I Became a Mountain Tiger in a Fantasy World

< Chapter 14: Skrillzhak’s Legacy >

“Growl?”

Excuse me? Is anyone here?

I’m a tiger.

Since I’m a polite tiger, I greeted cheerfully. Normally, I would have gone “Grrrr” or “Rawr!”, but that was a special service just now.

“…….”

Hmm, it seems like no one is here after all? Just in case, I stayed alert and cautiously descended the stairs.

The bottom of the stairs was a dark basement, but interestingly, as I went down, some stones embedded in the wall, like luminous pearls, lit up. Were they equipped with sensors?

Given the faint magical energy I sensed, these seemed to be magical items. It was one of those moments that made me realize I was indeed in another world.

‘So, people here use these kinds of lights.’

Not bad. If I ever build my own lair, I’ll decorate my house with such luminous pearls.

‘But does it have to be a lair?’

Living in a grand mansion, being served, might not be so bad either.

-[Growl!]

-[Yes. Tender deer meat, coming up.]

-[Grrr.]

-[For dessert, I’ve developed the ‘ice cream’ you mentioned earlier. Does it suit your taste?]

Hmm, not bad. I’ve made a decision. Since I was born a tiger, shouldn’t I aim to be a ‘king’?

But setting such an ambitious goal all of a sudden might be unrealistic. For now, I’ll start by becoming the king of this forest.

And to become a king, I first need minions, meaning I need to form a faction. Although I said it as a joke, this was something I realized after meeting Brother Beak and Skrillzhak.

Skrillzhak was definitely a bad guy, but he had goblins following him. Because of them, he could easily capture Brother Beak, who was much stronger than him.

Likewise, if I hadn’t met Brother Beak, I would have struggled with my evolution.

Look at me now. Because Brother Beak turned into an egg, even though I could ‘grow,’ I couldn’t even attempt it.

If I turned into an egg too, there would be no one to protect us. In the end, whether human or beast, we are weak creatures that can’t do anything alone.

‘How could this be!’

The depiction of dragons exploiting dwarves like tyrannical bosses wasn’t for nothing!

It was only after becoming a tiger that I realized the importance of social connections. Wait, couldn’t I also boss others around like a dragon? I am a genius tiger backed by a phoenix!

“Grrr!”

With these thoughts about my future, I continued down the stairs and finally arrived at a spacious chamber with three branching paths.

As soon as I reached the chamber, I narrowed my eyes. I could hear the sound of metal clanging in the distance.

-Clang, clang…!

The consistent sound of metal hitting metal. Clang! Clang! The loud, rhythmic noise was something you often heard in games.

‘Mining?’

I frowned at the sound of mining coming from beyond the darkness. Seriously. These crazy goblins?

It seemed like Skrillzhak had been using slaves here.

* * *

‘Growl…’

I erased my presence as much as possible and cautiously approached the inside. From this point onward, there were even traps on the floor, but thanks to my [Sensitivity] and [Spirituality], I could easily identify them.

‘They call it a hideout, but it feels more like a dungeon.’

That was my honest impression.

Goblins were roaming the three paths connected to the chamber, and at the end of the far-right path, slaves were laboring under the watch of goblins.

Surprisingly, the slaves were neither humans nor goblins.

I decided to check the information of one of them.

【Ellafae of Earth Lv.7】

– Traits: [Fairy], [Affinity with Nature]

– Skills: [Digging Lv.1], [Mineral Extraction Lv.2]

– Status: [Tired], [Hungry], [Exhausted]

They were small fairy folk, often described as looking like Peter Pan. Each fairy had transparent wings and emitted a faint glow from their bodies. Since they were Ellafae of Earth, they emitted a warm wood-like color.

However, most of their lights were faint, as if they were about to go out. Then, one of the Ellafae suddenly collapsed to the ground.

“Ferlur…”

“Krug!”

The goblins were merciless. As soon as the small fairy fell to the ground, they immediately started whipping it.

“Ferlk! Ferlk!”

“Ferurururu…!”

With each crack of the whip, the light emitted by the fallen fairy flickered as if it were about to go out. I frowned and counted the number of goblins.

【Rotclaw Tribe Goblin Overseer Lv.15】

– Traits: [Tribe]

– Skills: [Whipping Lv.2], [Surveillance Lv.3]

– Status: [Excited], [Delighted]

There were a total of three goblin overseers. However, I couldn’t be sure how many goblins were inside this hideout.

‘Normally, I would start with reconnaissance.’

【Exiled Young Prince Eryllion Lv.5】

– Traits: [Fairy], [Affinity with Nature], [Royal Bloodline]

– Skills: [Digging Lv.1], [Mineral Extraction Lv.2], [Command Lv.3]

– Status: [Angry], [Unconscious], [Frustrated], [Exiled]

Seeing the precarious status of the Ellafae, who seemed on the verge of death, I decided to take a gamble. I quietly approached the goblins from behind, who were enjoying torturing the fairy.

Just as they were about to deliver the finishing blow,

Squeeee!

“Krug!”

“Krrooa!”

I quickly moved into their blind spot and slashed their necks. I saw it—the gap in their defenses!

「‘Razor Claws’ reacted to the wildness!」

「Using Magnification!」

Sssshk!

For a moment, a chilling glint flashed in my dark pupils.

With that, the situation was over.

“Kruuu───.”

The three goblin sentinels died with a final shriek.

「Level up!」

Oh, what?

This is much stronger than I expected.

I was worried because I couldn’t learn the Steelhide skill from the bear, but the moment I could imbue my claws with wildness, my attack power skyrocketed.

‘This should be more than enough.’

As confidence surged within me, the Ellafae flocked around me.

“Perurururu!”

“Peruperu!”

They bowed their heads in gratitude and then anxiously rushed to the prince.

‘Hmm.’

Even to my eyes, the prince’s condition looked dire.

The light emanating from his body flickered weakly, as if it might go out at any moment.

If left like this, he might die. What should I do?

“Perururu!”

“Peruperu!!”

Then, the Ellafae started gesturing and circling around me, holding hands and drawing arrows in the air to guide me.

“Peruperu!”

They were urgently telling me to come quickly. Their expressions and tone conveyed the urgency, so I quickly followed them.

After passing through several rooms rapidly, I entered the innermost room and immediately understood what the Ellafae wanted.

‘A potion!’

As soon as I entered the room, I saw a bright red potion bottle.

The problem was, it wasn’t just the potion bottle that was there.

I scrutinized the goblin sitting on a chair at the table.

“Kruk?”

He was much bigger than a regular goblin. Most notably, he was armed with extraordinary armor.

I looked at the goblin with a slightly bewildered expression.

What kind of goblin is so heavily armed?

Anyone would think he was some aspiring knight.

“Kroarara!!”

With his large build, I couldn’t tell if he was an orc or a goblin, this guy!

As expected, as soon as he saw me, he let out a monstrous cry and charged at me with a vicious mace.

Whoosh!

Whoa, the wind from the mace whistled past my head.

But, you know…

Even if I wanted to dramatize the danger, I couldn’t.

You know why?

Because this guy’s confidence came from his armor.

Bang!

“Kruk?!”

With a dull thud, disbelief flashed in the goblin’s eyes.

He couldn’t have expected such weight to come from my tiny paw.

The goblin, now staggering, fell heavily on his backside.

Though shaken, his fighting spirit hadn’t died. Wearing a full plate armor that covered his entire body, he brimmed with confidence.

Such a sly one.

Daring to rely on gear to win?

But he didn’t know.

That I, a super tiger, knew how to deal with full plate armor!

“K-Kruk!”

Do you even know?!

The effort I put into studying armor for accuracy!

The strength of full plate armor lay in its extreme defense, but its weakness was the reduction in speed compared to not wearing it. And blunt attacks were more effective than slashes.

In other words, the already slower goblin became even slower.

And I knew how to exploit this slowpoke.

So,

「Wildness imbues the body!」

「‘Smash’ reacts to the wildness!」

Today, you’re going to get hit!

Bam! Bam! Bam!

“Kuk, Kkwuk, Kruk!!”

I hammered his helmet and various parts, leaving him dazed. Whenever he tried to counterattack with unyielding tenacity,

Flash!

“Kruk!”

I’d threaten with my sharp claws,

‘Hey, it’s a fake~’

Then retract my claws and swing a tiger punch.

You dumb goblin! You should have watched boxing anime!

Oh, is there none here? That’s your problem!

Thunk! Thunk!

Mixing in magnification, I threw one-two jabs, causing his armor to dent and him to scream.

“Grrr!”

Finally, I aimed my claws at him.

Learning from experience, instead of dodging, the warden chose to hunker down to block the hit.

Shunk!

Yep, this time it’s for real.

“Kruk…!”

My magnified claws penetrated deeply through the gap in his joints.

「Level up!」

A cheerful message popped up,

“Purururu!”

“Puru!!”

The Ellafae surrounded me, cheering.

This felt good, like I was a hero.

“Grr!”

Proudly, I leaped onto the table to the fairies’ cheers. Hop!

【Shaman’s Crude Healing Potion】

The name was a bit worrisome, but it seemed to be a potion.

Carefully, I opened the potion’s cap.

Don’t underestimate paws. Using claws and pads, handling a potion like this… Boink!

Phew.

Actually, it wasn’t just me. The Ellafae helped out a lot.

Thankfully, despite its name, the potion’s effect was remarkable.

Cautiously, I administered the potion to the fairy prince, applying it to his wounds, and his light began to brighten.

“Grr!”

Soon, as he regained consciousness, I received an unexpected gift from him.

Did this come from here?

I later found out that it was a crucial item to overcome my current predicament.