I Became a Mythical-Tier Tamer Due To A System Error Chapter 122

Chapter 122 In the dark forest night. Step, step…… I heard light footsteps treading on grass. Soon, as moonlight seeped through the leaves, a figure revealed itself. A white short-haired girl was walking alone. Although her arms and neck bore bandages and surgical scars hidden under the academy uniform coat, they were faintly visible. She looked frail, yet carried a heavy-looking bag on her shoulder without showing any sign of struggle. Crackle! A transmission came through the mana circuit, and the girl raised a hand to her ear. [……Can you hear me?] “I hear you.” [So you’re the child that professor mentioned. I’ve heard a lot about you.] “……” Even at a first meeting, the tone that suggested familiarity displeased her, and Sia narrowed her eyes. No matter how much the woman on the other end spoke, the girl kept silent and continued walking through the bushes. […I can’t monitor the island’s situation, and there are unexpected watchers. I have no way to intervene, so I’ll leave ‘that’ to you.] “……” When the silver-haired girl still gave no reply, the transmission came again. [Hey, if you hear me, answer.] “Hey, lady.” [Huh?] An irritated retort came back, but the girl didn’t stop speaking. “I’m not a child, a kid, or a ‘you.’” Moonlight fully revealed her face. Her left eye was blue, her right eye yellow—heterochromatic. “Call me Sia.” In front of Sia, a large cave came into view. [……Yes, I know. I only shortened it out of convenience since we’re both busy. You’re now……] “Say. Sia.” […] A deep sigh came from the other end, as if suppressing anger. And a moment later. [Fine, fine. I want Sia to use that now.] Hearing this, Sia took a match and a thick talisman from her pocket, lit it, and tossed it into the cave. Some time passed. Thud―! Thud―! Thud―! The sound of someone running echoed closer. Grrruuuu…… What appeared under the moonlight was a muscular Minotaur. It stood nearly 2 meters tall, towering more than two heads above Sia. It had been drawn by the scent from the burning talisman. [Still not speaking, huh? If you keep acting uncooperative, it won’t be fun. I’ll tell your father everything……] “Wait.” […What?] At the same time as that puzzled voice. Clang! Sia dropped her bag onto the ground as if discarding it. Then, as she picked up a nearby stone…… Thud―! Thud―! The monster charged at full speed. Any other cadet would have felt their life in danger, but Sia didn’t even flinch, clutching the stone with calm eyes before flicking it like skipping a stone. Crack―! The stone struck its leg hard, throwing the Minotaur off balance. Kueeeeh―! The Minotaur screamed in pain. Sia leapt up, locking her legs around the Minotaur’s neck as it staggered. With her weight, its balance broke completely, and the Minotaur toppled sideways. Thud―! Using the rebound as it fell, Sia climbed onto the back of its neck. She tightened her legs even harder around its throat. Kkuhh…! Mmmmpphh―! Before it could cry out, Sia pulled a thick mana-coated cloth from her pocket and bound its mouth shut. Holding its neck with one hand, she rummaged through her pocket with the other. When her hand emerged, it held a syringe filled with green liquid. Mmmmppphhh―! The Minotaur grabbed at her legs in agony, but she didn’t budge. Pinned by Sia’s hold, its upper body couldn’t move at all. “……” As if searching for something in its neck, Sia’s fingers traced the skin. Handling the hard muscles like clay, she finally found a vein and plunged the needle in. Nnnghh―! The Minotaur’s last scream rang out. Soon after, the strength drained from its hands gripping her legs, leaving them limp. Sia released her hold, dusted her hands, and stood up. Still expressionless, she touched her ear and spoke. “It’s done now.” I discovered an Animal Friend! The moment I saw that phrase, I jumped up from my seat. ‘Where is it?’ But the system didn’t display a map marking where the spirit beast was. It meant I had to endure the inconvenience of checking by moving myself. ‘Let’s try going this way.’ Since the surroundings had darkened, it would be difficult for Ruber to confirm if I was using a spirit beast. When I used Shurk’s ability and sprinted east, a response appeared on the system window. There’s an Animal Friend within a 3.1 km radius! ‘So it was the opposite direction.’ I roughly grasped its location. As I adjusted my direction and ran, new messages kept popping up. There’s an Animal Friend within a 2 km radius! There’s an Animal Friend within a 1 km radius! The more I ran, the closer I got to the spirit beast. There’s an Animal Friend within a 5 m radius! Before I knew it, I had arrived nearby. Checking the system window, I scanned my surroundings. ……While I was searching the area, something entered my sight. ‘That?’ Under the tree trunk, I spotted a round, gray ball of fluff. It seemed that this creature was what the system was pointing to. ‘It’s been a long time since I found a spirit beast in the wild.’ I had recruited Shurk by conquering a dungeon, and Pau had been brought by hatching. So this was the second wild spirit beast I encountered after Boogie. ‘I also picked up Boogie under a tree, didn’t I?’ I crouched down and observed it. Because its head was lowered, I couldn’t see its face. It seemed to still be an infant, roughly about 10 cm in size. Curled up round, it looked like a tiny ball. ‘……But why is it like this?’ Was it sleeping? It even trembled a little as if having a nightmare. With fur that fluffy and warm-looking, it couldn’t be because of the cold. ‘First, I should check if it’s alive.’ I carefully reached my finger toward the fluffball. “……Hey, hey.” I tapped it as if petting it. Pop! From its head, two tiny things popped up. ‘……Ears?’ The ears were small, round-shaped, and cute. When I gently fiddled with them, the creature suddenly raised its head. Big, sparkling eyes appeared. ‘Everything’s round.’ Its face, nose, eyes, ears, and body. All were round, making it look like an adorable rodent. ‘……A hamster? A squirrel? No.’ When it raised its two little hands toward me, the fur hidden on its body was revealed. It was like a carpet. If a rodent had that trait…… ‘……A flying squirrel?’ Just as I realized, a hologram appeared before my eyes. Little Gale ‘Ramji’ Level: ??? Trait: ??? Its name confirmed without a doubt that it was a flying squirrel. Thanks to that, I could even guess its attribute easily. Since the epithet was ‘Little Gale,’ it had to be wind. At the moment, the only attributes I lacked were light and wind. ‘The parrot, which I assume to be light attribute, is still sleeping inside the golden egg I purchased at the auction.’ So if I obtained the wind attribute, I would be able to use all attributes. ‘With this, I’ve gathered all six attributes……’ Spirit beasts were so rare that you’d only see one once every few months. Because of that, finding them was slow, but recruiting them was still exciting. Of course, there were hundreds of species of animals listed in the skill. It would take a long time to collect them all…… but I was still quite pleased that I had succeeded in gathering spirit beasts of different attributes. ‘But, how do I bring it to the farm?’ Wild spirit beasts like Hwayo and Boogie had followed me after lowering their wariness. But this fluffball neither seemed wary nor shocked—it simply stared quietly at me. ‘……Would giving it food help me befriend it?’ I took out some nuts and blueberries from subspace and held them out. But even when I piled the food in my palm, Ramji didn’t even glance at it. It just kept looking at me. ‘Why is it like this? Something’s strange.’ Just as I thought that, a new system window blocked my sight. Little Gale ‘Ramji’ is asking for help from a friend! As I blinked, another system window popped up in succession. Sudden Quest! Ramji’s friends are being attacked by invaders of the forest! ‘Invaders?’ Did that mean people…… or monsters? Since it wasn’t an element that appeared in the game , I couldn’t know exactly what it meant. Defeat the forest invaders and protect the forest’s peace! I don’t know what it is. ‘If I clear the quest…… that must mean I can recruit this little one.’ I stood up from my spot. “You need help, don’t you?” I gave a light smile to the fluffball looking up at me and replied. “Lead the way.” Fwaaash―! I followed Ramji, who was gliding with its wind membrane like wings. ‘Is it because it’s a spirit beast? It’s pretty fast.’ Thanks to using Shurk’s ability, it wasn’t too hard to keep up, but the speed was impressive. Since I didn’t need to slow down on purpose, our pace matched well, making it easier. ‘It feels like I’ve been running for quite a while, yet I haven’t seen anyone else.’ So far, I hadn’t found any other cadets. Considering this island’s area exceeded 70 km, it was only natural. ‘In Korean terms, that’s nearly the size of Ulleungdo.’ With only about 600 people scattered across this vast land, and most of them moving in groups, it wasn’t surprising I hadn’t met any competitors. ‘The base where I built my shelter is practically a safe zone with hardly any monsters or competitors, so I’m not too worried.’ But once you leave the safe zone, the threat of monsters lurks everywhere. ‘Where I am now…… must be far from the safe zone.’ I had entered a place where finding monsters wasn’t strange. ‘……Definitely.’ My guess was spot-on. One side of the bushes was oddly bent. A fallen tree, trampled grass, scratched rocks, and a puddle. Signs clearly showed that a ferocious beast had rampaged through here. ‘These can’t be ordinary animal tracks.’ No normal creature could cause this much destruction. The answer was clear. ……Monster. Nothing else could explain the overwhelming presence that lingered in the area. ‘Not far now.’ The more I moved forward, the more brutal the traces became, and instinct told me. The beast was near. Chirp, bip-bip―! Just then, Ramji halted its flight. It perched on my shoulder, letting out a small cry while gazing at me. Its gesture seemed to indicate it had led me here, so I turned my eyes ahead. And at that moment, an unnatural shadow moved beyond the bushes. Crash―! Kwaaang―! The sound of a tree collapsing struck my ears. Rooooar―! A massive beast’s howl followed. I didn’t need to ask Ramji to know this was the one disturbing the forest’s peace. It had the head of a bull but unlike a bull, walked on two legs. Its body was packed with bursting muscles, radiating an ominous presence. ‘……A Minotaur.’ A named monster. A step below mid-bosses, but still one of the stronger monsters. ‘It normally takes about five mid-ranked cadets working together to take it down.’ Though it was a difficult opponent, it failed to excite me. I had already faced much worse. I had grown strong enough to easily defeat Monster Angela or Jed Rubin. Compared to Rubin or the Corrupted Angela, a Minotaur, even a named one, was weaker. But…… ‘……Something feels a bit off.’ An indescribable unease slithered up within me. Rooooar―! My eyes met the monster’s. Thud-thud-thud―! The Minotaur charged with a thunderous roar, intent on killing me. ‘Fine, I’ll clash with it first and figure it out as I go.’ I reached into the subspace stretched out in midair, and when I pulled my hand back, a Titanium Sword shrouded in black energy rested in my grip.