I Am Not Goblin Slayer
Chapter 87: Slaying the Mantis Man

The translator skipped chapter 87, and this chapter is taken from MTL.

***

Within the eerie blue flames, viscous yellowish-green blood sprayed from the charred wound, igniting into a pungent green mist the moment it met the flames.

The shattered fissures in its carapace rapidly spread under the high heat, emitting a crisp "crack" like glass being quenched.

Its chitinous carapace, which had seemed incredibly tough, began flaking off in pieces, revealing the rope-like fibrous muscle tissue beneath. Gnawed by the blue flames clinging with spores, it further released the acrid smell of burning protein.

"Can this burn it to death? "

Gazing at the praying mantis monster burning fiercely in the fireball, Gauss, who still hadn't received a kill notification from his panel, could only first drag the trembling Edith, who was nearby, to a safe distance.

After confirming she was unharmed, he casually picked up the hand crossbow beside her and the scattered short arrows from the ground.

Arrow into groove, string drawn, aimed, fired!

Just like that, he shot arrow after arrow toward the praying mantis monster.

The others also approached him, similarly hesitant to go near the praying mantis monster.

Even though it was now burned to a wretched state, especially its compound eyes, which had been shattered into tiny fragments by the Spore Bomb's shockwave, scattered all over the ground.

But due to the psychological shadow it had cast just now, everyone still didn't dare to step forward and deliver the finishing blow.

They were afraid that the praying mantis monster, despite being riddled with injuries from the blast, might still possess the power to kill.

"Careful, it's not dead yet. Don't go over there. " Gauss warned.

This was also one of the panel's functions.

As long as the panel didn't show a kill notification, it meant the enemy hadn't truly died.

This also prevented him from encountering situations where an enemy might feign death, only to launch a final, desperate counterattack.

"Alright. "

Upon hearing Gauss say this, the others became even more reluctant to approach.

Now that they had briefly relaxed, they also began to recall the details of the battle.

With a little reflection, they immediately realized something.

If Gauss hadn't been present for today's battle, it would have been difficult for anyone to survive.

It wasn't self-deprecation, but a clear understanding of the enormous gap between themselves and the praying mantis monster.

This was the terrifying aspect of monsters with a Challenge Rating.

The front-line warrior apprentices couldn't effectively restrain or resist the praying mantis monster head-on, and the back-line archers and spellcasters struggled to be effective. Furthermore, the praying mantis monster possessed high mobility that they couldn't match, allowing it to completely bypass their relatively clumsy front line and ambush the more lightly defended spellcasters and archers.

If the praying mantis monster hadn't initially focused its attention on Gauss,

Bianca might not have been the only one instantly killed.

Remembering Bianca,

the few people present showed a touch of sadness, especially Lawrence, who at this moment dared not look in the direction of Bianca's body.

Afraid of seeing the head that had fallen to the ground.

Edith, too, looked terrified in retrospect.

If Gauss hadn't extended a timely helping hand just now, she would likely have suffered the same fate as Bianca.

"!"

"Crack! "

Gauss was unaware of the mixed emotions swirling within his teammates.

He had merely transformed into a ruthless finishing machine.

The shockwave from the Spore Bomb had shattered the praying mantis monster's sturdy carapace, and the persistently clinging flames continued to widen the cracks. At this point, its internal flesh was exposed.

Thus, every arrow he fired now could pierce into the praying mantis monster's flesh.

Finally.

After one more arrow was loosed from the hand crossbow,

the translucent notification that made Gauss sigh in relief finally appeared before his eyes.

"Slick-Claw Mantis Man killed *1"

"Total Monsters Killed: 179"

"Details: Regular Monsters 178, Elite Monsters 1"

"First time killing an Elite Monster, reward obtained: Perception +1. Reward skill obtained: Enhanced Leap" "Skill [Enhanced Leap]: Upon using this skill, consumes more stamina to temporarily strengthen leg muscles, granting enhanced jumping ability for better terrain traversal and rapid mobility. "

"You have accumulated 1 Slick-Claw Mantis Man kill. "

"Title obtained: [Mantis Hunter]. This title will upgrade as the number of Slick-Claw Mantis Man kills increases. "

"Current Effect: Armor Penetration. In combat against Slick-Claw Mantis Men and related advanced racial creatures, attack-based armor penetration is slightly increased. "

Text flashed continuously before Gauss's eyes, as if there was too much information to process all at once.

At the same time, after one particular notification sound,

his brain was enveloped by a clear, cool energy, which felt exceptionally comfortable.

Then came changes in his five senses: sight, hearing, smell, and so on.

With every blink, the information captured by his vision seemed to increase: colors, pixels, the speed of visual signal reception—changes on every level. His hearing, too, felt as if an invisible veil had suddenly been torn away, and after a 'whoosh',

the world seemed to grow much quieter. . .

Gauss felt the world before him was completely new.

"Is this what the world is like after perception is enhanced? "

He stared blankly, lost in thought, and it took him a while to adjust to the changes brought by this enhancement in perception.

He opened his panel.

Name: Gauss Strength: 6

Agility: 6

Constitution: 6

Intelligence: 7

Perception: 6

Charisma: 6

On the attribute panel, his last weakness had finally been remedied.

He felt it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe himself as a 'hexagonal warrior' on an ultra-low budget.

Gauss, who had a slight obsessive-compulsive tendency, looked at the panel and finally felt a sense of comfort. Aside from his 7 points in Intelligence, everything else was a clean 6.

Next were the changes in skill proficiency.

As he cleared the dungeon's final room, the proficiency of various skills had increased.

Skills:

0-Circle Cantrip: Light lv2 (7/20)

0-Circle Cantrip: Mage Hand lv3 (27/50)

1st-Circle Spell: Magic Missile lv3 (17/50)

1st-Circle Spell: Mage Armor lv3 (48/50)

Basic Swordsmanship lv2 (12/20)

Enhanced Leap lv1 (1/10)

Talents: Rapid Digestion, Magic Resistance.

Light improved by 2 points, Mage Hand by 2 points, Magic Missile by 4 points, Mage Armor by 3 points, and Basic Swordsmanship by 2 points.

As well as the new skill [Enhanced Leap] just acquired from the praying mantis monster.

He now possessed exploration support skills, ranged spell attack skills, defensive skills, melee weapon skills, and movement enhancement skills.

Unbeknownst to him, his abilities were becoming more comprehensive and diverse.

He opened the second page of the monster encyclopedia.

Beyond the initial page for regular monsters, the elite section on the second page had also been unveiled.

There, a tall, mighty, dark brown praying mantis monster appeared on the first page of the elite encyclopedia.

Gauss focused his gaze on it, and surprisingly, a data file card about it popped up.

"Eh? "

He was a bit surprised.

"Isn't this preferential treatment? Regular monsters don't even have this. "

Creature Name: Slick-Claw Mantis Man

Challenge Rating: 1

Creature Type: Humanoid (Insect Subspecies)

Size: Medium (Adult height 1.8-2.2 meters)

Habitat: Deserts, grasslands, savannahs

Social Structure: Solitary or Small Hunting Parties (typically 2-3 individuals)

Lifespan: Approx. 30 years (No sleep required, leading to shortened lifespan)

Racial Talents: Camouflage Carapace, Super-Leap, Four-Arm Combat, Psionic Talent (rarely manifested)

Looking at the information on the praying mantis monster's data card in the encyclopedia,

Gauss gained a deeper understanding of this creature, which he had previously been unfamiliar with.

The one that appeared as the final 'BOSS' in the dungeon this time must have been nearly 2.2 meters tall.

In other words, judging solely by its size, it should be counted among the larger specimens of its kind.

However, as this was Gauss's first encounter with a praying mantis monster, he wasn't yet sure if this particular one was strong or weak compared to the average individuals of its species.

After exiting the Adventurer's Handbook, Gauss began to feel a pang of hunger.

The Magic Missiles he had just cast had consumed a significant amount of magic power, and his body was urging him to eat quickly to replenish the depleted magical energy.

"It's alright now, it should be dead. " Gauss, eating as he spoke, realized his teammates were still on high alert, and he'd forgotten to share this information with them.

"Ah—is it finally dead? " Lawrence plopped onto the ground.

His back was completely drenched in sweat.

The praying mantis monster had exerted immense psychological pressure on him earlier. For a frail spellcaster apprentice, if it got too close, it was virtually indistinguishable from death.

Of course, Gauss's case didn't count.

Gauss was the only one in the team who had withstood the praying mantis monster head-on for several rounds.

And almost all effective damage had been dealt by him.

The difference in strength between Gauss and his teammates wasn't very apparent in low-tier encounters; everyone could relatively easily kill those low-level monsters. But in truly 'high-tier encounters' like this, the gap between Gauss and the other apprentice professionals became very clear.

"Is this the way out? "

Gauss noticed that an upward-sloping passage had appeared on the side. Judging by its incline and direction, it should lead back to the surface. However, there was no rush to leave now.

There were still many things to deal with here.

He walked over to the praying mantis monster.

The eerie blue spore flames clinging to its body had burned for a long time and had significantly weakened.

The praying mantis monster was also charred black by the flames.

"What a pity," Gauss sighed.

If the praying mantis monster's corpse had been intact, he could have harvested many valuable materials from it.

Its tough insect armor, its four blade-sharp forelimbs, its intricate compound eyes, and so on.

Unfortunately, the explosion and the continuous burning flames had caused significant damage to its organs and materials, likely reducing their value considerably.

But then again,

if not for the Spore Bomb's shockwave and flames, it might not have been defeated so easily. If it meant reducing danger, then everything was worth it.

"! Watch out, there's movement! "

As Gauss was lamenting, his teammate Edith's startled cry came from afar.

"Boom, boom, boom! "

He followed his teammate's gaze.

After a rumble, a massive platform pushed up from the flat ground.

"That was scary! Isn't this just the room reward? " Lawrence, startled by her sudden exclamation, sighed in relief when he saw it was just like the previous clearance rewards, only a larger platform.

What was this reward item?

The others, filled with curiosity, also gathered around.

On the meter-square platform, stood a heavy, black metal scepter, about a meter long and completely unadorned, with a dust-covered geo-quartz embedded at its very top.

"Inviolate Scepter. "

Just like before, information about this reward item suddenly appeared in everyone's minds.

"A spine of steel will not break, a wielder's will shall not bend."