Chapter 196: Shoggoth!
Chapter 196: Shoggoth!
—–
“So what is this thing supposed to be now, peko?”
“I don’t know…”
“Why is it like that, peko?”
“I don’t know…”
“Wait, why is it flashing with green colors, ahh… it makes me dizzy, peko…”
“I don’t know… it’s from another world, so it obviously rare, odd, and weird, just like the previous two are…” said Ervas to Pekorina in the middle of the dining table downstairs, where Shoggoth was sitting nearby while swallowing almost anything that seemed digestible for it, which was mostly anything, even plates and cups without any food were eaten by Shoggoth.
“This is true quite the rare creature,” said Jason with a bitter smile, already accustomed to Ervas summoning weird things thanks to his mother’s lineage of Dagvaarder Demons (Summoning Demons).
“So you named it Shoggoth?! That is a fitting name, indeed” said Veronica while nodding, understanding the origin of the name from one of Earth’s Lovecraftian Mythos.
Shoggoth was depicted as an amorphous creature similar to the Shoggoth summoned by Ervas, it had many eyes that popped in and out, fleshy, and slimy ooze as a body, dozens of tentacles, and a formless body, while also having the ability to screech very loudly.
“Shoooghh… Shoooghh…” muttered Shoggoth as it kept feeding itself, it seemed to have just come to this world, but it was already having a nice time.
“I wonder how does it feel for these creatures to come to this world? Do they feel sad, do they miss their home?” asked Ismene while inspecting with a slight disgust the anatomy of Shoggoth.
“I think they’re experiencing the isekai dream,” said Veronica.
“Indeed, it is an isekai for them,” said Ervas while nodding in agreement.
“What are you two talking about…? What’s an ‘isekai’?” asked Ismene with confusion.
“Err… it’s a popular literary genre in a certain area of our previous world” said Veronica.
“Nothing to care about, don’t mind us,” said Ervas.
“Shoogh… Shoogh…”
“How is that thing even alive?” asked Acathea.
“Shogh…”
“Acathea, please don’t call Shoggoth as a ‘thin’, he is a friend, call him by his name…” said Ervas.
“Ah! Really…? Well, fine, Shoggoth, how do you live?” asked Acathea.
“Shoooogh”
“No answers…” muttered Acathea.
“Well, it is rather natural to expect that the physiology of creatures originated from another worlds or planes to be different from that of us, making it as if their whole existences don’t make much sense to us. Perhaps due to the laws of the world where they were born…” said Ervas.
“Ooh! So that is what it is, I see, peko!” said Pekorina.
“And both Cthulhu and Nyar are like this anyways, Pekorina, you shouldn’t ask now after having interacted so much with them already,” said Ervas.
“Uwah! Sorry…” muttered Pekorina, apologizing to Shoggoth.
“Shogh, shoght,” said Shoggoth as it stopped its feast and petted Pekorina’s silky white hair, leaving it all covered in ooze.
“Ueh… this is a bit disgusting, Shoggoth. …But I appreciate your friendliness, peko…”
“Shogh, shogh!”
“Anyways, have you thought about the preparations for our journey to the mountains?” asked Ismene.
“Oh, right! That! We’ll be getting there soon, or we should wait a bit?” asked Jason.
“Time is gold, Ismene, father. We have to hurry and get there as fast as possible and to get done as swiftly as we can. In a month or less, the humans will be moving towards here… we cannot slack off… I will begin preparations today, possibly having everything done tomorrow” said Ervas.
“Just like the boy said, we can’t slack off for now, even after having beaten a Demon God, I know, I know we should be resting… but we are dedicated to our cause nonetheless, and until we defeat those humans, we won’t rest… nor afterward, as we will get moving to the Demon Continent, so I guess we’ll rest in the journey there,” said Veronica while sipping tea.
“This is… reasonable. Although we have built such a secure place to live, due to being inside the human continent, we are bound to be attacked by them sooner or later. We have to go there, get things done, and come back with new allies and more strength to receive the humans with a strong punch into their guts” said Ismene.
“Yeah, let’s make sure that things go as we plan!” said Jason.
“For now, though, I think I will level up Shoggoth a bit inside dungeons and leave my Phantom Clones in here helping in preparations,” said Ervas.
“I will also accompany you there while leaving my clones to help the preparations. I think we can farm some exp before getting into the journey. Although we had become so strong that advancing takes more time, we can always strengthen our tamed monsters or friends” said Veronica.
“That’s nice, we can go grind in a party then,” said Ervas with a mild smile.
“Yeah, been a few weeks since the last time! I wonder if we could go to my old dungeon, the one where I was born” said Veronica.
“Oh? Did you completed it?” asked Ervas.
“Nope, I never did, I just escaped it but fought a boss-level monster before doing so… that was Charlotte’s evil mother by the way,” said Veronica to Ervas.
“My evil mother? Mommy, you are my only mother. The spider that laid my egg is not the one that raised me, so I don’t consider it my mother, gishii” said Charlotte with a firm tone of voice, stating her mind to Veronica.
“Okaay, I know, I know! I am not denying your or anything, my dear” said Veronica to Charlotte, who she often treated as her daughter too.
“Mommy, can you tame a few more Slimes like me? I want siblings like me, gubo!” said Aqua while bouncing around.
“Err… I will think about it, okay?” asked Veronica. Although she had the tame skill, the slots were full, and she did not know if she could properly tame a monster without using that skill… although, perhaps with her Death Attribute Charm, it might be possible if she tried hard enough…
—–
[Name: Pekorina
[Race: Forest Rabbit-type Beast-person
[Age: 12
[Titles: None.
[Type: Beastmen/Demi-Human
[Job: Blazing Legs Fighter.
[Job History: Apprentice Warrior, Warrior, Kicking Fighter, Unarmed Fighter, Fire Kick Warrior.
[Level: 001/100
[Health Points: 1585/1585
[Mana Points: 745/745
[Strength: 1892
[Defense: 682
[Magic: 902
[Resistance: 875
[Agility: 2213
[Passive Skills]
[Night Vision; Level 5]
[Agility Enlargement; Level 6]
[Mental Resistance; Level 2]
[Enhanced Hearing Sense: Level 5]
[Detect Presence; Level 4]
[Poison Resistance; Level 2]
[Self-Enhancement; Following (Ervas); Level 5]
[Self-Enhancement; Following (Veronica): Level 5]
[Increased Agility while Equipped with Leather Armor; Small; Level 5]
[Increased Strength while Unarmed; Small; Level 5]
[Enhanced Body Parts; Legs; Level 6]
[Active Skills]
[Silent Steps; Level 4]
[Hardworking; Level 4]
[Butcher; Level 3]
[Housework; Level 2]
[Cooking; Level 3]
[Gathering; Level 3]
[Unarmed Fighting Technique; Level 6]
[Armor Technique; Level 4]
[Shield Technique; Level 4]
[Dagger Technique; Level 3]
[Throwing Technique; Level 3]
[Archery; Level 3]
[No-Attribute Magic; Level 2]
[Fire Attribute Magic: Level 3]
[Wind Attribute Magic: Level 2]
[Spirit Magic: Level 2]
[Mana Control; Level 4]
[Coordination; Level 5]
[Surpass Limits; Level 5]
<Unique Skill>
[Blazing Legs: Level 4]
<Divine Protections>
[Ophelia’s Divine Protection]
<Bonded Spirits>
[Salamander, Twin Draconic Spirit of Fire]
——
[Name: Ismene
[Race: Forest Squirrel-type Beast-person
[Age: 43
[Titles: Chief of the Squirrel-kin Tribe, Igni Kingdom’s Prince Adoptive Mother (Against Jason’s consent).
[Type: Beastmen/Demi-Human
[Job: Life & Water Spirit Mage.
[Job History: Apprentice Mage, Mage, Fire Attribute Mage, Light Attribute Mage, Life Attribute Mage, Spirit Mage.
[Level: 001/100
[Health Points: 774/774
[Mana Points: 3160/3160
[Strength: 350
[Defense: 265
[Magic: 3124
[Resistance: 1127
[Agility: 836
[Passive Skills]
[Night Vision; Level 6]
[Increased Mana Recovery Rate; Level 5]
[Self-Enhancement; Following (Ervas); Level 4]
[Self-Enhancement; Following (Veronica): Level 4]
[Mana Enlargement; Level 5]
[Automatic Mana Recovery; Level 4]
[Increased Magic while Equipped with a Staff; Small; Level 4]
[Active Skills]
[Silent Steps; Level 4]
[Hardworking; Level 4]
[Butcher; Level 3]
[Cooking; Level 4]
[Gathering; Level 2]
[Alchemy; Level 4]
[No-Attribute Magic; Level 5]
[Mana Control; Level 6]
[Fire Attribute Magic; Level 7]
[Light Attribute Magic; Level 6]
[Life Attribute Magic; Level 4]
[Coordination; Level 5]
[Surpass Limits; Level 4]
[Chant Revocation: Level 4]
[Multi-Cast: Level 3]
[Housework; Level 2]
[Spirit Magic: Level 4]
<Divine Protections>
[Ratatoskr’s Divine Protection]
<Bonded Spirits>
[Rose, Spirit of Roses and Thorny Spikes (Gaia, Life Attribute Spirit)]
[Sapphire, Spirit of Crystalline Waters (Undine, Water Attribute Spirit)]
—–
[Name: Acathea
[Race: Bear-type Half-Breed Beast-person (Mother: Squirrel-type Beast-person)
[Age: 10
[Titles: None.
[Type: Beastmen/Demi-Human
[Job: Iron Claw Warrior.
[Job History: Apprentice Warrior, Warrior, Bear Warrior, Unarmed Fighter, Bear Paw Warrior.
[Level: 001/100
[Health Points: 1975/1975
[Mana Points: 734/734
[Strength: 2174
[Defense: 962
[Magic: 493
[Resistance: 786
[Agility: 1310
[Passive Skills]
[Night Vision; Level 4]
[Health Points Enlargement; Level 4]
[Superhuman Strength; Level 4]
[Self-Enhancement; Following (Ervas); Level 4]
[Self-Enhancement; Following (Veronica): Level 3]
[Increased Defense while Equipped with Metal Armor; Small; Level 4]
[Enhanced Body Parts; Bear Paws; Level 5]
[Detect Presence; Level 4]
[Physical Damage Resistance: Level 2]
[Pain Resistance: Level 1]
[Active Skills]
[Butcher; Level 3]
[Cooking; Level 3]
[Gathering; Level 3]
[Unarmed Fighting Technique; Level 5]
[Club Technique; Level 4]
[Armor Technique; Level 3]
[Shield Technique; Level 3]
[Throwing Technique; Level 2]
[No-Attribute Magic; Level 2]
[Mana Control; Level 3]
[Earth Attribute Magic; Level 2]
[Water Attribute Magic: Level 1]
[Spirit Magic: Level 1]
[Coordination; Level 3]
[Surpass Limits; Level 4]
[Surpass Limits: Level 2]
[Unique Skill]
[Vigorous Bear Body; Level 4]
<Divine Protections>
[Ratatoskr’s Divine Protection]
<Bonded Spirits>
[Undine, Twin Draconic Spirit of Water]
—–
<Skill Descriptions>
Vigorous Bear Body
A Skill that only Acathea has for some reason. Due to having confirmed with Gaius, it is not a unique skill that every Bear-type Beast-person possesses, which creates the mystery behind its origin in Acathea.
Ervas and Veronica assumed that it was the effects of her Bear bloodline that strengthened her beyond her normal capabilities, which ended up showing itself as a skill instead of something like an innate trait that often did not show as a Skill.
This Skill seems to increase Acathea’s Health Points, Strength, and Defense growth per level, making her grow outstandingly fast. This girl really packs a punch.