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Frank and Matsuo silently walked inside of the accursed shrine, as the two suddenly felt a strange and eerie presence, alongside a slight change within space itself. ​​

Ding!

[You have entered the [Accursed Domain: Akaname Shrine (Rank 1 ~ 3)]!]

"We have entered the Domain automatically… it seems that the Youkai Boss here invited us willingly. If it is like that other Youkai, it must be seeking to 'play' with us and find some 'entertainment'…" said Matsuo.

"Are all Youkai like this?" asked Frank.

"Not all, but many are often not completely malicious… Well, although they attack sometimes. Youkai come in all shapes and sizes, sometimes they're harmless and like to steal the shoes of people or their food… and other times, they like to put a prank on humans or riddles," said Matsuo.

"I see… They're really like in the tales where they appear and are described in, aren't they?" asked Frank.

"Kind of. Although not all Youkai are exactly like those tales… For example, this Domain seems to be filled with Akaname, these Youkai are long-tongued monsters that like to sneak inside of people's bathrooms and lick the dirt and nastiness accumulated… But after medieval times ended and everything became more modern and cleaner, the new Akaname that show up are more twisted, seeking 'fun' and 'entertainment' through… most likely, fighting, I suppose? Their tongues are very strong, although they were originally the harmless-type of Youkai, they diverged into aggressive natures…" said Matsuo.

"I see how it is. It is quite fascinating- Ah, there are more coming!" said Frank, as both he and Matsuo were talking casually while exploring the shrine, until they came through a large corridor where many presences emerged, rushing towards them!

"Visitors, visitors! Gyhihihihi!"

"Time to plaaaay~!"

"Play with us!"

"Let me lick you! Let me lick you~!"

"You look fine for a little snack, little lad~!"

"The creepiest thing is that these ones even speak and all…" muttered Frank.

"Don't get spooked out, that's the small effect of their Aura of Fear, a special ability that most Youkai that are of the Evil Spirit Category possess! They are five! I will take two down, you take three! Now, go!" said Matsuo, as he conjured a light barrier ahead of himself while tanking two Akaname that jumped right towards him, slapping his barrier with their tongues.

These monsters appearances were similar to the one that the old lady took when it was enraged by Frank and Ruby's attacks,

"Alright, thanks for the Experience Points!" said Frank, dashing towards the three Akaname as they pointed out their whip-like tongues towards him.

"Young lad, play with us!"

"Gyhihihihihihihi!"

"I will drip you with my sticky saliva~!"

"Mana Barrier!" said Frank, expanding his Mana Aura around himself and generating a barrier of pure mana, shielding himself momentarily from the three Akaname attacks.

Frank glanced for a few split seconds as each hit they did decrease his Mana by fifteen points, but because he had over one hundred mana now, and this coupled with his amazing mana regeneration, made it possible for him to relaxedly take them on, as long as he had his Mana Barrier on, their attacks would never reach him, to begin with.

"Thanks to the increase in my Magic Stat and my Mana quantity, my Mana Barrier had become both stronger and more durable as well. As it extracts Mana from me with each hit, as long as my regeneration can keep up, I can tank their hits while throwing them off with my offensive spells!" thought Frank, as he called upon Ruby.

"Ruby! Bite their tongues and burn them! Bite! Fire Breath!" said Frank, as he commanded his loyal monster pet, who emerged from his clothes and suddenly increased her size by around five times, growing as big as an adult dog and opening her jaw filled with razor-sharp teeth.

"Graaawrr!" roared Ruby, as her strong jaw grabbed the tongue of one of the Youkai, tearing it apart from within seconds as the creature shrieked in agony.

"Grrryyaaaaa!"

"Now! Spinning Mana Bullet!" said Frank, throwing a spinning mana bullet towards the monster, and blowing it into black smoke in a split of a second!

Boom!

"Graaaawr!"

Ruby continued her rampage as she exuded flames from her jaws, burning the Akaname and making them tremble in pain, running away from Ruby without thinking it twice!

"Oh? They're escaping from Ruby?" thought Frank, as he couldn't simply let his EXP bags run away, dashing after them with the boost in speed offered by his various buffs alongside Gust, and then pointing his fingers towards the monsters.

"Spider Thread! Mana Thread! Bind!" he said, as threads emerged from below his nails while being reinforced by Mana, the desperate and fearful youkai trembled in fear as they were easily captured by Frank's threads.

"Nnnggrrya!"

"Grryarr! Grryarr!"

Matsuo quickly came back after having taken care of the two Akaname that attacked him, glancing at how easily Frank managed to catch these two creatures.

"Since when can you create threads from your fingers?! Those are not entirely made out of mana, right?!" asked Matsuo in bewilderment.

"I got a Skill Book after killing Spider-type Monsters and got the ability to produce spider thread. If I combine it with my Mana and then the Bind Spell, it makes for pretty good trapping techniques," said Frank.

"You're really a broken game character… What are you waiting for? Finish them off already," muttered Matsuo.

"Alright, senpai~," said Frank, as he suddenly tightened his hands, the Akaname shrieked and twisted in pain for a bit as they were strangled to death, quickly exploding into black smoke.

"Man, you're merciless," said Matsuo.

"Well, as long as they don't leave a bloody mess, killing these things is not as impactful, to be honest. It feels just like killing monsters in a game to an extent… Maybe I have managed to simply separate certain thoughts from my mind such as morality, so killing these things don't affect me as much…" said Frank.

"What kind of thought process is that? But well, that works, I guess… Alright let us keep going," said Matsuo.

"On it, chief!" said Frank, grabbing the magic crystals dropped and saving them on his Inventory as he checked his status.

"I've killed four already and no level up… I do really need more Experience Points than before… Perhaps the Youkai Boss would offer a nice amount?" wondered Frank, as Ruby walked at his side like a loyal ally.

"Grawr!" said Ruby as she waved her tail happily, she was excited about coming on an adventure with Frank again while being accompanied by his human friend.

"Your tamed monster is quite amazing, to be honest. I have never heard of a monster that obeyed their tamers just as much as this lizard. Well, at least not novice tamers…" said Matsuo.

"Heh, that's because my Ruby is an incredibly special girl! I am very proud of her!" said Frank.

"You talk as if she were your daughter…" said Matsuo.

"Well, she's my adoptive daughter now! And not call her 'lizard', her name is Ruby. Would you like me to call you 'a guy' from now on?" asked Frank.

"Ah, okay, okay~ Don't get sensitive with your daughter now, haha!" laughed Matsuo, as he petted Ruby.

The moment Matsuo petted Ruby's forehead, he suddenly felt something within her.

"This monster… What is that power overflowing within her body?" wondered Matsuo, as his curiosity over Ruby's capabilities grew bigger.

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