Level Eater
Chapter 144

T/N: This is the real chapter 144, the previous one was wrong, I mixed up the raws. I apologize for my error

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Starting with Jeanne, then Cardina, and Nana, the three performed a splendid sisterly combination. Before the monster died, the two hurried towards them, and Tatsuro used [Level Eater].

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Level: 7

Skills: [Bite Lv. 2], [Hair Growth Lv. 1], [Hair Restoration Lv. 1]

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(What!? Hair Growth and Hair Restoration...)

Although his father had not yet started to go bald, both his paternal and maternal grandfathers had magnificent bald heads, and Tatsuro was secretly worried about his future. Of course, he had absolute confidence that Ai would love him no matter what, even if he followed in his grandfather's footsteps. However, was it wrong to want his beloved to see him looking young and vibrant forever? No, it wasn't wrong at all.

Analyzing this monster and these skills in more detail might bring hope to boys across Japan who share the same anxiety and adults who had no choice but to pursue this path of baldness reluctantly.

Tatsuro thought about this in an instant.

In front of him, there might be something revolutionary that surpasses even the natural techniques possessed by artists. Tatsuro naturally reached out to the monster. It wasn't just a big furball, but a big furball filled with hope.

Convincing himself of this, he tried to use direct dispelling magic on the monster from his hand, but the connection to [Level Eater] was severed. Fearfully, he analyzed the monster, only to find it had already died from excessive bleeding.

"───furball..." (Tatsuro)

The words that leaked out quietly disappeared into the forest, unheard by anyone. Afterward, everyone looked at the suddenly dejected Tatsuro with concern.

Noticing this, Tatsuro assured them it was nothing, while internally he shed tears but outwardly maintained a brave face. (T/N: Dude maintained composure in front of the adversary of imminent baldness)

"If you're okay, that's good. How much SP did you get from it?" (Ai)

"SP? Oh... SP. Sorry, it died before I could absorb any..." (Tatsuro)

"What!? I thought there was quite a bit of time between using [Level Eater] and its death. Did something happen?" (Ai)

"Nothing... Well, if you put it that way, something did happen. It had an unusual skill. I got distracted by it, and before I knew it, it was gone." (Tatsuro)

"Wow, was the skill that surprising? What kind of skill was it?" (Ai)

"Let's see... If I had to describe it in one word, it would be... hope." (Tatsuro)

"Hope?" (Nana)

"Pewee" (Cardina)

"Neigh" (Jeanne)

Tatsuro looked up at the sky and smiled with a melancholy expression. The other members, still puzzled, tilted their heads in confusion.

Reflecting on the personal feelings that caused him to miss out on the SP, Tatsuro apologized to everyone.

Then, he regained his composure and, under the pretense that the fur might be valuable, put the furball monster's corpse into his [Item Box].

The group resumed their journey and walked towards the waterfall.

Hoping to encounter another furball monster, Tatsuro walked on, but no more appeared, and they finally reached their destination, the Nazeto Waterfall.

"It's my first time seeing a waterfall up close, but it's really impressive." (Tatsuro)

"Yeah. And the sound is amazing too." (Ai)

"It's definitely worth seeing." (Tatsuro)

The waterfall was located in an area that suddenly opened up after following the river upstream. While the area around the basin was pitch dark and nothing could be seen, the surrounding water was filled with beautiful emerald green, making the trip worthwhile just for the scenery alone.

"Well, I'd like to start searching for the monster right away, but let's take a lunch break first." (Tatsuro)

"Let's do that. Oh, there are a lot of fish swimming in this river. Those big ones look like they'd be really satisfying to eat." (Ai)

"From a quick look, it seems like there are about three types of edible fish. What should we do? Should I make a net with earth magic again?" (Tatsuro)

"No. This time, I plan to use this as practice." (Ai)

With that, Ai pulled out the celestial bow. Tatsuro thought she would use the bow to shoot each fish one by one, but it seemed she was going to use the spear instead. However, the spear tip made of Ki energy was thick, and if it pierced the fish, most of the meat would be lost. Ai should know that without being told, so Tatsuro watched her silently. Ai closed her eyes to concentrate, then made the spear shoot out from the bow.

The spear, made of Ki energy, initially transformed into a thick, conical tip as usual. From there, Ai further refined her image, and the thick conical tip gradually became thinner and longer, eventually turning into a slender spear tip like a harpoon. The shape completely replicated the hand of Stab fish, which Ai had named after seeing it while keeping watch in the Amneri Great Forest [appeared in Chapter 21], and it even had a barb to prevent the fish from escaping.

"So, you can change its shape?" (Tatsuro)

"Yes. Although I've only been able to do it recently." (Ai)

"But, you can't make it into shapes other than a spear, right?" (Tatsuro)

"It seems that way. But, I can just about manage this much!" (Ai)

Saying this, Ai changed the image again, this time making the spear into a trident-like shape. Satisfied with Tatsuro's impressed look, Ai switched back to the harpoon version and focused her gaze on the fish.

Ai had become quite adept at controlling the spear, not to the extent of using it like her limbs, but she was now comfortable enough with it for simple maneuvers. In a matter of seconds, she speared all the types of edible fish she had mentioned earlier with her Ki harpoon and placed them into the container Tatsuro had prepared.

Using Dispel magic, Tatsuro quickly analyzed the fish to determine if it was edible. One fish contained harmful components, so it was no good, but the other two types seemed fine. Tatsuro and Ai each took one of the acceptable fish, removed the heads with knives, cut open the bellies, and discarded the guts.

However, a problem arose on Tatsuro's side.

"Ew, it stinks!?" (Tatsuro)

"It's so smelly!" (Ai)

The fish Tatsuro was cleaning began to emit an unbearable odor. The fish that had looked firm just moments ago had now turned to mush, releasing a putrid smell that made it seem inedible. Ai pinched her nose and dashed away, leaving Tatsuro, who teary-eyed, quickly disposed of the fish and its innards by burning them on the ground.

Despite his efforts, the smell lingered on his hands and cutting board. Only after thoroughly washing with soap did the odor finally dissipate.

"I thought my nose was going to break..." (Tatsuro)

"Couldn't you tell it would turn out like that with the Dispel magic?" (Ai)

"There was too much information to sort through, so I only checked if it was edible. I missed it." (Tatsuro)

"I see. Well, since we only have one fish left, I'll catch a few more of the good ones." (Ai)

"Please do. I'll start salting this one." (Tatsuro)

After Ai caught more fish, she and Tatsuro cleaned them, salted them generously, and placed them on the barbecue set. They combined them with freshly harvested vegetables from the [Item Box] and began grilling.

The delicious aroma spread around them, and after ensuring the fish was thoroughly cooked, they both eagerly dug in.

"Yum, this is delicious." (Tatsuro)

"Just having salt makes a huge difference. This is so much better than what we had before." (Ai)

They happily finished off two fish each, along with the grilled vegetables, and concluded their meal with juice made from freshly squeezed fruit.

"Ah, I'm so full. Having plenty of food is such a wonderful thing." (Tatsuro)

"In Japan, having food was taken for granted. It's nice to prepare it ourselves from scratch. Maybe we should go camping regularly when we get back to our world." (Ai)

"Yeah, I've gotten pretty good at handling fish now." (Tatsuro)

After discussing this and settling their full stomachs, they moved on to their original goal. Tatsuro kept watch while calling back Cardina and her sisters who were playing near the waterfall. They headed toward the waterfall basin, where they were told a monster called Piporin was located.

The waterfall basin was about ten meters from the riverbank where Tatsuro and his team stood, and there was no land path to reach it.

"Looks like we have to enter the river to get there. I don't want to get wet. Maybe we can do something with magic." (Tatsuro)

"It's not too cold, but not warm enough for a swim either. If you can manage it, that would be great. But how?" (Ai)

"Parting the water like Moses with water magic sounds fun, but it would use up too much magic for other spells. What to do... Alright, let's build a bridge." (Tatsuro)

"If we build a bridge, we won't need to continuously use magic, which is a good idea." (Ai)

"Yeah. Luckily, we've been stocking up on iron from various towns, so we should have enough." (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro first used dark magic to harden the soil around the riverbank, creating a sturdy foundation. He then made a two-meter-wide horizontal hole. Into this hole, he inserted a long iron pillar, reinforced with dark magic for extra strength, and filled the gaps between the pillar and the ground with earth magic.

Once that was done, he extended a thin, sturdy iron plate from the pillar towards the waterfall basin to serve as the bridge's platform. To prevent the horizontal iron plate from sagging under its own weight, he connected the pillar and the end of the iron plate with thick iron wires, forming a right-angled triangle for support. This created a makeshift bridge with one side resembling a short crossbar.

He double-checked the bridge's strength with Dispel magic, confirming that it could safely hold everyone if Jeanne stayed in her child form. With the bridge secure, there was no need for a backup reinforcement plan.

"This should work." (Tatsuro)

"Magic is so convenient. If we wanted to do the same thing in our world, we definitely couldn't do it on our own." (Ai)

"Exactly." (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro, reflecting on Ai's words, also felt a deep appreciation for the incredible feat they had just accomplished. Then, the group walked across the bridge to a point where they could see the waterfall basin up close. As they got closer to the waterfall's impact point, the noise intensified, making it difficult to hear each other even if they shouted.

As a result, they had to rely on telepathic communication or shout loudly.

{The area under the waterfall is pitch dark. Even my [Far-Sightedness] can't see anything. Could you illuminate it with light magic?} (Ai)

{Sure thing.} (Tatsuro)

Although he doubted there was anything visible to the naked eye, Tatsuro illuminated the inside of the basin with light magic, just to be sure.

{How is it? Do you see anything?} (Tatsuro)

{Nothing at all.} (Ai)

{In that case, let's use a detection spell.} (Tatsuro)

With that, Tatsuro signaled to Cardina, who was flying above, to come closer. Cardina used Dispel magic at full power, while Tatsuro used water magic at full power, combining their spells to create long-reaching underwater detection magic aimed deep into the basin.

Since it was a combination of two level 10 skills, the spell's range extended rapidly, probing deep into the hole.

However...

"Ugh..." (Tatsuro)

"Pewee..." (Cardina)

{What's wrong?} (Ai)

{The hole is too deep to explore completely. Let's head back to the shore and rethink our strategy.} (Tatsuro)

{Wow, it's that deep?} (Ai)

Tatsuro gestured to Nana and Jeanne to return to the shore, and the entire group descended from the bridge. They began contemplating alternative methods to proceed.