Chapter 73: The Crystalline Predator

The Pioneer Squad named the newly discovered area “Crystalstone Land.”

The crystalstones growing here were incredibly hard, which delighted adventurers as they obtained a new material.

I let out a long breath as I observed my surroundings.

I noticed various things I wouldn’t have before.

My heightened senses, transcending human limits, reacted sharply to everything.

I could feel the flow of mana more sensitively and discern how someone had trained their body just by observing their movements and breathing.

The breaths and movements of nearly a hundred adventurers mixed complexly in my mind.

Blurred paths of swords appeared and disappeared repeatedly, creating dozens of imaginary enemies that formed and vanished.

“Seris? Are you not coming?”

“Oh, I’m coming.”

I shook my head in response to Selion’s voice.

Lost in the intoxication of my newfound senses, I hadn’t realized that the exploration mission had already started.

However, even as I moved with Selion, I found it hard to focus on the mission.

As I began to adapt to my transformed body over time, every sensation felt surreal.

‘Is this how a dragon perceives the world?’

I softly stroked the wind blowing around me. The way it flowed through my fingers sparked a small inspiration.

‘Could I possibly channel the wind into my movements?’

Even with just a gentle push, my heavy body could move much faster than before.

The surrounding environment blurred and disappeared as I focused solely on the wind flowing before me, cutting off all attention to everything else.

My concentration surprised even myself, but it wasn’t suitable behavior for a team mission.

I furrowed my brow and scattered the wind that had gathered around me.

Our team’s objective—Selion’s team—was to find traces of monsters inhabiting this place.

Though the barren land lacked even a blade of grass, after searching high and low, we finally found a monster.

At first, we almost passed it off as just a large crystalstone.

This was because colorful crystalstones were growing on its back.

“How bizarre…”

One of the team members murmured softly.

As he said, the monster had a truly peculiar appearance.

How had it come to carry the same kind of crystalstones growing from this land on its back?

At that moment, the monster began to move.

The creature, which had been crouching on the ground, suddenly stood up and moved toward a nearby pile of crystalstones.

We watched silently for a while.

The slow-moving monster opened its mouth wide and began chewing on the crystalstones without hesitation.

The crushed crystalstones sparkled in vibrant hues as they shattered.

“Its teeth must be incredibly strong…”

“Stronger than regular iron. It seems like it could be a great material.”

“Does this mean crystalstones are its food? They might not just be ordinary minerals.”

We quickly exchanged opinions. After finishing their discussion, the team members nodded and drew their weapons.

They looked toward Selion. It seemed as though they would charge at the monster the moment she gave the command.

“It would be best to capture it alive if possible.”

With the team leader’s permission, the nineteen members of the team began to move cautiously.

Their movements became a tangled web of action.

I could see the paths of over ten team members unfold before me, and those paths quickly became reality.

While I idly watched my teammates, Selion spoke to me again.

I must have looked odd standing still while everyone else moved.

“Seris?”

“Oh, yes…”

My answer came a beat too late. I awkwardly smiled, suppressing the overwhelming sensations running wild within me.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, I’m just curious about how the senior members hunt monsters.”

“Hm…”

That was as far as my clumsy excuse went.

I leaped off Nightmare’s back and followed behind the team members.

I adjusted my breathing immediately.

Low and steady, so the target monster couldn’t hear my breath.

Everyone’s breathing was slightly different, but they all maintained a similar pattern. I mimicked it.

The target monster resembled a turtle, though it had elongated limbs and a long tail.

The tail, covered in crystalstones, looked especially menacing.

As we closed the distance to the monster, tension filled the air.

Suddenly, the monster chewing on crystalstones turned its head.

Caught in its gaze, the team members froze, but it seemed the monster perceived them as a threat.

[Kuwoaaah!]

The monster roared, raising its front limbs high.

Realizing their ambush had failed, the team members quickly restored their breathing and sprang into action.

Five of them stepped forward, raising shields and swords to block the monster’s movements, while the rest surrounded it with their weapons.

Further away, others pulled out thick ropes and began spinning them.

[Kuwaaaargh!]

As the monster charged, the team members moved in unison.

Ropes flew from all directions, wrapping around the monster, but it twisted its body, snapping the ropes effortlessly.

Surprised by its strength, the team faltered. The monster rushed at the shield bearers and swung its tail.

Boom!

With a heavy impact, the shield bearer was pushed back significantly.

Still, he stood firm on the barren land, enduring the attack.

“Attack!”

It wasn’t clear who shouted, but the signal spurred everyone into action.

Weapons swung toward the monster from all sides.

Swords and spears, occasionally accompanied by axes and blunt weapons, battered the monster’s back.

The hard crystalstones seemed to shield it, but the relentless attacks of nearly twenty adventurers caused the crystalstones to crack and break.

[Kyyaaaaak!]

The monster let out an agonizing scream, but the team showed no mercy.

They shattered the sharp crystal stones on the fallen monster and tightly bound it with ropes.

Suddenly, my eyes met the monster’s large gaze. It shed sorrowful tears that trickled down like beads, shaking its body pitifully.

“Hm…”

I swallowed a small groan at the sight.

A complex mix of emotions rose within me—compassion.

Frowning, I averted my gaze from the monster’s eyes. For an adventurer to feel sympathy toward a monster? It seemed I was mentally worn out.

At that moment, I noticed Dorvan and Noel wearing expressions similar to mine.

Both of them stared at the monster with conflicted eyes as well.

After capturing the monster, Selion’s team returned to the main base where the others were waiting.

The other teams that had gone in different directions for their missions had already arrived ahead of us, and they too appeared to have brought back captured monsters.

“Oh, so your team also captured a monster alive. This will be excellent research material.”

The scholars studying monsters were overjoyed to see the creatures we had brought back.

Shortly after, other teams began arriving one by one.

Those who failed to bring back live monsters dragged their corpses instead.

All the captured monsters shared one peculiar trait: their bodies were covered with brightly shimmering multicolored crystal stones.

Though their unique ecology intrigued me, our job as adventurers ended here.

Extracting more precise information was the scholars’ responsibility.

That evening, I slipped out of the base camp and sat down in a secluded spot.

To fight the monsters we’d face in the future, the use of mana was inevitable.

However, using mana caused scales to sprout on the back of my hand, marking a shift away from humanity.

I couldn’t risk using mana in front of others.

If they saw my transformed appearance, they might attempt to capture and study me as well.

Shaking my head, I dismissed the ominous thought of such a future.

A solution—somehow, I had to find a solution. A way to use mana without transforming my body.

I began slowly manipulating the mana gathered around my heart.

The next morning, all the teams, including Selion’s, had to head out much farther than before to continue their exploration.

Despite the early departure, which left many adventurers exhausted, the team leaders remained firm in their resolve.

Selion’s team was no exception.

At least I had my Nightmare. Thanks to it, I was able to doze off for a short while as I lay slumped on its back.

The deeper we ventured into the crystalline lands, the larger the crystal stones around us grew.

The once vibrant colors of the shimmering stones had grown murky, and their hardness had increased significantly.

As we trudged forward in a daze, my keen hearing caught the sound of insect wings.

A faint buzzing grew louder, vibrating the air.

Turning my head to locate the source of the sound, I spotted a massive insect. With long, outstretched wings and a thin, elongated body, it resembled a dragonfly.

However, it was far larger than any ordinary dragonfly, and its tail was reinforced with hard crystal stones.

The crystalline dragonfly flew straight toward me as though I were its target.

Its flight speed was tremendous, and its numerous legs were spread wide as if ready to snatch me.

Staring blankly at the approaching figure, I drew the sword from my back and swung it.

The arc of my blade traced a star-like path, its tip aimed squarely at the dragonfly’s head.

Then, I released transparent mana.

Last night, after hours of experimentation, I had discovered a way to use mana without transforming my body: releasing the mana before it could alter my form.

Because the mana was expelled before its nature could change or be controlled, it appeared transparent, and its range was inevitably short.

But for now, that was enough. The difference between using mana and not was significant.

The transparent mana emitted from the tip of my blade crushed the dragonfly’s head.

The dragonfly, unable to adjust its flight path with its head mangled, flew past me and crashed into the ground.

Crash!

The fallen body measured roughly one meter in length.

At this size, it could probably carry a small child in its grasp while flying through the sky.

That must be why it targeted someone relatively small, like me.

“This is…”

The team members belatedly noticed the approaching crystalline dragonfly and reacted, drawing their swords and scanning the surroundings.

However, this one seemed to be the only attacker.

I jumped off Nightmare’s back and picked up the trembling dragonfly.

Then, I strapped it onto Nightmare’s back for transport.