“If I could freely control the thorns that sprouted all over my body… then I could just charge into the monsters while throwing fireballs and bombs, turning them into kebabs.”
Just thinking about it sounds fun.
“Should I try making a shield?”
Since I had already flattened the thorns to create a great sword, I figured I could widen that a bit to make a shield. But I’d need to create bigger and thicker thorns, so I’d have to pull in all the leftover thorns.
“If I catch another giant skeleton like the one I caught yesterday, maybe my control will increase…”
But to find that guy, I’d have to go outside, which probably wouldn’t happen. Who knows if another mutant would be out there.
Still, now that I took the first step, I was starting to get the hang of things.
Just then, as I instinctively whistled, the bats on the ceiling slowly began to stretch.
How many of those filthy things had I chewed and swallowed? They seemed overly diligent, hardly sleeping at all. Such annoying creatures.
– Consume the bodily parts of living and dead beings to analyze their essence and create small minions.
I reread the description of my [Essence Devouring] skill.
I had swallowed hundreds of hook bats. The quantity was more than enough to analyze the essence. And the minion I obtained from that was:
[Owned Minions]
1. Small Hook Bat (Analysis Complete)
– A very small bat monster with hook-shaped claws.
– Total Combat Power 1
– Mana Consumption 1 (Since the analysis level has reached its maximum, mana consumption is fixed at its minimum.)
– It’s filthy and messy. Combat power is pathetic. Reproduction is fast. Efficiency is low. A completely useless monster.
“…… Um, isn’t that evaluation a bit harsh?”
It’s true that they might be useless if you only look at one entity, but it felt like a bit of emotion was mixed in, unlike any system I had experienced before.
“Analysis complete…”
The message that came up after I had first swallowed this creature stated it was “under analysis.”
“Do I have to consume a set number to get a completion message, or does it take a certain time to analyze even if I eat it just once?”
Either way, it sounds like they don’t give away anything easily.
But one thing is certain: the more I consume, the lower my mana consumption gets.
Originally, it was a whopping 5, but now it was reduced to 1, which is clearly the reason.
If the mana consumed to create a living being is this low, it seems like a profit…
“… I summon the hook bat.”
I recited that to myself and concentrated my mana in my palm.
Then, a small bat with a body smaller than my pinky appeared as the blue mana shimmered for an instant.
“Kiik…”
“Huh… why…?”
So cute? Why is it cute?
“Kiik… Baet…”
“Crazy? It’s adorable!”
The little teeth that jutted out like fangs were cute, and the single round eye embedded in its face was adorable.
Since it was a baby, the watery color was pretty, and unlike the unpleasant cries from those guys, it emitted a very cute chittering.
“… At this point, I can wait for the analysis to finish, can’t I?”
I unexpectedly found a healing point!
“Wait! By the way, this little guy… is my first subordinate, right?!”
Surprisingly, my first subordinate was a hook bat. It had a body no bigger than my pinky and couldn’t even spread its wings properly yet.
“I want to show it to Yeon-hee quickly.”
But the ones on the ceiling didn’t seem to want that. Gradually, they started to drop one by one and formed a group before flying straight at me.
Damn, this little guy can’t even spread its wings yet!
“I don’t care. Gori! Let’s fight together!”
I even named it. Just a while ago, I blamed Yeon-hee for her naming sense, but my own wasn’t much better.
When I named it, the name changed from small hook bat to ‘Gori’ in the status window.
After giving it a name, its already cute face seemed even cuter.
Is this how Yeon-hee felt about me… Huhu… my affection is skyrocketing.
It looked like Gori liked the name I gave it as it fluttered its folded wings and stared at me.
Good. Since we’re at it, it’s the first coordinated attack with my subordinate!
Pararararak-!
The monster numbers were still overwhelming, and it felt like a giant wall was crawling toward me.
I shoved Gori between the bones and leather and charged head-on at the enemies.
Boom! Chwakakak─!
The monsters kept raking their hooks across my entire body without pause.
I tried to fend them off with fireballs, but there was only a fleeting moment to do so.
After a while, I finally created a space to maneuver once the relentless attacks subsided.
Flap!
“No?!”
Damn hook bat swarm’s merciless attack had left my beloved first subordinate ‘Gori’ as nothing more than a trace, with just a part of its leg remaining on my skin.
“Damn it… Killing a newborn life is just unfair, isn’t it?”
Even though they were of the same kind, they didn’t hold back. Those were indeed hopeless trash monsters. The system saw it accurately.
1. Gori (Small Hook Bat)
– Minion has died.
– All attributes will reset.
When the ridiculous message popped up, I internally shouted in disbelief.
“What?! Reset?”
Though Gori still showed a combat power of 1 and no resettable stats, the concept that the increased stats would revert back upon death was shocking.
“… Ah, this is a sub-par version of Yeon-hee’s ability.”
The image of me holding Yeon-hee while watching my summoned creatures and minions fight in the back felt like an unachievable delusion.
“No, it’s still a potential skill to see Gori by itself.”
Since Gori’s combat power was lacking, it might be better to keep it alive and use it in other ways. Like scouting… or creating a small variable.
“Huh… I’m all alone after all.”
The monsters charged again. Damn guys, you will pay for breaking my memories.
Hoooom─!
Boom!
Since I had expanded my sword mastery, the sense of striking and the weight transmitted during swings had become several times heavier.
Chwakakak─!
The monsters couldn’t even deal a single hit on me and were clearly feeling tormented as they pressed even harder than yesterday.
Amidst the storm of bats, I expanded my maneuverability with fireballs and bombs while moving opposite to the tent direction.
It seemed my battle had gotten back to HQ since the hunters were seen rushing outside. Soon, the last group of hanging hook bats on the ceiling began to release a sonic wave altogether.
The first battle that erupted after midnight.
I expected there would be a second and third after this one wrapped up, following a short rest.
However, this battle continued far longer than we had anticipated, and by about three hours in…
“Everyone, fall back behind the summons!”
“Get back behind the skeleton soldiers!”
“Ugh… Ugh… Damn it… you bastard…”
“This is just frustrating.”
All the hunters, except for Yeon-hee, were nearly in a ‘fatigued’ state from the prolonged battle.
At least Yeon-hee seemed fine, likely thanks to the significant boost in mana this morning.
“Cunning bastards!”
“They’re changing patterns?!”
The creatures that had previously never lasted more than an hour were now completely relentless in their assault as if they intended to finish us off.
‘Their collective intelligence is quite impressive. They’ve expertly exploited our most vulnerable gap.’
But in the end, those monsters had to be satisfied with leaving us exhausted.
Now their numbers were less than 3,000.
That’s a number I could handle alone in two hours.
The problem was that while I was okay, the others caught in the storm of bats were being swept away.
Amid this, I could see one woman acting unusual.
The light sorceress Joo Ye-seul was struggling behind a man who was using his shield to hold out, slowly approaching him and releasing a chain of magical energy.
‘That damn thing!’
The man wrapped in Joo Ye-seul’s magical chains started trembling and expressing pain, finally dropping his shield and howling.
His eyes rolled back, and he seemed like he was witnessing some sort of vision, but the bats who seized the moment began to graze his head and nibble away at him slowly.
However, the hunters beside him had no capacity to care about him and could only watch helplessly as he was dragged into despair.
In just another 30 seconds, he would surely die from excessive bleeding.
What was chilling was the twisted face of Joo Ye-seul, who was stealing glances at the man with sparkling eyes.
The corners of her eyes, curving into a crescent, clearly indicated she was holding back laughter, but her mask made it hard to notice unless you looked closely.
‘I’ve seen this kind before.’
Those who find their sense of value in plunging others into the abyss, owning broken souls.
Joo Ye-seul seemed to belong to that group.
“That’s why we need to mandate mental evaluations in the association!”
It’s become increasingly difficult to find someone with their mind intact. Well, considering there aren’t any sane people among the high-rank hunters…
“Gori!”
“Kiik…!”
At least it’s nice to have no cooldown on summoning Gori like me.
I reached my arm out toward Joo Ye-seul, calling to Gori.
Just tossing Gori, who still couldn’t fly properly, would only feed it to the bat swarm, so I wrapped the leather of the big boar around Gori’s body and shot it out, ensuring it enjoyed both mana and sensory protection.
The tiny Gori, no bigger than a palm, successfully slipped through the gaps amid the storm of bats, momentarily breaching even Joo Ye-seul’s magical barrier and biting her index finger where the magical chain was connected.
Kwa-jit-!
“Ah! What the hell?! How did it break through my barrier?!”
Furious, Joo Ye-seul emitted a brilliant light from her palm that dazzled me, but Gori, exposed directly to this light, began to splinter from the inside and suddenly burst apart with a bang!
“I’m sorry. I barely summoned you, and you already died twice. Damn it.”
Though merely an application of floating light spheres, it must have been an unbearable type of attack for a bat accustomed to darkness.
Joo Ye-seul grimaced as she sucked on her bitten finger before turning to check on her prey’s condition.
But I had already whisked the man tormented by visions away behind me.
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