Chương 223: Sightseeing

I had moved around a fair bit since my transformation into a mechanical menace, but before my untimely demise, I had never really stepped outside of Tolten and seen what the world had to offer with own two eyes–Well, I don't know if those two luminous dots could be counted as my own two eyes, so perhaps I still hadn't truly seen anything, but setting that apart… The landscape was gorgeous.

Leou had mentioned this area of the Northern Wildlands as if it wasn't a big deal, but I suppose that she had seen many things unlike me, so this place wasn't much of a big deal for her, but to me? These tall stones rising out of the soil were a sight worth slowing down for.

These slick and smooth boulders were placed like trees would be in a forest, making this whole area feel like stony woods, but without any canopy, sunlight was free to pour down and illuminate everything–There were barely any shadows around, the sun was directly above in the sky. The stone pillars were thick, several times wider than my arm span in the 'Base Form', and obviously incredibly tall. Moss and vines grew upon them, and from time to time, I would run into one that had partly collapsed…

The reason for this was obvious: Many of the pillars actually had holes in them, dug out by mole-looking creatures about the size of a man's torso. Their claws were clearly quite potent to carve through rock like this, but they turned out to be harmless, frightened by even the smallest of sounds. Their reaction to anything that might be a danger was to plug their tunnels using what Nara informed me wasn't stone magic, but legitimate stone manipulation. …

The difference between these two things is that the latter doesn't consume any energy, such as mana, and relies on controlling existing matter without being able to create anything new, as a spell could. I had never actually met anything or anyone with an ability like this. Magic fuelled by mana was all the rage, which I always found to be a bit of a shame.

There are literally thousands of different ways of power, and probably even more different kinds of energy hanging in the air, and everyone decided to focus on one of each? Talk about boring. Finding my way through this place was a bit complicated, though. I needed to go right through it to eventually get to my objective. Thankfully, I had the assistance of my little sisters.

Nara could map everything around me with utter precision and know with certainty if I had ever been somewhere, while my ghostly little sisters could use their ability to phase through solid matter to scale the natural stone obelisks and take a look at the distant surroundings. I would have liked to say that traversing this place was easy because the only life around was the easily spooked mole-like creatures, but I found traces of blood and gore accompanied by deep claw marks in the ground and rock.

It seemed like whatever entity had slaughtered several groups of beasts in the outskirts had moved deeper in. Huh… I am no seer, but I suddenly had the premonition that my misfortune is high today. Is this thing taking the same route as me, because it's also going for the Cursed-Blood Tree? Little bastard. I have this tingle in my steel bones that tells me this is absolutely what the fuck is happening right now. I really am here right on time, then… Alright.

I guess I'm going to have to speed things up and start running. I would rather not let it get to the tree before me, and if it's slaughtering whatever is in its way anyway… Then I don't have to worry too much about being attacked. I gathered my sweethearts and began moving more quickly. It was a shame for the gorgeous landscape, but I had a job to complete. The pace picked up, and using the guidance I had received from my little sisters, I was quickly out of the stony woods.

Finding myself in a lush, flowering plain. In the distance, two small peaks could be made out–My destination was in the middle of them. Normally, traversing the overgrown plains would have been a pain, but a path was made through it. The grass and flowers had been flattened by the passage of a large creature, a creature that was once again heading in the direction I was supposed to take. Seriously, what are the odds?

This thing can't be from the area, it would have found the tree earlier otherwise–According to Leou, this tree had been there for a long time, simply undiscovered due to being in an area annoying to get to. Usually, it wouldn't stop explorers and adventurers, but with the constant threat of losing one's sapience, lengthy expeditions into harsh terrains were avoided. This tree was only discovered because of Ergonip.

He had sent some of his undead insects to search the area, and one had stumbled upon the tree before being promptly cursed straight to Hell. Ergonip would have liked to come get it himself, but as I had learned from Leou, the dusty skeleton was actually a wanted man in basically every single nation of this continent. The combined reward for his head was apparently so high that a treasure-hoarding dragon once tried to get him for it.

The snow leopard seemed to believe that Ergonip was just making most of the story up to look cool–Something he apparently often did completely unprompted. Anyway, the story was that he killed the dragon, and that it was how he had gotten an undead dragon among his servants. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. …

In any case, due to this, he couldn't really move around as he wished without risking getting attacked, so it was up to someone unknown to do the job. I did not expect to have concurrence, though. As I ran after the trail left by this mysterious creature, I traversed several other regions, most of them forested areas or plains, and I never caught sight of the entity until I neared the endpoint.

One more reason why the tree had not been discovered beyond the fact that it was surrounded by difficult terrain to traverse was that you needed to go into a random pit in the ground to find it–Indeed, the Blood-Cursed Tree had no need for sunlight. I, however, did not get to witness it myself as the moment I set my sight upon the area where the entrance should be, I was met with the sight of a purplish creature staring down into the hole.

I remained hidden and observed–At a glance, I wasn't able to determine what I was looking at exactly. But it did not stay still, circling the pit as though debating whether to go in or not. It definitely looked like a feline. In fact, it looked a whole lot like an oversized kind of housecat. Its large eyes had a striped pattern of varying, changing colours, its fur was a purplish colour, but looked blue when under sunlight. This thing was big.

If I wasn't misremembering, it had about the same shoulder height as an elephant, but was much more slender, and its maw was shaped in a way that it seemed like it was constantly smiling, showing off its pearly white fangs. The only blemishes were bloodstains on its paws–This was definitely the thing that I had been following. The beast stayed completely silent while analysing the hole, seemingly reluctant to enter.

I could only assume that it had an interest in the tree, but was wary of the curses it could rapidly inflict. Why come all the way here if curses scare you, though? It wouldn't make a trek to this place unless it already knew what was there, but somehow it was afraid of the very thing the tree was known for? Perhaps it desires something else in the area where the Cursed-Blood Tree is located? That's quite possible… Regardless, it is standing in my way.

It's moving in circles a bit too much for me to approach it sneakily, and there aren't any nearby ways for me to jump down from above… I'll have to fight face-to-face. Or well… I ripped out the 'Voice Box Recorder' from my chest cavity and placed it on the ground before walking to the side and hiding. I soon made it play the recorded sounds of the Wildfolk lord from earlier, which immediately made the beast perk to attention. Its fur stood on its end for a few moments before it began carefully approaching.

The smile on its face did not budge, but judging by its eyes, it wasn't actually happy at all. Its maw slightly opened, and it soon pounced into the grass, crushing the 'Voice Box Recorder' with one of its paws, looking around confused before taking a look at the shattered steel and components clinging to the underside of its paw.

A weird sound escaped its throat, before suddenly slamming its long tail into the ground, using it like a limb to send itself flying backwards into a spinning motion before landing on all four legs–Like any feline worth something. This led to my wires completely missing their target. I tried, at least. The cat probably sensed the electricity ahead of time. Its fur is much like human hair. Electrical currents can affect them even if not in direct contact I see.

This might actually be the first proper time I am fighting such a large being, and it doesn't seem like a weak one. It hissed at me, and patterns that definitely weren't there before shone all over its body. I see! This isn't a wild beast, Mara. This is someone's pet. This feline's fur is covered in runes to increase its strength and mana circulation–It was certainly looking into the pit and leaving claw marks because its master wants the easiest, and most direct path to the Cursed-Blood Tree …

Wouldn't it mean that there is a fucker watching through this thing's eyes right now? I'd better make sure my hood and cloak stay on, or else my physical description will be leaked, and Leton will know that I am active in, or somewhere near Heldinot. I do not want to see if he made a SHLAD-02. The feline pounced at me, and with its size, I wasn't likely to be able to outspeed it or get out of its effective attack range, so the best course of action was to get even closer.

I dodged by throwing myself forward as well. The swing of its claws displaced air, making my cloak flutter, but I couldn't waste any time. While big beasts usually had trouble dealing with smaller but strong opponents, this particular one was a particularly lean feline. It was definitely agile enough to quickly reposition if given the chance to.

I manipulated the wires of my body, making some of them wrap themselves around my right fist as I delivered a lightning-infused, hydraulic-enhanced punch to the feline's stomach. The beast cried out in pain, it jumped back, but the lightning currents made its muscles twitch enough for it to fail to do exactly what it intended. I sent more wires, wrapping them around the closest body part of my opponent–Which turned out to be its left paw. I direct more lightning into the beast, making it convulse uncontrollably.

Smoke rose from its fur as though it was going to catch on fire, but against my expectations, it hissed and managed to force itself to rise–Rise onto its hind legs for a moment, brutally swinging its left paws through the air. I was swept off my feet and promptly launched away as the wires broke. I smashed into a boulder, bounced against it, and rolled back into the tall grasses I had come from. Good thing I invested in 'Reinforced Frame' and 'Shock Dampeners'. I took basically no damage.

I only felt the sweet, sweet suffering of the hits. Nonetheless, I was on the ground, and the beast was already pouncing back on me. Its fur had taken on a darker shade and was still emitting a bit of smoke, but somehow, the electrical punishment I subjected it to did not weaken or daze it at all. Unfortunately for the kitty, I still have plenty where that came from.