Chapter 52: Chapter 52 - Monster Infested Lake(Part 1)

Well, that was pretty stupid of me. In an effort to sound cool, I ended up revealing my Pocket Dimension Skill. Just great...I should’ve just taken the cart, and once I was out of sight of the town, I could’ve just put it into my Pocket Dimension.

And on the way back, after I kill the Monsters, I could’ve taken the bodies and the cart out of my Pocket Dimension, piled them on and pulled them back. But no, I just had to act on my impulses and try to look cool in front of the hot, older woman.

I have no one to blame but myself. I let out a sigh as I opened my Pocket Dimension and brought Prysm out. She looked around in bemusement at our surroundings, a grassy area with a few trees around, leading to the lake.

It should be safe enough to bring her out here...there won’t be any civilians around here thanks to the Monster infested lake, so the chances of someone spotting her are low.

"Where are we?" She inquired, looking around in confusion.

"Out on a quest. This could be a good opportunity for you to get stronger, so yeah. I want you to kill at least one of the Monsters that I’m tasked with eliminating," I instructed, as the lake came into sight in the distance.

"Okay...? I mean, I killed a few Monsters when we in that forest, so it doesn’t sound too hard," She mused thoughtfully.

"You did struggle though, not to mention the fact that they were low level Monsters, the species we’re after today is a lot more formidable," I warned her.

When we were traveling through the forest, the Monsters we encountered included Firefoxes, Blood Rats, bloodsucking rats the size of large dogs, Sonic Bats, large bat creatures with a disorienting screech, Giant Roaches, which are exactly what they sound like, and Deathhounds, large dog creatures with jet black fur that, when standing on their hind legs, are about as tall as the average person.

Those Monsters aren’t exactly docile, but they’re not very strong, fast or durable, so if you’re reasonably skilled, they’re not much trouble to deal with, even with large numbers of them.

But these Reptiliasaurs are different...they’re not the most intelligent creatures, but they’re very dangerous, with numerous ways to kill you and are durable enough that killing them is no easy feat.

At least, that’s what I’ve read about them, anyway. I’ve never actually seen one before. I have to admit, I’m kinda intrigued and fascinated to see one up close.

I’ve always liked reptiles, creatures like dinosaurs, gators, crocs and komodo dragons have always fascinated me. Huh, actually, now that I think about it...I haven’t seen any of those creatures in person.

Yeah, I never went to a zoo or anything in my previous life, and haven’t encountered any such creatures in this world so far either. The lake by my village only had regular fish, some amphibians like frogs, toads and newts, and not much else.

"I don’t know, I can’t imagine anything worse than those roach Monsters," Frowned Prysm with a shudder.

"True, those things were pretty horrifying, I’ll give you that," I wryly nodded in agreement.

I’d tested out my Monster/Magical Beast Thought Communication on the Monsters we encountered in the forest, but it was kinda useless. I’m guessing mainly because those creatures lacked the intelligence to engage in conversation.

Like, I did manage to talk to them with my mind, but their responses were, uh...far from sophisticated, let’s say. For example, one of the Firefoxes I tried communicating with, I tried to get it to leave, but it responded with something along the lines of ’I’ll burn you, kill you and eat you’, so yeah.

Hm, I might have better luck with Magical Beasts instead of Monsters, since they’re typically mild-mannered and docile. Well, I’ll keep that in mind for another day, for when I encounter one...anyway, we’ve arrived at the edge of the lake, time to get focused.

"There’s blood here...," Muttered Prysm grimly, as we spotted some dried blood streaks on the ground.

Looks like whatever or whoever’s blood this is, was dragged into the water by the Monsters. The surface of the lake looked mostly still and peaceful, but I could see a few ripples here and there.

And more than that, I could feel it, that I was being watched right now...it was giving me chills, my palms were getting sweaty. This must be what it feels like to be hunted...those other Monsters came at me head on, but these creatures are different.

Crocodiles and snakes tend to try and trap or ensnare their prey, by sneaking up to them or catching them off guard...let’s see if I can’t provoke them.

Thought Communication has another use other than just talking to Monsters and Magical Beasts...when the Skill is activated, it first scans the area for eligible targets, so it works as a radar for detecting Monsters and Magical Beasts.

It has an effective range of a hundred meters, which is more than useful...it basically lets me know the locations of every Monster and Magical Beast within that range when activated.

Alright...Initiate Skill: Monster/Magical Beast Thought Communication. Let’s see, there’s one...two, three...seven...eight, ten...fourteen...sixteen...I count seventeen Reptiliasaurs in total, all submerged in this section of the lake.

I’ll probably have to roam around the lake and make sure there’s no more of them outside this range, the lake’s pretty wide, and my hundred meter range definitely doesn’t cover all of it.

Oh, the closest Reptiliasaur is just about five meters away from the edge of the lake...let’s see if it responds to a provocation. I shouldn’t try and provoke all of them at once, it’ll be tough if all seventeen rush us at the same time.

Hm, what should I say? These kinds of Monsters don’t really understand anything too complex, but even if they don’t understand everything I’m saying, they do get a sense of what my intent is.

For instance, if I try to talk a Monster down from attacking me, it can sense that I’m trying not to be hostile. But the problem with that is, they usually don’t care and just attack anyway.

So, I won’t do that. Instead...I’ll try being a dick. I focused on forming a mental link to the Reptiliasaur closest to us, and as I successfully formed the link, I addressed it...

"Hey, you dumb, ugly lizard. Fuck you."

Yeah, not the most eloquent thing I’ve ever said, but hey, it doesn’t need to be. So long as it gets that it’s being insulted, that’s good enough. For a second or two, nothing happened...and then, it responded...

"Weak prey, I will feast on you."

Ripples in the water ahead of then appeared, growing closer and closer as it picked up speed, before Prysm and I swiftly backed away from the edge of the water.

"You’re up, brat," I said to her, as I got some distance.

"O-okay...Manifest Soul Weapon: Gravity Axe!" She exclaimed a bit nervously, forming her Soul Weapon right as the Monster emerged onto the shore.

Woah, holy shit...it looks so cool! I figured a croc head on a snake neck would look kinda goofy, but it looks freaking awesome! I guess it was because I was imagining the croc head being comically big in comparison to a snake’s wiry neck, but the snake neck is quite thick.

As it let out a low, deep growl, Prysm shot towards it with her axe drawn back, leaping up towards it as she closed in on it. As she began to swing down her axe, it suddenly whipped its tail up at her, aiming to strike her right hand.

She quickly took her hand off the axe handle in alarm, before the tail wrapped around the handle and began to tug it down to pull her towards it, the creature starting to open its jaws.

Suddenly, she let go of the axe completely, before it abruptly plummeted with immense force and the blunt side hit the top of the Reptiliasaur’s head, crushing it’s skull and killing it instantly.

Huh. She increased the weight of her axe right before she let go of it, and the sudden and drastic increase in weight was too much for the creature to respond in time.

"Alright! I did it!" She exclaimed triumphantly.

"I’ll admit, that wasn’t a half-bad move...well, at least, if it wasn’t a fluke," I replied dryly.

"Wha-...no, it wasn’t! At first I thought I could kill it by attacking quickly, but it reacted and tried to pull me down. So I then maxed out the weight of my axe and let go...actually, I was trying to cut its head off, but the hammer side of the axe fell pointing down instead of the sharp side. But that was still enough to kill it, so it’s fine," She shrugged in response.

Oh, so she actually intended that move, and didn’t just pull it off in a desperate panic? Well, either way, good for her that she did...because I had no intention of saving her if she’d been about to get eaten. I’ll keep that to myself though.

Anyway...looks like some of the other Reptiliasaurs are approaching the edge of the lake...alright then, my turn to shine...

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