Chapter 219: The Stone Shrine

219 – The Stone Shrine

I landed in the forest safely. For the time being, I’ll follow the river upstream. If I didn’t know where the water was, things would be difficult. But seeing as I’ve got water, even if I can’t find any prey I’ll somehow be able to make do.

I suppose I’ll take a look at my new skills while I walk. I don’t want to rely on it… but, God’s Voice, I’m counting on you.

Starting with the shady-sounding one… [Soul AppendmentFake Life].

【Normal skill [Soul AppendmentFake Life】

【Confers a false life to corpses. 】

Umm… is this a revival-type skill? Although the “false” part sounds pretty ominous… It probably doesn’t return them to a normal state of life. It’ll probably be that ‘zombie chick’ thing.

I get the feeling that if I raise its level I might find some other way to use it… hmm… For now, I’ll try testing it on a monster. If I get used to it I might be able to find some value in it, though it doesn’t seem particularly useful just now.

Then… next up is an even more shady-sounding skill. There’s seriously no way this skill will be anything good. Then again, I’m not sure whether I’ll even be able to appraise it.

【Divine skill [Human Realm]】

【Grants the authority to rule the human world. Although the original power is lost, a great influence on the evolution path is conferred. 】

…It was successfully analysed, but, it’s somehow even more than I expected. It hasn’t got a level… I wonder if it’s ok to think of it to be like a title skill.

The influence on my evolution path is fine and all, but I can’t be wholeheartedly happy about it. With a name like [Human Realm], I don’t get the feeling I’ll become something horrible, but somehow it sounds too good to the point of being suspicious. There was that time I got lured by the [Humanisation Technique] and evolved to a Plague Kid Dragon and got my expectations betrayed after all. Let’s hope I don’t get an exquisitely disgusting evolution where just my face and head are human or something.

I might as well take a look at my other skills. Some of them might actually be helpful after all. The normal skills I generally know how to use, and the resistance skills are what they sound like. There’s nothing I’m curious about in the characteristic skills, so I’ll take a look at the title skills.

【Title skill [King Ant]】

【A title granted by a queen ant to a [Commander Ant] which has achieved great merits. 】

【As one who has outstanding genes, authority is granted to raise children with a queen ant. 】

【Primarily recognised by the nest of red ants. 】

…I-I see. This’ll do for the title skills. Now that I think about it, there’s generally no point in knowing the function of title skills. [Walking Egg] has helped me out a lot though.

“Gaa! Gaa!”

On my left, my partner stretches her neck out towards the river. It seems she’s thirsty.

Together we taste the river water. While drinking, I glance to my left. My partner drinks noisily, splashing around. I see something like plaque floating away downstream.

… I sure am glad we have the river.

Upon raising my head, I see a simple stone structure on the riverbank across from me. It looks like the entrance is on the other side.

It’s about 4 metres tall, and the same width. It’s 10 metres long, so it’s fairly large. Even without stooping, my huge body can fit inside. The river’s close, so as a place to live, it looks perfect. It might not be a bad idea to use it as a base for the time being.

I spread my wings and jump across the river. The shock of my landing reverberates through the surroundings… I really ought to be more careful. The sound of it might have agitated any nearby monsters.

Even though I haven’t seen any dangerous monsters, according to Adofu there should be monsters even stronger than the giant centipede around here.

What was it again? Ah, right, the Lithovar tribe. I remember he told me there was a dangerous race of demons by that name around here. For the time being, I’ll do my best to be careful of them.

With light footsteps, I approach the stone structure. Circling around, I see a pair of dragon statues flanking the entrance.

No, these aren’t normal dragon statues. They each have two necks. Just like me, they’re two-headed dragons.

Hrm… They have quite detailed craftsmanship I see. Let’s have a look… They’ve been very carefully produced indeed.

As I get closer, I feel the presence of a monster lurking inside. It’s a pretty large presence too. It seems the owner must be home.

It might be a bad idea to approach without a plan. It would be bad if something on the same level as the giant centipede came tearing out, so it might be a good idea to turn back now.

But then there’s the dragon statues, so it might be that there’s a dragon sleeping inside. I kinda want to take a peek inside… But no, I really ought to retreat here. I don’t want to poke a hornet nest.

As I turn my back, my partner cries out.

“Gaa?”

I get the impression that she’s asking whether it’s really ok to run away here. I am able to somewhat understand what my partner wants to say when looking at her face and hearing her voice. This must be the effect of [Mutual Understanding] I guess.

“Ah… no, please no… Kyaaaa!”

While stuck in indecision, I hear a scream coming from inside the building. Could there be a person in there as well? I was too distracted by the monster’s presence and didn’t notice. From what Adofu had told me, I didn’t think there would be any humans around here. Now that I focus, I can feel two human presences inside.

Flustered, I circle around the entrance.

“GuoooOOhhh!”

I let out a roar to draw the monster’s attention. By revealing my hostility I’ve lost my chance for a preemptive strike, but it can’t be helped. I charge forwards, narrowly avoiding trees. I hear the sounds of something standing up inside. The next moment, a yellow monster bursts out.

I let out a roar to draw the monster’s attention. By revealing my hostility I’ve lost my chance for a preemptive strike, but it can’t be helped. I charge forwards, narrowly avoiding trees.

I hear the sounds of something standing up inside. The next moment, a yellow monster bursts out.

“Gebagebagebaah!”

Letting out a stupidly loud roar, it turns to face me. It looks to be around seven metres in length. Around the same size as me.

It looks like a gigantic lion, with yellow fur and a reddish-brown mane surrounding its face. It’s got a round stinger at the end of its long tail, and its face is a weird mix between a woman’s and a lion’s.

The side of its mouth was soaked in blood. The upper body of a child was visible there, its torso pierced by a tooth. It was all too cruel.