Chapter 83

On the way back east, the monsters showed no mercy.

However, the summoned monsters also showed no mercy.

The raptor stuck to Rig and methodically took it down.

The crane dropped Helix to the ground, where Wolf finished it off.

I just watched.

It’s easy.

This is probably the correct form for a summoner.

There is also a slight difference from before.

The raptor hunted a total of three, and I obtained one ancient stone.

The auxiliary skill [Disassembly] hasn’t really developed, but it seems to be working a little.

By the time we reached the forest dungeon, the status abnormalities were almost gone.

Here, I returned Crescent Moon and Helix and summoned Jericho and Bunraku.

I gave Bunraku the bow and quiver that Geki uses.

The wooden puppet is not very combat-oriented.

Still, I wanted to let it gain some levels through battle.

While bows and arrows are not a good method against skeletons and branch golems, it can’t be helped this time.

I’m here, and so are Wolf and Jericho.

The number of monsters we can summon simultaneously has increased.

Our combat power hasn’t decreased.

We kicked the skeletons around and cleared the cave to reach the forest dungeon.

With Jericho, the pace was a bit slower.

In the process, I learned something.

Rig’s dissolving ability doesn’t work well against skeletons.

To defeat a skeleton, you need to scatter and destroy the two human soul parts.

However, Rig’s dissolving ability didn’t work at all on the bone-only skeletons.

Of course, the skeleton’s attacks didn’t work on Rig at all.

Rig should be touching the human soul of the skeleton, but it seems unable to scatter it.

This results in a prolonged battle.

Should we say they are mutually incompatible?

Bunraku’s archery skills are not bad.

He hit the attacks steadily.

Compared to Geki, the arrow’s power seems to match his stats.

The rate of fire is not as fast as Geki’s.

However, the accuracy is excellent.

Probably due to his high dexterity.

As a rear guard, he can be a sufficient combatant.

The forest dungeon was getting a bit crowded with players.

I tried fighting mushrooms and branch golems in the hall.

Rig’s dissolving ability worked poorly on mushrooms and even worse on branch golems.

It seems to work poorly unless the opponent is a monster with flesh.

However, the ability to nullify physical attacks is very effective.

It was a great help in defending Jericho.

I also joined the battle as a front-liner for some rehabilitation.

I fought bare-handed from the start, without a rod.

I let myself go wild.

Sometimes other parties would see me, but I can’t let that bother me.

We planned to reach the village of Legias before dinner.

Continuing to hunt in the forest dungeon, where we are more familiar and the risk of a total party wipe is lower.

Continuing the hunt, the focus was on earning experience points for Bunraku.

However, I noticed something unrelated to that.

The auxiliary skill [Disassembly].

I tried stripping many items and found that sometimes I could strip two items.

I don’t remember ever getting more than one item from mushrooms.

It seems to be working, albeit subtly.

《Your [Disassembly] skill has leveled up based on your past actions!》

It’s growing.

But there was one miscalculation.

I also picked up extra logs.

They are heavy.

There is still room in the [Item Box], though.

Thinking about picking up various heavy items in the future, it might become a bit troublesome.

《Your summoned monster ‘Bunraku’ has leveled up based on the recent battle victory!》

《Please add 1 point to any stat of your choice.》

Bunraku leveled up after we wiped out the mushroom cluster.

Bunraku’s dexterity is already high.

I decided to increase his mental strength.

Summoned Monster Bunraku Wood Puppet Lv1 → Lv2 (↑1)

Dexterity 25 (↑1)

Agility 8

Intelligence 18

Strength 12

Vitality 12

Mental Strength 7 (↑1)

Skills

Bow, Cooking, Magic Resistance [Minor], Self-Repair [Minor]

His dexterity is outstanding.

It might be a bit ambitious to balance it with other stats.

After Bunraku leveled up, we left the forest dungeon.

I returned Jericho and Rig and summoned Helix and Obsidian.

Some of the obsidian arrows had damaged fletching, so I used Dowsing.

We hunted a bit in the forest and picked up some obsidian.

My stats seem to have returned to normal.

We slowly made our way to the village.

During the journey, something caught my attention.

Wolf, Helix, and Obsidian were more alert than usual.

Is something there?

They don’t seem to be certain.

It’s a bit concerning.

But once we leave the forest and enter the village, there shouldn’t be any danger.

I decided to enter the village of Legias early.

In the village, the alert level of Wolf and the others returned to normal.

What was that?

Maybe PK?

That’s a possibility.

I found the stall where Rick should be, and Yuka was there too.

There were NPC customers, so I just nodded and went behind the stall.

It was around 4:30 PM.

A bit early for dinner.

“Mr. Keith, welcome.”

“Thank you.”

Helga seemed to be manning the stall, and Rick came over.

Ren-Ren was also there.

“Did you meet Fina and the others heading west?”

“Yes. I met them at the area portal. I had to restart due to a death.”

“That must have been tough.”

“I also need to receive the equipment.”

“Oh, right. Margrid was here. I think she logged out already.”

Ah.

We must have missed each other.

I’ll come back tomorrow morning.

I started taking out the accumulated items from the [Item Box].

Of course, I left some behind.

“Wow, this is good.”

“This skin might be useful for something.”

Rick seemed to be interested in the parrot’s multicolored wings.

Ren-Ren was looking at the brown bear’s fur and the polka-dotted fox’s skin.

Ah, right.

Ren-Ren is a tailor.

“Can you make a winter coat with this?”

“One should be enough. Since it’s not hard leather, it won’t take long to make.”

“Huh? What about making armor?”

“It would take a lot of work. You’d need someone like Saki, a leatherworker.”

I see.

There’s some overlap in the production professions.

Skin can be used for both armor and clothing, so it’s understandable.

“Do you have plans to go somewhere cold?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“Well, how about processing this fox skin into a scarf?”

“Hmm.”

I shouldn’t.

I want to make a request, but my money is running low.

But Rick was considerate.

He deducted the processing fee from the item purchase price.

That’s a relief.

With that, I wanted to keep some items.

The crane’s beak.

I decided to keep three.

I thought about leaving them behind, but they came back.

According to Rick, the multicolored wings are highly valued in the port town.

They seem to be traded as luxury items across the sea.

That’s why.

Hunting parrots seems a bit troublesome.

Ren-Ren measured my size.

Since I’ll be wearing it over my current equipment, it will be quite large.

But it seems the bear’s fur will be enough.

The bear was big, after all.

I talked a bit about the details of the winter coat.

My equipment is leather and has no protrusions, which is fortunate.

“Another point to note. It will probably be very fluffy, and there might be a negative stat correction.”

“Understood.”

Well, that can’t be helped.

The deadline is three days.

Ren-Ren can’t log in late due to real-life commitments.

Still, three days is pretty fast, right?

“The good thing about our Players’ Guild is the number of members. It’s a low-level job, but it’s efficient.”

“Ah, I see.”

Come to think of it, the leather armor I’m wearing was probably made the same way.

It’s natural that production professions can handle orders efficiently with more people.

If the performance is sufficient, there’s no problem.

With the items significantly organized, there was a lot of room in the [Item Box].

The logs were gone, which was a big help.

There’s one problem left.

The ancient stones.

Rick was also puzzled by them.

I was hesitant to sell them.

They weigh 4 each, making them a bit cumbersome.

I’d like to dispose of them if possible.

“They seem to be items with magic, like magic stones.”

Ren-Ren cast the Sense Magic spell and examined the ancient stones.

I did the same.

Incidentally, using [Appraisal] in this state wouldn’t change the result.

The two ancient stones did indeed seem to contain magic.

The magic seemed to change color slightly and waver.

What is it?

It’s concerning, isn’t it?

“Do you have a chisel?”

If it’s bothering me, I can’t help it.

I bought a chisel from the stall’s inventory.

It seems to be for the production profession of Stonecutter.

Yeah.

It feels good in my hand.

I took out a hammer from my carpentry tools.

I tried to chip the ancient stone with the chisel and hammer.

The result was terrible.

It didn’t even scratch.

Huh?

“Mr. Keith, maybe the magic is affecting it?”

“Huh?”

Ah, right.

It’s an item that emits magic.

Regular tools won’t work.

Then, let’s try this.

“Enchanted Weapon!”

Magic against magic.

How about this?

When I swung the hammer, a few small pieces of stone flew off.

But doing this here would be a nuisance.

“I’ll do it later to avoid bothering others.”

“Okay.”

“There seems to be something inside, doesn’t it?”

Yeah.

I planned to do potion experiments at my master’s house today.

But I can do this first.

It’s a bit exciting.

It was quite early, but I bought dinner from Yuka’s stall and ate at the table.

I also bought some seasonings from the stall.

Sea salt, rock salt, brown sugar, pepper, vinegar, and olive oil.

I passed on the cooking utensils.

I can probably use alchemy tools as a substitute.

If there are any issues with what Bunraku makes, I can buy more.

On the way back to my master’s house from the village of Legias, Wolf and the others were even more alert.

Something is definitely there.

They seem more confused than alert.

What is it?

I should be alert too.

We passed by monsters without engaging in combat if they were passive.

I managed to pick up some obsidian.

It’s a small but welcome harvest.

We arrived at my master’s house without any issues.

But something was different.

Magifalcon flew to my left shoulder.

Helix, who was on my left shoulder, moved to my left arm to make room.

Obsidian, who had been flying around the forest, returned to my right shoulder.

But my usual spots were already taken.

Obsidian forcibly landed on my right shoulder.

It was like a perch.

That’s the situation.

It’s unusual for my master’s Magifalcon to be so involved.

It seems to be guarding me.

What’s really going on?

Inside my master’s house, the summoned monsters seemed to relax.

I also felt a bit relieved.

Their tension was contagious.

What’s really going on?

I wanted to get things done before anything else.

I went down to the underground workshop and got to work.

First, I replenished the potions I used.

I also made one recovery pill.

I replenished the obsidian arrows that were no longer usable.

I also had Bunraku help with these tasks.

He seemed to understand my intentions and provided excellent support.

He’s capable.

His dexterity is much higher than mine, which makes sense.

I’ll have him accompany me for production activities in the future.

Now.

Before doing potion experiments, let’s try the ancient stones.

Let’s chip them.

“Enchanted Weapon!”

I used the spell to strengthen the chisel and started chipping.

The sound echoed in the workshop, but I ignored it.

Wolf seemed annoyed at first but quickly got used to it.

I chipped away steadily.

I lost track of time.

I realized the Enchanted Weapon effect had worn off when I couldn’t chip anymore.

I kept chipping.

I kept chipping.

It was visually uninteresting, so I used the Sense Magic spell.

The scene became more vivid.

What is this? It’s interesting.

Before I knew it, I had made holes in several places and learned to chip off large chunks.

The chipped stones no longer seemed to contain magic.

I continued working.

Finally, something appeared.

It looked like a gemstone.

From then on, I worked carefully.

I managed to extract what looked like a gemstone from the ancient stone.

《Based on your past actions, you can now acquire the skill [Stonecutter].》

I hesitated for a moment but decided to skip it.

I couldn’t see any other use for it besides what I’m doing now.

The gemstone is the issue.

I used [Appraisal] to check it.

[Material Item] Morganite Quality C+ Rarity 2 Weight 0+

A pink beryl, also known as pink beryl.

Highly transparent and large grains are often used for magic activation.

Wow.

It’s a proper gemstone.

Is this something to look forward to?

Let’s try the next one.

I continued the excavation work on the other ancient stone using spells.

It took much less time than the first one to extract a gemstone.

[Material Item] Blue Spinel Quality C Rarity 3 Weight 0+

A semi-transparent mineral with an octahedral crystal structure.

It is not particularly valuable, but it is known to help with magic activation when processed.

Ah.

There was a blue spinel.

Judging by the rarity, this one seems to be a better find.

It was a good harvest.

But.

The work went smoothly, and there were results, but the cleanup is a hassle.

Bunraku and I divided the cleaning tasks.

During the work, Bunraku continued to clean, but there were still scattered stone chips.

Can I do this work outside?

It’s something to consider.

I don’t want to dirty the workshop I just cleaned for potion experiments.

I’ll call it a day here.

I went upstairs, returned the summoned monsters, and logged out.

Main Character Keith

Race Human Male Race Level 10

Class Summoner (Summoner) Level 9

Bonus Points Remaining 8

Set Skills

Staff Level 8, Blunt Level 5, Kick Level 5, Joint Techniques Level 5, Throwing Techniques Level 4

Evasion Level 5, Blocking Level 4, Summoning Magic Level 10, Space-Time Magic Level 2

Light Magic Level 5, Wind Magic Level 5, Earth Magic Level 5, Water Magic Level 5

Fire Magic Level 4, Dark Magic Level 5, Ice Magic Level 3, Lightning Magic Level 3

Wood Magic Level 3, Dust Magic Level 2, Dissolving Magic Level 2, Burning Magic Level 2

Alchemy Level 5, Pharmacist Level 4, Glassworking Level 3, Carpentry Level 4

Coordination Level 7, Appraisal Level 6, Identification Level 7, Insight Level 2, Cold Resistance Level 3

Grapple Level 6, Horsemanship Level 6, Precision Operation Level 7, Jumping Level 3

Heat Resistance Level 4, Climbing Level 3, Dual Wielding Level 4, Disassembly Level 2 (↑1)

Body Strengthening Level 2, Mental Strengthening Level 4, Fast Chanting Level 4

Equipment

Kay’s Rod × 1, Kay’s Tonfas × 2, Snow Leopard’s Hidden Claws × 3

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

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

Held Items

Disassembly Knife, Complete Set of Carpentry Tools

Titles

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

Spell Catalog

Summoned Monsters

Wolf Wolf Level 7

Crescent Moon Horse Level 5

Helix Hawk Level 5

Obsidian Owl Level 5

Jean Bat Level 5

Jericho Wood Golem Level 3

Geki Oni Level 4

War Oni Beast Ape Level 4

Rig Slime Level 3

Bunraku Wood Puppet Level 1 → Level 2 (↑1)

Dexterity 25 (↑1)

Agility 8

Intelligence 18

Strength 12

Vitality 12

Mental Strength 7 (↑1)

Skills

Bow, Cooking, Magic Resistance [Minor], Self-Repair [Minor]