Master Of Astral Summoner
Chapter 57: A courier trapped in a cave

Chapter 57: A courier trapped in a cave

With great confidence, Shaan walked closer to the creature, and it didn’t seem to have noticed him yet. Good, it looks like everything is going according to plan, and I should be able to kill this thing just like Nalira did.

’Come on, just a little more....just a little more I’ll definitely-’

"Crrrack!"

’What the—’

Shaan quickly turned his head around when he heard the sound. He saw Robin Hood had accidentally stepped on a plant branch nearby.

[Oh, crap.]

"Robin Hood, what are you—"

Unfortunately, the monstrous creature immediately noticed Shaan’s presence and prepared to let out a strange sound that would surely wake up the giant plants inside this place. Shaan quickly sped up, smashing into the creature’s body with all his might.

"Robin Hood, quickly use your arrows to take out this thing."

[Got it.]

Robin Hood quickly drew his bow and shot several arrows at the creature. But the creature dodged every single one and launched a powerful counterattack.

"Cling! Cling!"

Sparks flew as Shaan’s sword clashed with the creature’s sharp nails. Damn. If this kept going, the noise inside the cave would only grow louder, and it might even wake up the giant plant. He must quickly think of another way to immobilize this creature as soon as possible.

"Robin Hood, I have an idea," said Shaan while blocking every one of the creature’s attacks. He then shoved the monster back, forcing some distance between them. "I’ll try to weaken its defenses. Once it gets weak, use your Phantom snare skill as soon as possible."

[Okay, Shaan. I got it.]

Shaan immediately launched a counterattack, but this time he used a different strategy. He kept striking again and again without pause, pushing the creature into a constant defense. The tactic worked. The creature’s defenses grew weaker and weaker, slowing down its movement.

Seeing the chance, he delivered a crushing blow straight into the creature’s body, breaking through its guard. "Robin Hood, now!"

A golden-yellow arrow shot forward at high speed and struck the creature just before it could block the attack. Within seconds, the creature’s entire body froze solid, locking it in place.

"Good. This is my chance."

Shaan dashed forward at full speed, and in an instant, both of his dual short swords lit up with his mana energy. Without wasting a second, he slashed straight at the creature’s head. The attack landed clean, and the monster dropped dead on the spot.

[You managed to kill Mycoflorar]

[You get dark crystal shard x3]

[Your bond with Robin Hood increases by +3]

’It’s a good thing I was able to defeat this thing. Shaan sighed. ’But, wait... I was just wondering why I haven’t seen any changes in my insameter lately? Whereas almost every battle, surely my insameter level would change," he paused for a moment. "Could this be because..."

He quickly reached into his pouch and pulled out the remaining Red Moon Berry. As soon as he touched it, a notification popped up in front of him, and what he saw left him stunned.

"Whoa, that explains everything." Shaan snapped his fingers. "This berry suppresses the insanity level increase for Daemonists. Huh. That’s... surprisingly useful."

[Hey, Shaan. What are you doing?] Robin Hood frowned slightly, watching Shaan stand there without doing anything.

"Oh, yeah. I’m just reading the information screen that explains about the red moon berry."

[Screen? What screen?]

Shaan froze for a moment. ’Right... Looks like Daemons like Robin Hood can’t see the system notifications that show up in front of me.’

[Hey, Shaan. I don’t understand what you’re saying at all. What screen is-]

"Never mind, instead of discussing that, now we should check the cocoon. We need to help Chelise before it’s too late."

[Okay, I get it.]

They then walked until they finally arrived in front of the cocoon. Now, very clearly, Shaan could see that the surface of the cocoon itself was made of a collection of vine roots (the same as the roots that blocked the entrance to the cave).

"Robin Hood, help me destroy all these roots," said Shaan, starting to break the surface of the cocoon bit by bit using his dual short swords. "Hurry, before that giant plant wakes up."

[Got it. Let’s do this.]

Together, they began to crush the surface of the cocoon until finally Shaan caught a glimpse of a small hole in the cocoon with the figure of a person lying in it. Great, it seems like the two of them managed to find Chelsie’s whereabouts. Without waiting for long, they exerted all their strength until the cocoon was finally destroyed.

[Shaan, this... this is ....]

"This... this isn’t Chelsie." Shaan shook his head, quickly, in disbelief.

"But... how is that even possible?"

The frown on Shaan’s forehead was visible when he saw that it wasn’t Chelsie, but a mysterious man whom he didn’t know at all. The man was wearing a dark brown cloak with a hoodie covering his face. Not only that, he was also wearing a pair of gloves, boots in a matching color of black, and a medium-sized backpack on his back.

[Who is this guy? Is it possible that he is also a Daemonist like you, Shaan?"]

Shaan shrugged his shoulders. "No idea. I’ll try to wake him up and ask him directly."

He lightly slapped the man’s cheeks several times until the stranger finally stirred. A look of confusion appeared on the man’s face when he saw Shaan’s face, which was also looking at the man with a look of confusion.

"W-Who are you?"

"My name’s Shaan. I’m a Daemonist, and I came here looking for my friend," Shaan explained calmly. "Who are you?"

The man simply nodded. "I just came here to deliver something... but then I got stuck."

’Strange, is there something wrong with this man’s brain? He’s not answering my questions at all.’ Shaan took a deep breath and tried to calm down. ’Or maybe, this guy isn’t listening to what I’m saying? Wait... I’ll try asking him one more time.’

"Hey, what’s your name?"

"...You may call me Mister Courier," the cloaked man replied with his head slightly bowed. "I’ve been assigned to deliver a package, and I can’t reveal any personal information about myself due to... certain reasons. I apologize. By saying this much, I may have already broken my agreement."

’Weird. Seriously weird,’ Shaan thought, scratching his head. ’Why does this feel like I’m talking to an NPC from some game I used to play?’ Forget it. No point dwelling on that now. I should—’

A mysterious vibration was immediately felt, and its source came from in front of Shaan. Without waiting for long, he looked forward, and his face soon paled when he realized that the sound was coming from a giant plant that had woken up from its sleep.