Green Skin

So the information and interrogation of the survivors were all done by Jung Hayeon’s hands. I began to observe the stem of her plants on her lower body absorbing away the magic and vitality of the survivors.

The stem that appeared out of her lower body soon wrapped the humans up. But the attack wasn’t strong even though it looked like it. If the survivors could move, they could probably easily resist, but since they were tightly tied up, they could do nothing but squirm . . . When I thought that something was being absorbed from her stem, one by one, each died with pale skin, deprived of life.

And all of the guys trembled and breathed their last. Jung Hyeon with a refreshing expression opened her mouth at me.

” Kyaaak! ! It’s . . . done. ”

As expected. For Alraunes, in Jung Hayeon’s position, it was fastest to accumulate experience by absorbing the magic and energy of others. Seeing her joyful voice, I could tell that her mind was clearly distorted. Seeing the happy Jung Hayeon, I couldn’t help but laugh.

” What . . . . what . . . should I choose? ”

” Which ones appeared? ”

” Ah . . . The first one is Magician, while the second option is Shaman. It’s only these two.

” Hmm. . . ”

I asked just in case, but it seems that a path of a higher evolution hadn’t opened yet. Although there’s not many upper races other than Alraune and it was alright to be an Alraune until the end, but it felt somewhat unfortunate.

Jung Hayeon was staring at me with a very curious expression of which one to choose.

” Well Magician and Sages are both pretty similar, however, I recommend the magician . . . ”

” Ah ! ”

There wasn’t much of a reason why I recommended the magician. It was just because it was more rare. Currently, in this tribe there were no shamans. However, as it continues to grow, a lot of shamans should appear. But, among monsters, magicians are not common. It’s because they know as well that the efficiency isn’t that great for them. That’s precisely the reason why when goblins first evolve, there was no option to choose a magician. Green Skins are normally more suitable to shamans than magicians.

Of course, a familiar monster like the succubus who has the same magic is not a bad choice at all. Alraune’s Jung Hayeon was likewise. Originally a human, she’d be more close with being a magician, and it’ll be much better than shamanism. Seeing me recommend the Magician path, she nodded her head in consent.

” Yes! Then as a magician. . . ”

As such, without any hesitation, she finished her evolution into a magician. There was no difference between a flash of light and a cheap wooden cane that appeared out of it, but the scent of magical power that can be felt with her certified that Jung Hayeon had completed her evolution into a magician.

” How was it? ”

” It’s . . . interesting. A few spells have appeared. Although it’s very little, but as for the magic . . I can somewhat understand them. ”

” After the evolution, you can realize the basic foundations of the magic yourself, but after that, always remember that discretion of how far you can achieve depends on your personal training. ”

” Yes . . . Yes! Then other than the spells that appeared . . . Am I able to use other spells as well? ”

Since I had never evolved into a magician before, I wasn’t sure, but I did hear a few conversations on it.

” For now, if you understand the spell mechanisms, then simple applications of them would be possible. First, being accustomed to them is priority. Even if you were to accumulate enough experience to evolve once more, if you lack the right or experience, then the path of a Intermediate Magician won’t open. ”

” Yes ! ”

Thus, Jung Hayeon slowly started to demonstrate the magic that she could use in front of me. As expected, like her identity as a ‘ plant ‘ monster, she could easily use plant magic. As for the rest, there wasn’t much use except for the one that bound your feet with tree branches that pops up from the ground called ‘ Entangle ‘ which looked quite useful. Surprisingly, the area of effect was exceptionally wide.

” As expected of a plant type, your affinity is quite suitable . . . ”

” Yes . . . but the fact that the other spells are poor . . . is a problem. ”

She recognized her own limitations precisely. I could sense a burning passion alight from her look. With this, she should steadily grow as a magician. Then, for the second time, Jung Hayeon and I returned to the tent again.

It was because I felt the need to organize the information that the humans confessed from Jung Hayeon’s racial traits ‘ Charm ‘ which she had used to extract intelligence.

But, the problem was that there wasn’t much useful information. They didn’t really know much about the Queen of the North.

Extremely strong or beautiful were what was said by those guys about that Queen’s group. Late to conclude, it seemed that this group and the Queen of the North had no close encounter. This group is located in the outskirts of the northern forest and not in the center.

‘ As if they were a force that hasn’t been absorbed yet ‘

The probability of that was high. It was possible that this group was reluctant to serve under the Queen of the North, or they were planning on raising their own faction. Just like the information I heard from my subordinates. I was able to meet with Mev who I had sent out to patrol the center of the Northern Forest who had come back just now along with her archer squad.

” Captain ! ”

” Did you discover it? ”

” Mmhm! If you go a bit more North, there is a huge population of humans gathered. ”

I could roughly guess who they were from those words. It seemed to be true of the information that they had settled in the center behind the mountain.

” Was there perhaps a flag or something that you could see? ”

” No . . . there was nothing like that, but there was a wall of ice surrounding it I think . . . since you told us not to get caught, we couldn’t go closer to see . . . ”

” Estimation of the height? ”

” Hob . . . goblin. It’s a bit taller than a Hobgoblin. . . ”

An unconfident voice. Knowing what will happen if she gets this wrong, she was in an uncomfortable state. Seeing her silver hair bend down as she lowered her head, I patted her head since she her action was cute as I started to ponder again.

Roughly hearing this report, I could tell what kind of situation it was. They definitely had walls, even though it’s only been 70 days since they were summoned. To be able to kill all the goblins, gather the survivors together and build a wall . . .

‘ It’s possible. ‘

Of course the opposite could also be possible. We had already conquered most of the South quickly with our tribe. Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy for humans to fight against monsters of unknown form without knowing anything.

” Let’s go together tomorrow once more. ”

I decided that I needed to see with my own eyes first as I opened my mouth to Mev, who happily nodded in a joyous expression.

So, the next morning, I took Mev and a few goblin archers to the base where they were secretly supposed to be. Though Jung Hayeon wanted to go together as if she was worried of being alone, I couldn’t bring a slow Jung Hayeon with us. The large-framed Goff was the same as well.

After a long time, bit by bit, the shape of the village began to form in sight.

” We have to climb this mountain. This is the farthest we’ve come before. Are you going up? Captain ”

” Let’s go a bit farther. ”

” Okay. ”

” You observed well. The height of the walls are similar to what I’ve heard. ”

Although the ice and stones were somewhat clumsy, they were able to construct the castle walls.

Though it was only a tad taller than a Hobgoblin, but just having that obstacle of a wall itself was quite a threat. First, goblins could not climb up those walls. The magicians seemed to have poured the water on rocks and ice that consisted of the foundation of the walls.

The height itself was high enough so that goblins couldn’t enter as well. If the area in which they had to defend wasn’t so wide, then it was probable that the height of those walls could be even higher.

I started to investigate the expressions of the people there. Since there wasn’t much time until the Tutorial would end, I could see people that look like guards chattering on. Slowly, as I stared inside the village, I saw the figure of a woman surrounded by several men walking towards the center of the settlement.

The distance was too far so I couldn’t exactly see, so I focused magic onto my eyes. The blurred face started to clear up. Seeing that she had short hair, I couldn’t be certain, but it seemed like it was the rumoured ‘ Queen of the North ‘. Above all, the definite evidence was the ‘ spear ‘ she was holding.

It was then.

The Queen of the North slowly turned her head and stared precisely towards my side.

” Fuck . . . ”

It felt as if her eyes and mine had met.

” Fuck. We return now. ”

” Huh . . . Huh? Why? ”

” We need to retreat now! There’s no time to explain. The last two goblins that follow us, erase the footsteps and follow me. ”

‘ That monstrous bitch ‘

That was all I could think about. She was truly a monster. To slay an orc with one swing of a sword, or the fact that she killed 10 goblins in her first battle, I had totally thought they were all nonsense.

‘ It was true. ‘

Although I wasn’t exactly sure, the spear she was holding as well as how she looked at me, she evolved once more. The sensitivity that she had towards magic. Although I wasn’t certain, the possibility of her awakening a unique skill was extremely high.

” Damn . . . ”

I thought I had grown quite strong. Frankly, since it was flowing too well, so I had miscalculated. However, after seeing the Queen of the North just then, I couldn’t help but realize that I was nothing more than a stupid fool.

‘ The difference between me against the real strong was levels apart. ‘

I could finally understand the reason as to just how fast, whether it’s the Sword Saint or the Queen of the North, those types of people could raise factions that quick and establish cities.

To be able to awaken that kind of ability in just 70 days, and to adjust that quickly.

Only the word ‘ Genius ‘ could describe the Queen of the North.

The Saint Knights Sword Saint should also be at a similar level. At this rate, if anything, the moment I met that Sword Saint, my throat will be cut just like that.

” Captain . . . so you want to fight now? ”

I suddenly felt like lightning struck my head. If I hadn’t heard what Mev said, I probably wouldn’t have realized it myself.

My whole body was drenched in sweat. My arm that was continually trembling, the reddened flame burning in my eyes, and that beast-like noises I was making even though I wasn’t excited.

‘ Fight? Me. With that Queen of the North . . .’

Before I knew it, the edges of my mouth rose. My expression was definitely twisted. But, I couldn’t stop the edges of my lips from going up. If it was the past, I would probably run away. That’s the most rational and reasonable judgment. There is no fool on the continent that would oppose such an inhuman existence.

But I laughed.

Ruling out tactics, strategy, and the like, it was essentially a one on one fight to the death. The past me would never understand, but I could clearly see myself anticipating this moment. Gathering my thoughts, I quietly opened my mouth to Mev.

” Right . . . I want to fight. ”

TL Afterword

OMG when she stared back and MC froze like that. Remember the anime of that Hunter X Hunter scene when Kite met the eyes of Neferpitou. Whew~ What a scene. Gave me chills all over again. How much of a monster can a human be if a monster MC calls a human ‘ monstrous ‘. Damn.

Comment: I really appreciate the love and support for this series. I’m having a blast reading the comments here and discussing with you all on LCD in NU . Not only that, I am grateful for the corrections and mistakes that you point out. I’ve posted more than usual today in appreciation. Thanks for all the support, comments, and the added motivation~

PR Afterword

“Puny human – Hulk take your eyes out & use as a necklace”

Translator: Calvis

Proofreader: Sai101