⟐ Chapter 5
I went and explored the forest, and after fifteen minutes or so, I received a notification.
[Your unit has killed [Enhanced Forest Wild Boar]! You receive 50 [Gold] and 1 [Soul]!]
And after another five minutes.
[Your unit has killed [Enhanced Wood Beetle]! You receive 50 [Gold] and 1 [Soul]!]
…
Occasional notifications like that appeared once every three to five minutes as I went about the woods with my [Neutrulite Basic] companion. And as we both explored, we encountered some aggressive beasts that I gave mercy to and removed their suffering in a single strike.
[You have killed [Enhanced Woodland Wolf]! You receive 50 [Gold] and 1 [Soul]!]
…
Upon having the chance I also commanded my companion to fight one versus one against an opponent I stumbled upon with nearly the same stats so that I would know how strong they are individually. Seeing them fight in a group of three, I know they have good coordination when with other [Neutrulite Basics], but that might change when they're alone, and knowing this, it would aid me in assigning hunting forces in the near future.
[Enhanced Leaf Spider (Tier 1 Common): This insect type beast monster is mostly found in lush wooded biomes. They generally are not aggressive creatures, mostly relying on trapping small animals. But when someone disturbs them, they are ready to defend their home. Status: Threatened. Stats: Strength: 28, Constitution: 28, Agility: 31, Dexterity: 34, Intelligence: 26, Wisdom: 27, Willpower: 25 . Skills: Spider Web Production (E), Poison Fang (E)...]
“Fight it.”
“Khissh!!”
And without wasting a second, it dashed towards the threatened spider as it hissed at us.
The spider, seeing that an intruder isn't going to leave peacefully, unleashed a skill..
[Enhance Lead Spider used [Spider Web Production: Web Trap (E)]: This racial skill is most common to arachnid type monsters, the usage of it is extremely versatile, capable of being used offensively or for support. The type of usage is limited to the user's skill and it's currently being used to trap a target.]
Upon noticing the spider's attack, my [Neutrulite Basic] quickly evaded, but even though it was fast, the spider’s web attack opened up wide and hit my [Neutrulite Basic] in the arm. The web was sticky and it stuck to the [Neutrulite Basics] arm. It tried to rip it out of its arm in an attempt to free itself from the hindrance, but it only made things worse, and its hand got stuck. Realizing that trying to get rid of it physically wouldn’t work fast enough, it then decided to use its [Minor Touch of Disintegration] skill to free itself quickly.
The web quickly turned to ash, and it freed itself from the spider’s attack, but the spider wasn’t dumb and jumped in as soon as it saw its skill hit its prey. When the [Neutrulite Basic] finally freed itself, the spider had enough time to close in the distance and was able to attack my [Neutrulite Basic] using what seems to be a physical skill.
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[Enhance Leaf Spider used [Poisonous Fang (E)]: This skill enhances the damage by 20% and adds [Minor Poison Damage] to the next on-hit bite attack. It is currently active and is working at 100% efficiency. This skill has found a target.]
My [Neutrulite Basic] was hit! This is the very first time I got to see one get hit. When fighting against the raptor three to one, they were coordinated enough to not sustain a single damage, but it seems they aren’t much potent in fighting against one versus one. Though it’s infuriating to see a unit of mine get hurt, I didn’t help it and instead observed it further. It seems like the spider’s attack was both a physical one and a poison one. I still don’t know the full capabilities of my units and even me—myself for that matter, so taking this blasphemy of the beast as an opportunity to learn lessened my annoyance of it.
The spider backed off quickly after its attack, and it observed my [Neutrulite basic] to see how much it fared from its skill. My unit tried to retaliate but it was a beat too slow, and so it removed the last bit of the spider web trap around its arm.
I watched the body part that got hit by my [Neutrulite Basic] to see how much the damage of an (E) rated physical and poison-type skill had caused. It got hit in its left shoulder, and two barely obvious fang marks were left. The physical damage wasn’t very deep, and two point-sized holes barely broke through its skin, or what I assume its skin, and out of the minor physical wounds, green liquid fell on the ground as if it was flowing down a porcelain vase. A quick inspect on the [Neutrulite Basic] showed no abnormal status at all, and it showed that in full as it now had begun to ready to charge at the [Enhanced Leaf Spider] again.
From what I gathered from observing the effect of the damage, it seems like [Neutrulite Basics] had either immunity or high resistance to poison. And seeing the physical wound, though there isn’t much to form a proper conclusion, I can say they have quite a bit of penetration damage resistance. Both could provide the reason for minimizing the damage, and further research is required as knowing one’s self first this early in the game is utmost important, especially for my race where I absolutely have no prior knowledge to go off of.
Going back, my [Neutrulite Basic] is now rushing towards the spider again, and like last time, the spider fired off its skill to make a spider web trap. When I saw this, my evaluation of my unit lessened. Why is it trying its old tactic? Does the ‘No will of its own’ provide this much of a disadvantage when it comes to fighting? When it was fighting as a group, it didn’t feel like they had this rigid of a battle strategy. But my assumptions were quickly proven wrong as when it raised its hand to seemingly try to block the attack, it activated its disintegration skill and completely removed the enemy skill. It moved its hands in a way that was nothing more than peak smoothness and precision. And even more, it didn’t lose momentum, and it was continuing to charge at the spider who seemed a bit confused as it followed up with what seems to be normal attacks using its legs.
I was relieved to see my unit not have trash tactics, and I made a mental note to add behaviors as part of the things I need to research from my [Neutrulite Basics]. And as the battle continued, exchanges were traded, and not so soon after, when the spider thought it could use its whole body to grapple down my [Neutrulite Basic], my unit disintegrated it from its stomach first and then removed its legs until eventually ending the poor spider with a touch to the head.
[Your unit has killed [Enhanced Leaf Spider]! You receive 50 [Gold] and 1 [Soul]!]
The fight lasted about a minute and a half, and my [Neutrulite Basic] came out from the fight with very minor damage, though it did get quite messy with dirt and spider goo around parts of its body. But that’s minor, and thankfully my little experiment ended with good results.
Me and my [Neutrulite Basic] wandered around for around two more hours, occasionally killing beasts and discovering things within the Kulvian Forest. When I checked on my resources, I decided to go back to my [King’s Core] to summon more [Neutrulite Basics].
[Current Resources: [Gold]: 3,650 , [Souls]: 94. Current [Neutrium] in [Small Neutrium Storage]: 438/50,000]
Seeing how much I gained in a short two and a half hours, I felt satisfied and after calculating how much [Neutrulite Basics] I can summon, which is about thirty-six [Neutrulite Basics], I decided to use all my gold to summon as much as I can.
“Summon thirty-six [Neutrulite Basics].”
[That will cost 3600 [Gold] and 36 [Souls], my liege. Do you agree?]
“Confirmed.”
[As you will my liege.]
And soon, a massive burst of light erupted, and now in front of me stood thirty-six new [Neutrulite Basics] that I can freely assign to tasks. I had already formulated a simple plan, and I want to create a [Basic Neutrumoid Main Headquarters] before nightfall. So without wasting further time, I split them into their respective groups. Sixteen will join the gathering group near the [King’s Core], and the last twenty will be split into eight groups of three as a hunting group. I also increased their hunting range from a hundred meters to five hundred. All with the same “Defend the base from threats” command for the gathering group and “Bring the hunted corpses back to base” command for the hunting group.
And so everyone went to do what they’re told, and I am now alone again as I continue back to the woods of the Kulvian forest to explore.