“Screech!!”

With a deafening crash, the Multi-Legged Spider Beast wailed in agony.

Without its legs to support it, its body collapsed heavily to the ground.

A flood of inky green blood, reeking with a foul stench, forced Ogerpon to back away.

“Bo ne~~”

Ogerpon retreated to Damien’s side, her face scrunched in disgust. “This thing stinks!”

“Cough, cough, cough.”

Damien, too, wore a grimace of discomfort.

He seriously doubted whether such a creature could possess intelligence.

The beasts they’d encountered before had edible flesh.

But this spider beast? It was practically a biochemical weapon.

“Biochemical weapon?”

Damien used his Appraisal skill on the spider beast again.

This time, he activated the skill’s ‘Appraisal’ function.

Appraisal allowed for targeted analysis of an object. For instance, appraising a sword would reveal its attributes.

But basic Appraisal couldn’t provide detailed specifics.

With Appraisal, you could learn the sword’s thickness, length, weight, and material.

The precision depended on what you wanted to know.

While Appraisal wasn’t as convenient as Rimuru’s Great Sage, it covered the basics well enough.

“Appraisal: Does this spider beast possess intelligence?”

[Notice: No]

“???”

Damien’s eyes widened, wondering if he’d misheard. “Wait, didn’t it say this was a monster?! No intelligence, and you’re sure it’s a monster?”

[Notice: Artificial monster, akin to a constructed lifeform]

“…”

Damien pieced it together.

In simple terms, this thing wasn’t a naturally born monster. It had a soul, but not a complete one… merely soul fragments.

The specifics eluded him.

All he knew was that this spider beast didn’t need to be treated as an intelligent being.

“Tch, just a brainless mob, then.”

Damien frowned, fanning the air in front of his nose. “Finish it off, Ogerpon.”

“Bo ne!”

Ogerpon didn’t question why.

If Damien asked, she’d act without hesitation.

Thud!

Her Ivy Cudgel swung, green energy striking from dozens of meters away.

The immense force smashed into the spider beast’s head, obliterating half its body like a burst watermelon. It was deader than dead.

[Individual ‘Ogerpon’ has killed ‘Multi-Legged Spider Beast,’ gaining 5 Existence Points]

Ogerpon’s built-in experience notification let Damien know the Existence Value gained from the spider beast.

“5 Existence Points, 2 more than the Terror Burst Bear’s 3.”

Damien didn’t dwell on the Magicule gained from the kill. His focus was on the term ‘artificial monster.’

“Feels like we’re getting tangled in something bad.”

Damien shook his head, dismissing the unnecessary worry. “Power. As long as we get strong enough, no scheme or trick can touch us.”

“Ogerpon, how does this spider beast compare to the Terror Burst Bear?”

“Hm…”

Ogerpon thought for a moment. “Ogerpon thinks the spider beast is weak.”

Despite her cautious approach… using Grassy Terrain to disrupt its senses and Seed Bomb to lower its guard… these were just strategies she’d developed for safety.

In truth, Ogerpon could’ve taken it down with a single swing.

The same went for the Terror Burst Bear.

“But Ogerpon still thinks the bear was tougher!”

It was her gut feeling. She couldn’t explain why, but the Terror Burst Bear felt more threatening.

“Intuition, huh?”

Damien trusted Ogerpon’s instincts. He looked down at the shattered spider beast. “It’s an artificial construct, after all. Can’t compare to a genuine C-rank beast.”

Of course, part of it was that Ogerpon had grown stronger since then.

When they faced the Terror Burst Bear, her Magicule was around 7000.

Now, after a full week, it had climbed from 6500 to 8000.

Ogerpon hadn’t held back on this journey.

Any monster or beast that could provide experience got a taste of her cudgel, whether it was worth it or not.

Damien treated it like Pokémon grinding.

For beasts, Ogerpon minimized damage, knocking them out quickly to meet the ‘defeat’ condition.

For monsters, as long as they surrendered, her Grower skill would absorb the corresponding Magicule.

Plus, Damien left food for the defeated.

Still new to his awakened memories, he wasn’t yet comfortable with ruthless plundering.

He got experience, they got food.

A win-win!

“Ogerpon used this much magic for the Terror Burst Bear.”

“And this much for the bug.”

Ogerpon gestured with her short arms, though Damien couldn’t quite follow.

“Basically, fighting the bug took way less magic.”

Since arriving in the Cardinal World, Ogerpon had noticed her energy reserves had grown significantly.

Not just in quantity… her recovery speed had skyrocketed too.

Back in the Pokémonverse, a single battle would leave her needing a breather.

But now?

Ogerpon could handle dozens of those fights without breaking a sweat.

Higher Existence Value meant more Magicule, which scaled with magical power and stamina.

Coupled with her incredible recovery rate and unique Pokémon moves, Ogerpon’s strength far exceeded a simple B-rank label.

Damien figured she could even hold her own against A-rank or A+-rank monsters.

“Alright.”

Damien didn’t dwell on it further.

Artificial monsters were too far removed from their current concerns.

Their priority now was burying this mangled spider beast to prevent it from polluting their land.

In Damien’s memory, insectoid monsters often had ties to the spiritual world’s insect tribes.

Over the next few days, while working, they faced three more waves of insectoid monster attacks.

Damien had no idea why this area had so many of them.

But Ogerpon wasn’t one to back down.

Her Ivy Cudgel earned her the title of the Pokémonverse’s mini-Kaido.

Having adapted to her Pokémon-based magic, she fought with increasing ease, often taking out enemies before they could even act.

“Is there a nest of insectoid monsters nearby?”

Damien watched as Ogerpon used roots to drag the remaining carcasses underground for burial.

He held a dagger, a pile of materials harvested from the three insectoid monsters beside him.

Despite the stench, Damien gritted his teeth and cleaned the materials, determined not to waste anything.

“Should we investigate?”

As he cleaned, Damien pondered. “No, it’s just me and Ogerpon. Even if we found a nest, it’d take too much time and effort… not worth it.”

With the camp mostly built, Damien decided to let it go.

His Planeswalker skill would be off cooldown in a few hours, by tomorrow at the latest, allowing him to cross worlds again.

The Planeswalker’s travel ability had a cooldown period.

The length depended on how long Damien spent in the other world.

Last time, he stayed in the Pokémonverse for seven days, so the cooldown in the Cardinal World was also seven days.

This applied only after returning to the Cardinal World.

While in another world, Damien could return at any time to avoid insurmountable dangers.

“Might as well treat it as a monster spawn point.”

For some reason, Damien thought having the occasional spider beast show up wasn’t such a bad thing.

It saved them the trouble of hunting for monsters.

***

Bonus Chapter:

100 Power Stones = 1 BC

300 Power Stones = 2 BC

500 Power Stones = 3 BC

700 Power Stones = 4 BC

1000 Power Stones = 5 BC

***

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep