing the slime’s drop item, [Slime Liver], to me .

“Yes, thank you very much . ”

“It seems you can fight well . ”

Although she had fought several monsters up ’til now, Ayla finished them all in one hit .

“Yes, it seems the monsters here are weaker than those from my village . That’s why I could be of help to you . ”

Ayla replies happily .
Nah, it must be that she had gotten stronger .

“I see . But even if we haven’t encountered any Sharp Wolves, don’t let your guard down . ”

“Yes, I heard Sharp Wolves are very fast and have high attack, and I also heard that slimes and worms are the weakest among other monsters . ”

Ayla doesn’t let her guard down as she feels for presences in the surrounding area . It seems Ayla could feel the surrounding living creatures’ presences . It might be a technique she learned in order to survive when she was cursed .

“However, my body feels very light . Even though when I was back in the village, I was out of breath when I fought a slime . ”

“Well, since the [curse] is lifted . ”

“Is that really it?”

Figures, since Ayla didn’t know about her own [curse] .

“It was all because your [curse] was reducing your status . ”

Now that the [curse] has been lifted, moreover, thanks to the [Divine Protection], her status was enhanced . Perhaps, because of the sudden rising of her status, she feels that her body is lighter .

“So the [curse] really has been lifted, right?”

“You still don’t believe me?”

“No, Master wouldn’t ever lie to me . It is just, I had always had that [curse] since I was born…”

Well, that might be so, since she had lived to her teens with her [curse] . And a guy she just met yesterday said it was lifted already . Obviously, she would have felt suspicious . I should gradually build her trust from now on .

“However, I have been convinced now . Master really is a wonderful person . ”

Huh, Ayla looked at me with eyes full of respect, although I was just about to decide to win her trust gradually .

“For now, let’s head a little deeper . Ayla, tell me if you feel any presences . ”

“Certainly . ”

“There is something over there . ”

Ayla said so after we advance for a while .

“Something? Is it a monster?”

“I do not know . However, there are also living creatures’ presences . ”

Although I didn’t get it, I tell her to proceed there cautiously . There was certainly something unknown there .

“What’s that?”

Liquid was gushing out slowly like a spring of water, however it’s not water . The viscous liquid is gathering into a hole in the ground . And, when the liquid was accumulated to a certain degree, as though it gained a will, it moved from the hole .
Is that a [slime]?

“A [Slime Fountain], is it? This is the first time I have seen one . ”

“Slime Fountain?”

I ask Ayla, parroting her words .

“Yes, it is said that a [Slime Fountain] always appears somewhere in a forest dense with magic power . ”

A [Slime Fountain], as the name suggests, continually produces slime . Then, other monsters eat the slime and obtain magic powers . If the magic powers of the monsters exceed the limit, the monsters would divide, creating a new monster . In short, we could say that the [Slime Fountain] is the slimes’ spawn point, and other monsters that feed on slime would gather here .

“So, a [Slime Fountain] is a monsters’ gathering place, huh . ”

“Yes, therefore, in some cases, adventurers who have confidence in their skill would camp out to hunt near the [Slime Fountain] for several days . ”

“Are there any people beside us around here?”

“It seems there is no one near us at the moment . It might either be that it hasn’t been found, or it just appeared recently . ”

“I see . So if we wait here, will Sharp Wolves show up too?”

“Yes, since Sharp Wolves are also monsters that eat slimes . ”

Speak of the devil, the Sharp Wolves showed up when we were talking about them . It seems Sharp Wolves get their name from their sharp movements . Compared to the normal wolves, Sharp Wolves are about 2 times larger, which causes its attack to be on par with an Earth’s bear’s attack . In addition, they often move in packs like normal wolves .

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Therefore, Sharp Wolves are often referred to as [Rookie Killer] .

Grr
As the Sharp Wolves growled, 17 of them attacked us . Normally, a rookie adventurer, who hasn’t even had 1 week of experience, would stand no chance and get killed . To begin with, there are almost no novice adventurers in their right mind that would challenge a pack of Sharp Wolves . However, neither of us are in our right mind .

With a “Sei!” sound, I leapt to the nearest Sharp Wolf, bringing it down with one hit . Including Ayla whose speed surpasses the Sharp Wolves’, both of our abilities were broken . Surpassing the Sharp Wolves, which relied on their number, with overwhelming individual strength, the Sharp Wolves’ numbers are decreasing in the blink of eye . By the time 10 minutes had passed since the start of the battle, their numbers had reached zero .

“Great, we defeated them all . ”

We took a rest after defeating the pack leader .

“Yes, I was able to defeat some Sharp Wolves as well . Although they were a bit fast, I managed it . ”

Ayla replied so as she was collecting the Sharp Wolves’ drop item, [Sharp Wolves Fang] . With the battle before as evidence, I was convinced, Ayla’s considerably strong .

“Sharp Wolves aren’t that much of a threat, right . ”

“Yes, since they are not that strong . ”

No, no! They’re plenty strong y’know!! I mentally retort Ayla, who’s playing dumb .

“We’ve achieved the subjugation request’s requirements since it only asked us to kill 10, however, what’s your call?”

“I want to fight a little bit more . ”

“Got it . Then we should continue hunting ’til the sun sets . ”

Today, we continued hunting Sharp Wolves in the forest to the point that we thought we’d exhausted the monsters here . [1] Our levels went up when I checked our status in the inn, after selling the drop items in the guild .

Hibiki Jinno Lv . 6
Swordsman
16 years old
HP

450

(+150)

Atk

90

(+30)

Agi

90

(+30)

Int

203

(+68)

Luk

375

(+125)

[Divine Protection of the God of War]
Effect: Raise combat-related status (Large)
Doesn’t stacked | Target : Party

[Divine Protection of the God of Wisdom]
Effect: Raise magic-related status (Large)
Doesn’t stacked | Target: Party

[Divine Protection of the God of Craftsman]
Effect: Raise production-related status (Large)
Doesn’t stacked | Target: Party

[Divine Protection of the God of Healing]
Effect: Raise holiness-related status (Large)
Doesn’t stacked | Target: Party

[Divine Protection of the God of Appraisal]
Effect: Makes it possible to appraise everything
Target: Self

[Divine Protection of the God of Trading]
Effect: Makes trading become advantageous
Target: Self

[Divine Protection of Light]
Effect: Removes all abnormal status
Target: Any

Ayla Lv . 5
Warrior
15 years old
HP

840

(+280)

Atk

252

(+84)

Agi

483

(+161)

Int

132

(+44)

Luk

132

(+44)

[Divine Protection of God of War (follower)]
Effect: Raise combat-related status (Large)
Target: Self

Translator notes and references:
[1] As in they’ve cleared out the forest of monsters .