Translator: Charlotte　Editor: Weasalopes

The path leading to the next hall had a pattern I was quite used to.
It went in a loop.
I kept going as always, and thought back on the Gozu and Mezu I"d fought.
They were always slowly getting stronger.

But what was the reason behind them suddenly going back to Lv.1 earlier?
The only thing I could come up with was that I got an item.
It was just a theory, but the fact that I picked up an item may have caused the Gozu and Mezu to go back to Lv.1.

But that also meant that as long as I didn"t get any items the Gozu and Mezu would get gradually stronger.
Hmm…
It felt like a wild idea.

But if it was true…?
If it was true, then the next pair should be Lv.2.
Let"s see…

Gozu　Lv.2
Phantom　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Land　Fire Attribute

Mezu　Lv.2
Phantom　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Land　Fire Attribute

Woah.
I guess I was right?

Senki and Rig faced the Gozu.
I took on the Mezu by myself.
I had a good time for a while.

《【Tree Magic】Level Up!》
《You have acquired the【Tree Magic】spell【Thorn Fence】!》
《You have acquired the【Tree Magic】spell【Ivy Whip】!》
《【Grab】Level Up!》

It wasn"t exactly an easy fight, but I managed to beat it eventually.

And the level-ups were nice too.
Senki had already started making a habit out of using throws on the Gozu.
I mean, Senki had been throwing his enemies around since the very beginning, but brute strength didn"t work on the Gozu.
That"s right.
There"s more to throws than just strength, you know.

I tried a new technique on the Mezu.
A neck-carry throw.
On one hand, it was like a normal throw, pulling on the Mezu"s arm.
But instead of the arm, I pulled on its neck.

It was just a little improvisation on my part.
That was all.

The Mezu dropped an item.

【Material】Devil"s Nose Ring　Part　Grade C　Rarity 2　Weight 0+
A devil"s nose ring. It"s made out of some kind of metal. It looks like a mixture of copper and silver.
It has been strengthened by h.e.l.l fire.

Another strange item.
I had no idea what it was all about.
Well, it looked like jewelry so I could probably have Margrid look at it.

I also got two new spells.
A【Tree Magic】wall spell and an areof-effect spell.
I took a minute to edit my magic spell shortcut list.
I was looking forward to trying them out again.

I kept going.
I soon ran into more Floating Bombs.
Goki took care of them with a few arrows.
My problem was mainly with the flying monsters, but Obsidian was good at taking them out.
Obsidian"s MP bar was slowly decreasing.
I was also using a lot of spells to take out the Gozu and the Mezu, and my MP bar was at a pretty dangerous 30%.
It was about time to call it a day…
I had a feeling I could only fight a pair of Gozu and Mezu about two more times.

Keeping that in mind, I moved into the next hall.
…and I was faced with a difficult choice.

It was a kind of hall I"d never seen before.
There weren"t any exits leading to small rooms.
But instead, there was a magnificent gate right in front of my eyes.
I immediately knew that the gate was enchanted.
There were stone statues on both sides of the gate.
Guards?

They were about 2 metres tall.
Two heavenly guardians.

One of them had a mouth wide open, while the other had a mouth in the shape of an "o".
Muscular bodies, too.
I gulped.

I thought for a while.
The conclusion I came to was… Retreat.
It was probably the best course of action.
I probably wouldn"t be able to fight them anyway.
Not until my MP bar was at a better position at least.
I started heading back.

I arrived at the main cave.
I meant to keep exploring, but I didn"t feel like going into places others had already gone into.
I didn"t feel like chasing other parties.

Well then.
I suppose I could check out S1W2.
I wanted to try fighting Sturmtigers.
There were moles too, but I wanted to test myself.
It was still 3 pm.
I still had a lot of time.

I ran into an Orc, but…
I was grateful for the opportunity to fight some monsters, and I got a few Iolite stones too.
But I really wanted to make use of the time to cover as much ground as possible.
At least Senki looked like he was having a good time rampaging.

I made it to S1W2.
I was still a long way off from the Area Portal, the Tower of Condemnation.
I recalled Senki and Goki, and summoned Zangetsu and Helix.
I had to conserve my MP bar…

…but I still decided to recall Rig and summon Volff.

Ah, Volff was still on the death timer.
Volff died the evening before.
I still had to wait a little longer.

Rig wasn"t very good against Sturmtigers, so I summoned Ninetails.
Ninetails was the best at staying away from danger.
And that wasn"t an insult.
Staying alive is a good thing.

It all depends on perspective, something bad can be made out to be something good.
Of course, that also goes the other way around.

I headed out into the plains.
I was heading towards the Tower of Condemnation.
It would be nice to have a place to run to if things got bad.
It reminded me of home.

Now, where were the tigers? Maybe moles?
But the first monster I ran into was neither of the above.
It was a…

Crest Bee　Lv.4
Monster　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position:　Air

It was big.
And there were a lot of them.

Although I"d encountered bigger swarms of monsters before.
It wasn"t that bad.
I looked at what I was dealing with again.
Bees.
No matter how you sliced it.
Honey…

I scanned my surroundings for a nest.
Give me the honey!
My favourite honey!
I was sick of Antman honey.

Oops.
I forgot I was getting ambushed by giant bees.

What did I have up my sleeve against flying monsters?
That"s right, 【Wind Magic】.
The first spell I wanted to use was【Storm Wave】.
It was a very nice spell.

But I made a slight miscalculation in what the bees would do.
Half of the bees went to the ground and flapped their wings to intimidate us.
On top of them, the other half of the bees were hovering and staring at us.
Just one bee was at the very top, launching attacks.

While using my tonfa to guard against the attacker bee, I continued casting my spell.
Of course, I had some support, too.
Ninetails and Obsidian.

Zangetsu couldn"t do anything but sit back while Ninetails shot b.a.l.l.s of light from Zangetsu"s back.
My spell was done.

「Storm Wave!」

As soon as I cast the spell, Obsidian"s water needles filled the hall like a curtain.
Helix suddenly dived down for an attack.

Let"s see what will happen…

Yep, they were definitely bees through and through.
At least that"s what I wanted to think.
I wouldn"t mind getting bitten, but…
I really didn"t want to get stung by the stingers sticking out of the abdomen of each bee.
I wondered if I could really take the swarm.

But after only those three attacks, they were all pretty much dead.
The barrage of spells was very good at taking out their wings.
The bees struggling on the ground were soon stomped on by Zangetsu.
The bees that were still flying were picked out one by one by Helix and Obsidian.

The battle was over in no time.
Boring…
I didn"t have a chance to perform.
Well, relaxing wasn"t so bad either.

They didn"t have honey on them.
But they had something else instead.

【Material】Crest Bee Sting　Raw Material　Grade C　Rarity 2　Weight 0+
The sting of a Crest Bee. Contains a weak venom. The tip is pointy and light.

I ended up getting quite a few Crest Bee Stings.
Well, they weren"t that heavy, so I stacked them and put them in an《Item Box》.
I thought about the new kind of arrows I could make.
Nice.

Now, where was their nest…?
There was a hole in the ground, so it must"ve been in there somewhere.
The hole wasn"t big enough for me to fit, though.

The next enemy was a little stronger.
Helix found a Sturmtiger.
And in front of the Tower of Condemnation, too.
Although Helix wouldn"t be able to find moles.
I wanted to fight them too.

C"mon…
It was time to fight some tigers.

My last fight with a Sturmtiger was a tough one.
Which is why I wanted to find a method to consistently kill them.
Although for the time being, I still had to dodge bigger groups of them.

Sturmtiger　Lv.6
Monster　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Land　Wind Attribute

Just as expected.
I finished all my preparations to fight it.
My preparations mostly consisted of using【Resist Wind】on all my Summon Monsters.
All I had to do was win the speed battle.
I was pretty confident.

But something happened that I didn"t expect.
Another tiger joined the fight.
Speaking of which, it was already dusk.
About the time when monster behaviour patterns tended to change.
Although it was a little too late to think about it then.

I ran away and maintained some distance while I fought them, but it was a tough race.
Even though fundamentally, Zangetsu was faster.
It was why I was confident in winning.
With【Resist Wind】, their Special Skills became useless, too.
Although it wasn"t like they became completely useless.
They were beginning to make a difference once I lost count of how many attacks I took.
One of the tigers" MP bars was surely already at zero, but the other one was still going strong.

The first tiger was finally taken out by one of Ninetails"s light b.a.l.l.s.
After that, the fight got a lot easier.
A short while later, I managed to kill the second one too.
I made it out alive…

But my Kaya Wood Rod was broken.
Not just snapped in two, but broken into bits.
It was a relatively old piece of equipment, and I did use it to block a lot of the tigers" attacks.
Looked like it had finally reached its limit.

《【Horsemanship】Level Up!》
《【Precise Manipulation】Level Up!》
《Summon Monster『Helix』Level Up!》
《Please put 1 point into a desired stat.》

It was the whole reason I had Helix on my team, but Helix levelled up.
Let"s see…
Will Helix also…?
I looked at Helix"s stats menu and found that the stat that went up during the level-up was INT.
I put another point into AGI.

Helix　Hawk Lv7→Lv8 (↑1)
DEX　12
AGI　25 (↑1)
INT　22 (↑1)
STR　12
VIT　12
SPI　12

Skills:
Peck　Flight　Far Sight　Wide Area Search　Ambush　Sense Danger　Air Mobility

《Summon Monster『Helix』has cleared the Cla.s.s Change conditions.》
《Please go to the Status Menu to access the Cla.s.s Change options.》

Very nice.
I decided to check it out after arriving at the Area Portal.
It was already night-time after all, and I hadn"t eaten yet.

Oops.
I still had to check out the tigers" dead bodies.

I got a new item from the two tigers.
Although I kind of expected that from them.

【Material】Sturmtiger Fang　Raw Material　Grade C+　Rarity 4+　Weight 0+
A Sturmtiger"s fang. A frightening tool to rip apart flesh.

【Material】Sturmtiger Skin　Raw Material　Grade C+　Rarity 4+　Weight 4
A Sturmtiger"s skin. It has a beautiful striped pattern, making it very popular.

Two fangs, and one piece of skin.
I suppose I could use the fangs for some kind of weapon?
The skin looked like something a celebrity would have hanging in front of the fireplace.
It really looked like something only a rich person would have.

I left the items for later.
I got on Zangetsu and ran into the field.
It was a different feeling to the feeling I had the day before.
Looks like I really did only look out for myself.

I arrived at the Tower of Condemnation.
But it seemed… taller?
No, that was its true form.
The ancient atmosphere didn"t change, but the tower didn"t look broken at all.
In just one day it had already repaired itself.
That in itself was quite scary.

A quite large area around the tower was included in the Area Portal.
How did I know that?
The tower was surrounded in a flower field.
The field had clear boundaries.
Did someone come by and cast【Grow】?
The change felt too extreme.

I peeked into the tower.
It was completely repaired.
There were even stone tables inside.
It was really a wonderful sight.

Anyway…
I recalled Zangetsu and summoned Bunraku.
While waiting for dinner to be prepared, I still couldn"t relax for some reason.

I knew why.
There was something I hadn"t checked out yet.

I went to Helix"s stats menu and took a screenshot, before looking at the Cla.s.s Change candidates.
It looked like this.

Cla.s.s Change Candidates:
Fighting Falcon
Battle Hawk

What heroic names.
Although I felt like I"d heard of both before.
The more I thought about it, the more confused I became.

I first checked out the Fighting Falcon

Summon Monster　Helix　Hawk Lv8→Fighting Falcon Lv1 (New！)
DEX　12
AGI　26 (↑1)
INT　23 (↑1)
STR　12
VIT　12
SPI　13 (↑1)

Skills:
Peck　Flight　Far Sight　Wide Area Search　Ambush　Sense Danger　Air Mobility　Wind Attribute (New！)

【Fighting Falcon】Summon Monster　Battle Position: Air
A falcon with amazing mobility. Its main methods of attack are its beak and its claws.
Strengthened with Wind Magic.

Ooh.
Wind Attribute, huh…
I felt it a little in the fight, but Helix and Obsidian were surprisingly weak against wind attacks.
This would be nice…

But wait.
I had to check out the Battle Hawk too.

Summon Monster　Helix　Hawk Lv8→Battle Hawk Lv1 (New！)
DEX　13 (↑1)
AGI　25
INT　22
STR　14 (↑2)
VIT　14 (↑2)
SPI　12

Skills:
Peck　Flight　Far Sight　Wide Area Search　Ambush　Sense Danger　Air Mobility　Heat Resistance (New！)

【Battle Hawk】Summon Monster　Battle Position: Air
A hawk suited to the battlefield. Its main methods of attack are its beak and its claws.
It is strong in both attack and defence.

Hmm?
Looked like the Battle Hawk only had a resist skill.
And it had better stats too.

Which one should I go for…

I went for the Fighting Falcon.
It reminded me of a fighter aircraft.

Helix"s appearance didn"t look that different.
Although both falcons and hawks were birds of prey, so I suppose it was to be expected.
One difference I did notice though, was that it looked a lot "sharper".
A little thinner, too?
Maybe not…

Anyway.
It was time for dinner.

Bunraku handed me something unusual.
Okonomiyaki.
Using Wild Pheasant eggs.
Why?
Why wasn"t there any sauce to go with the okonomiyaki?
Even just the usual would be fine…
Well, even without the sauce, I still had a good meal.

I spent some time thinking about what to do for the rest of the day.
My MP bar was making it difficult to consider further fighting.
My supply of potions was also running low, so I could take care of that too.
But before that, there was something else I had to take care of.
The fact that I didn"t have a rod.
But I did have something I could use to make another.
It would be worth testing out.

The h.e.l.l"s Latch.
It looked like a normal piece of wood, but it was clearly thick enough for me to make another rod.
It would be a good way to spend my time while I waited for my MP bar to regenerate.

As soon as I got to the task, I ran into a problem.
The saw couldn"t put a dent in the wood.
I couldn"t believe it at first, but it was true.
The h.e.l.l"s Latch was enchanted.
d.a.m.n…
I used【Sense Magic】for nothing.
But that was only the beginning of my problems.
The only way I could cut the wood was if I used【Enchanted Weapon】on it.
MP regeneration?
What"s that?

I got Bunraku to help me cut the piece of wood.
It was about 120 inches, or 3 metres long.
It was rectangular and had a breadth of 4 inches, or 10 centimetres, so I thought I could just cut off as much as I needed for a rod.
But it was a lot more difficult than I antic.i.p.ated.
The rod I was used to using had a diameter of 1 inch, and a length of 50 inches.
Well, the fact that I could use【Quick Recreate】later was a little comforting.
I only had to work hard in the beginning.

I kept working.
It took longer than expected.

《【Woodworking】Level Up!》
《Summon Monster『Bunraku』Level Up!》
《Please put one point into a desired stat.》

When my rod was finished, I got a few level-ups.
Strange…
Bunraku earned some experience points even outside of battle.
The way the system worked was still a mystery to me.

The stat that went up with the level-up was SPI.
I put another point into AGI.

Summon Monster　Bunraku　Red Fox Lv4→Lv5 (↑1)
DEX　26
AGI　10 (↑1)
INT　19
STR　12
VIT　12
SPI　9 (↑1)

Skills:
Bow　Cooking　Magical Resistance [Slight]　Self-Repair [Slight]

Anyway.
I moved on to check out my new rod.
It was just a cylindrical piece of wood though.

【Weapon: Staff】Staff of Guilt　Grade B-　Rarity 5
AP+13　MAP+0　Power 3+　Weight 1　Durability 180
Enchanted　No Attribute
A staff used by demons. It has almost no effect on magic casting.
But a large amount of magic power is certainly sealed in it.
It is said to inflict more pain to unbelievers.

Huh…
A demon?

Speaking of which…
I still had a lot of material.
And I had a lot of time.
With Bunraku helping me, I was sure I could make another weapon.
Yep.
That weapon.

【Weapon: Staff, Knuckles】Tonfas of Guilt　Grade C+　Rarity 5
AP+11　MAP+0　Power 3+　Weight 0+　Durability 150
Enchanted　No Attribute
A staff used by demons. It has almost no effect on magic casting.
But a large amount of magic power is certainly sealed in it.
It is said to inflict more pain to unbelievers.
※【Block】Skill +2 Judgement

The explanation didn"t change.
It didn"t bother me that much.
But it was definitely a stronger-looking weapon.

Woodworking was pretty fun.
I tried using【Appraise】on what was left of the wood.

【Weapon: Staff, Spear】Fork of Guilt　Grade C+　Rarity 5
AP+14　MAP+0　Power 3+　Weight 2　Durability 200
Enchanted　No Attribute
A staff used by demons. It has almost no effect on magic casting.
But a large amount of magic power is certainly sealed in it.
It has p.r.o.ngs that prevent the souls it claims from escaping.

At that point all I could do was laugh.
I was a Summoner…
But at this rate, I could probably switch jobs to a demon.
A devil?
Just thinking about it was off-putting.

But in any case, I was grateful for the stronger weapon.
Looked like I was getting an upgrade.
My MP bar was just about to hit zero.
The time was 10:30 pm.
I spent some time reading the report from earlier while waiting for my MP bar to recover a bit.
I ended up getting a little too much into it, but that was alright.
I managed to get just enough MP to use【Return Home】

I used【Return Home】and in a moment, I was back at the village.
It was a very fruitful day.
I was really looking forward to summoning Volff again…

Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human　Male　Racial Lv13
Job　Summoner Lv13
Bonus Points Remaining: 10

Skill Sets:
Staff Lv11　Punch Lv8　Kick Lv8　Joint Lock Lv8　Throw Lv8　Evade Lv8　Block Lv8　 Summon Magic Lv13　s.p.a.cetime Magic Lv6
Light Magic Lv7　Wind Magic Lv8　Earth Magic Lv7　Water Magic Lv7　Fire Magic Lv7　　Dark Magic Lv7　Ice Magic Lv5　Lightning Magic Lv5　Tree Magic Lv6 (↑1) 　Dust Magic Lv5　Lava Magic Lv5　Steam Magic Lv5
Alchemy Lv6　Pharmacy Lv5　Gla.s.smaking Lv3　Woodworking Lv5 (↑1)
Synergy Lv10　Appraise Lv10　Identify Lv10　Discern Lv3　Cold Resistance Lv5　Grab Lv8 (↑1) 　Horsemanship Lv8 (↑1) 　Precise Manipulation Lv10 (↑1) 　Jump Lv4　Heat Resistance Lv4　Climb Lv4　Dual Wield Lv6　Disa.s.sembly Lv6
Physical Reinforcement Lv5　Mental Reinforcement Lv6　Speedcasting Lv8　Spell Effect Amplification Lv4　Spell Range Amplification Lv4

Equipment:
Staff of Guilt ×1 (New！) 　Tonfas of Guilt ×2 (New！) 　Fork of Guilt ×1 (New！) 　Enraged Pickaxe+ ×2　Silver Necklace+　 Snow Leopard Push Dagger ×1　Gale Tiger Push Dagger ×2　Snow Leopard Bagh Nakh ×1
Wild Horse Leather Armour+　Snow Ape Armguard　Wild Horse Boots+　Snow Ape Leather Helmet　Rabid Horse Belt+　Rucksack　Item Box ×2

Items:
Survival Knife　Woodworking Set

t.i.tles:
Old Summoner"s Pupil
Guardian of the Forest
Man of the Middle Path
Spell Glossary

Monster Summons:
Volff　Grey Wolf Lv2
Zangetsu　White Horse Lv1
Summon Monster　Helix　Hawk Lv8→Fighting Falcon Lv1 (New！)
DEX　12
AGI　26 (↑1)
INT　23 (↑1)
STR　12
VIT　12
SPI　13 (↑1)
Skills:
Peck　Flight　Far Sight　Wide Area Search　Ambush　Sense Danger　Air Mobility　Wind Attribute (New！)

Obsidian　Mystic Owl Lv1
Jean　Black Bat Lv1
Jericho　Wood Golem Lv6
Goki　Demon Lv6
Senki　Beast Ape Lv7
Rig　Slime Lv5
Bunraku　Red Fox Lv4→Lv5 (↑1)
DEX　26
AGI　10 (↑1)
INT　19
STR　12
VIT　12
SPI　9 (↑1)

Skills:
Bow　Cooking　Magical Resistance [Slight]　Self-Repair [Slight]

Mumyo　Skeleton Lv5
Ninetails　Red Fox Lv4
Heather　Fairy Lv3