Let’s Go Meet It
I asked my family about the Vaash, but no one had heard of it. I didn’t recall seeing it in any monster books either.
I searched for “Vaash” on the slate’s database for the Royal Capital Library — only one result.
Just one? A phantom beast, perhaps?
The book was — Encyclopedia of Monsters, Volume 5: Rarely Encountered Beasts — apparently one of the thinner volumes.
Flipping through, I found the page on the Vaash.
The illustration showed a brown dairy cow, about 2 to 2.5 meters long.
It’s gentle toward non-hostile beings and willingly gives milk to those who seek it.
For enemies, it uses wind magic to amplify its vocalizations, inducing sleep. Once the opponent is asleep, it tramples or kicks them with powerful legs until they weaken.
That was all written — just one page.
When I asked Atre, he said we could reach where the Vaash lived in about three days from the World Tree.
It’s rarely seen, so naturally, it must dwell deep in the forest.
But if Atre and the others know where it is, we might as well go meet it.
We were already scheduled to visit the World Tree, so we decided to continue on to the Vaash’s location afterward.
From our home to the World Tree, we’d travel with the families of Lipka and Bianca, but beyond the World Tree, I figured it would just be us.
But it turned out the Tonitrus pack, who had been healing their wounds at the World Tree, would escort us there and back as thanks.
Before visiting the Vaash, we first went to subjugate Skeleton Flowers.
We’d previously spread four colors on a patch of Skeleton Flowers, and guided by an Alraune, we returned to check.
The flower petals had become light red, light pink, light blue, and pale blue.
If I had to compare, they resembled tourmaline gemstones.
“Not as glittery as the transparent Skeleton Flowers, but still, I think these would be popular.”
“Brother Gerald, I agree. The color resembles tourmaline gemstones — I like them too.”
When we harvested the colored Skeleton Flowers, we found some petals without color.
The knights collecting them said all the petals around the color boundaries were colorless.
I wondered if, like with mana absorption, where they only absorb one type, the color behaves similarly.
Thankfully, the colored petals didn’t seem to affect the magic stones.
We could probably try dyeing Skeleton Flowers in other areas the same way — mixing the four glass-coloring dyes with water and spraying them.
We went to another area to harvest Skeleton Flowers and retrieved 41 magic stones.
“Even though we’re deep in the forest so often, it feels like we’re getting off easy,” Meyer remarked.
“I think that’s fine. The Tonitrus probably don’t want to owe us anything either.”
The Tonitrus pack took down all the hostile monsters along the way.
Later, Atre, Ripka, and Ciel joined the fight, so all we had to do was retrieve the bodies of defeated creatures like Black Spiders, Frozen Spiders, Minotaurs, Poison Moths, Poison Snakes, and others.
When I asked the Tonitrus if they wanted any of the defeated beasts, they requested the meat and magic stones of the Minotaurs for dinner.
So we collected those and handed them over.
On the second day, we encountered a swarm of giant ants called Musts.
They were the same man-sized ants we’d fought in the Emenira Dungeon.
Last time there were about 50, but this time it looked like double that.
Ciel and Atre unleashed ice magic, freezing the Musts’ limbs to slow them down.
We targeted their necks — their weak spots — with magic and swords to bring them down.
When I asked Atre why ice magic worked even though Musts normally repel magic, he explained that while their bodies deflect magic, freezing their limbs slows them down.
“Why didn’t you tell me that during the dungeon battle?” I asked.
Turns out, Ciel had only taught him that recently — he hadn’t known back then.
“Young master Reinhardt, there should be a Must nest nearby. We’ll likely encounter more, so be cautious,” Meyer warned.
“How do we deal with the nest?”
“Use earth magic to destroy it. The Musts will swarm out. If there’s a higher species present, we’ll need fire magic, so be prepared.”
Just as Meyer said, we found the nest — or rather, a giant mound.
When we destroyed it, a massive swarm poured out — so many I couldn’t count.
Atre, Ciel, and the knights and mages with ice and wind magic worked together to freeze the Musts and slow them down.
Then we attacked and defeated them one after another.
“This is truly deep forest territory. I’ve never seen such a massive Must nest. Normally, this would’ve been a brutal fight,” Meyer said as we collected the defeated Musts.
The Musts’ bodies would be used for armor and chest plates.
They lose their magic-reflecting ability after death, but they still dampen magic and are highly durable — making them popular materials.
“With Ciel’s advice, we’ll have a much easier time dealing with Musts now.”
“Indeed. Though it’s about time we had a chance to contribute properly,” Meyer added with a wry smile.
What do you think about this chapter?
