Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Who Catches the Most (6)
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About an hour had passed since they left the swamp and headed straight in yet another direction.
A fairly wide plain stretched out before them.
Of course, it wasn't the sort of place where the horizon extended endlessly in straight lines. Mountains loomed in the distance, and hills dotted the landscape here and there in a pretty haphazard fashion.
Still, just having an unobstructed view was enough to put his mind a little more at ease—especially coming straight out of the forest.
"Phew, what a forest that was."
Galen shook his head.
Back on Earth, forests were for forest bathing or whatever. Here, they were just playgrounds for fiends.
And it wasn't even just the fiends making things inconvenient. There were plenty of other nuisances.
Vines that tangled up and grabbed at your ankles of their own accord, trees growing weirdly to block the path, all sorts of bugs...
Galen's solution had been Earth Bind.
Using the earth fairies' magic as a human turned it into a half-baked version: his defense went up, but he couldn't handle the weight and ended up rooted in place.
Used lightly, though, he could still move. His body just felt a bit heavier. For warding off scratches, the boosted defense was plenty even at low power.
That made things safer, which was great.
But walking the same distance still tired him out more. It was like trudging along with sandbags strapped on.
"Let's climb that hill and take a break!"
Lilia smiled brightly and naturally took Galen's hand.
It wasn't steep enough to need pulling along, but Galen followed her lead without resistance.
The two soon reached the top of the hill.
Lilia placed her other hand over the one already holding his and began to pray.
Flash!
A holy light shared through their connected hands gently settled over them. The miracle of vitality took root in Galen's body.
The feeling of life returning to his weary flesh was great, of course, but the mental calm it brought was just as good.
It was a special quality of holy power's light. Bright without being blinding, healing just to look at.
As the prayer ended, Galen bowed his head slightly.
"Thank you, as always."
"No problem. It's only natural."
Lilia beamed and let go of his hand.
"Swapping my holy power for Brother's stamina is a huge win for me!"
"Don't say it like that—you make me sound so worthless."
"Oh, that's not what I meant! Brother's stamina has really improved a ton lately. Top-tier among mages, right?"
"Well, after all the grinding you've put me through, it'd be a crime if it hadn't..."
His PT sessions with Lilia had started back in the Dawn Archipelago last winter and were still going strong after more than half a year.
Lilia skipped sparring on days when circumstances didn't allow, but she never missed her solo training. A real hard worker.
Galen had rolled right alongside her every time. By now, it was just routine—no need to mention it.
On Earth, he'd be in shape enough to impress anywhere.
But in this world, the competition was on another level, so he stayed humble.
Even an Olympic medalist would look pathetic next to qi warriors or holy clerics.
"It's a real compliment! Holy power takes more to heal someone the more exhausted they are. At this level, I could keep topping you up without it showing."
"I-is that so?"
"Well, my faith getting deeper helps too."
Honestly, that was probably the bigger factor.
The higher your realm in qi, mana, or holy power, the more total capacity and recovery you got.
Restoring an ordinary person's stamina was child's play for a high bishop like Lilia.
With his stamina fully recovered anyway, they took in the scenery for a mood boost and rested a bit before setting off again.
Following the direction Lilia had scouted from the air, hill to hill.
Even on the flats, minor fiends popped up without fail, so he casually took them out as they passed a few low hills.
"Ah, there they are!"
Lilia's sharp eyes spotted their target fiend.
As they drew closer, Galen could make it out too.
Low saturation overall, you could say. A dozen or so horse-like beasts with dull black bodies and faded white manes lumbered along.
Of course, no one would mistake them for real horses even from afar.
No horse had two massive, sheep-like horns curving backward from its head.
Baicon.
Just as Galen could pick them out visually, their eyes locked onto him and Lilia.
A fiend's instinct upon spotting a pair of ordinary-looking humans was predictable.
Thud thud thud thud!
The horned monster horses charged straight at them.
Even uphill on a low hill, their speed barely dropped.
But the two were far too strong to be threatened by that—a misfortune for the baicon.
"Want me to clear them out?"
"Yes! Leave the one in front, please!"
Galen thrust out his left hand. Water from the released spirit fanned out like a spread of peacock feathers with every burst.
Innumerable spear-shaped water masses materialized.
Before the baicon could slow down upon realizing something was wrong...
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
A hundred or so spears launched through the air in unison.
Splat splat splat splat splat splat splat!
Every one except the leader up front got swept away.
Ten per baicon meant none could take that and stay intact.
The sole survivor panicked. In the blink of an eye, survival instinct overrode its hatred for humans.
It desperately braked and barely stopped, then whipped its body around.
Clatter!
But Lilia was already charging by then. She hadn't even taken off her bag this time.
Cleaving through the wind, she easily overtook the slowing baicon.
Before it even registered her, she was at its side, grabbing its mane and lightly leaping aboard.
"Hiiing?!"
The baicon, never before saddled with a human, bucked wildly in protest. Front legs up, hind legs up, the works.
But Lilia was unfazed. Compared to a wyvern spinning in midair and lashing its tail, this shaking didn't even qualify.
No saddle, no reins—she clamped its body tight with just her thighs, like a cavalryman from the pre-stirrup era.
Smack!
Lilia cracked a sharp slap on the baicon's back.
It threw an even bigger fit from the pain.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Violence is an excellent conversation tool.
The relentless back-smashing, harsher than any whip, finally broke it. The baicon tucked its tail.
That's why baicon weren't on the scoring chart.
Bigger and stronger than horses, with steel-hard hooves—pure destructive power might scrape Silver if you were generous.
But compared to trolls that regenerated normal sword wounds instantly or wyverns that swords couldn't even pierce, baicon hide was too soft.
Bronze could take them down with spears or arrows if they tanked some damage.
Weak durability meant they got subdued way easier than wyverns.
Gripping the baicon's horns like motorcycle handlebars, Lilia turned to Galen and shouted,
"I'll head out on recon like this!"
"Sure. Don't go too far."
"Got it! Back for lunch!"
Lilia kicked the baicon's flank. No spurs needed. It let out a pained groan and bolted forward.
Not even a full Silver, but a fiend was a fiend. Raw specs outclassed even the finest warhorses.
Aerial recon covered wide areas quickly but skimped on details, so this was ground recon to supplement.
Earth fairies could probably mimic a baicon, but no big deal. They couldn't use it as efficiently.
Galen even laid out a spot and waited leisurely.
How much time passed?
As he relaxed undisturbed, a cluster of black dots entered his idle vision.
Focus sharpened his gaze. The silhouettes looked familiar.
"Ah."
More baicon.
Was this whole plain their habitat? Quite a few of them.
He watched without much thought.
Then he noticed they were heading his way.
"Huh?"
Charging like they'd spotted a mortal enemy—what was that about? A dumb thought crossed his mind for a second.
Not with a dozen mangled baicon corpses lying nearby, unburied.
Galen gave a wry smile and stood up.
More than before. Thirty or forty? Looked like the whole herd mobilized.
But as they closed in, the perspective felt off.
Galen realized why belatedly: the leader up front.
For a split second, he thought it was a mare and foal running together.
'Alpha specimen?'
Elite monster territory, in game terms.
No one knew exactly how they spawned, but these rare variants popped up sometimes.
Bigger and stronger than normal kin, they almost always led, hence the name.
'Regular baicon are zero points, but not the alpha.'
VIP guest called for special treatment.
The spirit uncoiled from his wrist and rolled forward as mana from Territorial Advance surged along the ground ahead.
About thirty steps in front of Galen.
Suddenly, the earth erupted in front of the blindly charging pack.
Shhh shhh shhh!
Huddled earth dolls popped up one after another.
Too late to swerve aside.
The baicon opted to leap over the dolls.
Fine for stationary obstacles—they had the momentum to clear easily.
But the earth dolls moved.
Splat splat thwack thwack splat!
The dolls swung their arms upward with full force, smashing into legs and bellies.
"Puhiiing!"
"Hiiing!"
The front dozen crumpled, bones shattered or guts burst.
The next wave tripped over the fallen or collided with dolls.
Only a handful escaped the disaster.
Ignorant of the rear or unable to stop, the alpha kept charging. Galen was right there.
But.
Swoooosh!
The spirit ballooned into a massive obstacle.
Too sudden—the alpha couldn't brake and slammed right in.
Boom!
The spirit burst like a water balloon from the body slam, killing its momentum too.
The scattering water reversed time, reconverging.
Gurgle gurgle gurgle!
A water prison encased the alpha.
It flailed in shock to no avail. Currents swirled inside, disrupting movement, and expanding the prison upstream foiled any swim attempts.
Splat! Splat splat!
Spare water mopped up the few unscathed stragglers.
The alpha's struggles slowed, then stopped.
Galen retracted the water prison.
'Clean kill should make judging easy, right?'
Heads alone might confuse, but intact body showed size difference clearly.
Stronger variants were bigger, so this should score some points.
But calling examiners again? Hope they weren't annoyed at the frequent summons.
Couldn't toss away hard-earned points, though.
Galen pulled a flag from his bag. Hilltop in open plain—should be visible enough.
Mercy-killing the moaning wounded baicon, he waited for the examiners.
About thirty minutes later, earth fairies crested the hill they'd passed earlier. They'd spotted his flag.
Almost simultaneously, from the opposite side.
The direction Galen hadn't gone yet—where Lilia was on recon.
A baicon carrying Lilia raced back at full speed.
With something chasing it.
"...What the hell is that?"
The pursuer of one person and one beast: a massive wolf.
Big enough to swallow a man whole. Legs like tree trunks.
Sensing trouble, Galen dodged the corpses and hurried down the hill.
But up close, the scene was...
The baicon was foaming at the mouth in real terror, while Lilia atop it looked like she was on an amusement ride.
Thud!
She yanked the baicon's horns to veer away from the wolf's pouncing shadow. Dodged by a hair, over and over.
The chase ended right near Galen.
At some point, Lilia stood on the baicon's back like a gymnast and leaped forward.
"I'm back!"
Lilia landed lightly in front of Galen.
Without her guidance, the baicon went straight into the wolf's gaping maw and got chomped.
"Huh? Did the baicon corpses multiply?"
"They came again while you were gone. More importantly, what's that?"
"Direwolf!"
"I know that much."
"It ambushed me at the end of recon. Thought about soloing it, but figured we'd take it together, so I brought it back!"
"Aw, you didn't have to go that far."
Lilia's sweet assist for his XP touched him. Galen grinned.
Besides...
It hadn't even been half a day into the first day of the tournament, and already basilisk, direwolf, plus an alpha baicon to boot.
Even setting aside their fast progress from aerial and now ground recon—stuff other teams could only dream of.
Was this hunting ground a total goldmine too?