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Chapter 189 – Part 2

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Translation: Charlotte
Editor: Weasalopes

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The boat looked like it was top of the line.
It was a recent purchase done by the whole party, apparently.
The decision put the whole party’s financial situation in deep trouble.
But some of them managed to get jobs at breeding farms in the port town.

I wondered where that kind of business was running.

But I left that question for another time.
I just enjoyed the boat ride.
Or at least, I wanted to.

Wild Albatross Lv2
Demon　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Air

I thought it was a seagull at first.
But its size was different.
It was big!
It was some kind of albatross.

As it flew around, it didn’t look faster than Helix or Obsidian.
But its hook-shaped beak was quite something.
I took a single attack from that beak.
It was just one scratch, but it did a good amount of damage.

「Don’t mind the monster’s body! Keep going!」

「Don’t let it rip the sails!」

Two of the fishermen at the sails, one at the wheel.
Everyone else focused on taking down the monster.
They gave it a healthy helping of arrows.

Of course, I took part in the fight too.
I was mainly using 【Storm Wave】.
It looked like a naval battle.
Except we were dealing with a bird, not a war plane.
Any of the monsters that got close I blocked with my Tonfa.
As expected, I couldn’t really use my spear too effectively.

 

Helix and Obsidian contributed a lot to the fight.
They looked like they were doing fine fighting on their own.
With both normal attacks and special skills, they took out the birds one by one.
I only saw them fight from the side of my vision, but it was still amazing.

I left Nias and Heather to protect the two men at the sails, and Ninetails to protect the man at the wheel.
They didn’t get much of an opportunity to fight…
The situation calmed down pretty quickly.
Looked like Nias’s support was unnecessary.

 

《【Balance】 Level Up!》

《Summoned Monster『Helix』Level Up!》

《Please put one point into a desired stat.》

As soon as the wave of monsters ended, an info screen popped up?
I felt like it had been a long time since Helix last leveled up.
Yep.

 

The stat that went up with the level-up was SPI.
I put another point into DEX.

 

Helix　Fighting Falcon Lv3 → Lv4 (↑1)
DEX　13 (↑1)
AGI　27
INT　23
STR　13
VIT　13
SPI　15 (↑ 1)

Skills:
Peck　Flight　Far Sight　Wide Area Search　Ambush　Sense Danger　Air Mobility　Wind Attribute

 

But the state of the boat was a mess.
The boat was full of dead birds.
Their item drops were what I expected.

 

【Material】 Albatross Wing　Raw Material　Grade C+　Rarity 2　Weight 1
The wing of a Wild Albatross.
Usually used to make arrows.

 

Without worrying about splitting the loot, I picked up as many item drops as I could.
There was enough to go around for everyone.

 

「Do swarms that big usually appear?」

「No… Well my memory is kind of hazy too.」

「We’ve run into a swarm half as big before.」

Oh…
Seemed like an attack of that size was rare too.

 

Sure enough, all subsequent attacks were by groups of between 5 to 20.
At that size, they were essentially no threat at all.

But worse was still to come from the sea itself.
I knew that we would run into fish monsters quite soon.

 

Jumping Fin Lv3
Monster　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Underwater, Air

 

It was a tough monster.
It tended to hide underwater until it got close to the boat, before jumping out at me.
I had no choice but to focus on counter-attacking.

 

【Material】 Jumping Fish Fin　Raw Material　Grade C　Rarity 3　Weight 0+
The chest fin of a Jumping Fish. It can spread open like a fan.
Often used as an ornament.

 

I got an item from it.
But hunting monsters at sea was really quite the ordeal.
It was a tough voyage.
I didn’t think everything would become so much more difficult on the water.

 

 

「So this is the island…」

We arrived at a small cove.
It didn’t look like any monsters would appear.
It wasn’t a Portal though.

There were a few other boats around.
Some of them belonged to NPCs.
It looked like they were managing most of the fishing operations at the cove.

「The cave is past that cliff. That’s how I recognise the place.」

「Nice.」

「There are demons inside. They tend to differing items, so do watch out for them.」

「Got it.」

Kunou was chatting with some NPCs while he dragged some luggage onto the beach.
I guess I should do some preparation too.

I recalled Helix.
I could keep Obsidian as a scout.
I had Ninetails, Heather, and Nias, but I was missing a tank.
Demons in the cave, huh.
Well, a demon against demons.
I summoned Goki.
Having another fighter in the front would be nice too.
I recalled Heather and summoned Tigris.

 

「Should we form a Union?」

「Sure.」

「Mikhailov, just in case, set up 【Telepathy】 with Keith so we can keep in touch!」

「Will do.」

Nice.
I sent Mikhailov a friend request.
We formed a Union so we could whisper to each other.
But with just a simple union, we could only communicate while we were in eyesight.
The range was very short too.
It really was inconvenient, not being in a party with others.
But Mikhailov had 【Spacetime Magic】.
In other words, he could use 【Telepathy】.
Well, it was just insurance.

 

The inside of the cave was wide.
We could end up running into one another at some point, fighting monsters.
Would it turn into a brawl?
Maybe something along those lines.

 

Devil Lv4
Phantom　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Ground

 

I randomly used 【Identify】 on any new monsters.
Devil, huh.
A phantom too.
And they were all a little different.
Some had swords, others had axes, spears, or bows…

 

「It’s going to get a lot more narrow after this.」

「Hmm?」

「We know the route already, so we’ll go on ahead… Although, there’s a lot of monsters ahead, so if you feel like helping out, that would be nice too.」

「Got it.」

「Well then, let’s get going.」

Jirou left me with just one sentence and faced forward.
With experienced-looking movements, Suzuran took the lead.
They used 【Flashlight】 to secure their vision.
Ooh.
I spent some time watching them fight.

 

It was amazing.
They took out the monsters like it was second nature.
It was even more amazing considering they were fishermen, not hunters.
Was I just imagining it?
No, it was real.

They made very good use of their nets.
The three fishermen in the front used their nets to restrict movement, allowing them to take out the monsters with greater ease.
They easily cleared all the demons in our path.
I managed to catch a glimpse of the last demon, wrapped in a net.
It was very quickly taken care of.
Brutally.
I had no idea what they were capable of from the tournament.
It was beautiful.

I took out a few demons left and right too, but they didn’t actually need any support.
I tried fighting a Devil too. It was about as strong as an Orc or Kobold.
More specifically…
A little stronger than Kobold?
Weaker than a Kobold Fighter though.

It didn’t drop anything when I defeated one.
Even after taking out 10 of them, we only got one item drop.
A Magic Stone.
Strange…

 

There were a few branches in the cave, but all in all, the cave looked simple.
There was a clear path forward.
But it wasn’t an easy path.
We arrived at a wide hall.
There were gates sealing the exits.
There were two statues beside each gate.
I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
A faint light was coming out from the statues.

 

「There’s a Relay Portal beyond those gates.」

「But we have to go through a fight to enter those gates.」

Jouji and Jirou had determined expressions.
It looked like we were going to fight a tough enemy.

「How strong are we talking about here?」

「Depends on the party strength, I suppose?」

「It was at Lv4 when we last tried it…? The enemy apparently ranges from Lv1 to Lv6.」

「What kind of monster?」

「Two demons, first is called “Tentoki”, the second, “Ryutoki”.

They’re kind of opposites in a sense. Similar to the Deva King pair.」

「They don’t have any weapons, but they’re still strong. It’ll definitely be better if you use your enchant spells beforehand.」

Oh…
Their description definitely sounded interesting.
It would be good to prepare using spells beforehand…
But before that, what about my team?

Obsidian, Goki, Tigris, Ninetails, and Nias.
I was mostly concerned about Nias.
But no, I had to go all out with what I had!

I strengthened them all one by one.
I even used Power Water on all of them.
I only had to use 【Practiced Spirit】 on myself.

「Well then, let’s try it.」

「We’ll be counting on you!」

「Do your best!」

「If it’s Keith, we’ll be fine!」

Well, there was a lot on my shoulders.
They were pretty serious even while they were cheering me on.

Oh, almost forgot.
I had to fight seriously too.

 

Looking at them closely, the statues did look intimidating.
They really were like the Deva Kings.

The one on the right was the A-gyo.
Its big, open mouth representing anger.
Its skin was red, and its face was quite scary to behold.
But it was smaller than the Deva Kings I was used to.
A lantern, supported by its left hand, was on its head.

The one on the right was the Un-gyo.
Its closed mouth made it look deep in thought.
It’s skin was blue.
It had a lantern too, but this time it was on its head.

Yep.
Very similar to the Deva Kings…
There was no doubt that it would be a tough enemy.

 

I touched the gate.
It seemed like that would be the trigger.
Info screens started appearing.

 

《The hidden are malicious.》

《The hidden are lustful.》

《Shed light on us.》

《For all hiding in the shadows are our companions.》

《Probe thy heart’s inclination.》

 

The statues started moving.
The lanterns suddenly disappeared.
The fires burnt on for a while, but soon, even those disappeared.

Well then.
What were they actually like?

 

Tentoki – A-gyo　Lv2
Phantom　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Ground　Fire Attribute　Dust Attribute

Ryutoki – Un-gyo　Lv2
Phantom　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Ground　Fire Attribute　Lava Attribute

 

Wait, what?
It somehow looked super strong!

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Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human　Male　Racial Lv20
Job　Grand Summoner Lv5
Bonus Points Remaining: 11

Skill Sets:
Sword Lv5 Two-handed Spear Lv3 Rope Artes Lv4 Staff Lv15 Punch Lv12
Kick Lv12 Joint Lock Lv12 Throw Lv12 Evade Lv12 Block Lv12
Summon Magic Lv20 Spacetime Magic Lv11
Light Magic Lv11 Wind Magic Lv11 Earth Magic Lv11　Water Magic Lv11
Fire Magic Lv11 Dark Magic Lv11 Ice Magic Lv9 Lightning Magic Lv9
Tree Magic Lv9 Dust Magic Lv9 Lava Magic Lv8　Steam Magic Lv9
Alchemy Lv8 Pharmacy Lv7 Glassmaking Lv6 Woodworking Lv8
Synergy Lv14 Appraisal Lv14 Identify Lv14 Discern Lv4 Cold Resistance Lv7
Grab Lv11 Horsemanship Lv10 Precise Manipulation Lv13 Ropework Lv5
Jump Lv7 Acrobatics Lv5 Heat Resistance Lv8 Climb Lv7 Balance Lv5 (↑1)
Dual Wield Lv12 Disassembly Lv9 Swim Lv4 Dive Lv3
Physical Reinforcement Lv10 Mental Reinforcement Lv11 Speedcasting Lv12
Magic Effect Amplification Lv10 Magic Range Expansion Lv10

Equipment:
Tokkosho×2 Staff of Torture×2 Tonfas of Torture×2
Capture Rod of Torture×1 Needlefish Spear×1 Swordfish Spear+×1 (New!)
Enraged Pickaxe+×2 Silver Necklace+×1
Snow Leopard Push Dagger×1 Gale Tiger Push Dagger×1 Snow Leopard Bagh Nakh×1
Plains Lion Bagh Nakh×1 Fighting Bull Leather Armour+Set
Bracelet of Torture×2 Anklet of Torture+×2 Prison Guard’s Black Rope×1
Rampage Horse Belt+ Rucksack Item Box×2

Items:
Survival Knife　Woodworking Set

Titles:
Old Summoner’s Younger Brother　Guardian of the Forest　Knower of the Middle Path
Sea Monster Vanquisher　Guardian of Lapis Lazuli Light　Spell Glossary　Martial Arts Fighter

Summoned Monsters:
Helix　Fighting Falcon Lv3 → Lv4 (↑1)
DEX　13 (↑1)
AGI　27
INT　23
STR　13
VIT　13
SPI　15 (↑ 1)
Skills:
Peck　Flight　Far Sight　Wide Area Search　Ambush　Sense Danger　Air Mobility　Wind Attribute

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