Translator: Cryus Editor: Weasalopes
I logged in just before dawn.
Well, it"s actually looking a little bright outside.
The stars are twinkling beautifully, and the moon is descending in the west.
It looks like it"s going to be a clear weather day.
《You have received a GM notice. Do you wish to read it?》
Another GM notice on a nice morning.
I"ll take a look at the subject header.
《Statistics Update: Data has been updated along with yesterday"s patch!》
That reminds me, I don"t think I saw the previous updated statistics.
Yup.
I"ll browse it later.
I organized the stuff I got yesterday before leaving Master"s house.
I"m summoning the usual day team - Zangetsu, Helix, and Obsidian.
I"m going to show up at Fiona"s place today.
It"s a little early, but I guess I"ll head to Legias anyway.
It"s a beautiful sunrise.
There"s a Stray Horse carca.s.s right in front of me.
It was a chance encounter. I was really lucky.
I smile at my own luck while getting the item drops from the Stray Horse.
Now that I think about it, I"m able to spend my time freely for the next few days.
I can explore.
I can do some quests.
I can focus on hunting.
I can do anything I want.
I use Call Monster to call another Stray Horse.
I"m going to squander my time for a little longer.
The Stray Horses are getting easier to kill now.
I"ve only fought one more Stray Horse. I wonder if my next battle will be tougher.
Previously, I"ve had to take more than 30 minutes to kill a single Stray Horse.
With that in mind, I know that I"m getting stronger.
After arriving at Legias, I head to the usual spot.
But there are uncommon visitors at Mio"s stall.
It"s Adele and Irina.
Mio and Yuka are eagerly rummaging for something at the back of the stall.
It looks like they"re checking their equipment.
Shinohara is tending the stall right now.
We nod at each other in greeting.
I walk up to Adele and Irina and talk to them.
「Yo, mornin" to you two.」
「Mornin"!」
「Good morning.」
「What are you doing here today?」
「We"ll be tending to the stall and doing the cooking while they"re out!」
「Mio and Yuka are going to the forest dungeon for the boss fight!」
「Is everything going well with Gelta?」
「She told us to go wild!」
「She needs to clean up after the tournament, so she let us do as we like for the next few days.」
That"s why.
They helped with the cooking before, so they"re probably looking to practice and perfect their cooking skills.
I take some mushroom stew and bread from Irina, and head to the back of the stall.
「Good morning, everyone.」
「Yo!」
「Good morning.」
「I heard that you guys are going to fight the boss inside the forest?」
「Of course! We wanna get it over and done with quickly!」
「She"s too enthusiastic about it.」
I can see that in Mio.
I can also see the wry smile on Yuka"s face.
Mio is swinging a lance around, so I back off slightly and take a seat.
I should finish my breakfast.
Oops.
I should【Appraise】it first.
【Food】Mushroom and Vegetable Stew Satiety +35 Grade C+ Rarity 2 Weight 0+
A variety of mushrooms and vegetables stewed in pork belly soup.
Extremely filling.
That looks good.
Along with the bread, I"m filling up more than 40% Satiety.
With Fiona in the lead, her production guild members are coming in one by one while I"m eating my food.
There"s also a Dwarf I"ve never met.
He"s wearing some leather armor reinforced with Evil Ant Sh.e.l.ls.
He"s holding a tough looking iron plated shield, and has a hammer attached to his waist.
He"s a stereotypical physical Fighter.
「h.e.l.lo. Good morning.」
「Morning. Shall we talk after we"ve both finished our food?」
「Sure.」
Fiona is sitting on the opposite side of the table.
Saki is sitting next to her.
Fay is sitting next to me.
Everyone"s eating their meal.
I was the first to start eating, so I"m the first to finish as well.
Good.
I have some spare time.
I should look at the statistical data.
I call up the GM notice and bring the data to a virtual window.
I look at the bottom most part of the raw data.
There are a little more than 18,000 players in total.
I wonder if this is a lot. Compared to what I heard before, this doesn"t seem like much.
I"m now looking at the number of Summoners.
The number has increased to 49.
Well, compared to the increase in the total number of players, this is a meager increase.
But I"ve started seeing more players with monster summons in Remut.
I guess it"s more densely populated there, compared to us 3 Summoners here.
Next.
As usual, I"m sorting the list of jobs, from least common to most common.
This is what it looks like.
Lumberjack 3
Gla.s.sworker 5
Stonemason 5
Potter 6
Fisherman 6
Jeweler 8
Brewer 10
Farmer 17
Bard 30
Summoner 49
Alchemist 58
Fabric Worker 154
Pharmacist 135
Merchant 157
Lumberjacks are rare as usual.
But it"s increased for sure.
The one who won the tournament was a Lumberjack, after all.
The number of Fishermen has increased probably because of the tournament too.
The Gla.s.sworker, which Fay is playing, may end up in the lowest group soon.
Next.
I pull up the list of players who have learned more than one type of Magic Skills.
I list them by descending order.
The top of the list says 11 Magic Skills.
And there"s only 1 person.
Which idiot is it?!
It"s me!
The next on the list only has 5 Magic Skills!
I"m on the top of the list, but so what?
Hmm?
11 Magic Skills, huh.
The 11th one I learned was Time Magic.
The 10th was Tree Magic.
I think I unlocked Speedcasting the moment I picked up Tree Magic.
I look up the archived logs and confirm it.
That"s what happened.
Is the number of Magic Skills the requirement for Speedcasting?
10 Magic Skills.
That"s possible and likely.
Wait, I got the t.i.tle of Spell Archive before that.
It"s also possible that it"s part of the conditions.
Now that I think about it, I got the t.i.tle when I learned Lightning Magic as my 9th Magic Skill.
Was that really the trigger for the t.i.tle?
It"s a difficult one.
There should be other conditions.
Hmm, I"m curious…
「Thanks for waiting, Keith.」
「No problem.」
「We"re planning to challenge the dungeon boss in 2 teams with our guild members.」
「2 teams?」
「We"ll form a Union. One team will focus on defeating the boss, while the other team will provide support.」
「Huh…」
「We"ll be testing out our new spells too.」
「What are you going to do?」
「I"m going to take a look in the area beyond the forest dungeon.」
「I see. Yeah, that"s probably best.」
She looks deep in thought.
What"s she thinking about?
「There was a pretty big reaction to your post yesterday. Is everything okay?」
「Really?」
「Keith, you"d do better if you were more concerned about what"s going on in the forums, you know?」
Fiona is smiling at me.
Mio is glaring at me.
Stop that already.
「I didn"t get to talk about the Speedcasting skill yesterday. I think I know what the conditions are.」
「What a coincidence. I was just thinking about that just now.」
「You too?」
「Yeah. I"d like to think that our guess is the same.」
「Then how about saying it at the same time?」
I nod in agreement.
Fiona is nodding back.
Alright then.
One, two, three…!
「「The number of Magic Skills!」」
We said it in harmony.
We"re both smiling.
「But I don"t think you need to have the t.i.tle of Spell Archive before that.」
「Maybe.」
「In fact, I have an idea about how to get the t.i.tle.」
「I"m not too sure on that one.」
「The combined level of your Magic skills. You got the t.i.tle when you hit 30 in total.」
「Huh?」
I take a second look at the screenshot I took.
She"s right.
My combined Magic Skill level happened to hit 30 when I learned and activated Lightning Magic.
「If that"s the case, then isn"t it likely that you"ll get more advanced t.i.tles like that in the future?」
「Huh?」
「It seems likely that you"ll get an advanced t.i.tle when your combined Magic Skill level hits 50 or 60, right?」
Hm.
That"s true. Spell Archive doesn"t seem like a final tier t.i.tle.
I haven"t even mastered my Magic Skills, after all.
Well, maybe it"s different in this case.
I can"t even imagine what an advanced t.i.tle would be like.
「Then maybe it"s better if I upload this information on the forums?」
「I wonder…」
「Huh?」
「It"s going to be a while before other players can verify that information, right?」
「Yeah, probably.」
It"s obvious just by looking at the statistics.
It may take some time to reach a combined Magic Skill level of 30, but it"s achievable.
You just need to invest a bunch of Bonus Points into 10 types of Magic Skills.
But you could also see it as a heavy tax on Bonus Points.
It"s possible that you need to fulfil both conditions in order to obtain the Speedcasting Support Skill.
I doubt anyone would want to force themselves to shoulder the burden of verifying the details.
「In this case, making the information public doesn"t benefit players as a whole. That"s what I think.」
「Aren"t you overthinking it a little?」
「I hope it"s that simple. My hunch has been off lately. I"ll leave it up to you.」
「Huh.」
「Besides, I"m more interested in the elemental types of Magic Skills that will result from the combination of Fire and Wind Magic, and also Fire and Earth Magic. I"d appreciate it if you could tell me about it once you learn those elemental Magic Skills.」
Just then, Fiona came closer to me in curiosity.
She"s leaning over on the desk.
「Hey, there"s something else I wanna ask you about.」
I"m being pestered by grown up girls.
That"s my favorite thing.
I can"t go against them.
I"m staring straight at her b.o.o.bs.
Mio is giving me a dangerous looking glare, but I"m ignoring it.
「What is it?」
「It"s about the Time Magic spell, Return Home. You"ve used it already, right?」
「Yeah.」
「Is it useful?」
「I couldn"t use it inside Legias. But it works outside town.」
「How did it feel?」
「The MP cost is about the same as a level 3 offensive spell, but it makes traveling much easier.」
「I think the guide team would really want it.」
Saki is joining in on the conversation.
「If only Fiona would learn Dark Magic.」
「Saki, you know that I won"t have enough DEX if I do that, right?」
「You"re right. Also, the support skill Cooperation seems to just level up randomly.」
They"re continuing their discussion.
True, if you were a front-line player, you would probably learn Time Magic to save time by teleporting.
It would also make it easier for the rear to go all out on the offensive without having to worry about spending MP.
Fiona gave orders to everyone when they finished their food.
Saki is giving a supplementary explanation.
「Today, 6 of us will challenge the boss, and get the Guardian of the Forest t.i.tle!」
「We"ll confirm the teams. Shinonome will be the central front liner, with Mio and Rick supporting from the sides.」
「Fudo, Yuka, and Len-Len will be in the rear.」
「Yuka and Len-Len, you"ll be using your sub-weapons, but you can use your main weapons during the boss fight.」
「Saki, Fay, and I will be in the front lines for the support team, with Shinohara and Helga in the rear.」
「We"ll also be testing out our new spells at the same time. Don"t forget to sound off to each other!」
「We"ll leave the stalls to Reina, as well as Adele and Irina temporarily.」
Reina, Adele, and Irina are raising their hands to indicate that they understand.
「Alright then. Everyone, check your own equipment! Rick, do the calculations for the items from yesterday!」
「Understood.」
「Don"t forget to include the payment for the information about the Recovery Pills.」
「Acknowledged.」
Rick is the first to approach me.
I"m taking out all the items I want to sell.
I picked up some items yesterday, but there were some item drops this morning too,.
Mio is looking at the horse meat with eyes wide open.
The payment is pretty decent.
In fact, it"s the most I"ve gotten so far.
At least I"m getting something. I should be grateful.
I"m taking some stew and bread from Adele. It"s worth 2 meals.
I"m using Alchemy pots for the stew.
I had her put the stew into the smallest pot. After that, I put it in 2 larger pots to keep it warm.
I put it straight into my《Item Box》.
I plan to progress in the game past evening.
Alright, time to go.
My goal for today is the area past the forest dungeon.
I"ve only gone as far as taking a peek to the west and south of the forest dungeon. I"ve also seen an indicator saying that I can proceed further.
I"ve run into a few frogs in the south, but I"ve never actually fought them.
I want to go and take a look.
In any case, it"s the same direction as the plateau that Master has always taken me to.
Snow Apes are waiting for me there.
Even now, it"s probably inevitable that it"ll be a tough battle
But I actually want to try fighting them now.
I still can"t go easy against Branch Golems, but I can deal with them.
Wild Horses are tough, but it"s also hard to encounter them.
I think I can fight pretty well right now.
I"m heading into the depths of the forest.
Riding Zangetsu is getting to be a pain, so I"m recalling him.
I replace him with Goki.
We encountered some striped racc.o.o.ns and Wild Pheasants (F) halfway through, but they didn"t pose a threat.
I activated the Earth spell Dowsing, so I also managed to find some Obsidian Stones.
I can use them for Goki"s arrow supply.
Goki should have plenty of arrows, but I should plan ahead.
Either way, I"m not really too worried about it since I have a few ways of securing my supplies.
Right.
I want to make arrows soon, maybe starting today.
We head into the forest dungeon.
There are only 3 halls and 2 pa.s.sageways before the northern exit.
Plus, one of the halls is a safe room.
I"m going to charge straight ahead without summoning Jericho.
I"ll use Night Vision to boost my visibility, and let Helix fight for a while.
We finished off a group of 5 mushrooms and another group of 4 mushrooms before reaching the hall that connects to the north.
We went ahead all too quickly.
After defeating the group of 4 mushrooms, the level up I"ve been expecting finally occurred.
《Your Monster Summon『Goki』has leveled up!》
《Please a.s.sign 1 point to a desired stat.》
Good.
His DEX has already increased.
I"ll add a point to INT.
Goki Demon Lv2→Lv3（↑1）
DEX 18（↑1）
AGI 13
INT 10（↑1）
STR 17
VIT 17
SPI 11
Skills
Bow Handaxe Small Shield Block Evade Hide
This should be good enough.
I"ll increase his INT to 11 to match his SPI next time, then balance out all of his stats.
Still, his DEX is really high.
Is it because I"ve been making him use a bow and arrow?
I don"t really think so though.
We"re heading to the northern side of the forest dungeon.
We make our way through the green hallway.
We"ve arrived at the slope of the mountain with thick ivy growing all around it.
I"ll just climb up here.
Helix and Obsidian are the only safety net for me since they can fly.
The other monster summons that I have are based on the ground. There"s no way I"m summoning them on this unsafe footing.
As for me, I have the Climb support skill, so I manage to climb the mountain.
Maybe the Grab support skill is helping too.
Obviously, I"ve put my rod straight into my 《Item Box》.
And there"s Goki.
It"s just like climbing many trees in succession. He"s having no problem in keeping up with me.
He"s using only his legs to secure his footing.
In other words, he can use a bow and arrow while climbing trees.
He really is impressive.
But other monsters don"t care about the circ.u.mstances on our side.
Surprisingly, the first monster we"ve encountered isn"t one of the frogs that we"ve seen before.
It"s this one.
Wood Slug Lv.2
Monster Enemy Target Active
It"s a slug.
It"s slimy.
My hands are occupied since I"m still climbing.
The most I can do is use one hand to defend myself.
Goki plants both legs on the ground and fires an arrow.
He"s skillful.
It"s a direct hit, but the monster"s HP has barely decreased.
Helix and Obsidian are joining in on the a.s.sault, but their attacks don"t seem effective at all.
They"re barely doing any damage to it.
It looks like physical attacks aren"t very effective against it.
Since it"s a slug, most of its body is made of water.
How would you exterminate house slugs?
The usual routine would be to sprinkle salt around it.
Due to the change in osmotic pressure, it will lose its moisture and die off.
But sadly, I don"t have any salt on me.
What about my favorite way of exterminating them?
I used to put house slugs on iron plates and burn them under the hot sun.
It was always fun to watch them wriggle in agony.
But I don"t have anything like that over here.
In the first place, we"re in the shade.
What then?
I have 2 choices.
I can burn it with fire.
Or I can freeze it before crushing it.
Oh no, it"s right in front of me.
I grip the Snow Leopard Push Daggers in my right hand.
I push it right into the monster in front of me, and make a brushing motion to rip it apart.
How"s that?
It looks like I did some damage.
Its movements have slowed down all of a sudden.
It"s marker is indicating that it"s suffering from some kind of status abnormality.
Will this work?
I try stabbing the same spot with my right hand.
The push daggers are piercing it only slightly.
I mow it down with a scratching motion.
I did some damage, but not a lot.
Flying over my head, Helix swoops down and begins pecking at the spot that I stabbed.
Not a second later, Obsidian has also joined in.
How"s that?
That did quite a lot of damage.
The monster has stopped moving because we"ve been opening its wound a lot.
Is it really that weak?
But wait a minute.
Since physical attacks don"t work on it, it"s a really troublesome enemy.
It"s the same as slimes.
I"m just glad that the Snow Leopard Push Daggers worked on it.
Maybe I"ll try using some Ice spells on it.
I"ll use Freezing Touch.
Since its movements are dulled, it looks like it"s going to be effective.
I was just about to stick my survival knife into the monster when it disappeared without a trace.
What the h.e.l.l?
This is bad.
We continue climbing. The slopes are getting less steep.
The ivy vines are getting thicker.
I"m now at a point where I can climb without using my hands.
There are some spots where I need to use my hands, but it"s gotten a lot better.
Are we heading the right way?
I"ll use the Lightning spell, Magnetic Compa.s.s.
I look around my surroundings and continue climbing. It looks like we"re heading in the right direction.
I minimize the compa.s.s display and continue on.
There"s another slug.
It"s also level 2.
I"ll try using Ice spells this time.
I put my monster summons on standby, and begin casting my spell.
The moment I finished casting the spell and reach out to the slug, it spat something at me.
It"s some kind of liquid.
But there"s still some s.p.a.ce between us. I got lucky.
The much better footing here seems to have helped.
I managed to evade the attack.
Fortunately, I didn"t fumble the spell, so I activate it right away.
I put my hand just inches away from the slug, and unleash the spell.
「Freezing Touch!」
The slug is freezing over.
The area of effect is definitely much bigger than my push daggers.
I set my monster summons on the slug at the same time.
Helix and Obsidian are beginning to a.s.sault the monster, crushing it right in the middle.
Goki shot an arrow, but the monster has already been slaughtered.
It was weak.
Yet it was a troublesome opponent.
The monster disappeared again, but there"s some kind of stone left behind.
I pick it up and【Appraise】it.
【Material】Kichin Stone Raw Material Grade C Rarity 2 Weight 0+
A medicinal stone. Most commonly used as an antidote.
Normally administered as crushed powder. Side effects include decreasing AGI and INT.
It"s an antidote.
It functions the same way as Healgra.s.s.
I put it straight into my《Item Box》.
This item is hinting at something.
It"s simple.
It"s a warning that there are monsters that use poisonous attacks.
That reminds me. There should be some frogs here as well.
I should watch out for them.
I should remain alert.
Just as I was about to leave, I look down at my legs and see smoke on the ground.
Wait.
It"s the same spot where the monster"s spit landed.
It can"t be.
Acid?
I"m glad I evaded it.
I was really lucky.
I"m going my way up while following the ivy vines.
There were a few spots where I jumped between one ivy vine to another in order to continue climbing.
Another one of my Support Skills has leveled up.
《【Jump】Level Up!》
Jump, huh.
Never mind that. Why can"t I get past this area already?
It feels like I"ve climbed a rather long height by now.
A monster appeared right about where the incline became steep again.
It"s not a slug this time.
It"s a frog.
I"ll【Identify】it.
Ivy Frog Lv.4
Monster Enemy Target Active
There"s no mistake about it.
It"s the same monster that I encountered last time, but didn"t fight.
Protagonist Keith
Race Human Male Racial Lv8
Job Summoner Lv7
Bonus Points Remaining 7
Skill Sets
Staff Lv6 Punch Lv4 Kick Lv4 Joint Lock Lv4 Throw Lv4
Evade Lv4 Block Lv4 Summon Magic Lv8 s.p.a.cetime Magic Lv1
Light Magic Lv4 Wind Magic Lv4 Earth Magic Lv4 Water Magic Lv4
Fire Magic Lv3 Dark Magic Lv4 Ice Magic Lv1 Lightning Magic Lv1
Tree Magic Lv2
Alchemy Lv4 Pharmacy Lv3 Gla.s.smaking Lv3 Woodworking Lv3
Cooperation Lv6 Appraise Lv6 Identify Lv6 Discern Lv2 Cold Resistance Lv3
Grab Lv5 Horsemanship Lv5 Precise Manipulation Lv6 Jump Lv3（↑1）
Heat Resistance Lv3 Climb Lv3 Dual Wield Lv3 Mental Fort.i.tude Lv3
Speedcasting Lv2
Equipment Kaya Wood Rod ×2 Kaya Wood Tonfas ×2 Snow Leopart Push Daggers ×3
Wild Horse Leather Armor+ Snow Ape Armguard Wild Horse Boots+
Snow Ape Leather Helmet Wild Horse Belt+ 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
Zangetsu Horse Lv4
Helix Hawk Lv4
Obsidian Owl Lv4
Jean Bat Lv4
Jericho Wood Golem Lv3
Goki Demon Lv2→Lv3（↑1）
DEX 18（↑1）
AGI 13
INT 10（↑1）
STR 17
VIT 17
SPI 11
Skills
Bow Handaxe Small Shield Block Evade Hide
Senki Beast Ape Lv1