――――――――――
Race level increased. Gained 1 SP.
Job level increased. Gained 1 SP.
The level of [Flame Magic] skill has increased.
Newly learned “Flame Band” spell.
The level of [Space-time magic] skill has increased.
Newly learned “Mass Teleport” spell.
――――――――――.
Hmm, it was a fierce battle. I was mostly up against weaker opponents, but my level still increased by one. I had also learned two new spells, making this a very fruitful battle.
“Uh, Isam-san? Can I have a moment?”
“Sure, I can guess what you want to ask though.”
With that, I removed my silver mask, revealing my sinister face (?) hidden beneath it, which left everyone surprised.
“I was planning to discuss this after inviting everyone to join our guild. We can go into the details after we’ve finished skinning the monsters,” I said.
“That’s a good idea. There’s a suitable place for it too.”
Seventh Armor pointed out, using his beak to point toward the ant nest that had been wiped out. It seemed like a good spot to take a break. There, I would explain my circumstances to them and extend an invitation to join our guild.
The sequence of events had been reversed, but I had always intended to tell them eventually when I decided to invite them. Let’s just say the schedule got moved up a bit. Yeah.
◆◇◆◇◆◇
The ant nest was so vast that if we intended to explore it, we had to be serious about it. Considering the number of huge ants that inhabited it, this size was only to be expected. Consequently, we decided to form a circle near the entrance.
“…And so, I learned Abyssal Magic and progressed to my current race, the Chaos Abyss Dragonbone High Lich.”
I explained, recounting my adventures and their outcomes to everyone. Of course, I kept the details vague regarding Lord Agnasrelim and the passphrase to enter the “Ancient Travel Tower”. A heavy silence hung in the air, and the first to break it was Moth-san.
“Haah, I can see why you’d want to keep that hidden. Some players would go to great lengths to pry it out of you.”
“And there are those who’d spread baseless rumors out of jealousy.”
“Ugh, stalkers? I’m not a fan of that.”
“Actually, on the monster thread, things tend to get tense when it comes to evolved races like yours.”
Moth-san, Seventh Armor, Usaji, and Eiji showed a certain level of understanding towards my decision to hide my race and skills. Their comments directly addressed the concern I had in mind.
“More importantly, I’d like to try [Alchemy] to see if it can give me a special kind of evolution. Since you told us now, I don’t really care about the secrecy.”
“Oh, I’ll give it a try on my own. I’m an alchemist, after all. I’m actually more grateful for the information.”
Sei and Shiitake, who had become eligible for evolution after enduring the intense battles, spoke in this manner. Since they had already heard my story before evolving, I decided that if there were any useful items, I would let them use them for their evolutions.
“But, was it okay to teach it to beginners like us?”
“We appreciate it, though.”
It seemed that both Shishu and Wool were perplexed by the fact that I had shared my evolution secret. Apparently, they had no intention of blaming me for keeping it a secret, which was convenient. However, in addition to this, there was something else I had to say.
“I mentioned it to Seventh Armor and the others, but I want to ask this now. After hearing what I’ve just told you, would all of you consider joining my guild?”
Of course, I said all that to recruit them. I believed that as long as I could bring them in, it wouldn’t matter how much I revealed.
“I won’t force you, and I’m not asking for an immediate decision. However, I’d like you to have an answer by the end of this event.”
I didn’t like pressuring others, and I felt this level of recruiting was sufficient.
“Now, let’s put aside the heavy talk. It’s time for some fun evolution.”
“Oooh!”
“I’ve been waiting for this!”
Now was the time for the evolution that they had been putting off. At this point, the two eligible for evolution were Shiitake and Sei. If there were any items we had obtained in our battles that could aid in their evolution, it was time to make use of them.
“First, let’s see the materials you have on hand. We need to check if they’re usable. Even if an item doesn’t seem useful at first glance, show it to me just in case.”
“Sure.”
“Got it.”
In response to my request, Shiitake and Sei began laying out various items they had gathered throughout their battles. There were monster horns, claws, and some plants they had likely collected on the way. Ah, these ores weren’t suitable for my bones, but if they could be used for something, it could be interesting.
If there weren’t any restrictions on what I could bring with me to the event, I would have gladly provided various items I had stashed away, but unfortunately, I didn’t have them on hand right now. I had to make do with the items we had acquired during this event.
“Alright, let’s take a look… Huh?”
I attempted to use the “Fusion” spell of [Alchemy] on Sei like I always did to myself. But for some reason, a message appeared in my field of vision saying, “The target cannot be fused”.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing, never mind.”
Wait a second! Hold on! I can’t just raise the two’s expectations like that and then say, “Sorry, it’s not possible!” I need to think of a way to… I’ve got it!
“It’s doable this way!”
What I came up with was a spell called “Chimera Creation”; it was the latest addition to my [Alchemy] spells that I hadn’t had the chance to try out.
I decided to give Chimera Creation a shot with Sei, placing my last hope in it. To my relief, a message appeared, prompting me to “select the materials”. Ah, that’s a relief. It seems like there are various possibilities with this.
Wait a minute, this Chimera Creation actually worked on players too!
“Sorry, that took a bit of time. It seems the same approach I used doesn’t work here. But don’t worry; there’s another way.”
“Another way?”
Shiitake, being an alchemist herself, seemed genuinely interested. I would need to tell her that I would be doing the work on her myself.
“I mentioned this earlier, but I used fusion and transformation spells to modify my bones and body before evolving. But for some reason, that didn’t work on you.”
“So?”
“I acquired Chimera Creation when my [Alchemy] level reached 20. With this, I think we can make it work.”
“20, huh? I’m almost there, but not quite yet. Sorry, but could you handle it for me this time?” Shiitake asked
Shiitake’s [Alchemy] level hadn’t yet reached 20. Unlike combat-oriented skills, leveling up production-oriented skills took time. It couldn’t be helped if the level was low. So, it seemed this approach wasn’t viable.
“Of course… is what I’d like to say, but it’s better to improve the quality of the materials before anything. Please raise the quality of items that have a large number.”
“Sure thing.”
With that, Shiitake eagerly began fusing the materials together. The first ones she tackled were the materials obtained in abundance from the previous battle with the lesser ants. The mandibles and poison stingers seemed quite useful.
“Now, I plan to start building Sei. What can be used… animal types, I suppose.”
Among the items Sei possessed, the usable ones included materials like monster fur and fangs. When selecting items for fusion, a message displayed, saying, “Chimera fusion success rate with the target is XX%.” In Sei’s case, it was 0% for metal and plant-based items and less than 10% for insect-based items. That pretty much meant it would almost certainly fail, right?
Moreover, even though the success rate was known, it didn’t provide any information about what kind of Chimera he would become. It seemed like a “your own responsibility” situation no matter what the outcome. Especially for those with single-digit probabilities, if they succeeded, it looked like they might turn into incredibly rare creatures. It was a complete gamble.
“It seems I can only choose one. What should I fuse?”
Additionally, when Sei tried to select more than two materials to fuse, a message appeared, saying, “You cannot select more materials”. Whether this was only for this instance or if it happened every time was unclear, but for now, it seemed he could only choose one item.
“Only one, huh… Then, there’s no choice but this.”
Saying that, Sei prodded with his staff, and the item he chose was the “Troll Skin”. Originally, it was a material to be processed into leather and used for crafting leather armor. Its quality was “Good” and the level of the monster from which the material was obtained was the highest. The success rate was also a very high 93%. As Sei mentioned, if choosing from the materials he had, “Troll Skin” was the only option.
“I see. Oh, by the way, what about your familiars? It seems possible to use Chimera Creation on them.”
Sei’s familiars hadn’t reached the level 20 necessary for evolution, but, they seemed to be eligible for the Chimera Creation spell. If he wanted to strengthen them immediately, it was entirely feasible.
“You can do it? In that case, let’s do it.”
“In that case, you should also choose the items. It looks like Wolf-kun can pick one from the animal type, and Pixie-kun can pick two from the insect-type items and magic stones.”
“Tess can pick two items? In that case, let’s go with this ‘Blade Reindeer’s Antler’ for Phil and ‘Big Swallowtail Wings’ along with a regular magic stone for Tess.”
Hmm, I see. Phil, the wolf, would receive a new attack method, and Tes, the pixie, would get beautiful wings and a magic stone. Oh, but before that…
“Sei, my staff has the ability to create magic stones. If you want a magic stone with a specific element you can tell me.”
“It’s amazing that you can create magic stones. In that case, I’d like a light magic stone. I’ll give you a few magic stones in return.”
“It’s no problem, even if it’s free. Understood.”
I created a light-element magic stone using my staff’s [Magic Stone Emission] skill. Perhaps due to my increased level, the quality of the magic stones produced by this skill was consistently ‘fair’, even though it had no skill level. Sei’s magic stones had the same quality, so there shouldn’t be any issues.
“Alright. Let’s proceed in order. Who should go first?” I asked.
“Naturally, it should be me,” Sei replied.
Hmm, very manly. He didn’t want to test it out on his familiars; he wanted to try it out with his own body first.
“Alright then, let’s begin right away. Magic Circle Activation… Now, stand on it along with the materials,” I instructed.
“O-Ooh!”
Although he gave a confident response, it was obvious that he was a bit nervous. Stepping into my somewhat sparkling, mysterious magic circle seemed to make him hesitate, and I understood his feelings.
“…. You’re in. Now, Chimera Creation!”
“Oh! Whoaaaaa!”
With the “Troll Skin” in his hands, I cast the spell on Sei as he stood within the magic circle. The item in his hands transformed into pale blue particles and was absorbed into his body. It was originally a piece of monster skin, but the effect was incredibly fantastical and beautiful.
Simultaneously, Sei’s body underwent a transformation. Wrapped in the enchanting effect, his height increased rapidly. He had been just a bit taller than a Japanese macaque a moment ago, but now he had grown to the size of an average human.
In fact, based on his silhouette alone, he appeared to be a muscular and large individual. Well, hair covered his entire body, and his face was exactly like that of a monkey, so you wouldn’t be able to mistake him in such a bright place.
As his transformation concluded, the white particle effects disappeared. I believed it was a success, but was that true?
“How is it? Did your race change?”
“…Yeah, it evolved on its own. I’m now an Enko race. This wasn’t among the choices I saw earlier when I first looked at it.”
It seemed that the race evolved on its own, and this could lead to evolutionary paths not accessible through conventional means. It was quite intriguing. Perhaps we should try one more.
“It seems that I can’t use the ‘Chimera Creation’ on you again. I don’t know if it’s a one-time thing or if I need to wait, but I won’t be able to do it immediately.”
“Is that so? Well, I don’t plan on doing another ‘Chimera Creation’ anytime soon anyway.”
The conditions were unclear, but it seemed that using Chimera Creation on the same person repeatedly was not possible. Figuring out the intricacies of this feature around here was a hassle, but I thought I could just observe the progress from now on.
“Let’s move on to the next ones. We’ll start with Wolf-kun and Pixe-kun.”
As a result of using Chimera Creation, Phil transformed from a Grey Wolf into a Horn Wolf and Tess changed race from a Light Pixie to a Fairy. It was interesting how the race changed immediately afterward, not just right after evolution like I had assumed. It was quite different from my experience, where I tampered with fusion.
“Is that done? So it’s my turn next, right?” Shiitake said.
“Is this what you want to use?”
Shiitake brought me a “Lesser Knight Ant’s Poisonous Stinger”. Was Shiitake, who was a Poisonous Mushroom going to fuse with the Poisonous Stinger? The success rate was at 75%, so it should work out normally.
“The success rate seems to be 75%, but are you ready?”
“I’m all set. If it fails, at least we’ll get to find out what happens.”
“Alright, then please step into the magic circle.”
“Sure thing.”
She was quite the bold one. Shiitake confidently stepped into the magic circle, eagerly awaiting the activation. So, without hesitation, I immediately cast the spell.
“Ohho~, it’s here~! It’s here~! Hmm, hmmm. A Poisonous Stinging Mushroom! It worked!”
The evolved Shiitake now had a thick, brightly colored stinger emerging from the center of her cap. Aside from the addition of the stinger, nothing else seemed to have changed, but there was no doubt that it was a successful transformation.
Now that the evolution was complete, it was time to thoroughly explore the inside of the nest!
*************
TN: Enko seems to be a type of Yokai monkey that can swim (meaning it is a legend monkey). This is at least what I found on google.
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