Level Eater-Chapter 128: Things I don't understand well

It was brighter than the Amneri Great Forest, and Tatsuro and his team were moving forward, cutting down trees with Jeanne in the lead, through a forest with as many trees as the area around the town they had visited together with Leela.

Along the way, monsters appeared several times between the trees, and there were simple traps that were easy to figure out, but they were crushed by Jeanne and destroyed before they could be activated, so they weren't an obstacle at all.

At first, Tatsuro was trying hard to secure SP without killing anyone, but the monsters that appeared in this level 1 dungeon had no skills.

In other words, only small fry weaker than Imomu are produced.

However, it is possible to extract magic stones from corpses using such small items, but they are only about 1 or 2 centimeters long, and occasionally a magic stone of about 3 centimeters will come out, so this is too cost-effective. So, they decided to ignore them and let them continue on their way.

"But how can there be monsters with no skills at all?" (Tatsuro)

"As expected, it's a dungeon that even children can roam around in." (Ai)

"The traps are nothing but childish tricks. I haven't seen a pitfall in a long time." (Tatsuro)

There wasn't a trap that could kill someone instantly, and Tatsuro stepped over the hole.

"Those jerks seemed to be talking way too much." (Tatsuro)

"Don't say that, but for a small child, this place is also a big adventure." (Ai)

"Certainly, from the perspective of those kids, even this pit might look like a gigantic hole physically?" (Tatsuro)

It seemed like they were having a lot of fun talking about it, and the image of a dangerous dungeon that Tatsuro and his friends had at the beginning disappeared, and they proceeded to the third and fourth floors while enjoying a short walk.

Then, when they entered the fifth floor and were walking through the forest with Jeanne in the lead as before, Cardina, who was using Dispel magic, alerted them.

As soon as Tatsuro wondered what was going on, he synchronized with Cardina's magic and investigated, and about ten Imomu were reacting there.

If that was all there was, there was no need to be particularly wary, but for some reason, the children who had entered in front of Tatsuro and his friends seemed to be surrounded by them.

"First of all...maybe? But if it's about Imomu... No, I'll go take a look anyway." (Tatsuro)

"What's wrong?" (Ai)

"It looks like the kids we were talking about earlier are fighting, surrounded by ten Imomus." (Tatsuro)

"Is that something urgent?" (Ai)

"No, they are losing a little, but Imomu seems to be weaker than the one we fought the first time, and it doesn't seem like the situation is that dangerous. So, let's take a quick look, and if it looks okay, let's just pass by." (Tatsuro)

And so, Tatsuro and his team headed towards them while hiding, so as not to get in the way of the children. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

Since Jeanne stands out, Tatsuro has her transformed into [Child Form] and as they all watch the children from behind a tree, they see a heated battle unfolding there.

"Penelope, you're coming too far forward! Aaron, protect me with your shield and let me back down!"

"I-I understand! Penelope, this way!"

"Yeah"

"""Geeeeeeee"""

The boy who had been talking to Tatsuro seemed to be the leader, and although he seemed to have a little leeway, he was firmly in command and had the larger boy go to help the beastman girl who had lunged out in front of him.

"Barry, I'm gonna take them down over here, cover me with the bow! Haaaaah!"

"""Giiiiii"""

The boy, the leader, had his friends cover him with their bows while he poked them one by one with the spear in his hand to ensure that he inflicted damage.

Just when they were weakened, another girl from before, who was standing behind them, used lightning magic to shoot out a small bolt of lightning, defeating the three of them all at once.

"It looks like it's okay. It's even more amazing than I expected." (Tatsuro)

"Right. There are only seven more. Fighting!!!" (Ai) (T/N: I added fighting!!! As a way of showing Ai's admiration)

As the two watched and cheered with admiration, another wizard boy finally burned the last one away with fire magic, and the little party was able to overcome it by themselves.

The boys and girls looked excited and were all praising each other for their good fight.

"Well then, shall we hurry up?" (Ai)

"Right. If they knew we were watching from here, they'd be so uncool." (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro and his team left there holding their breath, thinking that there would be a difference in mood between fighting under the watchful eye of an elder and fighting alone.

"Anyway, I read in the book that it is possible to run into other parties even when you are not in a common location, but I never expected to run into someone we knew." (Tatsuro)

"Is it that rare?" (Ai)

"Hmm, but at level 1 there aren't that many fields in the first place, and in low-level dungeons there may be quite a few." (Tatsuro)

While talking about this, they left the place without the children noticing, and after a while, Cardina discovered something again.

Besides, Tatsuro synchronized with the Dispel magic again to find out if something had happened to the children and found that it wasn't the case and a strange reaction that looked like a monster but was not a monster was found on Tatsuro's path.

"What the hell?" (Tatsuro)

"What else happened?" (Ai)

"I'd say there is... or rather... there's something ahead of us that I don't quite understand." (Tatsuro)

"""???"""

"Pewee." (Cardina)

Cardina was the only one who sympathized with Tatsuro's strange sensation and nodded, but everyone else tilted their heads.

"Well, it doesn't seem to be moving, so let's go take a look. Then we'll probably figure something out." (Tatsuro)

"That's right, I'm also curious about something you don't understand." (Ai)

Then, as they continued walking toward something they didn't understand, they saw a small black vortex floating in the air.

"Is that what you don't understand?" (Ai)

"Ah, there's no doubt that it's something I don't understand very well…Even if I actually look at it, I don't really understand it." (Tatsuro)

"But I feel like there's something strange about it. Something... it seems like it's close to us..." (Ai)

"Close to Nana and us…? ──Hmm?" (Tatsuro)

As they all stared at it, not knowing what it was, the black vortex began to emit a small light.

As they watched closely to see what was going to happen, Imomu suddenly jumped out of there.

"Wow, it's Imomu." (Ai)

"Judging from the reaction of the Dispel magic, it doesn't seem like it's some kind of illusion, so it might be something that creates monsters." (Tatsuro)

Even as they watched, Imomu continued to be produced relentlessly.

"...No, isn't there anything else?" (Ai)

"I don't need Imomu without skills." (Tatsuro)

They tried waiting to see if some kind of strong-looking monster would appear, but no matter how long it took, it was still boring.

It makes them want to complain, demanding that they should get back the time they have been waiting for.

"Isn't it better to call it the Imomu Generator?" (Tatsuro)

"I agree" (Ai)

"Desu-o" (Nana)

"Pewee" (Cardina)

"Neigh" (Jeanne)

"It was passed with a majority vote. Congratulations, you are now an Imomu Generator!" (Tatsuro)

"……………………"

The black vortex, which didn't seem to have any will, didn't react in any particular way and just mechanically released Imomu.

"Well, I guess so." (Tatsuro)

"It is worthless." (Ai)

While Ai was complaining, Tatsuro suddenly thought that [Level Eater] could be used on that, so he tried hitting it with a black ball.

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Level: 1

Skill: [Monster Creation Num-3689.031]

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(??? What is this? Num-3689.031? It's not like it's 3689.031 level)

Tatsuro tries to see if he can get some level, but he doesn't get anything, so he deactivates [Level Eater].

"It seems like it can only create monsters, but I'll try defeating them for now." (Tatsuro)

"Can you defeat it?" (Ai)

"Ah, maybe? It had a level, so I don't think it's impossible to defeat. And it is at level 1." (Tatsuro)

"Now, if that's the case, how should I do it, but I'm reluctant to touch it directly." (Ai)

So Tatsuro tried firing a laser at it, but it was sucked into the vortex and, as if in return, about 20 Imomoos were released at once.

"It's disgusting!" (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro used fire magic to wipe out the Imomu that came swarming around.

"Did the energy just get absorbed? There was no such skill." (Tatsuro)

"Then I guess I'll try it next." (Ai)

While saying that, Ai took out the celestial Bow from the [Item Box].

Immediately, she poured her energy into making an arrow and fired it into the Imomu generator.

However, that too was sucked into the vortex, and a large amount of Imomu was produced again.

"Is that the type of guy you can't defeat?" (Tatsuro)

"Hehehe, sweet Tatsuro. There's a theory for defeating absorption-type enemies like this." (Ai)

"Absorption type? Ah, you mean something like making it eat more than he can absorb/chew?" (Tatsuro)

"That's right. I'm going to do that thing that will make it go 'bang'." (Ai)

While saying that, Ai held up her bow and fired a flurry of energy arrows.

Then, the moment Ai's arrow hits the black whirlpool, Imomu pops out one after another.

Tatsuro continues to annihilate them with magic while working with Jeanne.

They continued doing this for about five minutes, but there was no sign that anything like that would happen.

"Ai, that's enough." (Tatsuro)

"Oh, wait a minute, my archery skill will be 8 in just a little while." (Ai)

"You've changed your purpose, haven't you?" (Tatsuro)

"Alright, now it's here. And I said I will just increase the number of Imomu, but this..." (Ai)

The area around Tatsuro and his friends was already filled with the corpses of thousands of Imomu.

The noise was no longer disgusting.

"While Ai was doing it, I was analyzing it with Cardina, but it seems like he's just converting it rather than absorbing it." (Tatsuro)

"Transformation? Does that mean that the moment my arrow hits it, it transforms into Imomu?" (Ai)

"Ah, I guess that's why I've never incorporated it into myself. Therefore, the "bang" strategy you were talking about earlier doesn't seem to make sense." (Tatsuro)

"Seriously...?" (Ai)

The two of them started to argue, and just as Tatsuro was about to suggest that they ignore it, Nana raised her hand.

"What's wrong, Nana?" (Tatsuro)

"No, do you mind if I try it last?" (Nana)

"Huh? Ah, well, that's fine. But Nana didn't have any attack skills, right?" (Ai)

"Yes. However, if the other party converts the power, what if I absorb it without giving anything to it?" (Nana)

"Ah, [Dragon Drain]!"

With "Drain", it is possible to inflict damage on the opponent without giving away the power that can be converted.

It was definitely a blind spot. So, Tatsuro accepted the suggestion, saying that if there was a way to defeat it, he should know it for the future.

And so, Nana decided to challenge the black vortex.