Chapter 82: Kept Man
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 82: Kept Man
Why do I feel like I’m hearing music?
I felt like I had to start dancing right this instant.
Looking at those dazed eyes gave me a strange feeling.
But the feeling stopped there.
Is this creature really Tusulisu?
The vibe was more or less the same, but something felt off.
Let’s take a closer look.
【Coelophysis LV24】
【Traits】
「Poison Resistance」「Light Bones」「Little Dragon Faith」
【Status】
「Curiosity」「Miniaturization」
*
【Coelophysis】
A dinosaur with a unique skeletal structure, growing up to 3m in length but weighing only 45kg. Its light weight allowed it to achieve high speeds, and its specialized skeletal structure for balance enabled it to make precise turns while running.
*
Coelophysis.
This one was a pretty well-known dinosaur.
Not on the level of a Stegosaurus or Triceratops, but anyone who's dug a little deeper would know the name Coelophysis.
There was even a whole family named after it.
You could say it was quite famous.
But, that aside.
Was this creature really Tusulisu?
My answer was “no.”
It was certainly small.
Incomparably smaller than what was stated in its status window.
I could also see that “Miniaturization” was in effect.
But it was lacking something to be Tusulisu.
Would the Snake Queen have acknowledged a creature of this caliber?
Her Majesty is very particular.
She went easy on me because it was me, but from the things she sometimes says, I could tell she was no pushover.
There was no way she would have acknowledged a level 24 dinosaur.
Besides, there was that trait: Little Dragon Faith.
I could take that to mean it was under someone else’s command.
In other words, the being I was looking for, Tusulisu, was that “Little Dragon.”
This creature was merely its subordinate.
“Gegegek!”
“Kekekek!”
The Coelophysis, which had been bobbing its head, suddenly widened its eyes.
“Kehek!”
It seemed to have just noticed the ornament around my neck.
Right. Honhwi wouldn’t have reacted like that upon seeing this.
It flapped its two arms, making a fuss.
“Kek! Kek!”
It approached me cautiously and began to leave marks on the ground with its claws.
Looking closely, I realized it was drawing a picture.
Yes, a picture.
It wasn’t perfect, but it clearly drew the shape of an arrow.
Had I ever seen a dinosaur with this level of intelligence?
No matter how smart a dinosaur was, this kind of communication didn’t make sense.
It must have been taught by someone.
And the one who taught it was likely the being called “Little Dragon” from its faith.
In other words, Honhwi.
“Kek!”
The Coelophysis tilted its head.
It must have been asking if I understood the meaning of the symbol.
With that level of intelligence, it was at least as smart as Tang Soyeong, and at most, Swish-Swish.
“Gegek.”
I nodded to show I understood.
It must have meant I should follow it.
The Coelophysis’s face brightened.
It pointed to the fallen Terror Birds with its mouth.
It seemed to be asking for them if I wasn’t going to eat them.
It felt a bit awkward to go empty-handed, so maybe I’d make a show of giving them as a gift.
“Gegegek!”
*
I walked to the place it was guiding me to.
With one Terror Bird in my mouth and the other coiled in my tail, my pace was bound to be slow.
After walking for a good while, I came across a peculiar sight.
I saw a very rare creature.
Its identity was none other than a lizard.
Yes, a lizard.
It was the first lizard I’d seen since coming to the 100,000 Great Mountains.
How could lizards be rarer than dinosaurs?
There were no Green Geckos or Green Basilisks, but seeing lizards at all was quite refreshing.
“Gegegek.”
The lizards seemed frightened by my large size at first, but soon they began to gather around me one by one.
Seeing their sparkling eyes, it seemed they were feeling a strange emotion at my overwhelming size. Something like respect, I suppose.
…This is my chance. I might be able to steal some followers.
“Gek!”
I let out a dignified cry.
I was once a lizard, you know.
If you believe in Gaegaek, you too can become like this.
As I thought this, I tore off a piece of meat from the Terror Bird I’d caught earlier and gave it to them.
“Gegegekek!”
“Gegege!”
The lizards scampered around excitedly.
I wanted to actively recruit them, but they were already believers of the Little Dragon Faith.
As the saying goes, “the one who’s tasted it knows best.” I knew that if I unfurled my Dragon Scales here, most of them would switch to my side.
But I didn’t come here to antagonize Honhwi.
I came to learn a technique, so I had to restrain myself.
Of course, if they’d already fallen for Gaegaek, there was nothing I could do about it.
If their faith could be changed by a single piece of meat, they would have ended up believing in something else even if it wasn’t me.
“Kekek…”
The Coelophysis nudged me.
It couldn’t actively stop me because I had the Snake Queen’s token, but its face was filled with anxiety.
We couldn’t talk, but I could tell what it was thinking just by its expression.
It must have been worried that as a middle manager, it would be reprimanded for losing followers.
And there was nothing it could do about me.
“Keeeng…”
Alright, you’re having a tough time.
I’ll restrain myself.
Passing through the area with the lizards, I finally found a cave.
The entrance to the cave was bizarrely small.
If I were even a little bigger, I wouldn’t have been able to stick my face in.
Of course, even now, it wasn’t a place I could easily enter.
One wrong move and the cave might collapse.
So, I decided to wait outside instead of going in.
I played around a bit with the lizards that flocked to me.
There was a time when I was your size, too.
“Gegegek.”
“Gek-gegek!”
The small lizards clumsily tried to imitate my cry.
Finding them cute, I was about to pet them when I remembered that most of these creatures were older than me.
Some of them were probably my parents’ age.
“Gek…”
I was in the middle of sharing meat with them.
The Coelophysis that had gone into the cave came back out.
Next to it was a lizard even smaller than itself.
No, it wasn’t a lizard.
Its size was comparable to a gecko.
But its structure was not that of a lizard.
Its neck was a bit longer, and its limbs were slender.
I could tell it had reduced its body size through Miniaturization.
This was Tusulisu.
The being the Snake Queen called Honhwi.
To be acknowledged by the Snake Queen, it must also be in the category of a Spirit Beast.
【Procompsognathus LV???】
What?
I doubted my eyes.
There was more than one thing that bothered me.
First, its species.
Procompsognathus.
A species also known by the nickname Compy.
*
【Procompsognathus】
A small dinosaur with a maximum length of about 1m and a weight of only 1kg. It uses its small size to move nimbly and hunts small insects and lizards.
*
When I first heard the name Honhwi, this was exactly the creature I had imagined.
The name Honhwi.
And its small size.
I couldn’t help but think of this species, nicknamed Compy.
The result was just as I expected, so that wasn’t surprising.
However, the level next to its name was the problem.
Just like the Snake Queen, its level was not visible.
I could even see the Cockatrice’s level.
This meant it was at least stronger than the Cockatrice.
Look at it, walking slowly with its hands clasped behind its back.
Didn’t it look just like an old master with profound internal energy?
Its face looked similar to the Coelophysis I saw earlier.
Looking at its dazed eyes made me want to dance for some reason.
But in stark contrast to that was this immense power.
Just looking at it made my body tingle.
I wasn’t this shocked even when I witnessed the power of the Snake Queen or the Human-faced Bird.
It wasn’t that their power was less than this Compy’s.
The Snake Queen and the Human-faced Bird were mythical spirit beasts, a Basilisk and a Quetzalcoatl, respectively.
It was perfectly understandable that they possessed great power.
But that little creature was a Procompsognathus.
It had reached such a realm by forcing its level up without a single evolution.
If it were some other large spirit beast that had shrunk itself down with Miniaturization, I would have just accepted it.
But this creature hadn’t touched evolution and instead pushed its innate power to the absolute limit.
It was a natural principle to grow larger as one’s level increased.
To reject even that, it must have trained Miniaturization to the extreme.
It was even smaller than a typical Compy.
The Compy stared blankly at me.
To be precise, at the necklace around my neck.
Thump.
My heart began to beat faster.
To be honest, I had grown a little arrogant.
I thought that even if I encountered a medium-sized carnivorous dinosaur, I could now defeat it without much difficulty.
My size was becoming comparable, and I could use internal energy and martial arts.
I had seen other spirit beasts and even defeated a Cockatrice, so I figured an ordinary dinosaur would be no match for me.
That’s what I thought.
But I was mistaken.
Just as I could use internal energy and martial arts, other dinosaurs could use them too.
The pseudo-Ankylo had used powerful external arts, and the Dilophosaurus had even used a secret technique from the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Even though I had experienced it firsthand, I think I had been too complacent.
Look at this Compy’s profound internal energy.
A dinosaur’s weight class was largely meaningless.
A Deinonychus that I had easily preyed upon could consume all sorts of elixirs, reach a higher realm, and defeat me.
“Gegegek!”
I had to cast aside my arrogance.
Look at that Compy’s dazed face.
If it had intentionally hidden its internal energy, would I have even been suspicious?
If I had underestimated an opponent in a real battle based on their size, I would have ended up as a giant lizard skewer.
The Compy walked slowly toward me.
Its steps had the distinct feel of an old master.
After confirming my necklace, it gave a slight nod.
It must have been a sign that it would teach me.
The profound principles of Miniaturization that the Compy knew.
But I wasn’t satisfied with just that.
It possessed such profound internal energy in that tiny body.
What could that mean?
It was the same as knowing a tremendous number of martial arts.
Not martial arts suited for a human body, but for a lizard’s.
Moreover, the name of the faith that served it was the Little Dragon Faith.
Little Dragon.
Wasn’t that a term I’d seen somewhere before?
The first martial art I ever learned, the Little Dragon’s Sky-Ascending Steps.
“Gegehek…”
I let out a wicked laugh.
You ready, Reverse Scale?
It’s time for the righteous faith thief to step aside for a moment.
It’s not like they’ll wear out. Let’s just help ourselves to some martial arts.
The Compy made a slightly flustered expression.
It seemed to have grasped my intentions to some extent.
But what can you do about it?
The Compy had a debt to repay to the Snake Queen.
And who was I?
Was I not the Snake Queen’s companion?
“Gegegek!”
I shook the necklace the Snake Queen had given me.
“My wife tells me you have a debt to repay?”
[The Snake Queen says that being a kept man might not be so bad.]
Fine. What’s the big deal? I’ll be a kept man.
Now hurry up and bring out all those hidden martial arts.