Cherreads

Chapter 13 - Chapter 13

Spot nr. 7, are you there? 

Two days after the snake incident, and I've yet to encounter it again. On the other hand, I've found three more Power Spots to place the markers on. I gave up on the spot close by the snake.

Another thing that's changed is that the monsters have popped up again. It must have been that they were keeping a distance from the snake before.

That allowed me to hunt a little, just to stay in shape. Due to that, my level rose to Lv.9, leaving me just one level short of evolving! I'm getting excited here. I also reached Lv.10 with [Strength Increase (Small)] and [Camouflage], so that's more Skill Points to me!

I had enough to check, and yes, I could get [Heretic Resistance] for a single point! I'll wait with getting it when I know what skill I want to use for grinding the resistance and the immunity skills.

But before all that, I need to finish placing these devices. While I won't get the Rogue class just yet, having more Skill Points before evolving won't hurt. 

Just as I was thinking that I rounded the corner to find the Power Spot... with a device already stabbed into it.

What's this supposed to be? Have I been here before? The maps say that this place is new... and after taking a better look at the device, isn't it a little different from the ones I have? Like, they were made by different manufacturers.

Ugh, don't tell me my joke from before came true? Thinking about it, by the current flow of events, there would have been human adventurers in this world. Ugh... this is bad. My Skill Points may be stolen from me! I've worked hard to unlock this Quest, so you no-names have no right to just barge in like that!

Crap, crap, crap! What shall I do?! What happens in a situation like this? The Quest Menu, Quest Menu... 7/10 devices placed? I've only placed six. Ah, it went up to 8/10. Is it the intruders?

Then, does it not need to be me who has to place the devices? What about the rewards? Or, I've placed 60% of these, so I have the highest right to the price. 

If that's the case... why not let the other guys do all the hard work, then I get the points without working anymore? 

Ha-ha! Bad luck, suckers! You work, you lose! Mwa-hahaha!

Still, I better find these guys and make sure they place the last two devices. Are there any footprints or something... there is! They went that way... and from the size and shape of the footprints, we're talking about humans here, or something similar. They're holding themselves to the bottom floors, so I'll climb up and follow them from the bridges and "rooftops" of the tunnels and boulders. 

---

I've should consider getting the Detective class here. 'Cause there they are.

A group of six humans. Or, humanoids? One of them looks like they're a goblin thief... or a hobgoblin thief? He doesn't lose in height to the human swordsman wearing a cowboy hat and leather armor. There's also a warthog in armor, an elf with large spectacles plus a huge backpack, a human girl in priest clothes of a practical fashion, and someone clad in white robes while hiding their face. 

She kinda looks like a desert bandit. Despite her hiding her face, she can't hide that nice bod of hers! Damn... if I had to be reincarnated as a woman, then I would want such a body type. Then I could have some enjoyment on my own if I never could find a partner... I'll just move on...

Tsk. I can't reach them with [Identification] from here. I wanted to see if I could learn something from their skills. I missed that opportunity with the snake, so I wanted to see if I could make up for that mistake here.

The... adventurers? They were messing around with the Power Spot. The elf guy with the backpack kept on instructing the rest of them, while the cowboy hat guy... loudly complained about him being ordered while being the boss? Guess [Language Adaption] has picked up a new lingo for me.

They kept the area lightened up with some magical light ball thingies. Looks useful. Except that they're leading an army of cobras towards themselves! 

Look around, you nincompoops! Argh, they can't see the cobras due to the strong light from the light balls. Haven't they ever been inside a Dungeon before?

Ugh. If I wanna have them do my dirty work, I need to make them notice the incoming cobra army.

Nevertheless, jumping down from up here ain't any clever, so, time to get that "Aura by thread" idea of mine working. Even if my throwing arm isn't the best in the world... and it's quite the distance to the closest cobra and me...

Alright. I know when I'm beaten.

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

Acquired a skill from the Skill Shop.

Acquired skill: [Throwing Lv.1]

It's a good thing I had obtained an extra Skill Point. Now, time for some army disruption! And getting that point back so I can use it on [Heretic Resistance] later.

I added a right-sized rock to the end of my thread, creating a simple sling. I swung the rock above my head and aimed at a cobra. This is quite difficult. Good thing I've practiced when making webs on only two legs. Swinging a sling on three is easy when compared to that... so I keep telling myself.

*Smack!*

Strike! But no time to celebrate. I quickly used [Aura of Darkness] on the thread-sling, and the Aura crept down the thread, and right onto the cobra!

"SHHAAAA?!" - Cobra

That got the adventurers' attention. The guy in the cowboy hat shouted some orders and went to the frontline with the armored orc and the robed woman. The priestess and elf made the rearguard, while the hobgoblin hurried up with planting the device. 

The first to make a move was the priestess. Some kinda white magic circle appeared below the adventurers on the front line. Probably some kinda buff spell, as the adventurers flashed for a small moment. 

Seeing this, the cobras started to attack. But the first three guys were swept away by the orc's halberd. Wait, three cobras in one strike!? That orc's not gonna turn into pork chops by the first. 

The cowboy hat leader didn't slack him either. He drew the sword on his hip, he started to slash at the cobras... even when they were too far away to be... hit!? What was that? Some kinda force came from the sword slash and hit the cobras! Magic? Better said, sword magic!? Too cool!

The robed girl used a sword too, but she was of the more standard type. But man, she's good at it. Did she just stab two cobras at the same time? And how's she moving so fast? Oh, a flying slash!

If I had to compare them, I would say that the cowboy hat is more reliant on his skill and that "sword magic" of his, while the robed girl is more talented with the sword alone. I think that the cowboy hat is only relying on his skills. His movements look... stiff, in some ways.

Robe girl's got more fluid movements. It's like she's dancing instead of butchering big-ass cobras. Kinda feel like I'm watching two characters, one high-powered one but steered by an amateur, and a weaker character played by an expert. You know, the guys that can clear the game only at level one? Not to that extent, but it's a good analogy. I think I'm turning into a fan of the robed girl.

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

Level has increased. Reached Lv.10

The maximum level is reached. Evolution is now possible.

You have earned 1.0 Skill Points

Due to "Champion of Alvatria", an additional 1.0 Skill Points were earned.

Did you just see what I just saw? Lv.10!? And I've done nothing except for that sling attack just now! Well, there is a good 20 cobra corpses down there now, so maybe there was enough? The few cobras I saw before were barely Lv.10, but they are still stronger than me. Maybe they're rank E?

But anyway, YAHOOOO!! Thank you, robe girl! Oh, and the rest.

*KA-BOOOOOMMM!!*

What the what!? Who did that!? The hobgoblin thief? It looks like he was done with the device, so he joined the fight with a stupid-loud bomb? Is he an idiot!?

"Are you a complete idiot!?" - Cowboy hat & Robe girl

That works too. But I've got no more time for this! I looked over the Floor from what I could see up here, and... there's something big moving in the distance.

The snake's coming!!

Where's the exit!? Wait, calm down! That snake's too fast for me to run away from, and there must be quite the distance from the exit, seeing as these guys are on their third device now. And if that snake eats the adventurers, it may hear from the cobras that something nasty with spider threads is out after the cobras.

Isn't there any way to stop that snake? Those adventures look strong, but not enough to take care of the snake on their own. If I could... huh?

That's... that's it! I just need to time this right. Time for some climbing.

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