Chapter 57

Between the mountains, a massive gate was constructed in a valley-like area.

This gate serves as a border checkpoint between the Kingdom of Alphasia and its neighboring country.

The sides are quite steep mountains, making it a difficult terrain to cross.

It might be possible for a few individuals, but it is not a mountain that an army could pass through.

In that sense, this checkpoint can be considered an important facility for both countries.

However—

"It's closed."

"Yeah… there’s no sign of anyone. I thought there would be someone at a checkpoint."

The checkpoint that appeared before us remained silent with its heavy gate closed.

I had thought there would be soldiers from both countries, but unfortunately, there was no sign of anyone.

However, there was no indication that any incident had occurred. There were no signs of battle or struggle.

It was simply a closed gate—such was the impression it gave.

"Hmm… Is this part not implemented yet?"

"Huh? Oh… I guess that can happen in games like this?"

"In fact, it’s pretty common in games. You can’t progress until you meet certain conditions, you know."

Well, if Fumito, who is used to games, says so, then that might be the case.

At least, there’s no sign of any conflict. If that’s the case, there’s not much I can do here.

I don’t really see any benefit in trying to sneak through.

For now, let’s just leave the checkpoint. There’s no sign of anything happening, so there’s nothing we can do.

Our initial goal has been achieved, but—then, we should focus on training.

"Alright, then we’ll go into the mountains."

"Wait, what are you talking about, teacher?"

"Originally, leveling up before the event was one of our goals. So, this is perfect, right? The enemies are reasonably strong and numerous. Plus, there are fewer monsters around this checkpoint, so we can use it as a resting spot. It’s a good location, isn’t it?"

"Um… yeah, I guess you’re right."

Fumito, who had been looking at me with a half-lidded gaze, seemed to realize that this place would be easy to use as a hunting ground.

After all, this area hasn’t been reached by other players yet. If we can monopolize this place, it will greatly benefit Lumin’s growth.

Well, the difficulty of mountain training is quite low.

Compared to being left alone deep in the mountains, it’s more like a hike.

"Alright, Lumin, we’ll train until we log out today, so be prepared."

"Okay, I’ll do my best!"

"After that, we’ll camp near the checkpoint. We’ll earn as much as we can before anyone else arrives."

It seems Fumito is also getting into it.

With no objections, things are moving quickly. We’ll start training without wasting time.

First—

"Let’s target monkeys and bees."

"Well, the time efficiency is good, but the material prices are low."

"The real issue is what happens at night. The spawn patterns will change, right?"

When we were on the plains, the types of monsters that appeared changed after sunset.

Mainly, undead creatures like skeletons and wisps started to appear.

So, there might be some changes in this mountain as well.

Well, if it’s just undead, it’s not a big problem.

With Lumin’s light magic, undead are no problem.

"Undead or nocturnal animals? I hope it’s not too troublesome."

"An opponent without malice would be boring. But, expecting too much from beasts is a mistake."

"Undead are pretty dumb so far."

Well, they’re basically just moving corpses.

Wights are slightly different, but in any case, their movements are not much different from beasts.

I’d like to see a bit more intelligent enemies.

For now, we’ll enter the forest and move away from the road leading to the checkpoint.

I’ve already checked the map. If we want to return, we can easily get back to where we were.

"Lumin, fight next to me. Teacher, we’ll go for a stable approach, so we can’t keep up with your pace."

"I understand. You take care of Lumin—"

While nodding at Fumito’s words, I swatted away a flying stone with my gauntlet.

It was aimed at my head and contained a clear intent to harm.

The source was a monkey with gray fur, about a meter long.

A Forest Ape, a representative monster of this area.

"I’ll just go wild."

Confirming its presence, I charged at the Forest Ape.

The monkey was pounding the ground and making threatening sounds.

But, if I get distracted here, it could become a bit troublesome.

Step—Raging Quake.

Leaning forward and pushing off the ground, I accelerated.

In that instant, my body charged at the monkey in front of me—almost simultaneously, two more monkeys dropped down where I had been.

These monkeys sometimes launch ambushes like this.

Well, I can sense their presence, so I won’t fall for such a simple ambush.

I’ll leave the two that dropped down to Fumito and attack the monkey in front.

It’s important not to kill it in one hit.

"Shh!"

"Keeeee!?"

A single slash from my sword cut off the monkey’s left arm at the shoulder.

These creatures aren’t very strong individually. They’re somewhat intelligent, but just that.

One monkey is a good match for Lumin’s training.

But—

"Keeeee—!!!"

A piercing scream echoed from the monkey’s mouth.

The sound reverberated through the mountains and spread to the surroundings.

Instantly, a large amount of hostility was directed at us from the surrounding forest.

This is the Forest Ape’s ability to call for help.

While they don’t appear endlessly, all the monkeys within the effective range seem to gather at this sound.

"Hehe… come on, come on. The fun battle is about to begin."

"I know, teacher! But, I have to watch Lumin, so I don’t have much room to spare!"

"I understand. I’ll take care of most of them. You just deal with the stragglers."

While responding to Fumito’s protest, the first wave of enemies arrived.

The first to arrive was a monkey that moved like it was flying through the trees.

Like the earlier ambush, the monkey jumped down from the tree and swung its arm to punch me from above—

Strike—Heaven’s Shadow.

I deflected the attack by rotating my fist and thrusting it upward, then thrust my thumb into the opponent’s eye socket.

I destabilized the opponent and slammed it to the ground headfirst.

The monkey, which received a fatal blow to the brain, died instantly.

This technique was originally developed to counter ambushes from above, such as from the ceiling.

It’s a very niche condition, and I thought I’d never have a chance to use it, but life is unpredictable.

I chuckled to myself and pulled out my sword, which was stuck in the ground, and swept it around.

"Come on! Your comrades’ avenger is here!"

I released a moderate amount of killing intent in all directions to provoke the monkeys.

There are too many for Lumin to handle right now, so I need to control the flow.

But, I can’t let them come too much, so I’ll adjust accordingly.

The two monkeys I cut during the sweep didn’t die immediately because I didn’t hit their vital points.

There are many of them. If I take too long to kill them, they’ll swarm me quickly.

I need to be efficient.

"【Iron Edge】"

I increased my weapon’s attack power, dodged a charging monkey, and slashed its neck.

The monkeys’ attacks are basically body slams and punches. They might also bite after grappling.

In short, their attack range is quite short.

They can throw rocks, but their aim isn’t very accurate, and they don’t throw them all at once.

With a weapon, I have the advantage.

Slash—Stiff Form, Bell Tower.

I delivered a high-speed upward slash to the monkey with a shallow wound, deeply cutting its chest.

Immediately, I spun and brought my blade down, cutting the monkey that was charging at me from the shoulder to the waist.

Slash—Stiff Form, Bell Tower: Collapse.

These monkeys are quite soft, probably due to their fine bones.

With an enhanced weapon, it’s not difficult to bisect them.

It’s quite convenient that I can cut them in one hit without aiming for vital points.

"Hahaha! Is that all you’ve got!?"

I laughed and taunted the monkeys, slashing two of them deeply with a horizontal swing.

The number of approaching enemies was countless. Even after doing something similar earlier, they keep coming.

This is really an excellent hunting ground.

Let’s see how much we can grow here—it’s exciting.

* * * * *

"Your level has increased. Please allocate your status points."

"Your 【Sword】 skill level has increased."

"Your 【Enhancement Magic】 skill level has increased."

"Your 【Dead Point Strike】 skill level has increased."

"Your 【Plundering Sword】 skill level has increased."

"Your 【Life Sword】 skill level has increased."

"Your 【MP Auto Recovery】 skill level has increased."

"Your 【Tame】 skill level has increased."

"Your tamed monster 【Lumin】’s level has increased."

After that, we also dealt with a large army of bees, earning a lot of experience.

Thanks to that, I reached level 20 and gained a new skill slot.

However, the battle dragged on, and the sun has set.

"Phew… well, it’s fine. We can practice magic with the bees."

"They’re easy to knock down when they charge, but in a swarm, your magic is more efficient."

Striker Bees attack by charging with their stingers.

While they can be knocked down with sword attacks, it takes time to deal with them one by one.

That’s where Fumito and Lumin’s attack magic comes in handy.

Especially, Fumito has the 【Spell Charge】 skill, which increases the power of her fire magic at the cost of more MP.

With this and 【Fire Attribute Enhancement】, her magic was powerful enough to take down the fire-weak bees.

Without it, it would have taken much longer.

"Well, it’s fine. We’ve all leveled up… and Lumin has improved a lot."

"Her strikes are much more accurate. Her weight shifting is still clumsy, but she’s getting the basics down. Keep teaching her."

"Flowing water, too. I understand. But, what about your new skill slot? You don’t usually keep 【Mining】 equipped, right?"

"Yeah, I’ve already decided on the skill to take."

Nodding at Fumito’s words, I brought up the skill acquisition screen.

I had already decided which skills to take, based on advice from the residents of this world.

■【Life Force Manipulation】: Auxiliary Passive Skill

Efficiently use HP for skills that consume it.

The effect depends on the skill level.

While the description is vague, acquiring the 【Life Force Manipulation】 skill allows me to control the HP used by 【Life Sword】.

While it’s not very useful at my current level, it’s important because it’s required to learn the advanced skill 【Life Force Sword】.

I want to cultivate this skill to eventually learn that magic sword.

"Another strange skill… well, it’s probably useful with your skill setup."

"If it’s useful, why not? I want to try it out—"

At that moment, I sensed something odd and turned my gaze to the side.

It was a cold, alien presence, different from hostility or killing intent.

I immediately went on alert, having never felt such a presence before.

"Dad?"

"Get ready. Something’s coming."

I warned Fumito and Lumin and readied my sword.

Lumin’s magical light source provided visibility.

From the darkness, a large number of writhing creatures appeared.

* * * * *

■Avatar Name: Kwon

■Gender: Male

■Race: Human

■Level: 20

■Status (Remaining Status Points: 0)

STR: 20

VIT: 16

INT: 20

MND: 16

AGI: 13

DEX: 13

■Skills

Weapon Skill: 【Sword: Lv.20】

Magic Skill: 【Enhancement Magic: Lv.14】

Set Skill: 【Dead Point Strike: Lv.15】

【MP Auto Recovery: Lv.10】

【Plundering Sword: Lv.12】

【Identification: Lv.13】

【Life Sword: Lv.13】

【Demon Slaying Sword: Lv.5】

【Tame: Lv.8】

【HP Auto Recovery: Lv.7】

【Life Force Manipulation: Lv.1】

Sub Skill: 【Mining: Lv.1】

Title Skill: 【Fairy’s Blessing】

■Current SP: 16

■Avatar Name: Fumito

■Gender: Female

■Race: Human

■Level: 22

■Status (Remaining Status Points: 0)

STR: 22

VIT: 15

INT: 19

MND: 17

AGI: 15

DEX: 14

■Skills

Weapon Skill: 【Sword: Lv.22】

Magic Skill: 【Fire Magic: Lv.17】

Set Skill: 【Battle Aura: Lv.16】

【Spell Charge: Lv.11】

【Fire Attribute Enhancement: Lv.13】

【Healing Proficiency: Lv.8】

【Identification: Lv.13】

【Dead Point Strike: Lv.12】

【Hand-to-Hand Combat: Lv.14】

【Combat Skills: Lv.14】

【Endurance: Lv.13】

Sub Skill: 【Gathering: Lv.7】

【Mining: Lv.4】

Title Skill: 【Scarlet Sword Princess】

■Current SP: 22

■Monster Name: Lumin

■Gender: Female

■Race: Sprite

■Level: 8

■Status (Remaining Status Points: 0)

STR: 16

VIT: 12

INT: 28

MND: 19

AGI: 16

DEX: 14

■Skills

Weapon Skill: None

Magic Skill: 【Light Magic】

Skill: 【Light Attribute Enhancement】

【Flight】

【High Magic Resistance】

【Low Physical Resistance】

【MP Auto Recovery: Large】

【Wind Magic】

Title Skill: 【Servant of the Spirit King】