Volume 1 Chapter 8: King of the Mountains

[Arkon_Phantasmal Wolf_LV33_HP:4997/5003_Status: Normal_Title: Mountain King]

Oh.

My.

God.

It's that frighteningly high number of health again.

Every time I make contact with him, I always feel unsettled by that monstrous amount of health he has.

By the way, the [Phantasmal Wolf] part? It's related to the life forms and species that exist in this world.

There is a system that is related to a being's level of threat. Animals with special qualities or magical abilities are the [Magical Animals/Beasts], [Monsters] are commonly acknowledged to be a nuisance at best, and hostile at worst, then there are the [Phantasmal Beasts]. Despite being called "Phantasmal", they are solid and corporeal, instead of being see-through or phantom like. It is because that the [Phantasmal Beasts] in question hold a lot of power that are beyond mortal comprehension that they gained the name.

With powers beyond mortal comprehension, it is safe to say that they are strong enough to cause huge-scaled disasters. They are often intelligent, or hold a certain amount of sentience that makes them even more dangerous.

Also, despite the [Mountain King] being the only living thing that is anywhere near LV33 in the general area, therefore the one with the highest LV, the LV is truly not that high if you think about it in the long run. It's only 33% of the 100%, and I even read about a theory in the books that the LV limit is nowhere as small as LV100. If it were any other normal [Monster] that was LV33, it can be easily taken care of with the correct preparation and procedures.

But it's a [Phantasmal Beast].

I believe all of you know that a majority of animals cannot recognize themselves in a mirror? In this case, I can deduce that the wolf has a certain amount of self-awareness and self-identity that it has given itself a name.

If they have enough intelligence to do that, then don't you think it's frightening to imagine what else they can do?

I stood in front of the entrance of the abandoned mine, with dozens of dead bodies littered all over the place. All the corpses had collars made out of iron or bronze on their neck... are they slaves?

If they are slaves, then these people probably came from outside the village. The village has a handful of slaves, nowhere near the number of corpses on the ground.

The slaves that are already dead aside, the ones that are still alive are being attacked by the [Mountain King]'s underlings, namely, the wolves in the pack.

I know that this might seem apathetic, and maybe even wrong, but I do not wish to interfere with whatever it is that's going between the [Mountain King] and the slaves. Since they are outsiders that came to here unannounced, I also hold no attachments to them to make myself care, or the obligations to assist them.

What I am more concerned about is my temporary camp and shelter.

Nooooooooo~~~

Everything is being destroyed! This is a disaster!

Judging by the objects and items that are lying on the ground haphazardly, I think the slaves were mining.

They probably came unarmed and unprepared. Otherwise, such a large group of slaves would not have been attacked - and eradicated - so easily.

Why did people enter the forests and mountains unarmed AND unprepared in the first place? This can't even be called a battle anymore. The slaves cannot muster any resistance whatsoever.

Only several wolves were injured - light and superficial wounds at best - while almost all the slaves were routed. And would you look at the [Mountain King]! He only lost six health. Six!

But I don't want my camp being destroyed any further as it is. I think I need to intervene.

"Oh my, you've made quite a mess." I stepped out of the trees that covered me and shouted.

The [Mountain King] lifted his gaze from the chaos, and diverted it towards me. He is close to one of the smaller caves near the west side.

He is covered entirely in bright yellow golden fur, and stands over five meters tall on four legs. An average elephant back on earth would be four meters tall. He is super duper huge.

We maintained eye contact for a few moments, and then, he decided to turn his body towards my direction.

I hastily lifted a wall of cobblestones that I assembled in advance, and watched as the [Mountain King] breathed fire at me.

Oh.

My.

God.

A wolf can breathe fire.

A wolf can breathe fire!

A wolf that isn't just a simple wolf, but still, it can breathe fire!

It's not the first time I have encountered him, nor is it the first time that he has breathed fire on me, but it's still a shock whenever it happens.

I can feel the intense heat even through the thick wall of cobblestone that is between me and a hot death. The [Mountain King] is quite tempestuous and unreasonable most of the time despite being so intelligent.

So, you guys might be confused as to how and why I suddenly got a wall of cobblestone? Well, this leads to my explanation to some of the experiments that I made through the years.

I have come to the realization that I have a sort of "Sphere of Influence", where anything that is within range of it, I can manipulate to a certain extent. I discovered this completely by accident, but boy am I happy that I did.

I can assemble different blocks in advance, then store it into my [Inventory] as long as it is not too large for my sphere of influence to manipulate. So think of it like making a 3x3 wall of cobblestone, and being able to put that thing into my [Inventory].

I dubbed this ability [Assembling]. I really couldn't find any other phrase or term.

There are still limits to this ability though. The things I assemble cannot be too big or too complicated. The best I can do is assemble a wall or several stairs without needing to do it one block at a time.

Pulling the wall of cobblestone out is a very effective defensive maneuver that has rarely failed me yet. And since the wall of cobblestone has undergone [Conversion], and holds similar properties to cobblestones in Minecraft, it has a paradoxical quality of hardness in it.

Paradoxical in the case that - be it slashing, smashing, bashing, etc - would not leave a scratch on it at all unless they continuously hit the exact same spot for a set period of time. Even if it did leave a scratch, it miraculously mends itself when left alone for a few seconds.

Even though almost everything in Minecraft was vulnerable to explosion, I have tested out the wall of cobblestones can still be an effective guard against explosions, just not as effective when it is used to block other methods of attacks.

I always make sure that I have at least one or more walls of stone that I assembled in advance whenever I confront the [Mountain King].

The [Mountain King] and I have a very strange relationship.

Normally, it would have been impossible to never have monsters attack my secret base and the abandoned mines. But I struck a deal with the [Mountain King], and he marked the territory as 'off-limits' and drastically reduced the number of monsters that would stick close to those areas.

Namely, he comes to take a piss whenever he feels like it, then goes off to do his own thing.

We had a very intense meeting the first time around. He attacked me, and I retaliated.

It is obvious that I am not strong enough to take him on my own, so you must be wondering how I am still alive?

I was frantic and desperate when I shoved gunpowder I collected by slaying the Minecraft [Creepers]into a detonator (thin explosive sticks) and threw them at the [Mountain King]. Using those as a weapon and using my cobblestone walls, it gave me enough of an edge to survive. We went back and forth for a very long time, and when I was just about to give up and drop, he suddenly stopped attacking me.

Turns out, he was attracted to my position because of the food I had on my person. Namely, the cured meat that was inside my [Inventory].

Well, to be fair, it's not exactly cured meat. I just don't know what else to call it.

I produce these meat jerkies through a lengthy process of salting them, marinating them, cooking them, etc. They could be technically called bacon, but that's such an over-simplified version of it that I decided to not call it that.

And let me tell you. They are delicious.

So I really couldn't fault the [Mountain King]'s curiosity, and gave him some.

It was how we started this strange relationship. I would periodically place my "offering" of cured meat in a spot that he frequents, and he will grant me his protection.

"Alright, Alright! Please calm down and stop destroying my things! Or do I need to beg and prostrate myself before the Mighty Arkon? King of All the Mountains in the World?" I stepped out from behind the wall of stone I erected, and found a snarling wolf visage directly in my field of view.

Sarcasm aside, he might attack me again if I don't go over-the-top with my words.

He gave me a huff as an answer.

I clutched more of the detonators in my hand and checked the [Mini-map] to make sure none of his underlings were going to attack me.

Huh? I see something else on the [Mini-map].

There seems to be someone alive, a survivor among all the dead bodies.

The [Mini-map] indicated that the person was right behind the [Mountain King], inside the small cave.

I took a peek, and found a girl that looked like they were no older than ten years old. She wore dirty rags, and had a slave collar around her neck.

She also has dark red hair, but I am uncertain whether the color is natural, or if it was dyed red due to all the blood.

But she has no ears. There are bluish, scaly, fin looking things.

Looking more closely, I noticed that she has more purple-bluish scales around her cheek and limbs, with a tail of the same color.

Her right leg is a complete stump. It's bleeding heavily.

Judging from the trail of blood on the ground, she probably tried to escape into the caves.

[Nameless Lizardkin_LV5_HP: 4/41_Status: "Bleeding", "Hunger", "Parkinson's Disease"_Title: Masterless Slave]

Nameless? Does this mean she doesn't have a name?

Wait, four health?

She is only four health away from death?

I don't really want to have more people dying. You might think me cold and apathetic, but I still have standards of my own.

"How about I make you a deal? You can have all of these cured meat, and I get the girl behind you." I procured three small urns of the cured meat from my [Inventory] and placed them on the ground.

I was planning to take some to the village and let Grace have a taste, but I still got more stocks back at the base so I am fine with giving these away to save a life.

Did I ever mention that time completely stops inside my [Inventory]? The things inside will never spoil or break since time isn't flowing.

The same principle applies to the [Chests] I crafted. I have a lot of them inside the secret base to store my things.

The [Mountain King] just kept growling at me for a while, but doesn't seem to relent.

Seems like it's not enough to placate him.

"If that's the case, then you can have the Cured Miltow Beef too." I took out a big urn and placed it on the ground too.

Miltow is a kind of wild cow that usually live deep inside the mountains. Their LV are higher than mine, and had very good stats, they also get enraged when provoked so it was difficult for me to get these. I had to lay traps and ambush them for two weeks straight.

The beef is tender, had a slight sweetness to the taste, and had a very chewy texture. It should get me a handsome price if I get to sell it

It seems like adding the Cured Miltow Beef was the right decision since it gave another huff and eased itself from the previously threatening pose, leaping away and into the woods in one big jump.

The underlings came forward and took the urns into their mouth, then followed their leader away from this place.

I immediately dashed to the lizardkin girl, and tried to ascertain her well-being... or lack thereof.

There were a lot of fallen scales on the ground that I assumed was originally hers, and there were more injuries than the ruined leg that was leaking blood.

"Your injuries are severe. Hang in there!" I muttered under my breath while I fished through my [Inventory] for the [Malbor Potion of Healing].

Time to see what this costly thing can do.