Chapter 240

240 – The Forest’s Cleaner, Oinoin

As planned, I go for a walk through the forest with Aro . While giving the Lithovar village a wide berth, my objective is to chase after the manticore . If I can locate food and raise Aro’s level on the way, then even better .

I’d thought it would be difficult to control the spiderlings if we brought them with us, so I left them in the care of the lesser treant . I asked it to look after them with a gesture, and it accepted with an expressionless nod . Soon enough, one of its branches became a nest for the spiderlings, but I’m sure it can handle them . That’s what I believe .

[Soul AppendmentFake Life] already gives them cursed condition, so Aro and the treant should be unaffected by [Dragon Scales]… I think . I can’t be certain, but it’s a bit hard to imagine a skeleton having a coughing fit . It’s only a supposition, so if I notice something strange I’ll rethink things, but for now it doesn’t look like there’s a problem .

However, none of that applies for the spiderlings . Before they even hatched, they were stuck to my partner’s head, so there’s a chance they’ll have developed some level of resistance to it like the ball rabbit did, but I wouldn’t like to take those odds . It’s unfortunate for my partner, but we should cut our interactions with them down to the bare minimum .

I’ll have to carefully determine if they get resistance skills upon evolving . That’s why I left them behind .

While searching for human presences with [Presence Detection] I walk through the forest . As she is now, I can’t let Aro be seen by people . If the dragon-god was seen walking around with a skeleton, I wouldn’t be able to prevent there being a panic .

I’ve been keeping a lot of distance between myself and the village, so the probability of encountering someone should be really low… Is what I thought, but I notice a human presence . I really can’t let my guard down, huh…

The Lithovars seem to be a tribe of hunters, so they’ll show up even far away from the village . It might have been two-vs-one, but they were fighting a C-rank abyss like it was nothing . I can’t feel any bloodlust or excitement this time, so I don’t think they’re in battle at the moment .

Seeing as I’m trying to investigate why the miko-san said not to worry about the manticore returning, I don’t really want to be seen by any Lithovars . I know I probably don’t have to hide, but it would feel a bit awkward to meet them . I wouldn’t like them to think I don’t trust them .

Having taken a roundabout path around the village, I arrive at the area behind it and stop . If I’d flown I could’ve gotten here and checked it out in an instant, but then I’d be totally visible from below . The [Dragon Scales] would have been scattered about too . It’s level’s quite high now, so I don’t know what would happen .

Just as I’m thinking I’ll casually check the area out, I hear a vulgar chewing sound . Could it be the manticore? Thinking that, I leave Aro behind and rush in the direction of the sound .

“Fugoh, fugo?”

Hidden behind the tree I find a pig-like monster . Folds of saggy skin cover its eyes, and it has no neck . It really does look like a large, black pig .

Noticing me, the black pig raises its head . Blood is dripping from its mouth . On the ground in front of it, a blue deer-like monster is splayed out, its entrails exposed . I don’t know if it has a poor sense of danger or if it just has that much confidence in its strength, but the pig isn’t running away from me . I’ll take this chance to get off a safe status check .

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Species: Oinoin

Condition: Normal

Lv: 9/30

HP: 57/68

MP: 33/33

Attack: 32

Defense: 41

Magic: 19

Speed: 22

Rank: D

Characteristic Skills:

[Food Regeneration: Lv 1] [Facial Skin: Lv 1]

Resistance Skills:

[Poison Resistance: Lv 3] [Paralysis Resistance: Lv 1]

Normal Skills:

[Charge: Lv 2] [Bite: Lv 3] [Clay: Lv 1] [Roll: Lv 1]

Title Skills:

[Large Eater: Lv 2] [Foul Feeder: Lv 3]

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…It really is just a pig . No, I can’t let my guard down . This guy’s got [Roll] after all . What a pig! It must be quite the legendary pig .

Putting the jokes aside… It’s low-level, around D-rank . However its speed and attack power are lower still . Even Aro should be able to take a hit . But more importantly…

“Fugouh! Fugouh!”

…It’s not even trying to run away from me . For levelling Aro, it couldn’t be more perfect . It really does have guts .

“FugoOUh!”

It seems that the black pig is indignant that I don’t steal its prey . There’s something much more appetising than the blue deer in front of me, you know . You should look at yourself a bit more objectively .

I take a step back and make eye contact with Aro . She nods, and faces the black pig . After confirming that Aro has stepped forwards, I shrink my body down, trying my best to avoid provoking it .

If I accidentally contribute too much, Aro’s share of experience points would drop . I’d like for it to focus on Aro by herself as much as possible .

It didn’t look like Aro was able to get a good hit in against the D-rank giant forest crab, so a D-rank oinoin might be a bit tough for her . But this time, I’m here from the start . If it looks dangerous, I’ll be able to end the fight in an instant, so Aro should be able to go all out . This black pig isn’t a speed type, so attacks on it should be able to land . If she’s able to cause the [Bleeding] status condition, she’ll be able to deal a lot of damage .

If she deals a lot of damage, she should receive a correspondingly large amount of experience points . If all goes well, this could bring her most of the way to her next evolution . No, if she does her absolute best, there’s a chance she’ll be able to evolve right away .

After facing the black pig, Aro looks back at me and nods with a rattle .

Best of luck, Aro . If you hit the same spot enough times to inflict the [Bleeding] condition, then run around to avoiding it, you’ve got a shot at winning .