NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5 - Meteor 5
Chapter 5 – Meteor 5
He hadn’t expected Karen to mention a meteor.
Although Dragon Hunter 3 favored enchantment magic over directly casting spells in combat, healing magic using divine power did exist.
‘But a meteor?’
A being related to a meteor.
A being descended from the heavens.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely a leap in logic.
Dragon Hunter 3 was a fantasy world, and like any proper fantasy world, gods existed.
‘Let’s think from Karen’s perspective.’
She encountered a person wearing unfamiliar clothes during a camping trip.
At first, he couldn’t speak their language, but he learned it incredibly quickly.
He possessed knowledge they didn’t have, and even had healing abilities.
‘And… Karen said she saw a meteor.’
A meteor that fell in the Forest of Ancient Trees.
Wouldn’t it be natural to think he came down with the meteor?
Again, Dragon Hunter 3 was a fantasy world.
‘Plus, Luther is as handsome as an angel.’
“[Master, I have a feeling you’re thinking something embarrassing.]”
Luther cleared his throat at Integra’s uncharacteristically sharp intuition and looked forward again.
Karen and Max.
Having made up his mind, Luther took a deep breath, pointed at the sky, and said,
“Came from the sky. With meteor. Must find meteor.”
Although they had only spent a short time together, Karen and Max, as far as he could tell, were not only kind but also intelligent.
‘Even though they’re extras I never saw in the game… now’s not the time to worry about that.’
The current situation was real, and the people in front of him weren’t NPCs.
“Did you… just say you came from the sky?”
“Then are you really an angel?”
“[Master, the natives of this planet seem to think you are an ‘angel’.]”
Integra’s voice held a hint of bewilderment.
However, since the situation was unfolding as Luther had planned, instead of correcting them, he went with the flow.
“Came from the sky. Must find meteor. Want to know where meteor fell.”
It was a bit of a gamble on Luther’s part.
He believed Karen and Max were good people, but he couldn’t be entirely sure.
‘Of course, if they were really strange people, we wouldn’t be sharing a meal in the first place.’
Luther calmly controlled his breathing, hiding his anxiety, and looked at Karen and Max.
They looked at each other and then nodded.
“Luther, if you came from the sky… are you an angel?”
Karen asked directly with a very serious expression.
How was he supposed to answer that?
“[Master, judging by Karen’s pupil movements and tone, she seems to think you ‘might be’ an angel.]”
“[Based on observations so far, Karen is deduced to be a rational and logical individual.]”
“[Perhaps there are many beings on this planet who have descended from the heavens.]”
Integra’s words were true.
Numerous angels appeared in the background story of Dragon Hunter 3, specifically in the creation myth and other tales of the past.
The ‘Angel of the Sword,’ famous as the master of the Sword Saint Clausewitz, and the ‘Angel of the Shield,’ who descended upon Mount Akun, were prime examples.
‘Angel, angel…’
Karen and Max were looking at him with serious expressions.
After some deliberation, Luther nodded and said,
“Fell with meteor. Impact. Memory not clear. But think so.”
He had to find the meteor—most likely the spaceship he had arrived in.
And the key to finding it lay with Karen and Max.
‘The situation is already suspicious.’
More precisely, it wasn’t a situation he could gloss over by pretending to be an ordinary traveler.
All of humanity in Dragon Hunter 3 spoke the same language.
A man speaking a completely different language, wearing clothes they had never seen before, suddenly appearing in a forest in the west, not near any borders or where the Ain lived, would be even stranger if he claimed to be an ordinary traveler.
‘That’s why I healed Max in the first place.’
Since they were going to be suspicious anyway, it was much more efficient to enhance his mystique and build rapport at the same time.
“[Master, it seems Karen and Max have decided to tentatively accept your words.]”
Luther thought so too.
It wasn’t complete trust, but they seemed to have accepted it to the extent of “it could be possible.”
Karen, who had been calmly gazing into Luther’s purple eyes, pointed at the sky again and said,
“We saw the meteor that fell tonight. That’s why we stayed and camped instead of going back.”
Luther nodded as if he understood.
He remembered the occasional events that occurred in Dragon Hunter 3.
‘If you found a meteor… or rather, a meteorite, you could get a lot of materials like meteoric iron.’
Karen and Max probably decided to stay longer in the Forest of Ancient Trees in hopes of finding the meteorite.
‘It makes sense that Jogresses and Kobolds were roaming around even in the middle of the night because of the meteorite.’
The place where he had been lying was large enough to create a crater, so the tremors and noise must have been considerable.
“The place where the meteorite fell is ■■ distance from here. That’s why we were planning to set off again tomorrow morning.”
Luther nodded again at Karen’s words.
‘Based on what she just said, at least what Karen and Max saw wasn’t me. If I escaped as I hypothesized, I wouldn’t have looked like a meteor in the first place.’
The place where he had been lying wasn’t that far from the campsite.
And since meteors glowed due to frictional heat from atmospheric entry, if he had escaped, he wouldn’t have looked like a meteor.
‘At most, it would have looked like something separating from the meteor.’
However, this made it difficult to explain the crater, but he wasn’t a scientist.
For now, it was enough to grasp the situation to some extent.
But at that very moment,
“[Master, life signs approaching from behind!]”
Luther quickly stood up and looked back.
Karen and Max were startled by his sudden action, but they too quickly jumped to their feet as if sensing something.
And at that moment,
They heard the rustling of bushes, and a monster about the size of a leopard poked its head out.
“Jackal!”
Karen shouted.
Jackal.
It was a familiar monster to Luther.
It was a small dragon often found in the Forest of Ancient Trees.
It looked like a mix of a feline predator and a dinosaur. Thanks to the scales on its body, ordinary sword attacks didn’t work, and since they were pack hunters, they always roamed in groups of three or more.
Luther adjusted his grip on the dagger and quickly asked,
“Integra, how many?”
“[Only one.]”
“[It appears to be injured.]”
Just as Integra said, there were large bite marks on the Jackal’s back and belly.
‘Jogress!’
Perhaps it was bitten by it?
And its pack was eaten by the Jogress?
“[Master! It’s coming!]”
In any case, it was a combat situation.
As the Jackal roared and charged, Luther immediately assumed a fighting stance.
Then, the Jackal’s predicted path was drawn in front of Luther’s eyes.
A straight line.
But it wasn’t aiming for him.
It was aiming for Karen.
So Luther made an instant decision.
He moved a step to the side, opening a path for the Jackal.
It wasn’t to create an opening while the Jackal attacked Karen.
The Jackal’s injury.
The wound inflicted by the Jogress. The large hole in its side.
As the Jackal leaped, Luther’s body moved with machine-like precision.
*Slash!*
“Khyung!”
Two sounds overlapped.
The moment the Jackal cried out, Luther’s knife plunged into its side.
“Kiak!”
The Jackal screamed and crashed to the ground, still in its leaping posture. Luther, who had thrust his right hand in, rolled on the ground with the Jackal and clenched his fist.
“Integra! Electric shock!”
“[Activating!]”
The skill he had discovered while checking the functions of the Nanosuit Lv0!
“Kyaa-!”
The moment electricity crackled from Luther’s fist, the Jackal screamed and thrashed.
But its resistance was futile.
Its insides fried, the creature went limp and stuck out its tongue.
“[A small amount of combat data acquired.]”
“[Master, it is still alive. Finish it.]”
Integra was right.
Swallowing hard, Luther pulled out his right hand and gripped the dagger in reverse.
“[Marking the location of the heart.]”
The location of the heart was marked on the Jackal’s body, which lay on its back with its belly exposed, and Luther’s hand swiftly pierced its heart.
“Kiak.”
The Jackal twitched and shuddered as its heart was pierced, but only for a moment.
“[The alien lifeform has ceased vital signs.]”
“[However, Master, an unknown energy source is detected from its chest.]”
Luther nodded at Integra’s words.
Dragons were ultimately the origin of all dragonkin.
Therefore, they possessed a special organ not found in ordinary monsters.
‘The day has come to do this myself.’
Luther exhaled slowly, cut open the Jackal’s chest, and widened the wound with both hands.
Then he saw a small, glowing yellow stone embedded near the heart.
An organ formed from the degeneration of a dragon heart.
A magic stone, which was always present in the body of a dragonkin.
In the game, these magic stones could be collected to enhance equipment or used as currency.
But as Luther retrieved the magic stone,
“[Master, it seems the unknown energy source can be utilized.]”
“[If you wish to utilize it, please place the energy source on your palm.]”
When the magic stone of Dragon Hunter 3 met the combat homunculus of Star Savior.
Luther’s heart pounded, and he immediately placed the magic stone on his palm.
“[Beginning absorption of the energy source.]”
The magic stone embedded itself in Luther’s palm.
No, it began to burrow into his palm.
“W, what the…?”
Max, already surprised by Luther’s combat, widened his eyes and exclaimed, and Karen gasped at the phenomenon occurring in Luther’s hand.
But the most surprised person was Luther.
Embedding a magic stone into his body.
Could he enhance himself like enhancing a weapon by inserting a magic stone into a socket?
“[A small amount of energy is being produced from the energy source.]”
“[Master’s output can be increased.]”
“[Self-replication of nanites is possible.]”
“[Please select your desired growth direction.]”
Letters of light and symbolized images appeared before Luther’s eyes.
[Energy Gun Lv1]
[Nanosuit Lv1]
[Drone Lv1]
9th generation nanite-equipped, growth-type, multi-purpose humanoid decisive weapon, Luther Lightseeker.
A smile spread across Luther’s face.
–CROW–