The moment their feet touched the ground inside Biotope 8, a massive boulder hurtled toward them—its surface writhing with dozens of venomous Zombie Taipans, their fangs glinting in the light.
Erina's eyes widened in horror.
"W-What is that?!"
Akira didn't even flinch.
He raised his hand, and a swirling barrier of wind formed in front of them.
The boulder slammed into it and shattered, the snakes scattering harmlessly across the ground.
With a second gesture, the barrier burst outward and blasted the Zombie Taipans across the rocky slope.
"Zombie Taipans," he said casually. "Not really that strong, but the venom is nasty, and they don't let go of their prey until it dies."
Erina's voice rose slightly, a hint of fear slipping through despite her best efforts.
"Why are they flying toward us?!"
"Technically thrown," Akira replied, pointing into the distance.
There, a huge green gorilla—nearly five meters tall, with sharp fangs and four powerful arms—stood glaring at them.
The moment it realized the boulder had failed, it turned and lumbered away, disappearing behind the rocky ridge.
Erina swallowed.
"That… that's a Troll Kong?"
"Yep," Akira confirmed. "That's them."
Erina took a small step closer to Erika, her usual tsundere sharpness cracking just a little.
"…Are there more of them?"
Erika placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, ribbons twitching lightly.
"Don't worry. I don't think they're that strong. We'll protect you if anything comes."
Akira nodded, already pulling the knocking gun from his inventory with a grin.
"Yeah, you stay near Erika. She's got you covered."
Erika gave him a questioning look.
"What are you going to do?"
Akira's eyes sparkled with that familiar excitement.
"Well… I'll be busy with my experiments."
Erika sighed, half fond, half exasperated.
"Of course you will."
Akira clapped once.
"Come on. We don't want to get caught by any IGO members, right? Let's go deeper."
And with that, the three of them moved deeper into the rugged wilds of Biotope 8—the Garden.
Akira, Erika, and Erina walked through the rocky expanse, following the direction the Troll Kong had fled.
On the way, they spotted clusters of curved, banana-like gourds hanging from vines and patches of greenish-yellow leaves growing low to the ground.
Erina picked up one of the gourds, staring at it with clear confusion.
"Why is Banana Cucumber even a thing? Who even thought of this?"
Akira shrugged, already plucking some Bacon Leaves nearby.
"Don't question it. As long as it tastes good. Look, there are even Bacon Leaves here."
Erika examined one of the leaves curiously.
"So… how are they even eaten?"
"We'll figure it out later," Akira replied. "Anyway, we need to get them back. The vegans back home are going to love this."
They quickly collected a decent amount of both ingredients and continued deeper into the biotope.
Erika glanced around.
"Where did that monkey go? How far did it run?"
Akira pointed casually ahead.
"Oh, it's right over there. Behind that boulder."
Erika raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Yeah," Akira continued with a small grin. "It's probably waiting for us to fall into that trap in the ground."
Erika blinked.
"What trap?"
Akira stepped forward confidently.
"This one. Here, let me show you—"
He deliberately stepped into the hidden pit and dropped out of sight with a dramatic yelp.
"WAAAH—!"
Both girls froze.
Erina's face went pale.
"Akira?!"
Even Erika called out despite herself.
"Akira!"
At that exact moment, the Troll Kong leaped out from behind the boulder with a triumphant roar.
Using all four massive arms, it hurled four huge boulders straight at the girls.
Before the rocks could reach them, a shimmering barrier of energy unfolded, blocking every single one with a loud crack.
The Troll Kong froze.
So did the girls.
Then Akira shot out of the pit like a missile and closed the distance in an instant, knocking gun already raised.
With Transparent World active and his Mystic Eyes of Truth highlighting every nerve cluster, he aimed precisely and fired.
The needle struck true.
The Troll Kong staggered, eyes glazing over, and collapsed heavily onto the ground—
Completely knocked out, yet perfectly unharmed.
Akira landed lightly, looking satisfied.
"That's easier than I thought."
Erika marched over and grabbed his ear.
"What did I tell you about being reckless?!"
Akira winced, but still tried to sound smooth.
"But I didn't do anything dangerous though. I thought it was the best way to lure out the Troll Kong."
Erika twisted his ear harder.
"But why didn't you tell me before doing it?!"
Akira winced again.
"Well… I thought it would make the reaction more authentic."
Erika's eyes narrowed.
"What did you just say?"
Akira cried out.
"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry, okay? Forgive me!"
Erika sighed, still holding his ear.
"See? You even scared Erina."
Akira turned to look at Erina, who was standing there stunned.
"She doesn't look that scared thou—OW!"
Across from them, Erina finally exhaled.
For a moment, when he fell, her heart had jumped.
But now he was getting scolded like a misbehaving kid.
"Seriously… what kind of person is he?"
After a bit, Erika seemed satisfied and finally released Akira's ear.
She glanced at the unconscious Troll Kong.
"So… is it dead or still alive?"
Akira rubbed his ear with a small wince.
"Just knocked out. They're still alive."
Erika tilted her head.
"So is this the one you're going to patent?"
Akira shook his head.
"No, this is just a normal knocking technique commonly used in this world. I just wanted to test it out."
Erika asked,
"Will it wake up?"
"The needles are biodegradable," Akira explained. "It'll wake up after a while."
He stretched and looked into the distance.
"Anyway, let's go. The Rainbow Fruit is still waiting for us."
Erina walked over, arms crossed.
"Do you even know where it is?"
Akira tapped his nose with a confident grin.
"Oh, that's simple. Just follow the smell."
Erina raised an eyebrow.
"What smell?"
Akira explained,
"The Rainbow Fruit's sweet fragrance. Apparently it can be smelled from kilometers away. It lures animals in and makes them swoon. The meat-eating Troll Kongs don't eat the fruit itself—they make their nest around the tree just to eat the animals that get drawn here."
Erika sniffed the air curiously.
"But I don't smell anything from here. Can you?"
Akira shook his head.
"Nope. That's why we need a creature with a strong sense of smell."
Erika's eyes lit up.
"Are you going to turn into your Dire Wolf form and lead the way?"
"Not really," Akira said. "I still want to test the new experimental knocking techniques, so I have to stay in human form. But I do have a way."
He activated his magic.
Nothing dramatic happened to his body—
Except a pair of fluffy wolf ears suddenly sprouted on top of his head, followed by a large, fluffy wolf tail swishing behind him.
He took a deep breath, ears twitching.
"That way."
Before he could say anything else, Erika's eyes sparkled with pure excitement.
She grabbed his head and pulled it down.
"What is this?! Since when can you do this? Why didn't you tell me before?! How can you look so cute?!"
Akira tried to explain, ears flattening.
"It's just partial transformation, Erika, wait—"
But Erika wasn't listening.
She started rubbing his ears and head enthusiastically.
"How can you hide this from me? This is so cute… Your face is already cute, but now you're extra cute!"
Akira's face turned slightly red.
"I'm not cute, Erika…"
Erika completely ignored him, lost in the fluff.
Akira turned desperately to Erina.
"Erina, help me."
Even Erina's cheeks were faintly flushed.
She hesitated, then asked softly,
"…Can I touch your ears too?"
Akira blinked.
"What?"
Erika immediately pulled his head closer, possessive.
"No! They're mine. I won't give them to anyone."
Erina huffed, crossing her arms but still staring.
"But I'm his fiancée, right? I can touch them a little."
Erika shook her head firmly.
"No, you can't."
Akira groaned.
"Now you guys are fighting over me… for this? Seriously?"
But both girls seemed to have completely lost their reason, still focused on the fluffy ears and tail.
Selena's voice chimed in telepathically, sounding amused.
"Now you know why Mother said never use this transformation."
Akira thought back dryly.
"I thought she was talking about the danger of the transformation, not… this."
In the end, only after he canceled the partial transformation did the girls calm down—
Though both kept glancing at his head for some reason, as if hoping the ears would reappear.
They continued onward.
Now that Akira had the specific location, he guided them confidently.
Soon even Erika and Erina started to smell the incredibly sweet fragrance in the air.
Erina wrinkled her nose.
"This smell is too sweet… Can this even be eaten?"
Akira shrugged.
"Well… we won't know until we try. But I heard people are cautioned against eating too much of it."
Erika suddenly asked,
"How many Troll Kongs are here?"
Akira looked ahead.
"A lot, I guess."
Erika frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Akira pointed forward.
"Look over there."
When Erika and Erina looked, they saw dozens of Troll Kongs glaring at them from a distance—massive, muscular figures surrounding a huge, ancient tree.
At the very top of the tree hung a cluster of enormous fruits glowing in beautiful, shifting rainbow colors.
Erika asked,
"Are those the Rainbow Fruits?"
Akira nodded.
"Yep."
Erina swallowed.
"Can you beat all of them?"
Just then, several Troll Kongs roared and charged.
Akira walked forward confidently, a magic circle forming in his hand.
"Don't worry. It's a perfect place to train my new knocking techniques."
Akira turned to the girls with a confident grin.
"You two stay here. I'll deal with them."
Erika and Erina stepped back, with Erika instinctively positioning herself in front of Erina.
The moment they moved, multiple Troll Kongs roared and lunged from every direction.
Akira flicked his hand.
A wall of ice instantly formed in front of him, blocking their charge with a deafening crash.
The beasts slammed into the barrier and were knocked backward.
Before they could recover, Akira blinked forward in a flash of magic.
He aimed his hand like a gun and spoke calmly.
"Ice Needle."
A small magic circle appeared, and a razor-sharp needle of ice shot from his fingertip, striking the nerve cluster of the nearest Troll Kong with perfect precision.
The massive ape's eyes glazed over, and it collapsed heavily to the ground.
Akira tilted his head, observing the result.
"Well, ice seems to work… but let's gather more data, just in case."
Seeing their comrade fall, the surrounding Troll Kongs charged again with furious roars.
Akira dodged their attacks with effortless grace, weaving between their massive limbs.
One by one, he fired Ice Needles, each shot precisely hitting the highlighted nerve clusters revealed by Transparent World and his Mystic Eyes.
But then he was suddenly surrounded—
Multiple Troll Kongs closing in from all sides, leaping at him simultaneously.
Akira's lips curved into a calm smile.
"Surrounding me isn't a bad idea, but… not enough."
Multiple magic circles bloomed around him in an instant.
All of them fired Ice Needles at the same time, each one striking a different Troll Kong's nerve cluster with surgical accuracy.
Every single beast fell at once, hitting the ground with heavy thuds.
The remaining Troll Kongs stared at Akira in visible shock, their aggressive roars faltering.
Akira dusted off his hands casually.
"Seems like ice is good. Now let's test the next element."
A new magic circle formed in his palm, crackling with electric charge.
"How about lightning next?"