Congratulations! User Kaden has leveled up Manifested Form Creeper; leveling designated form to Level 2 and increasing Cumulative Level by 1. Cumulative Level is now 2. Manifested Form: Creeper

Individual Stats + 10 Maximum MP

+ 3 INT

+1 CON

+ 2 RES

Beating the gemfawn felt good. Better than it probably should have, but it felt damn good and I don't care. Plants may not have adrenaline in their veins but it sure feels like my heart is racing, even if I don't have a heart.

All the fire got snuffed out from my attack but more impressive is just how much damage it inflicted on the gemfawn compared to any other spell in my arsenal. My thorns might have cut or stabbed but the Mana Bomb blew its whole head off. There's not really any gore, either; the heat from all that energy seared the wounds it caused closed, leaving the headless and still body of the gemfawn and sending its head sailing.

While finding it might be nice for a prize, Bomber is the one who ends up having to go fetch it. The damage to my body needs a few Growths to undo, but going out there would endanger myself and distract me from trying to heal.

For now, I send the remains in the field back home through my inventory. I can make use of the whole thing and don't have the time nor patience to break it down right now.

Using Mana Bomb hurt me... and I never received a spell entry for it, so I guess I didn't even learn it.

I swap my staff over to my hand, sitting down on the edge of the rampart as Growth mends the damage to me. Thankfully I took hits that reduced my size by damaging my branches; Growth prioritizes mending damage before expanding my body, after all.

If I can use it, though, then even that damage is worth it. It's a risky trade-off, though, since I can't fully harness it yet. That must mean either there's a restriction in place on my Minor Element or that it's not Basic magic. Or, maybe, it's related to that bit before about the Magos' Form. It mentioned that humanoid forms are necessary to use greater magic, but... the Creeper isn't inherently limited, is it?

Honestly, having an actual hand is refreshing enough to push those dark thoughts away. I don't think it's possible that the Creeper isn't good at magic, but it's possible that it eventually evolves into forms that can remove restrictions that may be based on body shape. But to do that, I need SP.

Not to mention I also need SP to craft. It seems like my delving into magic needs to temporarily halt or find time to continue developing my other stats with titles. I only have enough for the first step of Magos' Form but I'm not that far off from stage two.

Bomber walks back into the burnt grove with the head in both hands. It's not dripping blood but the unnerving visual of a walking bunny carrying a burnt-black deer's head definitely unnerves me from planning mode.

Send to Inventory. Growth.

The paired flashes of the head vanishing and my body mending the last of its damage is the best step forward to getting moving again.

Bomber, we're going to be moving again soon. How are you feeling?

The male ranbli squeaks and brushes his head, ruffling his ears and slightly bowing. Even if we can't understand, he turns and moves slow enough for me to see his bruises. None of them look terribly bad despite dropping down nearly two-fifths of his maximum HP. Without Ivy here, there isn't really an adequate way for him to heal quickly... but his mobility and strength mostly seem present still.

I've been hurt enough now that I think I'm starting to understand that damage and its effects aren't as simple as a number tick here. As low as my HP became, passing out for a few minutes after having parts of my body blown off certainly would have been a lot more traumatic for a person.

It's likely that one's ability to endure damage and die isn't just as simple as HP damage. After all, it's a lot like how different levels of force can turn a non-harmful bump of the head from nothing into a fatal concussion.

Most likely, HP serves as a guideline of one's vitality. Hitting 0 HP, for example, probably means something along the lines of you no longer having vitality to or strength for the body to heal. This explains cutting off parts of Ropert or I hurts but can have minor impacts on our HP compared to how most people die from trauma when their limbs are blown or cut off. If you keep breaking branches off a tree, eventually that tree's health wanes... so HP probably functions like that.

It'd explain why I haven't found an adequate method of increasing HP outside of healing, after all. Nursing Lick uses SP so it's possibly converting SP into healing force whilst Growth and healing magic utilizes MP to create more HP.

All of this is just a theory but I feel pretty confident in it. My method at cracking theories has been growing sounder every time so there's little reason to doubt my logic now. At the rate things are going, maybe I end up learning how all the stats work by the end of the year.

Battle loot will just have to be the incentive to keep pushing on. Bomber and I are going to do a quick check of the field to make sure there aren't any patches burning just to be safe and then keep moving on.

We're back under the trees and it feels very refreshing. Gemfawn flower patches aren't as common in the deeper forests of Grey Valley and since both of us can climb or jump into tree branches, the Boneback Bears aren't a threat.

Settling down at the base of a tree, I summon out bunches of mana-enriched grass, flowers, and worms. The worms are my meal but I want to also let Bomber consume as much of the mana-enriched grass as possible, whilst the flowers are just generally edible snacks. I'd caught Ivy and Bomber plucking a few petals off the ones we had back at the Dungeon but it was apparent neither liked the taste.

But right now, Bomber doesn't mind; between chewing his grass and watching over me during composting, he occasionally stuffs the petals into his mouth. Oddly, though, he isn't chewing the petals but sucking on them. Why didn't I realize it before? The gemfawn sits in the fields eating most of the day, so it stands to reason that there's a reason for it. The problem is that Bomber and I can't communicate enough to actually know why, given I lack a mental link and his lack of speech prevents any proper comparisons. My summon's life hasn't been long enough nor wide enough to let him learn about things like sugar.

Bomber, do you have a reason for sucking on those flower petals at least?

The ranbli shakes his head, munching down the last of his grass. His left cheek is completely bulging at this point thanks to just how many petals are wedged in there.

... Well, as long as you're not that weird about it, I don't see an issue with it. Just don't spit it out on me.

Bomber blinks and for a moment I swear he rolls his eyes. Unlike Ivy, though, I know Bomber is better than that.

He definitely just judgingly questioned why I lept to him spitting it out on me.

My mana is filled back up and I'm in good health, so going forward I'll be taking point. Changing our formation so early isn't exactly ideal... but without a way to heal you-

A distant boneback growl rumbles through the valley, interrupting our talk (or just my monologue) and signaling the transition from afternoon to evening. Last time I was here, I had heard similar sounds... and after killing a Boneback, I can definitely say they get active at night.

Right. Ready to go?

The ranbli nods just as my grip on the worms loosens and the Compost finishes. A full nourishment means I'm good to keep going... but at some point, I need to prepare for nightfall. I don't know if Bomber will fall asleep on-the-spot like normal but avoiding that is as important as possible.

It saw us, Bomber saw it, and then Bomber leaped right at it; the ranbli moved so quick the Boneback hadn't even opened its jaw before he slammed the heavy club across the side of the Boneback's muzzle. The weight of the Magosbone made it hit so hard that it shattered multiple teeth out of the bear's jaw and stunned it.

Though bears might not have been as strong as a Gemfawn, Bomber definitely outclasses Boneback Bears. It took him the entirety of a few seconds to figure out a battle plan for them after meeting them.

Bomber didn't stop. Honestly, I think he's a lot more relentless after being relegated to background duty. I may have told him to take it easy but all of my summons had been briefed about my encounter with the Bear before due to its magical protection. Rather than force me to expend a lot of mana, Bomber struck so fast the bear was overwhelmed.

The boneback roars and tries to stand but Bomber dives past it and spins out, kicking its ill-weighted legs and knocking the bastard over. Already suffering damage, this is the worst possible position for it; on its feet, it can fight... but on its back, its soft underbelly is open to additional beatings. Bomber may not have the greatest grip but that's why I gave him a club.

Right now, he's proving that he fucking deserves it.

Bomber clobbers the Boneback's belly with so much force that he lifts up off the ground whenever it strikes, eventually scoring a deafening crack of a rib. The bear finally worms its way off its back but there's no escaping Bomber. All its evolution seems to be focused on defense but against a foreign invader, it's completely overwhelmed. Ranbli and Ranbi are on a different level if the normal ones are even remotely similar to Bomber.

Fortunately for all of us, Bomber finally chases in and delivers one of his kicks to the unguarded neck of the Boneback. The strike hits hard enough that even a moron can realize he collapsed the poor creature's wind tunnel. The bear crashes to the forest floor and Bomber delivers another powerful wack to the side of its skull to finish it off.

[Notification] Summon Bomber gains 10 EXP for killing Boneback Bear.

... Wait, I didn't even help him. Fuck. That was a perfect opportunity to earn exper-

Congratulations! Your summon Bomber has leveled up! + 6 Maximum HP

+ 4 Maximum SP

+ 2 STR

+ 2 DEX

+ 1 INT

+ 1 CON

+ 2 LUCK

+ 1 RES

Wait. Bomber earned enough to level-up again? He leveled up before the fight with the gemfawn but...

... It took him probably around 20 experience to jump from level 2 to level 3. His cumulative level was already at 4 but he got experience from the Boneback Bear despite that. So it looks like the experience gain functionality may not be based on your total level but rather your current evolution's level?

That means the Grey Valley is actually a great place to train everyone! Just distracting the gemfawn and taking damage had allowed Bomber to gain 8 experience, but defeating a Boneback had netted him 10. Eating the grass here also seems to have a greater impact on earned experience, which means just simply being here is probably a better safety grind for my dungeon's residents.

... I really need to try and stay patient with my penned ranbi so I can recruit them. If we can keep the dungeon itself defended long enough to bring my three summons here, I can power level them and then leave only one to defend the dungeon while I take an entourage of the fodder ranbi and the other two with me.

Discoveries like this are great notes to end the day on, though; for now, I'll task Bomber with harvesting the bone plates while I find a tree to set-up for the night in.

Tomorrow, we should be able to reach roughly the spot I found before. It's hard to say, of course, but walking blindly into the forest is really just about my best bet. At this rate I don't even care about the bonus condition anymore; finding languages at this point would be a nice addition but completing the quest itself will likely net a bigger reward. And even if things go poorly, I can just recall!

Take that, Brogdar! I, Kaden, am going to prove that my isekai journey is only just getting started tearing down your resistance! Soon I'll find girls for a harem and then it'll be smooth sailing!