Volume 5 6

Volume 5 Chapter 6

Translator: HASUTSUKI, Editor: Starbuck11

Grass-covered plains were spreading in front of one’s eyes.

Amidst the magnificent scenery, something huge, black, and flat, was moving through the ground while shaking the earth.

(I see… Certainly, that’s huge… So, that is the Big Eater, huh?)

The thing he was gazing upon was a huge centipede monster with its numerous legs.

The distance between him and the monster was around a few hundreds of meters.

The figure of the monster was very disgusting so much so that it might actually cause nausea just by looking at it.

Then, the name Kevin had heard in the Guild the other day comes to mind.

(15 meters… No, I think it’s around 20 meters? It is best to crush the centipede’s head if someone wants to kill it but, it is impossible to kill this one with just using our feet alone…)

While keeping an eye on the centipede, Kevin showed a bitter smile.

It was not that hard to step on the centipede since it was not that high, but it was impossible to kill it with only one’s foot. In fact, with that huge body, even if Kevin had a solid body, the monster might only feel itchy from Kevin’s weight.

(I guess the other way might be to cut one of its legs? But without figuring out how to handle that movement speed, it would be impossible to do that…)

Not only did it possess agile movements, it was also very aggressive…

The chances of that monster managing to bite and tear off one’s body was high.

And if they didn’t do something to slow down the centipede’s movements somehow, the result would be them having to fight it in close combat.

(Had this place been a rocky place, it would have ben easy to kill it by dropping some stones … but I guess, that is also impossible.)

Kevin’s eyes scanned the surroundings while thinking about that.

It was a grassy plain with a good view. There was hardly any terrain that could be used as the place to drop the rock.

(I guess the last method would be using martial magic arts to attack it from the front and using chanting magic arts from the back? But well, no matter how much we attack from the front, the result would still be a bit doubtful…)

Kevin turned his gaze back and leaked a small sigh.

(If it’s me, then I would use chanting magic arts to slow it down or use traps and decoys … But, I wonder, how captain Rick would deal with this…)

It was a big bet for someone to face an adversary while risking one’s life together with people who have not yet built a relationship of trust with you.

Individual competence was unknown, and whether or not the group could cooperate might cause uneasiness as well.

Nonetheless, right now, Kevin was part of a group/clan specialized in adventurer work, such as monster extermination and resource gathering, and the name of the clan was [Cloud of the Azure sky]. And the leader of that clan is Rick who had a high reputation among other adventurers who were currently active within the Rozeria Kingdom.

Rick individual guild rank was a double-A, while his clan as a whole had a single A rank. Such evaluation was above those of the [Red Lion] who trained Kevin and the others.

Of course, there were some differences between mercenaries and adventurers clans, and the rank from the guild was not necessarily a direct link to one’s strength, but it was without a doubt that it would be difficult for someone weak to reach such high rank.

(Well, I guess, I can only try before saying it is impossible, huh? Furthermore, I can finally kill something worthwhile after all this time…)

Excitement spread throughout Kevin’s body.

Having muscular strength peculiar to insect and skin as hard as steel armor. The centipede who had the combination of both was a living nightmare.

However, that didn’t mean the large centipede was a predator belonging to the absolute rank.

Otherwise, humans who were the weakest creature and more fragile than any others wouldn’t be able to dominate the majority of this world.

Kevin had several plans drafted inside his head to kill that centipede.

Within the Wortenia Peninsula, many dangerous creatures lived.

He would not be able to survive if he was not someone who could kill this kind of monsters.

Although his appearance was a child in mid-teens, he had extensive battle experiences.

It was already two and a half months since he had left the Wortenia Peninsula. Finally, he met a prey that was worth his time, thus naturally he showed a smile on his face.

“How is it, Kevin. That is one of the dangerous monsters nicknamed by the guild as [Big Eater]. In other words, a big game…”

From behind him a man with deep voice talked to him, and he tapped Kevin’s shoulder.

At that moment, Kevin’s expression changed instantly. It was an expression of nervousness and fear plastered on his face.

(Phew, that’s bad… I can’t let my identity get out here…)

Kevin slowly turned back while suppressing the excitement that started to surge inside his body.

Currently, Kevin was under a [cover story], he had introduced himself as an amateur adventurer, and a secret child of a fallen knight household.

“Yes, I’ve never thought it would be that big… Are we really going to go up against that, Captain Rick?”

He used voice mixed with embarrassment and fear.

Also on his face, he used an expression that usually a recruit would’ve shown during their first battle.

When he turned back, a pair of man and woman entered Kevin’s field of view. they were the number one and number two among the clan’s member.

A middle-aged man with dazzling looks and short, trimmed hair spoke to Kevin.

“Right, that thing is not just big. Not only is its skin very hard, it also possesses vitality similar to that of an insect. Originally it might be just a centipede, but it would become dangerous if it grows that big… That thing might not be able to use magic arts but, its muscular strength and hard skin are a serious threat. I don’t know whether or not it was true, but someone said that that thing is equal in strength when its compared to a lower class dragon species. Despite it is just a centipede…”

“A dragon, is it?”

In this world existed dragons from various species, from lower-class to upper-class dragons, they possessed power that was impossible for a human to reach.

Only a few people had seen them personally because they were small in numbers and also rarely came out of their hideouts. But one thing was certain, the damage would be tremendous the moment they start to rage around. Villages and towns would be reduced to ashes, and if handled poorly, it was not weird for a country to get destroyed.

That was why damage caused by dragons was usually regarded as a natural disaster.

And even though Wortenia Peninsula was called a land with many monsters, Kevin never once saw a dragon.

No, in fact, even if we go back to the dawn of history, those who had survived after fighting against dragons were less than 100 people.

Kevin swallowed his saliva after he heard the man’s threatening story.

“Well, what I told you just now was a joke, but it would not be a joke if we leave that creature alone for much longer… After all, rarely do such big creatures appear in public, yet it is appearing now. Do you know why?”

As if enjoying Kevin’s reaction, Rick asked a question…

“Of course, it is because they had tasted human flesh, right?”

It wasn’t only humans that could get more power from killing other creatures. <Note: Power here means all things, such as more Prana, experience, etc>

In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that insects and monsters received more benefits from power-ups than humans.

A principle of the survival of the fittest.

Eat or be eaten, kill or get killed. Only the strong ones would be born from such harsh competition.

That was if we only talk about the standard.

Here,even though humans might be able to kill a dragon, such possibility was one in a million. It was close to that of a miracle.

If we talk about the possibility, then with how low the possibility was, such task would be considered as close as impossible to achieve.

-

However, despite people calling it impossible, it didn’t mean it was not doable since sometimes the goddess of destiny give a huge power to the little ones.

Which sometimes overturn the law of the food chain…

“That’s right… The new face here seems to have learned his lesson well… As you had said, it was confirmed that that thing had tasted/eaten adventurers or mercenaries in the forest, and after gorging itself, it began to crawl out. From that monster’s point of view, adventurers and mercenaries were nice preys …”

Rick was satisfied with Kevin’s answer.

Whether the taste was good or not wasn’t important for the monster: those who had the shape of humans would provide raw nutrients and Prana at the same time.

That was why, humans needed to fight in order to survive.

“As of now, five people have been confirmed eaten by it. There were also those adventurers who had not yet come back from the forest, thus there might be more than ten victims… That is why the guild has set this matter as a top priority…”

A woman with bewitching expression showed a soft smile while talking to Kevin.

It was a wavy blond-haired woman, with gold-rimmed glasses on her face.

Kevin frowned after he heard Anastasia’s words, she was regarded as the number two within the [Cloud of the Azure sky].

“Is this amount of people enough to hunt such monster? Isn’t it better to have more?”

Kevin’s line of sight drifted towards the men and women on the back.

Their numbers were around 20 people.

The average party had a number of people around four to ten, thus here they had the amount of personnel equal to more than two parties.

Although it was not a small number of people, it was not wrong to always want more.

It was obvious that these people had abundant experience, but Kevin thought that the number of people here was insufficient to face that kind of monster.

(To fight against that kind of class monster, I wish we have twice the current numbers…)

If possible, he wished around 50 people. Gazes filled with uneasiness and sadness were poured towards Anastasia.

It was Kevin being half acting, half serious.

Kevin had no intention of being intimidated by that centipede, but he was also not that naive.

It was true that Kevin had the experience of killing many monsters of that class together with his colleagues when he was on the Wortenia Peninsula.

But that was the result of passing through the bloody training which strengthened their bonds and relationships at the same time.

It was only less than two months ago since Kevin joined [Cloud of the Azure sky]. He knew that the clan’s reputation was high in the guild, and he also managed to understand the ability of certain individuals inside the clan, but it didn’t mean he understood them completely already.

And lack of understanding each others could occasionally cause a fatal accident.

(First I should watch whether or not it is really possible, if the situation turns bad, I should immediately run… I can’t let myself get killed here after all…)

Do not fight unless there was the possibility of winning. Such teaching was deeply ingrained inside Kevin’s mind.

He thought cautiously as he tried to calm his excited mind.

However, from Rick and the others point of view, Kevin’s attitude only looked like an anxious rookie.

“What’s wrong? Scared? If you follow Anastasia’s directions, everything should be fine… Well, I can understand your feelings, but don’t look so uneasy like that. If you’re too fidgety, your luck will decline, you know?”

“It will be fine… You should focus on what you need to do…”

Saying that, Rick slapped Kevin’s back while laughing as if to ease his tension. And Anastasia showed a soft smile while walking back to their comrades.

“I guess more than this would be impossible, huh…”

Originally, Kevin wanted to hear the complete strategy but if the newcomer asked such a thing, it would give an unnatural impression.

(Now then, do you both have the capacity to meet my Lord’s expectation, I guess for now I should observe them…)

Kevin lifted his lips while looking at the back of the two people, a smile that was not suited for a rookie appeared on his face.

Here begins the mission his Lord had given him.