“Phew... The drawing is still too detailed. I can't achieve this at my current level. What kind of tool was used as a medium?”
After about two hours of research, Lan Qingyou finally emerged from the ‘deep sea’ of study and took a deep breath.
“Huh! Is it dark already? That’s strange; I didn't think I’d been studying for that long.”
Looking at the pitch-black sky outside, Lan Qingyou finally realized the time.
She scratched her head and thought for a moment. Although she wanted to continue her research, if some monster blocked the door in this situation, she would be forced to exit through that narrow ‘skylight’ on the side.
Forget it. That’s enough research for today.
The place was close to her shelter anyway; she could come back to study it whenever she wanted.
Snap!
After a quick thought, Lan Qingyou broke off a few wooden blocks with magic patterns from the collapsed section and left the wooden cabin.
She flew a circle around the cabin to check the surroundings before departing.
Pfft!
Shortly after taking off, something seemed to slash across her face.
Pain and blood.
Even in the pitch-black night, Lan Qingyou could clearly feel both.
Tsk!
Clicking her tongue, Lan Qingyou immediately increased the output of her power.
She pushed herself to fly faster through the forest.
Judging by how the E-rank monsters had turned into D-rank monsters, there likely weren't any E-rank monsters left in this part of the Abandoned Land.
This meant that whatever had just attacked her was at least D-rank.
What it was didn't matter; what mattered was getting back as quickly as possible.
As a small fry who had just reached level 5 by grinding gravel sludge monsters, encountering a D-rank monster in the dark could very well mean death.
Most importantly, the opponent was not only fast but had also hit her while she was in the air.
This indicated the enemy had anti-air capabilities...
Pfft!
Just as the thought occurred to her, her right hand—the one she was using to propel herself—took another hit.
Pain!
It was a piercing, agonizing pain, far worse than the scratch on her face.
Her palm had been pierced through!
That was the first thing Lan Qingyou realized as the sensation of pain registered.
Cold sweat broke out on her face. Part of it was from the pain, but most of it was from the realization of the trajectory!
Her palm had been hit from above!
That meant the monster attacking her was likely capable of flight, just like her!
Dammit! I was careless!
She hadn't expected to encounter a flying monster.
No... she should have realized it as soon as she saw Steel Wool.
However, because there had been no records of flying monsters since then, she had gradually forgotten about the possibility.
And the price for that was her current miserable state.
Thinking quickly, Lan Qingyou pulled the Flame Stone out of her herb bag.
Since her right hand was injured and couldn't exert force, and her left hand was needed for propulsion, she could only wedge the stone into her belt.
Swoosh!
Boom!
When the enemy made its next move, the Flame Stone at her waist fired a fireball toward Lan Qingyou's lower left, where it exploded.
By the light of the fire, Lan Qingyou saw it clearly.
It was a black bird that looked very much like a swallow.
Due to the fireball's impact, a small portion of the bird's body was charred, and its wing was broken.
She didn't know if it was dead, but Lan Qingyou used her momentum to fly toward it.
As she flew, she pulled a healing potion from her card and splashed it onto the wound on her right hand.
When Lan Qingyou descended and scooped up the flying monster from the ground, she realized it was only about a quarter of the size of her palm.
She didn't linger. Seriously injured, Lan Qingyou gripped the monster with her barely recovered right hand and used her left to push off the ground, flying toward her home.
After about three minutes of flying at full tilt, her strength stat of over fifty points brought her back to the bright safety of her shelter.
“Tonight was quite the disaster...”
Because the fireball had been triggered from her waist, Lan Qingyou's belt had been scorched away. Now, not only was there a large hole in the waist of her clothes, but she also had several burns on her side.
After tossing the dead monster onto the magic desk, Lan Qingyou immediately stripped off what remained of her down jacket, treated her surface wounds, and took a shower.
Once she had changed into thick pajamas, she dragged her exhausted body to the magic desk to examine the creature that had caused her so much trouble.
In terms of appearance, it wasn't much different from a swallow, and it was as pitch-black as a crow.
The most striking feature was its beak.
While also pitch-black, it emitted a faint chill under the light of the magic lantern.
Seeing this, Lan Qingyou gripped her Moonstone Dagger in one hand and squeezed the beak with the fingers of the other.
It was incredibly hard.
Even with her strength of over fifty points, she couldn't deform it at all.
No wonder the creature had dared to dive at her even when she was supporting herself on tree branches; its confidence came from this.
【Night Swallow (D+)】
【HP: 50】
【MP: 500】
【Skills: (Agility) (Dash Attack)】
【Description: A type of bird that flies at extreme speeds. Omnivorous, vengeful, and highly territorial. It prefers to emerge at night to attack prey.】
Prey?
Fine, fine. So I stepped into your territory, and you treated me as prey?
Fair enough.
Fuming, Lan Qingyou pulled out her card, took a photo of the remains, and uploaded it to the 《Monster Encyclopedia》.
This was the first time she had encountered a flying creature in the sky; she believed others likely hadn't either.
Especially something that only came out at night.
After uploading the data, Lan Qingyou took out her harvest for the day.
She didn't touch the dried sludge; instead, she prepared the items dropped by the gravel sludge monsters.
Only then did she begin the Level 5 shelter upgrade.
【Level 5 Shelter Facilities】
【Bedroom... Living Room... Stove... Fireplace...】
【Platform, Balcony, Terrace...】
【water-circulation mana storage room (expansion): Wood 5000, flowing water source 1】
【Bathroom (expansion): Wood 1000, Stone 200. Note: Selecting this expansion will include a 100-liter water tank: Wood 200 (water tank does not count as a facility) and an automatic heating system: E-rank monster core 40 (automatic heating system does not count as a facility).】
【four-colored elemental herb field (expansion): Dirt 5000, Wood 1000, Stone 1000, Fire Essence 10, Fire Essence 10, Water Essence 10, Earth Essence 10, obsidian 300, mana crystal 100. Note: Selecting this construction will include irrigation channels: Stone 4000 (channels do not count as a facility).】
【Crystal Nest: Wind element crystal 10, Fire element crystal 10, Water element crystal 10, Earth element crystal 10, Lightning element crystal 10, Non-attribute crystal 100, mana crystal * 100.】
【Every shelter upgrade allows the selection of three facilities for renovation. Please choose carefully according to your needs.】
Rate on N.U.
