Chapter 169: Light Dragon Meat
The condition of the Black Rock Basilisk was not good either.
I could see its enormous body from a distance, and it was almost difficult to believe that this gigantic creature had once occupied a space equivalent to that of a human house. Now, only about one-third of its original size remained.
Chunks of rock continued to fall from its skull, which had been brutally crushed during the confrontation with Luize. The entire surface of its body was covered with deformations, cracks, and deep marks left by the blows of the Tremor Axe.
At the center of its destroyed skull, hidden behind countless layers of Black Rock, I could vaguely see the oval-shaped summoning core.
My gaze narrowed.
Despite the Basilisk’s deplorable condition, that did not seem to have significantly affected its ability to move, its offensive power, or its defense.
Inside the Basilisk’s gigantic body, enormous quantities of Earth elemental particles continuously circulated.
They carried sand, stones, and mineral fragments through its interior, filling the destroyed areas and gradually rebuilding its structure.
Even the enormous hole in its head began to close before my eyes.
It was simply absurd.
As long as its summoning core remained intact and there was enough elemental energy around it, it could continue fighting.
And in this underground environment, the amount of Earth element available was practically unlimited.
And then, fifteen minutes later...
The last cracks disappeared.
The Black Rock body rose once again.
Its enormous stone tail coiled behind its body, gathering strength.
Then, without any hesitation, the Basilisk charged.
Its gigantic body advanced like a living mountain.
Its partially destroyed mouth opened, revealing two enormous fangs made of jagged rocks.
Luize was still standing, but he could barely maintain his balance.
The distance between the two was less than thirty meters.
For a creature of that size, it meant practically nothing.
In a fraction of a second, the Basilisk was already upon him.
But then...
Buzz~~
A completely different presence appeared before the Basilisk.
My body tensed.
Nople.
He had entered the battlefield.
The man simply appeared before the Basilisk’s enormous head.
But the pressure emanating from that body was completely different.
He merely clenched his right fist.
There was no exaggerated movement.
He simply threw a punch.
BANG!!!
The fist struck the Basilisk’s snout directly.
The next instant, my vision was filled with an explosion of stones.
CRACK!
CRACK!
The gigantic Black Rock Basilisk, which had just fought Luize in a fierce battle, simply shattered.
Its body exploded into countless fragments of rock that flew in all directions.
I remained completely motionless.
"..."
Was that a punch?
At the center of the explosion, Nople remained standing.
Then he slowly withdrew his arm.
His hand opened.
And before the summoning core could fall to the ground, Nople caught it in midair.
Nople raised his hand and carefully examined the object.
What had previously seemed to be nothing more than a crystal-like surface with a brownish coloration was actually covered in countless micro-formations.
Each tiny magical rune was minuscule.
Some were hundreds of times thinner than a strand of hair.
Even so, for someone with sufficiently keen magical perception, it was possible to distinguish their structures.
Nople observed the core for a long time.
He could recognize the runes individually.
He could see the formations.
But when he tried to understand how all those tiny structures connected to transform incorporeal elemental energy into a gigantic Golem...
He couldn’t.
Finally, Nople scratched his head and let out a sigh.
— I really don’t have enough talent to understand these formations...
I almost laughed.
Then, taking advantage of that moment, I guided the Giant King Shark closer to him.
I didn’t want to take any risks with my core.
As soon as I arrived before Nople, I stared intently at the object in his hand.
He noticed.
With an expression of disdain, he tossed the core in my direction.
I immediately caught it.
— Look how desperate you are.
— Do you think I’m going to break it just by looking at it?
Nople snorted.
— All right, all right!
— I’ll consider you the winner of today’s fight.
— I’ll also make Luize admit that he lost this duel.
Then I placed the core before my eyes and asked the Biochip for a complete analysis.
After so many violent impacts, I was genuinely worried.
The micro-formations inside that core were extremely delicate. If any of them had been damaged by the shockwaves, I could lose the ability to summon the Basilisk.
[Beep!]
[Analysis complete.]
[Core structural integrity: 98.7%.]
[Main magical formations: intact.]
[Summoning function: preserved.]
I let out the breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding.
I ran my fingers across the surface of the core.
Despite all that destruction, it had survived.
As for Nople’s intervention...
I had no intention of complaining.
On the contrary.
I knew exactly what it meant.
He could have interrupted the battle in a much simpler way.
But he had chosen to destroy the Basilisk personally.
That had not merely been a display of strength.
It was a warning.
Nople was showing me, quite directly, that I was still within his territory.
If I went too far, he could simply put an end to my summon.
It was a rather... gentle way of reminding me who was actually in control of that training field.
Soon, Nople carried Luize in his arms and turned around, running toward a huge house made of rock that stood far away from the battlefield.
Without wasting any time, I began following closely behind him. I had gotten off my shark golem and was walking near them.
As we left the field behind, I noticed that silence had taken over the entire place.
It was absolute silence.
I glanced at the spectators scattered along the sides of the field.
None of them seemed to have the words to describe what had just happened.
After all, to them, it had probably been nothing more than a bet that seemed impossible to lose.
And I had just destroyed all their expectations.
After walking a little farther, Nople stopped.
The big man turned toward Werk Treuz, who was still standing on the field with an extremely complicated expression.
— Hey, corpse man!
— Why did you bet on George? Nople asked loudly.
Werk Treuz pulled his hood down, fully revealing his face.
A trembling voice came from within the shadow.
— If Luize won, wouldn’t that mean I’m useless?
— Isn’t this result better?
— Now, who would dare say I lost because I’m useless?
Nople’s mouth fell open.
For several seconds, he simply stared at Werk.
He seemed to have prepared some furious response to vent his frustration, but couldn’t find an opportunity.
Then he turned toward Rustil.
— And you? Why did you bet on him?
Rustil shrugged.
— This kid told me he was confident about this fight.
— And since I’m very poor, I thought: why not try my luck?
The answer was so straightforward that Nople was left even more speechless.
— Ahhh...
He sighed deeply.
In the end, he seemed to accept that there was no one there he could take his frustration out on.
— You two are very lucky.
— Why didn’t anyone tell me about this earlier?
— Hmph! Go get your rewards now.
Then Nople pointed at me.
— Hey, kid. You’re coming with me.
— I’ll offer you a meal.
From the way he said it, I could tell he wasn’t joking.
Unlike the usual formalities, where the host receives his guests, chats for a while, and only then has food brought out, Nople seemed to have no patience for that sort of thing.
As soon as we arrived at the enormous stone house, several muscular men entered carrying heavy boxes of food.
Shortly afterward, I was led to a long wooden table.
I sat down.
Nople settled down across from me, while Luize, despite the terrible injuries he had suffered, also insisted on staying there.
I didn’t understand that guy.
He should have been looking for a quiet place to treat his own injuries.
An extremely refined golden tray was placed in front of me.
It had some simple yet elegant decorations. There were also words engraved on its surface that seemed quite mysterious.
But, honestly, I wasn’t interested in the tray at all.
My gaze was fixed on the meat resting on it.
It was a huge piece of roasted meat.
Really huge.
Judging by its size, it must have weighed at least two kilograms.
There were still traces of blood flowing across its surface, while a small amount of steam slowly rose from the hot meat.
Beside the tray was a large cup.
The liquid inside was crimson and thick.
I brought it close to my nose.
The next instant, a pungent smell of blood invaded my nostrils.
I frowned.
— Eat!
Nople’s voice made me raise my eyes.
He was smiling.
It was a sinister and hideous smile, as if he were eagerly waiting to see my reaction.
— I rarely treat someone to a meal.
— Don’t tell me you’re going to refuse the food?
I stared at the meat again.
For some reason, I felt a slight shiver.
While I was still assessing the situation, I heard the sound of bones being crushed.
I turned my head.
Luize had already begun eating.
In front of him was an enormous bloody rib that must have weighed nearly ten kilograms.
And that lunatic simply tossed the enormous silver utensils aside.
Then he grabbed the rib with his bare hands.
CRACK!
He tore off a piece with absurd strength and began devouring it.
If Nople really wanted to use that food to harm me, he probably wouldn’t have placed such an absurd portion in front of Luize as well.
Even so, I preferred not to trust it blindly.
— Biochip, analyze this meat.
[Analysis initiated.]
[Analysis Result]
[Origin: Light Dragon of the Mountain Peak.]
[The Light Dragon was a species that inhabited extremely high regions illuminated by sunlight, generally in the highest mountains in the world.]
[It possessed part of the draconic bloodline, although it did not have the terrifying abilities of true super dragons.]
[These creatures loved absorbing solar radiation and possessed a strong affinity with the Light Element.]
[They were also known for their arrogance and their habit of collecting objects considered valuable.]
I picked up the utensils.
The knife looked simple.
But the moment I held it, the Biochip immediately identified something.
[Magical item detected.]
I blinked.
I looked at the knife.
[Silver Knife]
[Magical Effects: Penetration and Sharpening]
My expression turned serious.
Then I looked at the fork I was holding in my other hand.
[Silver Fork]
[Magical Effects: Piercing and Strengthening]
Fuck.
Those were just utensils.
Utensils used to cut meat!
And yet, their magical effects were much better than those of many magical items belonging to the Level II acolytes I had seen.
The difference between the different levels of acolytes was truly terrifying.
I shook my head and returned my attention to the meal.
I placed the knife against the meat and began cutting.
Even with the Sharpening and Penetration effects, I had to use quite a bit of force.
After some effort, I finally managed to separate a small piece.
I used the fork to pick it up.
I brought it to my mouth.
I chewed.
The next instant, I almost spat everything out.
— Urgh!
The taste was horrible.
The meat was extremely raw, bitter, and had an intense flavor that seemed to invade my entire tongue.
I almost abandoned the meal right then and there.
But I forced myself to continue.
My jaw began to ache.
Finally, I managed to swallow.
The piece went down my throat.
And then...
Something happened.
A warm sensation suddenly emerged inside my abdomen.
— Hm?
At first, I thought it was simply the heat of the meat.
But that sensation quickly spread.
My entire body seemed to awaken.
It was as if I hadn’t eaten for days.
— Chip, activate the body scan!
[Beep. Body analysis initiated...]
[Traces of Light Element energy detected.]
[Energy absorption initiated.]
[The host’s body is absorbing Light Element energy at high speed.]
[Your Vigor increased by 0.0001]
[Your Strength increased by 0.0001]
[Your Mana increased by 0.0001]
....
2042 Words
