Chapter 140: Mysterious slate and sea gang
Chapter 140: Mysterious slate and sea gang
On the second day of the event, I log in and suddenly there's info. It looks like Aranea is leveling up again. Apparently, the wire trap was active during the night.
As I'm checking, Ruin-san is angry about something.
"The worst! Those guys!"
"I, I'm sorry! We couldn't stop them"
"We couldn't stop them either...sorry"
Could it be another production player? Why are they apologizing to Ruin-san?
"It's not your fault. You're not responsible, it's them who did this"
"Perfect kill...what are you going to do? Ruin"
"They're not going to listen to us. Those guys"
It's obvious we've got a problem.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah, Takuto-kun, you're here with Mel-chan and the others?"
"We're in the middle of an event. So what's going on?"
"Yesterday's capture group took all the ingredients in the base area during the night and almost none of them dropped"
Uwa~. Is this some kind of revenge for yesterday?
Wait a minute. I don't think there's much of a difference because I've accumulated a lot of food too.
"It's hard to explore when your satiety level is low...if you keep this up, the other players won't be able to explore"
Was that the aim? No, I think he just wanted to harass me. Well, I'm storing ingredients, but what should I do...then my eyes fall on the lake.
"...Ruin-san, do the people in the capture group have the fishing skill?"
"Eh? I don't think they have such skills...ah"
It seems that Ruin-san has also noticed. The ingredients in the forest may have been wiped out, but the ingredients in the lake are likely to be untouched. Because they wouldn't have fishing skills or equipment.
"I'll give you some of the food I've been storing"
"Is that okay? Isn't that what you've been collecting to explore, Takuto-kun?"
"The rest will be taken care of by fishing and Ion and the others"
So, I summoned Ion, Chess, Seguro and Puyosuke. Puyosuke bends down to Chess. It looks like he likes Chess.
I can't tell if Ion is relieved or not.
"I see, fish was a good idea. There are a couple of fishermen here, I think. I'll go talk to them. It would be impossible for Takuto alone to catch enough fish for all the players on this server"
That's true, it's impossible. This is the domain of professional people.
Please leave the cooking to me
Please summon Loco Moco-chan and the others too
Yes, Yes. Loco Moco and the others production. And I'll give you some fish.
Therefore, I enjoy fishing. Ion, Chess, Seguro and Puyosuke collect fish in the lake. I save Kurogane in case of an emergency.
We gather up a good amount of food and share it with Ruin-san and the others.
And just as I'm thinking about logging out for lunch, Ion appears in front of me.
"Ta, Takuto-san! There's something in the lake!"
"Calm down, Ion. What kind of something?"
"Emm. There's something written on a stone!"
Writing on a stone? A slate? I'm curious...I think it's some kind of hint for the capture. But Ion can't seem to decipher it. Perhaps it's because she lacks the reading skill.
So I guess I'll have to go down there myself. ...Well, I guess I'll have lunch first.
I finish my lunch and log in. Well, let's get the swimming skill.
You have acquired the swimming skill
Skill points consumed are 1pt. My remaining skill points are now 21pt.
Well, I would have taken it someday. Then Ion is pleased.
"Now you can go underwater too, Takuto-san!"
Ah...perhaps I've made her feel lonely? I'm sorry about that. But now that I've taken the swimming skill, I'll probably be doing some underwater combat too.
So, let's go read some mysterious words. The feeling of swimming is the same as normal.
It seems to be no problem even with the robe on. Thank God...I was prepared to be one of those loincloths.
Now I'm going underwater with Ion and the others!
The water was a beautiful sight. There were all kinds of fish swimming around. I haven't caught that many fish! All we caught was pond smelt! Damn, what a feeling of defeat...
But I can't stop savoring it. As my breathing becomes labored, my vitality begins to dwindle. Seriously!?
Once, I'm out of the water.
"Are you okay!? Takuto-san"
"Ah...yes. I'm fine.... I was just in a bit of pain...that's all"
Once I was on the water surface, my vitality stopped dwindling. And when I looked at Chess, I saw that his vitality had decreased, though not as much as mine. I didn't realize it until now, but Chess has been fighting like this for a long time.
"Chess, I feel your pain. You've been working so hard"
"Gau"
However, it turns out that I can't go on like this, can I? I thought I could make it once I recovered from the dive, but as time went on, my suffering increased and my vitality dwindled.
Now...what to do?
According to Ion, the slate was at the bottom of the lake. It was quite deep to the bottom. It's a lake, so I guess it's only natural...but this is just disgusting. But now that Ion had found it. I have to think about something.
"I, I...that~...Takuto-san...hold hands...and dive in?"
That's the only way...it's just Ion. If you react like that, it's hard for us to say anything!
In the end, I asked Ion to carry me. How pathetic...
Now, where's the slate in question? As I was looking for it, I made eye contact with a being peeking out from between the rocks. I try to identify it.
Jumbo Moray Eel?
? ? ?
Eh...is there such a thing as a moray eel in the lake?"
At any rate, this is a bad idea! We need to retreat! I thought so, but Ion said.
"Takuto-san, over there!"
Eh? Where? I didn't know you could talk underwater, Ion. I've never heard of it before.
When I looked in the direction where Ion pointed, there was indeed a slate. What...
Coming from the sky
It's hard to tell from this. Then, Seguro started to make a fuss.
What is it?
When Ion and I turned around, we saw a 10-meter-long moray eel heading toward us.
No, it's too big!? How the hell did it get on that rocky beach!? It's impossible!?
And my vitality begins to dwindle. Danger, danger!? Retreat, retreat!
I use my synchro skill to give the order to retreat, but I'm dealing with a moray eel. There's no way that a normal swimmer in the water can compete with its speed.
Did they understand that?
Chess challenges the moray eel to a fight. He hits it head-on and the moray eel instantly wraps itself around Chess. But Chess has Puyosuke. Puyosuke, on the other hand, gets close to the moray eel and damages it.
The moray eel doesn't care and tries to bite Chess, but Seguro wraps around the moray eel's mouth and prevents it from biting. Then Seguro bites, poisoning the moray eel.
Then Chess looked at me and nodded.
I felt like he was telling me to let them deal with this guy.
Okay...I'm counting on you. Chess, Puyosuke, Seguro
"Leave it to me to take care of Takuto-san. I'll make sure we get you out of the water!"
"Gaaa"
Chess screams as he bites the moray eel and raises his claws.
Ion and I didn't turn around anymore, just aiming for the water surface and withdrawing.
"Haa...haa...I thought I was going to die..."
"I'm sorry...I got carried away with the slate..."
"You were desperate for me, weren't you? I'm glad you did"
"Takuto-san..."
Ion holds out her head in a reserved manner. It's an appeal to pet her. Let's pet her.
"We should thank Seguro, Chess and Puyosuke for their hospitality and treats"
"Yes...if it weren't for them, we probably wouldn't have made it..."
By the time I got to the water surface, Chess's vitality was dwindling fast and I couldn't save him. After Chess died, Seguro was also killed in an instant. In the end, Puyosuke's vitality, which had been at full strength, was instantly drained. It must have been some kind of magic attack.
...If those guys hadn't bought us some time, we'd have returned to death.
I felt grateful and wanted to strike back at the enemy. But in the water, there's a time limit and it's an enemy that Chess, Seguro and Puyosuke can't beat...I'm sorry, but it's just not possible right now.
This battle has made it clear that I'm a liability in underwater combat. If I'm going to do any real fighting, I'm going to need the underwater skill that Ion and the others have and the Lake Horse that the Horse evolved from...that was above water...some kind of underwater legs.
"Takuto-kun, what's wrong?"
It's Ruin-san. I have to tell her about the slate.
"When we went to see the slate that Ion found in the lake, we were attacked by a giant moray eel and Chesss team returned to Death. I really feel down"
"There's a lot of things to feel down about, but...Takuto-kun also feels down"
"Isn't it natural to be depressed when your dearest friends die for you?"
"That's true...but did you find the slate?"
"Yes. There was a slate with the words Coming from the sky written on it. Do you know what that means?"
"Does it mean something's coming from the sky?"
We look at the sky. It's a beautiful day. It's not! Anyway, I have no idea what this means. But we agreed that it was definitely a hint. And there are probably more in other base areas.
So, let's go look for it.
The members are Ion, Liqueur, Byakuya, Himari and Rex, with Ion and Liqueur riding together.
"Please let me monopolize you today"
I can't say no if she asks me that.
Name Takuto Intermediate Summoner Lv8
Vitality 42
Magic Power 84
Strength 30
Defense 21
Agility 27
Dexterity 59
Skills
Fighting Lv7
Kicking Lv12Lv13
Staff Lv18
One-handed Sword Lv8
Throwing Lv3
High-Speed Chanting Lv8
Summoning Magic Lv20
Seal Magic Lv2
Alchemy Lv9
Mining Lv14
Logging Lv11
Dismantling Lv21
Appraisal Lv10
Identification Lv17Lv18
Wind Magic Lv20
Fire Magic Lv20
Earth Magic Lv21
Water Magic Lv20
Dark Magic Lv20
Light Magic Lv26
Lightning Magic Lv18
Explosion Magic Lv17
Wood Magic Lv18
Ice Magic Lv16
Space-time Magic Lv16
Swimming Lv1Lv5
Reading Lv8
Cooking Lv25
Feeding Lv6
Fishing Lv8Lv10
Synchro Lv4
Name Ion Dragonewt Lv25
Vitality 38
Magic Power 52
Strength 30
Defense 20
Agility 74
Dexterity 64
Skills
Dual-Wield Lv19
Throwing Lv6
Underwater Action Lv7Lv9
Water Blade Lv10
Pseudo-Dragonification Lv3
Name Chess Polar Bear Lv8
Vitality 36
Magic Power 28
Strength 40
Defense 33
Agility 19
Dexterity 19
Skills
Bite Lv8Lv10
Bare-handed Lv9Lv10
Assault Lv8Lv10
Swimming Lv3Lv6
Ice Claw Lv8Lv10
Name Aranea Giant Spider Lv8Lv10
Vitality 3031
Magic Power 2224
Strength 2021
Defense 1314
Agility 1617
Dexterity 5456
Skills
Bite Lv3
Sticky Thread Lv7
Soft Thread Lv3
Hard Thread Lv9Lv11
Trap Setting Lv10Lv12
Thread Detection Lv5
Name Loco Moco Cloud Sheep Lv2
Vitality 52
Magic Power 20
Strength 5
Defense 32
Agility 20
Dexterity 6
Skills
Ramming Lv3
Danger Detection Lv2
Run Away Lv1
Hair Growth Lv3 Lv4
Milking Lv3 Lv4
Cold Resistance Lv1
Name Airy Ibex Lv5
Vitality 43
Magic Power 19
Strength 25
Defense 17
Agility 33
Dexterity 18
Skills
Horn Strike Lv2
Climbing Lv1
Danger Detection Lv3
Leap Lv1
Gale Lv2
Light Magic Lv6
Milking Lv3Lv4
Name Puyosuke Blue Slime Lv2
Vitality 31
Magic Power 0
Strength 0
Defense 41
Agility 20
Dexterity 20
Skills
Predator Lv7Lv9
Defense Lv3
Physical Disable Lv5
Transformation Lv7Lv9
Impact Absorption Lv3
Splitting Lv3
Regeneration Lv3
Underwater Action Lv3Lv5
Extreme Cold Body Lv5Lv7
Name Seguro Sea Snake Lv1
Vitality 35
Magic Power 12
Strength 23
Defense 12
Agility 18
Dexterity 18
Skills
Bite Lv1Lv4
Coiling Lv1Lv4
Poison Lv1Lv4
Heat Detection Lv1Lv2
Underwater Action Lv1Lv4