Chapter 602
I also need to think of a way to fight enemies who might notice what I’m planning to do. Well, there are other weapons I haven’t tried yet. Maybe some of them have even better abilities than this one.
Anyway, today’s main character is Jewel. I need to check on her if shes okay fighting the boss rhino on her own.
She only has two elements. A lightning element and beastform. And since her lightning doesn’t have any effect of the boss rhino, she can’t use it unless she managed to stab the boss rhino with her Lightning Needles. Without them, there’s no way she could even hurt the boss rhino.
Her other element is beastform. She can transform into a rhinoceros or half-rhino half-human form. But it’s just a normal rhinoceros so it’s impossible for her to be stronger than the boss rhino. I wonder what she will do to the boss rhino.
There are some rhinos that I haven’t put inside a barrier yet. But I have no problem with them. I can easily play with them while watching Jewel.
And so, while I stopped a rhino charging at me with one hand, I paid my attention toward Jewel and prepare myself to help her if she needs it.
.....
Jewel is in her hybrid form with armor covering her body. But they were only becoming hindrances for her. But she doesn’t realize it yet.
Becoming a half-rhino and wore that armor only make her movement slower. Although rhino is faster, that’s only when they are running forward. But to face the boss rhino, Jewel needs to dodge it to the side. Using that form only make her slower.
I won’t tell her that. She needs to figure it out by herself so she can get stronger.
Although she can still dodge the boss rhino’s charge, it won’t take long before she becomes tired and unable to dodge properly.
But there’s one advantage she has from using that form. She is stronger than when she’s in her human form. And she should be able to pierce her needles easier than when she’s in her human form. Though that boss rhino doesn’t seem like he will let Jewel do it.
The only way I can think of for her to win, is to be able to transform quickly. After dodging the boss rhino’s charge, she needs to transform quickly and stab a needle into the boss rhino. At least that’s the only thing I can think of if I was her.
Well, let’s see what she will do next. Oh, another rhino is charging at me. I wonder if a Steel Rhino’s horn can pierce another Steel Rhino’s skin. Let’s try it.
I lifted the rhino I stopped before, and place it in front of the charging rhino before I let it go. And the horn of the charging rhino hit the rhino I used to block the way.
The result was surprising. The horn didn’t receive any damage. It’s still as sharp as before. But the rhino that was hit is shouting in pain even though the horn didn’t pierce its skin.
I see. So that’s what happened.
No matter how strong their skin is, they are still one of the largest organ of living beings. It is still a skin in the end.
My guess is that rhino’s sense of pain is lessened a lot because it’s difficult for them to sense any pain because of their thick skin. But once they received enough damage, without even having to pierce their skin, they would get hurt just like any other living beings. Unlike tortoises who have strong defense because of their shell which is their exoskeleton with the purpose to protect themselves, rhino’s skin is still a skin.
Still, this knowledge is unnecessary for Jewel. I hope she can do well with the boss rhino she’s facing.
Well, she’s smart. She should be able to figure out what to do if her original plan failed.
I keep watching her for a few more minutes when she finally realized it herself. She is too slow to dodge with her hybrid form so she stopped using that form to dodge and use her human form. And after dodging, she tried to transform quick enough for her so she can give a counter. Though her transformation is still slow.
Well, she needs another plan then unless she can transform quicker. And I know what her other plan is.
Other than the Lightning Needles, she brought another magic weapon with her. It’s the magic kunai which can be used to throw, and when infused with mana, they can pierce even steel. Though the Steel Rhino should be stronger than a steel, so I don’t know what will happen.
Jewel gained some distance from the boss rhino, and prepare the kunai to throw and a Lightning Needle in her other hand.
When the boss rhino is charging at her, Jewel threw the kunai infused with her mana toward its eye. The boss rhino thought that just by closing its eye, it should be able to protect its eye. But that’s wrong because the kunai is too strong.
The kunai pierced the boss rhino’s right eye. But it can’t go deeper than that. I guess even its eyelid is stronger than we expected. I thought the boss rhino would die with just that one kunai. But it seems that I was wrong.
Though Jewel prepared for that. When the boss rhino slipped because it was in pain while running, Jewel grabbed the kunai from its eye and pierced the Lightning Needle into the opening gap.
After retreating a few step back, she casted her most powerful lightning magic. Because of the Lightning Needle’s effect, Jewel’s lightning magic become even stronger than master level lightning magic. And the boss rhino died in an instant.
“Wow, that’s smart. Will you keep that kunai? I think unlike the needles, kunai is not consumable and can be used again and again,” I asked Jewel if she wants to keep the kunai for herself while I dodged another rhino’s attack.
“Maybe just two of them. Master, I need to cultivate here right now after defeating the boss rhino. Please protect me,” Jewel said as she sat down on the ground next to the corpse of the Steel Rhino she defeated.
“Wait! You didn’t tell me that you need to cultivate right away! Aaah, you stupid disciple! You should have told me everything beforehand!” I shouted to Jewel who doesn’t react.
Since she doesn’t respond, I have no choice but to protect her here. The rhinos are fine. But if there are other stronger monsters approaching, it might be hard. I hope that won’t be the case.
I quickly distanced myself from the other rhinos, and quickly draw a circle around Jewel and the boss rhino’s corpse with the Aura cane. One hour should be more than enough to get the surrounding monsters away from here.
If only she had told me about it beforehand, I would have make these rhinos disappear from the start. She was too focused in defeating the boss rhino that she forgot to inform me that she needs to cultivate next ot the corpse.
I see. So, for beastform mages to increase their level, they need to use the corpse of the monster similar to the animal they transformed into to cultivate. Just like how mages use magic stones to cultivate.
Though I don’t like how she keep the important info until later. I’ll give her some punishment later.
For now, let’s herd all the rhinos here into a portal to another location. It’s faster than killing them one by one.
I destroyed the other barriers except for the one that is protecting Jewel, and use taunt to get all the rhinos pay their attention to me.
After I get al the rhinos to chase me, I opened a portal directly when they are in front of me. All of them quickly entered the portal. And those who somehow stopped were forced to move forward because of Shelia.
...it’s like I’m a shepherd. And Shelia is a dog that helped me in herding the sheeps, which are the rhinos. Maybe I’ll open a ranch after I destroy the cult in the future.
I didn’t kill more than necessary because maybe in the future, there will be another beastform mage who wants to be a rhino and needs Steel Rhino to evolve just like Jewel. As they are monsters that took Jewel and Shelia a while to be found, I don’t know if there are other places with more of them or not. If there are not, I might end up making their species extinct if I decided to kill them. That’s why I will let some of them live.
I also want to do the same to other species if possible. Now that I’m much stronger than before, I should be able to do more. Though that will only be my option unless the monsters are too difficult to handle. These rhinos are still considered simple.
After transporting all the rhinos, there are other monsters appearing. Shelia and I either kill them or transport them away to protect Jewel. And finally, after ten hours staying here, Jewel has succeeded in her evolution.