Aiming for a Cozy Life in a Dangerous Forest in Another World! - Chapter 33
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- Chapter 33 - Let’s Experiment
Chapter 33: Let’s Experiment
The day after Label joined us, I decided to explore the forest again in search of new ingredients.
Just like yesterday, I would be training with 『Dragon Transformation』 while foraging for food, so Kaito and Pola would be staying behind.
I felt comfortable leaving them in Label’s care.
Label would be cleaning the cave and the base, as well as making reinforcements and repairs. “It’s all part of a butler’s duties,” he said.
…Well, I knew they were in good hands.
Kaito and Pola said they would be practicing magic and combat with 『Physical Enhancement』. Label had apparently agreed to be their training partner.
…Wasn’t Label a little too capable?
By the way, seeing how attached Kaito and Pola had become to Label, I got a little jealous. I decided to play the part of the needy woman and said, “Aren’t you worried about me going out there alone?”
“Onee-chan is super strong. I’m just worried you might overdo it.”
“Kotoha-nee-chan is the strongest!”
“There is no way Kotoha-sama could lose to some measly magical beasts in this forest.”
Those were… somewhat heartwarming? Comments.
…Though I didn’t understand the last part of Kaito’s comment.
So, it was just Rin and me on today’s exploration.
I explored the south side of the base yesterday, so today I would head west.
The east side had the river where Kaito and Pola had been swept down. I needed to cross the river to explore further in that direction, so I would put that aside for now. And we had already explored the north side extensively.
As I made my way west, I decided to test if I could cover my 『Dragon Transformation』 with 『Physical Armor』, as I had thought about yesterday.
I activated 『Dragon Transformation』 on my left arm, up to my fingertips, then imagined wearing a jacket and gloves, activating 『Physical Armor』 on top of it.
……It worked… sort of.
My arm was covered in scales from the 『Dragon Transformation』, my fingers were longer, and my claws were extended. Therefore, the jacket was stretched tight around my arm because of the scales, and my claws stuck out from the fingertips of the gloves.
Well, it was a failure. That wasn’t what I was hoping for.
I could conceal the fact that I had transformed, but it was obvious that I was hiding something. It made me look suspicious.
It would only make people more wary of me…
It was a failure, but at least I had confirmed that I could wear 『Physical Armor』 on top of 『Dragon Transformation』.
However, it seemed like 『Physical Armor』 couldn’t suppress the changes caused by 『Dragon Transformation』.
So, for my arm, I should probably imagine something loose-fitting, like a robe.
I kept my left arm transformed and tried creating a robe with 『Physical Armor』.
It worked.
……But wearing a robe with dragon scales underneath, and dragon hands… it was a look fit for a final boss.
I was starting to accumulate quite a few villainous traits. Obliterating things with powerful magic, slashing things with my dragon claws…
Well, I guess I was a villain to the creatures of this forest.
But it was for survival, so it couldn’t be helped.
I couldn’t afford to be a hypocrite who refused to eat meat because “it’s cruel to kill”.
These creatures were basically trying to kill me. It was kill or be killed.
Anyway, I decided to cover myself in scales as much as possible with 『Dragon Transformation』 and then wear a robe created with 『Physical Armor』 when I was in the forest. Underneath the robe, I would wear form-fitting clothes: a shirt and leggings. And sneakers for shoes.
This allowed for greater mobility, and in case I was ambushed with an attack that could pierce 『Automatic Defense』, the scales should protect me. And if I had to fight, I could just take off the robe and transform my hands and feet.
It seemed like 『Physical Armor』 disappeared if I activated 『Dragon Transformation』 after, so even if I was wearing shoes, it should be fine.
♢ ♢ ♢
Satisfied with my forest exploration style, I walked through the forest, but today I kept encountering Fangrabbits and Forest Tigers.
It had only been two hours, and I had already encountered seven. I had, of course, defeated them all.
At first, when I encountered a Fangrabbit or a Forest Tiger, I felt a mix of fear and excitement at seeing creatures that didn’t exist on Earth. But now those emotions were gone. Defeating them had become a chore. Fangrabbits, the creatures we mainly hunted for food, were just… meat.
…But why was I encountering so many Fangrabbits and Forest Tigers today?
I was outside my usual range of activity, but I had never encountered this many before.
And they were coming towards me.
Until now, I would ambush and defeat Fangrabbits while they were eating or sleeping.
Forest Tigers were more sensitive and would often come towards us, but I hadn’t seen one in a while.
But today they were coming towards me…
…Had my aura disappeared?
The magic power that leaked from me. Magical beasts that sensed it ran away. That was why I hadn’t seen any Fangrabbits near the base, in my usual range of activity, lately.
And the Forest Tigers were probably avoiding me because they had also sensed my aura.
So, were they approaching me today because my aura was gone?
But why?
………The only thing I could think of was 『Physical Armor』.
Until now, I always wore clothes created with 『Physical Armor』 when I went into the forest. But I prioritized mobility, and the forest was pretty easy to walk through, so I didn’t cover my entire body. It was probably only about 70% covered.
And today? The only part of my body not covered by 『Physical Armor』 was my head.
So, did that mean the more of my body was covered by 『Physical Armor』, the more effectively my aura was suppressed?
Hmm, something didn’t feel right.
『Physical Armor』 seemed to be involved, but I wasn’t sure about the surface area covered.
I was definitely covering more of my body today than I had in the past, but not that much more.
So, what else was different?
………The scales. My body, except for my face, was covered in scales.
Strictly speaking, I had grown the scales, and then covered them with 『Physical Armor』.
I had completely covered the scales with 『Physical Armor』…
♢ ♢ ♢
I had a few theories, so I experimented, switching between 『Dragon Transformation』 and 『Physical Armor』 to see which form resulted in the most encounters with magical beasts.
And indeed, my forest exploration style, where I covered my body with scales using 『Dragon Transformation』 and then wore a robe created with 『Physical Armor』, resulted in the most encounters. It seemed to suppress my aura the most.
Surprisingly, what resulted in the least encounters wasn’t my previous exploration style, but just the scales. It seemed like the scales weren’t just suppressing my aura.
I had confirmed that 『Physical Armor』 had a definite aura-suppressing effect. I needed to figure out the relationship between the scales and my aura.
Well, I had hunted a lot of magical beasts for the experiment, so I decided to call it a day and head back.
…When I got back, Kaito gave me a cold stare because of the amount of magical beasts I had brought back. “I told you not to overdo it,” he said.