Early the next morning, we leave the house and head for the loophole.

　Meku was trotting along at the front.

　On the way, we found a demon coming out of a hole.
　It seems that demons are also attacked by dead spirits, so they instinctively hide in their dens and other places to avoid being attacked at night.

　By the way, the demons that came out were goblins.
　Three of them appeared, so I defeated them and absorbed the corpse.

　HP increased by 15, MP increased by 3, attack power increased by 3, defense power increased by 3, speed increased by 3, and skill points gained by 3.

　That's how much the three bodies combined increased.

'So that's the corpse absorption.
I got sucked in.

　Meku and Lenya are surprised to see my skills for the first time.

''How much does that raise your status?
Um,

　I tell them the number is up.

"One goblin for one? There are plenty of goblins just outside of this valley, so if you take them down and absorb them all, you'll be invincible, master.
Really?
Normally, levels don't rise even if you only defeat the weak ones. It's possible that this ability may not be able to raise its status at all, even if it absorbs the weaker ones in the future.

　I guess it's possible that we could have such restrictions.

　But I don't like the idea of only killing goblins to get stronger.
　I'm not a goblins***er.
　Well, if it's the most efficient way to get stronger, I might do it.

"How long till we're there?
We're almost there. Some of them will be stronger than the demons you'll find around here. So brace yourselves.

　That being said, I brace myself a bit.

''Nya-nya. What do you want to do when you go outside, Tetsuya?

　He told me to brace myself, but in an easy-going tone that said it was none of my business, Lenya asked me.

　What do you want to do when you get outside...?
　I didn't think of that specifically.

　I was just thinking about surviving. That's all I had in mind.
　You mean, be an adventurer, earn a living?

I'm going to eat a lot of good food!　I don't remember, but I heard from my master that there is a lot of good food out there.

　Raina says with a look of deep pleasure.

Good food, huh? I'm sure that's what I'd like to see. Those huge mushrooms were so bad.
'What?　I ate the Tetsuya mushroom!　Master told me to eat them.　Are you all right?!
You'll be fine. I think it's more important to brace yourself. Are we there yet?

　Meku says in a slightly angry tone.

'Doesn't Master have anything he wants to go out and do?
Of course you must break this curse. I don't know how many years I've spent in this body but I've got to find a way to break the curse.

　Decades is a terrible word for....
　It's been that long since Mek had a body like that.

Oh, I'm here. This is our way in.

　Mek shows us the entrance to a large cave.

'If we go through this cave, can we get out?
Yeah, it's pretty long. It might take two days.

　It's going to take two days.

'Nya!　Let's go!

　Lenya cheerfully entered the cave, and me and Meku followed suit.


　○


　After entering the cave, we encountered a demon after a while.
　By the way, this cave doesn't have any glowing mushrooms like the previous cave, so I used a [small light] to illuminate the area as I went along.

　The monster that appeared was a weasel-like fellow that was burning with fire.

　Its back part is burning fiercely. One of them came out.
　I use my appraisal to find out what kind of monster it is.

"Flame Weasel, age 10, 29/36.
　The Weasel Demon in the Flames.

　The level is reasonably high.
　It's just as you see it, a flame-clad weasel.

"Unya........I don't like hot things.......

　Lenya is frightened.

'Flame Weasel, you're a bit of a nasty one. I'm good with blows, but if I were to be burned, it would be the end of the world for me...

　It's a stuffed animal and it's going to burn well...

　I first used the 【Sucking Thread (Absorbing Thread ) 】.
　The thread is attached to the enemy.

　But the moment it was attached, it burned.
　........Is this thread zero fire resistance?

　The enemy attacks me with flames.

　Three balls of flame were shot, and me, Rainya, and Meku each flew away.

　I had a small window of opportunity and hurriedly avoided them. I was startled.
　Lenya is instinctively afraid of fire, "Nya! He shouted and avoided it.
　Meku said it was bad that the fire was hitting him, but he was avoiding it most calmly.

　He moves fast, too. He said his status was weakened, but his movements look pretty good.

　I pulled myself together and started attacking.

　The ceiling of this cave is high, so it looks like I can use 【Meteorite (Meteorite)】.

　I drop the 【Meteorite Meteor】 onto the flame-weasel.

　Thud!　And then it hit with a thud.

　It looked like I'd done a lot of damage, but I was still wriggling around.
　I went in close and kicked him in the head for good measure.

　The kicked Flame Weasel jerked a bit, but then stopped moving.

　Maybe it's dead?

　I move closer and touch it to make sure it's okay.
　And since it seems to be able to absorb it, I absorb it.

　30 HP up, 3 MP up, 5 attack power up, 2 defense power up, 2 speed up, 2 skill points gained.
　Skill [Flame Ball (Flame Ball) Lv.2] gained.
　You have acquired 【Flame Resistance Lv.1】.

I've increased my attack power quite a bit.
Hm, he is a highly offensive demon. The enemy's status determines the amount of points he can earn.

　That's what I thought, too.

''Unya. I couldn't do anything~.......next time I'll fight properly!

　Lenya declared, with a frustrated look on her face.

　We went further into the cave.