Nihil was looking at Ena with a thoughtful expression.
"/Does any of you know what they are talking about?/" Daisuke asked to other two as they watched things unfold from the sidelines.
"/Do I look like I know English?! Of course, I don't know what they are talking about!/" Isao wasn't aware of what was going on, but something about this situation was giving him bad vibes and making him uneasy.
"/Can you two shut it, you're making me nervous./" Hayami couldn't take their behavior any longer, they tended to always overstress things which made her nervous for no reason most of the time, so this was the usual.
It was silent for a while before Nihil looked at Ena and said.
"I'm not interested." Nihil turned around and just left after saying those three words.
"... It seems we didn't get the best route, but this is still good enough, at least we left an impression." Ena mumbled to himself as he watched Nihil leave with a slight frown.
"/What happened? Didn't Ena say we had to get that dude to join our party? Don't tell me I lost the chance to live my youth for this.../" Isao was displeased with the apparent result.
"/It's not like you did anything extreme, you should just keep it down./" Hayami commented.
"/I'm sure we'll be fine, we just have to do our best./" Daisuke attempted cheering everyone up with some positivity.
"/It seems things won't go perfectly for us, but we still have what it takes to make it through. It's time for us to leave this place./" Ena announced.
Just like Nihil, they all left the cave room.
-Elsewhere-
In a dense forest, there are various trees of many different sizes and bushes, not only that but there are also animals going back and forth. These are not the typical animals from Earth, rather they are creatures known as magical beasts, animals that mutated due to exposure to high concentrations of mana, in a lot of cases allowing them to control elemental powers and magic.
Nihil was casually strolling in such a forest, and while he was walking looking unsuspecting of his surroundings, a magical beast saw this as a
Chance to get easy prey.
The beast in question was a horned rabbit, one of the weakest magical beasts, but not one to underestimate. No matter how small and cute they might look, these creatures were not only fast but also very aggressive despite their exterior look.
A white-furred horned rabbit jumped at Nihil, its speed making it very hard to perceive, and the distance as well as the angle at which it started the attack decent for an ambush, after all even if it wasn't an intellectual being, it still had instincts to guide it as a predator.
In just a few seconds it was already at 2m(6.5 feet) from impaling Nihil.
*Woosh!* *Whack!* *Crack* *Splatter*
Nihil dodged the attack by sidestepping before countering with a high kick that hit the horned rabbit in its torso, breaking its bones and sending a lot of its blood flying off everywhere around before the rabbit's body dropped dead on the ground.
[You have killed a low-tier cub(I) rank level 1 horned rabbit, you have gained 1 exp point]
"Isn't this rabbit a little too weak? And I came here expecting a challenge... At least I get exp from them, so it doesn't really matter."
He looked at the body of the horned rabbit and that hunger finally kicked in.
(I guess this would be a good chance to test using actual magic, fire magic to be more precise. Basically, I'll need combustion, and it seems I'll be able to use mana itself as the fuel and even as a catalyst, but that would come at a great cost of mana.
So, it would be less costly, although less powerful, to simply use the mana to 'manipulate' the reaction into happening naturally.) Nihil thought to himself while looking at the rabbit's squashed corpse.
With his objective defined Nihil began to focus his mana on his right hand before expanding its influence to affect the manacules on the air. The procedure was rather slow as his focus was on stability since he wasn't used to casting magic yet, 'better safe than sorry' was and would probably always be one of Nihil's biggest beliefs.
[Mp: 95/100(200/210)]
Eventually, he could feel his mana being slightly depleted as a spark on top of his right hand's palm grow to become a fireball big enough to occupy his whole hand.
[The skill
(Another one? At this point who cares?) Nihil decided to ignore this and continued to focus on magic, not knowing he just mastered a high-level spell casting technique.
Nihil observed the fire for a few minutes before it faded out.
"So, this is magic?... It is indeed convenient, but I still need to see just how destructive it truly is." He mumbled to himself as he raised his right hand to shoulder level and moved it back to a throwing position before casting another fireball.
[Mp: 85/100(180/210)]
This time putting twice the mana he had last time, causing reddish flames to appear on his hand again, but Nihil didn't stop there as he began visualizing something more destructive.
(Add some wind tunneling around and increase the pressure of the launch.), With such thoughts, a wind barrel of sorts appeared around the fireball just before Nihil throw it at a tree nearby.
*Woosh* *Boom*
Just like a bullet, the fireball was shot at a very high speed almost immediately hitting the tree and exploding bursting it in half leaving the tree hanging on the bit of its trunk that didn't get destroyed before.
*Crack* *Thud*
Not having enough of its trunk left to support itself the tree fell to the ground.
"If it doesn't already have a name, I'll call this flame grenade... Also, magic is way easier to control than I thought it would be... Maybe I'm just good with elemental magic, then again I've only tried fire and wind just now." Nihil concluded as once again turned his attention to the corpse of the rabbit, but as he did so, he noticed more magical beasts that seem to have been attracted by the smell of blood.
This time besides the horned rabbits, there were wolves, dire wolves to be more specific present. Six horned rabbits and four dire wolves.
It was an image that made Nihil smile.
(The perfect target practice, but let's try something a bit different.) He thought as began to visualize a different spell.
[Mp: 10/100(30/210)]
Five spears of flames appeared above Nihil and were immediately cast at the four dire wolves and one of the horned rabbits.
*Pierce* *Splatter* *Scorch*
All five targets were impaled by the flame spears before they could react.
[You have killed a mid-tier cub(H) rank level 7 dire wolf, you have gained 14 exp points]
[You have killed a mid-tier cub(H) rank level 7 dire wolf, you have gained 14 exp points]
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[You have killed a mid-tier cub(H) rank level 7 dire wolf, you have gained 14 exp points]
[You have killed a mid-tier cub(H) rank level 7 dire wolf, you have gained 14 exp points]
[You have killed a low-tier cub(I) rank level 4 horned rabbit, you have gained 4 exp points]
Nihil then jumped forward not losing any time and stomped one of the remaining horned rabbits turning its head into a blood puddle before he stepped back to dodge an attack from one of the four remaining horned rabbits.
[You have killed a low-tier cub(I) rank level 1 horned rabbit, you have gained 1 exp point]
Two other horned rabbits jumped at him, and this time he still hadn't gotten his footing and was unable to dodge taking the blow of two horn impacts to the stomach and getting pushed back and tumbling a few meters, before getting ahold of himself.
[Hp: 50/50(105/105)]
Despite the impact that had sent him back, Nihil took no damage from this exchange. He looked down and his redshirt now had two big holes in the stomach area.
{You truly are a waste of my soul, to get pushed by these insignificant excuses for pets, I truly am disappointed, little Nihil.} Lucius who had been silent for a while now, finally decided to make his presence known once again.
Nihil then unlocked the until now ignored chains attached to his arms, then swing them and their spear tip with each hand, standing there without moving as if inviting the enemy to attack.
The horned rabbits took the invitation and in a 2 by 2 formation they separate and go one group to the right side and the other to the left surrounding Nihil. What they didn't expect was.
*Pierce* *Splatter*
That as soon as the two-horned rabbits behind were in a 2m radius of Nihil, he launched his chains which stabbed them right in their head, followed by him whipping the other two-horned rabbits which were closer while the chains were still midair, before pulling his chains back.
[The skill
[You have killed a low-tier cub(I) rank level 3 horned rabbit, you have gained 3 exp points]
[You have killed a low-tier cub(I) rank level 5 horned rabbit, you have gained 5 exp points]
[You have killed a low-tier cub(I) rank level 1 horned rabbit, you have gained 1 exp point]
[You have killed a low-tier cub(I) rank level 2 horned rabbit, you have gained 2 exp points]
(It seems I still know how to handle my chains even if almost none of my skills carried over.) He was satisfied with the results as he didn't expect his abilities to carry at all.
Once he was done marveling at his own prowess Nihil remembered his hunger and collected some wood sticks before skinning all his 11 prey, following that he got rid of the blood and organs he didn't need.
[The skill
[The skill
Then he stored most of the meat in his inventory and gathered wood to start a fire to roast horned rabbit meat. It didn't take too long before the meat was on point or at least what Nihil believes to be on point.
Nihil blew the meat cool and bite with his sharp and shark-like teeth ripping and tearing it, before barely chewing it down and swallowing. He ate a whole horned rabbit's meat before stopping.
[The skill
[Cub rank(I) level 1 Horned rabbit assimilation initiated, process at 0.1%]
(Oh yeah, I did have that skill... Well, since the magical beasts here aren't much of a threat, I'll see how far I can get.) He remembered his skill after seeing the purple floating screen pop up in front of him.
This led to Nihil roasting and eating all the year he got from the dire wolves and horned rabbits.
[cub(H) rank dire wolves assimilated, process at 5.6%]
[Cub rank(I) Horned rabbits assimilated, process at 1.7%]
(This is going to take a while to complete... at least it gives me another reason to kill these magical beasts)
-Later-
For the next few days, Nihil hunted and killed horned rabbits and dire wolves, since for whatever reason he didn't find any other creatures.
Like in any of the other days he spent in the Lalitkala dungeon, Nihil was walking around looking for his next target rather than for an exit or way out. While doing so, he found a cave, and once he got close enough he could hear people talking inside.
"You otherwolders are truly something, despite being low level you can already cast such powerful magic, you almost had us." The voice of a man could be heard, coarse and carrying some amnesty.
"Disgusting! Do you think you can just come to our world, our Iruthra, and be heroes?! What a joke! We will make our own heroes! We don't need you! The Gods are just blinded by your schemes, but we know the truth! The great one has enlightened us! And you may now die and become a true citizen of Iruthra!" Another man with a more high-pitched voice and a very concerning smile that would make most people uncomfortable.
[Mp: 60/100(130/210)]
While they were speaking Nihil was stealthily approaching them, he used his wind magic to a very precise degree and created a barrier around himself that contained the sound around him stopping the soundwaves from propagating outside the barrier. He did so because actually erasing or nullifying the sound around himself would cost way more mana to do, Nihil estimated that would take something around at least 250 mp to do it for a whole minute, while this sound barrier does basically the same for a much lower cost, though it sacrifices stealth for it when compared to the higher cost option.
Getting closer to the commotion, Nihil once again stopped to see what was going on. What he saw were two men looking at someone on the ground and looking fairly injured. After looking more attentively, Nihil recognized the person on the ground as the fat elve that was with Ena.
Nihil didn't know Daisuke since they didn't talk, but he got curious as to how things turned this way and who those two men were, so he continued observing.
"/F-F*ck you! If I wasn't low on m-mana when you two ambushed me, I would have won... B-But I-I don't want to die! I'll do a-anything!/" Daisuke flipped then off at first only to then kneel down and beg for mercy.
""Hahaha!""
The two men looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
"You have will be given the chance to die a sinner and be reborn as a pure being, you should be honored the Great one has given you such affection, for the Great one loves all but sinners! And even then you are still given a chance to repent and this is how ungrateful you are, if it weren't the Great one's will, we would simply torture you to death, but we must bind you and all the otherwolders to the cycle of reincarnation offered by the Great One." The man with a high-pitched voice announced with great happiness and devotion in both his expression and tone.
The other man got closer to Daisuke, he was holding a large sword bigger than the typical greatsword and held it up ready to cut Daisuke down at any moment.
{Who would have thought these measly fanatics are still active... Just how incompetent are the Deities of this world?... No, this is also a part of their ploy, they are more resourceful than I thought if that is the case.} Lucius commented looking at the scene with a fix of amusement and a hint of approval.
(What are you talking about? Who are these guys?) Nihil who was curious about the situation asked seeing Lucius seemed to know something.
{Very simply put, they are followers of the Devils and evil Gods of this world, the idiots don't even know they are being used by multiple entities, they think it's the same being doing it all, it's what they in their ignorance call 'Great one'. It's been some time, so there might even be a few Anti-Gods involved... Regardless, they are not worth even thinking of, but if I were to consider your current strength, I would say they are a very dangerous organization of parasites living on scraps.} Lucius rambled on while explaining.
(That's all nice and dandy, but how did they get here?... If I take into consideration all you just said, did the Deities allow them to come here hunt otherwolders?) Nihil concluded.
{It's good that you're not that naive towards Gods, but you should remember who I am, why do you think I'm telling you the truth?}
(Aren't you a part of me now? Why would you want to die when it also concerns you?)
{Consider yourself lucky that is the case. Anyway, what do you plan to do?}
(I want to get to the bottom of this, as an otherwolder it would be in my best interest to stop these guys, besides, I don't pass on free exp.)
{Free exp, huh? I'm starting to actually tolerate your presence.}
Nihil ignored Lucius as usual and immediately focused on the fanatics. He then coated his chains with mana before throwing it at the man holding the big sword's head.
*Splatter*
The head was pierced and the man fell lifeless onto the ground.
[You have killed a mid-tier Novice(H) rank level 11 Human, you have gained 22 exp points]
(They are weaker than I thought.) Nihil was disappointed as he began running towards the second man as soon as the first one fell.
The man noticed Nihil and immediately run towards Daisuke who was just in shock at what was happening in front of him. The man grabbed Daisuke and put a dagger to his neck before yelling.
"Backdown or the fatty dies!" With the full strength of his lungs, the man let out his threat. "Didn't you hear me?! I'll f*ckin kill him!" The mam continued and moved the knife in closer to Daisuke's neck after seeing that Nihil didn't slow down in the slightest.
"/Stop! Please Stop! I don't want to die!!/" Daisuke pleaded for his life seeing the dagger get closer, but his pleas fell on deaf ears as Nihil didn't speak Japanese and couldn't understand him, but even he could nothing would have changed.
"Listen to him! This is my last warning! I will kill this fat bastard!" The man once again moved the dragger closer as it began to actually go into Daisuke's skin and the panic in both only increased.
*Swoosh* *Crack* *Splatter*
As soon as the man stopped talking, his face was met with a knee kick that knocked him back, and also his dagger slit on Daisuke's throat with the impulse. The man was knocked out on the ground while Daisuke was bleeding out on the ground.
(This could be a good chance to test healing magic or maybe I should let him die to test necromancy? Hum... I guess healing magic is more pressing than necromancy.) Nihil thought to himself as he looked at Daisuke on the ground grabbing onto his neck trying to stop the bleeding as much as possible while begging for help with groans.
Nihil kneeled down and extended his hand towards Daisuke before focusing on what he knew lesson about how muscles, tendons, fat, and cells work before casting the spell.
[Mp: 15/100(40/210)]
The wound on Daisuke's neck closed itself almost as if it had never been there. Nihil didn't know this yet, but he had just cast a powerful healing spell known as full restoration, a spell known as miraculous for its ability to heal any wound from small to medium size.
While Daisuke was extremely happy to have survived and was celebrating, Nihil was reflecting on something while looking at the dead man's corpse.
(Should I eat humans as well for my assimilation abilities?) This doubt came to mind as Nihil didn't know if he should fall to the temptation of power and commit cannibalism or if he should simply set a bottom line to what he will devour for power.