Chapter 28: Trent’s nest

When we step into the mountains, trees and weeds are overgrown giving a gloomy impression. Somehow I also felt a chilly sensation, mountain forests in a different world gives off this dubious atmosphere.

“With this ambiance, it’s not strange if something pops out all of a sudden.”

“That’s right. This mountain has long been known as the home of Trents. Even an adult man can’t go in alone.”

Freya replied while holding Pero.

That’s enough, I want you to release him already...

“Wait a minute, I can hear something…”

Erna’s long ears twitched. It is all thanks to the Hell Ears skill but it’s also as expected from an elf who’s a resident of a forest. I feel that she’s more reliable than usual.

She leads us inside the forest and we begin to walk along the mountain path. Suddenly we heard a “Kon”, then another “Kon” sound echoed out. It was as if someone is cutting a tree. Although I did not grow up in the mountain, the sound of a tree being cut feels nostalgic.

“It looks like they’re fighting it already, let’s join them.”

“Hmm, right.”

We then walk in the direction that Erna directed us to, about four men were fighting something that is about 3m in height.

It has two thin arms growing on its dark brown surface. Green leaves grow on its head and there are wriggling roots in the place where the feet should be. It doesn’t have eyes and mouth. But I immediately think that it is a Trent.

“Damn! This thing is tough!”

“Hurry! We can’t keep this thing forever!”

The three men tied a rope on the Trent and they desperately tried to keep it on that spot. The other one holds an axe and is strenuously swinging the blade around the Trent’s waist.

Every time he did that, a rhythmical “Kon, Ko-on” sound echoed out. However, as I thought, the blade did not go through. Seeing the situation, I decided that we should help them.

“Erna, Pero go help those people holding the rope, I’ll see if I can cut it down with my axe.”

“Okay. But if you think it’s not possible, tell me and I’ll blow that Trent off with magic.”

“Waauuu”

“Then, I’ll also pull the rope with Pero-sama.”

When everyone grasped their role, we rushed towards those men.

“You there, move. I’ll be the one to cut it down from here on.”

“O-Okay…”

When I call out to the lumberjack, I am surprised at how easy it is as he obediently yields. The width of this Trent is about 70cm. And the damage on it is only about 5mm. Trent’s defensive strength is obviously superior.

I hold the steel axe on my back, readied it and faced the Trent. The blade has a length of 50cm and it is double-edged. The handle is as long as 90cm and maybe because it’s already used, the grip was already worn-out. Despite that, the beautiful steel color is still in good condition and it reflects the dim sunlight.

“Morgan, I’ll borrow your weapon.”

I swing the axe up like a golf club then strike it against the Trent as if I’m playing golf. A strange sound echoed out and the blade deeply digs into Trent’s body. I cut about half of it in one blow. I didn’t put much effort into it though…

I pull out the axe and strike it again as before. The Trent was cut off and just like that, it stopped moving without even screaming. It must have died.

“You are amazing! Who are you guys!?”

The lumberjack who was watching me from behind was surprised and asked me with a smile.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

“We came for the commissioned quest, we are a party called Homeless. It seemed like you guys were in trouble so we helped you out of my own accord but, did I somehow snatch your prey?”

“No, not at all, you guys coming here is a great help. I was having a hard time because the Trent was harder than expected.”

“A tough Trent huh…”

I then identified the Trent out of interest, I find out why the lumberjack was having difficulty.

【Appraisal Result: Trent (Variant): A special individual born by mutation. It’s harder and stronger than a common Trent. It’s an excellent quality wood.】

【Status】 Name:  Trent (Variant) Race:  Trent Magic attribute:  Earth Magic:  Rock ball, Rock wall Skills: Hardening (Intermediate), Leg Strengthening (Intermediate), Plant Manipulation (Beginner)

I used Skill Picking and acquired hardening, leg strengthening and plant manipulation. All of these skills look usable so it’s a big harvest.

“By the way, where are the Earth Fang guys?”

I asked the lumberjack, he then pointed to the summit.

“The Earth Fang headed to the summit with men from the village. Well, since long time ago, it was said that there’s a Trent’s nest over there.”

“Trent’s nest?”

“Yeah, Trent looks like a plant, but it’s still a magical beast. When it’s time to lay eggs, they gather in their nests to lay a lot of eggs. This year, they numbered quite a lot so it’s rumored that there might be something wrong in their nest.”

“So they went to the nest huh…”

Knowing the situation, this will be quick. All we have to do is head to the summit while defeating Trents on the way up.

“All right, we will also go to the summit. By the way, what shall we do about this Trent?”

“Don’t worry about it. We will carry this one to the village. It will surely be a good wood you see.”

The lumberjacks then carried the Trent and they start to go down the mountain trail. These so called mountain men are quite sturdy.

When we started walking on the mountain trail again, two Trent’s appeared. Their thin arms are swinging as they slowly move with their roots grasping the ground. Is it about the same as the walking speed of a person? It’s really slow.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now but, these so called Trents are slow…”

“In exchange to that, its brute strength and grip strength are exceptional. I also experienced having my arms gripped when I was a little child, I had fractured bones and it was a terrible experience.”

Erna and Freya were talking with each other while watching the Trent.

“Waauuu!”

Pero jumped out of Freya’s arm and rushed to the Trents. When the two Trents were troubled by his agile movements, they cried and head towards me.

“Nice one Pero! Draw them near me like that!”

While Pero is attracting the Trents, I pointed my left hand towards them. I use my skill thread generation and thread manipulation. White threads jumped out of my palm and it wrapped around the two Trents, I then tied them to a nearby tree.

The raging Trents cannot move due to the strong thread.

“Waauuuu!”

Pero jumped into my arm. He licked my face and seemed to be happy saying, “I did my best!”

“Good job, Pero. The fruit of your training were coming out.”

“Waauuuu!”

I drop Pero to the ground then hold the axe to finish the two Trents.

As I swing down the axe, the Trent was cut in one strike, the second strike also killed the other one. By cutting it, I found out that they are quite fragile compared to the variant earlier.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

I was a little surprised, I wonder if they are the common Trent.

“To finish the Trent’s in one blow, Tanaka-dono is quite strong huh.”

“I want to say yes but, we can’t lower our guard you know. There are still many enemies.”

For now, I warned everyone to be careful. I then roll the killed Trent on the mountain path. If I do this, the villagers will find them and carry them to the village.

Before me and the others start walking again, a magical beast that I had never seen before appeared.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

Its body looks like that of a child and the whole body is dyed in dark green. The skin is dry and rough like that of an old man, but it still give off a slim impression. The nose is long and pointed like that of a Tengu. In addition, its eyes have visible whites between the iris and the lower eyelid. The head is smooth without hair. For its clothes, a piece of dirty cloth was wrapped around its waist. It was such a striking magical beast which will make you think that it was a villain at a glance.

“Aguuuuuuu…”

It bare its fangs and turned hostile. I immediately used Appraisal.

【Appraisal Result: Goblin: It has poor intelligence and low physical ability. According to one theory, it is a subspecies of human race but it is still recognized as a magical beast. Along with Orcs, women dislike them.】

【Status】 Name:  Goblin Race:  Goblin Magic attribute:  Earth Magic:  Rock ball Skills:  Arm Strengthening (Beginner), Danger detection (Beginner),  Forced Pregnancy

Umm… it’s an extremely hideous magical beast indeed. Along with its appearance, the so called Forced Pregnancy skill is atrocious. I can understand why women hate it. It’s definitely a pest.

“Fireball!”

The moment Erna shouted, a fire ball of about 10cm was shot from her cane. The fireball hits the goblin’s face directly and the area above its jaw was blown away. It’s an instant death.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

“You have no mercy…”

“That’s obvious! Goblins are enemies of woman! It creep me out!”

“That’s right! Goblins should be eradicated!”

Erna and Freya seem to have a strong hatred towards Goblins. If there were a lot of goblins here, they would have turned into a sea of ​​blood. I used Skill Picking to acquire the Goblin’s Arm Strengthening skill.

I can’t think of a situation where I will use Forced Pregnancy so I ignored it. I only require skills that are useful in combat and living.

After that, we continued to fight monsters while aiming for the summit. And finally, we arrived at the summit in about four hours.

　◆◇◆

 “I think this area is the summit… Erna, can you hear something?”

When I asked Erna, her ears twitch and search for some sound.

“A lot of people are fighting in the area beyond this point. I think they are probably having a hard time.”

“Does that mean that those Earth Fang guys and the villagers found the nest of Trent?”

“I think so. Let’s go help them quickly.”

Relying on the sound, we cut through the grass, and reached an open place. It was the pond that immediately caught my attention. It is very clear and bluish. There is also a ruin in the center of the pond. There’s an old stone building forgotten with time.

“Damn! This thing’s hardness is abnormal! The axe just bounces back!”

“Dhal! Hurry up! We can’t hold it back anymore!”

In the center of the ruin, several men were having a tug-of-war against a huge Trent about 10m in height. The rope is attached to the Trent and it is being pulled from the left and right side. The Trent on the other hand was swaying its thin arms.

Then there’s one man trying to kill the Trent. He seems to be about 130cm but his physique is that of an adult man. He has unkempt reddish hair and abundant beard. His body was equipped with iron armor and he holds a single-edged axe in his hand.

Every time the man swings down his axe towards the Trent, I can hear a high pitched sound. It’s a solid sound, it is as if metal pieces are hitting each other. Despite that, the damage on the Trent’s body is only about 5cm.

“It looks like it’s not a common Trent.”

“Yeah, it looks like that.”

As I respond to Freya’s words, I use appraisal on the huge Trent.

【Appraisal Result: Bloody Trent: A high-ranking species of Trent which is extremely hard and has a huge body. It has been confirmed that cannibalism accelerates the development of Trents as they transforms their prey into their own nutrition. The name comes from the fact that its body is red like blood.】

【Status】 Name:  Bloody Trent Race:  Bloody Trent Magic attribute:  Earth Magic:  Rock ball, Rock arrow, Rock wall Skills:  Hardening (Advanced), Leg Strengthening (Advanced), Plant Manipulation (Advanced)

“It looks like that magical beast is a Bloody Trent.”

“Eh!? A Bloody Trent!?”

“Do you know something about them?”

“I do know something about them, Bloody Trent is a famous magical beast in the elf country! Although they are small in number, once they appear Trent’s number increases and they attack towns and villages!”

According to Erna’s story, Bloody Trent can be considered to be an advanced magical beast. If it’s about the defensive power, it’s close to a special ranked one so this will be troublesome. Whether my attack is effective or not is still uncertain.

“For the time being, let’s go help them.”

“Right, we should do that.”

We start running and cross the bridge leading to the ruin. After we joined the group of men, I immediately helped the members who are pulling the rope.

“Who are you guys!?”

“We are adventurers who had been asked to get rid of Trents in this village! Let us help you here for now!”This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

“Thanks for that! Sometimes the village chief is also nice!”

One of the villagers pulling the rope spoke and explained the situation but the village chief have a bitter smile showing that he wasn’t longing for this.

Rather than that, this tug of war against this Trent seems to be hard work. And despite not less than a hundred people are pulling from the left and right, the Trent can still slowly move forward. This is probably because it is using leg strengthening.

If that’s the case, I wouldn’t be a man if I don’t get serious. I used arm strengthening and leg strengthening skill and we start to pull the Trent slightly backwards.

“Awesome! The Trent was pulled backwards after this brother came! Hey, Earth Fang! Quickly cut it down!”

“Shut up! I’m also desperately trying to cut this one! It’s extremely hard that the blade can’t make any progress at all!”

The men keep on urging to finish it quickly but the strike of the man with the axe doesn’t seem to work. If this remained unsettled…

I then let go of the rope.

“Hey! Why are you letting go?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely win.”

I activated the pressure point skill. Large number of green dots appeared in my field of view and I pushed those dots on the men’s backs with my finger. It’s the acupoint for strengthening the body. This will save us time.

“Whoaaaa! What’s this! Strong power is surging out!”

“Pull—! Pull, pull, pull it—!”

The villagers, whose strength has been strengthened, pulled the Trent with their tremendous strength. Meanwhile, I hold my axe and move to the Trent’s feet.

“Damn! It’s not cutting at all!”

“Hey, let me do it.”

I pushed the man holding an axe to the side. This time, I swing down my axe.

“Go-on”, a sound like a metal was struck into the wood echoed out, there was a cut about 50cm deep in the Bloody Trent’s body which was about 5m wide.

“Is that for real……?”

I can hear a voice behind me but I seriously swing down my axe. This time it made a loud noise and the axe cut into the center of the Trent’s body. I think this is due to the simultaneous use of arm strengthening and leg strengthening skill but I also have advanced levelled basic abilities.

I can say that Homeless Variants is not a normal race.

When I pulled out the axe, I strike it a little below the place where I cut it up. Cutting a tree is more than just cutting it. By cutting the cut end into triangles, just with the tree’s weight, that would make it fall.

I also decided to defeat this Trent by imitating that concept.

“Hmmm!”

When I strike the axe into the leg part of the Trent, I managed to hollow out a triangle. Sound of breaking and creaking echoed out and the Trent start to fall in the direction where it was hollowed out. The men let go of the rope and they scattered in the opposite direction of its fall.

“Do-on!!”, the Bloody Trent fall flat on the ruins floor, it wasn’t a lie that such a rampage has occurred.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

“Uwoooooooooooo!”

The villagers shouted a triumphant war cry.

We defeated the Bloody Trent, a high-ranked magical beast.

---

Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next

---