Chapter 179 - The Burning Spear

"Air Hammer!"

*Thump!*

Suddenly, a see-through hammer made of wind appeared before it smashed right onto the soldier giant ants in front of her. Though the attack managed to leave damage on the hard exoskeleton of the soldier giant ant, it is nowhere enough to defeat it. But her ultimate goal isn't to finish it off with her magic, and instead, she wanted to practice more of her swordsmanship skill. And thus, Sheila suddenly 'blink' right beside the soldier before killing it with a single swing of her sword.

『 You have killed Soldier Giant Ant LV. 27! 』

『 You gained a small amount of experience! 』

"Well, that's another soldier for me. How many have I killed, was it around a hundred or so, I think? When the count reached 50 or more, I have stopped counting, so I might be wrong."

Sheila muttered softly to herself while picking the loot on the ground. Because she took her time to finish off every monster she came across in the cave, it gives the queen the time to give birth to even more giant ants to protect her and also attack the intruders at the same time. She would have been in a bit of pickle if she were alone since eventually, her mind would be exhausted after fighting without any rest. Without Kuu and Raksha by her side, that would indeed be the case.

As of now, the two also net themselves plenty of kills each. However, it is still nowhere enough to level them up since the more they evolve, the more experience they need. It seemed the same 'rule' that applied to her, also applies to them even though they are monsters. She had thought a monster might have a different sort of rule, depending on their racial attribute or something like that, no matter they are a tamed or untamed one, but her guess is wrong. 

Or maybe, it might be that both Kuu and Raksha, is just too low in the monster's hierarchy that the other rules didn't apply to them. Honestly, she had considered taming the queen if possible rather than killing it. But upon thinking it for a bit, she thought it might not be possible since she had never tamed any boss-class monster before. 

When Shela had tamed Kuu as the first in the list, it was nothing but a normal slime, way weaker than its current level. The same can also be said to Raksha, it was also a normal a.d.u.l.t grey wolf. So, she wasn't sure whether she could tame a boss, with no experience in hand. Although she had already tamed two monsters, which is Kuu and Raksha, her taming skill remained at level 1. The reason why Sheilla didn't give it a try is that she's afraid of the backlash in case of failure.

She had never failed in taming before as both of her attempts ended up successfully, thankfully. But, from the knowledge of the skill imprinted in her mind, the backlash can be quite harsh, depending on the monster's level she's trying to tame. The higher their level, the stronger the backlash she will receive. It can also lead to her death.

As to how the tame procedure works, it's actually quite simple. First and foremost, one needs to be a higher level than the target. A monster would never follow the command of someone's weaker than them, or would you? To them, the world is not peaceful but that of survival of the fittest. Of course, it would have been a different story if the monster gained intelligence.

The moment the monster is 'born,' a specific set of rules would then be imprinted in their mind without their knowledge about it. The weaker they are, the more they were influenced by the rules. Even though the slime knows she's obviously way stronger than them, that won't stop them from charging at her the moment she entered their range. So long as she didn't show them her strength by either killing them or overpowering them with her aura, they won't stop what most would say, idiotic action. Sheila didn't know whether this is true or not, but this knowledge also came from the taming skill. Perhaps, the skill isn't just about taming—there's might be more to this than meets the eye.

Sheila is afraid that despite her level is higher than the target, there are still chances for the taming to fail. When the risk involves her life, she took it very seriously. After all, once she dies, she won't be able to play games anymore. It's game over. 

Woof! Woof!

A sudden cry from Raksha brought her attention back to reality. She looked up and saw a group soldier giant ants crawling from the ceiling of the cave, heading toward her in the distance. Usually, that kind of display would have frightened any girls out there, but strangely, Sheila didn't find anything wrong with it. In fact, her lips curved upwards the moment her eyes caught sight of them. That is her free EXP!

"Raksha and Kuu, we're going with the same tactic. Attack, but also, protect each other's rear, got it?"

Woof!

*Jiggle*

"Alright, let's do this then!"

With that said, Sheila immediately charges onward with a grin on her face, followed by Raksha on her side, and Kuu behind their back. This time she returns AWP to its normal state, which is its bracelet form, before conjuring a spell with just a single thought in her mind. 

Sheila spread her left hand's palm wide, a ball of flame swiftly formed before it slowly changed into a long 3-meters, crimson-red spear. She immediately grabbed it with her right hand the moment it fully materialized into a spear. Though her action seemed casual, no one but her can actually grab it as there's still flame burning around it. If someone else other than her were to touch it, they would be burned to ashes, right there and then. 

『 Vanquisher, Ravager of the Burning Sun! 』

Though the spell's name sounds pretty domineering, its power is nowhere on the level of becoming 'ravager.' With a burning spear fully grasped in both of her hands, Sheila casually thrust it toward the soldier charging at her from the ceiling, causing it to explode to pieces upon contact. But that's not the end of its power. Sheila took a horse stance for a moment and pointed her spear toward another soldier, and surprise, a fireball appeared on the tip of the spear's blade before speeding toward the target and exploded. So long as the flame around it continues to burn, Sheila can conjure as many fireballs as she wants at no cost whatsoever!

The thing is, the spell to conjure the spear did cost almost 2/4 overall, so it's around 250MP. That is not a small amount at all. Plus, if the knowledge of the spell from the beginning to an end, so many details of it didn't imprint itself in her brain, she might have trouble in conjuring it. And honestly, the photographic memory skill did a lot more help than she expected. Just because the knowledge imprinted itself in the brain doesn't mean it couldn't be forgotten, it actually can.

Woof!

The howl from Raksha caused a few soldier-type giant ants to freeze on the spot, given Sheila the chance to behead them, which she didn't waste any further and immediately speed toward them swiftly. With a fiery-red spear still in her hand, Sheila swings it downward and a slash made of wind appeared, heading straight toward the immobilized soldiers.

"Hup! Have a taste of burning spear right into your anus! just kidding."

『 You have killed Soldier Giant Ant LV. 28! 』

『 You have killed Soldier Giant Ant LV. 26! 』

This sort of battle continues. It was only five minutes later that Sheila had to retreat for a moment as the time limit for the spear has finally come. Yes, it has a time limit. Sheila needs to wait for a half an hour before she could conjure another one. So, in the meantime, she decided to go for a caster this time after experiencing becoming a lancer. But before she could conjure her spell, a sudden thought entered her mind.

"Hmm, I'm in a cave at the moment, will it work? I think it should, right?... Wait, who am I even asking? Sigh. Anyways, I'll give it a try."

Sheila closed her eyes and imagined a powerful yet condensed stream of water suddenly bursting out of the ground. The moment she noticed her mana decreasing, she whispered.

"Burst Stream."

Just how she imagined, a concentrated stream burst out of the ground, piercing through the exoskeleton of soldier giant ant as if it was nothing but a piece of paper. If it's just normal concentrated water, it would not be enough to pierce through the hard exoskeleton. Under the influence of mana, even the still and calm water can be powerful. Sheila nodded her head at the sight before pulling MP potion out of her inventory and take a drink.

"The stronger the spell, the more it cost me. Well, it doesn't really bother me much since I have a lot of potions ready in my inventory. But I also wish there's another way for this, perhaps something like meditates? The concentration of mana on every floor of the Trial Tower is no joke. If I could find a way to make use of it, I would become a whole another level for sure."

Sheila muttered while taking a step back and watch Raksha wreck havoc upon the soldiers one after another. As an a.d.u.l.t grey wolf, its teeth are much sharper than when it was a juvenile wolf. Also, its race named as 'Fierce Wolf' isn't for nothing. Looking back, Sheila can see Kuu, the giant slime, attacking the giant ants with a tentacle-like whip. Although its strength is nowhere near Raksha, it is still enough to beat the normal-type giant ants to a pulp. Furthermore, no matter how strong the giant ant's mandible is, Kuu can just regenerate its lost part after a few minutes passed with its natural regeneration speed. 

"No matter how I looked at it, I think my choices work out pretty good. At a level 1 taming skill, I can only tame at most, two monsters to bid to my call. If not for that, I would have a create a whole army of monsters."

Just the thought of snapping her finger, which would cause her whole army of monsters to appear around her, is so darn cool! It's like roleplaying a villain character, a Demon Lord! Actually, she has a feeling that she might be called that once her taming skill reached a high level. Speaking of tamed monster, Sheila remembers the troll at the branch of Mage Association. 

If she isn't mistaken, the troll is a tamed monster of someone. She didn't know who that 'someone' is, but she found out that the troll's existence to the branch is like a guardian of the sort. There's no way they would make a monster like a troll as a guardian unless they have a way to control it. 

"Whoops."

While she was lost in thought, a single soldier giant ant managed to bypass Raksha as it immediately tries to land a hit on her, but she jumped back the moment her danger sense kicks in. As a follow-up, she throws a strong punch at it in the head, sending it flying back toward the grey wolf. Upon sensing its presence, Raksha turned around and instantly recognized the soldier as it roared before tearing it to pieces with its claw.

Thirty minutes later, Sheila finally arrived on the lair where the queen resides. Surrounding the queen is as she expected, a group of soldier giant ants immediately bares their mandibles at her the moment they noticed her presence as the intruder. Without wasting any further, she smiles before releasing her aura at them in full force.