Chapter 357

357 – Reunion, Guardians of the Ruins

I land with Aro and the others by the entrance to the ruins in the roots.

Catching my breath in front of the stone door, I spread out my [Presence Perception]. I feel a few presences inside. It’s probably the adams and eve like before. Images of the headless primitive people and the primitives that are only heads pass through my mind.

As I resolve myself, I sense the presence of a monster behind us.

Oops, that was dangerous. The ruins are dangerous, but this island is full of danger too. They might have evolved and ranked up, but the levels of Aro and the others are still low. Their stats are rising rapidly with each battle. It might not be a bad idea to hunt one more B rank monster around here.

I turn towards the presence and instantly spot the shocking pink horny dragon, the giva, squirming a short distance away. It really doesn’t learn, does it? Did it forget being mercilessly blasted away last time by Aro and almost dying?

The giva repeatedly glances at me with its round black eyes. I get the impression that it’s meant to be alluring somehow, but sorry, there’s nothing about that that intrigues me!

Aro is staring at me, so I look at her and nod. Blow it away with enough force that it doesn’t die, please.

“[Gale].”

A tornado emerges from her outstretched fingers and kicks up sand as it closes in the giva. The giva notices part way through and panickedly tries to regain its posture, but is too late and is tossed high into the air and is thrown far away.

“KuuOOOOOnh”

The giva’s sad scream echoes.

That was quite a lot of power. The rise in Aro’s magic stat since becoming a revaana lich is quite considerable. Even against the giva, she should have dealt decent damage.

Well, it shouldn’t die from that much. Having it chase after us would be a bother. Let’s hurry up and go inside.

I stoop down and pass through the door, stepping into the vast room that lies inside.

Using the beams of light that filter in from the ceiling, I survey the surroundings. A huge pillar carved in the shape of a person is supporting the ceiling. As I stop walking, they appear.

Two headless men that look like bundles of muscles. Between them hops a woman’s head, the neck of which blends into a single thick leg. It might not be wrong to think of them as the guardians of these ruins.

Hey, I’m back.

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Species: Adam

Condition: Normal

Lv: 60/100

HP: 729/729

MP: 374/374

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Species: Adam

Condition: Normal

Lv: 67/100

HP: 785/785

MP: 423/423

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Species: Eve

Condition: Normal

Lv: 70/100

HP: 476/476

MP: 660/660

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Standing in my way are three A- ranks. Their appearances are as grotesque as ever, though I have a lot more resistance now than when I first saw them. Besides, I now have a better idea of how adams generally operate.

The ceiling in here is low, so I can’t use [Flight] very effectively, but then flying would only have made me a target for [Gravidon]. The adams also can’t use [High Jump] to bounce around either.

Last time I stumbled onto these three and ran away, but now Aro, the nightmare and the treant have all evolved. The only one who can deal decent damage from the start is Aro, but the nightmare has proved itself again and again by using tricks to lead enemies around by the nose. There’s a good chance it’ll be able to buy some time with thread, even against higher rank opponents. And treant-san can… Treant-san can… Umm… Right, there’s a lot it can do depending on the situation. It has [Gravity]… Though it used it on us last time.

As soon as the adams see us, they sprint towards us, their expressions still unchanging. The eve slows down slightly and hangs behind them. As expected, the eve doesn’t have a lot of health, so it wants to avoid rushing forwards. Its skill composition is…

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Species: Eve

Condition: Normal

Lv: 70/100

HP: 476/476

MP: 660/600

Attack: 360

Defence: 411

Magic: 821

Speed: 721

Rank: A-

Characteristic Skills:

[Automatic MP Recovery: Lv5] [Soft Steps: Lv6]

Resistance Skills:

[Physical Resistance: Lv3] [Magic Resistance: Lv4] [Poison Resistance: Lv1] [Paralysis Resistance: Lv4] [Illusion Resistance: Lv1] [Instant Death Resistance: Lv2] [Curse Resistance: Lv2] [Confusion Resistance: Lv3]

Normal Skills:

[Wide Curse: Lv7] [Death: Lv7] [High Rest: Lv8] [Sleep Paradise: Lv6] [High Care: Lv7]

Title Skills:

[Final Evolution: Lv-] [Dweller of the Furthest Ends: Lv-] [Curse Technique User: Lv8] [Obsessive: Lv9]

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As expected, it’s specialised in healing. Its magic stat being high is expected, but its speed is also monstrous.

For my way of fighting, it would be best to eliminate the eve from the start. If I were to exchange blows with the muscle-brained adams and then they were freely healed, it would be difficult even for me. But without the eve, I can overcome their beatdown through my own healing. These adams are lower level than the one I fought before. My level has also gone up a fair bit since then.

The eve itself doesn’t have much HP, so a single good hit should be enough to kill it. But the eve is even faster than the adams. It’s practically as fast as I am. The adams are also standing in the way of the eve. What I need to pay attention the most to is… The eve’s attack stat might be low, but it’s still plenty to kill Aro and the others.

The question is how much the adams will protect the eve… I’ll have to change how I move accordingly. There are three ways I can imagine this going. The three of them could act as a single unit, or one of the adams could stick by the eve at all times… Or the adams could rely on the eve’s quickness to evade and try and beat me down with all their strength together. If they were to stick together, that would suit me best. Their range of possible actions would be considerably restricted.

To start with, I should focus on working out their strategy.