Everything Is Bigger In Hallownest.

So, I was wrong about the baldurs. All this time I thought that they were only about shoulder height with me, but turns out that was just what baby baldurs look like.

Standing in front of an armadillo about 5 times my size I couldn't help but gulp. If this thing rolled at me my only option would be to dodge. I would end up looking like a pancake if I got hit by it.

Taking a moment I planned out an escape in case I wasn't sure I could handle this thing. It was the Joestar's secret technique for a reason. Sometimes running it was the best option. Placing my nail in a safe location I decided to do this fight without it. It already struggled to damage the little guys, so I can't imagine it would be of much use here. And I would need to take as much weight off me if I wanted to be at my fastest.

Letting out a slow breath I began to focus all of the soul in my body, and once I felt ready I jumped down towards the gigantic baldur.

The moment my feet touched the ground I let the soul surge through me and escape my body in an instant. Since this attack was using all of my soul it was even bigger than any other I had fired off before, and it seemed to move at an even faster speed. The baldur barely got a chance to react before it got struck by the spell.

It let out a loud roar of pain as its orange eyes glowed fiercely. The baldur looked up to the sky before shooting an orange glob that resembled the acid of the aspid hunter in my direction.

'Orange = bad' I thought quickly before dodging out of the way and rushing towards the baldur while pulling out the knife Elderbug had given me.

I didn't expect the baldur to open up its mouth again whilst I ran towards it, and I expected even less for one of the small baldurs to shoot out from within it. The strange sight distracted me enough for me to barely dodge out of the way of the strange projectile.

'Is that where baby baldur's come from? They get vomited out?' I thought as I tried to focus once again on the adult baldur.

But as I turned to continue my dash towards it I saw it close inside of its shell before beginning to roll in my direction.

"Oh shit."

I jumped out of the way as fast as I could, and as I got out of the baldurs path I felt the gust of air. That thing was going fast enough that when it slammed against the wall I felt the entire building shake. It was at that moment I remembered about the vomit baby. And I turned around just in time to see it barreling towards me.

'I can use this thing!' I thought in excitement before I jumped above it and rushed towards the baby baldur as it headed towards the wall. Every time they crashed against a wall they would be stunned and vulnerable for a second. Enough for me to deal some damage to it and recover some soul.

Dissecting many of these little guys had given me some insight into their anatomy. And I knew that there was a soft spot around the center of its stomach where I could plunge my knife directly into a vital area. And just as I had practiced before I plunged the knife into the baldur before it got a chance to stand up from its daze.

'Good enough for one shot of the spell…. Or…'

I felt the vibrations of the massive baldur rolling in my direction so I knew I had to make a quick decision. Coating my legs in aura I jumped up as high as I could, reaching all of the way into the ceiling of the room.

I saw the baldur crush the small one and then crash against the wall falling down onto the ground in a daze.

"Good!" I let out in excitement before coating my knife in as much soul aura as I could before falling right on its stomach.

I felt the knife penetrate through the weak spot and then the rush of soul enter my body from damaging the baldur. Though due to its larger size the knife wouldn't strike any vital organs it did weaken the tight seal the shell had to its body. And since this had worked on the little ones I hoped it would work on this one.

Coating my arms in aura to increase my strength I placed my fingers through the wound I had made before lifting up as hard as I could. I felt baldur begin to stir to try to stand up so I knew I only had one second to do this. So taking in a deep breath and hoping for the best, I coated my entire body in the aura before trying to pull the shell one last time.

Suddenly, I felt the shell that covered its upper torso give way before being ripped off from its body. Leaving its torso exposed. And causing the baldur to stop trying to stand up as it let out another roar in pain.

'I feel like I am turning into some sort of psycho killer, first the maggot gets repeatedly stabbed in the face, and now this.'

Raising my knife up and coating it in aura to make it sharper and longer I began to stab away as fast as I could. By the time the baldur stopped moving I had already stabbed in the exposed area 28 times. I guess I didn't want to give it a chance, huh.

(If you get that reference you get a cookie.)

I sighed as I sat on top of the gigantic baldur's stomach. Was this really what my life in this world was going to turn out like? Running around massacring everything that got in my way without feeling any guilt? I had practically just done a serial killer special on this thing and the only thing I felt was relief that the battle was over.

"Any tips? Maybe a little hint as to what I am supposed to be doing?" I asked into the air. And of course, I got no answer.

Looking down at the corpse of the baldur all I could really think was that I wanted to get this thing dissected to take its shell.

"I really need to get my head checked out" I sighed before grabbing my nail and starting to drag this thing's corpse behind me so I wouldn't lose it.

— — —

"..." The snail shaman looked at me with a bit of a dazed look as he saw me dragging the corpse behind me leaving a trail of orange blood.

"I finished the mission… Also, I am keeping this. I am not sure if I am much of a shield guy but you never know when you might need a good shell to defend yourself with… Though I guess I could use it to make a soup bowl or something… The little ones would probably be better for that though."

Shaking my head I tried to get rid of the intrusive thoughts to go back to being a normal person. I hadn't realized it until now but so far I had been behaving really efficiently, spending all of my time either training, exploring, or foraging for things I could use to make myself stronger.

I wonder if there are therapists here in Hallownest. So far everyone I have met looked like they needed one.

"Erm… I see that you have slain the beast! The poor thing must have been…. Never mind. Did you find the charm?" The shaman began speaking but after looking at the baldur once again it decided to act as if it wasn't even there and changed the subject.

Showing the inside of my cloak I let the shaman see my new silver charm that I had stuck to it. It looked like a snail's shell, and when I put it on I noticed I had an easier time sensing soul both in the atmosphere and inside of creatures.

"I did, thanks for the gift."

As I spoke those words the gate that separated us opened finally letting me exit this place.

The gate opening seemed to have startled the shaman a bit as it jumped back a little before letting out an awkward laugh.

"Ohohohoho! I'm sure you're eager to move on. Farewell, and have faith! Whatever you are seeking... it will find you! Ohohoho!"

I simply stared at the shaman for a moment, which made him slightly more nervous before speaking.

"I thought you said you were going to teach me about soul?"

The shaman simply let out another round of awkward laughter before answering.

"Did I?"