Translator: Cryus
Volff is much more active in the forest.
Mostly in finding Healgra.s.s and Paingra.s.s.
Volff knows the smell of the herbs, so he"s spotting them again and again.
He lets me know whenever he finds one by biting and tugging on my sleeves.
He"s smart and helpful.
They"re not growing in large quant.i.ties here, but I"m able to collect a moderate amount.
I"ve already filled up more than half of the jute bags I"m borrowing.
The main monsters roaming here are the Stray Horse, which I"m avoiding, and the Wild Pheasant (Female), which I"m hunting one at a time.
All while trying out my new tricks.
I"m mainly using my rod to fight, while also letting out the occasional Kick.
I"m just testing out the movements.
I tried using the weapon arte Leg Sweep. Executing it makes my movements ten times sharper than using a normal attack.
Even then, it feels really strange.
It seems like weapon artes are executed automatically in a similar manner to spellcasting, instead of the actual skill of the player.
I bring up the help section and change the settings.
Performing it manually increases the chance of failure, but it can also increase the effectiveness of my attacks.
I turned off the auto function.
It just feels weird anyway.
And there"s one more thing.
It feels weird when I kick my target without feeling much of a reaction.
I"m changing the settings too.
By default, the pain settings is set to a 90% reduction.
It"s probably designed to prevent players from feeling too much pain.
I"ve disabled the settings.
There"s a sudden and drastic change in the sensation on my skin.
My rod strikes feel different too.
I can feel an impact when I kick my targets now. The strange feeling is gone.
Obviously, this means that I have to bear all the pain when I get hurt.
I took a few hits, but the pain feels realistic now.
I"m not a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t, but this feeling is refreshing somehow.
I recover my lost health using the Grade D+ Potions.
It"s strange that I"m feeling happy using the potions I made myself.
I"m using them on Volff too.
Volff leveled up after we defeated 7 Wild Pheasants (Female).
His VIT has already increased. There"s 1 more stat point, which I"m adding to DEX.
He"s gained a new skill.
This is what it looks like, including his stats.
Monster Summon Volff Wolf Lv2→Lv3
DEX 9（↑1）
AGI 25
INT 12
STR 11
VIT 16（↑1）
SPI 10
Skills
Bite Dash Threaten Listen Sense Danger（New!）
Sense Danger is his new skill.
It probably works like a warning device or an alarm.
The forest changes when the sun sets.
The Wild Pheasants are starting to form groups of 15, with many females gathering around the males.
The lone Stray Horses are starting to group up as well.
Obviously, that means I can"t fight them anymore.
I was just about to leave when I ran into a monster.
Evil Ant Lv.1
Monster Enemy Target Active
I"ve never seen it before.
It"s my first encounter with a bug type monster.
Just as I prepare my rod, Volff starts tugging on my sleeves.
What"s wrong?
I follow him in the direction he"s tugging me to.
The monster keeps approaching.
But it isn"t just this monster that"s attacking us.
I hear unpleasant sounds rising from behind.
We were surrounded.
There are 3 ants in total now.
He saved me from a surprise attack from behind. Nice one, Volff.
I"ll let you chew on Wild Rabbit Bones later.
My HP has been reduced somewhat, but I can take it.
What I"m worried about is my MP.
It"s recovered to about 70%, but…
Eh, who cares.
「Let"s get them.」
I call out to Volff and stop moving while brandishing my rod.
I bash the tip of the rod on an ant"s head and swing it up.
I use its momentum to toss it in the air.
I repeat it on another ant.
I kick the remaining ant in the head with all my might.
Now then.
Time to test some things out.
During the battle with the Snow Ape today, I was able to use magic while strangling it.
If my predictions are correct, I should be able to cast spells while hitting monsters with my rod.
This also allows me to buy me some time to finish the spellcasting automatically.
If I can pull this off well, I may even be able to fight against multiple monsters effectively.
The spell I"m using is Physical Enchant: Earth.
Volff is biting the head of one of the ants I sent flying, and is trying to shake it around.
The other ant is trying to attack him.
Like I would let it.
I thrust my rod into one of its torso sections and stop its a.s.sault.
Then I kick it and send it flying away.
I place my left hand on Volff"s body.
「Physical Enchant: Earth!」
The spell seems to be working without a hitch. There"s a marker indicating the spell effects.
I"m moving on to my next spell.
Physical Enchant: Aqua.
It"s a spell that temporarily raises DEX.
I cast it on myself.
「Physical Enchant: Aqua!」
I attack both ants consecutively without confirming that the effect has taken place.
It"s not my imagination. It"s getting easier to attack.
I"m not fumbling either.
I"ll spice up my attacks. No wasted hits.
I"m a Summoner, and I"m supposed to be a magic user. What"s with me, fighting in the front lines?
Well, it does suit my playstyle though.
Volff is the first to slaughter the ant.
My Beginner"s Rod and Kick attacks just don"t give me enough firepower.
I want to enhance those attacks.
So many problems. Maybe it"s because I"m seeking perfection.
It"s now 2v2 instead of 2v3, making the battle a lot easier.
We"re not going to lose.
It"s Volff who slaughters the 2nd ant.
I crush the final ant and finish the battle.
Or not.
There are 2 more ants coming our way.
These pests we killed had probably called their friends here.
It"s 2v2 again.
Another one joins the battle not long after.
They"re not really a threat when they"re coming one by one, but it"s still a tough battle when their numbers seem limitless.
They"re not stingy with their numbers.
I engage them in close combat while occasionally using Force Bullet, killing each and every one of them.
We defeated 13 of them in total.
We took some damage, but took care of it with a potion.
Volff suffered a fair amount of grazes, but 1 potion was enough for him too.
It"s probably due to Physical Enchant: Earth raising his defense.
My MP is the problem.
It"s now at 20%.
If I were going to fight the same battle again, it would most likely be tough.
If they"re coming in faster than I can kill them, it"s highly possible that I"ll be outnumbered without a means of attack.
Here"s the good news.
This time, Volff performed 2 critical hits, and I scored a critical as well.
Clearly, my normal attacks are more effective after I changed the auto and pain settings.
《Kick Level Up!》
My Kick skill has leveled up.
So far, I haven"t obtained any weapon artes or spells when my skills reached Lv.2.
I"m looking forward to Lv.3.
The item drops seem to match the strength of the ants.
【Material】Evil Ant Sting Raw Material Grade C Rarity 1 Weight 0+
The sting of an Evil Ant. Not poisonous. Surprisingly light with a sharp tip.
【Material】Evil Ant Sh.e.l.l Raw Material Grade C Rarity 1 Weight 0+
The sh.e.l.l of an Evil Ant. Small, light, and somewhat tough.
There were 13 stings and 9 sh.e.l.ls.
All of the ants had at least one item drop. Their drop rates are really high.
I get the feeling that we"re going to run into some difficult monsters at night.
We should head back to Master"s house.
On our way back, we"re hit by a surprise attack.
I don"t blame Volff for not noticing.
The monster attacked from above.
My HP is decreased by half just from that single attack.
Intense pain is coursing through my back.
Hunter Ant Lv.3
Monster Enemy Target Active
This is going to be more trouble.
The fact that it"s attacking from midair is a bother in and of itself.
We have to find the perfect moment to counterattack in order to hit it.
Our chance will come when it"s about to hit us with an attack.
We have to keep defending ourselves until then.
What about magic?
I remember seeing in the help section that Force Bullet has a range of 20m.
But with this amount of distance, I"m not sure it"ll hit.
And my MP is already low.
I want to make sure it hits.
I"m planning my attack.
If Force Bullet misses, we"ll be wiped for sure.
It"s ideal if I can hit it at the last moment.
It"s coming.
The bat stops circling and approaches.
There"s no doubt that I"m its target.
The flashing marker is getting bigger, indicating that it"s coming closer.
I start casting the spell.
I"m doing it automatically.
It"s done.
At this moment, Volff howls loudly.
「Awooo!!!」
It"s sharp, loud, and short. He directed it towards the bat.
I"m shocked too.
It"s a miracle I didn"t fumble the spell.
The bat stiffens for a moment.
It"s falling to the ground because it stopped flapping its wings.
In other words…
It"s right in front of me.
「Force Bullet!」
I release the spell.
I run forward at the same time.
But Volff is faster than me.
The bat was trying to fly up again when Volff bit its neck and pinned it to the ground.
The bat is still trying to resist by spreading its wings and fly into the air.
I step on its left wing.
I pin its right wing with the front of my staff.
Volff tortures it to death.
《Summon Magic Level Up!》
《You may now summon a maximum of 2 monsters at once.》
Perfect timing.
But more importantly…
My HP is at half now. I"m in trouble.
The potion cooldown hasn"t ended.
I can"t use a potion right now.
I immediately stick my Survival Knife into the bat and confirm the item drops.
【Material】Bat"s Fang Raw Material Grade C+ Rarity 2 Weight 0+
The fang of a Hunter Bat. Cuts sharply like a flat knife. Not poisonous.
This isn"t the time to rejoice.
We"re in danger of being attacked by more monsters like this.
I quickly put it into my《Item Box》and hurry on.
Fortunately, we"ve arrived at Master"s house without encountering any more monsters.
The sun has completely set by the time we got here.
We"re safe.
Just as I"m beginning to relax, Volff tugs on my sleeves.
I turned pale all of a sudden.
Volff is sniffing the ground in front of the gate.
Upon closer inspection, I see traces of battle on the ground and the trees around us.
There are footprints that are clearly larger than a human"s.
What happened here?
There are 2 strange lights glaring at me from above the gate.
I"m shocked for a second, even though there"s a yellow marker on top of it.
It"s Master"s monster summon, the Magi Owl.
The gate opens when I touch it.
Its mechanisms are still a mystery to me.
The stairway leading underground opens up when I step inside.
Master is climbing up the stairs.
「Let us finish our dinner downstairs. Come.」
「Okay.」
I wonder what happened.
He looks very displeased.
「Did something happen outside?」
「I had just a little bit of unpleasant company.」
Whoa.
I"m listening to his complaints over dinner.
He says that a party came by and pressured him to let them in.
Most likely it was a party of 5 players.
He used the Magi Owl to tell them to leave, but they tried to force their way in.
They tried to climb the stone wall using a rope.
He responded in kind with force.
The forces guarding his house consisted of:
1 Magi Owl…
And 2 Stone Golems.
He"s most likely telling the truth.
「It was disappointing.」
The battle was one-sided.
It seems the reason for his displeasure is because the battle bored him to death.
It was the same in my case. Does he really like watching people fight?
Also, you"re in a bad mood not because they tried to intrude?
The food is surprisingly luxurious.
It"s a hamburger, right?
It has Horned Rabbit Meat inside.
「I have some Horned Rabbit Meat. You can have some.」
「Worry not. I shall have you work tomorrow as compensation.」
That sounds scarier.
Oh well.
My MP bar is at half. I don"t have the courage to roam around in the forest at night.
I should sleep soon.
After going to the attic, I recall Volff and lie on the bed, then logout from the game.
But something bothers me a little.
I can"t help but feel that the real world is becoming less comfortable.
Protagonist Keith
Race Human Male Racial Lv3
Job Summoner Lv2
Bonus Points Remaining 7
Skill Sets
Staff Lv2 Punch Lv1 Kick Lv2（↑1）Summon Magic Lv3（↑1）
Light Magic Lv1 Wind Magic Lv2 Earth Magic Lv1 Water Magic Lv1
Alchemy Lv1 Pharmacy Lv1
Cooperation Lv2 Appraise Lv3 Identify Lv2 Cold Resistance Lv1 Grab Lv1
Equipment Beginner"s Rod Simple Clothes Cloth Shoes Rucksack Item Box
Items Survival Knife
Monster Summons
Volff Wolf Lv3（↑1）
DEX 9（↑1）
AGI 25
INT 12
STR 11
VIT 16（↑1）
SPI 10