NOVEL NEXT Ch39 - Mothra Leveling 1
Chapter 39: Mothra Leveling 1
Today’s agenda was to strengthen Mothra. Rena and the others were hurrying to Alice’s mansion to pick him up. They decided to stop by Patricia’s house on the way. She had rushed to the inn worried about them, leaving her vandalized flowerbed and graffitied door unattended. Since she hadn’t returned home last night, it was likely still in the same state. Rena planned to at least tidy up the broken pots.
As they approached the house, Rena noticed two adventurers at the entrance and quickly hid, holding her breath. She was wary of hired thugs, but Lily stealthily checked and informed them that it was Gordalo and Jean. Rena sighed in relief, and Lily and Hamal patted her reassuringly, a lingering habit from last night.
“Good morning.”
“…Oh!? Rena, isn’t it? It’s been a while! Gahahahaha!”
“Good morning, Rena. Hey, familiars, stop with the death stares…? I’m not looking at your master with any ill intentions. Believe me.”
“Glare…”
“Now, now. Sorry… What are you two doing here? …It’s such a shame about Patricia’s flowers…”
Everyone looked saddened, knowing how much Patricia cherished the flowers her mother had grown. Gordalo roughly scratched his bald head and sighed.
“Yeah… I really want to punch the culprit! Damn it!”
“Calm down, Gordalo. How about we curse them so they can never eat plants again? Let them suffer from vitamin deficiency. Anyway, we’re here to clean Patricia’s house, as Lulu asked. We have to clean up the entrance, or the neighbors might freak out.”
“I see! That’s why you’re here.”
It seemed Gordalo and Jean had the same intentions as Rena and the others. Looking at the entrance, the broken pot shards had been gathered in one place, and the trampled flowers were piled up at the edge of the flowerbed. The two men were holding brooms. Rena, who had been filled with anger at the sight of the ruined flowers, was slightly distracted by the men’s comical cleaning efforts and chuckled.
“Do mages fly on brooms?”
She blurted out the question.
“Hmm? Oh, yes, we can. I’m a wind mage. You know the fairy tale about the ‘witch flying on a broom,’ Rena? Are you from the East, like me?”
“If you flew on a broom, your coolness factor would increase by 90%! So cool!”
“Really? Then I’ll do my best!”
Rena, who hadn’t expected to be asked about her birthplace, broke out in a cold sweat. She had dodged the question awkwardly, but Jean, being perceptive, seemed to let it slide. Gordalo didn’t notice anything amiss and continued to laugh heartily.
Jean, floating in the air on his broom, showed off various aerial maneuvers, and Rena and her familiars were genuinely entertained, even applauding him.
“Amazing!” they exclaimed as the mage landed with a flourish.
After the excitement died down, Rena asked about the Adventurers’ Guild.
“We haven’t been to the Adventurers’ Guild in a while. Have any unusual requests been posted? Is everything alright at the guild?”
What she really wanted to know about was the “misbehaving adventurers,” but since she didn’t know how much Lulu had told the two men, she phrased her question vaguely. They couldn’t discuss Alice’s situation in detail on the street where anyone could be eavesdropping. Gordalo and Jean exchanged glances before answering.
“No? No unusual requests have been posted. It’s pretty much the same as usual. Well, I don’t know about any privately accepted requests. As for the guild itself… come to think of it, it’s been a bit quieter lately.”
“Yeah, we haven’t seen those guys who were always drunk and causing a ruckus. It’s quiet without them fighting. Until shortly before you started coming to the Toilet Guild, Rena, there were a few noisy groups hanging around the second-floor dining hall, but we gradually stopped seeing them. They still show up in the bar district and entertainment district, but they seem to be doing unusually well. An adventurer who used to be harassed by them was complaining that something was definitely up. Well, whatever.”
“Oh! Is that so? You have exceptionally good hearing. You hear everything, even whispers! Gahahaha!”
“Don’t call me a gossip! I’m just picking up sounds with wind magic. Information gathering is important, you know.”
“Well, yeah! I’m leaving that to you!”
“You really are leaving everything to me…”
Rena gave the two men a vague smile while quickly processing the information she had just received.
The thugs who had gradually disappeared from the guild… If they were the ones watching Alice’s mansion, everything would make perfect sense. It had to be them.
Since there was no way a request for harassment would be openly posted on the request board, they might have been approached secretly by the sons.
There were cases where requests were made outside the Adventurers’ Guild. The guild acted as an intermediary, a third-party institution that guaranteed trust and payment between clients and adventurers. If both parties agreed, guild-affiliated adventurers could accept contracts outside the guild. In such cases, the quests wouldn’t count towards rank promotion, and there was a risk of forged or nonexistent contracts, but that was entirely the responsibility of both parties. From the client’s perspective, it was often difficult to hire decent adventurers this way. Therefore, most people preferred to make contracts through the Adventurers’ Guild, even if it meant paying a commission.
She had obtained valuable information about the thugs. The fact that they weren’t appearing at the guild suggested they had a separate base of operations. Perhaps Rena’s luck had come through again.
When she thanked them, the men looked slightly puzzled but replied with friendly smiles. The cleaning of Patricia’s house was almost finished, and they offered to finish cleaning the front door.
Since they didn’t have much time to spare, Rena and the others waved goodbye and headed back towards Alice’s mansion.
After picking up Mothra from the mansion, Rena and the others were heading towards a forested area within the Kingdom of Aness. They usually went to the open plains, but a giant butterfly would be too conspicuous crossing the border gate, and even Lily’s illusion might be seen through by the gatekeepers with [Discern]. So, they chose this location instead. They planned to level up within the kingdom, where inspections weren’t as strict.
Currently with Rena were Mothra, Lily, and Hamal. Lily was in charge of reconnaissance, and Hamal was there to support Mothra’s attacks. The slimes remained at the mansion to guard Alice. Even last night, suspicious individuals had attacked the gate and walls… She hoped no one would be foolish enough to act during the day, but they had to be cautious. Patricia had apparently created more weapon flowers overnight, strengthening their defenses. With three guards, they should be able to repel most attackers.
The forested area was said to be inhabited by monsters, beasts, and large insects. To prevent them from entering human settlements, the forest was surrounded by a wall and a barrier. Several such forested areas existed within the Kingdom of Aness. A sacred tree, said to be the dwelling place of the Sylph, the maiden of wind and water, stood in the center of the forest. The forest was preserved to protect the tree. The area around the sacred tree was apparently protected by an even stronger barrier.
At the forest entrance, Rena and the others presented their guild cards to prove their combat abilities and smoothly entered. They were given a mild warning not to disturb the natural environment too much.
After venturing a certain distance into the forest, Lily dispelled the [Illusion] cast on Mothra. Rena stared at it with a distant look.
“…Has it grown even bigger since we were at the mansion?”
“Yes, Rena-sama. I believe I am now approximately two meters in length.”
“Wow… You’re growing remarkably fast. You’re reliable, but you also stand out. We should try to get you into humanoid form soon, shouldn’t we?”
“I’ll do my best!”
Living up to its name “Giant,” Mothra was growing steadily. It was several dozen centimeters larger than when they had met at Alice’s mansion. Rena’s [Rare Class Change] trait seemed to accelerate growth when near her. Now, it was time to test the power of its skills.
Mothra stared at a large tree in front of it. An “X” was marked on the trunk with a knife. Rena planned to check the attack power of [Wind Cutter] first and then have it fight monsters. Lily scouted the surroundings and signaled with a hand gesture that it was okay to start.
“Skill [Wind Cutter]!”
As Mothra chanted the skill name, a small whirlwind appeared in front of it. It gradually transformed into a sharp semicircle, and with a flap of Mothra’s wings, it flew towards the “X”!
—Whoosh!!—
“Oh!”
“…Did I miss? My apologies.”
The gust of wind had slightly missed the “X,” but it still gouged a wound about 5 cm deep and 10 cm long into the tree. Mothra seemed concerned about missing the target, but for a first attempt, the accuracy was good. With practice, it would soon be able to hit its target accurately. The attack power was also satisfactory for a level 1 monster using only 3 magic power.
“…Since it’s called [Wind Cutter], I imagine it can also create sharp wind attacks, like cutting with a sword. The whirlwind just now was a bit thick, wasn’t it? Try making it thinner, horizontally. And try changing the direction of the vortex sideways. Can you do that? Try again.”
“Understood!”
Taking its master’s advice, Mothra activated [Wind Cutter] again. The whirlwind was more condensed this time, and a strange whirring sound could be heard.
Mothra seemed to have a knack for it. The vortex spun faster and faster, resembling a rotating wind saw. If it cut with that much concentrated magic power, it would inflict a serious wound.
“Skill [Wind Cutter]!”
—Slash!!—
A perfect hit! This time, the attack landed almost in the center of the “X.” The wound was deeper and wider, with a smooth cut. This was the true power of the [Wind Cutter] skill.
“Mothra, amazing!”
“Nice!”
The senior familiars cheered for their junior. Their master also looked very pleased.
“Yes, well done…! I’m impressed you succeeded so quickly, Mothra. You’re very good at visualizing. This much power on your first try… And the power increases with consecutive attacks. That’s great…! Do you want to try using the skill consecutively next?”
“Yes! As you wish.”
Mothra seemed a little embarrassed.
“…Mothra, try relaxing your shoulders more…? I think your wing movements were a bit stiff earlier.”
Lily offered some butterfly-specific advice.
“Yes!”
“Your replies are also very serious, Mothra. It feels like I’m talking to an older person. So, let’s practice consecutive skill usage, then take a break. After that, we’ll try [Gust] and [Intimidate]. If we have time, let’s have you fight some monsters.”
“Yes! Leave the healing to me!”
“I’m counting on you, Senior Lily, Senior Hamal.”
“Not bad…!”
Mothra seemed to be quite socially adept. If Hamal was good at acting spoiled, Mothra was good at flattery.
Mothra used [Wind Cutter] consecutively. They discovered that the power increased by 1.5 times on the second use and doubled on the third. They measured the width of the cuts on the tree, using the same amount of magic power each time.
The magic power consumption doubled on the second use and tripled on the third. The cost-effectiveness wasn’t that great. It seemed that consecutive use was triggered if [Wind Cutter] was used again within 10 seconds of the first use.
Occasionally taking naps on the Golden Bed to recover magic power, they continued testing the skills.
To better understand the power of [Gust], they decided to test it on some Armored Pill Bugs. The flapping of the giant butterfly’s wings was tremendous. The curled-up pill bugs were blown away with such force that they rolled out of sight. They hurriedly chased after them and found them overturned after hitting a tree. Hamal stepped on them to hold them in place, and Lily finished them off by [Draining] their bodily fluids through the gaps in their shells. Rena gave these instructions without batting an eye. She had become quite formidable.
Rena obtained Armored Pill Bug Shells x5!
Mothra leveled up! +1
It seemed the newly transformed butterfly could level up even just by assisting in attacks, making it very easy mode.
They had Mothra test the [Intimidate] skill on Hamal, who had the [Insensitive] Gift.
“Oh… This is certainly… scary?”
While Hamal, with his ☆5 Gift, wasn’t fazed by the low-level monster’s [Intimidate], they were able to confirm its effects. He said it felt like he was being stared at by hundreds, if not thousands, of eyes due to the butterfly’s compound eyes. That certainly sounded terrifying… Even those without scopophobia might faint. They would try it on wild monsters after Mothra leveled up a bit more.
After finishing their tests, they ate sandwiches to satisfy their hunger and, since it was still early, decided to start leveling up.
Next! Let’s defeat wild monsters and level up Mothra!