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ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 401 Part 1

ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 401: Half Side Story – How To Use Matches and Pumps Wisely – Part 1

「No reaction…… Could it be that it…… managed to get away? God damn it……」

That filthy bastard, who would have thought that it would try to imitate a quicksand and try to ambush us from down below like that? Without me and my skills to warn us ahead of time and provide backup this situation would have been pretty dangerous here. But I can always take a three steps forward here, one step back and still have one more step to blow this bastard away before he even realizes what hit him. Or at least that was the plan.

「Gah, god fucking damn it, I should have known this would happen…… As soon as it realized that it is at a disadvantage here, it chose to run away instead…… How typical……」

With that matter being resolved, however anti-climactic it was, I turn around towards the other spoils that were already here on the ground, drop items in addition to the experience points. Not that this was a surprise in any way here, but following the example of killer whales and crystal scorpions, those things were truly dedicated to chasing the player down and killing them. However, should I actually be thankful for this here situation right now? The Desert Worm actually chose to escape than fighting me, so this might actually be a good point to call it quits, at least for now. Now I could actually go and collect all the precious materials and drop items that were scattered about this place. If I were forced to fight without a break, sooner rather than later I would have died and all that materials would have been for nothing.

「Now then…… It has certainly been a while, is that what I should be saying here?」

「Ahh, umm…… Yes, it has certainly been a while, hasn’t it?」

I know that I have said that, but is our relationship really something that I could say that it has been a while since we have last saw one another? While I was pondering that, the Magic Caster Lina responded to my words, her expression right here being kind of complicated. She looked as though she wanted to ask me something, but was unsure how to phrase the question.

She was no longer wearing the initial set of equipment that I have remembered her wearing the first time around we have met one another. Right about now she was wearing a robe that gave off the feeling that it was easy to move in, a large pointy hat and was carrying a rod or a staff with intricate design. Overall, right now she was giving more of a witch vibe than your standard Magic Caster, but I guess it’s only to be expected. After all, her playtime was roughly the same as mine, so it was only natural that she would grow quite considerably both equipment and level-wise.

Compared to her, mine appearance did not change all that much. Right now I am sitting at level one hundred thirty six, but appearance-wise I look like I was still in the territory of level one or somewhere near that. The only difference here was that right now my torso and legs were covered in those strange wound-like markings.

But how about comparing her equipment to that of that sick pervert Deepslaughter? Lina’s equipment looks nice, but I don’t think that she is actually on the Deepslaughter’s level. No, I would even dare to estimate that her equipment was actually a three grades below Deeplslaughter, making her totally inferior to her. Besides, Lina seems like a pure magic caster, but Deepslaughter is actually a hybrid of a Magician and a Melee Fighter.

But somehow, I was having a hunch that her overall equipment was not something that would go outside the ranks of being called mid-tier at best. Don’t get me wrong here, it was certainly strong, but there is this sense of every last piece here being something that would be mass produced and easily available to everyone. Not even one piece on her seems to be giving off the vibe that it was custom made, or that it was Unique.

「………???」

No, wait a moment…… Speaking of which, those guys were strangely weak just now, so…… I don’t want to think about it too much, but……

「…… Say, guys? If you don’t mind me asking, what are your actual levels right now?」

「I’m sitting at level eighty one!」

「My level is seventy four!」

「And I am level eighty nine…… On the other hand, what is your level, Sanraku? If you don’t mind us asking , that is?」

「What? My level? About one hundred thirty six, I guess?」

「Huh?」

Yeah, I figured as much. No matter how you look at it, those guys here are simply too weak for this area. I don’t know how did they managed to get on board of the New Continent Research Vessel, but even more of a mystery is how did they managed to get through the Sea of Trees area. I mean, at their current levels and with their equipment it should have been impossible.

I was able to avoid enemy encounters using my Critical Speed – Brandion – as a sort of a rocket jumping, but I don’t think that they would possess such a broken ability. So, how come they were able to do so? Is this some sort of a trick……? Hmm……?

「Now that I think about it, aren’t your legs kind of see-through, guys?」

「Oh, yeah, now that you say it, it’s actually like that. Truth to be told, we were transferred here completely at random thanks to that perverted old geezer. Say, Sanraku-san? Do you have any idea where exactly this place might be?」

「This is the desert area located in the new continent. If I were to put a name on it, I would say that this is the current frontline for the game’s events.」

「Seriously!? Say, say! Do you think that there is a save point somewhere nearby!? Like, in five minutes trek or something like that!? That would be really nice!」

No, I guess that there is a village of Bugmen somewhere in the desert area, but it is pretty unrealistic to assume that you would stumble across it five minutes after waltzing out of the Sea of Trees area. There is just no way.

With each second, the bodies of the three players become more and more transparent, causing the trio to start panicking.

…… I smell something unique in the air here. Should I try to fish the information out of them?

「Hey, Soma-kun? If you don’t mind me asking, how exactly did you guys managed to get here?」

「Eh? Umm, we went to see Lina’s mentor, “Vergant, the Master of the Skies” in order to learn teleportation magic from him.」

Tsk, if it is something connected with teleportation magic, then at least I do not have to worry about this place being found out too soon. So, I guess we can disband right now. Or not, at last not yet.

「And guess what!? When we went to the perverted geezer to learn from him, he said that the best way to learn teleportation magic is for us to feel it ourselves! And then he cast a spell on us!」