Chapter 87
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: To the Rochel Kingdom (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Rochel Kingdom lay north of Peros Gorge, beyond the towering Adri Mountains.
Heading straight north from Peros Gorge, one eventually runs into the massive Adri Mountains blocking the way. Beyond those peaks stretches an endless forest.
That forest is called Elaitan.
And Elaitan Forest marked the border of the Rochel Kingdom's territory.
'Running's so much easier in a human body.'
I had just arrived in Elaitan Forest.
It was the result of dashing north nonstop through the night from Peros Gorge.
I bounced lightly on my toes, loosening up like a warmup. A smile crept across my face at how light my body felt.
'Nice. Real nice.'
Not only did it look the part, but this body's performance was perfect too.
It perfectly mirrored the stats of my original tentacle monster form, granting superhuman mobility and strength even while maintaining a human appearance.
But above all—
Unlike the fluid, squirming motion of my true body, the sensation of kicking off the ground with two legs felt incredibly refreshing.
The movements were light, and all the half-day customization had paid off.
"Hoo."
I drew in a deep lungful of crisp air.
Dawn in the green forest. The air was fresh, and the sky was gradually brightening. I paused for a moment, gazing out at the scenery beyond the trees.
Before coming here, I'd briefly considered showing my human form to my wives first.
'They definitely would've loved it.'
But I decided to visit the Rochel Kingdom first rather than introducing my human form to them right away.
It wouldn't take that long anyway.
Now I had 'Root Tentacles' as a new type, so no matter how far I went, I could zip back to the dungeon in an instant.
Since I was out, I figured I'd grab some magic stones and check out a village in the kingdom.
'And I'll pick up some souvenirs on the way back.'
I always wanted to treat my wives well.
Our relationships had started with thrusting my dick into them without warning and kicking things off with sex, but seeing them happy made me happy too.
I was already pounding their pussies every day to keep them blissful, but what if I brought gifts and took care of their needs? They'd be even happier.
For that reason, when I'd raided the warehouse of Rune, the Lily Guild's S-Class adventurer, I'd pocketed a few gems along with the dungeon core.
'This should be plenty.'
I split open my palm and pulled out a Basic Tentacle. Beautiful gems gleamed within it.
Along with the gold bars from the warehouse, I'd swiped quite a few gems, and these were just a handful of the stragglers I'd grabbed.
I tucked the gems and Basic Tentacle back into my palm.
That was when it happened.
Rustle— Rustle—
"Grrr..."
"Gruk!"
'Plenty of monsters around here.'
Lost in thought for a moment, I suddenly noticed several monsters surrounding me from all sides, licking their chops.
Elaitan Forest was crawling with orcs and trolls, just as the name implied.
The classic fantasy monsters thrived in this world too.
Regular orcs and trolls—not variants—had about the combat power of a single vampire.
In human terms, that meant they could go toe-to-toe with an E-Class adventurer one-on-one.
Their average physical stats ranged from roughly 13 to 15.
Of course, some approached D-Class strength, so letting your guard down was a bad idea.
Not that it applied to me.
My stats had risen to the point where such distinctions were meaningless. E-Class adventurer or D-Class—they both looked low-tier now.
Woooong—
Thudcrack—!!
The mana condensed in my palm instantly formed a bullet, shattering one orc's face.
Its upper body exploded, and it flew backward without even a chance to scream.
'What a dutiful skill.'
Mana Bullet had been my go-to during the overnight run north and skirmishes with monsters along the way.
I could've just punched them normally, but I didn't feel like getting blood on myself, so Mana Bullet was the natural choice.
"Gr... Gruk!"
"Grra."
In the blink of an eye, their kin was dead, and the surrounding monsters looked panicked. They were ferocious and aggressive, sure, but they had some judgment.
They'd charge silently if they thought they could win, but if the gap felt too wide, fear kicked in like this.
Though it varied by individual.
I generated Mana Bullets from my palm and fed them to the rest of the orcs' faces. Before a moment passed, their heads and torsos exploded, ending them.
At first, using Mana Bullet required splitting my palm like drawing a Predation Tentacle and pulling out a magic tentacle from the gap. But after repeated use, I no longer needed to.
By fixing a magic tentacle just below my palm without splitting it, the bullets formed naturally above it. Now, I could just spread my palm to generate and fire.
Proof that my transformed human body was adapting too.
The Detection Tentacle worked seamlessly inside my human form as well.
True, I couldn't extend it far outside like before, so the range was much narrower, but it still detailed a wide area just fine.
Squelch—
'Whoa, there's a ton.'
A scan with the Detection Tentacle revealed monsters everywhere around me.
Made me miss my tentacle monster body at times like this.
The overwhelming predator scent drove them off on their own.
If I reverted, 99% of those monsters would flee from me.
But in human form, my monster aura vanished entirely, so they all picked fights.
I considered switching back briefly, but instead, I pressed on through the forest, massacring monsters in human form.
It wasn't as good as sex with women, but killing monsters still gave EXP.
To rack up points for Biological Disassembly Analysis too, I welcomed every attacker.
I devoured the corpses one by one at first, but it got tedious, so I spawned new tentacle limbs N-34 and N-35, ordered them to eat the bodies, and sent them to join up at Peros Gorge.
Thudcrack—!
Five hours of clearing the forest like that.
'Village should be coming up soon.'
Pushing deeper into Elaitan Forest, signs of human presence began appearing.
A natural path worn by people passing through caught my eye.
Five hours might sound like little, but at my transcendent speed, I'd covered a serious distance.
Run, kill monsters, run. I followed the trail at a brisk pace.
'Village is called Lilac, right?'
This was the same Lilac Village I'd tried stealing magic stones from before. The one past Elaitan Forest.
Seemed like a peaceful rural spot. I was curious what it'd look like.
Rustle— Rustle—
I walked slowly to the forest's edge and looked down at the village.
"......? What the hell."
I frowned.
My expectations of a quaint rural scene were way off.
Far worse—the village lay in ruins.
Houses were smashed, and bodies littered the ground haphazardly.
Thud.
'What happened.'
I landed at the village entrance and surveyed it all.
Small place, but not a single house remained intact.
All collapsed or crumbling.
Some had burned to ash.
Like a war hit. Or something had raided the whole village.
Step, step—
I walked through, picking up a corpse from the roadside.
"Hmm..."
A powerful blow to the gut.
Cause of death was obvious.
Organs and bones crushed, a massive fist shape dug into the ribs and inward.
'Orcs, huh.'
This strength and fist size screamed orc to me intuitively.
Lots of monsters around, but after encountering so many orcs in the forest, they topped the suspect list.
I set the man's body down and scanned the village again.
Other corpses looked recent too. No rot, no smell.
'Any survivors?'
No signs of life in the village.
Just in case, I scanned the whole area with Detection Tentacle.
Squelch—
'Oh? There are.'
Didn't expect any, but two people hid in the basement of a collapsed house.
They'd somehow survived this mess.
I headed to the house with the basement.
Step, step—
The place had caved in completely. No sign of space inside from the outside.
But Detection Tentacle revealed everything in range.
A narrow gap under the fallen bed led to a basement passage.
I shoved the debris aside and opened the basement door.
Creeeak—
Flinch—
- S-Sis! Monster at the door...
- Shh! Stay quiet. We'll be fine if we hide.
The two inside held their breath, huddling tight.
Sounded like sisters. Amid the monster raid chaos, they'd barricaded here and survived alone.
Now they crammed into a wardrobe, not making a peep, thinking I was an orc come in.
I ignored them and checked out the basement first.
Not huge—an emergency shelter. Some food rations, a few books. Portable toilet, blankets, mat. That was it.
I grabbed a dried fruit from the small table and popped it in my mouth.
"Oh."
Tasty.
Like a mix of mango, grape, and apple?
Fantasy fruit was something else.
I'd check the variety later in the dungeon and snag some seeds.
My voice made them start whispering.
- S-Sis, I heard a human voice just now?
- I-I heard it too...
- Shouldn't we check!?
- But it could be bandits. We stay put.
Fair enough. Not the modern world.
When a village got trashed, bandits often looted what was left.
Even humans could be foe or friend, so they had to suspect any lifeline.
I walked straight to the wardrobe where the two women hid.
Thud.
And opened the door.
"Ah...!"
"Aah!"
They first stared in fear, then relaxed at my kind, handsome face that screamed "no evil deeds here."
But...
Jiggle jiggle—
"Wha? Kyaa, kyaack...!"
Then they spotted my lower half, where a massive cock dangled freely, and their faces flushed as they screamed.
Oh.
Right. I wasn't wearing a damn thing.