Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Magical Beast Whelps
[The squad worked together to kill the Giant Winged Bat, gaining a large amount of Experience Points.]
Level 4 (27/175) -> Level 4 (147/175)
A total of 120 Experience Points gained.
Zelir scratched his head.
’Not bad. That’s 30 more Experience Points than a Giant Slime gives.’
’But it’s still not enough to level up...’
Suddenly, his Experience Points jumped up a little more.
From Level 4 (147/175) to Level 4 (157/175).
The kill notification that popped up on his panel read: [Giant Winged Bat Fledgling].
Zelir couldn’t help but look up.
High up on a branch, thick smoke was still billowing. The faint sound of fledglings screaming could be heard from the nest.
"Should we go up and clean it out?" Zelir asked.
"We have to. One fledgling is worth Fifty Silver Coins, and leaving them alive would just be trouble later."
Valles put away his longbow. "I’ll handle it."
"I’ll go with you," Zelir volunteered.
He was afraid he wouldn’t get a share of the experience.
Gray leaned against the tree trunk, took off his boot, and sat down.
His calf had been scratched, and Marcus took out a medical kit to stop the bleeding for Gray.
"You two be careful. Don’t take down the big one just to get ambushed by the small ones."
"Don’t worry," Valles said with a wave.
The ancient tree the Giant Winged Bat had chosen for its nest was extremely tall. The lowest branch was seven or eight meters off the ground, but this was no problem for Valles.
He took a few steps back, broke into a short run, and used his momentum to kick off the trunk a few times.
Valles’s body shot upward. He grabbed a hanging vine, pulled himself up with his arms, and quickly climbed onto the first branch.
The whole process was as smooth as flowing water, full of a sense of weightlessness.
Zelir, by contrast, was far more straightforward.
He didn’t attempt Valles’s kind of high-difficulty parkour moves, instead using the most primitive method: a hand-over-hand climb.
The trunk wasn’t smooth; there were many cracks in the bark, enough for Zelir to get a firm grip and move upward bit by bit.
Although he was a Mage, years of farm work had given Zelir a very solid physical foundation.
Besides, the original owner of this body had climbed his fair share of trees to raid birds’ nests, and the muscle memory was still there.
The two of them successfully climbed to the thick branch where the Giant Winged Bat nest was located. The branch was wide enough for both of them to walk on steadily.
The closer Zelir and Valles got to the nest, the stronger the strange smell from within became.
A gust of wind hit them in the face, carrying a stench mixed with burnt leaves, undigested rotten flesh, and some kind of pungent odor, making them instinctively frown and cover their noses.
The nest was crudely built, with many branches crisscrossing haphazardly, just barely holding itself together.
Moreover, some parts of the outer edge were still burning, emitting choking smoke.
Just as Valles was considering whether to find another way around the burning section, a water ball shot out and hit the nest directly.
The flames immediately diminished quite a bit.
Valles turned to look at Zelir in surprise.
’If I remember correctly... Zelir has shown two new types of magic in this battle today, hasn’t he?’
’A control-type magic that hindered the Giant Winged Bat’s movements, and now this Water Ball Skill.’
’He has way too many spells.’
After Zelir shot three or four more water balls, the flames were finally extinguished completely.
The two climbed onto the nest and stood at the edge, looking down.
The inside was lined with a thick layer of animal bones and fur. In the center of the nest were four Giant Winged Bat fledglings, each the size of a turkey, covered only in sparse black fuzz.
Next to them was another little one that had already been burned to death.
The Giant Winged Bat fledglings huddled together, letting out threatening "SQUEAK SQUEAK" cries at Zelir and Valles.
"They’re so ugly..." Valles’s eye twitched slightly.
Suddenly, the largest of the Giant Winged Bat fledglings spread its wings and lunged. It leaped over a meter high, opening its mouth to bite at Zelir!
SWISH!
A cold light flashed.
Zelir casually drew the foil at his waist and slashed upward.
Blood splattered. The Giant Winged Bat fledgling was split in two while still in mid-air, and the two chunks of flesh fell at Zelir’s feet.
Then, he fired off a Wind Blade Technique, cleanly finishing off the remaining three fledglings.
Level 4 (157/175) -> Level 5 (22/200)
He leveled up!
Zelir stuck to his previous strategy for assigning points, allocating all four attribute points to Intelligence.
Power: 65
Agility: 61
Constitution: 68
Spirit: 71
Intelligence: 74 -> 78
Perception: 30
Charm: 47 -> 48
Lucky: 41
Talent Skills:
Technique Celestial Calculation.
Magic Power flowed even more smoothly within Zelir’s body. Those complex and trivial spell structures seemed to have become a little clearer.
’I wonder if this increase in Intelligence will be enough to break through that threshold?’
After dealing with the four Giant Winged Bat fledglings, Zelir and Valles extracted the Demon Cores from their bodies and climbed down the tree.
Meanwhile, Marcus had begun to collect the spoils.
Besides the Demon Core inside its body, the Giant Winged Bat’s wing membranes were also quite valuable.
They were thin, pliable, and their tear resistance was comparable to several layers of tanned cowhide. They were an excellent material for making leather armor and could also be used in concocting magic potions.
"For the reward this time, let’s split it three-three-two-two. Zelir and I get three parts each, Valles and Gray get two. Any problem with that?" Marcus said.
In the battle against the Giant Winged Bat just now, Marcus had led the charge, drawing the creature’s fire the entire time. He was undoubtedly the main tank.
Zelir’s contribution was also huge.
His Heavy Pressure Technique gave the squad an opportunity for the first round of focused fire, his Wind Blade Technique had respectable damage output, and he was even able to use the Fireball Skill to attack the nest, forcing the Giant Winged Bat into a decisive battle.
"Fine," Valles nodded.
Gray had no objections either. He gave Zelir’s shoulder a firm squeeze.
"Not bad at all, Zelir. It hasn’t been that long, and you’ve progressed so fast. After a little more time, I’m afraid we won’t be able to help you with the demons you’ll be hunting."
"That’s not true," Zelir said with a modest smile.
...
The setting sun was cradled by the mountains, its lingering rays pouring down, burning the clouds a transparent red.
At the entrance to Valley Village, a group of people, led by Village Chief Bart, were anxiously awaiting the outcome.
Their gazes were locked on the entrance to the dense forest, their faces etched with anxiety.
’The Adventurer Squad that entered the forest... What happened to them?’
"It’s almost dark. Why... Why aren’t they back yet?"
A woman holding a child asked, her voice trembling, "Nothing’s happened to them, has it?"
"Don’t say that!"
Village Chief Bart reprimanded her in a low voice. "Don’t say such disheartening things. They are warriors from the Adventurer’s Association. We have to believe in them!"
Despite his words, Village Chief Bart’s hand unconsciously tightened on his cane, his knuckles turning white.
He was no less nervous than anyone else.
"Look! What’s that?"
A sharp-eyed boy pointed at the shadows on the edge of the woods, letting out a cry of pleasant surprise.
Hearing this, the crowd turned to look.
