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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Heavy armor? Suddenly?”
Instead of answering, I nodded my head.
Even I thought it was a pretty good plan. If we couldn’t cross the forest filled with poison pools, we just needed to make it possible to cross, right? What could be a more clear-cut answer than this?
If we made clothes out of materials that could withstand the poison and wore them, we wouldn’t die just from stepping in a few poison pools. Hmm. It was a perfect plan.
I gripped the handle of the shovel I had on my back and stuck it into the ground.
The shovel blade sank in, and some dirt scattered around my feet. This much dirt should be fine, right? Should I test it out first? It would be a huge headache if I lost an important combatant because I was too lazy to do it.
Even if it was bothersome, it was better to test it out.
What should I do about the materials?
Dirt, groundwater flowing beneath the dirt, and rocks. For now, these materials should be enough.
“Crafting.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the dirt where the shovel was dug began to clump together. Soon, the clumped dirt transformed into a square block just big enough to trap a human head, and I lifted it up.
It was quite heavy, like a sack of rice, since it was made by compressing a lot of dirt. Even with my rather sturdy muscular body that I had gained from desperately surviving on this deserted island for 10 years, it was difficult for me to lift more than three of these blocks.
“Renny. Try lifting it.”
“This? Hand it over for now.”
Renny received the block I handed her with a puzzled expression.
She looked at me as if asking what this was.
“Is it heavy?”
“Not really?”
“Do you think you can carry about 10 of them?”
“10? I think I probably can. But why?”
I took the block back from Renny and strode towards the boundary line. The purple ground exuding a sticky purple aura like a suspicious cat was eerie. Any ordinary creature would meet its end the moment it entered. That’s why we couldn’t enter that place using ordinary methods.
I threw the block in my hand towards the purple ground with an underhand throw. The dirt block, created by mixing various materials with my skill, landed in the middle of the poison pool with a squelching sound. Watching the dirt block gradually shrink in size along with the smoke, I clicked my tongue.
This composition seemed completely useless.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to find a mixture that can withstand that poison pool.”
“I can tell it’s a headache-inducing matter.”
Of course. Even my head was aching. But we had to find a mixture that could withstand that poison pool in order to scout. There was no point in just going back and forth along the boundary line like a coward.
I returned to the previous spot and made a block with a slightly different ratio. This time, it was a block made like clay by drawing in dirt entwined with tree roots. How would it turn out this time? I approached the boundary line again, threw the block, and checked its condition. Although it was a bit slower than before, the block still melted away. If it melted like that, should I consider it to be almost at the level of hydrochloric acid?
Even though there was magic and monsters, I wasn’t sure if the scientific laws of this world were exactly the same as Earth’s. After all, that female knight yawning in front of me boasted monstrous strength that could handle 1 vs 500 when her body was intact. My spine still shivered at the thought. If she had been in good condition, I would have literally been turned into minced meat.
I was really lucky. If she had been in good condition in the first place, there would have been no reason to fight. No matter how violent her personality was, she wouldn’t have suddenly tried to kill someone.
“Crafting.”
How about this mixture? This time, I peeled the bark off a nearby tree and covered the outer surface. It was the bark of an unknown tree commonly found in this forest. I didn’t know if it would have any effect, but it was good to at least try. I threw the block wrapped in tree bark into the pool.
“…Oh.”
The block melted away much more slowly than before. Did the tree covering the outer surface have components that could withstand that poison? It was an unexpected gain. I had just gathered materials at random and threw them in.
I stroked the tree whose bark I had peeled off, revealing its pristine white innards. My hand felt sticky. There must have been sap flowing under the bark. The trees in my territory weren’t like this. Upon closer inspection, the trees did have a slightly different appearance from the ones in my territory.
I never paid attention to such things. How could I have known the difference between trees when I wasn’t a botanist?
I never had a chance to experience it since there was nothing that spewed acidic poison other than the hydra.
Anyway, finding a clue was a big gain. This tree bark seemed quite useful not only for scouting but also for the decisive battle with the hydra. I started walking around the area, peeling tree bark indiscriminately.
“Why are you suddenly peeling tree bark?”
“You peel it too. This seems to be quite resistant to that poison.”
“Ah, is that so?”
That’s right. But this time, she understood at once. While watching Renny peeling tree bark with her bare hands nearby, I inserted the shovel blade between the bark.
With the two of us working, the task was finished in an instant. I took a brief break while looking at the tree bark piled up as tall as me. Renny, who had been leaning against a rock after finishing the work, suddenly spoke to me.
“You’ve stripped almost all the trees in this area. But what are you going to do with this?”
“I’m thinking of making armor with this.”
“It might withstand the poison pool… but isn’t it too weak? Even if it endures that pool, it’s just tree bark, right?”
Renny’s point was valid. No matter what modifiers were attached, as long as the basic base was tree bark that could be easily peeled off with human hands, even if it somehow withstood the poison, it would only have a slightly better level of defense than ordinary clothing against physical attacks.
So I couldn’t make armor purely with this tree alone.
I needed to mix in other materials.
I thought of usable materials in my head. Things that could be obtained in this forest. Things that I hadn’t collected because they didn’t seem particularly necessary. The time had come to start gathering them.
“Leave this here, and I’ll go get something for a bit.”
“What is it?”
“Bones.”
“Bones? Won’t they melt away the same?”
“There’s one type of bone that likely won’t.”
If it was that guy’s bones, they should be able to withstand it sufficiently. I got up from my spot and dusted off the dirt on my bottom. Since we were falling behind schedule more than expected, it would be good to quickly retrieve them. I took Renny and moved deeper into the bears’ territory.
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“What the hell is this?”
“It’s the bear whose head you smashed.”
“Me? I guess it was just a big, stupid oaf.”
You’re fucking strong, you bitch.
Does this bitch even know how strong she is?
Probably not. After all, she’s a girl who only has Karina in her head.
I circled around the corpse of the bear leader, whose head was partially shattered and oozing rotten brain matter, checking its condition. Although it was slightly decomposed, considering that this guy was like a boss monster, its hide and bones would be more useful than ordinary bears. The insides were rotten, emitting a terrible stench, but I was used to this level. Zombie stench was just like this.
“I’ll skin it. And tear off the bones too.”
“I’m not particularly good at this kind of thing.”
“It’s fine. I’ll do it alone.”
I started skinning and tearing off the bones of the bear leader that was emitting a terrible smell. There wouldn’t be many usable parts due to the rotten areas, but for now, this much was enough. Instead of helping with the skinning, Renny neatly arranged the bones and hide I handed her to one side.
Ugh, the smell has permeated my whole body.
I had even hidden in piles of dung to survive, but this was even worse than that. As expected, there was nothing as foul as the stench of a decomposing corpse.
“Ugh. It’s really suffocating…”
“I’ll go wash up before we head back.”
“Yeah. Wash up quickly and come back. If you go in that state right now, you’ll die from the stench, not the poison.”
I brushed off the rotten entrails stuck to my body and headed towards the pond. Fortunately, the pond on this side was not contaminated and remained clear and clean. It would have been a headache if this side was also contaminated. By the way, there were a lot of rabbits here too.
I glanced at the rabbits drinking water and jumped into the pond. As the cold pond water soaked my entire body, my body that had been heated up from the hard labor cooled down. After swimming for quite a long time and washing my body, I got out of the pond and returned to where Renny was. Renny blankly stared at my soaking wet appearance and spoke.
“You came back completely drenched. Isn’t it uncomfortable?”
“I’m used to it.”
“Ah, I see…”
I approached Renny, who was trailing off, and lifted the rolled-up hide next to her with both hands.
“Let’s go back. You carry the bones.”
“All of this?”
“…Just carry two shin bones and the two skulls.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll do that.”
Renny, who had given a playful answer, followed me with the shin bones on her shoulders and the two skulls gripped in one hand. The skulls were dragging on the ground, but in the first place, they weren’t a size that a person could carry alone.
Anyway, I had gathered all the necessary materials.
The bones and hide of the bear leader. Tree bark resistant to acidic poison. If I weaved these together well, I could make heavy armor, no, a protective suit.
Arriving at the place where the tree bark was gathered, the piercing sunlight greeted me. It was a location without shade, so the noon sun mercilessly assaulted my eyes. I put down the hide next to the tree bark and watched as Renny put down the bones next to it.
“Ah, my arms… Can I rest for a bit?”
“Sure.”
With my permission, Renny sprawled out on a nearby rock. I glanced at her and turned my gaze back to the materials. Should I try making one for now? There were enough materials to make about five or six…
I closed my eyes and pictured the armor that would cover my body.
An appearance wrapped in hide, with bones and tree bark coiled like scales on top. A protective suit that thoroughly blocked exposure from head to toe. Having organized my thoughts, I used the skill.
“Crafting.”
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