Chapter 12 - Poison

[Narrator: Author]

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Jiyoo's scream pierced the air, jolting the hogzilla awake. It squealed, startled, its massive form shifting behind the boulder. Reiji's eyes widened in alarm as he saw the beast rise.

"JIYOO, GET AWAY FROM THERE!" he yelled, desperation clear in his voice. The hogzilla lifted its front legs, pausing momentarily before stomping down.

STOMP! RUMBLEE!

"KUAAGH—"

The ground trembled violently, the nearby trees shuddering as their leaves rustled and fell. Reiji's heart raced as a notification appeared before him.

「 NOTICE | Negative Status Inflicted: FEAR | All stats reduced by 5% within 59 sec/2 min/0 hr. 」

'F-Fear!' Reiji's thoughts spiraled as his heartbeat quickened. The hogzilla lifted its feet again, readying for another stomp. He tried to move, but his body was paralyzed by fear.

'Damn it! Is fear status really that crippling?!' His legs buckled as he attempted to jump away.

STOMP! RUMBLE!

"—KGH!"

The second stomp sent shockwaves through the ground, and Jiyoo collapsed, unconscious. Another notification flashed.

「 NOTICE | Negative Status Inflicted: FEAR | All stats reduced by 10% within 59 sec/3 min/0 hr. 」

Reiji's mind raced. The hogzilla prepared for a third stomp. He knew he had to act fast.

STOMP! RUMBLE!

"GHH!"

「 NOTICE | Negative Status Inflicted: FEAR | All stats reduced by 15% within 59 sec/4 min/0 hr. 」

'Alright, no worries! It's only 15%, so the reduction of my overall stats — which is 11 — is only 1.65... I still have 9.35!' He fumbled in his pocket, retrieving a purple fruit. With a swift motion, he sliced it open, smearing the contents on his dagger.

「 NOTICE | ITEM IN POSSESSION: "Iron Dagger" - "Pacheia Fruit's Poison" Applied. 」s

'Just a little push, the poison will really take an effect!'

As Reiji and Kareus strategized, the Ashenblood leader shared insights about the hogzilla's anatomy and behavior. Through their conversation, Reiji gained valuable information:

First is that the poison will really take an effect to a creature like that.

Second is that its senses are particularly keen, especially its smell.

Lastly, its skin is hard, that even the Ashenblood Rabbit's crescent attack can't even cut through — on top of that, its legs are the most sturdiest, capable of crushing anything with just a stomp.

With a swift lunge, Reiji aimed his blade at the hogzilla's snout, carving a vicious horizontal slash that ripped towards its neck.

SLASH! SQUEAL!

The hogzilla's pained squeal filled the air, but Reiji was prepared for that — covering his ears right after the slash in order to not get his hearing senses be overwhelmed. Bounding off the hogzilla's bulk, Reiji sprang away, but suddenly felt paralyzed and another notification appeared.

「 NOTICE | Negative Status Inflicted: SHOCK | Completely 'IMMOBILE' for 3 seconds. 」

'Damn these negative statuses! This thing got tons of curse!' He hit the ground, still in mid-leap position as the hogzilla lowered its body and sprang upwards.

'W-W-W-What?! It's planning to crush me?!' Just as the beast was about to land, the 'shock' wore off. Reiji scrambled frantically, narrowly evading the crashing weight of the hogzilla.

BOOM-RUMBLE!

The earth shook as the beast landed, narrowly missing him.

Reiji headed towards Jiyoo and started princess-carrying him.

"Oi, Jiyoo! Snap out of it! Wake up!" Reiji shook Jiyoo's arms while running from the hogzilla. Jiyoo remained unconscious. "This guy's completely done for..."

'Does the Omniscient skill have a cooldown? The only way to find out is to see if it works...! [Polyglot: Comprehend - Ashenblood Rabbit]!' Reiji called out inwardly, and a system panel appeared before him.

｢ You are now able to communicate and comprehend the language 'Beast Language - Ashenblood Rabbit' for the next 3 minutes and 27 seconds. ｣

｢ Simply repeat the skill name within the duration to deactivate the skill. ｣

'Alright!' Still running, Reiji halted for a moment, took a deep breath, and then yelled in beast language, "KAREUS! I NEED YOUR HELP! CARRYING A PERSON!"

Kareus heard Reiji's call and summoned ten Ashenblood rabbits. The eleven of them sprinted towards Reiji's location.

"W-Where are you guys going?" Sayuri asked.

Unable to speak human language, Kareus pointed towards the source of the commotion. Sayuri nodded, understanding without further questions. "Be careful..." she said.

SQUEAL! BOOM! RUMBLE!

The hogzilla thrashed about in pain, likely from the poison. Kareus and the Ashenblood rabbits arrived to aid Reiji.

"Kareus! Please, can I leave this guy with you? He's a friend of mine," Reiji pleaded.

Kareus noticed the poisoned dagger on Reiji's hand and then looked at the writhing hogzilla. 'He really fought the forest's destroyer...! I was right to give him the dagger which only the strong have the right to wield!' Kareus thought.

Kareus instructed his kin to carry Jiyoo, and Reiji thanked them again.

"I'm indebted to you once again, Kareus."

"It's only right for allies to help each other!"

Reiji nodded, and Kareus with his kins started moving too.

"Best of luck, young man.", Kareus said, remembering what Reiji said earlier that he needs to take it down, the first reason is food, and the second is to reduce a walking disaster for them.

"Yeah."

With the dagger in hand, Reiji turned towards the writhing hogzilla. "Now then, I should continue what I've left."

Taking a few steps in a low stride, he started getting into a rhythm and began to sprint. Holding his breath, he took a fruit from his pocket and sliced it, applying poison to his dagger, which he tucked behind his right.

「 NOTICE | ITEM IN POSSESSION: "Iron Dagger" - "Pacheia Fruit's Poison" Applied. 」

FWOOOSH~

Closing in, he took a long, deep breath and holding it in, focusing on maintaining his composure. The sight of the massive creature up close was terrifying.

'Starting from its senses...'

He knew he had to disable its senses, but which ones?

'Hearing and smell.', he raised his hand and slashed the hogzilla's snout vertically.

SLASH!

SQUEAL!

'Too shallow!'

The hogzilla's pained squeal echoed through the forest as Reiji's slash barely grazed its snout. He dodged the beast's slow, frenzied movements, circling it to find another opening. His eyes locked on its snout again.

'But it's alright, I just need the poison to seep in.'

SLASH!

SQUEAL!!

It was too shallow again, no, more like its skin was just too hard for him to slash through.

'At this rate, the poison won't reach inside...!' Reiji gritted his teeth, eyes narrowed in desperation. Adjusting his grip, he braced himself for another attack, determined to penetrate the hogzilla's tough hide and deliver the poison deeper.

'One more!'

Taking a step forward and using it as a pivotal foot, he rotated towards the hogzilla again, raising his hand and slashing downwards.

This time, his blade cut deep. The hogzilla's snout separated from its body with a sickening sound.

SQUEAL!!

The beast's cry of agony reverberated, and it stumbled, disoriented, blood pouring from the wound. Reiji kept his distance, ready for the next move, his breathing steady despite the chaos.

Reiji put his right leg forward and mustered up all of his strength.

CRUMBLE!

WHOOOSH!

The ground crumbled beneath his foot as he lunged towards the hogzilla, gripping the dagger with all his might and swung it as he closed in.

SLICE!

The target was the same spot, and the positioning of the blade was perfect that it made a sound as if the air was sliced, too. The hogzilla's snout separated from its body as blood sprayed from it and the creature squealed in pain.

SQUEAAAAL!

He had only planned to let the poison seep in with a deep cut, but he hadn't thought it would actually slice through.

Reiji readied himself to strike again, but the hogzilla suddenly throttled forward, squealing, showing no signs of stopping. He had no choice but to chase it.

He couldn't slash its body to inflict poison, so he aimed near the brain for an instant kill. Waiting for the poison to seep in seemed his only option; beheading it at this pace was impossible.

Reiji was just waiting for the poison to take effect when a sudden problem occurred.

"Mizushima-san?!"

"S-Shiroyami-san?!"

Reiji sheathed his dagger and ran as fast as he could to outpace the hogzilla, determined to save Kaori Mizushima from being rammed. He reached her in time, scooping her up and jumping to the other side just before the hogzilla's reach.

As they landed, a system panel flashed before him, and the hogzilla suddenly collapsed with a sickening thud, the ground crumbling beneath its massive weight.

「 NOTICE | Leveled up! 」

「 NOTICE | Leveled up! 」

「 NOTICE | Leveled up! 」

Reiji leveled up not just once or twice, but thrice!

'I-It's dead…', Reiji heaved as a sigh as he looked on the system panels before him and at the hogzilla.

"U-Um… Shiroyami-san…", with Kaori's back facing the ground and her front facing the half-naked Reiji Shiroyami, she can't help but cover her eyes with her hands; her ears reddening. 'S-Shiroyami-san's naked…?!'

"Oops, my bad..", Reiji got off from Kaori and helped her stand up. "And by the way, please don't get scared as to what will happen next."

"...Ah, I-I'm somehow trying my best to get used to it."

A few seconds later, Kareus arrived at the scene with his kins.

｢ You are now able to communicate and comprehend the language 'Beast Language - Ashenblood Rabbit' for the next 30 minutes. ｣

｢ Simply repeat the skill name within the duration to deactivate the skill. ｣

"Truly… truly magnificent, young man!", Kareus raised both hands in praise. "You defeated the destroyer of this forest!"

"W-Well, it turns out to be like that… the poison did a huge role on this.", Reiji retorted sheepishly.

"If it weren't for you thinking of using the poisons like that, it wouldn't happen in the first place! Truly magnificent!"

"Ahaha… Ah, by the way Kareus… it seems that I found another classmate of mine."

"While I might not be able to identify what 'classmate' is, it seems that she's an ally."

"Sort of that…"

Meanwhile, Kaori was astonished by how the two were communicating. Similar to Sayuri's expression, she thought that….

'They're like murmuring…'

"Can I leave the dissecting to you? I'd like to have your kins get a share as well… also, I only inflicted poison on the head-part, I'm still not sure if it spread throughout the body, so please be careful," Reiji proposed to Kareus, considering the efficient dismantling of the hogzilla into four parts: edible, inedible, important, and unimportant.

Afterward, Reiji inquired about Sayuri and the unconscious Jiyoo, prompting some of the Ashenblood Rabbits to lead the way.

While walking, Reiji recalled Kaori's earlier words.

"Say, Mizushima-san… What happened to you?" Reiji's question caused Kaori to shudder, revealing a hint of the trauma she endured. 'Something happened, huh.'

"You said earlier that you're trying to get used to something… get used to what?" Reiji pressed, noticing Kaori's distress.

When footsteps failed to follow, Reiji glanced back to find Kaori trembling in fear.

"They… all got killed," she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.

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|TO BE CONTINUED|