The small earthen mound arched up by the spider warrior immediately collapsed back down, leaving behind only extremely faint tremors that gradually grew even weaker.
Ema Sakuraba widened her eyes as she watched Natsuyu's profile as he intently gazed at the mound. She clenched her small fists, her eyes resolute, and exerted her ability to the fullest against the spider warrior at the bottom of the mound, continuously draining a massive amount of physical strength from across the air.
"How is the situation?"
Yukinoshita Yukino had already returned to her normal state. Looking weary, she carried the unconscious Kushida Kikyo on her back and arrived at Natsuyu's side. She watched the small mound warily, hope rising in her heart.
"Can we resolve the monster like this?"
"The spider warrior is undoubtedly dead. We won!"
Natsuyu noticed Ema Sakuraba's hard work and let out a confident light chuckle. His certain words brought a thick sense of relief to everyone.
The spider warrior's injuries were so severe that even if it could continue to struggle, so many of them could still finish it off.
"Whew~"
Yukinoshita Yukino visibly relaxed and revealed a faint smile. She turned her head to look at the slumbering Kushida Kikyo on her back, a sense of urgency rising in her eyes.
Although defeating a powerful enemy was worth celebrating, her role this time had not been as significant as Kushida Kikyo's or Ema Sakuraba's; she was at the bottom of the team.
She couldn't let it be like this next time.
Natsuyu suddenly heard a prompt:
[You killed an intermediate monster, gained experience +50]
[Natsuyu: Level 6 (29/40)
Free attribute points: 0.1]
The spider warrior was completely dead!
Hearing the system's confirmation, Natsuyu felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted. His tense heartstrings relaxed, and he felt a wave of exhaustion.
But it was a state of being tired yet happy.
An intermediate monster was indeed powerful, but the harvest after killing the spider warrior—a full 50 points of experience—was worth that strength.
A single spider warrior represented a guaranteed level up at this stage.
Progress on the new achievement was 1/3 complete. With the experience from this battle, dealing with an intermediate monster next time would be easier and wouldn't result in such a frantic scramble.
At the same time, having dealt with the major threat of the spider warrior, the harvest was plentiful and worth being happy about.
'Add points to physique!'
A warm current surged through his body, and Natsuyu narrowed his eyes comfortably.
After a moment, the warm current receded.
Natsuyu was once again alive and kicking, feeling energetic. He felt as if he could smash two minotaurs to death with a single punch.
Looking out, his vision had improved again. Staring at a small black dot in the sky and concentrating, he found his perspective became clearer.
The small black dot was a flying black crow; even the flapping motion of its wings was clearly visible.
—This distance must be at least five hundred meters, right?
Being able to clearly see a palm-sized crow from at least five hundred meters away wasn't even the limit of his vision. Natsuyu felt he was beginning to step into the realm of the non-human.
After all, 1.0 represented the average peak state of an adult human. 1.5 was an increase based on that; thinking carefully, it was indeed somewhat non-human.
[Natsuyu: Level 6 (experience 29/40)
Physique: 1.5 (the limit of modern humans)
Soul: 1.3 (high level of mental fortitude)
Charm: 1.3 (hostile to all living beings)
Ability: Resource acquisition...]
'The human limit?'
Natsuyu raised his hand and slowly clenched his fist, feeling an almost inexhaustible strength.
Did it seem like he really could kill a cow with one punch now?
Perhaps not necessarily, but hitting a cow's vital points should allow for a one-hit kill.
Forget it, cows are so cute; he would continue using minotaurs for measurement.
Natsuyu felt that he could now explode a minotaur's internal organs with one punch, creating localized minotaur paste!
He wondered if there were any kind-hearted minotaurs that would fall into his hands to let him test his hypothesis.
Ema Sakuraba widened her eyes, staring at the small mountain the whole time. After a moment, she said softly, "That big spider... the spider warrior, seems to be dead."
"Really?" Kiana asked.
Ema Sakuraba nodded. "Mhm, my ability can't lock onto it anymore."
Kiana let out a long breath and sat down on the ground unceremoniously. She quickly removed her armor, revealing a sweat-drenched upper body, and stretched. "Mmm~ such a hard monster to fight, it's finally over!"
Natsuyu quickly looked away, but the image he had just seen remained in his mind.
Kiana had an excellent figure. Although she didn't have the "slender branches bearing heavy fruit" child-bearing type build like Kushida Kikyo, she was very healthy and tall. Her long legs were symmetrical and rounded, her lower abdomen was flat with firm waistlines, and she was similarly curvy, suitable for fighting as a high-tier hero...
Those beautiful long legs had put in the most effort today; they had to be well cared for!
There was also Kushida Kikyo, who was also a great contributor.
Natsuyu watched Yukinoshita Yukino set Kushida Kikyo down and gently shake her awake. He immediately walked over and smiled at the blurred-eyed, soft little angel:
"How does your body feel? If you're hungry, eat some berries first. Ema!"
The food was all kept in Ema Sakuraba's backpack.
Kushida Kikyo's gaze was dazed:
Who is this handsome guy?
Oh right, it's Natsuyu, the young master of the aristocratic Rurikawa family.
Kikyo thought of the scene when Natsuyu decided to fight the terrifying spider warrior to protect her.
That moment had left a very deep impression on Kushida Kikyo's heart.
What her hypocritical self lacked most was the kind of consistency between internal and external that Natsuyu possessed.
Kushida Kikyo envied how Natsuyu could use his true face to gain an irreplaceable sense of presence and earn everyone's trust.
This was practically her dream for herself if she were a male—to be able to become an important friend in everyone's hearts just by relying on her own personality.
Fortunately, Natsuyu's dream wasn't making friends.
Otherwise, just thinking about it would make Kushida Kikyo feel despair; the pressure would be off the charts.
Currently, Natsuyu did not threaten Kushida Kikyo. She naturally developed favorability toward such a perfect person like Natsuyu, while also being very curious if he could truly maintain this righteous and charming appearance forever.
Kushida Kikyo noticed the small earthen mountain and felt relieved in her heart. She showed a pure smile and spoke in a weak voice:
"Thank you for your concern, Yuu-kun. It seems that monster is already dead."
"I'm so hungry. Can I trouble Yuu-kun to help me get something to eat?"
Beside her, Ema Sakuraba immediately knelt in front of Kushida Kikyo, took berries out of the backpack, held them up with both hands, and said gently:
"It's thanks to Kikyo that we were able to kill the spider warrior. Kikyo, let me feed you. Say ah~"
Kushida Kikyo gave a cute smile. "Thank you, Ema."
As expected, Ema was easy to handle. There was no need to intentionally grind favorability; she could be won over in passing.
Kushida Kikyo thought unscrupulously to herself as she looked around.
Kiana gave her a thumbs-up. "You've made me see you in a new light!"
Although Yukinoshita Yukino did not speak, she also gathered around, her concern silent.
Kushida Kikyo felt utterly ecstatic inside, a hint of redness appearing at the corners of her eyes:
Haha, a perfect start.
Even the most difficult Yukinoshita Yukino would soon be handled by her!
Natsuyu watched Ema Sakuraba feed her the raw berries and said nothing.
He had indeed thought about having everyone eat cooked food to prevent parasitic infections.
But given the current situation where Kushida Kikyo had overexerted herself so much, there was no need to be so particular.