"Hiss—!"
The Round-headed Spider launched another silk-spitting attack.
This time, the Round-headed Spider that had been heavily injured and fallen to the ground also launched an attack.
Yukinoshita Yukino's cat-like eyes grew cold as she stared intently at the two ranged attacks. The parabolic trajectories of the spider silk were clearly visible in her field of vision. The sense of lightness coursing through her body felt as if gravity itself had vanished; she had never felt this free in any previous moment.
Grasping Natsuyu's waist, Yukinoshita Yukino leaped with all her might, carrying Natsuyu a meter away before setting him down gently.
"You can rest easy and trust in me," Yukinoshita Yukino said, the corners of her lips curling upward.
Natsuyu felt his ears itch again from the breath of the girl behind him. He shook his body slightly, and a Stone Pickaxe manifested in his hand.
Aim, crouch, throw!
Squelch!
The Stone Pickaxe pierced through the head of the heavily injured Round-headed Spider, sending green blood and brain matter flying.
Immediately, a strand of spider silk and a purple gland dropped beside it.
Headshot, full marks—
[You have killed a lower-tier Monster. Experience +1.]
Is this the newly acquired ability, Experience Gain?
Killing monsters grants Experience. Natsuyu felt that the only thing standing between him and being invincible was a matter of time!
"Hiss hiss hiss—!"
The last Round-headed Spider, seeing its companion's brains blown out, was completely terrified. Following its biological instinct of fear, it turned and fled, its eight legs running so fast they left afterimages.
To Natsuyu, the Round-headed Spider was now nothing but Experience points. How could he let his hard-earned Experience fly away?
"Yukinoshita, let's give chase! If it has more companions, bringing them here would be trouble."
Normally, Yukinoshita Yukino would find this reason Natsuyu pulled out of thin air a bit forced. The time it would take for the Round-headed Spider to bring its allies back would be more than enough for them to leave the battlefield.
However, perhaps because Yukinoshita Yukino had already grown accustomed to following Natsuyu's arrangements, her body took hold of Natsuyu's hand before her brain could overthink it. She led him in a rapid dash, leaping across the bank of the small stream.
Mid-air, feeling the warmth in her palm, Yukinoshita Yukino finally snapped out of it.
Wait, why are we chasing the Spider Monster? There is absolutely no need for this.
Thud, thud.
The two leaped over the stream and landed on the ground.
Just as Yukinoshita Yukino turned her head to speak, she was dragged along by an excited Natsuyu.
His strength is so great, and his speed is so fast... does he even need my help at all?
"Yukinoshita, give me one of your weapons!"
"Oh, okay."
With a suspicious look in her eyes, Yukinoshita Yukino took a Stone Axe out of her Backpack at her chest and placed it into Natsuyu's reaching hand.
Having obtained his specialized weapon, Natsuyu didn't say another word. While pulling Yukinoshita Yukino along, he hurled the axe.
The Round-headed Spider's movement speed was no match for Natsuyu and the Catgirl-form Yukinoshita Yukino; the distance had already closed to within five meters.
Natsuyu's flying axe did not miss, striking the Round-headed Spider's large abdomen directly.
Splat.
The abdomen burst open instantly. With a final hiss, the Round-headed Spider lost all signs of life and slumped to the ground.
Beside it, a large piece of purple meat dropped.
[You have killed a lower-tier Monster. Experience +1.]
"Phew, that's that!"
Natsuyu gave a bright smile, showing a row of white teeth as he let go of their joined hands.
"Yukinoshita, thanks for your help. I didn't get hurt thanks to you. You've really worked hard. As expected of the excellent Yukinoshita!"
Did she really play a role just now?
The question Yukinoshita Yukino wanted to ask was pushed back into her stomach by Natsuyu's praise. Her thin lips twitched but she couldn't say it. She lightly brushed her long hair back and offered an elegant smile.
"I am, after all, a seventh-dan in Aikido."
Natsuyu gazed intensely at the cat ears that twitched slightly with Yukinoshita Yukino's movements. Soon, his gaze was drawn to a fluffy, round cat tail rapidly wagging behind the girl's trousers.
She even has a tail?
Where did this tail grow out from?
Whether it was the ears or the tail, Natsuyu really wanted to test how they felt to the touch.
There was no other reason; it was purely a man's boundless curiosity toward a Catgirl.
"Don't look."
Sensing Natsuyu's overly heated gaze, Yukinoshita Yukino flicked her tail in embarrassment and hidden it behind her back, glaring and hissing.
The next moment.
The cat ears retracted, and her eyes returned to normal. Without even looking, the tail had likely disappeared as well.
Yukinoshita Yukino transformed back into an ordinary girl. Aside from being excessively cute, she no longer possessed any fantastical traits.
Natsuyu withdrew his gaze with regret, thinking to himself:
Stingy. She won't even let me look, so she definitely won't let me touch.
"My apologies for being rude. It was just my first time seeing a Catgirl, so I was a bit curious."
Natsuyu explained with a light laugh, then asked curiously, "Didn't you say your ability was to turn into a cat? So it was actually just a Catgirl?"
The term Catgirl made Yukinoshita Yukino's eyebrows twitch slightly. She wanted Natsuyu to use a different word, but she didn't know what else to use.
After all, Catgirl was a very fitting description of her form just now.
Yukinoshita Yukino took a deep breath, regained her polite smile, and explained:
"No, I can turn into a cat. That form just now is another way to use the ability—obtaining the power of a cat while in a human body. I didn't expect such non-human changes to occur either."
This was her first time using the ability.
Natsuyu thought of something, his smile widening as he bowed politely to Yukinoshita Yukino.
"Thank you."
Yukinoshita Yukino looked at the solemn Natsuyu in confusion. "What are you thanking me for now?"
Natsuyu straightened up, his voice gentle. "Because you were very reluctant to use your ability in front of us before."
"But when I encountered danger, you didn't hesitate to activate your ability and fight side-by-side with me."
"Of course I have to say thank you. As for the fact that you can turn into a Catgirl, as long as you don't say anything, I won't leak it either."
This scene felt a bit familiar.
Only the roles were reversed.
Yukinoshita Yukino looked at Natsuyu for two seconds, recalling how Natsuyu had answered her own thanks before. She remarked from the bottom of her heart:
"The main combatant was still you. The way you look when fighting seriously is quite handsome."
Natsuyu replied, "I have always been handsome."
The two, who had tacitly recreated the previous scene, smiled at each other.
Yukinoshita Yukino was the first to react. Being stared at by Natsuyu's gentle smile made her feel that the atmosphere was becoming a bit ambiguous. Her body stiffened as she looked away, lightly smoothing the long hair by her ear. She pointed at the drop next to the spider corpse to change the subject:
"What is this?"
His attention diverted, Natsuyu explained, "Just like how cutting trees lets you obtain Logs, this is a resource obtained from killing monsters. You can think of it as a monster drop in a game."
After saying that, Natsuyu tried to use Appraisal on the dropped item. He successfully saw the System Panel and looked over with quite a bit of joy:
[Monster Meat (99% Freshness, rots in 3 days): Lower-tier food ingredient.
After consumption: Poisoning, Mood Decrease, Diarrhea, Satiety.
Evaluation: A delicacy before starving to death.]
Looking at the pile of negative effects, Natsuyu felt the system evaluation was very reasonable.
Unless they were about to starve to death, who would eat such a thing?