Level Eater-Chapter 169

After gaining a new title and getting enough sleep, they forcibly woke up the giant moray eels and obtained SP and ingredients from the four of them.

Then, using decomposition, they cleanly extracted only the meat parts and magic stones from the giant moray eel corpses, which were called ingredients. Then stored them in Tatsuro's upgraded system skill, [Infinite Item Field], with time progression stopped.

This way, the moray eel meat could be taken out anytime, fresh and without spoiling.

After taking a meal break, they waited for a thundercloud to pass by once, and then it was time to search for the final theme.

However, they had no idea where to look, considering that the fish was a plant-type monster and the snake was an ocean creature-type monster like the moray eel.

From this, they all agreed that the mysterious fruit illustration might actually have nothing to do with plants at all.

"But in the end, we don't understand anything, so we have no choice but to search diligently." (Ai)

"That's right. So today, I'm thinking we'll take a look from the sky to see if we can find any clues. Jeanne, can I count on you?" (Tatsuro)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

As if to say "Leave it to me!", Jeanne jumped out onto the lake surface from her small state, pulled up alongside the small island in the middle of the lake where Tatsuro and the others were, and let everyone climb on her back.

Then Jeanne leaped up, gazing down at the lake surface below.

"Ai. Use [Far-Sightedness] to look down and tell me anything that catches your attention, no matter what it is." (Tatsuro)

"Roger that!" (Ai)

"Cardina, keep watch over the whole area. Jeanne, please fly slowly in a circle around the entire area. Athena, watch out for lightning. Everyone else, observe various places, not just below." (Tatsuro)

"Pewee!" (Cardina)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

"Yes, indeed." (Nana)

"Understood." (Leah)

"Got it" (Athena)

Jeanne flapped her wings once, circled the lake surface once, and then flew over it, tracing the doughnut-shaped reddish-brown ground that surrounded the lake.

Ai also closely observed the reddish-brown ground while looking down, but this place was barren with at most some scattered weeds and stones, and nothing particularly unusual could be seen.

Then, they entered the airspace above the forest.

They continued like this for a while and were about to pass over the empty reddish-brown area to return to the small island in the lake for a lunch break when it happened.

"Huh?" (Ai)

"What is it, Ai?" (Tatsuro)

"Hmm~ There's something that feels off... Sorry, I can't figure it out." (Ai)

"Did anyone else notice anything?" (Tatsuro)

In place of Ai, who had an unsatisfied expression, Tatsuro turned to ask if anyone else felt the same sense of incongruity, but everyone shook their heads.

As it seemed unlikely that they would find an answer by just thinking about it, they passed over the reddish-brown ground and returned to the lake as originally planned to have a meal.

After eating and preparing to fly over the areas they hadn't yet explored, they were about to pass through the reddish-brown area again when Ai tilted her head once more. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"You still feel like something's off?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah... It's like, hmm. Something, hmm. Something, hmm???" (Ai)

"...Tatsuro-san. May I sketch the view from above once?" (Leah)

"That's right! Perhaps we might understand something from that!" (Ai)

"That's a possibility. Leah, can I ask you to do it?" (Tatsuro)

"Yes!" (Leah)

Jeanne was asked to hover at a height and position suitable for sketching, and Leah took out the paper and pen she had received from Tatsuro yesterday for letter writing from her [Item Box] and began to sketch.

Each time she finished drawing, they asked Jeanne to change position, and Leah moved her hand as accurately and quickly as possible. Given the simplicity of the terrain, she was able to create a highly accurate reproduction.

"You're really good at this, aren't you" (Ai)

"Indeed. I tried drawing too, but I couldn't do it like this..." (Nana)

Saying this, she took Leah's reproduction from behind and handed it to Tatsuro along with her own drawing.

Looking at them side by side with Ai, while Nana's drawing couldn't exactly be called skillful, it had a subtle touch that might be considered good for a child of Nana's apparent age.

On the other hand, Leah's drawing was a perfect, photorealistic sketch.

Thinking that most people would probably seem unskilled compared to this, Tatsuro made sure to give Nana positive feedback before thanking Leah and storing the drawings in his [Item Box] for now.

Then, partly to kill time, they flew to the forest area they hadn't properly explored yet.

After about three hours of aerial exploration, including breaks, they returned to the reddish-brown donut-shaped area.

They asked Jeanne to hover in a place overlooking the area, and Ai began comparing Leah's sketch with the landscape below using [Far-Sightedness]

As Tatsuro compared Nana's sketch with the scenery below, Nana was smiling happily without saying anything.

Feeling soothed by this, he concentrated as if playing a spot-the-difference game.

A few minutes later, Ai quickly discovered a difference from the sketch.

"Hey, Tatsuro. I think this part and that part are different." (Ai)

"Let me see. From here, I can't make out the details with my eyesight. Jeanne, please move in that direction." (Tatsuro)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

"...Stop here!" (Tatsuro)

They stopped right above the spot Ai said was different, and Tatsuro checked with Nana's drawing while the others passed around Leah's sketch to confirm.

As Ai had said, there should have been a patch of weeds about fifty centimeters high growing in a one-meter square area, but there was nothing there.

And a few meters away from that spot, there was now a brownstone about thirty centimeters in size where there had been nothing before.

While stones were scattered here and there in other places as well, so it wasn't particularly concerning, it seemed unnatural for a stone to suddenly appear in a place where there had been nothing.

Moreover, there shouldn't be any humans in this layer other than Tatsuro and his group.

"Suspicious. But let's search for any other differences just to be sure. Jeanne, please rise up again." (Tatsuro)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

They found a total of 16 differences between Ai's current view and Leah's sketch.

There were subtle changes that would be hard to notice without careful observation - grass appearing or disappearing, stones appearing or disappearing, depressions that were no longer there, or vice versa.

As these changes were clearly not natural, Tatsuro and the others landed at the location of the first stone they found that had appeared where there was nothing before.

"Cardina, my Dispel magic shows it's just a stone, but what about you?" (Tatsuro)

Cardina nodded emphatically, indicating the same result.

Skills: [Dungeon Assimilation], [Speed Super Increase Lv.8]

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(It has hardly any skills, but in exchange, [Speed Super Increase Lv.8] is quite high. No wonder it's so quick.)

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Level: 30

Skills: [Dungeon Assimilation], [Speed Super Increase Lv.0]

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He left the individual's level to be used elsewhere and took away the skill level.

Now all that was left was to deliver the final blow, but apparently, when this monster's body is damaged, cracks spread rapidly from that point, causing it to lose its original form. That probably wouldn't count as completing the challenge.

So this time, they decided to ask Nana, who could defeat it without causing any damage.

"Alright, I've got the SP. Nana, finish it off without damaging it using [Dragon Drain]." (Tatsuro)

"Understood!" (Nana)

And so, they had Nana defeat it, and Tatsuro stored it in his [Infinite Item Field] almost in its original form.