#84. Worm Hunting (2)
Dealing with large monsters is completely different from dealing with human-sized monsters.
Even attack magic that can defeat other monsters with one blow may only inflict a small amount of damage to large monsters.
Especially if it’s a giant monster the size of a worm… … you have to think completely differently.
‘But everyone has already prepared.’
Information left behind by past Rangers seniors.
There were also written strategies for fighting large monsters.
I improved them in my own way and passed them on to the members.
“Krrrrr……”
The worm with a green body began to move slowly.
But we were already ready to attack.
‘Ordinary magic cannot penetrate the worm’s scales.’
Normal level fire magic, lightning magic, etc. do not work.
The worm’s scales are heat-resistant. They are also lightning-resistant.
Even if you just blindly cast magic, it will only drain your stamina.
Of the attack magic we can currently use, there are two attacks that can pierce those scales.
“I’ll use Ice Spear!”
Charlotte’s freezing magic.
The ice spear, which has had its penetrating power honed through training, is fired toward the worm writhing underground.
“Krrrr?!”
Phew!
An ice spear that pierces the worm’s body while shattering its scales.
Even the worm must have come to its senses.
‘and……!’
My light magic.
Since there was enough time to prepare, I was able to fire a beam with proper power.
A photon was fired towards the worm’s body as it tried to raise itself.
“Kuruk…!”
Pfft!
A stream of intense photons pierced through the worm, forming a single beam of light.
The stench of burning flesh began to waft around.
“Okay, the preemptive strike was successful!”
Kane flew away with joy.
Because the worm had already raised its head and started moving.
“Kur, Laa……!”
A worm that raises its head and makes a strange howling sound.
Kane moved quickly in front of his nose.
“It’s here.”
Papa Pot!
By combining elemental gale magic and biological strengthening magic, you can move at speeds that are invisible to the eye.
The worm tried to devour the squirming Kane before its eyes, but its small body was unable to keep up with Kane’s wild movements.
And then, the moment Worm shook his head back and forth, fascinated by the enemy in front of him.
“……!”
Senia’s blade leapt forward silently and struck the back of Worm’s head.
Senia’s attack magic is not powerful enough to pierce the worm’s scales… … but if she swings the Progressive Blade while her physical abilities have been enhanced with bio-enhancement magic, she will be able to pierce the worm’s scales.
“Kraaaaah!”
Blood spurted from the back of the worm’s head.
But it’s shallow. It’s far from being a fatal wound.
The angry worm turned its head and put its mouth on Senia.
“……!”
A moment of life or death.
A death vice protruded from the square and dug into the side of the worm’s head.
I managed to wound the worm near its jaw, but it immediately fought back, sending me crashing into a nearby wall.
‘That much is okay!’
As I watched Deathweiss rise silently, I checked the condition of the worm.
The worm is now bleeding everywhere, but it is far from being fatal.
“Kur, Laa……!”
The worm roared.
Now, he seemed to be completely awake. His eyes were red from excitement, and he began to wiggle his body violently.
“Be careful!”
The moment Ingrid screamed.
The worm swung its huge tail.
It was a massive mass attack that collapsed walls and ceilings at once.
‘Still… … It’s okay!’
Everyone is safe.
Each of them evaded or defended in their own way.
I expected this situation from the beginning.
“Put the pressure down!”
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Charlotte fired her ice spear again, this time slamming into the worm’s torso.
“Ugh… My skills are so lacking! I need to make a bigger ice spear and penetrate it completely!”
“No, that’s enough! Keep going, Charlotte!”
I moved my body as I gave instructions to Charlotte.
I jumped into the gap where Cain, Senia, and Deathweiss were engaging in close combat.
“Kurur…!”
The worm finally caught me.
The moment the worm came closer with its mouth open to devour me.
“Eight!”
Along with Ingrid’s shout, the skeletons that had been waiting nearby rushed out.
While they were taking the worm’s attacks for me, I deployed my magic.
‘Buff, Type Grasshopper!’
A mild version of the magic of changing the biological system learned through 『Introduction to Life Magic』.
By only increasing the strength of the leg muscles, you can instantly gain strong jumping power.
Leap over the crumbling skeleton bones and rise above the worm’s head.
I prepare a restraining spell that can be quickly cast towards the worm that has stolen my gaze.
‘It worked for Senior Tirpii too!’
Radiance magic originally required time to concentrate photons, but that wasn’t necessary here.
A laser show utilizing diffused light that completely paralyzes the worm’s vision.
“Krrrr?!”
The moment Worm closed his eyes with a flinch.
Senia and Deathweiss, who had been waiting in advance, rushed in with their Progressive Blades in hand.
And then, at the same time as the worm opened its eyes in a hurry… … .
“Kyaarrrr……!”
Two swords swung towards the two eyeballs that were not protected by scales.
A worm that has completely lost its sight and is writhing.
“Eriol.”
As the effect of the transformation magic was cut off and my body was about to fall, Cain supported me from below.
“Get rid of it!”
Kane pushed my body up high.
Then, a perfect location was secured.
The worm’s mouth is constantly wide open as it screams in pain.
It’s the perfect location to aim inside.
‘Fireball… …!’
The fire element is already overheated thanks to Charlotte’s freezing magic.
A fireball of maximum power was fired and sucked into the defenseless worm’s mouth.
“Crunch…?”
The moment when Worm flinched and closed his mouth without even knowing English.
With a loud noise, an explosion occurred inside the worm’s throat.
“……!”
A worm that writhes without even being able to scream.
We hastily retreated to avoid being swept away by the aftermath.
The worm, which had been struggling for a long time, finally fell to the ground with a thud.
Blowing black smoke from his mouth.
“…….”
“…….”
We were silent for a while.
When I tried to approach little by little, worried that the worm might move again.
“Hey…!”
Ingrid threw up both her hands and jumped up and down.
“We won! We won! Aren’t we really that great?! Hey ha…!”
“Hey, Ingrid. It’s too loud.”
“He’s usually timid, but when he’s at an advantage or winning, he secretly shows off.”
Senia and Charlotte muttered as they watched Ingrid’s fuss.
“Everyone, let’s be a little more cheerful! We, the freshmen of the Academy, caught a worm! And it’s a worm that no one in Labyrinthos has caught in 10 years…!”
“I caught him by surprise while he was sleeping.”
“So what?”
Next to me, Kane placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Whether you fight him head on and kill him, or take him by surprise while he’s sleeping, the result is the same.”
“Is that so?”
“At least that’s what we were taught in our family.”
Kane shrugged and laughed.
“We’ve done something truly amazing.”
“I guess so.”
I smiled and looked at the worm’s corpse.
The worm lay there with its mouth wide open, completely motionless.
“……?”
Right then.
Something caught my eye.
I could see something shining inside the throat that was still burning.
‘what?’
I approached him absentmindedly.
But immediately, Senia grabbed his shoulder.
“Hey, Eriol. What are you trying to do that’s so dangerous?”
“I think there’s something inside.”
“yes?”
Eventually I moved the death vice.
And what Deathweiss took from his throat was… … a bead the size of a quail egg.
“What is this? A pearl?”
“ah…….”
After hearing Senia’s words, I realized what this was.
“Yes, this is similar to a pearl. The worm lives in limestone areas.”
The constituents of limestone accumulate in the worm’s body and form beads.
But unlike pearls, which are just jewels, these beads have a special meaning.
“I can’t believe I got this.”
“yes?”
“Have you guys heard of Dragon Heart? It’s a gem that comes from a dragon and has special powers.”
“Isn’t that something that only appears in novels? I know it doesn’t exist in real life.”
Since dragons have long since become extinct, there are all sorts of ‘made-up stories’ about dragons in the world.
Dragon Heart is one of them, and there is nothing like it in this world.
But there is an object that corresponds to it.
“This is what inspired the Dragon Heart.”
Worm, a giant monster, possesses a large amount of spiritual energy.
As the worm lives for a long time, limestone accumulates, forming pearl-like beads that also accumulate spiritual energy.
It was all thanks to that spiritual energy that I was able to remain unharmed in the worm’s burning throat.
“Wyrm of… It is a top-grade magical material that can only be obtained from a very old worm.”
“ah……!”
“I guess we caught a worm that was older than we thought.”
This was truly amazing.
Because I never thought I would ever get my hands on the Wyrm Orb.
“Hey, Mr. Eriol. Show it to me too!”
Ingrid ran over and examined the Wyam Orb.
“Wow, wow wow, really Wyam Orb! Mr. Eriol, this is seriously incredibly expensive! It’s one of the most expensive loot that Rangers can get from killing monsters in dungeons! Mr. Helios would faint if he knew…!”
Ingrid seemed to see the value in this, too.
“Hey, if I just have this, my life will turn around… slurp.”
“Ingrid, stop drooling.”
Charlotte grabbed Ingrid by the nape of her neck and pulled.
“Anyway… it’s really amazing.”
Senia looked at the Wyrm Orb again, then turned her gaze back to the worm’s corpse.
Senia muttered in a moved voice as she looked at the dragon descendant who was not even moving.
“We’ve really done… something incredible.”
* * *
We went up to the management office and revealed that we had taken down the worm.
Because it was impossible for us to move the worm’s body by ourselves.
“You’re saying you actually found the worm? And took it down?”
“Oh my, you were fooled? Go down and check quickly. Before the other monsters eat you.”
As soon as Kane gave the location, the person in charge hurriedly dispatched an investigation team into the Labyrinth.
It was soon confirmed that there really was a worm corpse, and a dismantling team was dispatched.
Now the worm’s corpse will be dismembered on site by the wizards and transported outside the Labyrinth.
“What happens to the materials obtained from the corpse?”
“Usually, we will dispose of it. We will deposit the money after deducting the transportation and dismantling fees.”
“I’d like to take some of it.”
“Then you need to fill out the on-site receipt here.”
I received a small amount of the worm’s blood, as well as its scales, leather, etc.
Maybe I can make something with this later.
By the way, the pearl from the worm, the Wyrm Orb… …was in my pocket.
‘It would be a shame if we deducted a fee for this as well.’
What to do with Wyam Orb will have to be discussed within the club later.
There were other things that took priority right now.
“It looks like most of the processing has been completed.”
Outside the office, Tirpitz was waiting.
Kane jeered at the sight of him standing there with a cold expression.
“Oh my, you kept following me around and you’re waiting here too.”
Although his speech was frivolous, it was clear that he was wary of Tirpitz.
“It seems like you’ve become a total stalker of Eriol these days… You really like Eriol, don’t you?”
“I hope you don’t get the wrong idea, Cain Trigger.”
Tirp answered in a calm voice.
“I don’t follow Eriol Valencia around because I like him. Don’t get me wrong.”
“…….”
Silence fell.
After a while, Ingrid whispered in my ear while poking me in the ribs.
“Hey, isn’t that what someone who likes someone says to hide their true feelings? Is that senior following you around because he likes you, Eriol?”
“No, there are some complicated circumstances…….”
It’s not like I can explain the situation to Ingrid…
“Anyway, it looks like you got what you needed, Eriol.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Worm’s blood, a powerful ‘blood-killing drug’.
It’s in my dungeon bag right now.
“Grandpa is still waiting for you. When will it be possible?”
“well.”
Behind Tirpitz, a magic wagon was parked.
After seeing that sight, I opened my mouth.
“My legs were sore from walking around for a long time, so this is good.”
“then…….”
I nodded to my colleagues that I would go first, and then walked towards Tirpitz.
“Please give me a ride.”
I was planning to go to Rudbout’s mansion right away and finish everything.
