Reincarnated as a dragon’s egg ～Lets aim to be the strongest～ - Chapter 474

474 – [Meteor Stamp]

For a while I remain motionless, my body entwined with treant roots, but… Upon checking the treant’s status, I see that its MP is indeed recovering quickly. It seems that [Take Root] can be used in a similar fashion to Aro’s [Mana Drain]. I see. With this, we can keep training.

『Thank you, master-dono. It feels like I can fight some more!』

Treant-san seems raring to go… It’s at times like this that I feel like it’s just going to pointlessly run in circles, but it’ll be okay right?

For now, would you mind getting off my back? It feels uncomfortable, almost like I’m being parasitised. This is okay, right? My body’s not about to suddenly move on it’s own, right? The roots are pressed against the crevices between my scales, and the more I look at them, the grosser it feels.

I transfer treant-san back to my head and walk up to another of the fake shrubs.

『Treant, shoot that one.』

『Master-dono… This one won’t be another miss?』

『I-it’s okay! I checked!』

I make the mistake of confusing a greengreens for a troll mandragora just one time in a way that causes us to have a standoff with a normal plant, and of course treant-san begrudges me for it.

The treant shoots a [Clay Sphere]. The ball of earth thunks against the trunk of the shrub, and it shakes and rises to reveal the giant face of the troll mandragora below.

At the start, treant-san was too scared to even look straight, but now it’s facing down the troll mandragora with a straight trunk. I should leave aside the question of whether this is growth from the accumulation of battlefield experience or simply the confidence gained by borrowing a dragon’s authority, and simply be happy that it’s no longer freezing up.

Perhaps because it can now look directly at the target, the [Clay Sphere] directly hits the troll mandragora’s forehead. It’s still not enough to overwhelm its recovery ability, but… What’s important is how the experience points will be distributed.

Riiight… But, at this rate, each time we defeat one of them, we’ll have to take another break to recover MP. The damage per MP efficiency is just too poor.

Treant-san has the [Poison Cloud] skill. If we could use that to poison it… No, the troll mandragora’s poison resistance is too high. Treant-san’s magic stat isn’t great either, so it’s questionable whether the status condition would even be applied.

…Wait, even though it’s a treant, doesn’t it have a complete set of earth, water, wind, and fire sphere skills? I guess [Clay Sphere] is the highest level, since that’s all it ever uses, but… Wouldn’t [Fire Sphere] be better against a troll mandragora? The current strategy is just too slow.

『Treant, you have a fire magic skill, don’t you? Why not try using that?』

『H-hahaha… How you jest, master-dono. If I were to use that, the fire would spread to me.』

…The treant’s wooden face stiffens. I see, it hasn’t been using it out of fear.

『This is no time to be picky! If you want to become strong, you need to learn to use whatever you can…!』

『Mmm…』

『You’ll be okay. I’ve never seen anyone set themself on fire like that before. I can assure you that it won’t happen, okay?』

『I understand, master-dono…! I need to get strong like Aro-dono so that I can fight at master-dono’s side! I must do so as quickly as possible! Faster than nightmare-dono!』

『S-sure…』

It sounds like treant-san struggled with being left behind alone in the Great Alban Mine. W-well, as long as it’s got the motivation to push ahead, it’s all good.

I pull my neck back to dodge the troll mandragora. Then, I plop my chin down on top of it, causing it to flinch. Now, treant-san! It’s full of openings!

『Yes, master-dono! [Fire Sphere]! [Fire Sphere]!』

Two balls of fire shoot in quick succession. They hit the troll mandragora’s face. The flames burst, and plumes of black smoke rise. It looks like it did considerably more damage.

This can work. Treant-san has magic skills of all four elements. As long as it can learn how best to use them, its options for attacking aren’t bad.

…Huh, why does my head feel hot?

『Master-donoooOOO! Water, water!』

You’re burning! Aaargh! Why, why did you use an unfamiliar skill twice in a row so quickly?!

I swing my foreleg to finish off the troll mandragora with [Dimension Claw].

【828 experience points have been acquired.】

【Due to the title skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 828 experience points have been acquired.】

【The level of [Oneiros] has risen from 63 to 64.】

I lower my head so that the treant tumbles to the ground, and then hold it in my mouth. My saliva quickly extinguishes the flames.

『…Are you okay, treant?』

『Yes, somehow…』

I check the treant’s level. Its risen from【Lv: 20/60】to【Lv: 26/60】. This is a good pace.

I suppose it’s good to know that, if treant-san self-destructs to use fire magic, it’s enough to just barely outpace a troll mandragora’s recovery. If it can learn to control [Fire Sphere], the hunting of troll mandragoras should become easy.

I have the super-efficient [Demon Lord’s Favour] skill, which doubles the experience acquired by my followers as long as they are a lower rank than me. If we can hit a rhythm, we should be able to bring treant-san up to max level in no time.

『Master-dono, I am out of mana again. Do you mind if I spread my roots over you again?』

『……』

It’s because of the need for breaks like this that our pace is so bad. Is there nothing we can do to fix this?

『Master-dono! If I were to spread my roots across your head, the need to move between your head and back would be gone!』

『I don’t want to look like such a weird monster though!?』

Looking like a dragon that had been taken over by a plant would be a bit much for me, mentally-speaking. For that matter, would it not be dangerous? I wouldn’t actually get my body hijacked this time, right?

『I was confident it was a good idea, ‌but if Aro-dono were to see us I worry that I would be turned into charcoal…』

You were confident it was a good idea…? I suppose that from a pure efficiency standpoint it’s not the worst, but still… Hmm, it’s no good if I just shoot down ideas… If only there was some way to bring down the enemy’s HP with treant-san’s own power. I can’t think of anything though…

Suddenly, the image of treant-san burning flares in my mind.

『…H-hey, I’ve thought of something good.』

『Something good? If you think it’s a good idea, then let’s do it, master-dono!』

『Although…Umm, you’re free to refuse if you don’t want to…』

『If master-dono thinks it is good, then I shall do my best, no matter what!』

After discussing the plan with treant-san, we search for another troll mandragora. Treant-san sets fire the the upper part of the troll mandragora with [Fire Sphere], causing it to emerge in anger.

『Let’s go, treant!』

『Yes!』

I flick my tail up, flinging the treant on my tail high into the sky. High above the troll mandragora, it bursts into flames. It’s an intentional self-hit with [Fire Sphere]. Next, it transforms into steel. It’s the newly-acquired [Statue] skill that raises defence.

In addition, a black light spreads out of the treant’s body. It’s [Gravity], with only the user in range. Turned into steel and burning, treant-san plummets under the force of [Gravity].

Then, it slams directly into the troll mandragora’s head. A huge black scorch appears on the troll mandragora and, though no sound comes out, it appears to scream in pain.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Species: Troll Mandragora

Condition: Normal

Lv: 52/80

HP: 379/531

MP: 164/184

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Upon checking the damage I see that it went well. It still has a lot of MP left, but it’s an incredible amount of damage for one with treant-san’s stats to deal. I check treant-san’s status too, and see that a normal skill called [Meteor Stamp] has appeared. Nice! It was recognised as a skill!

I tackle the troll mandragora and extract treant-san from the ground, then launch it into the air for another [Meteor Stamp]. After the third [Meteor Stamp], the troll mandragora keels over. We were finally able to defeat a troll mandragora with treant-san’s damage alone.

【526 experience points have been acquired.】

【Due to the title skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 526 experience points have been acquired.】

Great, my portion has gone down quite a bit. Treant-san’s share should have gone up by the same amount.

Checking the level, I see it’s risen from【Lv: 26/60】to【Lv: 32/60】. I was worried at the start, but it feels like the goal is now in sight!

Treant-san staggers towards me. You did it, treant! Your level shot up by a lot! See? Isn’t [Meteor Stamp] great? Let’s do this again for the next one…!

『U-umm, master-dono… Would it be okay if we didn’t use this strategy the next time…?』

Ah… You didn’t like it after all.