Chapter 69

"Meditate!" "Breathe!"

After ensuring his martial skills were ready, I selected and cast a spell while observing the monster. How fast was it approaching? Slow. But it was definitely faster than the Wood Golem Jericho. What tactics should I use? I would leave one Knocker to Jirico, the Oni, and Obsidian. I would take the other one. I wanted to take one down as quickly as possible.

"Physical Enchantment Earth!"

I reinforced Jericho. I selected and cast another spell while moving towards the monster. I let go of the rod because the distance was suitable for the pickaxe. I held the tonfa in both hands. Would my plan work? No, I had to make it work.

"Physical Enchantment Fire!"

I boosted my own strength and moved into the monster's range. The Knocker was about to swing the pickaxe. I managed to preempt it. At this distance, a full swing wouldn't hit. I struck the torso a few times with the tip of the tonfa. It felt solid, but the HP bar didn't decrease much. But that was expected. The purpose was to distract and disrupt, not to deal damage. I hit the monster's elbow with the tonfa. It didn't drop the pickaxe. I hit the elbow from a different angle. This time, it must have hurt. Still, it didn't drop the pickaxe. I pressed the elbow joint with the tonfa and kicked it from below. A disabling move. Finally, it let go of the pickaxe with one hand.

It started swinging the pickaxe with the other hand. Of course, if it hit, it wouldn't be a light blow. But that created an opening. The motion was large.

"Delay!"

I cast a spell to induce a status effect with ice magic. How was the marker? It seemed to have worked. I hit the monster's side with the tonfa at a nasty angle, but it didn't flinch. It really seemed to feel no pain, even though the HP bar was decreasing.

I dodged the pickaxe and kicked the back of its knee. It lost balance, and I tripped it with my left foot. It rolled over on its stomach.

A good opportunity.

I let go of the tonfa and went for the neck. No, I went for the throat with the tonfa. I pressed the tonfa while kneeling on its back. Just that. The sensation was strange. It didn't seem to be breathing. How was the HP bar? It was decreasing steadily, so this was fine. This thing was indeed strong. I felt it wasn't being fully choked. I called the Oni. If I held it down, the Oni could attack efficiently.

The Oni came, looking pleased. It was pounding the almost defenseless Knocker's chest. Thanks to that, the damage I was dealing by choking it was also increasing. The Oni's powerful blow seemed to have depleted the Knocker's HP bar. I managed to finish it off. How about the other one, no, the other Knocker?

The other Knocker didn't have a pickaxe. It was fighting Jericho bare-handed. Impressive, even as an enemy. Jericho was taking some damage but still had room to spare. Obsidian was continuing to attack from the air. It was maintaining the upper hand. I could leave it to them. I encouraged the Oni. This would solidify our advantage.

The Oni finished it off with a powerful punch. The Knockers' bodies disappeared after they were defeated. Even the pickaxes vanished. No fun in taking trophies.

《Your victory in this battle has increased your [Ice Magic] level!》

《Your victory in this battle has increased the level of your summoned monster [Oni]!》

《Please add 1 point to any of your status values.》

Wow, the Oni's growth is fast. It was level 1 before, so that's expected. The status value that had already increased was agility. Wasn't that the highest value? I decided to increase dexterity. It also looked good numerically.

Oni Beast Ape Lv1→Lv2 (↑1)

Dexterity 10 (↑1)

Agility 17 (↑1)

Intelligence 4

Strength 24

Vitality 24

Spirit 4

Skills

Striking, Kicking, Throwing, Blocking, Dodging, Climbing

After closing the Oni's status screen, the event continued.

《Traveler,》

《We are the waymarkers.》

《You have overcome our trials.》

《We will aid travelers.》

《Do not fear.》

《Do not falter.》

《Bless the brave.》

《Bless.》

The human souls on the altar appeared in various parts of the building. They seemed to serve as lighting. It was still dim, but much better. I felt fresh air, though I didn't understand the mechanism. The floor was a mix of exposed earth and stone, still rough. But if I spent the night here, a blanket would suffice.

《The N1W1 area portal has been opened!》

《3 bonus points have been added. You now have a total of 10 points.》

What?

Area portal opened?

Teacher, I don't understand!

《There are 2 operation announcements. Would you like to check them?》

An operation announcement here. I looked around the building to confirm there were no abnormalities, then checked the titles.

《Area portal opening announcement》

《Area map implementation announcement》

Hmm.

This seems related to the event I just cleared. I should check it now.

I opened the first one.

《The area portal set in the N1W1 map has been opened. The area portal help has been added.》

What is this?

I continued reading.

《There may be sealed area portals in other maps. Please explore!》

Possibility, huh?

If I read this straightforwardly, it means there might not be any.

I had heard of area portals before. They are points where you can log in and log out within a certain area. The master's house, which I usually use, is also treated as an area portal. The town of Remto and the village of Regias are also area portals, with the ability to log in and log out at inns.

So, can I do that in this building?

I checked to see if it was possible. A virtual window with the options "Log out?" "Yes" "No" appeared. It seemed possible. But it was still early in the day, and I felt a bit unsatisfied. I could check anytime, so I skipped it.

I opened the second one.

《A wide-area map has been implemented. For details, please refer to the added map usage help.》

This is it.

Check the help.

Check the manual.

No, it's fine.

I followed the link in the message to display the map usage. I showed the wide-area map on the virtual window. It was just a grid of connected areas. If I focused on each square, more detailed information would appear in another virtual window. Of course, unexplored areas wouldn't show up, nor would unconfirmed locations.

Area 0 was always displayed with a red frame. It was the grassland around the town of Remto. Just below it was the S1 area, probably to the south. No base was displayed. To the right of Area 0, the E1 area was around the two port towns. Above Area 0, the N1 area was around the mining camp. To the left of Area 0, the W1 area was the forest around the village of Regias. The master's house was also displayed.

East, West, South, and North were shown as E, W, S, and N, with the numbers increasing as you moved away from the base, the town of Remto. The area west of the forest maze was W2. It showed nothing when I zoomed in. The S1W1 area was the same. Unexplored areas couldn't be zoomed in on.

How about the N1W1 map I was on?

Only the location of this building was displayed. It was called the Earth Spirit Shrine. It was quite large for a shrine. It was in the bottom right of the map. There was plenty left to explore. I hadn't even encountered a snow leopard or Blitz yet. The left side of the map was mountainous.

Hmm,

I'll leave that for later.

Decided.

I used a recovery spell on Jericho, whose HP bar was low. I used a potion and a recovery spell on the Oni. Obsidian only needed a potion. I used Fire Heal for all recovery spells to boost fire magic, but it didn't level up.

This place was calm. I ate some of the food I had secured in the morning, even though it was a bit early. I was full after eating about half.

During the meal, I noticed something moving on the wall.

Huh?

Is it a Knocker?

I identified it, and it was indeed a Knocker.

Knocker Lv.2

Earth Spirit Working

Not a target for elimination?

There were smaller creatures moving around.

Gnome Lv.1

Earth Spirit Working

What is this?

They seemed to be working. The Gnomes looked like small dwarves, or little people. There were two Knockers and about twenty Gnomes. Their markers were yellow like NPCs, not red. What are they doing?

The two Knockers were removing stone slabs from the ground. Some Gnomes were working with the removed slabs. Others were digging the exposed ground. I could see the Gnomes casting spells occasionally. Thanks to the lingering effects of Sense Magic, it was a beautiful scene, glowing with various colors on a black background.

While I was organizing my belongings, they didn't stop working. They didn't seem to notice me. It looked like they were repairing the building. I shouldn't let these kind and hardworking little people finish their work unnoticed. I left the altar and the shrine with that thought.

Now, what should I do?

If there were more places like this shrine where I could log in and log out, it would expand my play options. I could go further and see new landscapes. For that, area portals were essential. What should I do? It was decided; I would go looking for them. Exploring from here as a base was appealing, but securing a base was also important.

The question was whether to go west or south.

W2 area or S1W1 area.

To expand my exploration range, riding the Crescent Moon would be best.

I returned Jericho and the Oni and summoned Crescent Moon and Helix. I was back to the original formation. Right, I had been to the west before, and it looked like a plain. I would go west first, where exploration would be easier.

I rode Crescent Moon towards the maze and south. The speed naturally increased. The wind felt good.

《Your experience in this action has increased your [Riding] level!》

It felt good, and I leveled up nicely. Time passed without encountering any monsters. This was nice too. The scenery was beautiful. I returned along the original route comfortably.

I couldn't ride Crescent Moon up the mountain ridge. I returned Crescent Moon halfway and summoned the Oni. The mountain path was better for the Oni. I reached a fork in the road, one leading back to the maze and the other probably to the mountain top. Someone was looking down at us. A monster.

Snow Leopard Lv.5

Monster Target for Elimination Passive

I identified it, and it was indeed a monster. It was a beautiful feline predator.

Should I fight?

No, the footing was too bad.

I also had concerns.

There were two of them.

I stopped involuntarily, but the monsters didn't attack. I couldn't take my eyes off them. I tried to calm the agitated Oni.

The Snow Leopards climbed the ridge without interest in us.

I was a bit tense.

I wanted to prioritize movement.

I also learned something.

Snow Leopards seemed to be in high-altitude areas.

Blitz might also be there.

Snow Leopards and Blitz were tough opponents, but the items they dropped were very attractive. If the conditions were right, I would want to attack them.

But what about beyond that ridge?

It felt like a serious mountain climb.

I might need some cold-weather gear.

I had the auxiliary skill [Cold Resistance], but it might be worth leveling that up.

I should also get some climbing gear.

Ice axe, crampons, pitons, carabiners, ropes.

Do they exist?

Ropes probably do, but I would need to find substitutes for the others.

I could check the situation when I had time.

I descended the vine-covered forest again.

I also realized something.

Going down was harder than going up.

Not good at all.

The Oni didn't seem to mind, skillfully using all four limbs to descend smoothly, more than twice as fast as me. Helix and Obsidian, who could fly, naturally had an easy time. I felt a bit envious.

No, this was a time for ingenuity.

Use spells.

No, use your head.

Think, think.

The spell I had in mind was Levitation.

It had a 10-minute duration, but could I use it to go down?

I had to try.

"Levitation!"

It felt like flying, but I was just slightly floating. I tried a small jump.

I landed softly after a slight falling sensation, and then my feet floated slightly again.

I gradually increased the jump distance.

Thanks to Levitation, the jump distance was much longer without a run-up. The speed of descending increased.

This was easy.

I was also surprised that the Oni could keep up with this speed.

I was ambushed in a place where I hadn't encountered monsters for a while.

It was the Oni in the lead.

The Oni narrowly avoided the attack.

What is this?

A slug?

A frog?

It was neither.

Tree Viper Lv.2

Monster Target for Elimination Active

It was a snake.

A rock-paper-scissors trio with slugs and frogs?

It looked like a joke by the developers.

The snake's length was hard to tell, but it seemed about the same as Toguro, Ilina's summoned monster. How strong was it?

I had to find out.

Main Character Keith

Race Human Male Race Lv8

Class Summoner (Summoner) Lv7

Bonus Points Remaining 10

Set Skills

Staff Lv6 Striking Lv4 Kicking Lv4 Joint Techniques Lv4 Throwing Techniques Lv4

Dodging Lv4 Blocking Lv4 Summoning Magic Lv8 Time-Space Magic Lv1

Light Magic Lv4 Wind Magic Lv4 Earth Magic Lv4 Water Magic Lv4

Fire Magic Lv3 Dark Magic Lv4 Ice Magic Lv2 (↑1) Lightning Magic Lv2

Wood Magic Lv2

Alchemy Lv4 Pharmacist Lv3 Glassmaking Lv3 Carpentry Lv3

Coordination Lv6 Appraisal Lv6 Identification Lv6 Insight Lv2 Cold Resistance Lv3

Grasping Lv6 Riding Lv6 (↑1) Precision Manipulation Lv6 Jumping Lv3

Heat Resistance Lv3 Climbing Lv3 Dual Wielding Lv3 Mental Fortitude Lv3

High-Speed Chanting Lv2

Equipment

Kay's Rod ×2 Kay's Tonfa ×2 Snow Leopard's Hidden Claw ×3

Wild Horse Leather Armor+ Snow Monkey Arm Guards Wild Horse Boots+

Snow Monkey Leather Helmet Wild Horse Belt+ Backpack Item Box ×2

Items

Skinning Knife Complete Set of Carpentry Tools

Titles

Apprentice of the Old Summoner, Proof of Forest Guardian, Seeker of Moderation

Spell Catalog

Summoned Monsters

Volf Wolf Lv6

Crescent Moon Horse Lv4

Helix Hawk Lv4

Obsidian Owl Lv4

Jean Bat Lv4

Jericho Wood Golem Lv3

Guardian Oni Lv3

Warrior Oni Beast Ape Lv1→Lv2 (↑1)

Dexterity 10 (↑1)

Agility 17 (↑1)

Intelligence 4

Strength 24

Vitality 24

Spirit 4

Skills

Striking, Kicking, Throwing, Blocking, Dodging, Climbing