Chapter 25. No One Is Born a Hero (11)
“They’re always eloquent in moments like this.”
Clicking his tongue, he turned his head to check the melted part of his armor.
Well, it was fine—just a brief touch from the mimic’s digestive fluid wouldn’t do much harm.
Ethan’s iron armor had made a lot of noise, but in reality, it hadn’t sustained any actual damage.
I had really forgotten about that. Thanks to Ethan carrying me, I hadn’t touched the walls at all.
I stayed quiet, pulling an apologetic expression, and Ethan let out a faint sigh before finishing his water.
…Maybe I was a bit too harsh, considering he just helped me.
What could I do in return?
Looking around, I spotted the corpse of a slimy monster that looked like a hybrid between a reptile and a cephalopod.
‘…This should do. Let’s see…’
It wasn’t a Gigantic-class monster, though it was larger than average—but not grotesquely huge.
Its innards were transparent, and I could clearly see inside.
After inspecting it a bit, I noticed a purple stone glinting within its soft outer layer.
There it was.
I hadn’t planned on sharing this information yet.
But even if I told him, Ethan would probably just charge into danger without being any more cautious.
‘But there’s no helping it.’
Still, in a dangerous situation like this, it might be useful.
I owed him, so providing what information I could was only right.
Besides, he was our strongest asset in this situation.
I sharpened my mana like a blade, sliced through the outer skin, and retrieved the congealed purple stone from within the viscous fluids.
It was a small, lumpy piece—barely the size of a fingernail—and it sparkled faintly.
“…?”
Ethan watched me with a curious expression.
I poured the rest of the water from my flask to rinse off the grime clinging to the stone. Then, standing confidently—neither leaning on the wall nor avoiding it—I approached him.
“Could you break this for me?”
“This?”
He looked at the stone I handed over with a skeptical glance, then lifted it to eye level. With a flick of his fingers, he easily cracked it open.
Crack.
‘He cracks a stone like it’s a nut…’
Impressed, I took the broken fragment he offered back.
“There are stones all over the place—why bother?”
“I don’t need the stone itself.”
“…Then?”
Through the cracks, you could see a small hollow within, where a droplet of purple liquid glistened faintly. It was barely damp—just a tiny amount.
The stone itself was small, after all. Barely a single drop.
I ran my finger through it and smeared it on Ethan Behemoth’s lips. He flinched at my touch but didn’t pull away.
His sharp gaze slowly traced from my finger up to my shoulder, as if trying to assess what I was doing.
What? Did he think I’d do something bad to him? I raised my brows slightly.
He asked slowly.
“…What is this?”
“Lick it.”
“…What?”
“Lick it.”
As if he couldn’t believe what he heard, I stuck out my own tongue to lick my lips as a demonstration. Only then did he slowly lick his own lips, still hesitant.
“…!”
His expression shifted subtly.
“This is…”
“Feels like an elixir, right?”
Ethan nodded and removed one of the gauntlets strapped to his arm to check underneath.
Apparently, an attack had managed to sneak through the gaps in his armor and tear the leather padding underneath. But his skin beneath it was already beginning to regenerate.
Slowly, but surely.
‘Well, there wasn’t much of it.’
“What is this, exactly?”
“I got it from the monster. It seems to be its core.”
I said casually. He had already consumed it, so it was easier this way.
“If it’s a monster core… is it safe?”
“Probably not.”
“You fed me something unsafe?”
“And the great Lord Behemoth took it without hesitation.”
“You really don’t lose a single argument.”
“Well, it won’t kill you immediately. Keep it in mind for emergencies.”
I smiled slyly at him, and Ethan narrowed his eyes in return.
Still, this was my way of repaying the favor. Who else could give him information like this?
While he caught his breath, I started talking again to avoid suspicion.
“The mimics and monsters on our path were all dead, and yet the mana concentration in this space is still so dense it’s hard to breathe.”
“I had a vague sense of it too, but…”
“Well, we’re inside the mimic’s stomach, after all.”
“True. So the dense mana isn’t that unusual.”
“But while you were carrying me, I noticed something. The mana seems to gather in specific spots—between the monster corpses.”
When I held up the shattered piece, his gaze followed it—and he seemed to realize it wasn’t just an ordinary stone.
“So that ‘core’…”
“Yes, it’s bone. Hard as a rock, though.”
“…That could be quite useful.”
He adapted quickly. I nodded along and added, half-defensively,
“Of course, what I gave you earlier was experimental. I’d never seen it before, so I wasn’t sure if it would help a human…”
Ethan muttered,
“So you tested it on me.”
“……”
…Well, I had no excuse for that.
I only gave it to him because I knew it wasn’t dangerous—but still.
All I could do now was bluff my way through.
“Well, I figured a Behemoth could handle it, even if it did go wrong…”
“……”
That wasn’t enough? I narrowed my eyes and put on the most shameless expression I could.
“Want me to drink it instead?”
“…Haa. No… Forget it.”
He gave up.
Well, it wasn’t like I’d harmed him. I had no reason to feel guilty—oh.
“But since it’s mana-dense, please don’t overuse it. It will probably strain your body. That’s non-negotiable.”
In my memory, Ethan—youngest ever swordmaster and a complete battle maniac—used to drink that stuff like water. But still, eighteen might be too young for that.
He nodded, albeit reluctantly.
“…Fine.”
“Well, judging from your reaction, I doubt you’ll ever want to taste it again anyway.”
“Of course not. That thing—how could I? It’s dangerous. Edith Crowell, seriously, you are…”
Apparently done resting, he began re-equipping the armor he had removed.
Muttering something about not taking such substances recklessly, blah blah—annoying stuff.
Well, he still had a proper elixir supply left anyway.
But when the time comes and even that runs out, and that stuff becomes necessary, he just might thank me with his life.
Then, suddenly—a distant BOOM echoed, shaking the entire cave.
It sounded like something had collapsed… or exploded.
Ethan paused, tilting his head to listen, then murmured quietly,
“…We’ll need to run.”
“…Yes.”
The shockwave rattled the cave, sending stone debris falling from the ceiling.
I conjured a barrier over both our heads to deflect the falling rubble, thoughts racing.
‘What was that sound?’
Could something have happened to another team?
A vivid and undeniable sense of dread stabbed through my gut.
Then—Ethan, who had been carving a path forward, suddenly threw out an arm to block me.
“Stop!”
And just as I halted, nearly bumping into him—
BOOM!!!
The cave wall—no, the mimic’s stomach wall—exploded, sweeping everything away.
If I had taken one more step, or even leaned forward, I would have been caught in the blast.
…Dust and debris quickly settled, and moonlight poured in through the destroyed section.
Through the dust, I saw something massive swaying—what looked like the tail of a monstrous creature.
The thunderous sound that had echoed from afar was now deafeningly close.
Like a landslide, the cliffside crumbled—and the full form of the monster emerged.
Its steel-like silver hide gleamed brilliantly in the moonlight.
With jewel-like, razor-sharp legs, it tore through the ravine like it was nothing but dried grass.
I had thought the tail alone was huge—but there were eight more just like it.
Gigantic Arachne. A monstrous spider.
The same creature that had once wiped out an entire academy subjugation squad during training.
To make things worse, countless flying monsters were circling above, and others crawling underground to avoid the Arachne’s legs roared as they moved.
The sounds of cliffs collapsing and monsters screeching pierced my ears.
‘…This is where it begins.’
Nothing had gone according to my memories so far—I should have expected the Gigantic Arachne might appear earlier than it was supposed to.
Back then, it had annihilated nearly every participant in the subjugation training, and only after two full royal knight battalions arrived was it finally subdued—
And now, right before my eyes, stood that very same monster.
A Gigantic-class magical beast—the Gigantic Arachne.
