WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈
Chapter 86: Take Off!
──────
Blood Mole.
Just as its name suggested, it was a monster that resembled a mole.
There were probably two reasons for the modifier “Blood.”
Either its slimy body was red like blood.
Or its nearly sightless kind had an incredible ability to smell blood and swarm toward it.
Encountering Blood Moles in a narrow mine shaft was endlessly troublesome.
That was why any injury sustained during mining had to be quickly treated with bandages or something similar. You couldn't go around bleeding and attract Blood Moles.
“I-It’s running away.”
“Catch it!”
The injured Blood Mole thrashed wildly in every direction.
Pickaxes struck the ground uselessly.
‘Too slow.’
I stepped in.
Snap!
The moment I bit down hard on the Blood Mole, it twitched for a moment before going still.
There was no way a small monster without Venom Resistance could withstand Neurotoxin.
“Damn, that startled me.”
“Good job, snake!”
The dwarves praised me.
But the one who truly deserved praise wasn't me, it was Seedling Kibaemi.
“Did Seedling Kibaemi notice the Blood Mole nearby?”
“What a remarkable thing.”
The dwarves quickly calmed down after their initial panic.
One Blood Mole wasn't much to fear. The real problem was when several rushed in at once.
Seedling Kibaemi kept shaking their cotyledons toward the Blood Mole.
Ah, now I understood.
I took out the dagger Ashira and dissected the Blood Mole.
I hadn't expected much, but it really did have a Magic Stone.
It was only a Grade 1 Magic Stone the size of a bean, but it was definitely a Magic Stone.
What luck.
The instant I placed it on Kibaemi's leaf.
Sliiide.
The Magic Stone melted away.
Kibaemi danced as though delighted.
I hadn't even noticed, but Kibaemi's senses were pretty impressive.
That was probably thanks to one of Kibaemi's skills.
──────────────
【Seedling Chimera Lv. 2】
【Traits】
[Seedling], [Baby], [World Tree]
──────────────
Huh!
Seedling Kibaemi's level went up.
Did Seedling Kibaemi level up by eating a Magic Stone?
No matter how many Magic Stones I ate, they never raised my level.
Still, I had wondered how a sprout would hunt and gain experience. It seemed Seedling Kibaemi absorbed Magical Essence by eating Magic Stones.
Maybe one of Seedling Kibaemi's traits had that effect.
The trait called [World Tree].
That one looked especially incredible.
Seedling Kibaemi had skills too.
──────────────
【Skills】
[Sixth Sense Lv. 1], [Perception Expansion Lv. 2], [Absorptive Growth Lv. 1], [Leaf Shaking Lv. 4]
【Status】
[Happy]
──────────────
What a flashy skill window.
Why did seeing it make me think of my childhood and feel like crying?
The only skills I had at first were Poison Fang and Quick Crawling.
Perception Expansion, Sixth Sense, Absorptive Growth.
They were all incredible.
Going by Birth Status, Kibaemi had to be at least in the high teens.
Kibaemi's Potential was clearly high as well.
Yes, as long as you grow up happy, I don't care about anything else.
I gently stroked Kibaemi's head.
“This is actually good news.”
I heard Manjin say that.
Good news? Because we found a monster?
“The presence of Blood Moles means a Bone Crystal vein is nearby.”
That made sense after hearing it.
Apparently, Blood Moles loved Bone Crystals.
Since they were looking for a new vein, finding Blood Moles was actually lucky.
“Hey, friend.”
Manjin smiled and made a request.
“Can you keep that sprout with us?”
Sure, why not?
Seedling Kibaemi also preferred staying by my side over being in Subspace.
We headed deeper into the mine shaft.
Then, at some point.
Kibaemi started acting strangely again.
I told Dunkel.
“Wait.”
Dunkel stopped the dwarves.
Kibaemi had begun shaking their leaves toward one side of the wall.
Would it be Blood Moles again?
The dwarves swallowed nervously.
Manjin gave a hand signal for silence and got into position.
Manjin and one dwarf gripped their pickaxes while the others held up the lights.
“Hup!”
Manjin alone started swinging his pickaxe at the wall.
The other dwarf stood ready, watching for Blood Moles to leap out.
This time, though, there was no dull thud and no spray of blood.
Clang!
With a clear metallic ring, the dirt covering the wall crumbled away.
A pure white metallic vein was revealed.
“Oh, it’s a Bone Crystal vein!”
Manjin shouted in delight.
He took out a small chisel and struck the Bone Crystal.
After closely inspecting the broken fragment, he said, “The purity is incredible!”
I had expected more Blood Moles to burst out, but instead we found a Bone Crystal vein.
Seedling Kibaemi really knew how to play with people's hearts.
“Let's mine ore here. Everyone will be happy.”
Manjin said that.
They had probably been in the mine shaft for around four hours.
Originally, they had planned to spend several days looking for a Bone Crystal vein before beginning full-scale mining.
The dwarves began swinging their pickaxes with bright expressions.
Clang! Clang!
Whenever pickaxes scattered sparks, fragments of Bone Crystal fell away.
Today, they would mine only as much as they could carry. From tomorrow onward, they would haul it by cart to where the rails had been laid.
‘Kibaemi, why did you find this?’
Kibaemi probably sensed the Blood Mole because of that Magic Stone.
But why had Kibaemi reacted to Bone Crystal, which was just ore?
-It’s probably because it isn't just ore.
Pelerian said that.
‘Could Bone Crystal really be the bone of a monster?’
-That’s highly likely. It was probably once the bone of a gigantic creature. If it was an animal that huge, it must have been a monster.
Bone Crystal was supposedly once the bone of a living creature.
So it was probably something like a fossil.
If it came from a creature so old that even the Long-Lived Race called it ancient...
‘Isn't it dinosaur bone?’
-Dinosaur? What’s that?
What other answer could there be?
‘You know, something like a dragon. Huge head, like a Tyrannosaurus.’
-I’ve never heard of such a monster. It can’t be a dragon. Dragon Bone is too precious to be lying around everywhere like this.
Pelerian didn't even know dinosaurs. What an idiot.
I brought a piece of Bone Crystal close to Kibaemi.
Kibaemi stretched out their cotyledons and accepted the fragment.
It was funny and cute how Kibaemi used their leaves like hands.
Then.
Sssss.
The faint white sheen of the Bone Crystal began to fade.
Eventually, it turned a murky gray.
Tap.
The Bone Crystal fell to the ground and crumbled apart.
‘Kibaemi's leaves look glossier!’
Kibaemi's cotyledons, which had still been so tender, turned a little greener.
-Oh! Did it absorb Magical Essence from the ore?
‘Come to think of it, bones contain lots of phosphorus.’
-Phosphorus?
‘You know, bone meal is sometimes used as fertilizer.’
-You know the strangest things.
Pelerian was amazed that I knew something it didn't.
Still, Kibaemi kept showing such amazing abilities.
I couldn't even guess the limits of Kibaemi's Potential.
Originally, I was the one with high Potential, but somehow, that only made me happier.
Unlike the warm atmosphere on our side, raised voices suddenly erupted among the dwarves mining Bone Crystal.
“Stop talking nonsense!”
Manjin was shouting at Dunkel.
They hadn't seemed close, but why was he suddenly snapping at Dunkel after barely speaking to him?
“It isn't nonsense.”
“It isn't? Of course it is. What, dwarf society can't go on like this?”
The two had suddenly started speaking casually.
Had they always been close enough to do that?
Even with Manjin's heated expression, Dunkel calmly pushed back.
“It can't. We stopped trading completely and keep digging into the ground. Even the Mine Lord has put aside everything else to remain in the deep levels...”
“We keep digging into the ground? We keep digging?”
“Why are you picking at one thing I said?”
“You think miners are beneath you?”
“You know that's not what I mean.”
Dunkel and Manjin argued.
The young dwarves watched their fight in confusion.
Dunkel spoke calmly.
“Mining is the most important job in the mine. We are a people who smelt ore and make things from it. But what's the point of making anything if it isn't used? We have to start trading again and send dwarven goods out into the world.”
“That’s for the elders to decide.”
“Those elders aren't doing anything in the deep levels.”
“Ha... Ah, Dunkel, big brother!”
The dwarves flinched at the words big brother.
Even I had no choice but to be surprised.
Smooth-skinned Dunkel and heavily bearded Manjin.
I had naturally assumed Manjin was much older, but was it actually the opposite?
“Do you know why you were ostracized from when you were young? Do you know why nobody likes you?”
“...”
It looked to me like Manjin was suddenly flying off the handle.
Still, there had to be a complicated history between the two of them.
“You think it’s because you have no body hair, because you don't have a beard? No. It's because you keep spewing nonsense without knowing your place every day. You can't even do the work of one person properly, yet you keep saying pretty things that make people want to tear their hair out. That's why everyone around you hates you.”
“Manjin.”
“If you hated that, you should have kept holding a pickaxe. But no, you said you were going to learn trade, medicine, business management. And now you're cleaning up pig shit!”
The more Manjin spoke, the angrier he seemed to get.
Still, judging by the things he said, they probably hadn't always been on such bad terms.
Dunkel didn't get angry even as he was insulted.
He only smiled bitterly, looking a little troubled.
“...Someone has to do it.”
“...”
“Raising pigs, even cleaning up their shit. Someone has to do it for the mine to keep running.”
Dunkel was right.
Wasn't that why it was meaningless to rank professions as noble or lowly?
In the cold atmosphere, something sudden happened.
Swish.
Seedling Kibaemi curled their leaves inward.
Seedling Kibaemi looked as though they were hiding from something.
‘What is it, Kibaemi?’
Had Kibaemi sensed danger?
My Survival Instinct didn't warn me of any threat.
That didn't mean I could relax.
Even if it didn't threaten my life, something dangerous might happen to the others.
And that was exactly what happened.
Bang, bang, bang!
It was similar to before.
The wall bulged outward, then a monster’s bright red head burst out.
Another Blood Mole.
Its slick head had nearly vestigial eyes set into it like buttonholes, while drool dripped from between its sharp, lipless teeth.
“Hyaaah!”
One of the dwarves quickly swung a pickaxe.
It lodged into the creature's face with a thud, spraying blood.
“It’s... Urgh!”
But it was too early to relax.
This time, there wasn't just one.
Blood Moles burst out one after another from the ceiling and walls.
One that had just emerged from the wall latched onto the dwarf holding the pickaxe.
“Argh!”
The Blood Mole tried to dig into the dwarf's stomach with its sharp teeth and claws.
That bastard, that was the tactic I used.
“Raise the lanterns!”
Manjin directed the dwarves amid the sudden chaos.
Blood Moles hated bright light.
They would retreat when oil lanterns were held toward them.
At first, it seemed to work.
But there was something the dwarves didn't know.
Monsters could learn too.
“Tidik, kididik.”
The strange cry came from a Blood Mole whose hide alone was darker in color.
When the sound echoed through the mine, the Blood Moles that had been fleeing instead lunged at the lanterns.
Crash.
They bit into the oil lamps without hesitation.
The lamps had been designed to go out as soon as their glass broke, to prevent fires.
That made the situation even worse.
The creatures attacked the lanterns without fear, and every lantern was extinguished in moments.
Pitch-black darkness descended over the mine shaft.
Darkness where you couldn't see an inch ahead.
And countless Blood Moles.
‘Damn.’
The worst situation miners feared had arrived.
* * *
In the darkness.
“Stay together! Light the emergency lamps! Even matches!”
Manjin shouted.
He couldn't show fear.
As the team leader, he had to look calm.
“Argh!”
“Gah!”
But it was impossible to maintain control.
Manjin himself was in a situation where he wanted to start swinging his pickaxe at once.
Hot liquid splashed across his face with a splurt.
At the same time, he smelled iron.
Blood.
Probably the blood of the young dwarves who followed him.
“No, no...!”
A Blood Mole leaped toward Manjin's neck from the darkness.
Then.
Piiing!
A beam pierced through the darkness and tore through the Blood Mole.
For a moment, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Piiing!
Another beam shot through the darkness.
This time, there was no mistaking it.
It was the snake.
The snake was putting on a beam show in the darkness.
Then.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Flames bloomed in midair, illuminating the surroundings.
It had to be magic cast by the snake.
More than ten Blood Moles had appeared in the mine shaft before anyone noticed.
They lunged into the fireballs as they had attacked the lanterns, but only set themselves ablaze.
“G-G...!”
Manjin steadied his trembling voice.
“Raise your pickaxes! Kill them all!”
He swung his pickaxe with all his strength.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
