You Should Have Said You Had Experience

"There's something big down in the swamp, be careful."

As soon as Sherlock summoned the Mud Eagle, he immediately warned his companions, "When I summoned the Mud Eagle, I felt immense pressure coming from the swamp."

The "feel" of summoning the Mud Eagle was supposed to be like pinching off a few clumps of dough halfway through kneading. But Sherlock felt as if these clumps of dough were squeezing his hands from all sides as he pinched them...

That usually means there's something huge moving in the swamp, which is why pressure is being applied. Or there's some kind of barrier beneath the swamp.

Just in case, Sherlock first warned of the most dangerous possibility.

And soon, his reminder came in handy—

The ground suddenly began to shake violently, causing Sherlock to stumble and nearly fall.

At that moment, a gray thread emerged from behind him and hung him on the tree as well.

Sherlock breathed a sigh of relief. But before he could thank them, the ground began to shake a second, even more violently—

It was a strange, enormous creature, about fifteen or sixteen meters long, with an oval-shaped carapace on its back.

It resembled a giant tortoise, a soft-shelled turtle, and a cockroach. Its widest shell was about six or seven meters long, and its size was six times larger than Hai Na's bedroom. It even pushed the trees out of the way.

Its head was a hideous, white skeleton, but the crevices between the bones were completely blocked by damp, soft silt, making its head look like a giant taro.

Its limbs are not flat like a tortoise's, but rather thick and powerful—also made of bone and clay. Its shell is made of thick, black rock.

As soon as it appeared, it swallowed a headless undead that was near it whole. It made a crunching sound, like chewing on some kind of crunchy snack.

Iver suddenly became serious.

"This is Mud Bone Turtle," Iver warned, "At least at the Fourth Level —and these things live in groups!"

This thing is a classic group of small monsters in Version 3.0.

They're not particularly strong, but they're incredibly annoying... because they're landmine-triggered monsters. Stepping on one will cause a whole swarm to rise up from all directions, instantly surrounding you. And with their sheer size, they easily separate the team... and squishy classes, even with overwhelming power, are still in danger if they're alone.

Generally speaking, the bigger this thing is, the more powerful it is. However, without other Mud Bone Turtle for comparison, Iver is not sure whether this thing is considered large or medium-sized.

It also has a Sixth Level elite monster called the Dragon Bone Turtle —after consuming a large number of skeletons, it transforms into a dragon-headed undead covered in a turtle shell. Although it is not a dragon, it can still breathe dragon breath.

... However, this thing would be considered a grunt in version 3.0, but it's not anymore now!

Faced with a giant turtle that was two meters tall when lying down, three or four meters tall when standing up, and fifteen or sixteen meters long... these people really had a hard time getting started.

The Mud Bone Turtle is clearly very aggressive.

As soon as it appeared, it let out an extremely unpleasant roar.

It was a sound like mud had been stuck in the throat, but it triggered a terrible change.

Yellowish-brown ripples spread outwards from its body, softening the already soft mud and making it even more viscous and pliable. It could no longer exert any force; the slippery, greasy mud was utterly disgusting. Yet, it could swim freely through the mud, its speed actually increasing.

Thankfully, Lily was there—she reacted immediately and hung her teammates up the tree one by one. They stood on the branches, using the gray spiderwebs to secure their bodies.

As the Mud Bone Turtle crashed into the tree beneath someone, Lily immediately flicked her finger, swinging her companion from the tree to another spot.

They should be safe at least until all the surrounding trees are knocked down... probably.

What are its weaknesses?

Sherlock asked Iver urgently.

For some reason, he subconsciously felt that Iver should understand.

As expected...

Iver answered without hesitation, "A large area right in the middle of the back! But the carapace on the back is nearly a meter thick..."

If a melee class is high enough level, they can climb up and kill them all with a single strike.

But now, at least Lily with her dagger, Haina with her bare hands, and even the young Hai Na are all clearly not easy to deal with it. It's not that they can't beat it, but their attack range is too short, and they simply can't penetrate its sticky, slippery, mud-covered rock armor.

Even among monsters, this thing would be considered a dung monster... It has a hard shell covered with a thick layer of mud, can continuously create rotten ground, and slides around incredibly fast. If you feed it undead, it can even recover health.

Most importantly, the mud armor behind it is not undead material, but pure rock. Even Iver's purification cannot remove it.

Iver hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should summon the Paradox Flame Butterfly directly.

... But the problem isn't just that you unleash your ultimate attack after fighting a small monster.

It's because this place is a swamp and Dense Forest. There's marsh gas everywhere, and the forest is connected to the surrounding mountains.

If the turret-type summon, the Paradox Flame Butterfly, were used here... it might directly cause a large-scale wildfire.

But Iver had made up his mind.

If they are truly in danger, we must not hold back, even at this cost...

"Let me try it first!"

Sherlock shouted decisively.

—This complex situation is the time for the mage to step in.

He casually picked up a Mud Eagle from the side and then transformed it into pure elemental energy.

Iver warned, "Don't use Earth Attribute attacks on it!"

Why didn't you say so sooner!

Sherlock cursed, "Lily, throw the liquor from my backpack over here!"

He's too short now, so all his luggage is kept at Lily's place.

Lily reacted quickly.

Sherlock had already sorted and organized those items, so she easily found the glass bottle, about an inch tall and resembling a lipstick.

She quickly threw the thing at Sherlock. Sherlock simply raised the earth elemental in his hand and swirled it around.

The brittle glass shattered instantly. The glass, along with the alcohol it contained, mixed into the vortex in Sherlock's hand, and a violent transformation occurred. A viscous flame erupted from it, crackling and burning.

Iver recognized Sherlock's spell.

This is "Sharp Rock Spear," an Earth Attribute spell.

But Sherlock has clearly mastered the art of attribute transformation; he now casts the spell by mixing some Fire Attribute magic with alcohol.

—But can this thing penetrate tortoise shell?

However, Iver quickly realized that Sherlock wasn't trying to penetrate the tortoise shell, but rather to go through the flesh! He couldn't penetrate the rock, but he could still move through the skeleton and the mud!

Since that's the case...

Iver had an inspiration.

He took out two tubes of Chamomile Essential Oil and Helichrysum Essential Oil from his pocket, casually crushed the stoppers, and then poured the two tubes of oil directly into the palm of his left hand.

"I beseech the candle keeper, the god of the Sacred Number three, the God of Thorns Binding the Body, the God of Burning Body Chasing Darkness— "

Iver sang loudly. "Give me the Purification Fire!"

The essential oil in his hand immediately ignited, emitting golden flames.

Iver quickly covered Sherlock's right hand with the flames burning on his left hand, startling him.

"You--"

Sherlock was about to curse when he discovered that his spell was not interfered with.

Instead, the golden flames were drawn in, accelerating the formation of his spell.

Finally, the flame in Sherlock's hand was bound into an arrow without a tail.

But its tip was burning with golden flames.

Sherlock looked at Iver in disbelief, then gritted his teeth and unleashed the spell he had never seen before.

A golden light flashed by— Sherlock guided the spell's hit with his own will.

It burrowed into the Mud Bone Turtle's head. The Purification Fire instantly melted the bones, and the remaining mud was no match for Sherlock's spell.

It easily burrowed into the Mud Bone Turtle's body.

After a while, it swayed and collapsed. Tiny sparks could be seen erupting from its body, the bones burning quietly with golden flames, gradually turning to nothingness. And the rotten mud, having lost its support, also gradually melted away.

It quickly lost its shape, leaving only a huge tortoise shell and silt blocking the five gaps.

"That was really dangerous..."

Iver sighed, "It seems we..."

He was about to say something when he saw a notification appear in front of him:

[Defeat Fourth Level Magic Creature and gain 26 Free Experience]

Huh? Iver suddenly looked up, his eyes lighting up instantly.

—Experienced?

"... It seems we need to help the villagers clean up. Otherwise, it would be bad if they encountered any danger."

Iver immediately changed his tune.

Update complete!