Mistress Of The Evil Forest

Case 45: North Zircon Conquest – Yetis, sharks, whales, and capybaras.

Following the sound of the beast, we eventually arrive at a small cave entrance.

Small, only compared to Skely's cave. This entrance can easily be entered by even Mister Slen.

''It might be yetis.'' Chloe whispers. ''I read the monster ecology book of this region a while ago. The book was older than the library though, so I'm not too sure about its reliability.''

Yetis... I've always wanted to see one. It's not nearly the level of excitement I have with horror creatures though, they're just bigger and weirder apes.

''In any case, let's check them out first.''

''Let me go.''

''Alright.''

Ariel bravely flies inside the cave, fulfilling the role of a scout.

''Man, she really is broken.'' Chloe shakes her head. ''Being a near-immortal ghost that can use magic and is actually intelligent...''

''Aside from the light element, are exorcism skills that rare?'' I ask.

''Kind of. They're pretty much only seen in faraway countries that are based on the Eastern cultures of Earth.'' Chloe replies. ''We will have some content to go through there later, by the way.''

''Hm, I see.''

I wonder what the food there tastes like.

''I'm back~!''

While I'm thinking that, it seems Ariel is back.

''How's it?''

''Exactly ten yetis. Their level range is between 20 and 25.''

''Hm.''

''The thing is, they didn't attack me even though they clearly saw me.'' Ariel scratches her head. ''I think they might be peaceful.''

''Well, yetis in some folklores are known to be peaceful.'' I reply. ''Besides, we won't gain meaningful experience defeating them if their levels are that low.''

''True.''

''Let's try to make peace.''

So we enter the cave after Chloe makes a simple fireball to light the cave for herself. 

After just a bit of walking, we reach a large room, similar to the boss room back in Skely's cave. Immediately, I can see a few big 'beds' made out of small sticks and a few other things. Near the beds are big ape-like creatures with greyish fur covering the majority of their bodies. 

True to the lore, they are indeed nocturnal creatures, because I see none of them is sleeping. They are instead... Training. 

[Zircon Yeti Lv.25]

[Zircon Yeti Lv.24]

[Zircon Yeti Lv.22]

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: --             

Race: Zircon Yeti                     Title: --

Level: 25

HP: 71/71                    MP: 64/64

STR: 3.7                     INT: 4.6

AGI: 3.2                    STA: 3.4

Skill: [Ice Resistance Lv.6], [Martial Arts Lv.5],
[Roar Lv.5], [Language Lv.4], [Smash Lv.4]
[Inspect Lv.3], [Night Vision Lv.3],
[Auto Regeneration Lv.2], [Pain Tolerance Lv.2],.

State: Normal.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Their status doesn't seem bad at all.

''Interesting.'' I mutter.

Soon, some of them notice us. The largest one, presumably the leader of this group, comes up to me, prompting the others to stop moving. His body is at least thrice as big compared to mine, while his height is somewhat similar to Mister Slen's.

''Humans...'' He speaks with a growl-like voice, staring at me intently with a pair of dark brown eyes. ''What... You... Doing... Here?''

The yetis' language appears to be pretty hard, because this guy has level 4 [Language], and he's speaking like this. But I digress.

''First, I will not be interested in attacking you guys, for as long as you don't show hostility toward us.'' I speak up. ''I am here to confront the ruler of this land.''

The yeti begins to ponder, scratching his chin.

''We... No... Care.'' He shakes his head slowly.

''Hm, I see. Another thing.''

[Domination].

'''' !!! ''''

Immediately after I activate my skill, all the yetis begin to grab their throats as if struggling to breathe, their legs trembling intensely.

''Are you guys interested in becoming my followers?'' I ask calmly. ''You don't need to do anything yet. Just help me when I need you in the future, and in exchange, I shall also help you when you need me.''

''Isn't that kinda forceful?'' Chloe speaks up.

''Right, I forgot. You guys can decline if you want to, I won't hurt you.''

''Ugh...!"

The yeti leader grunts. He looks nervously back and forth between us and the other yetis before finally kneeling before me.

''We... Will...!''

I deactivate my skill and nod contently. ''Good.''

So I begin to send follower requests to the yetis, one by one.

I know that they probably just accepted it out of fear that I might hurt them, but I had to do it this way. In the first place, we need as much force as possible for upcoming enemies, who will only get stronger and stronger, and it's not like I abuse or make unreasonable requests to my followers or anything.

In conclusion, it's fine, probably.

''I appreciate it.'' I tell the leader after finishing the task. ''You guys can proceed like normal. If you have anything, come to the grey forest bordering this land.''

''Got... It.''

I can hear some of them sighing in relief.

Don't worry, I won't make you do anything absurd.

Leaving behind the yetis, we go further into the territory.

Just very slight, but I feel the snowing is getting a bit heavier than before, and the trees here are significantly more sparse as well. It's probably because we're getting closer to the Blizzard Orca.

''Chloe, lend me the map.''

''Here.''

Hmm... It's still two-thirds of the way to the center of the territory. But I'm surprised we haven't encountered any enemies.

''?!''

BOOM—!

Suddenly, something blueish comes straight at me with incredible speed. I hurriedly make an ice wall to block the attack. Judging from the color, it's most likely a water spell.

''There's a bunch of fish ahead!''

Ariel, whose head has clipped through my ice wall, shouts.

I cancel the wall, revealing the absurd scene that I never thought I would see—between the lifeless trees, various types of sharks and whales alike are swimming through the air freely, all staring at us with crystal-like blue eyes. 

[Zircon Bull Shark Lv.30]

[Zircon Grey Whale Lv.33]

[Zircon Great White Shark Lv.32]

[Zircon Basking Shark Lv.28]

[Zircon Fin Whale Lv.26]

A quick scan through their statuses tells me that they are all between levels 25 to 35, with their main means of attacking being wind and water magic. Common skills like [Inspect], [Roar], [Bite], [Acceleration], or [Dash] can also be seen.

But above all of that, they all have one same skill—

[Blizzard's Blessing: Receive grace from Blizzard's Chosen One, enabling the user to transcend environmental restrictions. +0.5 for all stats when in the territory of Blizzard's Chosen One] [Unique]

''The unique one is probably the orca's ruler skill.'' I speak up. ''We won't be able to convert them, so just kill them.''

It's a bit wasteful, but this can't be helped. Besides, I don't think a territory of this size only has this few mobs. I can still make lots more followers after defeating the orca.

So I pull out my newly acquired sword - the Blackstar before infusing it with flame. 

''I'll take care of this side.'' Chloe says before jumping left, carrying her flame claymore.

AUUUUHHH—!!

Smiley's howl rings through the space. A blood-red aura bursts out from him, quickly covering a large radius. The fishes, who now have the madness debuff on them, seem quite agitated. Worse for them, Mister Slen has already gone in with his tentacles and knife, while Skely has finished casting his fire spells.

Ariel excels at healing, so she's assuming the position of a pure healer for this whole expedition, obviously.

[Domination], [Acceleration], [Blink].

It doesn't take long before the horde of fish is cleared off. In the first place, my followers are all above level 30, and under the double debuff stacking on their bodies, the fish can't do much.

We quickly move on after confirming our kills.

On the way, we encounter some more stray sharks and whales, even octopuses with grey skin, but they are still not much for us. Eventually, we reach a rather unusual spot.

''...What?''

It's... A hot spring.

A large hot spring is right in front of us, in the middle of a snow-covered forest. Swimming leisurely in the water are numerous large rodents that have an aura of friendliness surrounding them.

''Ah, it's the capies.'' Chloe speaks up.

''You mean capybaras?'' I ask.

''Yeah, they're friendly.''

''But why are they here...?''

''I honestly have zero idea.'' Chloe shrugs. ''They spawn randomly in the game, and they don't do anything in particular. They're like... Yeah, mascots.''

''...''

Well, it's good that they're not 100-ton blue whales, I suppose.