Chapter 285 Part 1
We arrived at the Wind Spirit Village.
The time is 4:20 PM.
It seems that Adele and Irina made it in time before they had to log out.
And what about inside the village?
I feel a strange, heated atmosphere.
What happened here?
I went to the usual place with Adele and Irina.
It’s not just Fiona and Saki…
Giedre and Kaya are also here.
All the heavyweights have gathered.
And there are many players around that I’m not familiar with.
Aren’t most of them Production Jobs?
「Oh, there you are.」
「Hey. What’s the fuss about?」
「I wonder if it’s a strategy meeting regarding how to intercept and annihilate the swarm of event monsters?」
「I saw the video. Their numbers are in a whole other league than those from last time.」
「Which is precisely why knowing the outline of those monsters led by Majins at an early stage this time around has saved us some trouble.」
「Huh?」
I certainly learned the name of that large turtle.
However, I wasn’t able to 【Identify】 the monsters that had flocked around it.
I don’t even have the full picture about the Majins.
「Right now, we are recruiting players from all over the western areas to participate in the event, mainly from the Guide Teams.」
「Return Home is being used to transport applicants back and forth between Remut and Twilight Castle.」
「Supplies are being collected here, in the Wind Spirit Village. It’s becoming a supply base.」
Huh.
Is that so?
Great job for making it so that players can skip the Forest Maze entirely and reach this places like these directly.
「I know we just heard Irina’s brief, but I’d like to hear your opinion as well.」
「My opinion?」
We sit around the desk and start talking.
It seems that what they want to hear are my estimations.
But I wonder if it’ll be alright.
Even if they rely on my intuition, I’m feeling a bit stumped.
I don’t think I’m very reliable on that aspect.
Adele and Irina left in the middle of the discussion.
It looks like it was their time to log out.
Well, I think I should be taking my leave, too.
But it seems that they have some more questions for me.
「In your opinion, how do you think this compares to the Bronze Dragon, Keith?」
「I haven’t fought either, but if it’s just what I think, I believe the Bronze Dragon is scarier.」
「Yeah. I see.」
Fiona seems to be relieved to hear that.
But why?
Come on, it’s just my own impression.
「So, what will you do now, Keith?」
「I’ll go to the W5 area portal. I’d like to hunt some Majins during the night.」
「I’m sorry, but could you take some people with you?」
「Huh? Sure. that’s fine.」
Fiona seems to be having some kind of conversation.
The ones who came were Reina, Mio, Shinohara, and Fudo.
「What’s your mark, Mio?」
「The Twilight Castle at W4.」
「Okay, Reina’s in Remut, and Shinohara was here. What about Fudo?」
「Here.」
「Then you’ll do. The four of you go with Keith, and Fudo will log out at the W5 area portal.」
「W5?」
「Yes, I want us to be able to send a Guide Team to the front line all at once. Take some spare Mana Potions with you.」
「So we’re setting up a base, huh?」
「That’s right, Reina. You can take as many materials with you as you see fit.」
Fiona turns towards Giedre and Kaya.
「I’d like to form a union between two or more parties and to help reduce the military strength of the Majins on the W5 map.」
「So, should we take care of choosing the people for that union?」
「There are some who are already heading to W4, so you should consider them as well, right?」
「Yes, all of them. I’ll take charge of their distribution.」
「What about the list of players who have expressed their intention to participate?」
「Rick’s on it. I’ll make sure you have it as soon as possible, even if it’s incomplete.」
「What should these parties’ compositions be based on?」
「They should be focused on searching for enemies and eliminating monsters.」
「So a force recon squad?」
「No need to get people powerful enough to defeat a boss, though.」
「Yeah, that makes sense.」
「You won’t be able to lure them into a counter attack until they’ve come here, you know?」
Kaya’s words changed the look on Fiona’s face.
They added a sense of dread to it.
It’s different from the face of someone who feels intimidated.
This must be a manifestation of her strong will.
「So we should settle this at Twilight Castle, right? At the very worst, I’d like to bring them down before they can reach the Spring of Mist.」
「Hey…」
「I’m not going to let them advance as far as Remut.」
「This is just a suspicion of mine, but I believe that the moment any NPC helps us, we could fail the clear condition for this event.」
「There’s no reason to let them go, right?」
Fiona looks calm.
But the air around us is getting tense.
「You’ve already poured a lot of effort into the Spring of Mist, you know? I won’t let it fall.」
「But what if it does?」
「I won’t let it fall. Simple as that.」
This time, she smiles at Kaya’s question.
But no matter how you look at it, it doesn’t look like a smile.
「Then let’s form a party, shall we?」
「Sounds good!」
Reina is as usual.
Mio, however, seems unusually nervous.
Shinohara and Fudo seem calm.
We form a party of Reina, Mio, Shinohara, and Fudo, Volff, and myself.
Then I select Return Home and activate it.
Our destination is the Silent Bamboo Woods.
The degree of difficulty is going to get a sudden jump, but we should be okay, right?
The monster army moves slowly.
I wonder how long will it be until they reach the Silent Bamboo Woods?
That’s where I want to check first.
「Ok, I’ll log out here.」
「See ya!」
「Anyway, the bamboo of this Silent Bamboo Woods looks like something I could use, huh?」
Reina seems to be interested in bamboo.
Well, it makes sense.
It’s only natural if you’re a Wood Worker.
「Then let’s start setting up the base!」
Reina started ordering Mio and Shinohara around.
But what should I do?
It may be still a little early, but I finish the dinner that Adele had prepared for me.
Then I summon some of my monsters.
What’s my lineup?
Volff, Obsidian, Goki, Nias, and Shishiku.
What about the W5 map at night?
The first thing I encounter is a Cloud Slime.
A Cloud Slime is pestering us already!
It doesn’t drop anything either.
And it seems that Volff and the others are not very good at detecting its presence.
That’s just the kind of monster that it is.
Even so…
As soon as I’m alone, I start feeling a sense of malice, but I wonder if it isn’t just my imagination.
Racchango, Airavata, a herd of Minor Gryphons, and a Lesser Gryphon.
If you come any closer, I’ll hunt you all, alright?
They keep heading west.
It doesn’t feel like there are many monsters around.
I only get attacked by monsters in a moderate manner.
But since I’m not using Call Monsters a lot, there might still be a large number of monsters in this area.
I’m also defining my battle style on this map.
Nothing beats fighting on horseback during the daytime here.
But it’s nighttime now.
I can use anything but a joust on horseback now.
So what will I go with?
Throwing kukris.
And then, a spear.
I set Steam Magic onto the Akasagarbha Spear.
The reason for that is simple: long distance.
With the exception of Racchango, they’re all airborne monsters.
Airavatas don’t fly around the air very often, but I have to be prepared to deal with that scenario.
A spear makes it easy to deal with attacks even if they come from the air.
And there are some big changes.
It’s Goki.
He’s armed with a bow and arrows.
Those can also be used against the ground-based Racchango.
Actually, it’s precisely because I’m using Pitfall that a bow and arrow are more convenient when dealing with that kind of monster.
Racchangos don’t take much damage from Pitfalls.
But they’re still effective.
I can thrust my spear into them as they try to crawl their way out of the hole.
This is easy.
The spear is a good weapon.
Occasionally, there are some enemies that try to shorten the distance, but I feel safe having Volff and Shishiku by my side.
This is simple work. Nias and I stab the monsters that are trying to crawl up from the bottom of the hole.
It’s a shame.
It’s scary to think that I could get used to how easy this feels.
It helps that monsters other than Racchango are attacking from time to time.
But it still feels a bit weird.
Though I’ll pass from encounters with any Cloud Slimes, thank you very much!
About the kukris…
It goes without saying, but my hit rate now is better than when I’m throwing them while on horseback.
The fact that they can paralyze enemies from time to time is good as well.
The best part of it is that the monsters I’m throwing them at are Lesser Gryphons.
What happens when an airborne monster becomes paralyzed?
Of course, it will crash to the ground.
Throwing is nice.
Hm?
Come to think of it, I have a Summoned Monster with the Throwing skill, right?
It’s Senki.
But he doesn’t have any weapon skills.
What should I have him throw?
Maybe stones or something like that.
He’s very powerful, and looks like he could throw an iron ball.
At any rate, Obsidian should be fine throwing himself into the Pitfall, but what about Shishiku?
He’s even started imitating Volff.
I hope this doesn’t turn into a weird habit.
《Summoned Monster 【Obsidian】 Level Up!》
《Please add 1 point to a stat of your choice.》
Obsidian’s battle is unfolding in a steady, straightforward fashion.
At present, Obsidian is the only airborne member of my lineup, and he tends to not stand out all that much since he’s devoted to keeping enemy monsters in check.
But when it comes to earning experience points, it doesn’t matter whether you stand out or not.
Obsidian’s INT has increased automatically upon leveling up.
I’ll choose SPI as his second stat increase.
Obsidian Mystic Eye Lv9 → Lv10 (↑1)
DEX 15
AGI 24
INT 24 (↑1)
STR 15
VIT 15
SPI 24 (↑1)
Skills
Peck Silent Flight Far Sight Night Vision Ambush Sense Danger Divine Hearing
Wind Attribute Water Attribute
Oh!
That’s just beautiful!
But that’s all for you today.
Let’s take this opportunity to switch you out.
I recall Obsidian and summon Florin.
He should be able to deal with the monsters we’re currently facing.
By the way…
How come we haven’t seen any Majins yet?
《【Dagger】 Level Up!》
《Summoned Monster 【Shishiku】 Level Up!》
《Please add 1 point to a stat of your choice.》
The time is 8:50 PM.
A Fire Breather riding a Lesser Gryphon is tragically brought down to the ground.
Volff had snapped at the nape of its neck.
The first kukri I throw hits the Lesser Gryphon.
Paralyzed, the Lesser Gryphon falls.
The Majin breathes fire, but since it has lost its balance, it misses.
Easy.
I could get a little too used to this.
Shishiku’s STR has increased automatically upon leveling up.
I’ll choose AGI as his second stat increase.
Shishiku Chimera Lv5 → Lv6 (↑1)
DEX 15
AGI 25 (↑1)
INT 18
STR 26 (↑1)
VIT 30
SPI 15
Skills
Bite Roar Scent Detection Heat Detection Night Vision Conceal
Predator Fusion Poison Breath Light Attribute Fire Attribute
Yeah.
He’s been doing great as the main damage dealer today.
Seeing him chewing at the corpse of a Lesser Gryphon is still quite frightening.
I’d like to stick my Survival Knife into it to check it out as well, do you mind?
So unfortunately, we didn’t get any items from this one, huh?
And Shishiku…
Don’t act so reluctant to leave!
I’m sorry, but it’s somebody else’s turn.
Let’s recall Shishiku and summon Tigris.
He may be a good match for the monsters around here.
The only ones he should be careful about are the Airavatas.
But it’s also easy to hit those white elephants with a kukri.
If we put Florin’s attacks on top of that, we can poison them.
I think they should be easy enough to deal with.
There’s no problem.
So let’s continue.
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
Summoner is Going
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 80 Hours
Thanks for the treat.