Translator: Cryus Editor: Weasalopes
After I logged in I was greeted with a delicious smell.
I subconsciously started salivating.
「Good Morning!」
「Ah, good morning.」
Adele was cooking breakfast close to my tent.
Dang.
It was a really nice smell.
I summoned Bunraku and got it to start cooking some rice.
I just had to give it tools and materials.
「Hmm? Like I"ll lose at cooking!」
Adele was getting a bit too excited.
Bunraku didn"t care.
Well, I kind of expected that.
「Good morning, Keith.」
「Morning.」
Irina walked over, carrying a bucket full of water.
Maybe she scooped some up from a nearby water source or met someone who could use【Water Magic】.
I already filled a large pot with water while Irina was still away.
「Ah, you were awake. I should"ve relied on you to do it, Keith…」
「Adele, wouldn"t it be better if one of us learnt【Water Magic】?」
「Deal with it until we get【s.p.a.cetime Magic】!」
Irina had it hard too.
But I got where Adele was coming from.
【s.p.a.cetime Magic】was a lot more convenient.
I spent some time organising my equipment and cleaning up the tent.
Everyone else was working on our meal.
I saw Mio working on a large amount of food.
Well, it was her main profession.
Well…
What to do…?
I decided to go with the usual mobility-first Summon Monster composition.
It would always come in useful.
Zangetsu, Helix, and Obsidian.
Where were we headed?
North?
South?
Do some hunting in the west?
Well, there was some time until we had to leave.
Until breakfast was ready I spent some time taking care of a few things.
I had three Snow Leopard Claws.
【Material】Snow Leopard Claw Raw Material Grade C Rarity 4 Weight 0+
The claw of a Snow Leopard. Sharp, st.u.r.dy, and light.
Just in case, I used【Appraise】on it.
All three of them were Grade C.
I could turn all three of them into push daggers, but I already had two Gale Tiger Push Daggers.
I already had one Snow Leopard Push Dagger. It was enough.
It felt a little boring too, making push daggers all the time.
I decided to use all three of them to make something else.
It didn"t involve any woodworking.
I didn"t have any Obsidian Rocks on me so I broke a few obsidian arrows instead.
Of course, I used the【Lava Magic】spell【Shape Change】.
I lined up the three Snow Leopard Claws and put some obsidian at the base.
It took me less than three minutes to make myself a new weapon.
【Weapon: Knuckles】Snow Leopard Bagh Nakh Grade C+ Rarity 4
AP +2 Power 0+ Weight 0+ Durability 70
Lowers AGI [Slight] Ice Attribute
An a.s.sa.s.sination weapon, rendered mostly ineffective by any kind of armour.
Has a chance of lowering the target"s AGI stat upon a successful attack.
Looked like an upgrade to the push dagger.
And the name "Bagh Nakh".
I remember reading somewhere that it meant『Tiger"s claw』.
Even though they were actually Snow Leopard claws…
I decided not to pay it any mind.
Next.
I pulled out the Ancient Stone and got to work on breaking out whatever was inside.
I prepared a stone chisel and cast【Enchanted Weapon】on my hammer.
But even before I got to finish one, a plate appeared in front of me.
「Enjoy!」
「Oh, thanks.」
I couldn"t let the favour go to waste.
Chicken skewers… No, yakitori.
Without sauce, just salt.
Green onions were sandwiched between the pieces of chicken.
Green onions and chicken, huh.
Although in some regions you could expect to see pork instead.
I took a short break.
Bunraku finished cooking relatively quickly.
There was no more Blitz thigh meat left.
「Adele, Irina, you can finish what"s in that pot.」
「Hmm?」
「Thank you.」
A finely-chopped Blitz and vegetable stir-fry.
Well, the pot was so big I would probably call it closer to steaming rather than stir-frying.
Either way, I was grateful for a proper meal.
「Muu… Is it all gone?」
「Ah, Mio!」
「We have one more skewer.」
Mio already had some sort of sandwich in her hands.
Irina traded her skewer for half the sandwich.
While she was at it, she grabbed some of Bunraku"s stir-fry.
That"s bad manners, you know?
「Hmm… This is nice too!」
「Keith"s Summon Monster made that…」
「Huh?」
Irina turned her gaze to Bunraku.
Mio did the same.
Then flashed a smile and a thumbs-up.
「Good Job!」
What a nice smile.
Bunraku didn"t move a muscle.
Our surroundings were starting to get more crowded.
Looked like everyone was having their meals.
Reina took the opportunity to sell some sandwiches.
「And with that, I"ll be going back. Today"s meeting is at 7 am!」
「Got it!」
Mio returned to where Reina was.
Meeting?
Ah… The one Saki was talking about the day before.
It was 6:40 am.
I had enough time to take care of an Ancient Stone.
I left clean-up to Bunraku and got back to work.
Focus, focus.
I got another stone from the Ancient Stone.
【Material】Purple Quartz Grade C+ Rarity 3 Weight 0+
A purple quartz. Also known as amethyst.
Its high transparency and large grain size make it ideal for sealing spells.
Hmm…
It looked useful.
Maybe I should talk to Margrid about it?
Although I could just hold on to it for a while too.
「We will start our morning meeting at 7 am! Attendance is not compulsory but feel free to attend!」
The voice rang out at incredible volume.
It was a male player I had never seen before, but his voice still left a deep impression on me.
Wow…
He was probably using the【Shout】skill.
The players around me started moving.
I decided to give up on doing the second Ancient Stone.
I actually wanted to listen in on the meeting.
After all the cleaning was taken care of, I recalled Bunraku and summoned Ninetails.
I wanted to level it up a little and do some adventuring.
「A new Summon Monster, huh?」
「Oh!!! More fluffiness!」
Oh no.
Irina and Adele were still next to me.
Adele started caressing Ninetails.
Her hand movements looked like those of a pro.
But before burying herself in the fur, she first ma.s.saged Ninetails" paws.
「Kii-chan is weak to this!」
What do you mean, weak…
But it looked like Adele had a point.
Ninetails" eyes narrowed.
Don"t you fall asleep.
Players started gathering in the village.
Their numbers exceeded 50.
Irina sat down next to Saki.
Mio sat down next to her, and Adele next to Mio.
Behind them, Adele"s and Irina"s Summon Monsters were gathered.
Two horses, Two owls and two hawks, and one red fox.
I stood next to Adele and looked around.
Helix on my shoulder, Obsidian on my left arm, and Zangetsu behind me.
Helix and Obsidian swapped positions from time to time.
It looked like they were playing tag.
Ninetails remained in Adele"s firm grasp.
「Meeting partic.i.p.ants please put in Union requests to Fiona!」
The same player shouted more instructions.
Made sense…
They were going to have the meeting using whispers.
I quickly put in a union request.
『This is Fiona… Sorry to gloss over the formalities but let"s get right into the meeting.』
『This is Saki. Please state your name before speaking.』
『Alright, let"s start with an overview of the present situation. If you will, Saki.』
The meeting started.
It started with general reports.
And most of them were on bland subjects too.
But they were things that had to be put into words, just to rea.s.sure everyone that everything was going well.
There were a few words from the Guide Team… But even they were mostly just doubting what the production players were doing.
The production players" response was straightforward.
We"ll do what we can do.
We won"t do what we can"t do.
And how more production players were on the way.
They ensured everyone that with their arrival, the amount of work they could do would increase ma.s.sively.
With that, everyone calmed down.
During the meeting, light was shed on the production player team"s problems.
First and foremost, the fact that they didn"t have any NPCs and they didn"t have enough people.
Well on the other hand, there were a lot of good news too.
『It will be possible to secure timber from the forest to the north, and it will be possible to grow trees there too.』
The lumberjack Yosaku spoke up. His words had a certain weight to them.
Well he was the tournament victor, after all.
Yosaku was kind of famous.
『There is a temporary storage s.p.a.ce for wood in the village, feel free to take as much as you need. If you need more, just contact me!』
It was Reina.
Well she is a woodworker.
It was probably best to just leave it to her.
『Some good clay has been found near the cave to the north but the Antmen are making it difficult to secure.』
It was the male player who was shouting the news earlier.
A ceramics worker, Rupert.
Next to him were the gla.s.sworkers Fay and Mitsurugi.
It looked like they were acquaintances.
『We can collect stone from the mountain to the south. We don"t have enough people for it at the moment, but I think it"d be a good idea to set up a camp there.』
It was a Stonemason dwarf.
I had a feeling I"d seen him before.
「Shinonome」was the name that came to mind.
Well, my memory wasn"t really something to be relied on.
『The riverbed to the south is pretty rich in quartz… I"d like to set up a gla.s.s shop there.』
It was Fay.
Wait, a workshop?
Well, it would definitely make getting gla.s.s all the way out here a lot more convenient.
『Giedre from the guild is working with us for blacksmithy, gla.s.s, and pottery, but it"ll take a few days.』
Fiona added a quick comment.
Working together, huh…
I didn"t know the full details of the deal…
But the words had some weight.
Some of the Guide Team players raised a voice of surprise.
Having more blacksmiths would definitely be of great help.
『We"re testing some crops inside and around the village.』
It was Saki.
Wasn"t Saki a Leatherworker?
『We are using【Tree Magic】to help the crops grow, but it"ll take a while before we can harvest them… As soon as we find an effective crop we"ll have our Farmers handle it.』
Ah, alright.
Saki could use【Tree Magic】.
It was probably why she was speaking for the Farmers.
『I"ve gotten myself a few more type of seeds. One of them might lead to something very nice.』
Saki ended her little talk there, and questions came flying.
A lot of the questions were about what she meant by "something nice".
She answered, "You"ll see."
Well, all we could really do was sit and hope.
『We are focusing on repairing leather armour right now, but as we get new members, we"ll be able to start making new equipment too.』
Fiona added onto the discussion.
They were well-prepared.
『We have some ingredients, but I"d like everyone to rely on Portable Food for the time being. Merchants are supposed to arrive tonight, they should be of great help to us.』
She kept going, explaining to everyone the situation.
Her words had weight to them.
She projected a serious aura.
『Well then, please report the hunting situation in each direction.』
The Guide Team picked up where she left off.
It was mostly information on monsters I had already fought before.
But there were also a few bits of information I didn"t know.
For example…
The back of the cave to the south looks quite impressive, and they thought it was a dwarf"s abandoned home.
There were only a few monsters like Orcs and Kobolds.
Past the river to the south were a lot of holes in the ground that were actually Float Eye nests.
The Float Eyes appearing in the fields both in the day-time and at night were only a small portion of the total.
They said that a party descended into one of the holes, only to quickly get killed.
Before they were taken out their vision was dyed red with red markers.
Scary…
The Guide Team sent a screenshot of the event.
It was true. The screen was completely red.
Irina reported on the situation at night.
I was wondering if it was really alright to leave it to her…
But it looked like she had everything under control. As she kept talking about how many mists she took out, some of the Guide Team players" faces took on a dissatisfied look.
The atmosphere felt tense.
I wrote about it in the forums, but apparently some still had their doubts.
There was no helping it.
Maybe I should ease the tension a little.
I raised my hand, signalling that I had something to say.
『This is Keith. I teamed up with her yesterday and it feel like it"s definitely the best way to deal with them.』
After I put in my comment, the Guide Team players went back to normal.
Hmm… Well, looks like it went well.
While I was at it, I decided to provide some more information.
『Also, I encountered a superior monster that you all might be interested in.』
I thought of the Abominable Snowman.
I regretted not taking a screenshot, but I was confident that I could explain.
『It was on the mountain between N1W1 and N1W2. Where you would usually see Blitz and Snow Leopards.』
My little remark had quite an impact.
People started talking to one another normally, discussing their own takes on the matter.
Almost like their representative, Yosaku spoke up to ask me a question.
『Do you think it was an event monster?』
Everyone wanted more information.
But honestly, I didn"t know either.
『I don"t know… I"m not so sure, but I think it was.』
『Your reasoning being?』
『This is just my personal opinion, but… Honestly it might take a while to explain, is that alright?』
I had a feeling it was going to be a bit tedious, but whatever.
I put out a few small pieces of information as a preface, before getting to the real meat of what I was trying to say.
I explained how the top of the mountain could get really cold.
The others nodded along as I went into how important winter clothing was.
I talked about how it was possible to train the【Climb】skill from climbing trees with pheasant nests on them.
The situation was perfect, almost like we were being encouraged to climb the mountain.
I talked about how I realised the map we were in had a similar case.
Winter clothing was pretty important even in N1W2.
W2, where we were, also had trees with pheasant nests on them.
And of course, other things, like how common event monsters were, and the frequency at which monsters tended to appear… In those conditions, I met the Abominable Snowman.
『I doubt it was just a coincidence.』
I finished talking, but everyone stayed silent for a while.
『Well, that"s all good, but did you defeat it?』
Yosaku asked me another question.
『That would be impossible for the time being I think. The top of the mountain is very difficult to fight on, and more than anything, the cold is unbearable.』
Sighs broke out from everywhere around me.
『You would need【Cold Resistance】and【Climb】… On top of that, some climbing gear and especially thick winter clothing.』
I tried waving some flames into the Guide Team players.
I just had to present them with a way.
I was sure they got riled up by what I just said.
『Does anyone else have any questions? If anyone still has anything they want to say, go ahead.』
Fiona repeated what I said, but it didn"t look like anyone else had any questions.
I wondered how everyone took my little speech.
Everyone did look like they didn"t have anything more they wanted to say.
『Well then I"ll leave it to the Guide Team to look into it. The meeting is over.』
And with that, the meeting ended.
Hmm… Now what?
Fiona and Saki walked up to Reina and Yosaku. They were having some sort of conversation.
Yeah.
I figured I could leave the village matters to the other players. I decided to head out.
I had Zangetsu, after all.
I had a destination in mind.
West.
I felt like I still had some things left to do in the village, but I suppose I could take care of it after I got back.
「Adele, could you give Ninetails back to me?」
「What a nice name!」
After saying that, she obediently let go.
How nice of her.
「Are you going hunting Keith?」
「Of course.」
「You can get Brown Bear Paws around here… But do you have something else in mind?」
「Yeah, I do.」
I had an idea of exactly what I wanted.
Meat.
No, beef.
My opponents were going to be Fighting Bulls.
「You want to come with? It"s going to be quite a trip though.」
「I"ll go!」
「That"s alright.」
「Meat!」
Yep.
That desire for meat was probably the best way to motivate her.
Although I had to make sure I didn"t take it too far. Gluttony isn"t a good thing.
But I was prepared.
I was going to be strict.
Adele was clearly excited, but Irina"s expression was a little more difficult to read.
I felt like it was better I just give up on trying.
「Well then, let"s get into a Union and get going.」
「Won"t that be disadvantageous to you Keith?」
「I think it"d be better if we teamed up. Besides, we"re in a ratio of 5:4:4, not a big deal.」
It was only when I left the village that I realised I forgot something important.
Saki.
She mentioned how she was looking for help with using the【Tree Magic】spell【Grow】.
I suppose I could take care of it after returning to the village.
It was a little too late to go back.
「Well then, let"s head west!」
「「Let"s go!」」
Looked like it was going to be a continuation of last night"s hunting.
We were just following the flow and going on adventures as they came up, but that was alright.
It would be useful for me too.
Fighting Bulls were tough enemies to deal with.
We left W2 and entered W3.
It took us less than an hour from the village.
Although us ignoring all pa.s.sive monsters might have played a part in why we were able to move so quickly.
On the way, I took out three Float Eyes and four Raptors without any issues.
They were alone, so they were relatively easy to deal with.
I could just sit back and let the Summon Monsters handle it.
They had true strength in numbers.
During the fight, I gained a newfound respect for Adele"s Summon Monster Kii-chan.
I was wondering what light elemental meant, but it must"ve been a part of Kii-chan"s wisp-like fire attack.
Even a fool may give a wise man counsel, I guess.
It was quite educational, watching Adele and Kii-chan fight.
The wisp attack didn"t do much damage, but it had a high probability of causing the Confused status effect.
The light emitted by the wisp also had HP-regenerative effects.
It wasn"t a lot, and the range was small, but the fact that an attack spell could provide healing was big news.
Kii-chan had【MP regeneration [Slight]】too.
Very useful.
Looked like foxes would go under the support type of Summon Monster.
It was agile too, which helped a lot.
The bite attacks were just a bonus.
Adele held Kii-chan as she rode her horse.
I tried my best to follow her lead.
Most of all, I regretted not getting myself a fox sooner.
It was really convenient to have one.
We headed further into W3.
Helix clearly saw a Fighting Bull in the distance.
Along with a herd of horses.
For the time being, I headed towards the Spring of Mist.
I wanted to secure a place I could escape to if things went wrong.
But the monsters didn"t give me that opportunity.
I was attacked by nine Fighting Bulls.
What to do…?
『Run away!』
I sent a quick whisper message and started running.
The monsters?
The monsters gave chase with amazing vigour.
The sight alone was intimidating.
I quickly chose some spells.
【Mist】and【Wind Shield】.
『Adele, use【Fire Storm】! Irina, use【Gravel Blast】! Get them as soon as they leave the wall!』
『Wall, huh?』
『Yeah!』
I hoped they understood what I was talking about.
I faced backwards and released the spells.
「Mist!」
「Wind Shield!」
A strong wind battered against the bulls.
It took off less than 20% of their HP bars.
But it made them lose their balance.
A moment later, two other spells beat down on them.
「Fire Storm!」
「Gravel Blast!」
The bulls were hit by one spell after the other.
The damage? Before I got to check, the Summon Monsters all converged on the group.
Two hawks and three owls, without any hesitation.
The situation quickly descended into utter chaos.
I rode up to the herd and started swinging my rod.
Zangetsu stomped on any that fell over.
The bulls that weren"t taken out by the barrage of spells fell into confusion due to Kii-chan"s light attacks, and weren"t a serious threat.
Adele and Irina continued to support with their arrows.
Without giving the monsters a break, we got to work on slaughtering them.
Three of the bulls managed to break out of confusion, but by that time, it was already too late.
I used【Gravity Bullet】to blow away the one with the highest HP bar.
Zangetsu trampled it the moment it landed.
Helix and the other birds quickly took care of the other two.
It looked like a scene from a horror movie.
We defeated the nine bulls without taking any damage.
It would probably have been impossible on my own.
《【Identify】Level Up!》
《【Ninetails】Level Up!》
《Please put one point into a desired stat.》
Ninetails levelled up.
It happened a lot earlier than I expected.
Although maybe it was a sign of how much EXP I gained from that group of monsters.
The stat that went up during the level-up was INT.
I put a point into DEX.
Ninetails Red Fox Lv1→Lv2（↑1）
DEX 9（↑1）
AGI 20
INT 19（↑1）
STR 8
VIT 8
SPI 18
Skills:
Bite Evade Dash Sense Danger MP regeneration [Slight] Light Attribute
I got to collecting item drops.
When I stabbed by knife into the body, I got an item that I"d seen before.
【Material】Fighting Bull Outer Thigh Meat Raw Material Grade C+ Rarity 2 Weight 3
The outer thigh meat of a Fighting Bull. The animal was not raised on a farm so its meat is not fatty.
But because of that, it has a fine texture and the meat itself has a nice taste.
But it also looked like I could get other pieces of meat.
I stabbed the next body in a different location.
In two different locations, to be exact.
【Material】Fighting Bull Ribs Raw Material Grade C Rarity 2 Weight 4
The ribs of a Fighting Bull. Red meat and fat are packed in an alternating pattern, so it is also sometimes called "triple layer meat".
There is a lot of meat around the bones themselves, which can be made into soup or stew.
【Material】Fighting Bull Liver Raw Material Grade C Rarity 2 Weight 3
The liver of a Fighting Bull. Very nutritious.
It can be eaten raw, but at one"s own risk.
Hmm…
Raw liver.
Great with beer.
I got to work on the third body, and got more ribs, and some shank meat.
【Material】Fighting Bull Shank Meat Raw Material Grade C Rarity 2 Weight 2
The shank meat of a Fighting Bull. Rich in meat and tendons, but poor in fat.
Great for Stew.
Woah.
I felt like I could get pretty much anything from just this one monster.
I looked at Adele and Irina and asked them what they got.
「Three ribs, a shank, a shoulder, some stomach, and the large intestine.」
「Tenderloin, tongue, inner thigh, rump, and the tail!」
Ooh.
What a nice haul.
I was looking forward to the beef festival.
I caught myself drooling a few times.
Oops.
I started daydreaming about it.
I quickly kept moving.
Honestly speaking, I would"ve much preferred using【Call Monster】instead of waiting for the Fighting Bulls to come to us…
But I had to make safety a priority.
I was sure there were other monsters beside Fighting Bulls.
I was probably just lucky I only had to deal with Fighting Bulls.
We stayed alert and kept moving.
When we were about to reach the Fountain of Mist, Helix discovered something interesting.
It looked like a herd of horses.
They were in the way.
I got a little closer, and realised the truth when I got closer.
They were horses… or not?
Half-horses.
Centaur Lv.4
Monster Enemy Target Active
A half-horse half-human monster.
A centaur.
They were carrying something that looked half like a spear and half like a bow.
There were six of them.
Six people? Horses?
Whatever, either way was fine.
The issue was with the fact that they had bows.
And the fact that I didn"t know how strong they were.
Hmm… What to do?
Protagonist Keith
Race Human Male Racial Lv12
Job Summoner Lv11
Bonus Points Remaining: 14
Skill Sets:
Staff Lv10 Punch Lv6 Kick Lv7 Joint Lock Lv6 Throw Lv6 Evade Lv7 Block Lv6 Summon Magic Lv12 s.p.a.cetime Magic Lv5
Light Magic Lv6 Wind Magic Lv7 Earth Magic Lv6 Water Magic Lv6 Fire Magic Lv6 Dark Magic Lv6 Ice Magic Lv4 Lightning Magic Lv4 Tree Magic Lv4 Dust Magic Lv4 Lava Magic Lv4 Steam Magic Lv4
Alchemy Lv6 Pharmacy Lv5 Gla.s.smaking Lv3 Woodworking Lv4
Synergy Lv9 Appraise Lv8 Identify Lv9（↑1） Discern Lv3 Cold Resistance Lv5 Grab Lv7 Horsemanship Lv7 Precise Manipulation Lv9 Jump Lv4 Heat Resistance Lv4 Climb Lv4 Dual Wield Lv6 Disa.s.sembly Lv4
Physical Reinforcement Lv4 Mental Reinforcement Lv5 Speedcasting Lv6
Equipment:
Kaya Wood Rod x1 Kaya Wood Tonfa x2 Enraged Pickaxe+ x2 Silver Necklace+ Snow Leopard Push Dagger x1 Gale Tiger Push Dagger x2 Snow Leopard Bagh Nakh x1（New!）
Wild Horse Leather Armour+ Snow Ape Armguard Wild Horse Boots+ Snow Ape Leather Helmet Rabid Horse Belt+ Rucksack Item Box x2
Items:
Survival Knife Woodworking Set
t.i.tles:
Old Summoner"s Pupil
Guardian of the Forest
Man of the Middle Path
Spell Archive
Monster Summons:
Volff Grey Wolf Lv2
Zangetsu Horse Lv7
Helix Hawk Lv6
Obsidian Owl Lv6
Jean Bat Lv6
Jericho Wood Golem Lv5
Goki Demon Lv5
Senki Beast Ape Lv6
Rig Slime Lv4
Bunraku Wood Puppet Lv4
Mumyo Skeleton Lv3
Ninetails Red Fox Lv1→Lv2（↑1）
DEX 9（↑1）
AGI 20
INT 19（↑1）
STR 8
VIT 8
SPI 18
Skills:
Bite Evade Dash Sense Danger MP regeneration [Slight] Light Attribute
Companions:
Adele and Irina