44
Chapter 44
I threw four flaming fists.
Each flame contained one Spicy Punch and three Sweet Punches.
The Spicy Punch didn't trigger.
But the Sweet Punches did.
Not just one, but all three of them.
The three monsters hit by the Sweet Punches instantly collapsed on the spot.
They had fallen into a state of Sleep.
...What is this?
"Woong?!"
"Bear Baby... what just happened? Did you have a Sleep skill or something...?"
Tosuni and Ailee's eyes went wide.
They seemed shocked that three out of the four monsters hit by my flaming fists had fallen asleep.
I was just as bewildered.
I never expected all the Sweet Punches to activate at once.
I figured even with Luck on my side, maybe only one would trigger.
Was this Great Luck at work?
Hmm.
It certainly seemed that way.
The odds of this happening just from normal luck made no sense.
No matter how lucky I am, it's never been this extreme.
Great Luck really does make itself known when it arrives.
They say you can feel it when Great Luck strikes if you're perceptive enough.
Good thing I chanted that slogan in my head.
It's probably nonsense, but I felt like the chant had actually summoned my luck.
I should chant it more often from now on.
Like a kind of superstition.
Luck, luck, luck!
It's not like I've got anything to lose by doing it.
"B-Bear Baby! Over there!"
Ailee's urgent shout suddenly rang out.
In the direction she was pointing.
The one monster that hadn't fallen asleep was preparing to counterattack.
[Iron Rabbit lv.16]
└ Pw.32
└ Rnk.Uncommon
Above the Iron Rabbit's head.
A massive object floated into view.
It was a sharp spike made of iron.
"Gueeek!"
Swoosh-
The iron spike lunged toward me at blinding speed.
"Watch out!"
Ailee immediately threw both her arms forward.
Suddenly, a fountain of blood erupted from the ground.
The blood instantly coagulated, transforming into a sturdy Shield.
Thud-!
A heavy collision echoed through the air.
The iron spike slammed into the Blood Barrier.
A clash of iron against iron.
But it was the iron spike that lost.
Unable to pierce the Blood Barrier, the iron spike fell limply to the ground.
So Ailee had a skill like this, too.
Did she learn it when she became a Servant Vampire?
Regardless, nice cover!
She hadn't let her guard down and was keeping a close eye on the enemy.
I raised my claw in praise.
The Blood Barrier turned back into liquid.
It sloughed off and soaked into the dirt.
As the barrier vanished, my blocked line of sight was cleared.
"Gueeeeek!"
The Iron Rabbit had turned tail and was running away.
It seemed that last attack was just to buy itself time to escape.
You little...!
Where do you think you're going!
Just as I was about to roll after it.
"Woong!"
Tosuni dashed forward a step ahead of me.
Hop, hop, hop, hop!
Tosuni fiercely chased the Iron Rabbit with incredible leaping power.
As she pursued it.
Blood spurted from Tosuni's back.
It was Tosuni's main skill, the Blood Whip, which I had seen a few times before.
I guess she can still use the Blood Whip even though she became a Doll.
It's not like she has blood in her body; she must be converting her internal Mana into blood and spraying it.
Swish.
The Blood Whip split into ten strands.
Catching up to the Iron Rabbit in a flash, Tosuni first swung five strands of the whip.
Those whips instantly bound the Iron Rabbit's body.
"Ughhh!!"
Bound tightly by the Blood Whips.
The Iron Rabbit rolled across the ground.
While it desperately struggled and flailed, the remaining five strands of the Blood Whip pierced its iron body.
Thwack, thwack! Thwaack!
The Blood Whip lashed out mercilessly.
The Iron Rabbit's iron body was being easily pierced through like tofu.
"U-Ughhk."
After being riddled with countless holes all over its body.
The Iron Rabbit's body finally went limp.
Our Tosuni.
You've gotten much stronger thanks to your Evolution.
You couldn't pierce iron before.
Of course, this particular one was weaker than the Iron Rabbit we met last time.
"Woong!"
Tosuni struck a victory pose.
It seemed like a pose she learned by watching me.
"Bear Baby, should I finish off the sleeping ones?"
Ailee asked.
Ailee had already approached the sleeping monsters.
Nod, nod.
Do as you please.
It doesn't really matter who takes care of them anyway.
Swoosh-
Blood flowed down from Ailee's fingertips.
The crimson blood extended outward and hardened solidly.
The part excluding the handle was shaped into a sharply forged edge.
It was a Blood Sword.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Attacks aimed precisely at their heads.
The three sleeping monsters perished instantly from just three strikes.
Ailee's Blood Sword easily pierced through the iron heads of the Iron Rabbits as well.
Gathering the monsters' corpses, Ailee briefly turned her head to ask me a question.
"By the way, Bear Baby, those fist-shaped flames you made earlier had a Sleep ability, right?"
Nod, nod.
That is correct.
"I knew it. Seeing that three out of four fell asleep, the chance of the ability activating must be incredibly high."
No, it's not high at all.
Unfortunately, that is an incorrect answer this time.
The chance of Sleep triggering is only 3 percent.
Ailee was misunderstanding, but I didn't bother to correct her.
Because it's too much of a hassle to explain since I can't speak.
"Woooong!"
Tosuni returned, dragging the Iron Rabbit she had hunted.
Ailee collected all the monster corpses.
She gathered the three of them together and tied them up using coagulated blood as a rope.
"Good job, baby Tosuni. You looked really cool just now."
"Woohoohoong."
Tosuni wore a proud expression.
Her gaze soon turned toward me.
You want me to praise you too, right?
Clap, clap, clap. I clapped sincerely.
"Woohoohoong!"
She was absolutely thrilled.
Praise really does make even Tosuni dance.
"Phew. Thankfully, our first hunt was a success."
Ailee said, lightly lifting the corpses bound by the blood rope.
Come to think of it, this was Ailee's first hunt.
To be exact, it was her first hunt since she started living with me.
"Though I didn't really do anything."
What do you mean you didn't do anything?
You reacted quickly to the ambush, defended us, and even finished off the prey.
Plus, you're carrying the corpses.
Pat, pat.
I patted Ailee's leg.
That was more than enough help, so don't be so hard on yourself.
"Yeah. I'll try harder next time."
It seems she misunderstood again.
I didn't mean for you to push yourself.
Since your Actions are restricted because you're holding the Baby Doll, you just need to keep taking on the escort and transport roles like this!
Pat, pat!
After patting Ailee one more time.
I pointed toward the bushes to signal that we should head back to our shelter, then strode ahead to lead the way.
***
Two Iron Rabbits.
Two sewer rats.
We extracted the Mana Stones from the four corpses.
Ailee handled the dismantling process.
As expected of a former Monster Slayer, she was highly skilled.
The extracted Mana Stones were carefully placed next to the crushed Boxwood.
Including the Mana Stone from the Venomfang Rat we caught before, that made five Mana Stones in total.
I planned to store these rather than consume them right away.
Once the Baby Doll can move, I plan to feed it many Mana Stones at once to spark explosive growth. Of course, if they were Mana Stones from strong monsters rather than this level, we would consume them immediately instead of storing them.
We drained all the blood from the corpses and put it in a jar.
There was still a lot of old blood left in the jar, but mixing them shouldn't be an issue.
Afterward.
I gathered the drained corpses in one place.
Then, I activated the Gourmet skill I had acquired through Synthesis.
The dish wasn't completed instantly this time.
It took a little bit of time.
[Special Large Heterogeneous Meatball]
└ When consuming one, vitality increases for 30 minutes. Here, vitality strictly refers to a male's sexual prowess.
└ The effects of identical dishes do not stack.
└ It is rich in iron.
└ The unique meat aroma and the texture—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside—are exceptional.
The dish created after some time had passed was as described above.
It was a glossy, brown meatball with a crispy surface, about the size of an adult Human's fist.
As for the consumption effects...
They were completely useless to us.
I might as well just consider it a dish with no Buff.
"To think you even have a cooking skill... The more I look at our Bear Baby, the more truly versatile you seem."
"Woohoohoong."
Tosuni.
Why are you puffing up your chest and acting so proud?
I'm the one who made the dish.
After looking away from Tosuni.
I picked up one of the meatballs.
And immediately held it out to Ailee.
You worked hard dismantling everything earlier, so please eat first.
"You want me to eat first? Alright, I'll eat it first and check if it's safe."
No.
You're making me sound like a piece of trash.
Well, you're probably just joking and don't actually mean it like that.
"Mmmm... it's crispy on the outside and super tender on the inside. It's packed with juices, and the flavor is truly excellent!"
You're sounding like Tosun's Mom.
Anyway, that's what you call crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Hehe.
Here, Tosuni.
Let's eat now, too.
I held two meatballs in my hands and offered one to Tosuni.
"Woong!"
With that, Tosuni and I also started scarfing down the meatballs.
It was truly perfectly crispy outside and tender inside.
And the taste was top-notch.
***
While we were peacefully continuing our meal.
Tosuni suddenly said something to me.
"Woong, woooong!"
"Baby Tosuni says she wants you to show her the Dragon?"
Ailee provided the Interpretation.
You want me to stop eating and suddenly show you the Dragon?
Hey! Show some manners at the dinner table!
...I thought about saying that and giving her a flick on the head, but since she's cute Tosuni, I decided to just let it slide.
Our Tosuni.
You were bored just eating.
Sure, if you want it, there's no reason I can't show you.
[Using the [Dragon Mimicry lv.1] skill.]
Gurgle, gurgle- Riiiip!
One of my hands transformed into a Dragon head Doll.
Tosuni clapped her hands in delight as she looked at my hand.
This somehow makes me feel like a Teddy Bear belonging to a circus.
"Wooooong, woong!"
"She wants to see the breath too."
That's a bit....
Because I decided to refrain from using the Chaos Breath.
"Woong, woong!"
"She says to hurry up and show her."
I'm sorry.
The breath is a no-go.
"Woong...?"
"She's saying woong."
When I persistently refused to show the breath, Tosuni's ears drooped down.
Seeing her sullen expression weakens my resolve.
Sigh. I guess I have no choice.
I'll show it to you just a little bit, very briefly.
In a direction where there was nothing.
I extended the hand that had turned into a Dragon.
Chaos Breath!
Fire it very weakly!
[Using [Dragon Mimicry lv.1]-[Chaos Breath].]
[The activation of [Dragon Mimicry lv.1]-[Chaos Breath] has been canceled.]
[The [Dragon Mimicry lv.1]-[Chaos Breath] ability has suffered Annihilation.]
...Huh?
Wait a minute, what?
Why did it suddenly suffer Annihilation!
Is it perhaps because I didn't choose the Chaos Domain?
Or was I able to use the Chaos ability before because I didn't belong to any Domain? And now that I belong to a Domain other than Chaos, I can no longer use the Chaos ability?
While I was panicking and questioning things because one of my strongest abilities had disappeared.
[[Dragon Mimicry lv.1]-[Chaos Breath] is being replaced with another breath.]
Whoosh-!
A breath belatedly fired out from the jaws of the Dragon attached to my hand.
However, it was not the Black Breath.
[[Dragon Mimicry lv.1]-[Luck Breath] unlocking complete.]
[[Dragon Mimicry lv.1]-[Luck Breath] has been activated.]
It was a golden breath.