Shared absorption of mana.
Simply put, it's like experience sharing within a party.
By eating the 'Crown Root Fruit', I gained a temporary title of 'Leader'.
I was already the leader of the crew, but now it's officially recognized.
'Gorilla Advisor.'
"Yes, boss..."
'Death sentence!'
Like Caesar sentencing a gladiator to death.
I raised my tail and made a throat-slitting gesture.
And the gorilla raised her prosthetic arm.
Surprisingly, the moment she put on the prosthetic, she gained a new skill.
'Iron Fist lv5'
An iron fist flew towards the Giant Long-legged Monkey.
"Goodbye... old family."
Bang!
The sound that rang out was unbelievable for a fist hitting flesh.
The Long-legged Monkey's body completely burst open.
Tears glinted in the Gorilla Advisor's eyes.
But she was a professional monster.
"Woooah!"
Abandoned by her past family, she didn't hesitate to deal with the monkey monsters.
After killing one enemy, she leapt up as if flying.
Then she fell among the monkeys and started rampaging.
Right now, we were fighting against a horde of monkeys.
This was the first battle after gaining the title of Leader.
Not far from the cliff, roots sprouted and bore fruit.
The monkeys also came looking for that fruit.
「You are receiving shared mana.」
The message rang out.
The mana absorbed by the gorilla was being shared with me.
This was the effect of the temporary title I gained from eating the fruit.
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[Leader (Temporary)]
...
Shares mana absorbed by the group.
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Excited by the phrase 'absorbs mana', I carefully checked how it worked.
And what I found out was that about one-fifth of the mana my subordinates gain from killing monsters is absorbed by me.
I'm not sure if it's exactly that amount, but it seems to be around that much.
This is what I discovered after several experiments.
It's not just the gorilla fighting here right now.
Many monsters that were trapped in Deshnan's house were unleashing their ferocity against the monkeys without restraint.
The mana they absorb as they kill enemies.
A portion of that was being shared with me.
「You are receiving shared mana.」
「You are receiving shared mana.」
「You are receiving shared mana.」
Pay your taxes, my subordinates.
At that moment, I saw an Owl Bear beating up my subordinates and coming up.
A Rapid Skunk resisted by spewing toxic gas, but it was knocked back by a large fist.
As if to finish it off, the beast interlocked its hands and raised them.
「Using Leap of Heart-eating lv2.」
A bright red hole was punched in the Owl Bear's chest.
One-hit kill.
If it's a careless monster, it's possible to take it down in one shot like this.
「You have killed Owl Bear lv21.」
「Absorbing mana.」
There's a point to consider here.
Just as I receive shared mana from my subordinates.
「Sharing mana with the group.」
I also share the mana I absorb through hunting with my subordinates.
The sharing ratio here is stronger than you might think.
More than half of the mana is evenly distributed among the subordinates belonging to my group.
It's quite a large sharing ratio, considering that the amount of mana needed for leveling up has increased.
In other words, it means we all grow evenly together.
The more members in the group I lead, the more mana I can receive.
However, the problem is that our zoo animal crew isn't that large.
In the case of the insect army, it seems to have thousands or tens of thousands of insects, and the monkeys have also formed a group of hundreds by recruiting monsters like Owl Bears.
The amount of mana absorbed by their leaders must be enormous.
However, since both leaders of the two groups are likely equivalent to named monsters, their levels probably don't increase easily.
The larger the group, the more advantageous for the leader.
The stronger the leader, the more benefits the belonging monsters receive.
It's like a well-designed game.
I can feel the will of the World Tree.
The will to attract strong monsters and make them fight.
Come to think of it, the World Tree itself might be like a monster.
Anyway.
Structurally, I should be the most disadvantaged among the three groups, but the reality is not so.
That's because the strongest in our zoo crew is not me, the leader.
Our Polaris Serpent, who looks a bit tired, is actually the strongest.
'Please do a tail whip!'
Father slightly raised his tail.
And the monkeys climbing up the large protruding root of the World Tree.
He struck them.
Boom!
The sound of thunder roared.
The monsters directly hit by the tail were left as red marks, like crushed cherries.
That large root of the World Tree broke, and the monsters knocked away by the impact were dealt with by my other subordinates.
「You are receiving shared mana.」
「You are receiving shared mana.」
「Your level has increased.」
This is it.
The daddy bonus is too thrilling.
"If things go well, you might even evolve again during this purple banquet."
I wonder if I could become a serpent in the next evolution?
Or maybe my horns will increase, or I might evolve in a different direction.
Either way, it's very exciting.
"Grab the fruit-!"
The gorilla conveyed my will.
There were five roots that appeared here.
Each root had a few small fruits.
They have similar effects to the unripe fruit I ate last time. Improving the inefficient structure of the body.
But the fruit I'm aiming for is different.
"It's on top of the rightmost root."
There's a fruit at the very top of the high root.
It was a fruit that alone had an unusual blue color.
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[Root Fruit of Emergency Mobilization]
──────────────
I won't know exactly what effect it has until I eat it, but the name itself is unusual.
Climbing the roots is more of a specialty for the monkeys than for us.
The Glasses Monkeys, who aren't very strong in combat, quickly climbed up the right root.
It seems their goal is also to snatch that fruit.
But the Glasses Monkeys didn't get to steal the blue fruit.
That's because the fruit 'emergency mobilized' itself.
"It moved to the next root!"
It disappeared with a blink and moved to the root on its left.
In other words, it was a teleporting fruit.
I have to get it.
And I've been waiting for just this moment.
Owl!
"Saaak!"
Surprisingly, there was a flying monster in the indoor zoo.
I really hate flying, but I can't use that as an excuse at a time like this.
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[Lion Owl lv12]
[Trait]
[Coward]
──────────────
The cowardly owl that was useless except for its cool lion mane.
An owl that quickly submitted because it was scared, and survived because of that.
Finally, it's time for it to shine.
It grabbed me and took off into the sky.
We rose up in an instant.
'If you drop me, you're dead.'
"Kolorook, kolorororook!"
Somehow, it sounds excited.