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Chapter 186 – Part 1

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Translation: Charlotte
Editor: Weasalopes

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I arrived at Legias.
The stalls were as lively as ever.
But I was looking for something more specific.
A spear.
I wouldn’t even mind a harpoon.
I just wanted a pointed weapon.
And a light one too.

Ideally, I would love to get one of the swordfish spears Nias had.
It was very light, and I could probably use it with just one hand.
Very different from my Prison Guard’s Sasumata.
I could handle that weapon just fine, but I still had to use two hands to do it.

 

I looked around at not only the player’s stalls, but the NPC weapon stores too.
There were a few harpoons here and there…
But I was looking for one without a metal tip.
I didn’t want the weapon to have a negative effect on magic-casting.
With that simple condition, the candidates were narrowed down quite nicely.

I looked around for anyone selling swordfish spears.
I asked at a few places, but they were all out of stock.
Sounded like it was a very popular item.

Oh well…
I guess I could make myself a makeshift spear in the meantime.

I bought some Needlefish Jaws.
Standard procedure was to make them into throwing knives.
The ones I found at the player stores were usually already processed into throwing knives.
Buying them at the NPC stores was a lot cheaper.
I got a bundle of five.
Pretty cheap, too.

 

【Material】 Needlefish Jaw　Raw Material　Grade C　Rarity 2　Weight 0+
An Assault Needlefish’s Jaw. Has a high reputation as a piercing weapon.
Be careful, as it breaks easily.

 

It was just a hunch.
But If I were to make this into a weapon, it would be far too fragile!

I bought some more food at another player’s stall and headed towards the shore.
I could make a makeshift spear while Bunraku was cooking.

 

I took out all the Sea Roaches with a single attack spell.
I immediately used 【Instant Portal】.
I also replaced Zangetsu with Bunraku.
I handed over some fish that Nias kept for me and some vegetables.
It’s been a long time since I last had fish.

What were my surroundings like?
No other players in sight.
The coast does have a bit of a scary reputation, especially among new players.

 

But what were they so scared of?
Well, this is what was written in Guren’s report:
Sea Roaches gathering on the beaches,
In the shallow parts of the water, you could run into Needlefish too.
Definitely a scary place to be in without any area-of-effect or wall spells.
And even with powerful spells, make one mistake and a quick death would surely follow.
I couldn’t get careless.
I was up against tough enemies.

I recalled Helix, and summoned Jean.
I wanted to make a spear that would let me defend myself underwater.
Yep.
Time to use the Hell’s Latch again!
Time for 【Woodworking】 to shine?

 

I shortened the Hell’s Latch.
If I didn’t I could probably use it as a Capture Rod of Torture.
I cut the rod in half.
The perfect length for a spear.
About 40% longer than my Staff of Torture?
Just a little taller than I was.

I fixed the Needlefish Jaw to the top.
Obsidian Stones helped keep the blade in place.
Let’s see…

 

【Weapon: Spear】 Needlefish Spear+　Grade C+　Rarity 5
AP+23　M・AP+0　Power 0+　Weight 1+　Durability 100
Causes continuous damage upon piercing [Slight]
A spear with a spearhead made out of a Needlefish Jaw.
It cannot cut like a knife, and the blade is brittle.
However, it is light and easy to handle for its size.
Has high piercing power, and can deal additional damage upon piercing.

 

What a high Attack Power!
For some reason, Power was at pretty much zero, though.

It looked like a pretty good weapon.
But. yeah…
I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long until it broke.

 

Bunraku’s meal wasn’t done yet.
Hmm?
Let’s try something else.

I had some Dark Bat Fangs.
There was also the rest of the wood from the Hell’s Latch.
I only had a few of them, but there were some Wild Pheasant Wings too.

It was a good opportunity.
I guess I could make more arrows.

 

【Weapon: Arrow】 Dark Bat Arrow+　Grade C+　Rarity 4
AP+17　Power 1　Weight 0+　Durability 30　Range+5%
Continuous Damage 【Small】
An arrow that uses Dark Bat Fangs as arrowheads.
The shaft made from the Hell’s Latch improves the arrow’s attack power.
Due to poison, wounds inflicted by this arrow are difficult to close.

 

Not bad!
But I couldn’t even get 10 of them.
I had to use them sparingly.
I should have spent more time farming Dark Bat Fangs.

 

《【Woodworking】 Level Up!》

 

I put the arrows in Bunraku’s quiver.
There were already a few poisonous Crest Bee Arrows in there.
They would last for a while.
【Woodworking】 got a level-up too, but I was too distracted to really appreciate it.

A nice smell was wafting through the air.
Was Bunraku done cooking?

Bunraku went and steamed the whole fish.
The steamed fish was on a plate, along with clams and tomato.
It had the aroma of garlic and olive oil.
The green parsley contrasted well with the red tomato.
What did Bunraku make me…?
It definitely looked Italian.

The name suddenly popped in my head.
Acqua Pazza.
Wow.
It was delicious.
If I had some soup to dip my bread in, that would’ve been great.

I decided to split my meal.
But Bunraku didn’t need any food.
And Rig wasn’t one to care about taste too.
Both Obsidian and Jean seemed uninterested.

What about Nias?
I handed Nias a plate.

It didn’t look like Nias had any issues.
Yeah.
Nias was a bit suspicious, but it looked like she was enjoying it.
Good job, Bunraku.
Watching Nias’s facial expression change was a nice sight too.

 

After cleaning up, I left the Instant Portal and headed for the shallow waters.
There was something I wanted to test.

What is the best team composition to fight in the ocean with?
It was a question I had to quickly find an answer to.
All I knew for the time being is that Nias definitely had to be a part of it.
Worst case scenario, I would have to wait until I could summon another Summon Monster.
I really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

I had enough MP to spare.
Why not do some tests?

 

I knew in advance that there were going to be a lot of Needlefish waiting for me.
It was an incredible number.
Somewhere between 30 and 50 of them jumped at me.
Shot up from underwater and into the air.
No training required!

I was very grateful for wall spells.
I genuinely thought that from the depths of my heart.

 

Assault Needlefish　Lv.2
Monster subjugation target active excited state
Battle Position: Underwater, Air

 

I was pretty sure 【Identify】 would give the same response as always, but oh well.
They attacked in large swarms, and rushed at me like a storm.
Their dagger-like jaws pierced into the wall spell I was hiding behind.
They were clearly aiming at me.
I did have 【Flashlight】 above my head after all.

There were also different compatibilities with the wall spells.
【Water Shield】 was pretty bad.
It often wasn’t enough to kill the needlefish.
【Fire Wall】 was a bit too much.
All the needlefish just instantly died when they touched the wall.
The same went for 【Wind Shield】.
【Stone Wall】 didn’t give me vision, and the timing was difficult too.

I tried some other wall spells too.
【Degrade Curtain】, 【Magma Screen】, and 【Steam Blinds】.
Again, they were all one-shot kills on the needlefish.

The same went for 【Lightning Shield】 and 【Ice Wall】.
All the needlefish were easily taken care of.

【Thorn Fence】…
It could only kill the needlefish about half of the time?
But the fact that they tended to stick to the wall made it easy to grab the item drops, and my Summon Monsters could easily take care of the survivors anyway.

【Dimension Mirror】 was out of the question.
It was very short-lasting, so it was very easy to miss the needlefish.

For the time being, I used a mix of 【Thorn Fence】 and 【Lightning Shield】.

 

Onto the next issue…
The Needlefish Spear.

Nias was doing a good job taking out the needlefish in the water.
Needlefish were as weak as paper, so it wasn’t a big surprise.
Nias’s strength was definitely enough.

But what about myself?
I was honestly struggling a bit.
I tried to use the spear like a staff, but it definitely felt weird.
No good, huh.
I guess I really did need to get the proper weapon skill after all…

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