[Party cooperatively slew the Giant-Winged Bat. Gained a massive amount of experience points.]
Lv. 4 (27/175) — Lv. 4 (147/175)
A total of 120 experience points earned.
Zelier scratched his head.
Not bad—thirty points more than what the giant slime had yielded.
Still, it wasn't quite enough to level up...
Suddenly, the experience bar ticked upward another small notch.
From Lv. 4 (147/175), it shifted to Lv. 4 (157/175).
A kill notification popped up on his status panel: [Giant-Winged Bat Pup]
Zelier couldn't help but look up.
High in the tree forks, dense smoke still billowed, and faint, shrill shrieks of pups drifted down from the nest.
"Should we head up and clear it out?" Zelier asked.
"Absolutely. A pup fetches fifty silver coins, and leaving them alive would only bring trouble later anyway."
Vallis stowed his longbow. "I'll handle it."
"I'll go with you," Zelier volunteered.
He wasn't about to miss out on the experience.
Gray leaned against the tree trunk, pulled off his boot, and sat down.
His calf had been nicked earlier, and Marcus was already pulling out a medical kit to stop the bleeding.
"You two be careful. Don't go taking down the big one just to get ambushed by the little ones."
"Don't worry," Vallis said with a wave of his hand.
The ancient tree the giant-winged bat had chosen for its roost was remarkably tall, its lowest branch sitting seven or eight meters off the ground. For Vallis, however, that was no obstacle.
Backing up a few paces, he broke into a short sprint and used his momentum to kick hard off the trunk several times.
Vallis vaulted upward, grabbed hold of a hanging vine, and hauled himself up with his arms, swiftly reaching the first branch.
The entire movement was fluid and effortless, carried out with sheer grace.
By comparison, Zelier's ascent was far more modest.
He didn't attempt any of Vallis's flashy freerunning acrobatics, opting instead for good old-fashioned bare-handed climbing.
The trunk was rough, its bark split with plenty of deep grooves that gave Zelier firm handholds to work his way up inch by inch.
He might have been a mage, but years of farm labor had blessed him with a solid physical foundation.
Besides, the original owner of his body had spent plenty of time climbing trees to raid bird nests, and the muscle memory lingered.
Before long, both of them reached the thick bough where the giant-winged bat's nest rested. The branch was wide enough to walk on with ease.
The closer Zelier and Vallis drew to the nest, the fouler the stench became.
A blast of rank air struck them—a foul blend of charred leaves, rotting unchewed meat, and a sharp, acrid stench that made them wince and cover their noses.
The nest was crude, cobbled together from haphazardly crisscrossing branches that barely held its shape.
Parts of the outer rim were still smoldering, releasing choking clouds of smoke.
Just as Vallis was considering circling around the burning section, a Water Ball splashed directly against the nest.
The flames died down instantly.
Vallis turned to Zelier, mildly surprised.
If he remembered correctly... in today's battle alone, Zelier had revealed two new spells, hadn't he?
First, a control spell capable of hindering the giant-winged bat's movements, and now this Water Ball.
The kid's arsenal was getting a bit ridiculous.
After Zelier fired three or four more Water Balls, the fire was thoroughly extinguished.
The two climbed up to the rim of the nest and peered inside.
A thick bed of animal bones and pelts coated the bottom. In the center huddled four giant-winged bat pups, each about the size of a turkey and covered only in sparse black fuzz.
Beside them lay a fifth, already burned to death.
The surviving pups bunched together, hissing and shrieking menacingly at Zelier and Vallis.
"Ugly little things..." Vallis muttered, the corner of his eye twitching.
Without warning, the largest pup spread its wings, leaped over a meter into the air, and lunged straight for Zelier with jaws wide open!
*Swish!*
A cold glint flashed.
Drawing the rapier at his waist, Zelier slashed upward in a clean stroke.
Blood sprayed, and the pup was sheared in two midair. The severed halves landed heavily at his feet.
Following up immediately with a Wind Blade, he cleanly dispatched the remaining three pups.
Lv. 4 (157/175) — Lv. 5 (22/200)
Level up achieved!
Sticking to his previous strategy, Zelier allocated all four attribute points into Intelligence.
Strength: 65
Agility: 61
Constitution: 68
Spirit: 71
Intelligence: 74 — 78
Perception: 30
Charm: 47 — 48
Luck: 41
Talent Skill:
Formula Deduction
Mana circulated through his body with newfound ease, and the intricate, tedious spell structures seemed just a bit clearer than before.
He wondered whether this boost in Intelligence would finally let him break through that threshold.
After finishing off the four pups, Zelier and Vallis extracted their magic cores together and swung down from the tree.
On the ground below, Marcus had already begun harvesting the spoils.
Beyond its magic core, the giant-winged bat's wing membranes were quite valuable.
Thin, supple, and boasting tear resistance comparable to multiple layers of cured cowhide, they made prime material for crafting leather armor and could also serve as potion ingredients.
"We'll split the rewards three-three-two-two," Marcus said. "Three shares each for me and Zelier, and two each for you and Gray. Any objections?"
In the fight against the adult bat, Marcus had taken the lead and drawn its aggro the entire time, serving as the undisputed main tank.
Zelier's contributions had been equally crucial.
Heavy Pressure had created the opening for the party's first coordinated barrage, his Wind Blade had dealt impressive damage, and his Fireball had struck the nest, forcing the bat into a decisive confrontation.
"Fine by me," Vallis agreed with a nod.
Gray raised no objections either, giving Zelier's shoulder a hearty squeeze.
"Not bad at all, Zelier. It hasn't been that long, and you're improving this fast. Before long, I bet the monsters you go after will be way out of our league."
"No way," Zelier said with a modest smile.
***
The setting sun was cradled by the mountains, its lingering rays spilling across the sky and setting the clouds ablaze with crimson.
At the entrance to Creek Village, a crowd led by Village Chief Bart waited anxiously for news.
Their eyes remained glued to the edge of the dense forest, their faces wrought with apprehension.
The adventurer party that had ventured into the woods... how had they fared?
"It's almost dark. Why... why aren't they back yet?"
A woman clutching a child spoke, her voice trembling slightly. "Nothing happened to them, did it?"
"Hush!"
Chief Bart scolded her in a low voice. "Quit that gloomy talk. They're brave warriors from the Adventurers' Association—have some faith in them!"
Even so, the old man's grip on his walking stick tightened involuntarily, his knuckles turning pale.
Inside, he was no less nervous than anyone else.
"Look! What's that?"
A sharp-eyed boy pointed toward the shadows along the forest's edge, letting out a cry of delight.
At the shout, every eye turned to look.
Chapter 33