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Chapter 93

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Translator: Eisen　Editor: Weasalopes

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The light rain has stopped, but it’s still as cloudy as usual.
Just by looking at the recently respawned players gives me the chills.
All right.
I need to confirm something first.
Let’s check the situation in the vicinity by using Call Monster.

Well, it turned out to be a terrible situation.
Oh boy.
Things have changed completely.

The Black Bears and Snow Apes are forming groups.
These groups have anywhere from three to seven of them.
There is no single one of them going about on its own.
This is bad.
Do I have any other choice than trying to call one myself in order to get some practice done?

And there are other strange things going on.
Snow Leopards started to show up.
I was able to use Call Monster to guide a single one of those, and a group of three.
Moreover, there are also some Blitz around.
I’ve found a group of four.

Was this done by the GMs?

「Don’t go too far away from the shrine. Let’s avoid consecutive battles as much as possible.」

「Huh?」

「These monsters are behaving differently from before. They come in groups, so make sure to stay focused.」

「Yes!」

「Also, don’t manipulate your stats until the last one of a group.」

「Understood.」

It has become a little troublesome.
Several dozens of Rock Worm-like monsters are also gathering up, which is quite a threat.
They don’t seem to be that scary if you look at them individually.
But these are different.
There are just a few groups of them, but they are a far bigger threat like this.

I’ll try to call one of the Snow Apes from a nearby group of three with Call Monster as a test.
It seems that the three of them are coming this way.
Are they considered a set if they’re grouped up or something?
Well, it can’t be helped.
Three Snow Apes shouldn’t be a problem.

「I’ll leave one to you, so you can bring it down with a rear naked choke.」

「All right!」

I’ll take care of the remaining two.
The Summoned Monsters will deal with one of those.
It’s not a problem.
Or at least that’s what I think now.

Something terrible happened.
Just as I deliver the final blow to my Snow Ape.
And at the same time, Lambda used the rear naked choke to bring down his Snow Ape, too.
Jericho too had defeated his Snow Ape with a fierce punch.
That last Snow Ape’s cries of agony seem to have been the key.

It was calling another group of monsters!
There are five of them!
I can see the Apes rushing toward us through Helix’s eyes.

「Physical Enchant: Earth!」

I’ll reinforce my defense with that spell.
I should be prepared to receive some damage.
Besides, I have my Summoned Monsters with me.
Helix and Obsidian should provide aerial support.
Jericho will play the role of a wall.
And Volff should be able to counter any situation.

Lambda’s Player Skills might still not be quite there yet, but his stats are absolutely impressive.
We should be able to manage somehow.

About ten minutes have passed.
I managed to fight them off somehow.
It becomes very difficult when you’re swarmed by Snow Apes.

The party of the Summoned Monsters and I defeated a total of 36 Snow Apes.
Lambda took down eight more of them.
I believe that there were eight groups of them in total.
Those devils were calling more and more companions just before they were totally annihilated!
Well, they’re only Apes after all.

This series of battles have not completely drained us of our energy yet.
My MP bar was at about 80 percent when we started fighting, but after finishing this last series of battles, it had gone down to 30 percent.
It wasn’t that bad of a struggle in the end.

《[Spacetime Magic] Level Up!》
《[Water Magic] Level Up!》
《You have acquired the 【Water Magic】 spell 【Water Shield】!》
《You have acquired the 【Water Magic】 spell 【Aqua Slash】!》
《[Lightning Magic] Level Up!》
《[Ice Magic] Level Up!》
《[Tree Magic] Level Up!》
《[Summon Magic] Level Up!》
《[Cold Resistance] Level Up!》
《Racial Level Up! Please assign 1 point to a desired stat.》

I quickly decide to increase my VIT.
I’m glad I have some time to make my decision.
There’s no doubt I’ll be attacked by more groups of Snow Apes soon.

Base Stats
DEX　16
AGI　16
INT　20
STR　16
VIT　16 (↑1)
SPI　20

《You have gained 2 Bonus Points. You currently have a total of 10 Bonus Points.》

I can’t afford to look through all of the info.
Summon Magic has leveled up, and I can now summon one more Summoned Monster from the list.
I’m not going to do this now.
This is not the time to go through such a huge amount of info.

《Summon Monster 『Helix』 Level Up!》
《Please add 1 point to a desired stat.》

Helix levels up just after I do.
Let’s choose quickly.
His AGI has increased automatically upon leveling up.
I’ll choose DEX as his second stat increase.

Monster Summon　Helix　Hawk Lv5→Lv6 (↑1)
DEX　12 (↑1)
AGI　23 (↑1)
INT　20
STR　12
VIT　12
SPI　12

Skills
Peck　Flight　Farsight　Wide Area Search　Ambush　Sense Danger　Air Mobility

All right.
Those numbers are looking pretty good.

「Let’s retreat for a while.」

「All right.」

Lambda can’t afford to use much more MP either.
His bar is down to 30 percent.
These groups of monsters are no joke.

We’ll quickly collect the item drops and head to the Earth Spirit Shrine.
This is just a tactical retreat.
We’re not running away or anything.

I made several miscalculations this time.
It’s still good that we’ve encountered groups of monsters.
The fact that they kept on calling more and more companions as they fell was also somewhat tolerable.
But the biggest miscalculation was that four of them were the axe-holding variants.
It would have been a lot easier if none of those had appeared.

But at least we also got a lot out of those battles.
A lot of my Magic Skills have leveled up, probably because I was using so many of them in battle.
I also got a few new Spells.
But I’ll check those out later.

When arriving at the Shrine, we find a different party than the one we met before.
They too look pretty worn out.
It appears they’ve just got here as well.

We head towards a different corner and set up camp there.
I’ll use Potions for Volff and the others.
For Jericho, I’ll use Light Heal so he can recover fully.
I’ll drink a Potion, too.

「That was a bit unexpected.」

「I couldn’t really practice that much.」

It will do us no good to grumble or complain to Lambda about our performance.
We’re obviously too mentally tired for that.

「I know it’s still early, but do you mind if I log out now?」

「Oh, don’t worry. Go right ahead.」

As Lambda helps out with the construction of the tent, he seems worried about what we’re going to do from now on.
In this situation, I could also go back using Return Home.

「I have to go pick up an item I’ve commissioned tomorrow morning. I plan to return to the village at some point today.」

「Okay. But I’ll be hunting here tomorrow morning.」

「Are you sure? You can return now as well.」

Lambda thinks for a little while, but his answer comes surprisingly fast.

「It’s all right. These guys are good for earning experience.」

Of course.
It’s very risky to go solo here, though you can expect to grow just as much.
But can I make it all the way back here from Legias by tomorrow?
Let’s put our hopes on Zangetsu’s legs.
I don’t think that those Apes can catch up with her speed…

Huh?
Zangetsu?
We might even be able to make it through groups of Snow Apes…
I just had an idea.
But now it’s not the time to be trying it out.
I’m afraid I will have to recover a little bit more of MP.

「That’s right. I have a favor to ask of you.」

「Huh?」

He’s concerned about the items in his possession.
Of course.
He must have collected a lot of drops.
It seems that he also leveled up, and his《Item Box》is getting bigger in response.
But at the same time, the items he’s obtaining are squeezing against each other.
That’s what happens when you go out on long expeditions.

I decide to look after the items he wants to sell.
They’re just Snow Ape Bones and Skins.
I handed Lambda three rations of Portable Food in exchange.
They’re consumable and will serve him as insurance.

「Well, I’ll be leaving for today then. I’ll message you once I log back in.」

「Got it. Well, that’s it for today then.」

「Thank you for your help today.」

Lambda then logs out.
And with this, now I’ve got free time on my hands.
Let’s kill time by replenishing my stock of Potions.

As I finish filling my empty bottles with Potions and restocking on Recovery Pills, I’ll go back to that idea I had earlier.
It’s about how to battle groups of Snow Apes.
Zangetsu might be able to pull this off because of her speed and endurance.
What about the rest of the party, though?
Volff should be able to keep up with Zangetsu’s speed.
Naturally, monsters such as Helix, Obsidian, and Jean should be able to follow us easily by flying.
Hmm.
Although the options are limited, we should be able to take down these groups efficiently.

What I’m thinking about is a way to fight Snow Apes while escaping from them on Zangetsu at the same time.
The only spells I can use to attack are those of Wind Magic, Water Magic, and Earth Magic.
Can I inflict damage on them while putting myself outside of their range?

I feel that I can do it.
But I have some concerns, too.
After all, won’t I be burning through my MP?
I might run out of MP after several shots against those Snow Apes.

There’s something else.
I could also use defensive spells.
This is from my own experience in the tournament.
The damage I took from hitting that wall at that time was quite heavy.
How can I use that to my advantage?
I may want to try guiding them into a defensive wall as a trap.

Nah.
I think I can make this plan work one way or another.
Is there any spell from the list that I can use for this?

「Sorry to bother you, do you have a moment?」

「Yes?」

It was one of the warriors from that party from before.
I can understand what he says thanks to the Easy to Understand feature.
He’s a Dwarf Warrior.
Looking closely, he has a kind of long, golden spiked club on his back.
It looks like the Kanasaibo that the Oni demons from Japanese folklore are said to wield.
However, it seems to be shorter than those, in order to match the body of a dwarf.
But it’s still quite impressive!
The mere thought of seeing that thing being swung around with the strength of a dwarf gives me the chills.

「Unfortunately, our party has run out of Potions. Could you sell us some?」

「Sell?」

「That’s right. I’m willing to pay above market price for some Potions.」

「Oh, just a moment, I need to check something first.」

How much Healgrass do I have left?
Checking the 《Item Box》, I count a total of eleven pieces.
That means, 22 Potions.

「I can make them for you, but there’s only so many I can afford to right now…」

「I would like to buy as many as you can produce, if that’s okay with you.」

「I can make up to 20 Potions, in sets of two. Do you have any empty bottles?」

「Oh! This is great!」

The warrior’s party members hurriedly begin to take out their empty bottles.
Wait a minute!
I think I can count around 30 bottles in total!

「We need only 20 bottles! Don’t panic!」

It appears that this Dwarf is the party leader.
He seems to be having a hard time, though.

「For how much did buy your Potions?」

「It was 60 Dyne a bottle.」

「Since you have empty bottles, let’s make it 50 Dyne each.」

「Huh?」

It’s not a big deal, really.
I’m not that obsessed over getting rich or anything.
This is just in-game money, after all.

「Is it really okay?」

「Yes.」

An unexpected Potion brewing request, huh?
Oh well.
What should I do about their quality?

If I make them properly, I could even end up with some Grade B- Potions.
But the Potions sold at the guild should be Grade C.
Will the ones I make be of that much higher quality, no matter what?

Wait, I’m overthinking this too much.
If I use Quick Recreate, the quality should drop.
I’ll prepare water for ten potions using Liquid: Water.
I’m using five Healgrass with Quick Recreate and pouring the resulting Potion solution into empty bottles.
It seems they turned out to be Grade C+
Oh well.

「Has he finished yet?」

「Is he halfway through?」

「No, it doesn’t look like it.」

Ignoring the doubtful voices, I move on to the next batch.
This one also yielded Grade C+ Potions.
In terms of quality control, one would want to avoid situations that would create irregularities in the usual quality of this kind of items.
Since they all ended up being Grade C+, there are no problems with the result.

「We’re saved! 」

「Wait, I’m not done yet.」

「Huh?」

That’s right.
I can still make some Recovery Pills.
I hold the remains left after the extraction process and produce two pills using Quick Recreate.
The whole thing might look like some sort of trick to onlookers.

《[Alchemy] Level Up!》

I’ll quickly go through this Level Up message and speak to the Dwarf warrior.

「Would you like these?」

「Are those Recovery Pills? But we don’t have enough money for them…」

「Oh, don’t worry about that. I already have some of these with me, so…」

「Huh?」

「Instead of money, I’d like to ask you a few questions in exchange for these.」

I decided to listen to their story after they paid for the 20 Potions.
Well, I can use this opportunity to kill some more time and continue to recover my MP.
I think their story makes sense.
It’s because of the event.
My suspicions were growing stronger.

This party took a different route to come here.
They went north of Remut, and arrived at the camp in the N1 Map through the Old Dwarf Mine.
Up until noon, they only had to deal with a single Black Bear and a single Snow Ape.
That changed right at noon.
They encountered a group of five Black Bears in the forest.
Right after managing to fight them off, a group of four Snow Apes showed up.
From there, it seems that another group of five soon followed.
Also, they have apparently been attacked by a group of four Blitz right in front of this Earth Spirit Shrine, but they managed to escape by running inside the shrine.
Good call.
Those goats are troublesome.
Even more when it’s four of them.
I would also hate to be attacked by four monsters capable of quickly striking me with lightning.

They also told me about the N1 Map.
The N1 Map seems to be a hunting area made of caves, which were once the dwellings and mines of dwarves.
And its gatekeeper is the Kobold Knight.
It seems that the regular Kobolds are nothing but small fry, but the Kobold Knight is very strong.
Since it uses support spells, they seem to recommend using swift attacks against it.
Hmm.
As I thought, it’s better to get this kind of information face-to-face.

「We will all log out for the time being. We will try again tomorrow.」

「I see.」

The Dwarf warrior and his companions set up their tents and logged out one after the other.
I have free time once again.
I wonder if my MP Bar will get over 50 percent?
It might be risky, but should I try the idea I had earlier outside?
Even if I fail and end up dying, I should respawn near Master’s house.
Okay.
Let’s give it a shot.

Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human　Male　Racial Lv11 (↑1)
Job　Summoner Lv10
Bonus Points Remaining 10

Skill Sets
Staff Lv8  Punch Lv6  Kick Lv6  Joint Lock Lv5  Throw Lv5  Evade Lv6  Block Lv6 (↑1)  Summon Magic Lv11 (↑1)  Spacetime Magic Lv4 (↑1)
Light Magic Lv5  Wind Magic Lv6  Earth Magic Lv6  Water Magic Lv6 (↑1)
Fire Magic Lv5  Dark Magic Lv5  Ice Magic Lv4 (↑1)  Lightning Magic Lv4 (↑1)  Tree Magic Lv4 (↑1)  Dust Magic Lv3  Lava Magic Lv3  Steam Magic Lv3  Alchemy Lv6 (↑1)  Pharmacy Lv5  Glassmaking Lv3  Woodworking Lv4  Synergy Lv8  Appraise Lv7  Identify Lv7  Discern Lv3  Cold Resistance Lv4 (↑1)  Grab Lv6  Horsemanship Lv6  Precise Manipulation Lv8  Jump Lv3  Heat Resistance Lv4  Climb Lv4  Dual Wield Lv5  Disassembly Lv3  Physical Reinforcement Lv3  Mental Reinforcement Lv4  Speedcasting Lv5

Equipment
Kaya Wood Rod×1  Kaya Wood Tonfa×2  Enraged Pickaxe +× 2  Silver Necklace +  Snow Leopard Push Dagger×1  Gale Tiger Push Dagger×2  Wild Horse Leather Armor +  Snow Ape Armguard  Wild Horse Boots +  Snow Ape Leather Helmet  Rampage Horse Belt +  Rucksack  Item Box×2

Items:
Survival Knife, Woodworking Tools

Titles:
Old Summoner’s Pupil
Guardian of the Forest
Man of the Middle Path
Spell Archive

Stats
DEX　16
AGI　16
INT　20
STR　16
VIT　16 (↑1)
SPI　20

Monster Summons:
Volff　Grey Wolf Lv1
Zangetsu　Horse Lv6
Helix　Hawk Lv5→Lv6 (↑1)
DEX　12 (↑1)
AGI　23 (↑1)
INT　20
STR　12
VIT　12
SPI　12

Skills
Peck　Flight　Farsight　Wide Area Search　Ambush　Sense Danger　Air Mobility
Obsidian　Owl Lv5
Jean　Bat Lv5
Jericho　Wood Golem Lv4
Goki　Demon Lv4
Senki　Beast Ape Lv5
Rig　Slime Lv4
Bunraku　Wood Puppet Lv3

Companions:
Lambda (Real name: Omega)

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