V1C4

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Episode 04 – Surrounded in the Dark

“What about you, Ledge? What kind of build are you going for?” asked Letty, twigs snapping under her footsteps.

“I wanna—” I posed for a second, but realised it was nothing to be ashamed of, “—I wanna travel Izanami. This game is said to have breathtaking landscapes and I want to see them all,” I explained, slightly looking away.

Man, saying it out loud is still a bit embarrassing.

“That sounds fun, too!”

“I know, right? I’ll be busy collecting Life skills so I plan on sticking to self-defense ones for combat,” I explained. “As for Arts, I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it…”

Life is one of the main categories for skills. Life skills have little influence on combat or crafting but are generally considered to be skills that make your life easier.

On the other hand, skills acquired while dealing direct damages to the enemy, like <Spearmanship> or Letty’s <Joujutsu>, are part of the Combat classification.

“Take the <Portable Stove> that was included in the [Survivalist’s Pack] for example. It’s the starting item for the <Camping> skill,” I pointed out.

“Is that so?” said Letty. “For me, It was the [Lantern] and the [Backpack] I had my eyes on.”

“In that case, why didn’t you go for the [Crafter’s Pack]…?” I asked.

“It was clearly not an option for someone as clumsy as me!” she confidently pointed out, without the slightest hint of regret.

To clarify, the [Crafter’s Pack] contains a [Backpack], as well as an assortment of tools corresponding to various Craft skills. It was the [Crafter’s Pack] that piqued my interest at first, so I did remember some of the items.

“Hmm…” Letty said, head slightly tilted and a finger on her cheek, as if trying to remember something. ”Speaking of the <Camping> skill, I remember it getting mixed reviews on the forums.”

“—Say what now?!” I blurted out, my voice almost a shout. “This game has only just started, you know?”

“Well, the forums opened a month prior to the release,” she clarified, “and, apparently, people gathered information that was available on the official site before the release and started various discussion threads.”

“Oh, I see…” I quietly mourned. “I don’t really browse forums so I wasn’t aware…”

Usually, if I get stuck or if there’s something I don’t understand, I’d dig the Wiki without hesitation, but I wouldn’t go as far as sorting out information and debating on forums before the release…

Letty, on the other hand, sounded like she had collected quite a lot of data from roaming the forums.

“By the way, why is the <Camping> skill getting mixed feelings?” I asked, curious?

“Well, It’s only speculation but,” she started, “when you’re in a town, every facility is freely available to you so there’s supposedly no point in leveling up the skill.”

I guess I can’t really argue with that.

If you’re focusing on a combat playstyle, then using the town’s facilities when you come back from your hunt might be enough. However, my planned playstyle involves a lot of long-distance walks and field explorations.

Besides, as long as the Reclamation is not progressing, Amaterasu won’t drop a new Vanguard Base. In such a setting, I was thinking that ranking up the <Camping> skill would come in handy.

“The only benefit would then simply be the skill’s cost reduction,” she continued. “But would that really be worth the time investment when you could be levelling Combat skills to get stronger instead?”

“The thing is, I’m not really interested in getting stronger…” I confessed.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong at all with your playstyle, though,” she said, maybe trying to lift my spirits.

It definitely is a no-brainer when you put it like this, though.

Because we’ve all been granted the same amount of time, the long way around will always net you second place. But in the end, doesn’t it simply mean that I’m walking a different path that the majority of players?

“Well, I’ll just do things at my own pace,” I said. “I can always raise or lower my skills anytime I want anyway.”

“Exactly,” said Letty in a reassuring voice. “The game lets you freely build your character after all.”

That said, I should take a look at the forums once in a while… I might find kindred spirits and even glean useful information.

“There’s another wolf around, Ledge,” Letty warned.

“Got it. Let’s take it down quickly.”

***

Since then, it’s been smooth sailing for a while and we’ve been making good progress. That is, until now.

“It’s getting pretty dark,” I observed.

“That’s because in-game time flows twice as fast as real time,” explained Letty, peeking through the cracks in the canopy. “And, by the time we fell in the forest, it was almost evening.”

As Letty explained, time goes by two times faster in the game, meaning, if you log in for a full day, two days would pass on Izanami.

Coupled with a sense of elation at experiencing the world for the first time, hours go by even faster.

“At this pace, we might not be able to get to Susanoo by sunset,” I mused.

Before we realized it, and as if to confirm my claim, our surroundings completely melted into the darkness.

“Ah, uhm, Le-Legde?”

Leading the way a few steps ahead, Letty turned to me, voice quivering.

“What’s wrong?”

“The-there’s movement ahead.”

Now, now. We’re basically veterans at this point, and I’ve leveled up my <Spearmanship> quite a bit since then. There’s no reason to be afraid of a simple wolf.

Seeing the somewhat smug look on my face, she clarified. “There’s wolves ahead. A whole pack,” she spelled out.

Letty came even closer, her head almost on my chest. “We’re being surrounded,” she whispered.

“Come again?!” I squeaked. I quickly realized my mistake and put my hand over my mouth.

I squinted my eyes and scanned the surroundings, though it did little good. “Damn,” I hissed. “I can’t see anything like this.”

I should be grateful Letty is a Lycanthrope. I’d be dead meat by now if it wasn’t for her tracking abilities.

“Wha-wha-what should we do, Ledge…?” she asked, shaking in her boots.

Up until now, we only faced wolves that had strayed from the pack. Using the numbers to our advantage, all the fights were rather one-sided. But it seemed now the tables had turned.

“Can you tell how many there are?” I asked Letty.

“A-At least five.” Letty was holding my upper arm tightly, shaking visibly. “It sounds like there’s a lot more, though…”

Dammit, we lost our only advantage and I can’t see farther than my nose. The moment the wolves charge, it’s game over.

“Letty, do you know what the death penalty is in this game?” I hurriedly enquired.

“A-all the attributes points are reset according to the previous saved point, and the airframe as well as the items will be left behind…”

We still have to make our first save in Susanoo. Which means that if we die, it’s back to being newbies again. Besides, the second effect of the death penalty is nothing to scoff at either. If we die here, we’d have to start in a new airframe.

If we’re lucky enough, we might manage to go back and pick everything back up. But doing so with complete newbies’ stats and no items would prove tricky.

“Items…?” There was one thing that had slipped my mind.

Letty still clinging to my arm, I brought up my [Mirror] and opened the inventory.

From there, I took out one of the items that was included in the [Survivalist’s Pack] and urged Letty to do the same.

“Letty, take your [Lantern] out.”

“M-my [Lantern]?” she asked, confused.

I held mine in front of her to show what I meant.

Not losing a second more, I followed the instructions written in the lantern’s description.

“[Brilliance]!”

On cue with my command, the [Lantern] radiated a dim orange light, slowly spreading until it enveloped us like a warm mantle.

“Is that the <Camping> skill?”

“Yeah. It’s <Brilliance>, one of the abilities that comes with the level 1 <Camping> skill,” I explained.

“Activating it allows you to get your bearings in the dark and—”

Letty’s bunny ears twitched. She moved her ears several times as if to make sure of something, then starred incredulously at the [Lantern].

“The wolves… They’re retreating,” she said, baffled.

“Yep. <Brilliance> intimidates nearby monsters and serves as a repellent.”

When she heard that, Letty hurriedly took out her own lantern and spoke the word.

Her own [Lantern] now lit, the wolves retreated even further until they completely scattered.

“Thank god. It looks like we somehow outranked the wolves,” I said.

<Brilliance> is a low-level ability that is only effective on monsters of lesser rank than the player. However, we must have ranked up through our previous encounters and the wolves seemed to have registered us as a superior entity.

“F-finally, it’s over…” Letty sank to her knees as if tension and stress were the only things that had held her up.

“Still, I’m glad we both had a [Lantern]. With only one, we’d have barely been registered as an even match.”

“Thank you, Ledge. If it wasn’t for your quick thinking, I’d probably be a hamburger by now…”

I don’t think wolves have the <Cooking> skill though, Letty…

“Alright, let’s proceed with the lantern in hand from now on. And, while <Brilliance> is on cooldown,”—I rummaged through my inventory—”we’ll rest using our [Portable Stoves].”

“It takes a while for <Brilliance> to become reusable, so we’ll have to keep out the wolves with it.”

Albeit not being able to move while in effect, <Bonfire> had a much higher intimidation power.

“Roger!” Letty nodded vigorously in response to my newly hatched plan.

The lanterns now casting a gentle glow on her face, I couldn’t discern the faintest trace of fear or anxiety in her expression.

Tips

◇Forest Wolf

Although mainly active in the <Forest of the Beasts>, it’s a monster commonly sighted in the areas around Susanoo. This large grey wolf possesses sharp claws and fangs, and usually lies dormant during the day. The Forest Wolf roams alone at day and, while having decent combat ability, it can be subdued with ease.

However, when the night rolls over, it shreds its disguise to exhibit its bloodthirsty and ferocious nature. Making use of its high intelligence, it can quickly assemble a pack and launch surprise attacks from the darkness.

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