บท 71: Traveling To An Ancient Shrine And... Yokai?!

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Frank glanced atop the sky towards the ground, the large buildings of Tokyo slowly fazed away as he entered an area of greenery, the outskirts of the loud and active city were nothing to scoff at.

The beautiful forest covered the landscapes as small neighborhoods grouped around the city, and as Frank and Matsuo flew farther and farther, the houses slowly became fewer, until they reached a small, almost abandoned village with no more than twenty or so houses with very traditional styles.

Thanks to Matsuo's magic, traveling all the way here only took around fifteen minutes, a surprising amount of time for such a large amount of kilometers traveled. Frank was now even more excited about acquiring a Flight Spell or Skill of his own, as flying seemed like an incredibly efficient way of traveling.

For some reason, he discovered that he adapted fairly quickly to the height, which he attributed to his 'World's Traveler Body' Skill, that let him adapt to any situation in any world, including Earth itself.

Descending into the land, Matsuo quickly dissipated the two Seraphin Wings and also the Domain he was using to travel through to be completely unnoticed by the people, walking towards the shrine that was a few streets away.

"What a peaceful place, there are barely any people here…" said Frank, smelling the fresh scent of nature within the air.

"Ah, here it is," said Matsuo, pointing at the medieval Japanese-styled building, a large shrine whose territory was rather large, covering several meters.

An old woman was praying near the shrine, Matsuo and Frank waited for her to finish before they entered.

"So there are still people coming to this old shrine after all… See, this is why it is dangerous to let Yokai roam here, what if this old lady ends up attacked by them? I am rather surprised that this one task has not been taken yet… Well, there are so many that it is a bit understandable. And it is not like all of our clan members constantly strive to help normal people out. Most are usually just interested in gathering money and resources," said Matsuo.

"Not like you can blame them, right?" asked Frank.

"I guess so. Growing stronger is a top priority in the Underworld, all of their efforts, money, and resources always go to that at the end… Even with the backing of a clan such as ours, it still very dangerous to remain weak within the Underworld, and even with the Clan, it still possible to get killed or captured to be used as a resource by other people within the Underworld… And to be honest, I have been like this as well, I should have taken this task earlier…" said Matsuo.

"Don't trouble yourself so much, Matsuo. We are here to do that just now. Troubling yourself because of something you could have done but didn't do is useless, at the very least, let's try to finish this one task as fast as possible, for the safety of this old lady and the people that still live here…" said Frank.

"You sure know how to talk sweet words, don't you? Fine, alright- Huh?" asked Matsuo.

"It is a talent of mine- Hm? What is it?" asked Frank.

"That… the lady is laughing?" asked Matsuo.

"What…?" asked Frank.

Both of them glanced at the old lady who was 'praying' as she began to laugh like a mischievous little grandma, her laugh became eerier as the time went on, spooking Frank and Matsuo a bit.

"Why is she… laughing?" asked Frank.

"This… It's a Yokai!" said Matsuo, as he suddenly created a barrier in front of him and Frank!

Flash!

Just a second after that, the old lady's face twisted grotesquely as her jaw opened wide, and a long, slimy, and meaty tongue emerged from within!

"Gyhihihihihihi! Visitors! Visitors! It has been a while! Gyhihihi!" she laughed, as the tongue suddenly began to release powerful whipping blows over the magic barriers with great strength and speed.

Clash! Clash! Clash!

"Visitors! Visitors! Welcome! Welcome! Gyhihihihihi!"

"This is… a Rank 2 Monster!" said Matsuo.

"Rank 2?! So this old lady was a fake?!" asked Frank.

"Obviously! Frank, get ready!" said Matsuo.

"On it!"

Frank quickly activated Body Aura, Bronze Skin, Mana Aura, and Gust at the same time, as his body was reinforced several times while releasing a permeating aura of energy, magic, and wind around his body.

"However, first of all, inspect!" said Frank, as his eyes flashed with a magical aura, scanning the old lady!

Ding!

[Name: Nameless.

[Race: Akaname Youkai

[Types: Evil Spirit

[Monster Rank: 2

[Level: 4

[Health Points: 112/112

[Mana Points: 25/25

[Strength: 65

[Defense: 30

[Magic: 25

[Resistance: 30

[Agility: 50

[Passive Skills: [Accursed Long Tongue: Level 6], [Acid Immunity], [Corrosive Saliva Production: Level 5]

[Active Skills: [Whipping Technique: Level 4], [Mimicry: Level 3], [Shapeshift: Level 2], [Aura of Fear: Level 1]

"She's quite beefy for being an old woman! What with this one hundred HP?!" thought Frank, as he rushed out of Matsuo's light barrier while conjuring his Mana Barrier!

Flash!

"Gyhihihi! Yes, come to play with me, young lad!" laughed the old lady, as she barely walked a few steps, diverting her attention from Matsuo as her long tongue quickly flew towards Frank at great speed.

"Ruby! Flame Breath!" said Frank, as Ruby suddenly emerged from within his clothes, directing her jaws towards the old lady.

"Grawwr!" she roared, releasing a powerful breath of fire towards the old lady's long tongue, which began to immediately be grilled alive!

"G-GYYAAAAAH!"

The old lady cried in agony as its tongue flew back to her deformed mouth, only to come out just afterward, however, the flames seemed to have been cleansed.

"Y-You damn brat! You don't want to play!" she cried, her body suddenly began to shapeshift, showing her true form!

A grotesque old demon with green skin and barely any black hair atop its head, it had a large and round belly, and very thin legs and arms, which is used to walk in all fours.

"GRRYYAARR!" it roared, jumping towards Frank while wielding its tongue as its strongest weapon!

Clash!

The tongue hit Frank's barrier as he quickly conjured many Flying Mana Spears towards the angered Youkai!

"Flying Mana Spear!"

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Each Flying Mana Spear flew at great speeds, hitting the monstrous youkai with great strength. Frank kept an eye on the creature's HP, noticing that it was taking large amounts of damage!

"GRRYYAAA! Damned human!" roared the youkai, as it began to secret acidic saliva from within its tongue, which began to slowly melt Frank's Mana Barrier!

"Not going to let you! Gust!" said Frank, as he conjured a strong gust of wind that sent the weakened creature through the sky.

"Flying Mana Spears!" said Frank, sending five consecutive attacks towards the creature while in midair, crushing it from all sides mercilessly!

Clash! Clash! Clash!

"G-GRRRYYAAA…!"

Boom!

The creature shrieked one last time as it suddenly became black smoke, disappearing while leaving a medium-sized Magic Crystal behind… alongside a strange skill book.

"Good job! You're getting better," said Matsuo.

"I was honestly a bit startled, I never expected that old lady to be a monster…" muttered Frank.

"Yeah, me neither, it seems that the Youkai in here is good at shapeshifting… that damned little creature almost got us," said Matsuo as he sighed.

"I doubt it would have been much of a threat for you," said Frank.

"Hahaha, yeah, I guess~ But it is more exciting to see you be challenged, so I didn't participate much in the fight," said Matsuo.

"I guess you're holding into your job as my 'supervisor'…" said Frank, walking towards the dropped items and grabbing the Magic Crystal and the strange Skill Book.

"A Skill Book? Man, your power is broken," said Matsuo.

"This thing… I would prefer if it hadn't dropped in the first place…" said Frank, as Matsuo checked the book, exploding in laughter not much afterward.

"What the heck is this?! Hahaha!"

The Book in Frank's hands was named 'Accursed Long Tongue Technique Book'… and it was a book that taught those with the talent to extend their tongues and use them as a weapon… just like this Youkai that Frank had just defeated.

"I am never using this…" muttered Frank.

"Well, who knows? Maybe you will get to use a long and sticky tongue one day with Erika! Get it? Cuz she's a dog! Bwahahaha!" laughed Matsuo.

"Wait, what?! Stop talking weird shit! It's not funny either, you got a pretty bad sense of humor…!" said Frank with a bit of embarrassment.

"Aw, come on, don't get like that," said Matsuo as he slowly calmed himself down.

"Sigh… Alright, let's get going…" said Frank, saving the two items into his Inventory and walking towards the accursed shrine with the carefree Matsuo at his side.

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