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The level of [Alchemy] skill has increased.
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I logged in. It was currently noon in real time, but midnight in the game.
“Good morning.”
“Oh, hey.”
To my surprise, it appeared that Jigoro was the sole individual who had logged in before me. How unusual.
“You can finally graduate from being a shut-in.” Jigoro said. (TN: he meant how Isam always stays in the laboratory)
“Hahaha. Actually, I’m a busy person in real life.”
While exchanging such banter, Ruby and Genjuro also logged in.
“Sorry! I’m a little late!”
“My senior citizens’ meeting went on for too long. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
In this virtual realm of gaming, we didn’t hold ourselves to the strict standards of punctuality that governed our real lives. Besides, if we were going to blame someone for this level of tardiness, we should blame Iris as well.
“I’m sorry! I got delayed because a package arrived suddenly!”
And there was Iris, finally joining us. Now we were all gathered. We distributed the potions that Iris and I had diligently crafted yesterday to the three others, and I handed the poison potions I had concocted through [Alchemy] to Ruby. With the addition of the poisonous fangs dropped by bats and snakes in the cave, its potency had become even more lethal.
Speaking of drops, it seemed that while I was in conversation with the Gravekeeper, Ruby had managed to snatch some loot from the Ratman King and its rat subordinates. She truly was a resourceful girl.
The drops seemed to consist of slightly higher quality weapons, some hides, and fangs. However, the Ratman King’s staff had decent capabilities. Here are the details:
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- Rusty Royal Scepter – Quality: Inferior, Rarity: T (Treasure Class)
One of the symbols of the ancient kingdom. It holds the power of fire and light within.
Heavily rusted and stained, making repairs difficult.
It may be awaiting the day when it regains its former brilliance and glory.
[Fire Enhancement]: Lv1
[Light Enhancement]: Lv1
[????]
[????]
[????]
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Yeah, it may have a considerably high rarity, but it’s essentially a lower-grade version of the “Staff of Hourai”. Actually, this feels like a meta-equipment specifically designed to counter the Gravekeeper. Bringing out a staff that enhances the same magic skills that the Gravekeeper was weak against…. they were really determined to kill him.
But more importantly, it was the type of equipment that could regain its original power. The difference from my scythe was that it didn’t require specific materials. According to Iris, our esteemed producer, repairing this required a high level of [Crafting] rather than [Blacksmithing]. However, that wasn’t enough. In addition to [Crafting], it also required [Archaeology].
In essence, it was all about restoring an item. That’s why both the [Archaeology] and the [Crafting] skills were necessary. Although I was curious about its true power when fully restored, that seemed like just too much of a hassle.
However, as soon as Iris learned about this, she went ahead and acquired [Archaeology]. She said it was a good opportunity to use the additional SP we obtained from the dungeon event, but she might have done this in consideration of me. I couldn’t help but feel grateful for her thoughtfulness.
And that was the end of yesterday’s story. Currently; It was time to set off. Our schedule was quite challenging: heading north from the western exit, crossing the northern mountain where I first met Jigoro, circumventing the lake, and then climbing the towering mountain in the depths.
Without the camping tent crafted by Iris, combining her skills in [Leatherworking], [Blacksmithing], and [Crafting] this journey would have been impossible. It seemed that other players had also made similar tents, but Iris’s craftsmanship surpassed theirs. Moreover, the price was set at a level that even the top players struggled to afford. I couldn’t help but think how fortunate I was to have Iris as a teammate.
In any case, our initial destination was the northern mountain. So far, it had been quite an enjoyable journey, almost like a picnic. Furthermore, unless the second batch of players had arrived, we shouldn’t encounter any eccentric individuals attempting to scale the mountain at night. But would our journey continue to progress without obstacles?
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“The northern mountain… It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?” I mentioned.
“Yeah. Ever since we went all out and caused a big ruckus together.” Jigoro said.
The story of “causing a big ruckus” that Jigoro mentioned referred to when we had defeated the subjugation team that came for him. It seemed like the news about wiping out the entirety of those top players had caused quite a stir among the other players.
Some people had actually seen through the fact that Jigoro was a player, but due to my performance, the prevailing theory was that both Jigoro and I were event monsters. It’s amazing how I didn’t let my voice tremble back then, considering the circumstances!
“Anyway, what do you think will appear here?”
As I was reminiscing about that incident, Genjuro, who was completely uninvolved in the ruckus, asked me. Well, from his perspective, our nostalgic conversation wasn’t the relevant information he needed right now.
“Well… Oh, they’re getting closer.”
“””Gegegyaaa!!!”””
Ruby, who was about to explain to Genjuro, didn’t need to go through the trouble as the monsters appeared right before us. They were humanoid creatures with green skin, bald heads, and sharp eyes on ugly faces… Well, to be frank, they were goblins.
There were three of them. Honestly, it was clear that they weren’t formidable enemies. Nevertheless, for the sake of future reference, should I use [Appraisal] on them?
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Race: Goblin Lv2-4
Job: None
Skills:
- [Sharp Fang]
- [Sharp Claw]
- [Robust Degistion]
- [Intimidation]
- [Dark Vision]
- [Dwarfish Stature]
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Oh, they’re weak. And despite possessing skills like [Sharp Fang] and [Sharp Claw], they were wielding clubs and broken swords that resembled rusty chunks of iron. Maybe their intelligence was lacking as well.
“They say seeing is believing, right?”
“Yeah, it’s my first time seeing regular ones too.”
Ah, I see. Come to think of it, when we first encountered Genjuro and Ruby, both Jigoro (goblin race) and I had already evolved. So, it must be their first time encountering these ordinary goblins, known for being the weakest.
“It feels nostalgic somehow.”
“Jigoro, you had a phase like this too.”
On the contrary, Iris and I felt a strong sense of nostalgia. It felt like seeing a child who went to the same elementary school as my son, who has now become a junior high or high school student… What is it exactly? Well, I wouldn’t know since I don’t have any children.
Moreover, Jigoro was equipped with the loincloth reward for clearing the “Trial of the Azure Moon”, so he had a fundamentally different aura compared to the three goblins in front of us. If the Jigoro from back then were to appear now, I’m sure I would be able to distinguish between them.
“Quit with the nonsense. So, who’s going to deal with these guys?” Jigoro asked.
“Huh? Jigoro should be able to communicate with them, right? After all, you evolved from the same goblin race, didn’t you?”
In response to my question, Jigoro shook his head.
“These guys are probably from a different tribe than the one I started out with. I don’t consider them as comrades in the slightest.”
“I see…”
If goblins from different tribes were considered enemies, even among their own kind, it would be quite similar to humans. However, if I were to mention that, it would likely be seen as problematic. I’ll just keep those thoughts to myself.
“I don’t really feel like fighting these weaklings. I’ve hunted plenty of them when I first started.” Jigoro said.
“I also prefer to refrain. Practicing my swings seems more worthwhile.” Genjuro added.
“Jigoro…” Iris muttered
“Grandpa…” Ruby added.
Oh dear, it seems that these two battle enthusiasts are not enthusiastic about this. The girls in our group were even looking exasperated at the sight.
Normally, I would have agreed with the reactions of the two girls. However, on this particular day, I was actually grateful that the two battle maniacs had declared their unwillingness to fight. The reason being that I had something I wanted to try.
“Well then, I’ll go.”
“Isam?”
I stepped forward in front of the goblins, who had been incessantly issuing menacing growls, trying to affect us with [Intimidation]. Iris looked at me with a puzzled expression, as it was highly unusual for me to take the lead.
“It’s a perfect opportunity to test my [Light Magic]. Besides…”
As I spoke, I switched the staff to one of the arms that I had added using [Alchemy], before equipping one of my original arms with the large scythe.
“This should be a good test swing too, don’t you think?”
“Gyagyah?”
While I was talking, I leaped forward. Perhaps they hadn’t expected me to charge in alone, as the goblins just stared at me with dumbfounded expressions. If they weren’t going to defend themselves, I would gladly finish them off without hesitation.
“Slashing!”
I wielded my scythe, applying the martial technique of the [Scythe Mastery]. I followed the instructions written on the martial arts analysis forum, keeping in mind not to go against the flow assisted by the system. I had actually been practicing this way, even when I was acting as the boss in the dungeon event.
To my surprise, my body moved with unbelievable smoothness, and I swung the difficult-to-handle scythe as if I were a master, delivering a powerful slash with solid force. A black aura-like effect trailed behind the scythe’s path.
It must be the influence of the dark element imbued in the weapon. Pretty cool, isn’t it?
“Gyaa…”
With that slash, one of the goblins was instantly bisected from its left shoulder, resulting in instant death. Although I was a mage and considered the weakest in the party (physically speaking), my level was over 20. And even though my weapon (the scythe) lacked most of its abilities, it still boasted far superior performance compared to a starting equipment. There was no way for me to lose!
“Ge-gegyaa!?”
“Gyaa-gyaa!”
Due to the overwhelming power difference, one of the goblins’ comrades was quickly taken down, leaving one goblin in fear while the other charged at me in a furious rage. Quite gutsy, I must say.
“Light Ball.”
“…!?”
However, it was futile. I unleashed [Light Magic] from the staff I held in my other arm. A brilliantly shining sphere, inconceivable given my evil appearance, struck the charging goblin directly in the face. Given that this was my specialty, its head was blown away quite easily.
“Gyaa… Gee-gyagyaaa!”
Surprisingly, the remaining goblin’s action was to flee. It’s commendable to recognize an unbeatable enemy and escape, but it was too late to realize that.
“Light Ball.”
“Gyii…”
Without pursuing its fleeing back, I released another spell. As someone who could manipulate the spells’ trajectories with [Magic Control], even if it tried to escape into the gaps between trees, it would be in vain. With my ruthless magic, the last goblin met its demise.
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