Reincarnated as the Lady Prodigy

Sixteen

Soul Draining Ground Worm

ZAIRE LEVI's POINT OF VIEW

What... the... fuck...

If someone would ask me if I will be staring at this horrifying thing in my life, in real life and not some fantasy manga or movies, even in anime, of course, I would answer a big fat 'NO'.

No. No, that means even though I liked reading those fantasy manga it never crosses my mind to be in a magical world or to have magic, more importantly facing a gigantic monster— so big my neck hurts while looking at it.

It's a worm— a colossal one. Greens and black body with two horns on its head, its horns are where its eyes are. It does not have a mouth—

"GRAAAAWR!!!"

—oh, it does have one. Right below its two horns is where its mouth is. f**k, those teeth as sharp as razors, I can just imagine how easy for this monster to tear its prey into pieces.

What is this thing?

Blake, Ice, and Odalf are in their respective positions while I keep these wounded ones inside. We had to knock them unconscious since all of them wants to fight. How heroic of them. I respect that they are willing to fight until their last breath. It may seem reckless and stupid but their courage is admirable. Suicidal though.

"Can you hear me?" I ask through telepathy.

Using the enchanted paper Aya provided me from Luxes, I placed it on the three of them so that we will be able to communicate, oops no, it's a one-way communication enchanted paper that makes it possible for Blake, Odalf, and Ice to listen to what I have to say.

I ask them if they can hear but even if they responded I still would not be able to hear them anyway. I can be stupid sometimes, really.

"Be on guard. I can't figure out this monster's weakness. Be on standby for a while until we figure this out."

That is what I said but in reality, I asked for my familiar's help and also Aya's. Hopefully, they know what this hideous monster is.

"Hey Kiera, do you know what this thing is?" I ask through our link.

Kiera did not answer, instead, golden letters appeared in front of me.

[Soul Draining Ground Worm is what that monster is called. The color green of its body is extremely toxic, it has the ability to melt whatever it touches, the black of its body serves as its shield from magical attack since it's anti-magic. It spits out a green and black colored web that has the ability to drain someone's soul, especially humans. Its own toxicity is its weakness.]

Then it disappeared.

Heck, its anti-magic and can drain your soul. This s**t's scarily crazy!

"Thanks Aya."

[My pleasure to be of assistance.]

I turn to Elise who is watching me worriedly, she then flinches when the gigantic worm shriek. We had to cover our ears from how loud it is. f**k, maybe I should try sound blocking barrier.

The worm jumped on the ground again and disappeared, without wasting time I provided the three of them with the necessary information needed.

I can see the three of them making their moves while hidden behind the trees, waiting for the worm to appear again.

"Be careful you three, this monster seems to be intelligent. It might know about our presence already."

I warned being cautious myself. A good five minutes passed and the worm is still nowhere. Far ahead on the east, I saw Odalf jumped off of the tree while his hands are placed on the ground with his eyes closed.

He's unmoving while I'm cautiously watching. The place fell in pin-dropping silence.

Did that worm move somewhere else?

Damn, it's even more worrisome if that's the case!

"Mistress, danger!!!"

My eyes widen while at the same time, the familiar gigantic worm appeared behind Odalf.

SHIT!

I readied myself to cast a spell when two huge spear made of ice penetrated the worms open mouth. From behind the monster Ice appeared while riding a... is that a hoverboard made of ice? Sweet ride 'yo! Oh wait, now is not the time for this!

Odalf who is frozen stiff beneath the worm is now gone.

"Where's—"

"—there my lady." Elise pointed the eastern part where Blake and Odalf are. I blew a sigh of relief. Damn, that was nerve-wrecking! Why the hell was he there in the first place! I have never felt this nervous ever since I cross worlds! I will ask for compensation from him for almost giving me a heart-attack.

"Kiera, can I ask for your help?"

Like an automated reply, Kiera responded. "Anytime, Mistress." I smiled because of that.

Summoning Kiera on her fox form, not that nine-tailed one but the earth fox.

Elise gaps from witnessing me summoning Kiera. I'm just thankful that she appears out of nowhere without any trace of where she came from. No trace that she exited from my tattoo.

I nodded my head at Kiera, she nodded too and dash off. I felt a small pang in my chest watching Kiera running towards the enemy, as if... as if I was her Mom watching my kid leaving the house for school for the first time to be independent.

...AHHHH! THE HECK! That was emotional! What am I being dramatic for?

"Be careful, little fox."

"Hm!"

They started attacking the worm, since Blake won't be able to use his shadow magic he is attacking the worm in the same place, severing its black scales, Odalf and Ice are attacking it using magic.

I'm able to see how well-verse Ice is when it comes to his magic, there's no hint of hesitation whenever he attacks the worm— it's actually amazing how well he's riding his ice-made hoverboard to evade the worm whenever it counter attack using its soul draining web. Since Ice is taking care of the aerial attack, Odalf is taking care of the ground offense and defense. His face now full of determination after stiffening from that worm's entrance from before.

He summoned five earth golems made of stone attacking the lower part of the worm while keeping it on a sand pit.

Sand pit.

Eyeing the huge worm's lower back, I cast a defensive light spell.

"Hymn of god of Light." I casted. Beneath the worm's body, the ground glowed covering its entirety.

Hymn of god of Light is a barrier spell but its Divine level compared to Light of Protection which is Basic level. Their difference lies not only in the scope of their barrier but also Hymn of god of Light can prevent not just attack from the outside but lock whatever is inside the barrier. Meaning, although the worm can escape through hiding in the ground, now that it's inside a barrier it can no longer escape.

"It can no longer move away from that position. Be careful because you four are inside the barrier."

I said in the telepathy.

I watch as Kiera is watching the worm being subdue by the three of them, she is not doing anything but I trust that she knows what she's doing. She's a legendary being after all, a nine-tailed fox.

The worm suddenly turned in Kiera's direction, its mouthed opened, its razor-like teeth showing, it shrieks once again and then violently squirm.

My eyes widen, "BLAKE! BEHIND YOU!!!" I screamed unconsciously using wind magic to modify the strength of the sound of my voice. Hearing my scream, Blake jumped away from the thrashing posterior of the worm, unfortunately it still hit him.

"Damn it." I cursed. Raising my hand towards Blake's landing direction, I manifested a small barrier wrapping Blake to help lessen the impact of his hit.

"Huuuhmmnnn~"

The barrier released a hum, turning to it, Odalf and Ice are still attacking it. The barrier hummed because the worm tried to run away by digging, sadly for it, it won't be able to leave the barrier.

"Elise stay here." I ordered.

"Will do, my lady."

Fuck. Maintaining a two Divine level barrier and one Basic level barrier all at the same time, I never knew I can be this cool and reliable.

Running towards Blake, I grab his unconscious body and lifted it, yes I lifted him, subtle wind magic help this to be possible since he is on his bigger form.

"Heal him, I'll help subdue the worm." I tell Elise to which she quietly nodded her head.

Blake's stomach is wounded since it's the part that took all the blow from the worm, fortunately he was able to evade it somehow because if he ended up receiving the full blow from that monster, even Elise may have a hard time helping him.

I sigh and gritted my teeth.

"Kiera, how is that monster?" I ask while walking towards them. Ice and Odalf's attack seemed to intensify though Odalf's golem are now only three.

His magic must be consumed too. We need to hurry.

"I tried peering unto its soul and cause a disturbance, however this worm is strong-willed it may take some time. I suggest an intensified physical attack, Mistress."

I nodded to myself. "Very good. Thanks, Kiera."

So that's why she isn't moving or attacking it, she is attacking its soul. That's a very cool ability.

I wonder what other ability she has and the other legendary beings too. It must be as awesome as Kiera's.

"I encourage Mistress to let this great dragon help. One breath from me and that lowly being shall turn to dust."

I stilled hearing Alarkson said that. "Uh, ha-ha, there's no need to trouble a great dragon like yourself." Dang, I know he has a point but revealing his dragon form would be troublesome for me. "Please rest assured, we will manage." I almost beg him to just stay still. Damn it. Die already you hideous worm! Don't put me in an already difficult situation!

The other line fell silent, just when I thought Alarkson is angry, he spoke.

"I trust my Mistress' judgement. Do call for me in any case you need this great dragon's help."

That made me smile. Alarkson may be intimidation but he is not stubborn. He listens well to orders— request too. "I sure will. Thank you, Alarkson."

"GRAAAAAAW!!!"

The worm's thrashing and shrieking intensified, few cracks have also appeared in the barrier especially the lower part of the barrier where its posterior hits.

I groaned. How hard is this damned thing's butt that it's already making cracks on my Diving level barrier?! Holy s**t!

"Hymn of god of Light." I casted another level of barrier, for a moment there my eyes turned blurry. We really should speed up.

Since I am the one who casted the barrier, it's easy for me to come and go as I wish in the barrier, even this spell.

"f**k, ew!" I almost gag as soon as I enter the barrier. What the hell is this strong smell?

It's hurting my nose! I can almost taste the smell because of its intensity.

I tap my nose to cover it using a small barrier, heh, how convenient this light magic is.

"UGH!" I turned to the source of the sound of the voice, it's Odalf. There are two golems left and both are wounded too. I mean, half of their faces are missing and there are also few cracks on their body.

I heaved a deep sigh and close my eyes, focusing on the magic energy around. Once I felt the presence of light energy, I started to assimilate it with me. I can feel my magic energy fueling up and being restored.

Opening my eyes, I focused my vision on the part of the worm where Blake was continuously attacking. Although Aya told me that the black color of its skin served as its shield, I can see that Blake's efforts were fruitful.

Two of its black scales are peeled halfway.

I raised both my hand and position it on the direction of the worm while my eyes are directed to its peeled scales. You, poor hideous monster, its buh-bye time.

I smirked and mumbled. "Hundred Streaks of Light."

Out of nowhere, in front of the peeled scale, hundreds of glowing daggers made of light magic are pointed.

The worm although not looking at it felt the threat and started thrashing, more violently this time as if it wanted to escape, to run away yet it knows its actions are futile. Kiera is still in front of it but it can't seem to take its eyes off of Kiera.

It wanted to look away from my familiar but there's seems to be something restraining it.

"Release." I breathed.

All the pointed dagger drifted towards the peeled scales and pierced it causing another loud shriek from the worm, so loud I had to cover my ears and close my eyes. Its shriek sent the birds hiding somewhere to fly away.

It kept on thrashing but Ice froze half of its body to stay still, now, only its upper body are not frozen from its anterior, the mouth to clitellum. Its lower body from its segment to posterior are frozen.

"GRRRRRAAAAA!!!!"

Hundred daggers made of light continued to pierced its half-peeled scale and when it finally peels off, the toxic materials from its green skin melted from light magic and slowly fell to the open skin, now red and purple. The moment the toxic from its own body touches the now vulnerable skin, the worm once again screamed.

Few minutes passed by and slowly, the worm's violent thrashing lessen until its upper body drop shaking the ground of the process.

"Phew!" The same time my knees gave me away, the dizziness I felt a moment ago now intensified, I can't even open my eyes.

"... we defeated a General, almost Commander level monster..." I heard Odalf breathed. He heaved a relieved a tired sigh.

I couldn't help but smile. Yeah, we were able to defeat a strong monster.

I feel that I owe this to Aya and Kiera, if it weren't for Aya's useful information regarding the worm we might me dead right now if we acted recklessly.

"Thank you..." I thank Aya and Kiera in our link.

We rested for a while when Odalf approached me and handed me a small jar of water. I reluctantly accepted it and thanked him to which he smiled at me in return.

"That was a powerful attack spell." He complimented.

I look at him and smiled. I almost want to laugh with how his eyes are sparking right now. I don't know what's with his reaction though. He's looking at me as if I'm some sort of celebrity but that can't be. I don't have a memory of Jozine having alternate identity as a celebrity.

"..thanks..." I trailed off not knowing what to say next.

Suddenly, Odalf beamed at me causing me to jerk away from him due to shock.

“I’ve heard a lot about the prodigy of light magic from the house of Vesaurius! I am a huge admirer of your talent!!!” He said out loud with a wide eyes.

I... I smiled at him politely while feeling smug on the inside.

Being complimented feels nice. Jozen must be used to this kind of thing.

“Thank you...” I said still smiling.

She must have been used to hear this kind of compliment, but, how does she feel? Does she also feel proud of herself whenever she hears this phrase or does she feel burdened by the fact that her talent brought a lot of eyes and attention to herself?

“...are you okay, Lady Vesaurius?” Asks Odalf.

“Oh,” I snap back and nodded my head, “yeah. So, what should we do with its body? Something useful must be there, no?” I said diverting the topic.

“There is indeed something useful inside it. Since its around General or Commander level monster, its magic core is extremely valuable. Its toxic skin can also be sold as poison while the hard scales can be use to produce armors and to forge weapons too since its anti-magic.” Ice explained while approaching us.

“Oh, you can take them all...”

[The soul draining web that this monster releases is extremely durable that it is impossible for low tier weapons or attacks to destroy it. Furthermore, its soul draining effect will be ineffective but it can weaken your enemies physically for about 25-50 percent.]

“—except the web. I’ll take its web with me.” I added with an innocent smile.

“Thanks Aya. You should’ve told me about that sooner though.”

[... well then. My bad.]

She sounded sarcasm.

The two approached the dead worm with caution when something crossed my mind.

“Hey Aya, if its scales are anti-magic, how is my light magic able to penetrate it?” I ask. If I remember correctly, Blake was attacking those two scales using his dagger only while I was able to attack it with magic.

[The scales you attacked were severely wounded by the other human’s attack. From receiving continuous attacks, the efficacy of it being anti-magic also lessens.]

I nodded my head after hearing that explanation. So it’s anti-magic but not really.

“It sounded inconvenient if it’s used as an armor or weapon.”

[Indeed, however, if the scale weren’t attack solely by force it is also useful. Magic itself won’t damage it.]

Aya added.

I understand what she said. If the scales are attack using magic, it won’t work but if its attack without magic and receive severe damage, magic may work on it later on.

Blake must have dealt with it severely that I was able to hit it with magic afterwards. Blake’s fighting skills is scary and amazing at the same time.

After tearing the worm open, two life-size purple magic cores were pulled out by Odalf and Ice. Ice handed me the green and black web, it’s length perfect as a whip and rope too.

I thank Ice and left them to handle the worm, I also lifted the barriers while walking back to Elise. Kiera transformed to her little fox form is now resting on my shoulder. I don’t know how they does it but I can’t feel their weights on me, even before.

“You did well, Kiera. Thank you.” I complimented her.

Kiera purred and rub her face on my neck, tickling me.

“Thank you for your praise, Mistress. I’m happy to serve you.”

I smiled at her and patted her head.

Suddenly, Alarkson spoke.

“I do not feel good watching Kiera being loved by Mistress like that. I ask of my Mistress to call for my help soon.”

After that, the link disappeared.

What... is Alarkson sulking?

Pft! I want to laugh but I held myself. I might meet my end if I do that.

“Alarkson’s brain is contrary to his size.”

“PFT— PUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” I burst out laughing, dang, I had to stop walking just so I can laugh properly.

I heard Alarkson growled on the link but I can’t feel an ounce of fear because of Kiera, even she is giggling. Damn!

Upon reaching the carriage, Elise is still healing Blake’s wound.

His face turned slightly pale and he is frowning, maybe because of the pain.

“How is he?” I ask Elise.

Elise is sweating when she looks at me while healing Blake.

“I do not know, my lady. I... I think his situation worsen now than before.” She stuttered.

My eyes widen. “What?” I kneeled beside Blake and check his pulse, s**t, she’s right. His pulse is slow and weak now. “What’s wrong with him?” I ask out loud only to receive silence as an answer.

Damn it!

What did I do wrong? He’s not poisoned is he?

My eyes widen in realization. “Stop healing him.” I hurriedly ordered Elise while checking his pulse on both his wrist and neck. f**k, he’s poisoned?

How?

[Probably when he was hit, some toxins may have entered his wounds. You need to take out the poison out of his body then heal him.]

The golden letter appeared.

“But how?” I ask, I did not even notice I’m asking that out loud.

[You have a detoxifying pill in Luxes, you may use it on him, however, once you let him take that his wound may open up.]

Shit. His wound will open up?

I peeled his clothes open, his stomach is bruised, a disgusting purple color surrounding the round wound, it looked smaller, about the size of my fist, if this opens up, how big is his wound?

DAMN IT!

“How long can this poison completely occupy him?” I ask Aya.

[Let me share your vision.]

Without second thought I agreed, my eyes felt cold for a second until it slightly glowed, afterwards, I blink and I can see green and black lines are spreading along Blake’s body. I blink and it’s back to normal.

[About eight minutes. The pill may work instantly but considering how fast the poison is spreading it may take some time before he’s detoxified. His wound may severe.]

I heaved a deep sigh and massaged my temple. This is due to my carelessness! I should have known better!

I breathed out. “The pill.” My fisted my hand, I felt a round thing appeared inside my hand. Without wasting time I fed it on Blake while ordering Elise to prepare.

Fucking hell. If it weren’t for Aya’s help and the Luxes, I don’t know what could have happened to Blake.

I may seem dependent to Aya but I don’t even give a f**k anymore. Whatever her reason is, whatever purpose she has for this, I will know soon but for now, I’m just thankful for her help.