Level Eater
Chapter 166

Having safely resolved the giant moray eel incident, Tatsuro and the others noticed the sky clouding over again, so they decided to retreat into the stone structure and wait it out for the time being.

As it would be boring to just wait around, Tatsuro thought it was a good opportunity to bring up the topic of Ai's skill levels and titles.

"Your combat skill finally reached 10, right?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah. It wasn't increasing for a while, so I thought maybe it was impossible even with [Valkyrie], but it looks like that's not the case. I'm relieved." (Ai)

"Is the title from the familiar [master] series like mine? Are the effects the same?" (Tatsuro)

"I haven't looked yet, but they're probably the same." (Ai)

As she said this, Ai opened up the system and began to investigate the title: One Who Has Mastered the Body.

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Title Name: Master of the Body

Effects: +100 to Ki, Strength, Durability, and Agility stats.

Increased ability to manipulate Ki in martial arts.

Unlocks Ki Beast techniques.

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"It's mostly the same as yours, Tatsuro, but there's one thing at the end that's curious." (Ai)

"Sounds like you can do something amazing, but what's a Ki Beast?" (Tatsuro)

"I don't know, so let's ask Help for now." (Ai)

What they discovered was that Ki Beasts refer to the beasts that dwell within martial arts skills. Apparently, each martial art has one: dragons for hand-to-hand combat, lions for swordsmanship, tigers for spear techniques, birds for archery, turtles for shield techniques, snakes for whip techniques, and so on. Some of these creatures might be stretching the definition of "beast," but it seems each has one.

As Ai was explaining this, Leah recalled a related story.

"I may have heard of this before. I believe there's a myth about the beast messengers who serve the God of War." (Leah)

"Messengers who serve the God of War?" (Ai)

"Yes. They were assistants to the God of war, who presides over all martial arts. I think there were also monkeys, boars, and oxen among them. So those Ki Beasts must have been the model for that myth." (Leah)

Leah, remembering the mythological motif she had heard long ago, became intrigued and started to look up information about other Ki Beasts in the Help section.

"Can you use these Ki Beast techniques right away?" (Tatsuro)

"Well... I feel like my Ki flows better when using martial arts, but just being told I can use Ki Beast techniques doesn't really help..." (Ai)

It seems that while the conditions have been unlocked, one needs to delve deeper on their own from there.

As they were having this conversation, the thunder stopped, and when they checked outside, the sun was doing its best to illuminate the ground.

"Well, we'll work on that as we go along. Now, our next task is to find some kind of fruit or nut and fish, right? I was thinking we could start by going back to the other shore and looking for the fruit. What do you think?" (Tatsuro)

"We don't know where the fish might be, and we might find some while looking for fruit. So I think that's a good idea too." (Ai)

"Yeah, there might even be a pond with fish on the other side." (Tatsuro)

Since no one objected to Tatsuro's suggestion, they decided to shift their search area to the forested zone on the opposite shore, putting the fish search on hold for now.

Then, riding on the back of Jeanne in her [True Form], the group quickly landed on the reddish-brown ground where they had first been.

After reviewing the sketch of the fruit that Leah had drawn for them and making sure everyone had it firmly in mind, they finally set foot into the peripheral forest area.

The moment they entered, they felt a humid, stuffy heat reminiscent of the rainy season.

Despite it being slightly cool by the lake, the temperature and humidity suddenly rose, causing Tatsuro, Ai, and Leah to feel uncomfortable with their sticky skin.

Furthermore, the grass on the ground was shaped like spiral springs, which kept tangling around their feet with every step, adding to their stress levels.

"Ah, damn. Should we just burn this whole area down..." (Tatsuro)

"Go for it, Tatsuro. Burn it all to ashes..." (Ai)

"If we do that, we might end up burning what we're looking for too..." (Leah)

"I know, but I wish we could at least do something about this grass." (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, it's annoyingly tough. Even when Big Sis Jeanne steps on it, it springs right back up. It's such a pain" (Athena)

By the way, Jeanne, even in her [Adult Form], was unaffected by the grass due to her massive size, so it didn't hinder her progress. Nana was floating with her legs in a sitting position, so she didn't get tangled either.

Cardina couldn't fly well because of the tree branches, so she was riding on Jeanne's back at the front.

So only these three were free from the troubles of movement.

As they proceeded through this harsh terrain for about thirty minutes, with Tatsuro mapping to avoid getting lost, Cardina detected a new monster.

"The reaction suggests it's a small monster, but it's fast and flying." (Tatsuro)

"How many?" (Ai)

"Three of them." (Tatsuro)

"Just three small ones? That's a bit underwhelming." (Ai)

"Small doesn't necessarily mean weak, you know." (Tatsuro)

"True, there are strong small ones out there too. Let's be careful with these unfamiliar opponents." (Ai)

While they were discussing this, the three creatures appeared, flying at high speed in formation.

They were about 15 centimeters long, with oval-shaped green bodies that looked like flattened steamed buns. They had four thin, wire-like legs bent in an L-shape, two on each side.

On top of their heads, they had flight organs that closely resembled helicopter propellers, made up of thin wooden branches and long, narrow leaves like bamboo grass.

As soon as these monsters came into a straight line with Tatsuro's group, the one flying in front detached its propeller and threw it like a shuriken towards Leah.

"Huh--" (Ai)

"Thank you, Ai-san." (Leah)

However, it was deflected by a shield created by Ai and stuck into the ground.

The one that lost its propeller was expected to fall, but the second individual right behind it grabbed it with its four legs and flew behind Tatsuro's group.

Just when they thought it might escape, it quickly turned around, and this time the second one, carrying the first, detached its propeller and threw it at Nana, but Ai blocked that one too.

The second one fell while still holding the first, but the third one at the rear grabbed the second one holding the first and flew at high speed to the opposite side again.

During this time, Ai took out a club made of dragon bone from her [Item Box] and took a baseball batter's stance.

"Bring it on!" (Ai)

"Don't play around..." (Tatsuro)

Just as Tatsuro muttered this, the third one detached its propeller.

Ai's eyes widened as she read its trajectory and swung the club, attempting to hit it back like a pitcher.

However, the propeller that hit the club flew diagonally down to the ground.

"So close!" (Ai)

"No, it flew in a completely different direction." (Tatsuro)

The third one had also lost its propeller, so it seemed like it would just fall now. Thinking this, Tatsuro created a mud pit to wait at the landing spot.

However, surprisingly, the propeller of the first one regenerated and grabbed the third one holding the second, flying off to the opposite side again.

"Ah. So those regenerate, huh." (Ai)

"That's why they could keep throwing them so freely." (Tatsuro)

"Well, it might be perfect for club practice-- Here!" (Ai)

As Ai hit back another thrown propeller, this time it passed about ten centimeters to the side of the monster.

|Skill Club Arts Lv.5 acquired.|

"That was really close this time!" (Tatsuro)

"I'll hit it next time for sure!" (Ai)

Ai, gradually getting the hang of it, managed to achieve a perfect return on the second throw after that.

"Bi--"

"Ah, I hit it!" (Ai)

"You're really good at hitting back those not-so-round propellers accurately." (Tatsuro)

"In this world, I could probably hit Major League pitches too!" (Ai)

While they were having such carefree conversations, the monster side had lost one of their members and could no longer buy time for the propeller to regenerate.

So the monsters resorted to their last measure.

"Ah, they're trying to escape!" (Leah)

""We won't let you!""

Tatsuro and Ai said simultaneously, shooting dozens of lasers and several Ki arrows to shoot them down.

And with that, there were no more monsters in the area.

"By the way, it's a bit late to ask, but didn't we need to use [Level Eater] on those?" (Ai)

"Ah, well, they were small and fast, making it hard to hit them with the black sphere. Plus, they seemed unusually weak for this dungeon, so I figured their skills probably weren't anything special." (Tatsuro)

However, this raised the question of why such weak monsters were in this dungeon in the first place. But as no one was particularly interested in pursuing this mystery, they concluded it wasn't worth investigating further.

So as they were about to resume their search for the mysterious fruit, suddenly the celestial bow Ai was holding began to tremble.

"Whoa, that surprised me. Does it have some kind of notification function?" (Ai)

"It's not a smartphone, you know. That's impossible. So, what's really going on with this?" (Tatsuro)

As everyone focused on the suddenly trembling bow, Leah activated her [All-Seeing Eye] to investigate the cause.

"It seems that the bow wants to grow." (Leah)

"The bow wants to grow? You mean this bow?" (Ai)

"Yes. It appears to be in the process of attempting to evolve into a form more suited to its current user, Ai-san. The material used in this bow is called (▼∮ÅΘ￡), and because of (□Π●), it can (§＠＃β*δ▼τψ☆). So, such things are possible, it seems." (Leah)

"I didn't understand the latter half at all, but what should I do now?" (Ai)

Ignoring the parts that only the owner of the [All-Seeing Eye] could understand, Ai looked worriedly at the still trembling bow.

"That's simple. Please pour your Ki energy into it, Ai-san. That should be the final push it needs." (Leah)

"Got it!" (Ai)

As instructed by Leah, Ai began to pour her Ki energy into the bow as it demanded.

The amount was a staggering 90% of her total Ki energy, an amount that no ordinary person could muster no matter how hard they tried. Due to this sudden decrease, Ai felt dizzy and her knees gave out.

Tatsuro reacted immediately, grabbing Ai's waist and letting her lean on him.

"Mm... thanks..." (Ai)

"Don't worry about it. But it seems like it took quite a lot out of you." (Tatsuro)

"Really, this bow should show some restraint!" (Ai)

Tatsuro and Nana together used life magic on Ai to accelerate her Ki energy recovery.

Thanks to her natural recovery ability, her title, and the life magic, Ai's KI energy was soon fully restored.

By that time, the celestial bow, which she hadn't let go of even while feeling dizzy, had successfully evolved into its desired form.