Translator: Charlotte Editor: Weasalopes
We easily pa.s.sed through the goblin cave.
It was hard work, but I got two limestones out of it.
【Disa.s.sembly】was working its magic.
S1W1 was mainly in a volcanic area, but there were some bits of forest too.
The first thing I did was walk into a forest and pick a random branch.
I had an idea.
This was the branch I settled on:
【Material】Hornbean Branch Raw Material Grade C Rarity 2 Weight 2
A hornwood tree branch. A relatively hard and resilient type of wood.
I collected about five more.
When I was done collecting branches, we headed towards a volcano.
Of course, we were heading towards the Area Portal.
I had another goal too.
To level up my Summon Monsters.
After recalling Helix and Obsidian, I summoned Jericho and Rig.
Volff remained on guard, along with Senki and Rig.
My goal was to level up Jericho.
Although Jericho was relatively weak, I was sure he would do fine against Rock Worms.
I used【Enchanted Weapon】on Lambda.
I took the opportunity to cast some strengthening spells in advance.
There was only one thing left to do.
【Call Monster】.
I was calling Rock Worms.
I meant to call only five of them, but at some point, we were surrounded by ten.
It wasn"t a bad thing.
「Make sure you don"t kill them all, alright?」
「Huh?」
「These guys will keep calling in their friends while they fight. I"m sure you can beat them easily using【Enchanted Weapon】.」
「Understood!」
I treated Lambda like he was from a different party.
I couldn"t use support spells that effectively.
But in any case, Lambda had good stats.
He made it through each fight somehow.
I pulled out my tonfas and took a fighting stance.
Let"s go hunting.
We killed all of them in about 10 minutes.
I didn"t want to force Lambda into any difficult fights, so I decided to stop.
But even then, together we killed about 100 Rock Worms.
It was a nice pace.
I used【Force Bullet】a few times, but I was already used to my fighting style.
I had plenty of MP, so I tried using the【Lightning Magic】spell【Thunder Arrow】.
It was a little overkill against Rock Worms though.
Rock Worms weren"t very appropriate opponents for spell attacks anyway.
Lambda took some damage but was still fine.
As expected.
《【s.p.a.cetime Magic】Level Up!》
《You have acquired the【s.p.a.cetime Magic】spell【Psycho Pod】!》
《You have acquired the【s.p.a.cetime Magic】spell【Telekinesis】!》
《You have acquired the【s.p.a.cetime Magic】spell【Gravity Bullet】!》
《【Physical Reinforcement】Level Up!》
《Summon Monster『Jericho』Level Up!》
《Please put one point into a desired stat.》
Jericho levelled up, just like I expected.
The info screen seemed almost foreign to me.
The stat that went up during the level-up was DEX.
Hmm…
I chose to put a point into INT.
I kind of had to…
Looking at Jericho"s stats again, I realised how difficult it was to maintain nice numbers.
It was looking pretty bad.
Jericho Wood Golem Lv3→Lv4（↑1）
DEX 5（↑1）
AGI 5
INT 5（↑1）
STR 33
VIT 33
SPI 4
Skills:
Punch Kick Magical Resistance [Slight] Self-Repair [Slight] Block
I got some new【s.p.a.cetime Magic】spells too.
I wasn"t using the other spells as much, so I wasn"t surprised to see it level up so soon.
That being said, I was sure I was close to getting another magic skill level-up.
I debated using【Call Monster】again.
I decided to collect all the item drops first.
Two Baryte stones.
Nice.
I didn"t take that much damage during the fight either.
It was a good battle.
Oops.
I almost forgot my goal.
If I couldn"t reach the Area Portal it would all have been for nothing.
I used【Physical Enchant: Aqua】and【Physical Enchant: Fire】on Jericho.
Jericho wasn"t doing so well in the volcano region.
I wanted to raise Jericho"s base AGI stat, no matter how little.
Senki and Jericho easily took care of any Rock Worms by simply throwing them away.
I didn"t have to use【Enchanted Weapon】on them either, making the fight more effective on my MP bar.
Although I had to use enchant spells on Jericho.
Well, it would be worth it.
On my way to the Area Portal, I checked out the new spells.
Three new【s.p.a.cetime Magic】spells were there: 【Psycho Pod】, 【Telekinesis】, and【Gravity Bullet】.
【Telekinesis】worked more or less like what I expected.
Depending on its level, I could use it to move objects without having to touch them.
A pretty useful skill.
【Gravity Bullet】was an attack spell.
The range was pretty small, but it was special in the force it could pack.
And the spell I was most happy about,【Psycho Pod】
A spell that protects the user from abnormal status conditions.
It wasn"t something that could protect from all abnormal conditions, but it would
Combined with the Silver Necklace, I was sure it would come in useful.
Just a little further to the Fire Spirit Rock.
There was another Rock Worm infestation waiting for us.
I didn"t have the chance to prepare with enchant spells beforehand.
The least I could do was cast【Enchanted Weapon】on all my Summon Monsters.
I followed by casting it on myself as well.
After I was done casting the spells, a group of Rock Worms ambushed us.
It was a pretty big group.
「I"ll take the lead!」
Lambda ran into the group.
How reckless…
I followed suit.
I could already see the rock in the distance.
I couldn"t afford to die.
But there were a good number of Rock Worms to kill.
I suppose it wouldn"t hurt anyone to go wild for a while.
I kept fighting for about 10 minutes.
The number of monsters was finally going down.
But my surroundings were still blocked out by red markers.
Even Jericho"s HP bar went down by about 20%.
Well, it was impressive, considering how many attacks Jericho took.
Jericho didn"t have any need for rest as he punched away at the Rock Worms.
I could heal Jericho, but would it be worth it?
It would just put Jericho back to the start.
The Rock Worm ram attacks were pretty strong.
Everyone except Jericho made a point to try and dodge the Rock Worms" attacks.
Of course, that didn"t mean we could dodge all of them.
I was grazed multiple times.
The Rock Worms" onslaught seemed to weaken little by little.
Their numbers finally decreased to the point where I could count them.
Just a little more.
When I thought that, a giant blob appeared in front of me.
Rock Beast Lv.？？？
Monster Enemy Target Active
A superior version of the Rock Worm.
It was accompanied by several Rock Worms.
Some kind of boss?
A small head was attached to the top of its carapace, not matching the size of the body at all.
It looked tough either way.
I used【Enchanted Weapon】on Senki and Jericho.
I got them to attack the Rock Beast while I used【Force Bullet】to shoot down the Rock Worms.
It was big.
The Rock Beast stood at about three metres tall.
It was really intimidating.
On the other hand, its movements were pretty slow.
When I saw it come close and prepare for a kick, I immediately backed up.
In the last moment, I dodged the Rock Beast"s giant foot.
Scary…
I thought it would just be a giant Rock Worm, but it actually had different attack patterns.
I didn"t even see a dent in its HP bar.
Something wasn"t going right.
I switched out with Senki and I launched my fist at the monster.
A forceful blow.
I saw the monster"s HP bar decrease, but only by less than 10%.
Woah…
What a strong monster.
「Take care of the Rock Worms!」
「OK!」
There were only a few of them left, but I left the job to Volff and Lambda.
I focused on the Rock Beast.
I was dealing with a tough monster.
It looked like Senki"s and Jericho"s attacks were working after all, but I had to be prepared to take some damage to both myself and my Summon Monsters.
「Physical Enchant: Earth!」
I used an enchant spell on Jericho.
Jericho slowly moved over to face the Rock Beast.
The monster"s sharp leg reacted quickly.
A direct hit to Jericho"s torso.
But Jericho stood strong.
He took the attack very well.
Jericho took some damage, but his HP bar went down by less than 10%.
Jericho took the opportunity to grab the monster"s leg, but he couldn"t do anything with it.
It was too heavy.
Even Jericho was no match for the monster"s size.
But Jericho kept pulling and eventually, a tearing sound erupted from the monster"s leg.
Looked like Jericho managed to break it.
An earth-shaking scream surrounded me.
Senki jumped up onto the monster and started punching at its carapace.
It looked like it was working.
Senki was seething with hatred.
The monster stopped attacking Jericho and focused on getting Senki off its body.
Now.
A golden opportunity.
While I was preparing to cast a spell, I got Jericho to attack again.
Three Rock Worms suddenly charged at me.
There were of them…
I crushed one with my tonfas and kicked the other away.
I ran up to the one I kicked away and killed it by giving it one last stomp.
I took out the third one with an elbow strike.
As soon as I was done casting the spell I released it.
「Gravity Bullet!」
The new【s.p.a.cetime Magic】spell.
It was a direct hit.
The monster"s HP bar went down by quite a bit.
But another important thing happened.
The monster"s body started floating.
「Turn it over!」
I yelled at Jericho and Senki.
Jericho kept the monster in place.
Senki grabbed the monster"s carapace and pulled upwards.
Senki took another kick from the monster, but it did next to no damage.
Rig covered the attack for Senki.
「Gravity Bullet!」
After hitting it with the same spell again for good measure, the monster was completely turned over.
It looked like a turtle on its back.
The monster stretched its legs out, trying to get back to its previous position.
Jericho and Senki took one leg each and pulled them off the Rock Beast.
Nice.
It looked a little pitiful though.
It now had no way of retaliating or running away.
It could do nothing while Senki and Jericho slaughtered it.
《【Block】Level Up!》
《【Fire Magic】Level Up!》
《【Steam Magic】Level Up!》
《You have acquired the【Steam Magic】spell【Resist Steam】!》
《You have acquired the【Steam Magic】spell【Boil】!》
《You have acquired the【Steam Magic】spell【Steam Shot】!》
《【Lava Magic】Level Up!》
《You have acquired the【Lava Magic】spell【Resist Melt】!》
《You have acquired the【Lava Magic】spell【Refine】!》
《You have acquired the【Lava Magic】spell【Volcanic Shot】!》
《【Lava Magic】Level Up!》
《You have acquired the【Dust Magic】spell【Resist Decay】!》
《You have acquired the【Dust Magic】spell【Evaporate】!》
《You have acquired the【Dust Magic】spell【Thermal Expansion】!》
《【Synergy】Level Up!》
《【Dual Wield】Level Up!》
《【Speedcasting】Level Up!》
Too many info screens!
Too many spells!
I can"t remember any of them!
I had a feeling I wouldn"t get to use all of them.
Hmm…
For now, let"s calm down.
I could deal with the new spells after getting a breather in the Area Portal.
「Ah, my Racial levelled up!」
「Ooh, nice.」
Rock Worms were an annoying and risky target, but they always provided good experience points.
I was a little intimidated by the number of corpses lying around though.
I first went to collect the Rock Beast"s dropped item.
【Material】Mana Crystal Raw Material Grade B- Rarity 3 Weight 0+
Magical energy that dwells within monsters and turns into a core when gathered.
Contains magical energy exceeding that of a Magic Stone.
Huh…
Didn"t they give one of these to the tournament victor as a grand prize?
It had a high rarity, and the grade wasn"t that bad either.
What good luck.
I was sure there were over 100 Rock Worms lying around.
I got Jericho and Senki to bring the corpses to me.
Most of them dropped nothing.
But I did get 5 Baryte stones.
With me and Lambda working on it, it took us about 10 minutes.
I ended up spending a lot more time than I thought I would.
「I"ll give you two Baryte stones.」
「No, just one is more than enough.」
「Really?」
I gave Lambda one Baryte stone.
Lambda"s HP was at 70%, but it went up to 90% with a single recovery spell.
I gave potions to Senki and Volff.
We were soon ambushed again.
Maybe because we spent too much time collecting item drops?
Although it was a smaller group of Rock Worms.
「What are you going to do?」
「It"s not like we can run away anyway…」
I had Jericho with me.
I had no choice but to fight back.
「Can I go to the Area Portal before you?」
「No, please help me Lambda.」
Lambda"s MP bar was at about half.
Mine was at a little above half.
Lambda laughed a little.
A confident laugh.
He immediately started casting a spell.
I quickly followed suit and looked over at the Rock Worms.
I started feeling a twisted sense of pride.
I realised I was laughing in the same fearless way Lambda was laughing.
Maybe. No, probably.
The horde of Rock Worms didn"t even reach 100.
There were only about 50 of them.
Looked like there weren"t that many Rock Worms left.
Exterminating them completely wouldn"t be out of the question…
Nah. Even if that were to happen it would take a long time.
《Summon Monster『Rig』Level Up!》
《Please add 1 point to a desired stat.》
Rig levelled up.
Rig didn"t do much except stick to Rig and absorb any physical attacks.
Rig was doing some important but overlooked work.
The stat that went up during the level-up was DEX.
I put a point into SPI.
Rig Slime Lv3→Lv4（↑1）
DEX 13（↑1）
AGI 6
INT 6
STR 6
VIT 8
SPI 6（↑1）
Skills:
Dissolve Shapeshift Viscosity Surface Tension Nullify Physical
Bit by bit, I was lining up Rig"s stat numbers.
It would still take a long while.
The info screens kept coming.
Now what?
《Job Level Up!》
《Summon Monster『Volff』Level Up!》
《Please add 1 point to a desired stat.》
Ooh, Volff too.
Volff did do very well with his speed in fighting the Rock Worms.
It made sense.
The stat that went up during the level-up was AGI.
I put a point into SPI.
Volff Wolf Lv7→Lv8（↑1）
DEX 12
AGI 27（↑1）
INT 12
STR 12
VIT 18
SPI 12（↑1）
Skills:
Bite Dash Threaten Listen Sense Danger Pursue
《Summon Monster『Volff』has cleared the Cla.s.s Change conditions!》
《Please go to the status screen for more information.》
Huh?
Cla.s.s Change?
An upgrade?
I saw both Master and Gelta with upgraded Summon Monsters.
But I didn"t expect to run into it this early.
I kept collecting item drops.
I got a few Baryte stones out of it.
I couldn"t even count them anymore.
I just wanted to see what kind of Cla.s.s Change was possible for Volff.
But before that, my new spells.
I quickly headed towards the Area Portal.
The Fire Spirit Rock.
I desperately needed a place to rest.
Protagonist Keith
Race Human Male Racial Lv10
Job Summoner Lv10（↑1）
Bonus Points Remaining: 8
Skill Sets:
Staff Lv8 Punch Lv5 Kick Lv5 Joint Lock Lv5 Throw Lv4 Evade Lv5 Block Lv5（↑1） Summon Magic Lv10 s.p.a.cetime Magic Lv3（↑1）
Light Magic Lv5 Wind Magic Lv5 Earth Magic Lv5 Water Magic Lv5 Fire Magic Lv5（↑1） Dark Magic Lv5 Ice Magic Lv3 Lightning Magic Lv3 Tree Magic Lv3 Dust Magic Lv3（↑1） Lava Magic Lv3（↑1） Steam Magic Lv3（↑1）
Alchemy Lv5 Pharmacy Lv4 Gla.s.smaking Lv3 Woodworking Lv4
Synergy Lv8（↑1） Appraise Lv6 Identify Lv7 Discern Lv3 Cold Resistance Lv3 Grab Lv6 Horsemanship Lv6 Precise Manipulation Lv7 Jump Lv3 Heat Resistance Lv4 Climb Lv3 Dual Wield Lv5（↑1） Disa.s.sembly Lv2
Physical Reinforcement Lv3（↑1） Mental Reinforcement Lv4 Speedcasting Lv5（↑1）
Equipment:
Kaya Wood Rod x1 Kaya Wood Tonfa x2 Snow Leopard Push Dagger x3 Kaya Wood Rod (Broken) x1 Silver Necklace+
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 Wolf Lv7→Lv8（↑1）
DEX 12
AGI 27（↑1）
INT 12
STR 12
VIT 18
SPI 12（↑1）
Skills:
Bite Dash Threaten Listen Sense Danger Pursue
Zangetsu Horse Lv5
Helix Hawk Lv5
Obsidian Owl Lv5
Jean Bat Lv5
Jericho Wood Golem Lv3→Lv4（↑1）
DEX 5（↑1）
AGI 5
INT 5（↑1）
STR 33
VIT 33
SPI 4
Skills:
Punch Kick Magical Resistance [Slight] Self-Repair [Slight] Block
Goki Demon Lv4
Senki Beast Ape Lv4
Rig Slime Lv3→Lv4（↑1）
DEX 13（↑1）
AGI 6
INT 6
STR 6
VIT 8
SPI 6（↑1）
Skills:
Dissolve Shapeshift Viscosity Surface Tension Nullify Physical
Bunraku Wood Puppet Lv2
Companion:
Lambda (real name Omega)