Syl-Chapter 229: Even Stranger

"Okay... What the hell is going on?" I asked, staring at the nearly identical monster group before me.

"What? No way, almost perfectly identical monsters that you've previously defeated... What a weird coincidence!" Trixie declared, dripping with enough sarcasm to drown someone.

"I hate that she has the answer but refuses to tell us..." Vee grumbled.

"It's certainly vexing. I can only assume it has something to do with her oath, or she wants us to learn a lesson," I sighed.

"Maybe... Who knows?" Trixie giggled. "I suggest you deal with the monsters quickly, though. The shadow ones have already started doing sneaky stuff."

Two of the shadowy centipedes had indeed completely disappeared from my sight. I began flicking through my various sensory traits when Vee interrupted by pointing directly at their location and firing a barrage of [Acid Darts], which my [Sub-Cores] quickly joined in on to boost.

When the seemingly harmless shadows were struck, they abruptly came to life and squirmed in pain. Not enough to kill them, they hastily abandoned a stealthy approach and instead began trying to swarm at us.

"I really need to get [Spatial Sense]..." I muttered, impressed by how quickly the spider pinpointed the would-be ambushers.

"You'd have it if you bought it!" Trixie pointed out.

"I'm waiting for my discount!" I defended angrily, pulling over half of my [Sub-Cores] into helping me.

At breakneck speed, we were taking apart the [Fireball] spell and replacing it with Light. My newfound level in [Mana Manipulation] and the combined might of [Core Collective] meant that things were going smoothly, and another unexpected boon was coming from [Soul Sight], which was finally proving its worth.

Fire and Light Mana were actually closely related, with Fire and Light sharing some attributes between each other. Fire spells gave off light, while Light spells produced heat, a primary component of the former.

This meant that replacing Fire with Light Mana was surprisingly easier than I had expected, even if I didn't have a small platoon of [Sub-Cores] giving 120% effort to assist me in the task.

With the rapidly completed "Lightball" in one hand, I locked down the resulting spell construct and had my [Sub-Cores] effortlessly replicate the result. What was one was now a pair with two brightly glowing balls I tossed in separating paths, hoping to maximize the explosive radius.

<Spell [Lightbomb] discovered.>

Hey! That's a great name!

It was like the [Flash] spell I had cast beforehand, except at a much greater magnitude and area of effect. The shadow creatures wailed in agony, and even the regular monsters seemed deeply disturbed by the resulting detonation.

"Holy shit! Am I blind in three of my eyes!?" Vee cried out.

"Nothing some healing won't fix... Or time," Trixie replied reassuringly. "Although some warning next time would be appreciated!"

"Sorry! I figured throwing two glowing balls was enough of a signal..." I apologized sheepishly.

"True, it did an absolute number on those shadow monsters," Trixie replied excitedly. "If there was one more of that spell, I think you would've killed them in one go!"

"No! Not more!" Vee complained.

"I'll finish them off with [Light Beam]," I compromised, rapidly firing the spell and executing the almost-dead centipede monsters.

As before, they exploded into what looked like Mana. I'd almost assume they weren't real if I wasn't getting kill notifications for each and every one of them. Trixie was staring at me expectantly as if I was supposed to have solved the puzzle already.

The only thing I can think of is that these strangely remind me of dungeon monsters... The same levels on all of them make me think they were spawned this way. Do the kobolds have a captured dungeon of their own?

"Since you killed the shadow monsters, I'll deal with the rest," Vee suggested, interrupting my thoughts.

I gave her a quick nod and let her go wild. I knew my [Sub-Cores] would provide aid if needed, so I resumed my thoughts.

No... I thought I remembered someone saying dungeon monsters can't leave the dungeon. The monster book I read also said something similar about being grateful orange slimes couldn't leave the dungeon. Huh... I guess that's technically not true anymore with me. I wonder if I've broken some kind of taboo with that?

I was only half paying attention to Vee, although when she killed the strange kobold, I noted he also exploded into Mana, something eerily close to Nature. Everything was pointing towards these monsters being spawned, somehow, and I tried to scrutinize as much as possible with all my various senses, hoping to pick up on something when Vee killed more.

Trixie must have understood I was trying to concentrate as she didn't disrupt me, although I wished she would just give me the answer at this point as I was rapidly growing frustrated.

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Then something different happened; when Vee was about to strike down one of the earthen turtle monsters after wearing it down, it seemed to abruptly explode before her blow landed. We did not get a kill notification this time, and I saw that the Mana appeared to be going somewhere rather than dissolving into the air.

"Follow that Mana!" I declared and began chasing after it.

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"Hey... I'm not done here," Vee complained.

"Catch up when you're done, slowpoke!" Trixie teased.

I could feel Vee's annoyance through our [Companion Bond], but I knew she could easily catch up with some teleports. I did not want to lose this trial; it was my only answer to this strange reoccurring event.

"Oh, look, more!" Trixie suddenly spoke up.

I briefly looked behind and saw another trail of the strange Mana following us. Whatever happened to the first turtle must have happened to another before Vee could kill it.

"Talk about a big mistake," Trixie giggled mischievously. "Also, they are tortoises, not turtles!"

"I really don't care..." I admitted.

"You should!" Trixie whined. "Turtles are way better than tortoises because turtles can swim! Tortoises just walk around all slow, like they're always late for something. And turtles get to live in both the water and on land, so they have double the fun. Tortoises? They're stuck in the dirt all day like boring old grandparents. Plus, turtles' shells are shinier because they are always washed in water. So, turtles win because they're faster, cooler, and know how to have a splashy good time!"

I didn't even know how to respond to that. The rant had come out of nowhere and taken me by such surprise that I nearly had forgotten I was chasing after the retreating Mana.

"O-ok?" I reluctantly agreed so the pixie wouldn't start on another rant.

"Turtles are cooler!" Vee agreed, apparently still attached to our conversation despite our growing distance.

"Good," Trixie nodded with satisfaction. "Also, look, enemies ahead."

"Wha-" I began trying to reply as one of those thunderbird monsters flashed right before me.

"Skreee!" It screeched as it tried to rake down with its lightning-infused talons.

"Oh shit!" I cried out, but thankfully, my [Sub-Cores] remained ready despite my distraction and threw up barriers to block the blow.

Numerous [Aegis] spells shattered, but I had recovered my senses and fired a [Force Bolt] directly at it with the direction of "away." The spell struck the bird, and for a moment, it looked like it resisted the force-pushing effect. I rapidly threw out a second bolt, which finally overcame the monster's resistance, and it went flying backward.

With a more reasonable distance between us, I flipped to Water alignment and formed multiple [Waterjet] spells. Each spell was anchored from a different position, all pointed toward the monster, and with an ear-piercing scream, the pressurized beams of water pierced through the air.

I'd almost expected the bird to dissolve before the spells connected, or perhaps it was too slow and unexpected as the monster was brutally skewered by the highly destructive [Water Magic].

"Man, you really should have taken over Aquillia's job," Trixie teased.

I ignored her and began frantically looking around for one of the trails of Mana. While I had lost sight of my original one, I caught a glimpse of one of the ones Vee dispatched after we left and chased after it.

"Someone sent those to stop us chasing the trail..." I spoke my thoughts out loud.

"Hey, that's pretty close!" Trixie once again teased.

"Just tell me," I demanded.

Trixie shook her head, "You'll get your answer at the end of this trail; I think they've realized they can't intercept you anymore."

I grumbled and begrudgingly accepted that answer. Weirdly, we appeared to be heading away from the kobolds. I would've thought for sure that the source of these monsters would have been well protected within the horde of the kobold army.

Or do these monsters have nothing to do with the kobolds? Will an elf assassin be at the end of this trail? I wondered.

I wasn't exactly being subtle with my pursuit, and some kobolds did attempt to break off and fight me. But when I used some [Wind Steps] and threw out some spells in retaliation, they quickly gave up on that. I was still dumbfounded by the sheer number of kobolds on display and wondered how and where they'd kept such numbers.

My ponderings were interrupted when Vee suddenly appeared on my shoulder. I had sensed her growing closer through the bond, and when she poofed onto my shoulder, she let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.

"Wow, I caught up! I don't think I've ever chained together so many [Blinks] before!" Vee exclaimed.

"Glad you made it; how many more poofed before you could kill them?" I asked Vee.

"Just two more; I started going straight for the kill rather than weakening them beforehand. It was getting rather annoying having my experience stolen like that."

"I one hundred percent agree with you on that!" I chuckled. "Stealing experience is a crime of the highest order!"

"I wouldn't go that far, but it's definitely annoying... Nobody likes kill-stealers," Vee replied.

"I'm surprised you encountered kill-stealers out here," Trixie said, sounding very curious. "I didn't think monsters were smart enough or deceptive enough to develop such tricks. Present company excluded, of course."

"No... It's something from my old life," Vee explained. "What's kill stealing here?"

"I'm guessing taking the final blow on a monster?" I suggested.

"Guessed it in one," Trixie replied happily. "Yeah, sometimes rogue classes, especially the archer ones, will wait in the shadows to land a killing blow. You'd be horrified at what people do to gain experience."

"I'm sure it's not just the humans," Vee complained.

"Oh yeah, it's not just them," Trixie agreed. "There's some stories of army generals taking all the kills for themselves and things like that."

I gestured backward toward all the kobolds, asking, "Do you think someone is taking all their experience from them?"

"Huh..." Trixie mumbled, scratching her head as if she hadn't considered that. "Could be! Although I don't know how many kills those ragtag group of kobolds will get. It feels like they're throwing cannon fodder at the dwarves, hoping to waste their supplies."

"That's absurd... So many dead kobolds for what?" Vee questioned.

"Necromancers do the same thing with the dead," Trixie answered. "It can be even more brutal depending on how powerful the necromancer is. You turn the corpses of your enemies into more soldiers. Terrifying stuff."

"Yeah, but they're at least dead. These are living monsters," Vee tried to protest.

"Oh, did Syl not give you the talk?" Trixie questioned. I shook my head, and Trixie continued. "Monsters are kinda... Not alive? Like you two are extreme exceptions to how monsters normally behave. Monsters usually only exist to put pressure and challenge on the other inhabitants of this world."

"But... I've heard monster talk?" Vee questioned.

"Yeah? And Syl lived with goblins for a bit; it doesn't mean anything," Trixie replied rather halfheartedly.

I wanted to complain. I certainly didn't feel like my time with the goblins was meaningless. But I also saw the orcs, and despite another experiment trying to persuade them to try something else, they had violently forced themselves back to their monstrous path.

It really makes me wonder what they have in store after this whole experiment ends. Will they just have random people come back as monsters like us, or do they plan on changing how monsters are created?

I would have to ask Gramps this question during our following conversation. But right now, we had a culprit to catch, and I was eager to solve this mystery!