I walked into the guild and saw only a few people dawdling around. I walked up to the guild receptionist on duty and asked, "Where is everybody? Did they already left to do today's quests?"
"No, the guildmaster hasn't posted up any new quests yet. That's why not many people are here." The receptionist answered, "There are three limited quests that Shadow posted earlier if you want to look at them."
"Ok." I said before I walked up to the quest board. Hmmm, subduing an ancient mithril golem - nah, not enough reward. Subduing a King Beetle - hmm, sounds easy...what else? Subduing a Feral Black Wyvern - don't mangle the corpse? You got to be kidding me. Fine, I might as well take the King Beetle quest. Now, who should I party with.... I looked at the list of participants who had chosen the quest and found that Eun-Ha is still in a party of one.
I turned around and scanned the room. Upon seeing Eun-Ha, I walked up to him and asked, "Hey, do you still need a party for the King Beetle quest?"
"Yup." Eun-Ha replied.
"Then, we can join together. I have a pretty good plan on how to beat those King Beetles without harming their carapaces."
"Ok."
After forming the party, we notified a guild receptionist before heading west to the forest. Along, the way, I learned about Eun-Ha's abilities. Although it's not bad, but it's not enough. If we want to take on 3 King Beetles, which are as large as orcs and as fast as goblins, we needed to think of a more devious strategy. As we headed to the forest, we formulated a few plans. Shortly, we arrived at the borders of the forest. Preparing ourselves once more, we marched in. After searching for half an hour, we came across two King Beetles. Because we had agreed to lure them out one at a time, I picked up a rock and aimed at the nearest King Beetle.
*THUD* The rock struck the King Beetle on its head. Due to its thick carapace, it did not feel any pain, however, we could see that it was annoyed. With a loud roar, it charged at us. Unfortunately, the roar attracted the other King Beetle and it also charged at us. This...was not the plan. With two King Beetles converging towards us, we had to think of something quick.
Taking out my Werewolf Mask, I transformed into a werewolf. I howled at the nearest King Beetle and retreated left. The King Beetle sees me running and pursued after me. The other King Beetle continued heading towards Eun-Ha.
After separating from Eun-Ha, I ran towards a fallen dead tree nearby with the King Beetle hot on my trail. When I heard Eun-Ha cast out the spell to freeze the ground, I jumped into a tree. The King Beetle's eyes followed my movements but it couldn't turn or stop. The frozen ground added with the King Beetle's momentum caused it to slide uncontrollably towards the fallen dead tree. *CRAASSHH!* The King Beetle collided with the tree and the force of abrupt collision flipped its entire body upwards, causing it to land on its back. The King Beetle struggled to right itself but to no avail. I took off my Werewolf Mask and replaced it with my Ghost Mask. After I transformed into a ghost, I flew downwards next to the flipped King Beetle.
I phased my arm into the King Beetle, intending to pull out its heart. However, due to my lack of knowledge on King Beetle anatomy, I instead pulled out a lung. While the King Beetle struggled to breathe, I reached in again and pulled out the other lung. Without its lungs, the King Beetle died in a matter of seconds. Dropping the lungs onto the ground, I turned to see how Eun-Ha was doing. Unfortunately, it seems that he wasn't able to flip the King Beetle with his water barrier and is currently running around.
"Eun-Ha! The King Beetle is too fast! Splash some water on it and then freeze it. You probably won't freeze it completely, but at least you can slow its movements." I shouted.
After seeing Eun-Ha flip the King Beetle on its back, I let out a sigh of relief. This guy is just too weak. He should come by my clan - Society of Makers - and get some good, affordable enhancements and power-ups. Eun-Ha called out to me and asked me to kill the King Beetle. It looked like he was struggling with my name but since it sounded about right, I decided to ignore it. I flew next to the flipped King Beetle. As Eun-Ha was thawing the frozen ground, I thrust my arms into the King Beetle and phased out both its lungs. The King Beetle struggled a bit as it tried to breathe before dying.
With the second King Beetle dead, I stored the two bodies in my storage ring.
"Come, Eun-Ha, one more to go." I said.
The two of us continued searching the forest. Another half hour later, we came across a King Beetle standing next to a tree. The strangest thing is the King Beetle just stood there without moving. Upon closer look, I noticed what looks like an egg lying in a hole in the tree's trunk.
"See that in the tree trunk? Doesn't it look like an egg?" I asked Eun-Ha, "Do you think its the King Beetle's?"
"I'm not sure...but probably you are right." Eun-Ha replied.
"The King Beetle seems to be on high alert because of the egg, be careful."
"Ok."
"Here's some Rhino Blood Wine. It'll replenish some of your stamina as well as boost your strength and health by a small amount." I said as I handed Eun-Ha a shot of Rhino Blood Wine. "After you drink this, can you try to lure it in my direction? Once it leaves the tree, go take the egg. Make sure to check if there's more than one."
Once Eun-Ha lured the the King Beetle towards me, I immediately ran with the King Beetle hot on my trail...putting some distance so that Eun-Ha can steal the egg. After a while, I stopped and faced the charging King Beetle. I reached in my bag and took out Mask of the Sleepy Knight. Putting it on, I summoned Napknight.
"Napknight, cast Absolute Sleep on that King Beetle!" I exclaimed.
Napknight looked at the giant bug and almost fainted in fright. He pointed at the King Beetle and stammered, "A-absolute S-sleep!"
As soon as the spell was cast, the beetle fell to a skidding halt. It was in a deep sleep. Napknight disappeared after his summoned time was up. I walked to the King Beetle, transformed into a ghost with my Ghost Mask, and phased out its lungs. The beetle died in a matter of seconds. After I stored the last King Beetle into my storage ring, I looked to see how Eun-Ha was doing. It seemed he met some trouble as he was currently fighting an even bigger beetle, which I assumed was the Queen Beetle.
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Eh? Why is he naked? Was the Rhino Blood Wine too strong? But I only gave him half a shot.... As I stared at Eun-Ha, he started to unleash all kinds of water magic at the Queen Beetle.
"Oi, oi, Eun-Ha, you're being way too reckless! Calm down for a bit." I urged but to no avail. Although the alcohol has strengthened Eun-Ha's attacks and speed, but it also seemed to decrease his ability to think with reason. As the Queen Beetle charged at him once again, Eun-Ha dodged immediately and grabbed at something off its back. Immediately after the beetle crashed into a tree and had its horn stuck in the tree, Eun-Ha froze its horn in place. When Eun-Ha walked up towards me, I immediately grabbed some spare clothes and threw them at him. Seriously...why is everyone in the guild so weird?
After Eun-Ha received the clothes, I asked, "What happened to the egg?"
"Ah..." Eun-Ha murmured, "So that's what I forgot."
"You forgot?" I asked, "What was so important for you to forget about the egg?"
"HONEY!!!" Eun-Ha shouted delightedly as he showed me the honey he collected. "I got it from that Queen Beetle."
Following his finger, I see the Queen Beetle still struggling to dislodge its horn. I walked up to the Queen Beetle and took out my Skinning knife, but I was hit by a water barrier that came from under me, making me lose my footing
"What happened?"
I asked the obvious culprit, who was still naked by the way, and he simply glared sharply at me.
"What are you gonna do to the poor babies?"
Huh? Babies? Is he perhaps talking about the eggs?
"Didn't I say that I want them? If you wish for one I'll give it to you if there is more than one"
"You demon! How can you steal those eggs! I know that we killed their father for the mission, but at least let the mother and babies alone! If you want eggs, I can cook you some chicken eggs!" Eun-Ha started to scream hysterically. How can someone get so drunk from so little alcohol?
I tried to ignore Eun-Ha but he fired ice blocks at me. This is getting annoying. I have no other choice. I faced him and put on my Werewolf Mask and ran at him with the power of a werewolf. I don't want to hurt him so I'll have to be careful, since he is too weak. I fend off his barrage of ice blocks with my claws. After closing the distance between us, I kneed him in the stomach. But, he was faster than expected as he put the palms of his hands on my knee and instead of breaking his hands by the impact, he used that force to jump very high. In the middle of the air, he started to fire many water balls. Luckily, his reckless use of magic is causing his mana to run out. I ignored those attacks since they were weak, but the water didn't dissipate after contact and instead was glued to my body and then the water slowly started to go near my face...he probably wants to drown me.
"Hyaha! How's that you cheat character! Even a normal guy like me can defeat you with proper strategy. Hahaha, now just obediently give up and let the mother and babies alone!"
While he kept screaming stupid things he grabbed a branch of a tree and fired a few more water balls at me. Because it would take too long if I try to catch that monkey, I decided to simply let out the biggest howl I could.
"Wooooooaaaaaaah!"
The shock-wave of my howl dispersed the water around me and made Eun-Ha lose his balance falling off the tree branch he was grabbing on, in the middle of his fall, he recovered his equilibrium and tried to rotate his body to fall on his feet. However, I was faster and punched his back to avoid letting him do the same stunt he did before with my knee attack.
The impact was too much for him, making him fall unconscious. Geez...I will never give him alcohol again. After taking care of the drunk Eun-Ha, I put the clothes I gave him before, stored his girly outfit in his bag together with his honey and returned to where the Queen Beetle was.
I took out my skinning knife again and thrust it through the beetle's eye. The Queen Beetle screeched in pain and struggled ferociously, so hard that it broke its horn in the process. The Queen Beetle smashed its head on the ground a few times trying to rid of the knife that was still stuck in its eye. However, with each smash, the knife pierces deeper in until finally, the Queen Beetle collapses. After a few minutes of blood loss and pain, the Queen Beetle died. I pulled out the knife and stored the Queen Beetle corpse in my storage ring.
Then, I went to the tree where the egg was stored and checked the condition of the egg. Sadly, the egg was crushed. I looked inside the hole and found two more eggs...lucky! Taking these eggs, I placed them in my bag. Then, I walked up to Eun-Ha, stored his bags on my ring, carried him on my back and started to return to the town.
"Come Eun-Ha, stop pretending to be drunk, the effects should have long dissipated by now." I said as I dragged Eun-Ha back to the guild. He seems really weak to alcohol.
"Huh? Where I am? Since he finally wake up, I placed him on the ground.
"Don't you remember anything?"
"I remember that we were on a mission, and in the middle I started to have fun, but I can't clearly remember it."
Does he really don't remember anything!
"Hah... don't worry about that, it was just a side effect from a skill I did. We successfully finished the mission, here are your bags" I said that to him while taking out the bags from my ring.
"Wow thanks and sorry for having me carry around all the way to the town."
Once we arrived at the guild, we turned in the three King Beetles - carapaces intact and everything. I looked at Eun-Ha and said, "Nice partying with you. Come by my clan if you want some enhancements or power-ups."