The Unwanted Undead Adventurer: Volume 4 Read online

  I continued pondering upon the matter as my hands moved, dissecting carcass after carcass. Before I knew it, I was already done. The magic crystals had been harvested, and the neat cuts of Orcish meat for self-consumption and sale were clearly marked, wrapped, and placed into my magical pouch. If I overloaded my pouch now, I’d have no space for the Jyulapus Ent materials later on, let alone other materials I might find on the way... So I finished gathering up the last of what materials I did need.

  “We should get going, Edel,” I said, setting out into the labyrinth once more.

  Next was the third floor. Remaining cautious as we continued on was the one singular thought in my mind as I walked forward.

  ◆◇◆◇◆

  “...Perhaps even more troublesome than the second floor’s veil of night...” I said upon entering the third floor.

  Stretching out before my eyes was what appeared to be an infinite ocean of trees. Looking up, we could tell there was a source of light from above, with small bits of light that had managed to leak through the greenery. It was by no means bright, as the path that Edel and I were advancing on had as much illumination as a small torch could provide. Not to mention our surroundings were pitch-black. The trees around us, which had grown so tall, effectively ended up blocking out most of the light from above. Even so, this was hardly a problem for Edel and I since we both had eyes better suited to seeing in the dark.

  The problem was something else entirely: the branches of these huge trees grew and spread in all sorts of directions, obscuring our view. Regardless of whether we could see well at night, having an actual, material obstruction blocking our line of sight was something else altogether. While our eyes also had the ability to identify a living creature by its body temperature, that ability also seemed highly unsuited for this, so there simply didn’t seem to be a use for it.

  “Kii kii!!”

  A voice rang out behind us. Reflexively, I drew my blade. Something descended onto the forest floor right where we’d been standing moments ago.

  It was...what appeared to be a monkey.

  It was a slim monster, not particularly large, commonly known as the Kesem Kofu. Many lived on this particular floor. Their population was numerous, much like the Slimes and Goblins on the first floor.

  But one couldn’t really consider these monsters as weak. This was the third floor, so monsters here were adequately cunning. One could no longer come out on top simply by rushing headfirst into an encounter, sword drawn.

  “...Hunh!”

  Upon drawing my sword and turning to face the Kesem Kofu before me, I felt a presence behind me, and I immediately lowered my head. A slight movement of air alerted me to the fact that something had just passed over my head. Turning around, I saw another one of the beasts hanging upside-down from a vine, claws at the ready. It had been attempting to swing at my head just moments before. Having failed once, the monster appeared to understand that a second attack would lose the element of surprise. The Kesem Kofu nimbly climbed up the vine it had descended upon, and it was soon lost in the canopy.

  Focusing, I soon noticed the presence of many beings around us. It seemed like the Kesem Kofu didn’t attack alone—that much we understood very clearly.

  “Watch yourself, Edel,” I said, only to receive a similar mental note from my familiar.

  Considering that Edel was a mouse, and probably didn’t seem like anything other than a snack for the monkeys of this floor, I considered his answer sufficiently reassuring.

  ◆◇◆◇◆

  All things considered...there really were quite many of them. If there were just two, or perhaps three of the things, we could have easily slain them without too much effort. From what I could sense however, there were at least 40 of the beasts currently surrounding our position. With the sheer amount of Kesem Kofu present, another attack was to be expected. This was compounded by how they jumped and swung from branch to branch. I found the situation quite difficult.

  This was by no means the first time I’d fought in a forest. I had set off on gathering trips to nearby forests, and had taken on Goblins and Slimes in the past. In the worst-case scenario, perhaps an Orc would appear. But this? Monsters that moved freely through the branches, utilizing the terrain to launch surprise attacks? I had no experience dealing with such foes. I did do my research prior to arriving at the third floor. I’d gathered information on Kesem Kofu beforehand, but seeing the monster in person was another thing altogether. Nothing in the descriptive passages I read could compare to what I was currently seeing.

  For starters...it was difficult to get a grasp of one’s surroundings. No matter how hard I looked, all I could see were shadows and branches. The monsters moved quickly, and I just as quickly lost sight of them.

  Strictly speaking, the correct way to go about this was to infuse oneself with mana or spirit, then conduct a search of the surrounding area. However, I was still a beginner when it came to learning how to channel mana properly, and I didn’t know many spirit techniques, barring simple bodily enhancements. Something like sensing the surroundings or sharpening one’s senses was currently not doable. I lacked the technique, and perhaps even the innate talent for such things. My divinity, too, didn’t seem to do very much for me in this case. I supposed there was nothing more I could do, other than rely on instinct.

  Dodging the attack of yet another Kesem Kofu by the breadth of a hair, I swung my sword, but I could hardly get any attacks in; their movements were simply too irregular. The way they descended from those vines was most irritating.

  Should I just set this entire forest ablaze?

  Hmm... Perhaps not. If I started a fire here, I would no doubt cremate myself in the process. I really didn’t want to become a skeleton again...

  Honestly, it seemed like the only way to handle this was to slice at the vines in question—reduce their length, so to speak. A grueling task to perform, especially when I could be attacked from any angle at any moment...but I suppose there was no other way around it. At the very least, I wanted to disrupt their coordinated assaults, but that was probably a little too much for me at this point in time. Even if I did somehow climb up a tree, there was no way I could catch up with them.

  I continued to worry about the issue, when suddenly...

  “Chu!!!”

  With a familiar squeak, Edel infused a pair of his limbs with mana before bolting up a nearby tree at an astounding speed, his claws digging into the bark. To think he was capable of something like that... I was genuinely surprised, if only because it was a feat I couldn’t duplicate. Even if I were to try channeling mana into my feet, walking up a tree in that manner would be remarkably difficult. If I had to guess, Edel probably strengthened his claws, giving him more friction to achieve such speeds. If I were to try anything similar, a slender tree would most likely snap after I had taken a few steps. Edel was able to do what he did because of his small size.

  Unable to do much else, I continued dodging the attacks of the Kesem Kofu swarm on the ground, all the while slicing off what vines I could see in a most boring manner.

  “...Kii!” “Ki kiii!!!”

  With a few high-pitched wails from above, a Kesem Kofu fell, hitting the ground with a resounding thud. Numerous scratches had been carved into the monster, making it clear that this was Edel’s doing.

  However, those scratches were by no means fatal. Upon hitting the ground, the monster attempted to get up and scurry into the trees once more. I wasn’t so kind as to let this opportunity slip. With a burst of speed, I closed the distance, bringing up my weapon for a two-handed swing.

  I swung with such impunity because one could hardly harvest any useful materials from a Kesem Kofu. Its skin was thin, and its fur was hard and spiky; there was hardly a use for either material. They also tasted quite bad, and couldn’t really be eaten. The only thing that could be recovered from them were magic crystals.

  The magic crystal of a Kesem Kofu was next to its heart. So long as I didn’t direct an
y careless swings at that region, retrieving the crystal was relatively simple. A large wound in any other location hardly posed any issues.

  I followed up on Edel’s advance, finishing off the Kesem Kofu that continued to fall. Finally, Edel made his descent, landing in a small clearing where none of the beasts had fallen. Edel landed with an audible thump, but it appeared he was largely unhurt. He’d balled himself up, most likely using the considerable amount of fat on his body as a sort of cushion to absorb the impact.

  In any case, I was glad that Edel was unhurt.

  I did not, however, bear witness to anything that Edel had done. I decided to ask after Edel, only for him to inform me that he had had quite the battle up in the branches. While I didn’t witness him in action, I could tell from the wounds left on the carcasses that Edel had put in a considerable amount of effort.

  Since I’d largely been solo adventuring for most of my life, I wasn’t used to this division of roles. I suppose Edel was quite useful, depending on the enemy’s characteristics. Needless to say, it was impossible to know what waited for us ahead. I made a mental note to train myself for these situations in the future so that I could have a viable course of action should I be fighting on my own.

  In any case, it was now time to move on to the dissection. As we were only harvesting magic crystals this time around, it didn’t take long for me to finish my task. In the end, there were only about ten or so of them, and they ultimately didn’t pose much of a threat.

  Though, having Kesem Kofu ambush us time and time again would indeed prove tiresome. If anything, I should have Edel remain on alert and scan the surroundings, with us advancing on routes without the annoying monsters as much as possible.

  ◆◇◆◇◆

  I had to search for a Jyulapus Ent and harvest from it the materials required so Alize and I could each craft a wand of our own. As for the magic crystals... In the worst-case scenario, we could use some harvested from the Kesem Kofu.

  Honestly speaking, though, I would have preferred a crystal of higher quality. Crystals harvested from Kesem Kofu were the least impressive on the third floor of the New Moon since they were small, somewhat translucent, and didn’t have much power in them. If I were to gather crystals, something more respectable would be preferred.

  Lorraine did mention, however, that it would be preferable to use a magic crystal that wasn’t from a Jyulapus Ent for our wands. This made sense from an alchemical perspective, as the crystal was commonly mounted on the top of the wand. Having a crystal from another monster would serve to greatly amplify one’s magical output. Should a crystal from the Ent in question be used, the mana within the wand would simply gather at one spot and stagnate, making the focus difficult to use. A well-balanced wand required adjustment and calibration by its crafter. Alize and I would be taught these skills in the process of making them of course, but the difficult part was actually gathering the materials from different monsters. In some cases, a wand crafted from a single type of monster was more efficient, but the basics called for some variation here and there.

  Even so...

  It was easier said than done, especially considering that this was the third floor. All I had to do was do my best. Just one more floor, Rentt...

  With all that said and done...it really was difficult locating a Jyulapus Ent. They were formidable opponents, so it made sense that finding them in the first place would be equally difficult. Especially in a dense forest like this, of all places. Once they’d blended into their surroundings, it’d be all but impossible for an amateur to tell a Jyulapus Ent apart from a regular tree.

  Jyulapus Ents were the result of mana gathering and accumulating into a tree. In essence, they were monsters born from trees, so simply staring at them wouldn’t do one any good, seeing as they were basically the same thing. However, due to the nature of their creation and the mana accumulated in them, a seasoned mage would be able to tell one apart from a tree at a glance, but I wasn’t capable of doing such a thing.

  There were other ways, too; for instance, a magical tool that resembled glasses and made mana slightly visible to the viewer. Said tools were expensive though, and would often only last for one use. To be precise, tools like that were enchanted to only last for a day at most, and I had no intentions of paying for such a frivolous thing.

  In the end, the search was proving difficult, and I found myself wishing that I’d bought such a tool in the first place... A pointless consideration at this point in time, no doubt.

  This was why I turned to my final, most drastic solution. It left much to be desired in the safety department, but I had few choices left. My solution: I set about about swinging my sword into everything, shrubs included. Now what would happen if one of my swings just so happened to hit a Jyulapus Ent? The outcome was quite predictable, really.

  A Jyulapus Ent was originally a tree during some point in its life, but it was still turned into a monster. With the exception of a few notable examples, monsters were usually vicious and violent creatures. Should they be ambushed or struck by an object...

  “...JYUUURRRRRRUUUVVVAAA!!!”

  A rumbling sound, hardly one that a tree should be making, rang out from a relatively small, shrub-like plant that my sword had struck. Under normal circumstances, branches and vines shouldn’t be able to move, but they were now thrashing about, visibly alive. Soon enough, those very same vines swung at me like a whip, while the monster’s branches extended and thrust out at me, as if it were a wooden spear. It was evident to see that the tree in question was dead-set on attacking me.

  Originally, vines and trees didn’t exactly get along. This seemed somewhat changed, however, probably a result of the tree becoming a monster. Both tree and vine were now taking aim at me, as if attempting to strangle and pierce me to death. I’d strongly prefer to not die by either of those methods...

  A desire from the bottom of my heart, indeed. I continued chopping down the vines that struck out at me, all the while avoiding the sharp branches shooting in my direction with a few well-placed twists. Fortunately, what seemed to be the core part of the Jyulapus Ent appeared to be a thicker wooden trunk of sorts, so the monster couldn’t move around freely.

  The vines that I had cut down slithered about like snakes before planting themselves into the ground, growing new roots where they could.

  Why won’t you die?

  The vitality of these things is truly impressive, was what I thought to say, but an Undead like myself really shouldn’t be one to talk.

  Would strangling and piercing me in multiple places even kill me? To kill a monster that had vampiric properties, its heart would have to be pierced by a weapon made of silver, or one coated with holy water—or so the folk stories said. In reality, Lesser Vampires were indeed dealt with in that specific way. If memory served, there were also a few cases of such measures successfully slaying Middle Vampires, too.

  I’d heard no tales of vampires beyond that level being slain by such methods, however. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if that was a possibility. I should just be more careful around silver and holy water.

  Come to think of it, I was hardly affected by holy water before, so just silver then. But even then...I’d handled silver during some of Lorraine’s experiments and didn’t feel ill from doing so. I seemed to be very, very different from normal vampires, judging by all our differences. Did this mean I would die if strangled or pierced, then? I had absolutely no idea...

  Disregarding my rambling thoughts on my own physique, I felt a bit relieved. I’d sliced off some of the monster’s vines and branches, giving me some breathing room. The roots sprouting from the fallen vines seemed to grow at a slow pace, but its growth was still clearly visible. At the very least, it was growing much faster than a normal plant would. Would they grow into new Jyulapus Ents if I left them alone...?

  More important was the monster before me. As its appearance would suggest, a Jyulapus Ent was a tree that had become a monster—a moving monster tree, so to speak
. A most vicious, hateful face had surfaced upon a particularly thick trunk, marking the core of the monster, perhaps. It was most disgusting and hardly a pleasant thing to look at. Vines were wrapped along its branches and trunk, and its eyes and mouth were illuminated by a dim light that flickered as it moved. It was a mystery as to when these appeared, whether it was when it was still a tree, or after it had become a Jyulapus Ent.

  According to the tomes I’d read, some specimens of this monster type came with vines, and some others didn’t. If I had to guess, this tree was probably entwined with vines long before it evolved into a monster. The Jyulapus Ent before me, which was still thrashing around and attempting to impale me with sharp wooden branches, did have a bit of a white tone to its wood, so it was probably a birch tree at first.

  Regardless, I didn’t have very much knowledge when it came to forestry and trees, so I had no way of ascertaining the suitability of this particular wood in wand-making. According to Lorraine’s answers on the matter, any wood from a Jyulapus Ent would cause the output potential of a wand to increase. That much was visibly evident in how the monster was able to use its own body as weapons, branches, vines, and all.

  I’d swung my sword at it with quite some force, but the tree didn’t snap or break in half. I could infuse my weapon with mana or spirit to cut it down, but the same could be said for most wood materials. In other words, there was little need for me to worry about the wood’s suitability or strength.

  As for how much wood I actually needed... Considering we were making short wands, I couldn’t see us using more than forty centimeters of raw material. I really didn’t need any more than that. But with this being the case, I had a good mind to secure several specimens for this purpose since I couldn’t spend too much time on a single monster.