The moment Lyle saw the information about the spell Shrink, his eyes lit up.
A maximum of +100 Agility?
That wasn't just a minor boost—this was monstrous.
To put things in perspective, his current Agility stat was only 113. If he used this skill, he'd essentially double his speed. Even in the later stages of progression, a flat increase of 100 points was no small matter.
The only downside? He could only use it twice per day.
"A mental-type class... 'Wizard?" Lyle muttered, raising a brow. "First time I've heard of that one. I remember there was a class called 'Witch' though."
He turned his eyes to the humanoid monster in the distance, who was trying to flee using its superior speed.
"Shrink!" Lyle whispered.
Thump!
He felt his heart skip a beat, and in the next instant, his whole body compressed like someone had hit the "miniature mode" button. His frame shrank by half in the blink of an eye.
At the same time—
An overwhelming sense of lightness surged through his body.
He looked at his now pint-sized self, stunned by the transformation. His iron sword, which was previously a perfect fit, now looked like something forged for giants. Gripping it felt awkward with his smaller hands.
But it wasn't a dealbreaker.
He quickly assessed his condition. Besides the obvious size reduction and a massive boost in speed, all his other stats remained unaffected.
After a brief moment of awkward adaptation, Lyle lifted his head to lock eyes with the startled humanoid creature across from him.
Then he grinned. "Shall we continue?"
Whoosh!
With a single step, he became a white blur, streaking across the forest floor at an insane speed.
"Ah–liii!!"
The monster shrieked. It hadn't expected Lyle to match—no, exceed—its speed. It turned to flee in panic.
Earlier, Lyle had no way of catching up to it, but now?
The tables had turned.
Combined with the passive effect of the magical item Forest Traversal, the distance between them closed rapidly.
"You're not getting away this time," Lyle said coldly as he raised his sword.
"Four-fold Slash!"
Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat!
Four jets of blood burst from the monster's limbs.
Thud!
It let out a miserable cry and crashed from midair, slamming into a pile of broken branches and decaying leaves.
Lyle canceled Shrink, returning to his normal size. With his iron sword in hand, he calmly walked up to the fallen creature.
He stared down at it. "Now... can we talk?"
Meanwhile—
The swarm of insect-type monsters that had been summoned earlier was mostly wiped out, courtesy of his ten Flame Archangels and Principality Observation.
His EXP bar gained another nice bump.
[EXP: 8762/10000]
But what caught Lyle's attention even more was the surge of curse energy in his body. Apparently, slaying a large number of insect monsters caused a far more noticeable spike in curse power than when he killed the two scorpion-tailed lions last time.
"Talk...?" Lyle asked again, softening his expression to seem more approachable. "Care to explain what's going on here?"
"Curse… monster!"
"Kill... me!"
The humanoid monster's green pupils were bloodshot, filled with hatred as it rasped its reply.
Lyle frowned. The creature's unstable emotions, illogical rambling, and possibly unhinged mental state made it tough to get anywhere.
But connecting a few dots...
It seemed the creature didn't hate humans—its hostility was directed toward the curse energy in Lyle and Leinas.
Still, even if that guess was right, it didn't help much. Without communication, there wasn't much he could do.
Should he kill it?
The thought crossed Lyle's mind—but he hesitated.
This mysterious creature likely knew more about the depths of this swamp than anyone else. Especially since it could speak. That alone made it too valuable to simply eliminate.
Lyle's eyes narrowed as an idea struck him.
"A few years ago, a creature like you left this swamp and entered human territory," Lyle said slowly.
The monster's hateful glare flickered. Its twisted expression froze, and something like hope suddenly ignited in its otherwise lifeless aura.
"Pasha?!"
"It must be Pasha!!"
The creature struggled to rise, eyes wide with emotion. But with its limbs slashed, it could only writhe awkwardly.
Lyle sighed in relief and poured a regeneration potion onto its limbs.
"Looks like we're finally ready to have a real conversation."
As the wounds healed, the humanoid creature scrambled to its feet and dashed toward Lyle.
"Where is Pasha? Is he safe? What happened to him?!"
Tears welled in its moss-colored eyes.
"Calm down," Lyle said, raising his hands. "Before I answer, I need a few things cleared up first. Like... what species are you, exactly?"
"Gnome!" the creature replied without hesitation. "A forest gnome, Dogen the Stone Lizard!"
"Gnome?" Lyle blinked.
He studied the creature carefully. The short stature did match the gnome legends, and the bark-like skin tone aligned with what he'd heard of forest gnomes—rare gnomes with traces of elven blood.
How much of that was true remained a mystery, of course.
It wasn't Lyle's fault for not recognizing him sooner—this guy looked more like a wild man than a magical creature.
The only reason he hadn't been mistaken for a monster entirely was his ability to talk.
"Dogen... Stone Lizard? That your full name?" Lyle repeated, raising a brow.
"Yes, yes!" Dogen's bloodshot eyes cleared slightly. His shaggy cheeks twitched as he explained eagerly, "The 'Stone Lizard' part comes from my totem beast. In our tribe, all warriors perform a ritual to bond with a powerful magical creature."
"Those who succeed earn the right to add the creature's name to their own."
A Stone Lizard... that likely referred to a petrifying lizard.
"Tribe... tribe..."
Suddenly, Dogen's body stiffened.
"Dead."
"They're all dead... Where's Pasha? Where is he?!"
As soon as he mentioned his tribe, Dogen's mental state unraveled again. He dropped into a mumbling spiral of despair.
Thud!
Lyle calmly stepped forward and delivered a classic karate chop to the back of his neck, knocking the gnome out cold.
"Headache city," Lyle muttered, rubbing his temple. "But at least now we're getting somewhere."
He looked up.
The flame archangels had finished exterminating the insect monsters and were now hovering silently above him.
"Spread out and begin purging all hostile monsters in the forest. If you find anyone similar to him, capture them or come report back."
Lyle gave his orders.
Since the archangels were summoned through a scroll, they weren't as easily controlled as the ones he summoned personally through his soul—those he could command with just a thought.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The flame archangels darted off in all directions.
Soon after, his interface began updating again with small EXP increments. Most were just a few dozen points.
Clearly, this forest was no match for the high-level beasts of the Tob Forest. Nothing too powerful here.
Nightfall.
The crackling of burning wood filled the quiet forest.
Lyle sat beside the fire, holding the Orb of Death, channeling his magic into it. He was using the orb's function to draw out and store magic power.
Currently, he had enough to craft a Tier 3 scroll without issue. But a Tier 4 scroll? Not quite.
Tier 4 to Tier 6 scrolls required double the mana cost.
Tier 2 "Magic Storage" = 10 MP
Tier 4 "Angel Summoning" = 20 MP
Total required: 40 MP, not counting the cost of Paper Creation (Tier 4).
Suddenly—
"PASHA!!"
A voice rang out from beside the fire. Dogen jolted upright with a shout, wide-eyed and breathing hard.
Lyle glanced over, amused. "Good morning, sunshine."