“In the year 442 of the New Star Calendar, the adventurer Lynn unlocked a new entry in the monster encyclopedia—specter. Current number of unlocked entries: 13.”
“To reach the next Rune reward, 7 more entries must be unlocked.”
He was getting closer and closer to the second three-option Rune reward.
Just as the notification from the monster encyclopedia popped up, a translucent, cyan soul-body that looked human but lacked a lower half came screaming out from above the cave. The sorrowful, high-pitched shriek sent a jolt through Lynn's mind, and a sudden, nameless rage welled up in his heart. The desire to slaughter surged within him.
Beside him, Lupa's beastkin bloodline was directly triggered by the sound. Her entire frame instantly bulked up as she charged straight at the specter with her tower shield raised.
Meanwhile, Art the Wererat seemed completely unaffected, shivering as he waited for Lynn to take action.
After the specter appeared, it paid no attention to the two adventurers present and immediately lunged at the Wererat—or to be precise, at whatever was in the Wererat's arms.
Seeing himself ignored by the monster, Lynn's destructive urge—already stirred by the specter's shriek—grew even stronger. He immediately raised his staff and aimed it at the specter still in the air.
How dare it ignore him?!
Lynn immediately intended to kill this damn monster with a single Magic Missile.
However, under the influence of his intense rage, the flow of his mana was somewhat sluggish, and constructing the spell model proved incredibly difficult. A second or two passed, and he still hadn't finished the incantation.
“Do something, Lord Mage!”
Seeing Lynn hesitate to act, the Wererat's voice grew tense. Looking back, it realized that Lynn now had a look on his face as if he wanted to devour the rat whole, as if he would kill it along with the specter in the very next second.
This was bad!
Without a moment's hesitation, the Wererat turned and ran toward the Wingen Town sewers, and the specter relentlessly pursued it.
Seeing the two monsters dare to ignore him, Lynn's anger flared even hotter. Activating Burst Step, he vanished from the spot in the blink of an eye. When he reappeared, he was already blocking the path in front of Art the Wererat.
The Wererat, who had just closed the box and was preparing to scurry away on all fours, discovered that the Mage was actually faster than it was!
When did he get in front of it?!
Was he even a Mage?! How could he be faster than a Wererat?!
In the blink of an eye, the path ahead was blocked by the aggressive Mage, while behind it was the screaming specter, reaching out with its withered arms to tear it apart.
With no way to escape, the Wererat felt like crying but had no tears. Had it brought back a living nightmare of a savior?!
Just as the Wererat was about to risk everything, knock Lynn over, and run for its life, Lynn, standing right in front of it, finally finished the incantation for Magic Missile.
The blue and red light projectiles shot out, traveling so fast that they were almost impossible to track with the naked eye.
Watching the missiles draw closer and closer, expanding in its field of vision, Art the Wererat was suddenly reminded of the Dungeon Slime that had been blasted to pieces by this very spell. And it was just a Wererat; its body was nowhere near as tough as a Dungeon Slime's.
The Wererat closed its eyes in despair.
Immediately after, a gust of wind swept past its ears, making its face sting with burning heat. There was even the acrid smell of singed fur.
After about a second, the tightly closed eyes of the Wererat tentatively opened. It felt its own head. It was still intact, except for the fur on the top of its head, which seemed to have been singed.
“I... I'm still alive?!”
Disregarding its meticulously groomed fur, a massive wave of joy from surviving a near-death experience washed over Art the Wererat.
Looking back, the specter that had been so ferocious just moments ago had already turned into a wisp of blue smoke, dissipating into the cave.
“‘Magic Missile’ proficiency +1, current Lv.2 (4/20)”
“Killed one specter, obtained Bloodline Point (specter) * 20 (Over-level kill multiplier 200%)”
After the specter was defeated, a wave of clarity returned to Lynn's mind. The hand holding the staff, which had been aimed at the Wererat, slowly lowered.
When his anger had flared, he had actually intended to take out the Wererat as well.
But remembering the Construct that he had yet to obtain, he dismissed the thought.
Art the Wererat excitedly ran over to Lynn, offering flattering words by his side:
“As expected of the Lord Mage! With just one spell, you sent that wretched specter straight back to the Underworld!”
Beaming with joy, Art the Wererat had no idea that he had just taken a stroll along the edge of the River Styx, nearly ending up swimming in its waters alongside the specter.
And although its words were flattering, they were also entirely sincere.
Only now, standing directly before Lynn, did the Wererat truly understand the sheer pressure the Dungeon Slime must have felt when facing this Mage.
A speed faster than a Wererat, and a spell power capable of instantly killing a specter in one hit... No wonder the Dungeon Slime had been so easily defeated by him.
Lynn, of course, had no idea that he had unintentionally left a massive psychological scar on the Wererat.
He looked at the patch of baldness on the Wererat's head where the fur had suddenly gone missing, feeling an inexplicable sense of amusement.
Fortunately, he was an expert at keeping a straight face, easily suppressing the corner of his mouth from twitching upward by even a single pixel.
However, there was one thing Lynn was quite curious about: why the Wererat hadn't been affected by the specter's wail just now.
Even a Mage (Apprentice) like him had fallen prey to it. How did a creature like a Wererat, which had absolutely nothing to do with high Intelligence or Charisma, remain completely unaffected?
“How did you manage to remain unaffected by the specter just now?”
When the question was asked, the Wererat looked as if it didn't understand.
“What influence?”
The Wererat's expression was blank, and it didn't look like it was lying.
Seeing that the Wererat didn't seem to know the reason either, Lynn didn't bother to press further.
Perhaps it was just a quirk of its unique bloodline.
Besides, what else could Lynn do? He couldn't very well murder his employer for a bloodline and break their agreement.
Recalling the brief battle just now, Lynn seemed to remember something else.
“What's the deal with that necklace of yours? That specter just now seemed to be staring at it the entire time.”
...
【specter】: If a human dies and is buried in an area with a high concentration of negative psionic energy (such as a graveyard filled with corpses) without undergoing a purification ritual, a portion of the souls that still harbor lingering obsessions before death will rise again, turning into evil spirits to seek revenge on all living things.
Because they are products of condensed psionic energy, they are immune to almost all physical damage. However, they are extremely terrified of lightning.
Rate on N.U.
