Did she already know what I would ask her for?

Ch 45: Because that’s what a man does!

Since I just got 35 hell cat runes, I'll save some to fuse with my arrows. That way, my debt to Erick won't increase too much.

[Hell cat Scroll]

[x46]

"Oh… This time it was a scroll…"

With a strange expression on her face, Alessia looked at the loot in my hands. During all this indiscriminate hunting, she seemed to get used to the rare and multiple loot, but was caught off guard by the sight of a scroll.

[Hell cat Scroll]

[x50]

"Hm? Didn't double loot show up?"

"Yes, one of my assumptions is that the monster must be stronger to continue the loot drop."

Maybe from floor 10 onwards the chain will be able to continue to x51 without needing to fight a boss, but right now I don't plan on fighting the boss for the simple fact that it takes time. Besides, I don't want to have more surprises, like the ones that happened with the fire ant or the Snow Wolf.

'We continued to defeat the hell cat until I collected 20 scrolls, then I finished the chain.

"We're done here; let's go to the 6th floor."

We went back to the door on floor 2, and when we went through it, I thought of floor 6. In just a blink, we appeared in another corridor, and after walking a bit in it, we found a monster.

[Hypnotic Bat Lvl6]

"Should I defeat it?"

"No, this will be the kind of monster I will kill. Anyone other than this kind belongs to you."

"Understood"

The hypnotic bat is, as its name implies, a bat. There are not many differences between it and the animal with the same name. The only distinguishing feature is its size, which is twice that of a normal one.

I equipped the Pulley Bow and aimed at its wings, doing so very carefully so as not to kill it.

The arrow created a hole in its wing, which prevented it from flying properly. I quickly approach and swing my sword.

*Twiiish*

The moment it saw me, it moved its wings strangely, and together with the sound of its snout, they formed a strange sound wave.

'I feel like my sword is traveling at a high speed, a speed I can't control. No… It's my thoughts. My thoughts are slower. That's why the movement of my sword has become uncontrollable in my mind.'

"Master? Is master all right?"

"Hmm?"

I turned around, and for a second, I saw Alessia, but the next second, I started to see a bat coming towards me.

"Master! Do not point your sword at me!"

"...Is that you, Alessia?!"

"Yes, it's me. Are you okay?"

"Eh, ah, yes… I want to rest a bit"

I can't believe what my eyes are seeing. The bat is talking and swears to be Alessia. I don't know who to believe, its words or my eyes.

The only thing I know is that Alessia is with me, and if it is really her, then she won't attack me. If this is an illusion, then the moment the bat attacks me, I will feel pain, and at that moment, I will return the attack, even if it swears to be my family.

And so, the seconds passed. The bat that sat next to me slowly began to change its shape until it took on the appearance of Alessia.

I reached out my hand to her and caressed her cheek. 

'I'm sure it's her.' 

"When the bat attacks with that strange sound, what it is doing is applying an illusion to the opponent. At that moment, I felt that my thoughts slowed down, and worst of all... For several seconds, I saw you as a second bat" 

"An illusion... Are you okay now? Did the effects wear off?"

"Yes, it's over. Thanks for worrying." I kept stroking her cheek.

Alessia: "…"

For a moment I thought I saw Alessia blush and look away, but my mind still feels fuzzy. It may have been my imagination. After all, just 2 seconds later, her face looked as calm as usual.

"Master, the best we can do is prevent the bat from flapping its wings. If possible, I would like you to pierce both of its wings with arrows before approaching."

"Yes, you're right, I'll do as you say. As for the previous bat…"

"Your attack severed part of its body, and just a few seconds ago, it died."

"I see"

'Perhaps my abnormal state disappeared the moment the bat died… But I'm not stupid enough to prove this theory for myself.'

[Snow Wolf Lvl6]

[Hell Cat Lvl6]

[Hypnotic Bat Lvl6]

'Right. On floor 6, there will be groups of 3 monsters, and on floor 9, there will be groups of 4.'

I know Alessia's fighting style better than anyone. I know that she can fight several opponents at the same time, even more so if she is doing it with her sword. So, without worrying, I let her go fight them while I took care of the bat.

Bow in hand, I aimed at its wings.

Very calmly, I shot the arrow, and it perfectly pierced the bat’s left wing, but it can still fly. From my inventory, I drew the second arrow and fired again, driving the arrow cleanly into its right wing.

Two arrows hampered its wings, and no matter how hard it tried to fly, the bat fell to the ground. Ready to be sliced.

I unsheathed the sword hanging from my waist and dealt the final blow to it.

It was only by picking up the two arrows from the ground that I realized what I just did.

'Since when am I such a good archer to shoot two arrows so accurately? It would be nice if the time between each of the arrows was tens of seconds, but that wasn't the case. It took me less than 3 seconds to shoot two arrows, which is impossible, even at my current level. I didn't think about it before, because the illusion of the bat was more important, but at that time I also remember that the feeling was the same as now. This means that… The bow is the cause of this, specifically its blessing runes. In Erick's store, I was able to realize the special atmosphere that was created when touching the bow. Now it has been proven that this state greatly improves my concentration and the accuracy of my arrows. Hmm… What will happen when I add runes to each of my arrows? Will I be able to break through the hard skulls of the monsters? My hands are shaking with emotion.'

"I'm done with them. Shall we continue?"

"Yes, we look for the next bat."

[Bat Drink]

[x5]

[Bat Drink x2]

[x6]

"So, it works on all monsters as long as you defeat the same type, huh? Then, what about the ones that don't have rare loot?"

"Oh, good question. I wouldn't know how to answer you."

There are monsters that only drop one type of loot, regardless of the floor on which they are.

'If one day I find one, I'll see what happens.'

[Bat Drink x4]

[x11]

[Ultracustic Ear]

[x16]

[Hypnotic Bat Rune]

[x31]

[Hypnosis Scroll]

[x46]

'Mm? Every scroll I got before had the name of the monster that dropped it in its name, so this scroll should have been called 'Hypnotic Bat Scroll'. Why does this have a different name?'

[Hypnosis Scroll]

[A consumable item that enables the user to hypnotize the opponent and force him to carry out the user's instructions. Orders can only be undone by using another scroll or by the user's death.]

'Hey? Hey?! Hey?!! Wait, wait, wait. This means that… If I hypnotize a cat girl by telling her that my penis tastes like fish, will she come and lick it? Um… I would have to be careful so she does not bite it.'

This scroll is very important, it can be used for many perverted things. The best option I have at the moment is to mass harvest it without worrying about the environment or harm to flora and fauna. 

'That's what a man does!' 

Now, since the bat has 'Hypnotic' written in its name, it is to be expected that the boss can also perform some kind of hypnosis. This floor boss is dangerous, the farther away from it the better.

"Have you ever heard of the hypnosis scroll?"

"Mm… No. It's a relatively simple name, so if I had read or heard it, I would remember it. Is that the name on the scroll?"

"No, it has a different name. I was just asking you out of curiosity"

If neither Alessia nor I have heard of it before, it's either a piece of loot that can only be gotten through the chain skill or the information about it isn't allowed to be shared for obvious reasons.

"This time, we will stay longer to get more of these scrolls."

With such words, we turn to the next monster.

We fought them countless times, all to get as many scrolls as possible. Sometimes Alessia seemed discouraged from repeating the cycle so many times, but somehow I managed to cheer her up so I could continue harvesting it.

Only after a few hours did I stop the chain, because it will be dark soon and the 9th floor is still missing.