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Chapter 194 – Part 2

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Translation: Charlotte
Editor: Weasalopes

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With Helix in the lead, I ran along the plains.
I used as many strengthening spells as I could on Zangetsu.
Would 【Gravity Mail】 be necessary?
I didn’t think it would be necessary, since my main goal wasn’t really to hunt.
I wanted to cover as much distance as possible.
But I had enough headroom in my MP bar.
There was no harm in using it.

But I had a feeling that there were a lot more encounters with monsters exactly when I didn’t want to be fighting them.
Float Eyes, Raptors, Anger Cranes…
Centaurs too.
The Centaurs were the most troublesome.
They had high mobility and were carrying proper weapons like spears and bows after all.

And I also met the monster I was told about before I left.
~~

Camellia Spirit　Lv.4
Flower Spirit　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Ground
~~

It was riding on the centaur, and covering its mouth with a fan of sorts.
It could apparently use songs to put its targets to sleep.
I had to take the initiative…
With my own song.

Nias’s voice resounded around me.
Both the centaur and the flower spirit were weakened and lost their balance.
While I was at it, I shot an attack spell at the pair.

「Thermal Expansion!」

It took out half their HP bars.
The flower spirit fell off the centaur after receiving an additional attack from Helix.
The nail in the coffin came when Zangetsu trampled it.
Yeah.
What a shame… It was a beautiful monster too.

Nias’s song stopped.
The centaur had fallen asleep
I approached on horseback and easily twisted its neck to take it out.
It was quite easy.
But it was also costly on Nias’s MP bar, so I couldn’t use it too often.

By the way, the flower spirit left behind nothing.
Speaking of flower spirits…
I had a feeling there was another one, standing in my way.
The flower spirit was in the form of a young man.
No, more like… A pretty boy.
Don’t think about it.
If I thought about it too much, I would be at risk of just freezing up.
Oh no…
The atmosphere got very heavy all of a sudden.
I peeked at Nias behind me.
For a moment, she looked very confused.
The next moment, she smiled at me.
Yeah.
What a sweet smile.

That smile revived my willpower.
As a man, I just really wanted the simple and good stuff like this.
I would be fine with just that…

I reached the skeleton cave in no time.
The same went for the Forest Maze.
I burnt up any Branch Golems in my way with attack spells.
Any mushrooms faced a similar fate.
You’re in my way!
It wasn’t the first time I was just passing through the forest maze, but I had a feeling I broke some kind of record.
Somewhere in my heart, the sight of that flower spirit must have made a home for itself.
I felt strangely under a lot of pressure.
~~

I changed up my Summon Monster team in front of the ivy cliff.
I kept Helix, Rig, and Heather.
I recalled Zangetsu and Nias.
I summoned Obsidian and Creep.
It was time for a climb.
~~

For some reason, there were a lot of monsters.
There were many slugs, frogs and snakes.
Well, my Summon Monsters were quite strong, so I had almost no opportunity to participate in any of the fights.
All I had to do was collect item drops.
I didn’t mind taking it easy though.
It definitely felt a bit lonely though.
~~

It was 5:30 PM when I reached the top of the ivy wall.
It was still early, but I decided to have dinner.
I rolled out an Instant Portal and relaxed for a bit?
I recalled Helix and summoned Bunraku.
I only had one flounder left to cook for dinner.
I was looking forward to it
It looked like it was going to be a long time until I could have another seafood meal, after all.

I replenished my potion supply.
I wasn’t using a lot of mana potions…
But I decided to replenish my mana potions too.
It was good to play it safe.
~~

It was 6:20 PM when I finished my meal and finished cleaning up.
Was I going a little too slow?
My target was the Relay Portal inside the crater.
It would be amazing if I could reach it before the day was over.
But that goal would be a little difficult.

I used more strengthening spells on myself.
Since I spent most of the day on Zangetsu’s back I still had 90% left.
Use it.
Use it!
I would need monsters to use flashy attack spells against, but just plainly strengthening my Summon Monsters was a valid strategy too.

Ah, but before that, I decided to change up my team.
A mountaineer squad?
I kept Obsidian as a scout.
Heather still had a good amount of her MP bar, so I kept her too.
I recalled Bunraku.
Rig would freeze up on the mountain, so I recalled him too.
Creep would probably go into hibernation, so I had to recall him too.

I summoned Volff, Jean, and Senki.
In the past, fighting Snow Leopards and Blitz was very difficult.
It was completely different now.
There was no way I would lose against them now.
But I also had to deal with Wendigos and Sasquatches.
It seemed like the event concerning them had ended, and they wouldn’t appear anymore…
But I still couldn’t get careless.
I had no idea what the GMs had in mind, after all.

~~

The weather in the mountains was not as bad as I feared.
Equipped with winter clothes, I could stay quite warm.
Warm enough, at least.
In the past, Heather could sneak underneath my winter equipment, but she was too big for that now.
Aren’t you cold?
I looked at Heather to see her covered in a silk-like coat.
She looked fine.
At least compared to how she used to act in the cold, with all the violent shivering.
Well, it’s a change.

While I climbed, I was often interrupted by Snow Leopards and Blitz.
Of course, all I had to do was counter-attack.
The fights were quite flashy.
Heather supported everyone from the back with lightning strikes, blades of wind, and bullets of earth.
I used the lava Tokkosho and swung it wildly before me.
I was quite generous in my use of attack spells too.
I would have loved to watch the fight as a bystander, and not as a participant.

「Gaaah!」

「Ghiii!」

Volff’s intimidation tactics and Senki’s screams were quite loud too.
Senki kicking and punching the Blitz while it was down really reminded me that I had a beast on my side.
No, I guess Senki was an ogre.
Yeah.
In any case, I wasn’t about to lose!

If I was already so far into it, I might as well commit.
I gave up on arriving at the Relay Portal before the day was over.
I used 【Call Monster】.
I made sure to have 【Resist Ice】 and 【Resist Thunder】 on at all times.
~~

The time was shortly before 10 PM.
That was when I met a strange monster.
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Spotted Snow Leopard　Lv.2
Monster　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Ground　Ice Attribute
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Oh?
Weren’t Snow Leopards spotted to begin with?
Was I missing something?

Yes, there was something I overlooked.
Senki had an abnormal status condition marker.
I looked at the marker, and it was the Slowness debuff.
On Senki, too!

I got Obsidian to keep it distracted while I thought of ways to fight it.
First of all, I had to think of a way to protect myself.
Volff and Heather were already doing well.

「Psycho Pod!」

I used a spell on myself.
Should I use 【Psycho Pod】 on Senki?
Or should I just take out the monster before it could do more damage?
I decided to go and take it down myself.
It was just one of them.
I wouldn’t have to worry too much about getting ganged up on.
But I still couldn’t help but rely on my Summon Monsters.

After Jean delivered a strong strike to the leopard’s feet, I grabbed its neck while it was standing still.
I moved into a headlock.
I sunk my Gale Tiger Push Dagger into the bottom of its jaw.
While using my body weight to pull it back, I managed to finally stop its movements.
It was clearly a lot more powerful than the usual Snow Leopards.
With my right hand, I pulled out my Tokkosho and stabbed it through the bottom of its jaw.
I activated the blade.
The magma blade pierced the head of the monster.
That was enough to completely erase the leopard’s HP bar.

How were my Summon Monsters?
There were no status abnormality markers to be found.
Hmm.
I had a feeling looking at its spots would cause a Confusion status, but I guess it didn’t…
I recalled that butterfly I fought in the past.
It was a very scary fight.
Was the fight dangerous?
It was definitely dangerous.
I was glad I used 【Psycho Pod】.

I used 【Call Monster】.
There were many Snow Leopards and Blitz around me…
But there were no Spotted Snow Leopards.
Was it a rare monster?
I had a feeling it was probably a rare monster.
When I stuck my knife into the Spotted Snow Leopard’s body, I got an item.
~~

【Material item】 Spotted Snow Leopard Claw　Raw Material　Grade C+　Rarity 5　Weight 0+
The claws of a Spotted Snow Leopard. Not only sharp, but also durable and light.
~~

Comparing it to normal Snow Leopard Claws, it was only 1 degree of Rarity higher.
But still, rare items were rare.
I could turn it into a push dagger?
But what would I do with my Snow Leopard Push Dagger?
I had a few more Snow Leopard Claws, so I could probably turn them into a Bagh Nakh.
~~

The time was 11:20 PM.
I reached the area right before the Relay Portal.
I could leave climbing the cliff for the next day.
It was unfortunate, but it looked like I wouldn’t be able to see the sunrise from the top of the mountain.

Well, that was alright…
I deployed an Instant Portal and got ready to log out.
But before that, I could take care of one more thing?

I broke apart my last Snow Leopard Push Dagger.
I combined it with two other Snow Leopard Claws, and fixed the base with other pieces of Obsidian Stone.
I now had another Snow Leopard Bagh Nakh.
It would be my second one.
Well, having weapons in reserve was not a bad idea.

But more importantly…
I took an obsidian stone and fixed it to the base of the Spotted Snow Leopard Claw.
I was very grateful for the Lava Magic spell 【Shape】… It was a very useful spell.
~~

【Weapon: Knuckles】 Spotted Snow Leopard Push Dagger　Grade B-　Rarity 5
AP+3　Power+0　Weight 0+　Durability 80
Agility Inhibition [Small]　Causes Slowness [Slight]　Ice Attribute
An assassination weapon. Since its main use involves slashing, it is almost useless when used against armoured enemies.
It has the ability to lower the target’s AGI, as well as inflict the Slowness debuff.
~~

It wasn’t a very good weapon.
But the extra effects were powerful.
If I had a few more Spotted Snow Leopard Claws, I could’ve made a bagh nakh.
~~
But it was time to call it a day.
I had a rigorous climb to look forward to.

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Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human　Male　Racial Lv20
Job　Grand Summoner Lv5
Bonus Points Remaining: 16

Skill Sets:
Sword Lv6　Two-handed Spear Lv5　Rope Artes Lv5　Staff Lv15　Punch Lv13
Kick Lv13　Joint Lock Lv13　Throw Lv13　Throw Lv13　Block Lv13
Summon Magic Lv20　Spacetime Magic Lv11
Light Magic Lv12　Wind Magic Lv12　Earth Magic Lv12　Water Magic Lv12
Fire Magic Lv12　Dark Magic Lv12　Ice Magic Lv9　Lightning Magic Lv9
Tree Magic Lv9　Dust Magic Lv9　Lava Magic Lv9　Steam Magic Lv9
Alchemy Lv9　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 Lv6
Jump Lv7　Acrobatics Lv6　Heat Resistance Lv8　Climb Lv7　Balance Lv5
Dual Wield Lv12　Disassembly Lv10　Swim Lv5　Dive Lv5 (↑1)
Physical Reinforcement Lv10　Mental Reinforcement Lv11　Speedcasting Lv13
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　Enraged Pickaxe+ ×2　Silver Necklace+ ×
Spotted Snow Leopard Push Dagger ×1 (New!)　Gale Tiger Push Dagger ×1　Snow Leopard Bagh Nakh ×2 (↑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

Summon monsters
Gokame　Giant Tortoise Lv4→Lv5 (↑1)
DEX　3
AGI　7 (↑1)
INT　18
STR　15
VIT　24 (↑1)
SPI　21
Skills:
Bite　Defend　Magic Resistance [Slight]　MP Regeneration [Slight]　Earth Attribute　Water Attribute (New!)

Taylor　Big Crab Lv3→Lv4(↑1)
DEX　10
AGI　8 (↑1)
INT　6
STR　26
VIT　22 (↑1)
SPI　6
Skills:
Pincer Strike　Aquatic　Earth Resistance　Water Resistance

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