Friday, 12 December 2014

Master of Monster 12-2

Hey guys so here is the second half of chapter 12 . Since I was allready working on it I finished it.
I also sent an E-Mail to Re:translations. Better late than never
I will be away until the 23rd of december and I think until then I will know if I or Re:translations are going to work on MoM.
Just in case you can give me suggestions of other projects ( only stuff nobody is doing right now :) ) that I could translate in the comment section. I will take a look at them when I come back.

Have fun reading and keep it peaceful :)


------

***

The tree branch bended and hit the ground.
A blow as sharp as a whip, that had enough power to leave a big gouge in the ground.

If that hit a car it would most likely be wasted. If I ate that I would most likely turn into just a stain on the ground.

Barely evading this powerful strike boasting with blood thirst was one wooden doll, Rose.

"Shiii"

The second she landed Rose pounced forward with a shrill scream, towards a huge and majestic monster called Treant.
Describing his form in a single word it would be "walking tree".
When she was a slime Lily was pretty big too, but the Treants height easily surpassed 4 meter.

Accidental mowing down trees while walking towards us this Treant had enough power to just destroy a house.
But Rose wasn't scared at all by his huge form and faced him properly.

While cutting down the branches that came at her from all directions with her axe she evaded a huge swipe.

"Hm?!"
While doing so one branch followed her closely like a snake. She immediately repelled it with the shield in her right hand.
Even though she succeeded in defending her stance was broken. There the Treant went to attack again, moving by wriggling his countless branches.

"Onee-sama!"
"Got it!"

While Rose had held the Treant in one place, Lily had stayed in the back to prepare her attack magic . Now she had finished and her hands started glowing.

Attribute: Wind
Property: Bullet
Magic power input: 3 steps
A power comparable with an anti-tank rifle.

--- kiiiin

With a sound that felt like it scratches your eardrum a part of the Treant exploded.

The tree trunk that was so fat that two adults would not be able to touch hands if they hugged it from either side was split perfectly in half so that one could have a peek at the scenery behind.

Even a Treant could not withstand an attack like that and his wave like attacks were stopped.
Rose did not miss that gap and swung her axe widely.

"Shiiiiiiiii"

The finishing blow hit right into the hole Lily drilled.
Creaking in agony the Treant's huge body was perfectly split in two before he hit the ground.

"Wow, you started to become pretty synchronised when fighting"

I quietly muttered

I brushed away the branch that stopped in front of my face. Usually Rose walks in front and cleans the way for us to walk, but since she is shorter then me from time to time there are annoying branches in my way.

"In our first battles we were so bad I was prepared to die"

Lily who was walking next to me responded to my muttering

"Me too. Especially when Rose appeared my heart was about to stop"
"I'm sorry I scared you back then"

"Don't worry in the end we survived thanks to you. Today's battle as well, good job!"
"I'm grateful"
"Lily too good job"
"Ahaha. It was somehow fun to me "
"What are you talking about. If it wasn't for Lily-onesama I would not have been able to fight safely on the front line. I'm very thankful for this role splitting."

After our encounter with the Treant ended we continued to advance thru the forest.
Direction wise we walked towards the sun rising. That means now we conveniently walked towards east.
More specifically we walked further away from the location the colony was at.

Its supposed to be like that. Probably.

A city child like me can't really tell apart the forest scenery. I can't really feel it but we should be pretty far away.
I can't really rely on my sense of directions, but I left the guidance up to Rose so there shouldn't be any problems.

In the woods you usually can't even see the sky, but because of height differences in the ground you can sometimes see quite far and in between the mountains there is one which is especially big. Just like Mount Fuji it serves as a landmark and apparently the Expedition Unit was marching towards it.

At least that's what Kato-san has heard. More precisely that was information that Takaya who she was talking to had.

The reason why we are walking in the same direction as them is to get far away from the colony. In other words to get away from the vicinity of the cave.

Since we left the cave already 5 days have passed.
I feel like by now we should have walked a considerable distance already That is of course only if we didn't walk in circles.
If we were only humans we probably wouldn't have been able to advance thru the forest so easily.

Only because Lily and Rose, whose strength was no comparable to a human's , cleared the road in front of us, us humans were able to walk on easily.

The weakest one among us Kato-san also held on pretty well so far . If we are starting to overdo it a little we have to be careful.

The biggest cause for anxiety was camping out, but so far we haven't been attacked in our sleep yet.
Furthermore Lily and Rose don't need any sleep so they have been keeping watch over night.
It became normal that I would sleep while hugging Lily and Kato-san would sleep close to Rose who was making hands and feet.

"That's far enough for today"

The night falls early in the forest.
Humans can't see well at night and when you are uncertain about where you are stepping the danger of an accident rises quickly.

Like we have done the days before we started to prepare the camp while there was still light.
Once we found a suitable place for camping, first Lily changes back into her slime form and melts the smaller plants. In doing so we can create some space in the forest. Next Rose starts to prepare a camp fire.

Even though a fire poses a risk because it stands out I determined that it is more dangerous for the burdensome humans to not have any vision at all. Of course we are always looking for a location were not much light can escape.
In times like these it is really convenient that a forest provides so much shelter.

We went out to get food as soon as possible.
With the crackling camp fire in the middle we sit around it in a circle. This is how we always had dinner.

By the way the tree Rose cut is burning really well. Normally its hard to make a fire with a fresh tree. I wonder if this is also an effect of magic power.

"All right, it's good that we made it safely so far.. Let's not slack up!"
"That's right. Rather from here on out the main act begins"

I answered Lily's agreement with a nod.

"Most likely we will soon leave the area where the Expedition Unit was active, so the amount of monsters will increase as well"

Until now all the monsters we encountered were alone. But that was only because the Expedition Unit was hunting the monster and drastically reduced their population.
Firstly one of the reasons we were going in the same direction as the Expedition Unit was that we had the expectation that the monster population would be a little lower.
The second reason was of course so that they could take over Kato-san

"As there is a dangerous monster around the cave there is also to problem of how far we have to run."
"We have been proceeding more smoothly than expected. I also think we should search for a place were we can relax soon."
"If we continued to follow on the Expedition Units' trail won't we end up leaving the forest?"
"If that is possible that would also be great. But practically speaking that might be difficult."

Thus, after walking for days and days in the never changing scenery of the forest, instead of tiredness a feeling of futility started weighting us down.

It didn't really affect Lily and Rose, because they are monsters, but to us humans it was emotionally hard.

Since our psyche started to weaken the dangers on the way were increasing. Of course the fatigue also accumulated

"Its only been 5 days since we left the cave but soon we should start building a new base."

"If Master thinks so then I will follow"

"At least we need to rest for a bit before we continue further. To be honest I'm feeling a little tired. I know I'm slowing you down but I don't want to commit a fatal mistake."

Thus, after talking about it we warmed up the smoked meat of lizards and monsters that we brought with us over the camp fire.
I took one of the lizards and took a big bite.

Oh Yeah, there is also the problem of food.
While moving it is difficult to guarantee a supply of food. Thinking about attacking monster, for example you can eat Fire Fang meat but you can't eat Treant.
After all we should first find a place to stay, collect food, rest and recover our strength. Finding a place like our previous cave would be the best though.

"Come to think of it"

Kato-san who was chewing on a crispy baked a lizard spoke up.

She is fundamentally a quiet person. I don't know if it has always been like that or if she became like that, but usually she just listens to Lily and my conversation.

Even Rose who went thru a lot of trouble to get the ability to speak usually doesn't talk, so on our journey it is mostly Lily and me who are talking.

"What is it?"
"What?"

Since it is such a rare occasion Lily and I both looked at her at the same time.

"ahh... well..."

Kato-san was wrapped up in a blanket hugging her knees and fidgeting, she seemed really uncomfortable.

"Um, after hearing about our future plans I've been thinking..."

"About what?"

"Senpai... don't you ever think about returning to our previous world?"

That question hit like a bomb.

Lily who was cuddling with me started shivering a little.
Rose who was carving wood, looked at us confused.

"I don't particularly think about it"

But my answer was terribly shallow.

Unexpectedly, Kato-san opened her eyes wide with surprise

"Is that so?"
"Yeah"

I bit of the lizards leg and started chewing on it.

"That is, when we just arrived in this world I thought all the time about when we will be able to go home."
"In that case.."
"But right now, I have these guys"

I gently brushed Lily's head, who was sitting next to me.
"...Master"

Lily called me with a restrained voice, which was rare for her.

"For us, if Master wants to return, then ..."
"Ah, no... It's not like that. My way of expressing it was wrong."

I pulled the frowning Lily closer to me with my right arm.

"I want to be together with you two"
"Master.."
"In the first place the assumptions are wrong. If we should go home or not is something we will only need to think about when we if we can go home. At the moment we don't have a single clue, and surviving even one day longer takes all our effort. We don't have any resources to spare on finding a method of returning"

There is no way I'm not thinking about my parents and siblings I left over there.
The think I want to tell them the most is that I'm save.
But I also do not want to part with the important things I found here.
It would be great if I could go home and take them with me.
If you think about it its quite the dilemma. But luckily right now this is just a "what if" scenario.

Instead of aimlessly searching for a way to return, looking for a way to survive in this world takes a higher priority.

But accepting that you have to live in this world and living in this dangerous forest are two different things.

Saying it simply, there will be a limit.

Dying from a monster attack is one possibility, but there is also the problem with the food supply. Right now we are barely surviving with our food rations, but lately malnutrition has started to become a problem. At the colony we could confirm that the berry of a tree were edible, but in the long run there will be a shortage in vitamins.

If we were to continue this lifestyle for too long we might also destroy our physical condition... That is something that Miho Mizushima complained about. I don't really know much about it, but scurvy seems to be one horrible thing that might come up, so she explained.

I don't know how the people of this world will react to someone like me who travels around with monsters, but its seems like we will have to leave this forest and set foot on human territory.

What happens afterwards I will decide when it is time.

Occasionally I become uneasy.
Will there be a place for us to live peacefully?

"Master"
At that moment, Rose who has kept quiet until know spoke out with a quiet voice.

At the same time, Lily who was snuggled against me, became stiff and raised her head. She sniffed around in order to get some information about the situation, with the enhanced sense of smell which she obtained from the Fire Fang that we beat the other day.

"Please be careful... we are surrounded"
"Understood"

After Rose's warning I got up immediately and picked up the big shield that was placed nearby. I was wearing my armour even when sleeping in order to be ready in case a fight breaks out.

Lily was holding her spear in both hands while beginning to prepare a magic circle and Kato-san was quickly moving behind me. We are already used to this kind of thing.

Several seconds after we finished our battle preparations:

"...uguruuuuu"

Two Fire Fangs appeared from within the forest.

"There is another one"

Rose was facing the opposite way from where the two Fire Fangs appeared.

Rose really meant it when she said we were surrounded, as the shape of another Fire Fang appeared to be lurking in a bush.

They had realized that their surprise attack failed.

Having said that, the wolves did not seem to want to withdraw.
That means that they judged that they are superior to us.

"3 of them is bad"

An encounter with more monster on their side than on ours.
We had fought Fire Fangs a few times before, but they were always alone.

An now it is 3 of them.

I had thought of the possibility that this might happen one day, but even though without actually getting surrounded the fear did not register before.

"We should clean up one of them quickly if at all possible"
I muttered while I wetted my lips that were dry from the tension. I stared at the wolves that started to walk around us.

They were looking for a good opportunity.

What are they aiming for? .. Shit! They are clearly looking at me and Kato-san. The wolves probably sniffed out with their wild instincts that we are the weak ones.
If that's the case that's bad. It is a conventional tactic to attack the weak first in a fight.

I had to swallow.

In this kind of critical situation if it was only Lily and Rose they could surely survive.
If we were not here anyway...

“It's all right Master”

“Please be at ease Master”

Lily and Rose who realized my uneasiness, due to our connection, said together

“Because we will protect Master”
“Even if I have to be replaced, I will protect my master's life”

They managed to get rid of the uneasiness that I was bearing. They both called out to me for that reason.

And I also understood what was in their heart. They decided to absolutely protect me until the end, for that they are firmly prepared to do anything.

After I received their feeling I managed to take control of my heart and cast away my fear. In its place came the bravery to stand up in this difficult fight.

“Lily, Rose...”

I clenched my shaking fist tightly to stop it, and forced my stiff lips to bend. Instead of a fearless smile it turned out to be awkward, but this is the least I could do to show some strength and my only way to answer to their considerations.

“Don't be stupid. If we survive then it's all of us”
“Yes!”
“Agreed!”

We won't lose to anyone.
That is what I believe.
Because I believe that it should give theses two who are connected to me strength

“Lily you will charge one of them. If possible defeat it as fast as you can. Rose you will try to hold out against the other two while protecting us. Kato-san don't leave my side.”

There was no more time to wait.

Because if the three of them aimed for me or Kato-san at the same time we wouldn't be able to be protected.

Firstly the one with the biggest fire power, Lily, should attack at full power and defeat one of them. In the meantime the one with the best battle ability , Rose, should stall out time.

Afterwards we can only believe in them. That is all I can do.

“GO!”

I gave the order.

Lily pulled the hand were she had made a green glowing magic square back and charged forward.
Rose stood there as our shield, not willing to butch even one step.

“Yaaaaa!!”
“Shiiii!”
“Guruuu”

The five monsters clash--
--- A moment before that a white something crossed my field of vision.

“Gyan?!”
One of the wolves who was charging at us with the flame in his mouth ready suddenly flew mid air in a unnatural pose.

I was looking at a unbelievable spectacle.

A wolf of two meters was flying horizontally through the air.
The concerned wolf also had no idea what was happening to him.

A huge tree was towering in the direction the wolf was blown to, and he smashed into it head first like a bullet.
A sinister red flower was falling in the evening, and the tree that received the blow fell down rumbling loudly.

Everything happened too quickly.
What happened? Nobody seemed to grasp the situation.

“Gururu??”

Everybody was dumbfounded and stopped moving. The two Fire Fang who were charging at us looked at the body of the third wolf and then recognized something in the sky so they looked up.

Too late.

“Gyaa!”

The wolf that was smashed by something that fell down let out a shriek.

And he didn't move again.

“Wha.. What is happening?”

I exclaimed and what fell into my eyes was --- a white spider.

A huge spider with her whole body covered in white fur.
Eight legs with sharp talons on the front, one of which skewered the head of the crushed Fire Fang.
“This is.. Don't tell me...”

The spider could span over three meters with stretched out legs, but where her cephalothorax (TN: front part of the spider) should have been there was something fantastic.


That is the upper body of a young woman. This girl with white thin long hair, which was like spider webs, was looking at us with a beautiful smile.

Wednesday, 10 December 2014

Master of Monsters 12-1

This chapter is super long so I decided to split it into 2 parts:


12. Monster

Previous chapter’s synopsis:

The Hero's and Rose's embrace....
... happened while Lily was out hunting
"Ha?! Somehow I feel like I missed an important moment?!"


12

The next day, morning.

"Good morning Master"

"Good morning"

After all it seems like I fell asleep like that yesterday. While embracing Rose's breast I woke up and was greeted by the strangely happy smile of Lily.

Apperently she was happy to see that her protegee Rose managed to make some friends.
Yesterday, when Rose called her "Lily-onesama" I wondered but it seems like she makes a suprisingly good older sister.
***
"Changing location?! Why?!"

After breakfast, when I brought up the topic, Lily started clinging to my arm and looking at me with her black eyes, as if she was trying to say that here is her place.

"Is this about the story you heard from that senpai yesterday?"

Unlike Lily, Kato understood right away. Rose was surely listening aswell, but she didn't join the conversation and continued to carve wood like every day.

I nodded towards Kato and started to explain to Lily:

"If the story I heard yesterday from Kaga is correct, then there is a possibility that a powerful monster which is capable of even killing cheat ability users is living in this area. It would be dangerous to stay here."
"Oh I see. The aformentioned story about the mutilated bodys of 5 people who were members of the Expedition Unit.
But is that realy true? I can't trust that story"
"I can't trust it either"
I shrugged my shoulders
"However, there is no reason to take the risk"

I replied like that to Lily who was not able to believe, but regarding this matter I had allready determined that Kaga said the truth.

For example another thing Kaga was talking about : "I know more details about the Expedition Unit's plans" that was surely a lie that he told to catch my interest.

In comparison to that saying " I found 5 mutilated bodys of which one was a cheat ability user" would be a lie that held no benefits for Kaga.
He had no reason to lie. Kaga was an idiot who was faithful to his own desires, but he was not a bragger who would spread a lie without any meaning at all.

Firstly I think it is for sure allright to think that one of those 5 was a cheat ability user from the Expedition Unit.

A common Warrior should be able to defeat most of the Monsters of this forest easily with his power

A Monster that was able to kill someone like that.
I want to get away as soon as possible from a place where such a dangerous monster dwells

"Even though, that monsters who could kill cheat ability users even exists..."

Even I can't believe that... I don't want to believe that, but its a fact.
I also considered the possibility that they were surrounded by many, but there were no corpses of other monsters in that place. It is reasonable to think that this was a massacre by only one monster.

"Is it that mysterious?"
"Isn't it mysterious to you Lily? The cheat ability users who came to this world can even kill a dragon with their bare hands. A monster that could kill them is unimaginable to me."
"Bu.. But for monsters there is also a ranking"

"rank?"

"yes"
Lily nodded and rubbed her face against my arm.

"What do you mean?"

"Well"

Lily thought about it for a while and started explaining

"What the students who were transferred into this world are calling "monsters" are creatures who have magic powers. You know that much right?"
"yeah"
"Basically the more magic power a monster carries, the stronger it is."

This I understand " A big bear who doesn't carry any magic power would not be able to win against a mouse who carries magic power" You can think about it in extreme examples like that.

"And the strength of an average monster is propotional to the amount of magic power in the plot of land, right?"
"Wait a second. What do you mean by amount of magic power in the plot of land?"
"Hm? Oh yes master is not able to percieve magic power."

Lily sticked out her tonge as if she had made a joke.
" Originally the magic power depends on the land. It flows in the atmosphere and through the rain it is soaked into the ground and takes root in the land. Afterwards we monsters absorb it into our bodies where it concentrates."
" Ehh . So can I imagine it like harmful heavy metals that are discharged through waste water from big factorys?"
"That is correct but you put it in a very negative way"

Perhaps because of the image was too negative Lily showed a nasty look.#

Well, certainly the image was the worst but I think it makes the phenomen easy to understand.
Heavy metals dissolve in water and get absorbed by plankton which gets eaten by small fish , who will then be preyed on by bigger fish... Finally humans will be harmed by eating them.

"The small animals and vegetation of this forest contain very small amounts of magic. Of course there is also some in the air. That accumulates in monsters. That is why you should actually define monsters as "living creatures that accumulate magic". This magic power is absorped from the land, so of course, if the land is overflowing with magic than the monsters will have a high amount of magic power thru that."
"So detailed"
"Well that is because it affects our own ecology."
"Ecology?"
"yes"

Lily nodded

"If you have accumulated a certain amount of magic... That is to say there is a magic capacity for every individual and if you have lived for long enough you can do reproductive activities in fixed intervals. To say it plainly to produce children."

"Oh.."

Whats that.
When you hear a cute girl like Lily say "reproductive activities" it becomes a very complicated feeling.

I understand that it is a serious topic.
"I wonder if it is asexual reproduction. A monster that is born that way has a slightly different magical capacity and I don't know if everything is correct. Sorry I don't really understand that part. Anyway for Slimes like me and Magical Puppets like Rose it works that way. I don't know how it works for animal type monsters like the Fire Fang."
"So that means... If the amount of magic stored in the land is too big wouldn't the amount of monsters increase as well?"
"Yes the strength of monsters is dependend on the amount of magic in the land. However that is only the story for normal monsters"
"Normal monsters?"

So that means there are also abnormal monsters?

"For clarity I will divert some knowledge from a game from Miho Mizushimas memory... In contrast to common monsters there are monsters who perform reproductive activities like I mentioned before they are like Queen Monsters."
"They would be stronger than common monsters of course?"
"Considerably. However, since the magic power drops every time they reproduce their strength is not constant. Next there are monsters like me, which you would call... that's right " Unique Monsters".

"When you say unique you mean there is only one?"

"Thats right. An irregular born thru asexual reproduction... A mutation. Well I think it is something curious. Just because it is a unique monster doesnt mean it is particularly strong. Especially me since I'm just a slime type Unique Monster."

Certainly Lily originally does not posses a lot of battle power.
However her mimicry ability is a one and only so the name Unique Monster fits her perfectly.

"And Rose would be a Rare Monster"
" What? Rose isn't a normal monster either?"

Suprised I instinctly turned around to Rose
She only bowed modestly.

"Didn't you realize that Rose is a little stronger than a normal Magic Puppet?"
"Now that you say it there were instances were I felt that she is exceptional."
"It doesnt measure up to Lily-onesama's excellence"

Rose cut into the conversation. But I don't agree with her.
Lily also gave a little troubled laugh looking at Rose and continued her story.

"And then above the Rare Monster would be... You would probably call them High Monster."
"What about them is different to the Rare Monsters?"
"Just about everything"

Lily stated with a determined voice.

"This might be harsh to Rose but the ones I call Rare Monster are actually of the same class as Normal Monsters just that they are a little superior. Even though suiting the name, they are pretty scarce, there is about one in thousand. At one point they can even become Queen Monsters. Hower High Monsters are in a class of their own."

Lily's expression was so serious it was almost scary.

"They are outside of the ecosystem. They don't perform reproductive activities like the Queen Monsters. I wonder if they even have a limit on how much magic power they can store."
"So the amount of magic power decides the strength of a monster?"
"Thats right. That is why we are definetly no match for them. Fighting would be useless. If you oppose them you will be killed. Even fleeing would depend on your luck. For example a long time ago I saw a group of around 100 Fire Fangs annihilated by one individual. That was a true "Monster"(T/N: written in Kanji as opposed to the the normal Monster which is written in romaji).

"A monster among monsters huh?"

Fighting against a thing like that doesn't sound very appealing.
If we were found we would have to run immediatly. Afterall it is safer to just change our location so that we don't meet one.

Before we could decide on our plan from now on there was one thing that still bothered me.

"Hey Lily"
"What is it?"
"Would a High Monster be able to kill a cheat ability user?"
"Yea I think it could."

That kind of half assed answer was given.

"It depends on the situation, but I think in a face to face battle it would be difficult"
"difficult huh?"
"yea"

I sighted, not being able to reply anything to Lily's reply
I wonder how far outside the norm cheat ability users really are.
As I thought the really dreadful ones would be the humans.

"However there could also be powerful Monsters that I don't know about. Since I'm just a Slime my range of activities wasn't really far. Rose might know of others though."

"No even I did not see anything aside from the Unique Monsters and Rare Monsters that you talked about, onee-sama."

After listening to those two it seems that the propablility of meeting a so called High Monster is pretty low.

"Anyway, since this is a place were we could meet such a monster, we should leave as soon as possible. Too bad for Kato-san though."

When I summarized the story I lastly glanced at Kato-san.

If Kato-san were to wait here, it would be pretty likely that the Expedition Unit would find her here.
But if we moved from here the situation would be back to square one.

When I mentioned this Kato-san looked down, playing with her braided hair with her fingers.

She didn't seem too disappointed.
I mean, like always, I couldn't tell her feelings at all.

Although she recovered quite a bit she is still far from her normal condition. In the first place its doubtful that she will be able to fully recover her spirit. If there was a some kind of motivation for her that would be great, but I can't provide that.

"I... don't really mind"
"Is that so? Than lets hurry up and leave this place"


Since we decided that way there was no reason to wait.
We quickly assembled our luggage.

So far Rose has produced 3 swords, 2 spears and 2 axes. Furthermore shields and breast plates as well as protection for the lower body.

Lily uses a spear as main weapond and a sword as sub weapon.
Rose uses a one handed battle axe and carries a second axe on her back.
I usually wear my sword on my waist and another one on my back and a big shield in my hand.

Everybody is wearing breast plates, but aside from me everybody is using a round shield because the big ones might get in the way in case of a fight.

Honestly, since Kato-san's offensive potential is even lower than mine, I wanted her to wear a big shield as well, but no matter how light we made it her physical strength was not enough. That's why we are going with this formation for now.

Aside from the weaponry Rose also produced a lot of useful things for every day life. But since it was inconvinient to carry those we decided to throw them away.

If we needed them Rose could just make them again. This would take Rose some work, but she understood and agreed.

We stuffed our clothes in the backpack that we took from Kaga and the handback from Kato-san. We put the smoked meat and other food in Fire Fang hide which we cut into square shapes and tied together at the four corners. We did the same with Rose's spare parts.

"Did we pack everything?... Allright ! Lets go!"

Thus we left behind the cave in which we were accustomed to live.