Chapter 48: Beware of Imitations
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 48: Beware of Imitations
The spiders and Tang Soyeong gathered the remains of the gecko and some parts of the Green Basilisk.
It felt like a highly unethical situation, but I had a feeling that if I pointed it out, I too would soon become 'what was once a Gomodo'.
The shed skin was one thing, but wasn't the tail already spoiled? They'd get sick eating that.
[The faith of your followers increases.]
Huh?
Why? Don't tell me they consider that shed skin some kind of holy relic.
This was getting a little uncomfortable. In a way, it was no different from dead skin.
It's just keratin. Keratin! Don't treat something like that as precious!
“Gekgek!”
Sigh.
It felt like a waste of time, but I suppose it's the duty of a Divine Beast to fulfill its followers' wishes.
Nephila, is this really it? You know, something like that inner core you fed me.
I glanced over at Nephila Jurassica.
The spiders seemed to be discussing how to divide the tail.
They didn't seem to have any intention of listening to me.
...That's just a shed skin, and I'm the real Gomodo. I felt a little hurt.
“Kieek!”
“So, this is...”
Why are you conversing so naturally with the spiders?
I lightly wrapped my tail around Tang Soyeong's thigh.
“Kyaak!”
Tang Soyeong trotted over to me.
Stop acting like the spiders and go find whatever treasure is hidden here.
“Gekgek.”
I smacked Tang Soyeong's hand.
Why? Because she was gently stroking my tail with a slightly crazed look in her eyes.
“Gyak! I-I did it without thinking...”
If you're curious about the structure of a Gomodo's teeth, by all means, continue.
Was it the spiders' influence? Tang Soyeong was getting stranger by the day.
At first, I thought she was just a timid member of the Tang Clan, but she wasn't timid at all. It seemed she had awakened to something... strange.
Why is there never a normal person around me?
I gave the spiders some free time and decided to explore the cave with Tang Soyeong.
Just in case Nephila Jurassica had forgotten about some treasure.
“Hero Go, there's a Night-shining Pearl over here! It's perfectly round, so I don't think it was formed naturally...”
It seemed Tang Soyeong had found something.
Where she pointed, a round stone was emitting a green light.
So that was a Night-shining Pearl. No wonder they could navigate so well in the dark; there was a light source in here.
Wait, a Night-shining Pearl? I'd seen one just like it in the Silver Dragon Cave.
Was this place also man-made? Silver Dragon Cave 2, perhaps?
“Hero Go! Come look at this! There's an enormous mural...”
Right. Of course this would be here.
I hurried over to where Tang Soyeong had called out.
“Wow, they really have everything here!”
It was the same kind of large rock I'd seen in the Silver Dragon Cave. A boulder covered in drawings and scratch marks.
A quick glance told me the content was different from the one I'd seen before.
“I may be far removed from the path of martial arts, but even I can recognize the value of this mural.”
This mural? It was pretty good. It had taught me, a complete novice, how to use the Dragon's Claws.
I figured it was probably worth about as much as a low-grade inner core.
“It's on the level of a secret manual from a major sect, just depicted as a mural. Of course, it lacks explanations and only shows the movements of the forms, so it's not quite the same, but it's still an object of immense value. ...If word of this stone got out in the Murim, it would surely cause a bloodbath.”
It was that valuable? Really?
I thought it was like one of those educational charts you stick on the fridge, and you're telling me it's on par with a legendary secret manual?
I flexed my claws.
The Dragon's Claws, the martial art depicted on the mural.
Baek Yeon-yeong had taught me this art.
She'd said she didn't use it often, but she had mastered it perfectly.
Since it was a technique mastered by someone as powerful as Baek Yeon-yeong, I already knew the Dragon's Claws was no ordinary art.
Besides, she'd said it was originally from Shaolin.
Did that mean all the techniques depicted on this mural were on the same level as the Dragon's Claws?
“...The Plum Blossom Sword Art of the Mount Hua Sect and the sword art of the Namgung Clan are on here, too. I'm not skilled enough to understand them just by looking, but true masters would search for this mural with bloodshot eyes.”
The Mount Hua Sect and the Namgung Clan.
Even I, who hadn't read much wuxia, recognized those names.
The previous mural must have been filled with techniques like these.
Unfortunately, swordsmanship wasn't for me.
I had used a sword when fighting the Dilophosaurus, but it could never be my primary weapon.
I could still use one for the element of surprise, but my Dragon's Claws were now far superior to any ordinary sword in every respect.
“The characters are faded, but... is this the Ancient Dragon Leg Art? Good heavens. To think a martial art rumored to be lost to time would be depicted here!”
Ancient Dragon Leg Art?
I'd never heard of it, but the name was intriguing.
For one, it was a leg art.
My current fighting style relied entirely on my hands.
I used my poison arts frequently, but against an opponent immune to poison, like the Dilophosaurus, I had to rely solely on my footwork and the Dragon's Claws.
Adding a leg art to my repertoire would open up a whole new range of possibilities in combat.
Besides, it had 'Dragon' in the name.
Little Dragon's Heaven-Ascending Steps, Dragon's Claws, Dragon Scales.
And now, the Ancient Dragon Leg Art.
Let's do this.
Of course, I didn't think I could learn a martial art just by looking at some drawings.
At the very least, I'd have to stay here and practice the movements every single day to even begin to learn it.
But that wasn't an option right now.
I had to take Nephila Jurassica to Sichuan soon.
I had originally considered settling down there, but now I'd changed my mind.
If there were two of these murals, why not a third?
No. There had to be more.
The plan was to take Nephila Jurassica to Sichuan. Wait for her treatment to be completed, then return to the 100,000 Great Mountains with the spiders.
Of course, if Nephila wanted to stay in Sichuan, I'd leave her in Tang Soyeong's care, but I doubted the other spiders would want to leave my side.
For better or worse, we were stuck together.
“Gekgek!”
I knew there was quite a distance between Sichuan and the 100,000 Great Mountains, but it would take a week at most.
...Or maybe not?
Still, I now had a strong desire to spend more time in the 100,000 Great Mountains.
As soon as Nephila was treated, I would return here.
First, I would master the techniques on this mural, then I'd search for the next one.
If I kept growing stronger like this, I could evolve again.
Just like Nephila Jurassica.
Even if that wasn't the case, there was no reason to turn down the chance to become stronger.
But before any of that, I had to memorize the movements of the Ancient Dragon Leg Art.
I'd practice them whenever I could on the way to Sichuan with Nephila.
This art had so many movements.
But none of them seemed impossible for me to replicate.
If I incorporated my tail, I could probably make them even more effective.
Tang Soyeong was pressing her temples as she scanned the other techniques.
She seemed to be trying to memorize them like I was, but from the way her eyes kept darting back and forth, I guessed she was failing.
She shouldn't be so greedy; she should just focus on one.
“Ugh... If I could just memorize these and go back, my position in the clan would be secure...”
It made sense. This was tantamount to stealing the secret arts of other sects and clans.
The Tang Clan would welcome her with open arms.
Assuming she could actually memorize them perfectly, that is.
“Maybe we could stay here for a month... no, just one more week... No, what am I saying? We have to think of the Spider Lady...”
Good, she gets it.
The sooner we leave, the safer Nephila will be.
We'll leave as soon as I'm done with this.
“...Huh? What's this?”
Tang Soyeong was looking up, her head tilted back.
Right. There was that.
I'd seen the same kind of mark on the previous mural.
A sword mark, was it?
It was a mark that looked like it was made by a beast's claws.
“It's too high up to have been made by the beast we saw earlier, don't you think?”
The mark was carved at a height of what looked to be five or six meters.
That was well over twice the height of the Utahraptor, so it was unlikely to be the culprit.
“It's carved so high up... but the mark itself is small. That's strange. A beast that could reach that high would have to be enormous. How could it have such small claws?”
Did that mean it wasn't a beast's mark after all?
Looking closely, it almost seemed to depict the forms of some martial art.
It was a jumble of interconnected straight and curved lines.
It was hard to decipher.
Would I be able to figure out the true nature of these marks if I found another mural?
Another reason to come back here.
I couldn't stand not knowing.
I had just about finished examining the mural and was about to drag away the still-debating spiders and a reluctant Tang Soyeong, who begged to look a little longer, when I heard it.
Thump.
Thump.
The sound of something rapidly approaching, heading into the cave.
The sound of those footsteps was familiar.
It was the Utahraptor from before.
The sound of my elixir thief returning.
Perfect timing. You're caught now.
Thump!
【Utahraptor LV27】
【Status】
「Terrified」「Exhausted」
The Utahraptor charged toward me at full speed.
Alright. This time, I'll face you head-on.
...But its status was strange.
Could it be?
Thump!
Thump!
Once again, the Utahraptor ran right past me, fleeing deeper into the cave.
What's with that thing?
“My apologies. It seems to have fled in fear of my Sky-Filling Flower Rain.”
I easily ignored Tang Soyeong's nonsense and thought hard.
First of all, that Utahraptor was an incredible coward.
It had clearly been terrified of me and had run away.
And yet, it had returned.
Even though I was still here.
Even after seeing my face, it had blindly fled deeper inside.
What could be the reason for that?
The answer was simple.
It had encountered something it feared even more than me.
Thump!
And that something had chased the Utahraptor all the way here.
KUUUNG!
“Th-that's...!”
Tang Soyeong screamed.
“I-It's a Spirit Beast!”
The creature revealed itself.
Its massive armor reminded me of an armored vehicle.
The brutal-looking club on its tail.
KWAAAAANG!
It stood on all fours, smashing everything in sight with its tail.
“A-Ankylo!”
Right. A vicious beast like that could only be an Ankylosaurus.
【Anodontosaurus LV32】
【Anodontosaurus】
A medium-sized ankylosaurid, reaching 4-5m in length and weighing up to 2 tons.
It is a close relative of the Ankylosaurus, characterized by the osteoderms on its back and the massive, hammer-like bone club on its tail.
Though a herbivore, it is not gentle-natured, and even predators are reluctant to confront it.