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(Walson)

I proceeded to unseal the cave entrance, revealing several pieces of charcoal on the ground. I pocketed them, with the intention of reusing them in the future.

Waste not, want not. I could still use these to make torches.

Then I asked Grace to use wind magic to conjure a small tornado at the mouth of the cave that would last for five minutes.

As for why... the reason is simple.

Just now, I was smoking the wasps to incapacitate them, as well as creating carbon monoxide by burning wood into charcoal.

Since the cave was sealed shut, the carbon monoxide was circulating inside the cave. I don't need to explain what carbon monoxide poisoning is, do I?

Therefore, to ensure that we don't die inside the cave due to carbon monoxide, I had Grace refresh the air through the tornado.

And then we entered the cave.

The cave is somewhat narrow, it is wide enough to have four people walk side by side. But there were only three of us, so it was no problem.

As we walked inside the cave, the smell of burnt wood permeated the entire place.

And then we encountered a [Creeper].

[Creeper_LV11_HP:10/20_Status:Weak_Title:None]

What? Why!? Isn't this a [Wasp Nest]?

No wait, monsters are said to be created through a mutation due to high concentration of mana. Maybe their habits have been mutated as well?

Creepers in particular love to spawn in dark places, and surprise you by blasting you to bits. But why didn't the wasps kill them?

Hmm... I remember reading in a monsterology book that said wasps are territorial, but not unforgiving. As long as other creatures do not get in their way, they can coexist.

Does this mean that [Creepers] act as some sort of guards for the wasps in exchange for shelter?

Anyway, if you don't already know, here is some information about [Creepers].

They originated from Minecraft, their habits... uhm, I don't really think it should be called habits... more like, [Creepers] exist solely for the purpose of sneakily exploding behind your back.

SSSsss... BOOOOOOM.

A self exploding monster. A suicide bomber.

Their appearance will remind you of a walking "Armstrong Cannon" from Gintama, they do not make any sound when moving, so they can easily get behind your back.

Originally in Minecraft, they were always green. But in this world, they seem to have evolved and adapted. They come in all kinds of colors now.

Gray to hide better inside caves, and green inside forests or bushes.

Despite having developed heightened camouflage, they still can't escape the detection of my [Mini-map].

But seriously though... Their existence does not benefit anyone. First, they kill themselves, so they do not do anything that benefits themselves. Secondly, keeping them around doesn't yield any benefits. Then, they kill others through explosions, so that's not a benefit either.

Since we're here, I started to teach Melon and Grace on how to fight [Creepers].

As long as you are not taken by surprise, it is just a matter of keeping your distance. But things become very dangerous when the [Creepers] come in groups of two or more.

Fighting them in close range is straight forward. Hit them once, then quickly retreat out of the range of explosion. Then the [Creepers] will slowly approach you, and you just rinse and repeat until they die.

Not really known as smart monsters.

If you happen to have ranged weaponry, fighting them is even easier. Just keep attacking it from afar till they die.

When [Creepers] die, they drop gunpowder. One could make TNT with those, and I often slay creepers to create TNT for my convenience.

We continued deeper into the cave, and it slowly became evident that the creeper was just one of the few survivors after my smoking strategy.

There were some dead bodies on the ground.

And since the bodies are... well, 'dead'. They do not count as living things, thus I promptly threw them into my [Inventory].

I looked at my [Mini-map] and slowly led the way deeper into the cave, where more survivors were.

We happened upon one of the main residents of the cave.

[Giant Wasp_LV24_HP:2/98_Status:Coma, Weak_Title:None]

It's lying on the ground, and it's not moving. They are about 1.5 meters long, and look like giant hornets.

The size is very intimidating. Anyone would be scared the first time laying their eyes on them.

Surrounding it were corpses of its brethren.

"It's still alive. Anyone want to take the first blood of the day?"

Melon and Grace were staring, but soon responded. They shared a look with each other, and then Melon gave a 'you go on' sort of gesture, and Grace stepped forward with her staff raised.

"Oh hang on, don't use fire. That would make gathering materials harder." I reminded her.

Grace took a moment to think, then raised her staff again.

"●● -─ Shadow Arrow." Must have been a spell that she isn't familiar with, since it took a second of incantation.

A dark shadow soared through the air and penetrated the wasp's head.

WOW! That was so cool!

Dark elemental spells!

{Party gained 183 EXP}

{Level Up! Melon is now LV9}

{Level Up! Grace is now LV12}

Oh, they leveled up again.

I kept vigil with my [Mini-map], leading us further into the nest. We happened upon another survivor.

Melon didn't spare much fanfare, and killed it by simply stomping the head.

We then repeatedly eliminated the other survivors we saw...

... *Sigh*, this is almost getting boring.

But there was still more work to be done.

I noticed that something shown on the [Mini-map] was moving, and it was quickly moving towards us.

The loud buzzing of wings reached us first.

[Giant Wasp_LV28_HP:61/123_Status: Weak, Enraged_Title: None]

"If things get too noisy, start using telepathy. Prepare for Combat!" I shouted.

The brown insectoid monster swiftly approached us... *boom*

*splat*

{Party gained 178 EXP}

Aaaaaaand there was Melon, standing at the front of the formation, with one hand holding a sword, the other disappearing inside the head of the enemy.

It sank into the head completely, cutting right to the chase and ending its life.

"Please don't get close to Master."

"Woah, what a headshot." I exclaimed. Her killing intent was leaking all over.

But I have to say, is that sword in your left hand meant to be a decoration?

"...Oooh... she was too fast, damn it." Grace mumbled.

Hang on a moment, these two are clearly treating this as some sort of game!

I was taking all of this seriously! Like, real combat!

There was more buzzing up ahead, but it was soon silenced by a 'whish'.

{Party gained 173 EXP}

"...Razor Wind." That was Grace's voice.

Damn! I didn't even see a target, and you just killed it instantly before I even detected it!?

You know, I really pity these wasps. The girls are showing no mercy whatsoever.

... Oh, whatever. Let's just speed up the pace.

According to the [Mini-map], the bottom of the cave is much more spacious. The closer we got to the bottom, the more wasps started to attack us.

But they were all viciously killed.

The two girls by my side seem to be really getting into it. They continue to one-shot the incoming enemies.

Seriously though, I think they are doing very well because they are quite strong. I sincerely doubt any of the children in the Orphanage could imitate their actions right now.

By the way, sometimes the enemies still don't die in one hit, but still die right after.

At one instance, Grace's aim was off and cut the wings off instead of the head. As the wasp crashed into the ground, it slid towards Melon, and she slugged it in the head.

R.I.P Giant Wasp.

Seeing as how things are right now, I think we probably won't be needing the [Minecarts].

Let's just sweep through this place and kill all the wasps.

"Alright, you two are doing great! But we have to be careful, we are getting closer to the Queen."

I confirmed the location of the Queen with my [Mini-map], and walked through the quickly expanding cave.

What entered our field of vision was a very big area that was probably almost the same size as a football court, with the ceiling higher than 20 meters.

There is a very unnatural looking lump on the top, signifying the location of the nest.

With no more giant wasps, there is only the Queen who is inside the nest, glaring at us with baleful eyes.

... She seems to be quite angry.

[Giant Wasp Queen_LV30_HP:256/524_Status: Enraged_Title: None]

I took out the wall of stone that I assembled in advance.

As for why I took it out? The Queen was already coming towards us!

The two at my side sprang forth without any commands.

"... Razor Wind!" The air was condensed into a blade, and slashed.

The Queen dodged the attack by accelerating unnaturally.

... But quickly fell to the ground from a second Razor Wind. It slashed through the wings.

Holy crap this thing is huge! It's the same size as a truck!

"... Razor Wind, Razor Wind, Razor Wind!" Wait, what is she doing with those spells...

Her casting speed is really insane! The interval was around one second per cast.

Grace is going to be terrifying when she grows up.

But... the wind blades did nothing but leave gouges and slash marks on the Queen.

What a durable exoskeleton! These wind blades were able to cleanly cut the other wasps in half.

*GIAAAAA* The Queen let out a harsh screech, and dashed towards us.

But before she could reach Grace, she was pushed aside by something else.

Melon was the one who tackled the Queen, and after recovering from the tackle, started to wail on the Queen with her right fist.

The punch managed to open up a hole that leaks green fluid, and then the Queen swung its poisonous sting towards Melon.

Oh no, she's gonna get hit at this rate!

But at that moment, I saw Grace teleport right to her side, grab Melon, and vanish in a flourish of petals.

They fell in a heap right next to my side, petals aflutter.

Woooow, what team work!

Despite the fact that they landed gracelessly, keep in mind that Grace only had this skill to practice for about an hour. Being able to get such a good result is really astounding.

Although we have healing items at the ready in case Melon was injured, we bore witness to a very great feat of magic.

"...Melon, you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Thank you, Grace."

"When did you two get so cooperative..."

"... Melon knows how amazing Walson is. Therefore, a companion."

Wait, what the heck?

The girls stood up and faced the angry Wasp Queen.

Ah, that stinger is really dangerous. I really think I should do something about it.

With that said, I took out my custom made [Bow].

By the way, in Minecraft, we get this crosshair thing. And whenever I try to shoot with this bow, I get a green dot that tells me where I am shooting. It's almost like it's laser aimed.

"Grace, please distract it for me. I don't want it to dodge with that weird acceleration thing."

"●● -─ Shadow Arrow! Shadow Arrow! Shadow Arrow!" Wait! You didn't need to rapid fire!

The Queen managed to dodge the first, but was immediately injured by the other shots.

I tied a string made from spider silk on the arrow, and shot it at the vulnerable soft underbelly of the Queen.

I had no trouble hitting my mark when it was shown to me in green!

Pulling the string, I quickly sprinted in a circle at my usual speed when I ran through the mountains.

By the time the string was getting short, the Queen was lying on the ground, squirming, bound and tied.

"Melon!"

"Here!"

Then Melon cuts off the head with the [Bane of Arthropods] enchanted word, ending the battle.

{Party gained 7583 EXP}

{Level Up! Walson is now LV26}

{Level Up! Grace is now LV16}

{Level Up! Melon is now LV14}

Wooaaah, that's a lot of EXP! Our levels rose very quickly.

Speaking of... Melon really should have used the sword in the first place, to end up using her fist is just...

Anyway, the fight felt alright. We all came out unharmed, and showed good coordination.

Lastly, I used the dispenser to shoot a TNT. The TNT was slathered in slime fluid, and managed to stick on the wasp nest that was the target.

The nest exploded.

I was waiting right under it with a gigantic urn as honey started to flow.

Ah~ Sweet Honey. It's been awhile since I've eaten any.