Translator: Cryus Editor: Weasalopes
The weather is nice outside when I login.
The tournament starts tomorrow.
TIme is going by quickly when I think about it.
《Your friend has sent you a message.》
《You have received a notice from the GMs. Do you wish to read it?》
More messages.
The first one is from Saki.
I"ll put the GM notice off for later.
『I saw the goods. I have an idea for both the waist belt and shoulder belt, which I"ll add on later. I"ll be in Legias until tomorrow.』
Oh?
Belts?
Judging from the way she wrote it, the belts are probably not cla.s.sified as armor.
I"m starting to imagine a construction worker with his tools dangling from his belt.
Well, it"s probably nothing that extreme,.
Next.
I"ll look at the subject header for the GM notice.
《Notice for the Battle Tournament: The tournament will begin tomorrow as scheduled. Join us for the opening ceremony at 8 am in the new parade square!》
There"s only a map attached in the message.
Should I attend the opening ceremony?
My first match starts at 9:30 am in Area G of the new parade square.
There"s a weird gap in between.
There should be enough time for me to go hunting for a bit.
But I also want to watch some of the matches.
It"s okay if it isn"t too crowded.
The only thing I can do is go there first thing in the morning to see for myself.
I get ready and head off towards Legias.
I"ve only summoned Zangetsu and Jean.
I just had an idea. I"ll try going through the dungeon in the depths of the forest.
I should test my tonfas.
I wonder if there are any monsters who can be my guinea pigs.
An Evil Ant swarm would most likely put me in a situation where I can test freely, but unfortunately they don"t come in swarms during the day.
Next would be skeletons.
They use different weapons, so that"s good too.
It"ll help me hone my ability to observe and think on my feet during battle.
While I"m at it, it"ll help train Goki too.
I want to level up my Block skill if possible.
It looks like the usual in Legias.
Both Mio and Fiona have their stalls open in the same location.
I buy some breakfast at the back of Mio"s stall and bring it to the table where I wolf it down in a hurry.
Saki and Reina came to the table just as I finished my food.
「Good morning.」
「Mornin"!」
「Good morning, Keith. Sorry I wasn"t here yesterday.」
「No worries. You had work to do in the workshop.」
「Thanks for understanding.」
Saki is the only one sitting down.
Reina is still standing.
「With regards to the message about the belt, I think what Reina has equipped will be a good reference point.」
「I see.」
She"s still standing.
She"s showing me her belts as a sample. It"s a pretty effective sales method.
Speaking of which, what caught my attention was Mio"s leather armor.
「Reina"s belts help her carry her bow and quiver, huh.」
「It"s not made specifically to look good, so it"s great!」
「You could even carry 2 of your rods on your back with the belts.」
「What"ll it be like?」
「Since you have a good physique, it"ll be slightly broader than Reina"s.」
「You could even attach a flat broadsword!」
「Well, that"s out of the question.」
「You don"t know how it"ll be in the future, you know? Besides, these belts we"re making will last you a while.」
「It"s not going to cause more interference than the waist belt I"m using, right?」
「Don"t worry, the materials we"re using are good. You could attach 2 weapons and an《Item Box》.」
「Is that the same with the shoulder belt?」
「Of course.」
Good.
In my case, I don"t have much to carry, but I"ll have them make the belts since they last long.
「Then please go ahead.」
「Understood. I"ll most likely pa.s.s it to you along with the leather armor.」
「Thanks.」
We confirmed the order, and Reina and Saki got a replacement to tend their stall.
I"m arranging the items I got last night that I want to sell.
「You got all this in one night?」
「Yeah, pretty much.」
「You"re about to cause a price collapse with the Evil Ant Stings and Sh.e.l.ls, you know.」
It"s not that bad, right?
They don"t look like they"re joking at all.
The total amount of money I"m getting isn"t that much either.
Well, I made a sizeable profit yesterday, so I"m not too concerned.
I"ll just leave it since it"s a load off my back.
「So, you"ve been training for the tournament tomorrow?」
「Well, something like that.」
「Good luck. I think all of us will go and watch the finals.」
「I can"t guarantee I"ll make it to the finals.」
We"re both being diplomatic.
We"re both making a strained laugh too.
I"ll just take my leave.
Mio looks busy, so I just nod to her on my way out.
I"m heading into the depths of the forest.
I recall Zangetsu and summon Goki in her place.
「Gehe.」
Seriously, stop making that noise.
It"s easy for bow users to fight in the forest.
He"s a real hunter.
He"s making surprise attacks on a few Wild Pheasants (F) without getting noticed.
Along with Jean"s combo attacks, he"s finishing them off without taking damage.
He"s not letting them get in melee range.
Oops, time to move.
We made it through the entrance to the forest dungeon.
Now I"m summoning Jericho.
I switch out Goki"s equipment with a hatchet and shield.
This should make a good team.
I head deeper inside, where there are a few parties already here.
I head to the White Hall (temp) while watching them fight some mushrooms.
A few mushrooms appeared in the pa.s.sageway that leads to the central hall.
It"s 2 Rush Fungi.
With Jericho holding them back and Goki attacking them, there"s no problem at all.
As for me, I"m pulling off their caps and ripping them apart from top to bottom.
Perhaps having learned from me, Goki is doing the same to the Rush Fungus with his sickle.
Sticking his shield into the opening he made and using his feet, he"s splitting it cleanly in two.
Nice job.
Wait, I shouldn"t say that.
That"s basically how I"ve been fighting.
I wonder what Adele and Irina were thinking when they saw me fighting like that.
They probably didn"t have a good impression of me.
There"s a lot that I don"t know about myself unless I see it with my own eyes.
We tried fighting a Branch Golem halfway through one of the pa.s.sageways from the central plaza.
We took some damage, but fighting it wasn"t a problem.
The hatchet really is a good weapon.
Or maybe it"s just because the golem was made of wood, so it"s easy to cut.
We"ve left the White Hall (temp) and entered the cave.
There are no players here.
Even if there were, it"s a straight path. I probably would"ve noticed them by now.
I put away my Kaya Wood Rod and take out my tonfas.
Here"s the stats of the tonfas.
【Weapon: Staff, Knuckles】Kaya Wood Tonfas Grade C Rarity 3
AP+2 M・AP+2 Power 2 Weight 0+ Durability 80
A weapon that can be used to deal physical damage or cast spells. May be used in conjunction with Punch skills.
Easy to use with its moderate flexibility and good grip.
※Adds +1 to【Block】Skill
Why is it both a Staff and Knuckles weapon?
I look closely at that part of the item description. Apparently, the weapon relies on both the【Staff】and【Punch】skills.
It even says that weapon EXP is distributed across both skills accordingly.
So it"s that kind of a weapon.
But what I"m happy about is the bonus to the【Block】skill.
I should test it out right away.
I try holding a tonfa in each hand.
I"m holding them as if guarding my arms from fist to elbow, which is the basic way of using tonfas.
Now I"m giving it a spin, although it"s just for show.
It"s definitely not a weapon used by spinning.
In fact, I"ve seen some tonfas with blades attached to the grips.
It"s mostly used by hitting opponents with the front end, although there are other ways of using it.
I"ll probably end up testing it out as time goes on.
I"m trying it out on a group of skeletons.
My combat style is just going straight up to the enemy and hitting them.
Punching, kicking.
Evading, blocking.
That"s the basic pattern.
I"m racking up damage without using Joint Lock or Throw.
A soul dissipates from the skeletons each time I crack open their skulls and chests.
Now I"ll try using some techniques that are effective against humans.
I strike a blow at a skeleton"s face.
The front end of the tonfa is going straight into its eye socket.
Since it"s empty, the tonfa pries straight into it.
I raise it upwards towards its skull, moving my arm closer towards its body.
Eye sockets work like levers.
If I"m using it against a human, it"ll cause a lot of damage.
I"ll probably make them go blind and even cause some damage to the skull. If executed perfectly, I could even damage the brain.
Oops.
If executed poorly, I could even damage the brain.
I need to be careful.
It"s not like I"m going to do it on purpose.
It"s really possible to kill someone with a single blow like that.
But this is a skeleton I"m dealing with.
It doesn"t have a brain, and its body weight is light.
It"s HP has only decreased by a little. I didn"t do that much damage.
But in terms of breaking skulls and cracking ribs, this is much easier than doing it unarmed.
Whereas I could only blow them away with an elbow strike, now I can even break a few bones.
This is really useful.
I"m even more grateful for the bonus to Blocking.
It"s way better than blocking with drumsticks.
Also, I can perform a faster counterattack since I can block more effectively.
Although I"ll be that much closer to my opponent, it also means that it"s easier for me to fight.
And this weapon channels spells too.
It"s an impossible combination in real life, but it"s completely possible in this game.
Since it also functions as a staff, it"s really practical for spells.
In fact, I"ve been autocasting Physical Enchant: Earth on Jericho and Goki.
As for Jean, I"ve been casting Physical Enchant: Aqua.
I can see the effectiveness with my own eyes.
《【Block】Level Up!》
《You have learned the【Block】Weapon Arte: Turn Guard!》
My wish for the【Block】skill to level up has finally come true.
Since I normally block attacks while turning, I"ll just ignore the Weapon Arte.
I"ve accomplished my goals quickly today.
What should I do?
It"s not even 10 am yet.
Since I still have a lot of spare time, I"ll keep going.
I"m fighting more skeletons.
Since there are fewer of them now, I"ll try out my new spell.
Something unexpected just happened.
Even though they"re skeletons, the Lightning spell Paralysis didn"t work on them.
The Ice spell Delay wasn"t very effective either.
On the other hand, Electricity and Freezing Touch worked on them.
It seems that skeletons are resistant to abnormal status effects.
No, that"s wrong.
They lack the flesh and blood for status effects to be inflicted on them in the first place.
The Tree spells Branch Bind and Root Snare were very effective.
The skeleton that got hit by Branch Bind did nothing but struggle violently during the entire duration of the effect.
Root Snare was even better.
It made me laugh out loud.
After it toppled, it could only wait on the ground until Jericho stamped on it and crushed it.
I still feel exhilarated from watching the comedy unfold.
I guess this is what it means to become innocent again.
But something feels different.
Time to move on.
Probably thanks to Night Vision which has helped me navigate the dungeon, it feels like I"ve encountered fewer skeletons.
By the time I left the cave, I only encountered skeletons 4 times.
I"ve left the cave and entered the forest.
The weather is nice here.
It"s just a little before 11 am.
I haven"t explored beyond this point yet.
「Gehe.」
Goki is looking around curiously.
Not only is he doing that, but he"s also sniffing around like he"s taking in the smell of the forest.
I get the feeling that he doesn"t really like the environment.
I"ll head back.
Since I"m already here, maybe I"ll take a look at the cave south of here where goblins appear.
It"s probably going to be a completely different fight from the usual skeletons.
On the way back, I encountered 5 groups of skeletons.
Although it"s not entirely accurate to call them groups, since I killed them before they could summon more of their companions.
I didn"t get any Magic Stones.
Somehow, I never get bored when fighting skeletons.
That"s because each of them specializes in a different weapon.
I need to change things up when fighting each skeleton, so that means using my brain and skill.
But I"m not getting any item drops.
All of their weapons are so low in quality that no one would want to reuse them.
And since I"m not getting any Magic Stones, fighting them isn"t really worth it.
Still nothing.
It"s not my lucky day.
I should pay respects to my ancestors more often.
Or maybe I should commit more good deeds.
The best thing to do is to change my hunting spot.
After heading back into the forest dungeon, I put away my tonfas and equipped my Kaya Wood Rod before continuing the hunt.
While fighting 5 mushrooms and 4 Branch Golems, we ended up in the Red Plaza (temp).
This is where the goblins appear from.
「Gehe.」
Goki is acting strange for some reason.
He looks like he"s enjoying himself.
He"s expressing it through battle.
Even when using a bow and arrow, he"s fighting the goblins very effectively.
Actually, I made him equip it in the first place, but he"s clearly enjoying it.
It"s becoming worse now that he"s using a sickle and shield.
He"s going on a rampage.
He"s slaughtering them despite taking some damage.
I don"t know why he"s acting this way.
I guess it"s good that it"s making him more effective in combat.
I feel a little sorry for the goblins, but I"m going to continue farming them for a while.
I"m starting to use my tonfas against them.
I"m testing out new moves on them.
The goblins are enduring my attacks rather well, so all the better for my experimentation.
I"m crushing a goblin between the front ends of my tonfas.
I"m using the back end of my tonfas in conjunction with elbow strikes.
I"m dealing horizontal strikes with my entire arm while holding the tonfas.
I"m doing chin uppercuts with the tonfas.
I"m pushing the tonfas against a goblin"s throat and throwing my entire body weight on it, crushing its windpipe.
I"m using the move I tried on the skeleton a while ago.
I"m driving my tonfa straight into a goblin"s eye socket and crushing its eye. It"s an instant kill.
I"m trying out some restraining techniques.
I"m replacing one of my tonfas with a sickle.
I"m hitting the back of a goblin"s knee with the handle, causing it to topple.
I"m grabbing the back of the goblin"s neck and performing a knee kick on its head.
I"m holding the other tonfa with the hand that"s already wielding a sickle, and hitting the goblin"s joints with my now free hand.
I grab the weapon the goblin is wielding, then kick its wrist to disarm it.
That"s about it.
The goblins are fewer in number compared to the skeletons.
It generally takes me a while to measure the effectiveness of the techniques and skills I"m using.
By the time I realized, it"s already past noon.
I"ve been too absorbed in this.
But still…
I"ve defeated quite a number of goblins, so why are there so few Magic Stones?
We"re now resting for a while in the cave. I"m pouring water into some Portable Food and eating it.
I should move on.
I noticed something after defeating the next group of 7 goblins.
It"s the light.
I"m near the exit.
I"ve gone through all of the forks in this cave. They were all disappointing.
A dreadful sight greets me as I exit the cave.
It"s a wasteland.
I can see the mountain range from here, although it"s a reddish brown instead of the usual green color. It looks rugged.
It"s a volcanic area.
No.
The west half of the mountain is covered by a dense green forest.
It"s not just a volcanic area.
What should I do now?
I probably shouldn"t overdo it.
I should go back into the cave and continue practicing using tonfas against goblins.
The tournament starts tomorrow, and I probably don"t have much time left to do research on the tournament.
I"ll get back to hunting.
I"m crushing one group of goblins after the next.
The only items I"m picking up are pebbles, but I shouldn"t complain.
Since I have a lot of MP to spare now, I"m going to test the utility of my spells that cause abnormal statuses.
The goblins aren"t very resistant against status abnormalities.
It"s almost funny how they"re affected by the status effects.
Paralysis is working so well against them that it"s not even funny anymore.
But watching them get affected by Root Snare still makes me laugh.
Watching them get stomped to death by Jericho almost makes me cry from laughter.
I feel bad for Goki, but I"ll have him stay in the rear.
Using my spells in the front makes combat way too easy.
I think having Goki stay in the rear made it easier too.
It"s a bit of an exaggeration.
Because I narrowed down our roles in combat, we"re fighting more efficiently now.
Jericho and I are on the front lines.
Goki is supporting us from the rear by disrupting the goblins.
Jean is ambushing the goblins as well, preventing them from using teamwork.
Well, maybe it feels more efficient because we"re in a narrow cave.
I"m still continuing to hunt monsters, trying to figure out the best way to make the most out of my team of monster summons.
I"m letting Goki go back and forth between front and rear.
I"ve been getting a few pieces of limestone as item drops.
To my surprise, it"s almost 3 pm now.
Having invested all this time on using tonfas, I think I have a pretty good grasp on them now.
Or rather, I"ve ingrained the basics into my body.
It"s not that easy to master a weapon like that.
《【Dual Wield】Level Up!》
While fighting the goblins, my Dual Wield skill leveled up.
It leveled up sooner than I thought.
I should stop here for now.
I put away my tonfas and go back into the forest dungeon, where I"m now hunting mushrooms and Branch Golems.
This time, I"ll try fighting with my fists.
I"m practicing close combat while using my push daggers.
The logs are still heavy when I pick them up, but I can fit more of them into my《Item Box》now that my Racial Level has increased.
As usual, I"m picking up a large variety of mushrooms.
Delay works relatively well on the mushrooms.
The Branch Golems are a rather extreme case. It"s ineffective against them.
Root Snare is definitely better. It"s toppling them with ease.
Even when fighting against multiple Branch Golems at once, just toppling one of them makes the battle that much easier.
It"s not as effective as Pyrokinesis, but it"s rather useful.
I"ve been so engrossed in ripping apart the mushrooms and throwing the Branch Golems that it"s now almost 7 pm.
I never stopped to look at the time.
I"m at half MP now.
I move to the hall where monsters don"t sp.a.w.n, and proceed to eat some Portable Food to stave off the hunger.
I actually wanted to eat something delicious.
I set my alarm to 9 pm and continue hunting.
I"m facing some Branch Golems when the alarm rings.
Alright.
These will be the last ones.
After exterminating the Branch Golems, an info popup occurs.
《【Throw】Level Up!》
《You have learned the【Throw】Weapon Arte: Hook Throw!》
That"s a good timing for a level up.
Alright.
I"ll head back to Master"s house and logout.
The tournament starts tomorrow.
That"s about as far as I can get in terms of preparation.
Protagonist Keith
Race Human Male Racial Lv7
Job Summoner Lv6
Bonus Points Remaining 3
Skill Sets
Staff Lv6 Punch Lv4 Kick Lv4 Joint Lock Lv4 Throw Lv4（↑1）
Evade Lv4 Block Lv4（↑1）Summon Magic Lv7
Light Magic Lv3 Wind Magic Lv4 Earth Magic Lv4 Water Magic Lv4
Fire Magic Lv3 Dark Magic Lv3 Ice Magic Lv1 Lightning Magic Lv1
Tree Magic Lv1
Alchemy Lv4 Pharmacy Lv3 Gla.s.smaking Lv3 Woodworking Lv3
Cooperation Lv6 Appraise Lv5 Identify Lv6 Discern Lv1 Cold Resistance Lv3
Grab Lv5 Horsemanship Lv5 Precise Manipulation Lv6 Jump Lv2
Heat Resistance Lv3 Climb Lv3 Dual Wield Lv3（↑1）Spiritual Strengthening Lv2
Speedcasting Lv1
Equipment Kaya Wood Rod ×2 Kaya Wood Tonfas ×2 Snow Leopard Push Daggers ×3
Wild Rabbit Breastplate+ Series Snow Ape Armguard Wild Horse Boots+
Snow Ape Leather Helmet Rucksack Item Box ×2
Items Survival Knife Woodworking Tool Set
t.i.tles Old Summoner"s Pupil, Guardian of the Forest, Man of the Middle Path
Spell Archive
Monster Summons
Volff Wolf Lv6 Resting
Zangetsu Horse Lv4 Resting
Helix Hawk Lv4 Resting
Obsidian Owl Lv4 Resting
Jean Bat Lv4
Jericho Wood Golem Lv3
Goki Demon Lv2