Chapter 017

"So? How does it feel...?" asked Mordred. "Is it the same as when you possess me...?"

"Poyopopo poyo~!" replied Leon, overlapping with him responding, 'It's similar, but I seem to have full control. But I'm not sure if it's because of the Poring's limited intelligence or some other factor.'

"Then, do you want to try possessing the King next...?" asked Mordred, raising her gaze and focusing on the King Poring as it drank from the lake a few hundred meters from their position atop the hill.

"Poyoyo po-poro-popoyo," replied Leon, translating to, 'I doubt its will is stronger than yours, so if push comes to shove, I should at least be able to slow it down.'

Punching her right fist into her palm, Mordred beamed as she appended, "And then I kill the bastard...!"

'Only if it refuses to communicate or acts hostilely,' replied Leon. 'Even then, it might be better for us to teleport away. If the other Porings and their sub-species decide to attack, we might have to massacre them all. And I'd prefer to avoid that...'

"Fine. But before we withdraw, I'd like to trade a few blows with that so-called King," said Mordred. "It still gives off a dangerous vibe, but if I go all out, I feel like I should be able to wound it."

'Right, then, let's get a move on,' responded Leon, causing the Poring he was possessing to bounce excitedly, exclaiming, "Poyoo~!" before rolling down the hill. Fortunately, while the Poring's body spun like a tire, Leon's perspective above it remained unchanged, like a camera on a track. He also wasn't expelled when the Poring crashed into the water, skidding across its surface before plummeting to the bottom and bouncing across the lakebed back to shore...

'Well, at least now I know I can use a Poring to explore underwater...'

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Though Mordred could have easily swum across the lake by entrusting her greatsword to Leon, the two decided to walk the long way around to where the King Poring and his minions were gathered.

"I think I'm starting to see what Presea sees in these creatures," said Mordred, carrying the Leon-possessed Poring in her arms. "Your squishy body makes me want to squeeze and crush you with my arms..."

"Poyoyo...(Please don't...)" replied Leon.

Fortunately, though Mordred did squeeze him, she didn't utilize all her Strength. The Poring also received a significant boost to its Endurance as a result of the possession, so unless she strained herself, Mordred would struggle to crush him with her current level and stats.

As Mordred and Leon approached the King Poring's domain, they were invariably surrounded by curious Porings, Drops, Marins, and Poporings. Leon was slightly worried that the latter would attack them, but the green Poring sub-species was just as curious as its kin, bouncing over and then joining the large group that bounced in their wake.

'It's not often that we have guests,' said a surprisingly deep and manly voice, echoing within Leon's and Mordred's heads, emanating from the King Poring.

'We greet you, Your Majesty...' said Leon, bowing as much as his Poring body permitted while Mordred held him out using her hands as a platform.

'How curious...' mused the King Poring. 'You bear the marker of one of our subjects, but a foreign consciousness dwells within you. Tell us, outsider, and speak true. What are your intentions? To what end do you puppet one of our people...?'

'We came to ask Your Majesty for information,' answered Leon. 'Afterward, we will leave this place and your people in peace.'

'Hmmm...'

Extending a pink tendril from its body, the King Poring fiddled with its fake mustache for several seconds before stating, 'Very well. Though the one holding you carries the marker of one that has slain our kin, its presence is weak. As such, we shall be magnanimous and presume it was accidental. Tell us, what information do you seek?'

While thinking how fortunate it was that he put his foot down when he did, Leon explained, 'We seek an entity known as a Floor Guardian. Has Your Majesty heard of such a being? And if not, is Your Majesty aware of any powerful creatures that dwell nearby...?'

Nodding its head, the King Poring replied, 'Humu...the being you seek is known as Baphomet. If you travel north of here for half a day's time, you will find a ruin known as the Hidden Temple. Lord Baphomet can be found within, but be warned. Those who venture into his domain uninvited meet the same end...death...'

'We will be sure to tread carefully. Thank you, Your Majesty...'

Bowing a second time, Leon was prepared to separate from the Poring and depart with Mordred when the King Poring expressed, 'We shall send one of our subjects to accompany and direct you to the Hidden Temple's entrance. We hope that by helping you, you will continue to treat our kind with care and respect.'

'Of course,' replied Leon. 'Once we've met and dealt with Lord Baphomet, our people will return here to form friendly relations and help improve the quality of life for you and your people.'

'Then we have an accord,' said the King Poring, extending a long tendril to the top of the possessed Poring's head. As it did so, the tip of its tendril separated, forming a miniature, palm-sized Poring that bounced happily atop its much larger counterpart.

'Fare thee well, travelers. And may fortune follow in your wake...' said the King Poring, retracting what remained of its tendril and then watching as Mordred and Leon departed, surrounded by hundreds of its subjects...

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Though the King Poring had said it was a half-day journey to the Hidden Temple's entrance, that was for creatures who boasted a casual bouncing speed of around 3km/h. Mordred could move much faster, especially with

Leon's added stats, so after freeing the initial Poring from its possession, they raced to their destination with the palm-sized Poring riding atop her head, pointing in the direction they needed to go.

"Is this it?" asked Mordred, staring up at a set of 5m stone doors, an ancient-looking archway, and several stone pillars protruding from the base of a short plateau. "It looks like the entrance to a mausoleum."

'See those goat-headed demons holding scythes on both sides of the doors?' asked Leon. 'Well, that's what should be what we're up against. And it's likely to be a hell of a lot stronger than the King Poring...'

"If you're concerned, you can always scout ahead," suggested Mordred. "With your immaterial form, you can evade most monsters, and so long as your console remains functional, you can teleport out. Doing so would be cowardly, but I won't condemn or look down on you too much."

'For now, let's try entering together...' suggested Leon. 'If shit hits the fan, I can teleport us both out...'

"Now you're speaking my language," said Mordred, removing the palm-sized Poring from her head and setting it down. It seemed saddened to part with them, but Mordred ignored it in favor of approaching the Hidden Temple's entrance, prompting a pop-up similar to the one precluding the Gaoracchia Forest.

Reading the message, Mordred said, "Well, it can't be too difficult if the Recommended Level is still 1. The variety of monsters is way more than that forest, though. Let's see...thirty-seven different types? That's a lot of bonus stats if we receive a boost for each initial kill."

'Yeah...but, unlike in the game, I can't imagine Baphomet simply waiting for us to increase our power by slaughtering the monsters in its domain...' said Leon.

"Well, only one way to find out," said Mordred, placing her hands on the stone doors with the intention of pushing them open. Instead, she and Leon were abruptly transported to what looked like a forest clearing at first glance, but if you looked overheard, they were clearly in a room as there was a roof and sharp angles along the periphery to denote walls.

'This is a good sign,' said Leon, explaining, 'If this is similar to the game, there will be portals or teleporters to transport us to other rooms. We'll need to find the correct sequence to reach the end.'

"More importantly, can you teleport us out...?" asked Mordred.

'Give me a moment,' said Leon, opening the Assign tab. Unfortunately, the map only showed their immediate surroundings. Even so, he went ahead and tested teleporting Mordred to the edge of the area they had mapped, causing them to reappear at the target destination.

'Teleporting appears to work, but I can only transport us to areas we've explored. If we want to get outside, we'll need to find the exit...' revealed Leon.

"Lucky for us, this room isn't that big," noted Mordred. "If the others are the same size, we should be able to find our way out without too much trouble. Regardless, no sense standing around here."

Seeing Mordred hold out her right hand, Leon used the Status menu to slot in her Refined Steel Greatsword. He could change her equipment and pick up nearby items while possessing her, so while Mordred focused on fighting, his job was to keep an eye out for additional enemies and secure any loot they acquired or chanced across.

'Five o'clock, roughly five meters out,' said Leon, prompting Mordred to turn and brandish her sword toward a large, pale-green insect resembling a spined caterpillar. Unlike the Tropical Worm, which was at least a meter tall and three long, the insect inching toward them was barely ten, maybe fifteen centimeters in length.

Though the monster, known as a Fabre, was even weaker than a Poring, Mordred exhibited the same ferocity she showed when they first entered the Tower, charging forward and smacking it with the flat of her sword. It tried rearing back and shooting a transparent, web-like liquid at them, but it barely had time to squeal before Mordred practically liquefied it with her attack.

[Congratulations on defeating your first Fabre! As a reward, your Luck has increased by 1!]

"Well, that was a disappointment..." said Mordred, feeling even more dissatisfied as she looked down to see what the Fabre had dropped. There was the usual Thousand-Grain Crystal Fragment, but the only other item present was a tiny tuft of fur resembling a dust bunny.

'At least I received the kill reward as well,' said Leon, placing the two items into his Storage as he speculated, 'Besides, Wil may have a use for these. I mean, cotton is just tiny tufts before it's processed and spun into string.'

"Fair enough," conceded Mordred. "But if we want to get out of here before the others panic, we should speed things up. Direct me to all the enemies you can sense, and keep your eyes peeled for a way to leave or move to the next room."

'Will do,' replied Leon, adding, 'The next enemy is at your three o'clock, on the opposite side of that tree and shrub.'

Leaping over to the indicated location in a single bound, Mordred found a second, ostensibly sleeping Fabre, as it didn't react until she stabbed it in the back. Curiously, when this one died, it left behind a large wooden club with prominent spikes, much larger than itself.

"What the hell? These things can drop weapons?" asked Mordred, picking up the meter-long club and giving it a few test swings.

'Yeah, but I imagine the drop rate is pretty low,' replied Leon. 'Ragnarok was pretty infamous for its horrendous drop rates, but that was one of the things that made it exciting. When you received a rare item, you could sell it for a fortune or show it off like a trophy.'

"Interesting..." said Mordred. Then, feeling the club was more suited to smashing bugs than a greatsword, she added, "Go ahead and put away my sword. I want to see how effective weapons dropped from monsters are."

'Sure,' replied Leon, placing Mordred's greatsword in his Storage. Then, as it was fairly vital they locate the exit expediently, he directed her to where other enemies were hiding until they eventually discovered a three-meter-wide stone platform with a magic circle in its center. It was undoubtedly one of the teleporters they were searching for, but since it didn't activate when stepped upon, they decided to clear out the remaining enemies and search for similar stone platforms before determining their next course of action...

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