Re:Monster Day 21-30 (1/2)

The morning practice hasn’t even been going on for a week, yet Goblins who’ve turned out to be somewhat useful are popping up here and there.

As I thought, because the realm of nature is a severe living environment, or perhaps because we belong to a precocious-type species, the Goblins who underwent the soldier training program had their strength grow considerably. The training program is something that I had composed from useful parts I gleaned from my company’s servers before I died.

Recently some of the underlings even managed to kill Night Vipers, and even the worst of them at least manages to kill Horned Rabbits by themselves.

Those Goblins, who a few days ago couldn’t even get their own food, can all manage by themselves now, and I, as their teacher, feel mightily proud about this fact.

However, the Gobujii and his cronies found the results genuinely astonishing, and they treated me with stares both filled with affection and awe. I think the special treatment is kinda handy, still it’s also slightly depressing. Well, it does me no real harm so I guess I can just ignore it.

When the sun arrived at its summit, I personally began training with the Goblins; I spent the rest of the day doing such. That way, I can get a grasp on each individual’s abilities. I can also catch any weaknesses or bad habits they’ve developed and teach them the proper way. Also, being able to single out the best individuals is useful, and above all it also serves to strengthen me. In this strict world, there are no disadvantages to having a well trained body. That’s why I thought 38 battles in a row was good practice.

After the session, I once again came to the realization that Gobukichi-kun and Gobumi-chan are, amongst their generation, head and shoulders above the competition.

Regarding the results for Gobukichi-kun from the recent training, it seems he has learnt how to limit the power of his attacks to not cause accidents. Creatures of this world seem to change in direct relation to how much they contribute when in a party. By killing enemies, they get experience that raises their levels and leads to the creation of surprisingly robust bodies by the mysterious laws of this world.

At the present time, as long as I don’t use my abilities he is a tough opponent, so if all Goblins except me and Gobumi-chan were lined up to challenge him in order, they still probably wouldn’t be able to get even one win.

Gobukichi-kun however, would not leave without incurring some damage.

Gobumi-chan is slow when compared to me, however the other Goblins aren’t even a match for her speed. Since she’s a Hobgoblin, her strength is also better than the other Goblins; she’s also grown her nails to be pointed and sharp, and I taught her how to use her nails skilfully. This is in order for her to fight well, even without a weapon. She’s got speed, and if I didn’t have my abilities she’d make a formidable foe.

However, you might say she’s still a cute little thing. Speaking as an opponent, even when both are unarmed, Gobukichi-kun is still more dangerous in close quarters combat.

When the practice sparring was over, we broke the group up in order to go hunting. Usually we would go with our standard members, however today we had an additional member in our party.

This additional member was a female, Gobue-chan. In our generation, she was the next most influential person after us three, and when the Goblins were kneeling in front of us, she was the one in the front.

Well you see, while the two backpacks and three field packs were a fabulous find, Gobukichi-kun is carrying a giant cudgel on his back, and I don’t think Gobumi-chan can carry any more than she already is.

Frankly speaking, with me carrying one of the backpacks, one was still left, and while Gobumi-chan and I were each carrying a field pack, one was still unused. That’s why we required one carrier, and Gobue-chan was singled out. If it was her, she’d also barely be able to keep up with our hunting as well. Also, increasing our members with one more strong companion isn’t bad at all. Yes, and of course she’d be carrying the backpack as well.

When equipping her, we gave her the old leftover shield that Gobukichi-kun used before, together with Gobumi-chan’s old staff sling. We also gave her the carapace reinforced ceremonial looking costume, the obsidian knife and a bowie knife. Compared to the horned-rabbit horn she’d been using till now, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Also, because she was going to carry our luggage, carrying any more than this is unnecessary. Or how should I put it, when we’re hunting, our prey will become her luggage, so having her equipment be heavy would be a truly stupid thing. Just enough to protect herself from injury is sufficient.

Following that reasoning, this time’s hunting was a lot easier than usual. Because unlike before, when everyone had to share the burden of carrying the prey, now Gobue was doing most of the lugging; we finished the hunt without feeling fatigue.

Carrying heavy luggage, Gobue-chan was tired, but compared to us who easily concluded our battles, there was not such a large difference. Also, since Gobue was also contributing by shooting stones with the sling, she also managed to raise her levels by gathering experience. Perhaps Gobue-chan’s day of turning into a Hobgoblin like us was close.

We didn’t find any new types of prey, however our stomachs were filled.

Meat is very tasty, isn’t it?

After returning to the cave, I read then went to sleep.

* * *

Today I crushed a Goblin who was growing a little impudent.

Of course I didn’t kill him, but recently he was becoming too overconfident in his new abilities, he’ll die one day if I don’t correct him like this. For that reason I steeled my heart and punished him.

I think this is a reasonable thing to do in an environment where carelessness means death.

Well, even if this Goblin does develop some rebellious sentiment against me I can just beat him up again, no problem.

Today the four of us went out hunting again as usual.

We searched for and found some Kobolds I could gain new abilities from.

There are six of them, it’s the largest group we’ve come across up to now, but as we are now we can crush them without a problem. Although they have numbers on their side, we have superior individual abilities and equipment.

We decided to give it a try. Gobumi-chan, armed with a crossbow and shortbow, aimed at a Kobold and prepared to pull the trigger, but then something strange came out from behind the rocks.

A Kobold of small stature wearing on its head what looks like a triple horned horse skull by the three horns growing on its forehead, and a twisted and crooked wooden staff in its hand, it approached the group while muttering something.

From its appearance, I think it’s a Kobold Mage.

I knew since I heard from Gobujii that Goblins and Orcs and other lower-class monsters like Kobolds are generally unable to use magic to interfere with the laws of the world, with the exception of subspecies.

But exceptions do exist where ordinary Kobolds and Goblins can wield magic.

These are called Kobold Mages and Goblin Mages. It is a highly prized and rare ability though not as rare as subspecies.

Without a sense for handling magic I couldn’t wield magic at my leisure yet, and this time I’m facing a Kobold Mage accompanied by six Kobold followers, this could be difficult.

Even so, this is a good chance.

If the Mage used magic, perhaps by observing it I might be able to learn to wield it. If not, I can just take the ability anyway.

Thinking that, we tailed the Kobold party and that somewhat troublesome mission was a success; we were able to see magic being used for the first time. The victim of the Kobold Mage’s magic was a Green Slime.

Even with the ability “Invulnerable to physical damage”, the Slime’s bodily fluids evaporated before the roaring blaze of fire, leaving behind a green stony core. It was quite the flashy scene.

But having seen that I gained a general understanding of magic. If I go back to the cave and practice a bit I think I could do it without a problem.

With that matter settled we went on the attack. The enemy were promptly annihilated.

The Kobold Mage died instantly from a poisoned arrow to the back of the head by Gobumi-chan. The rest were silenced by me and Gobukichi-kun, with the help of Gobue-chan’s poisoned stone and Gobumi-chan’s rapid fire. No matter how strong, they’re no problem if we crush them before they can show that strength.

We stripped the ordinary Kobolds of equipment and put it in Gobue-chan’s backpack, then I secured the Kobold Mage’s staff. Moreover, we took eight “Water Spirit Stones”—strange stones that give off water when tightly gripped—, six “Thunder Spirit Stones”—strange stones that discharge a strong electric shock—, and ten “Fire Spirit Stones” like the ones I ate before, all separated into three small sacks.

I took the Kobold Mage and the six hearts for myself, the rest were eaten by the others, two for each Goblin.

Incidentally, I also ate the Green Slime core.

Ability [Physical Damage Reduction] learned.Ability [Internal Mana Control] learned.Ability [Magician Proficiency] learned.Ability [Intimidating Roar] learned.

It seems the Green Slime did not have “Invulnerability to Physical Damage” but the reduced version “Physical Damage Reduction”, but that’s remarkable enough as it is.

This way we now know how to deal with green slimes the next time we should encounter one: Simply burn them down with “Pyrokinesis”.

Then, I ate the Kobold Mages’ staff and the three kinds of “spirit stones”.Doing this to gain abilities has become sort of a habit of mine.

Ability [Hydro Hand] learned.Ability [Aqua Resistance] learned.Ability [Electromaster] learned.Ability [Lightning Resistance] learned.Ability [Flame Resistance] learned.Ability [External Mana Operation] learned.

Yes, these are good abilities. By practicing these I can finally use magic.

After that, we encountered Armored Tanuki and Night Vipers on the way back. They were killed mostly by Gobue-chan to gain experience then eaten.

Ability [Endurance] learned.Ability [Evil Eye Resistance] learned.

With this it looks like I have learnt all the abilities I can from Night Vipers and Armored Tanuki. Well, it was good food nonetheless.

After that, night fell and I went practicing by myself.

It was hard at first but after one hour I figured out the trick; although it needed a bit of activation time I was able to do it without much trouble.

Incidentally a Green Slime decided to attack me under the cover of night, and seeing it as a good practice target, I decided to take care of it. I crafted a lance with magic and shot it at the Green Slime, killing it in one hit with fearsome power.

I took the core that was rolling around and began to eat it.

Ability [Self Body-Fluid Control] learned.

And with that I gained this ability.

Yeah, I’m now able to turn my sweat into acid (make my sweat highly acidic?), which is useful and makes me satisfied.

However, the fact that my equipment didn’t corrode when I used it is another strange mystery of this world.

* * *

It was raining today. Because of that we could not go outside and instead held a festival inside the cave.

I don’t know when it started, but the Goblins in my generation had begun to operate as a group led by me, and this so-called festival is actually a round robin event that will decide the ranking within the group.

The results are exactly what you would expect.

At the top there was me, then Gobukichi-kun, followed by Gobumi-chan and Gobue-chan.

After the event, with the ranking settled, we did a study group. Because the ones on top have the responsibility of teaching, the ones below had to strictly follow the orders of those above them. Then we promptly decided on a few more rules.

With this orders can be relayed efficiently. While I’m at it, it seems like I’ll be using military ranks.

At the top, there was me as Colonel, Goblin Kichi-kun was Lieutenant Colonel, Gobumi-chan was Major, and Gobue-chan was Captain, after that there was a huge gap to Sergeant to match the difference in power.

Well, it was appropriate due to our still small numbers.

* * *

Today after morning practice, the four of us went hunting again.

And the first thing we encountered was a 70 centimetre long, black spider with yellow lines. I decided to give it the temporary name “Demon Spider”.

Because it’d made a nest, I burnt it to a crisp with my [Pyrokinesis] ability.

I had some trouble preventing a forest fire, since the thread burned and the fire followed it over quite a few trees.

If it had turned into a conflagration, we’d also have died.

Ability [Spider Thread Creation] learned.

And thus, I learned how to secrete spider thread from my fingers—no wait.

Since I’m a Goblin, it’s Goblin thread? Anyway, at my will it was gushing forth from my fingers.

Seeing thread come out from my fingertips vigorously with a “buryuryuryuryuryu”-like sound felt quite surreal, however it’s unquestionably an extremely useful ability.

Unfortunately, as I am now I can’t make delicate work. Skilfully manipulating the thread like a spider is impossible for now. The best I can do is to simply immobilize the target.

If I make the slightest complex movement, I’ll wind up tangled in the web myself, unable to move. Yes, compared to sewing, spinning webs is in a league of its own.

Thus, in order to freely be able to control the thread, I decided to search for more Demon Spiders.

After a little while, I discovered some, and this time I tried killing the spiders with electricity before eating them. Soon I had three corpses.

Ability [Thread Wielding Arts] learned.

With this I became able to delicately manipulate thread. The thread was very durable, so I thought about making clothes and such with it. Also, the Demon Spiders carapace seemed sturdy, so I decided to make use of it when I next construct armor.

After that, while walking, we saw our first Orc in a long time.

The place where we found them was close to where we found an Orc the last time.

Because this place was quite far away from the cave we hadn’t really explored the area, and I was berating myself over how we should have come here earlier.

The Orcs we found were in a group of six, and different from the previous one who carried a pickaxe. These Orcs carried quite heavy and splendid looking weapons like halberds, staves, hunting-knives and long swords, while wearing breastplates or full plates.

Moreover, I think that the halberd-wielding Orc, with the best physique, was the group commander—the Orc Leader.

Still, we decided not to attack them. However, gathering intelligence is another matter so we followed the Orcs down the mountain for an hour until we discovered the location of the Orcs base, a mine.

I saw dozens of Orcs with pickaxes, and the sounds of their efforts could be heard even from where we were watching them.

For the present, I was satisfied with climbing down the mountain. If we try attacking this many opponents we’ll die.

True victory was if we four could sneakily escape with our knowledge and remain undiscovered.

At least that’s what I thought, but then I spotted three Orcs climbing down the mountain.

Even if they raised the alarm, since the other Orcs were far away, it would take a considerable amount of time before they could bring reinforcements; so we decided to quickly attack them.

Hiding in the thicket, we waited for them to reach our shooting range.

Gobumi-chan and Gobue-chan killed one Orc each with their crossbows. The last one was stunned by my lightning, after which I calmly walked up to him and slit his throat.

For transporting the corpses, Gobukichi-kun and I each carried one Orc, while Gobumi-chan and Gobue-chan helped each other, until we reached a place I deemed as safe, where we leisurely took our time to eat.

Ability [Stench] learned.

Yes, plainly an ability I don’t need. [Stench], seriously? Well, Orcs certainly have a distinctive smell. But since their flesh is really tasty, it’s something we’ll have to live with.Moreover, if by any chance I were to discover a use for the ability, I’ll consider it a profit.

* * *

It was currently the end of our morning sparring practice, and some individuals seemed to have a hard time. So far no one (Who has attended my practice) has died during a hunt; although some did get hurt. This being the case, I felt relieved knowing that my training hasn’t been squandered.

Afterwards we went hunting, and while hunting the likes of Night Vipers, Armored Tanukis and Demon Spiders, we found a new prey that undoubtedly possesses better individual abilities than the spiders.

They were a pack of wolves, with black fur that almost looked as if it was made of metal. Without making it complicated, I decided to call them “Black Wolves” temporarily, and for the time being I decided to quietly observe them.

It seems that the pack consists of 16 Black Wolves, who currently seem to be engrossed in eating. Luckily, we are standing leeward, so they have yet to notice us, however were that to change we could end up like that Kobold the Black Wolves are currently eating.

They were 4 times as many as us, but above all the Black Wolf Leader seemed incredibly dangerous. It was considerably larger than the other Black Wolves.

If we went at them from the front, we’d probably suffer a great deal of damage. Because they had greater numbers, the advantage was heavily stacked in their favour.But even though that’s true, an advantage can be turned using a surprise attack.

Gobumi-chan let loose an arrow from her crossbow, piercing the body of the wolf leader who was still in a daze from eating the Kobold meat. At the same time, an arrow from Gobue-chan went through the neck of a nearby wolf.

The Black Wolf Leader wouldn’t die instantly from an ordinary arrow through the body, but because the arrowhead had been coated with my venom, after several seconds the wolf staggered unsteadily and then collapsed, convulsing and foaming at the mouth.

Even so the Black Wolf Leader didn’t die immediately, it was barely hanging on, its life slowly slipping away. Without resistance against the fast-acting poison, the ordinary wolf that got shot through the neck died quickly.

With this we were able to prevent the wolves’ quick teamwork. Considerable time is needed to decide who is going to replace the top member in a pack. You could see the panic in the wolves’ figures when it suddenly happened.

Making full use of the mess we created, Gobukichi-kun and I moved closer and attacked.

Though it was the first time since I was reincarnated that I fought a wolf-type monster, I was sure that I could easily deal with it so long as it didn’t have any special abilities. On approach the wolf bared its sharp fangs at me so it could strike me with its most powerful move “Bite”, in response, I thrust my estoc into his mouth; dripping with venom. With the force of the charge from both sides combined, I easily tore through flesh, punctured through the skull, and destroyed the wolf’s brain.

I caught a glimpse of a wolf trying to escape the confusion, so I charged a high pressure water blade with electricity and slashed at its feet.

The battleaxe-wielding Gobukichi-kun couldn’t hack through the thick-furred black wolves, but his attack forcibly broke its spine and ribs and using his running momentum forcibly broke the neck of the black wolf that collided head on with his shield.

In the midst of all that, the enemy numbers are further reduced by Gobumi-chan and Gobue-chan’s sniping.

After a while, the pack of black wolves, who had lost the teamwork that was their greatest weapon and the effectiveness of their bites had been nullified. Not even one wolf was spared.

Once finished, three of us went to work on cutting up the wolves’ bodies. The wolves’ fur, for later use, had to be kept in the most pristine of condition, both functionally and in beauty. Incidentally, Gobukichi-kun had to be excluded since he was incredibly clumsy and therefore couldn’t be entrusted with such a task.

Because of this, I placed Gobukichi-kun on lookout duty. Due to my ability [Presence Sensor], having Gobukichi-kun on lookout was unnecessary. However in this world where one is constantly engaged in a violent struggle, the experience of such a task is vital; especially to one’s own existence.

Gobumi-chan and Gobue-chan cut up this much without any trouble, they seem to have gained the ability [Dismantle]; so skillful their fingers seemed to vanish.

After that, we gathered the fur and ate the meat, four to each Goblin.

Ability [Pack Leadership] learned.Ability [Pack Hunting Proficiency] learned.Ability [Steel Hide] learned.

As I expected, the Black Wolf Leader had superior abilities befitting its status.

[Pack Leadership] and [Pack Hunting Proficiency] were a huge bonus for group operations.

[Pack Leadership] allows me to quickly identify who can contribute the most aside from my being able to give them instruction, it enhances the ability of the group as a whole .

[Pack Hunting Proficiency] all allies will move efficiently to obey my commands as if I were repeating them to each member individually.

[Steel Hide] the ability increased the defense of fur and leather-based armor in addition to one’s own skin and hair. It definitely doesn’t hurt to have the ability to increase defense at will. I’m certain it will come in handy in the future.

I hunted some demon spiders and green slimes before returning, after having dinner, I went to bed.

* * *

When morning came, Gobue had turned into a Hobgoblin. To congratulate her, we gave her a gift. It was an accessory made from fangs that gave off the vibe of being from a tribal people.

Usually when practice ends, the Goblins end up scattering for the days hunt.

However, this time without scattering everyone underwent an arms inspection.

The lowest and most numerous private weapons that Goblins use are Horned Rabbit Horns, Shell Reinforced Shields and their regular clothes. At the inspection place we only counted them, then after 30 minutes had passed, everyone left the caves together. This time our plan was to raise everyone’s level and to increase my number of skills. So I decided to launch a surprise attack on the orc’s mining base. We didn’t have a particular grudge against the Orcs, we simply did what we needed to in order to survive.

Therefore we attack. Attack and eat.

And thus I shall announce the results. Our camp had only light injuries and we didn’t have a single casualty. Of the Orcs in the mining base, they all died. This included the Orc Leader and his warriors. The main reason for this was the training we’d been undergoing focusing on not only offence but also defence. This was also helped by how decisive, stern and relentless I was being during sparring. That’s why their defensive power was so high. Although, a large part that caused their loss, was due to the Orc leader’s fighting potential being impeded by my Goblin thread, and then prickled to death.

What? Cowardly? I disagree, in the natural world such behaviour isn’t to be underestimated. When you die it’s over, so no matter how cowardly you act, the survivor is the winner.

Only the winners gets to decide what was right and what was wrong.

[T/N: This is not a direct translation, since I felt the original meaning became kind of strange in English.]

In order to always be a winner, I must steel my heart from weakness.

After the battle had ended, we pulverized the medicinal herbs [Healing Grass] we brought, soaked cloth wraps in the fluid, took those cloth wraps and applied them to the wounds. It is very simple medical care, but surprisingly effective.

For patients who bore life threatening wounds, with my [Job – Druid] I proceeded to use my blessed healing skills to cure their wounds.

I thought my magical practice could be useful, so I tried various ways until it worked.

Even if one of their arms had been chopped off, if my healing skills were used it takes some time but adhesion was possible, for a while you’d have an uncomfortable feeling however, compared to losing an arm this is nothing. Moving the arm also seems possible after rehabilitation. I have no choice but to conclude that this healing skill is amazing.

I am truly thankful for having this ability.

Towards the woman who once was a [Druid], I truly harboured feelings of gratitude. This is because if I didn’t have this ability, our numbers would have dwindled considerably. Once I wouldn’t have blinked an eye no matter how many of them died, but after training with these guys for a while, I’ve started to see them as my subordinates and disciples.

Thus if they need help, I’ve developed the desire to aid them.When I’m reminded of those girls who died that day, I offer them a prayer.

While I was administering medical treatments, Gobukichi-kun together with those uninjured ran around gathering Orcs and their equipment. When I finished the treatment I immediately changed to the next stage of the plan.