NOVEL FROG Chapter 88: Eradicating the Crystalback Tendrilisks
After a long run into the forest, Victor casually did a few standards of testing of his new Magus abilities. For example, his mana sense, now fully developed after he became an official Magus, allowed him to scan for any living entity within a hundred-meter radius effortlessly. Remarkably, he could detect even the smallest creatures, like an ant walking on a tree a hundred meters away.
But what about my physical prowess?
He deployed his mana sense and discovered a running Mossback Turtle a few distance away. In an instantaneous burst of speed that couldn’t be seen by the naked eye, he surged forward. Seeing that he was right above the creature, Victor channeled his infused mana into his fist, and with a precise, forceful downward swing, he destroyed its carapace in a single, decisive blow. It was killed without being able to do anything.
“This is insane…!” Although it was a fairly small Mossback Turtle, it was a pretty durable magical beast. Such a feat of strength was something his former self could have only dreamed of.
Alas, without a complete high-rank meditation technique, reaching even greater heights of power would be a pipe dream. Nonetheless, he could now confidently proclaim himself as the headmaster of an academy. No one should underestimate him anymore.
If this is the extent of my physical prowess, what about my magical prowess? Victor thought, trying to scan for any other creature in the vicinity again. “Hrm? This mana fluctuation…”
At the edge of his range, he detected unusual mana fluctuations and realized there was a battle occurring between two or more powerful magical beasts. Apparently, the Mossback Turtle he had just dispatched seemed to have been fleeing from that very place. He didn’t bother to take the creature’s corpse and set off toward the source.
Perching himself atop a branch of a tall tree, Victor gazed at a small clearing about twenty meters away. There, he could only see one creature standing in the middle of a mass of blood and carcasses. The creature, in the shape of a giant silvery wolf, seemed to have noticed him as well and started wagging her tail.
“Lumen?” Victor exclaimed in astonishment as he jumped down to the clearing.
“Woof!” Lumen pounced toward him and was about to lick him to show her affection. But upon noticing her fur was slightly drenched in blood, Victor skillfully dodged and gently restrained her, causing her to let out a soft, disappointed whimper.
“It has been a few days… Where have you been?” Victor couldn’t help but ask and saw one of the carcasses around. He didn’t know what magical beast it was since it was mauled beyond recognition. However, it appeared to be some sort of a bear.
Lumen had a habit of returning to the academy sporadically and often left the remains of magical beasts right in the morgue outside the Nexus Tower. Because of her and the players, Victor had no need to hunt for any magical beast. Moreover, the essence converter had accumulated over two thousand points by this time.
There was one more critical detail that Victor noted about Lumen here. According to the mana fluctuation she emitted, her power was nearing the third-stage Initiate Attunement. Her relentless hunting had evidently fueled her continuous growth. With this speed, Victor wondered what the limit of her bloodline’s power was.
“Anyway, it’s good to see you’re doing well,” Victor remarked, then an idea struck him. “Let’s see, how about we go hunting together?”
Lumen’s intelligent eyes lit up with excitement, her head perking up eagerly, clearly thrilled by the proposal. She then crouched down, inviting Victor to mount her back. Before doing so, he manipulated the Anemo and Hydro elemental particles to cleanse her fur of the blood — now it was glistening like the most expensive fur the world had ever seen.
“Let’s go! Full steam ahead!” As he uttered this phrase, he was reminded of the times Lizbeth would perch on his shoulder and treat him like her personal mount.
With a swift start, Lumen charged deeper into the forest. Victor guided her towards their destination, which was, of course, the ravine at the northeast of the academy. Even though Victor could fly as an Elemental Adept Magus, riding on a magical mount was still an exhilarating experience and something that didn’t require energy.
***
“Alright. We’re here.” Victor dismounted from Lumen as he gazed at the dark cavern looming before them.
Unlike before, the sense of danger that once permeated this place seemed diminished, but Victor knew better than to let his guard down. With a focused gesture, he cast the {Demonic Eye} spell to summon five spectral puppets to scout ahead. It took but a mere minute for him to find several monstrous lizard-like creatures — the Crystalback Tendrilisks. Each was grotesquely decorated with sharp, crystalline spikes adorning their backs and a disturbing nest of writhing tentacles undulated beneath their heads.
To Victor’s satisfaction, none of the spectral puppets were destroyed this time. He felt that his control over his infused mana, and thus the spell itself, had increased manyfold. Still, looking at these abominations wasn’t something that Victor found pleasing; their grotesque appearance was simply too ugly and unsettling.
Turning to the silvery wolf beside him, Victor inquired, “Do you want to stay here or…?”
Lumen returned his gaze with determination. It was clear she was adamant in accompanying him. Acknowledging her decision, Victor nodded and led the way into the depths of the cavern. Well, I’m more at ease to explore this place with someone to accompany me.
As they delved into the cavern, Victor flicked his finger, and several balls of light illuminated the dark passage. The walls of this cavern were quite damp and were occasionally illuminated by the faint, eerie glow of luminescent stones and bioluminescent flora, which cast elongated shadows around them. Plus, the air was thick with the musty smell of damp earth and the faint, metallic tang — this indicated the place was rich in metal resources.
Five minutes into traversing the passage, they arrived at the den of the Crystalback Tendrilisks. The cavern opened up into a vast chamber where cyan-colored crystals were in abundance, twinkling in the balls of light that Victor conjured. It was truly packed full of raw mana crystal ores, stretching as far as the eye could see.
“This place is indeed a treasure trove worth taking over…” Victor murmured to himself, his eyes scanning all around in awe and wariness.
Suddenly, Lumen let out a low growl as she glared intently in a specific direction. Following her gaze, Victor saw a pair of luminescent eyes emerge from the darkness. The eyes blinked once, then twice, before more pairs began to materialize from the shadows. He realized with a jolt that they were vastly outnumbered. Shoot. There are more than five of them in here! He hadn’t searched the place thoroughly, so it wasn’t totally unexpected.
But Victor didn’t panic and prepared to cast a spell. He had not a single Bet-tier spell, but one couldn’t underestimate the power of the Aleph-tier spells that an Elemental Adept Magus like him could cast. Besides, there was something that he wanted to experiment with here. This was a perfect chance to measure the full extent of his powers.
While feeling a surge of adrenaline, Victor steadied himself. He took out his magic weapon — the Voidborn Orb — from his interspatial ring to enhance his magical prowess. Meanwhile, Lumen positioned herself protectively beside him, ready for battle. Victor knew well that in such a situation, a robust offense was the best defense. It stood to reason that rather than waiting for the enemies to launch their attack on their turf, it was better to take the fight to them and clear their home-ground advantage.
Victor extended his hand and conjured a scorching cyclone that swept through the cavern and whirled around the hiding Crystalback Tendrilisks. Most of them were caught in the cyclone and got fried into nothing more than smoky remnants. Due to the unique meditation technique that he practiced along with the increase of mana proficiency, it was now possible for him to merge spell combinations into a singular, potent spell — it was something that Victor found out instead of the players’ idea.
I think I will name this new spell “{Blazing Burst},” he thought, satisfied with the name he gave.
“ROARRR!!” The lizard abominations shrieked in pain, though they proved to be resilient. Only one of them was incapacitated, whereas the rest approached closer toward them.
“What a tenacious bunch— {Flame Dart}! {Slicing Wind}!” Several fiery projectiles, as well as razor-sharp blades of wind, rained upon the enemies, each strike precisely aimed at their exposed and vulnerable spots. Victor seized every momentum and didn’t stop with the barrage of spells. Lumen also joined in by shooting light arrows and injuring any incoming enemies while her powerful jaws and claws dealt devastating blows to any that dared come close.
The cavern echoed with the roars of pain from the Crystalback Tendrilisks as they writhed in agony and fell — their crystalline spikes shattering under the relentless assault. Even if they tried to camouflage into the surroundings, Victor was able to determine their positions easily through his high affinity for the Cosmo element. Nothing could escape from his perception.
It wasn’t even a battle; it was a one-sided massacre.
Finally, as the last of the Crystalback Tendrilisks fell, the cavern fell silent. More than ten Crystalback Tendrilisks had died in this confrontation, which more or less summed up their entire family. Maybe there were more of them deeper inside, but this was undoubtedly his win.
“I truly have gotten stronger, huh.” If not for the lack of stronger magic spells, he would have taken down the enemies much faster. In fact, it wasn’t that these humongous lizards were weak, Victor was just too strong.
Lumen snuggled up to Victor, her eyes seemingly expecting something from him. “Yeah, you too, Lumen. You’re getting stronger,” Victor affirmed, affectionately patting her head.
Once he had given her enough pats, Victor turned his attention back to their surroundings. “Guess I better explore a bit deeper to eliminate any dangerous factor. Better not leave any loose end than to cry later.”
With this resolve, Victor, accompanied by Lumen, went deeper into the cavern. Their footsteps were echoing in the vast expanse.
