Translation: Charlotte
Editor: Weasalopes

Author"s note: I wrote a longer chapter.

I wholeheartedly listened in at the meeting.

There was nothing I could report, but there was nothing I could do about that.

As usual, Fiona and Saki were driving the flow of the meeting.

The meeting felt empty, but I guess that was just because the Guide Team was just resuming their activities, and a lot of players were still in Remut.

There were a few new faces too.

It was right around harvest season.

Fighting Bull item drops were going to be a lot cheaper for a while.

Meat was in surplus.

There were even plans being drawn up to expand and create a base in W3.

The main driving force was the increase in players, and more specifically, Production Job Players.

A base in N1W2 would have to wait.

The Guide Teams were on the decline, so exploration in all directions was slowing down.

So maybe to compensate, all of us were told to be on the lookout for Magi.

If possible, we were to use【Identify】and take a screenshot.

Made sense.

I wasn"t really used to doing that, though.

I had my hands full just managing Summon Monsters.

Contrary to my expectations, the Production Job front was actually doing very well.

A chestnut tree harvest was just successfully carried out.

Corn was just harvested in the fields too, and it was being ground into kernels right as the meeting was going on.

Cotton cultivation was going well too.

It looked like no wood harvests had happened in the time I was away, but mushroom harvests were definitely coming.

There were more Masons in the village, and the village"s infrastructure was readily improving.

Even with the decrease in manpower, the village was still thriving.

Great.

After the meeting, I thought about how to spend my time while I watched some players having a match.

I was planning on hunting while waiting for Margrid…

But I was lost about where I should go to hunt.

I didn"t really feel like heading west.

And from what I heard, the lands to the north and the south weren"t looking so good either.

Yep.

I guess I try the cave to the south.

I hadn"t fought Gozu and Mezu in forever.

It would be good experience for my Summon Monsters too.

「Oh, you"re here!」

「Congratulations again on the win.」

「h.e.l.lo. I was thinking of doing some hunting for a while.」

I ran into Fiona and Saki.

「Was there really some kind of event back then?」

「Yes. They were magi, and pretty tough-looking ones too.」

「I wonder if it"s going to affect how monsters appear…」

「I"m looking forward to hearing what the others have to say when they get back.」

I wonder what they were talking about…

Was it something only they knew?

「Out of the loop like usual, huh…」

「Well, that is very Keith-like though.」

After a short chat, I bought myself a raincoat and some food for later.

With Hannes there, he would probably share some vegetables with me for free.

In exchange for using【Grow】on his trees though.

I left the village and headed south.

The monsters didn"t look any different.

I was mainly looking for Raptors.

They didn"t look any different.

In fact, on Zangetsu"s back, Ninetails and Heather could use their skills freely.

The same went for Helix and Obsidian.

I contributed as much as I could with my spells and my Staff of Torture.

I didn"t get to do that much though.

Well, whatever.

I got another Ancient Stone, so I wasn"t complaining.

I arrived at the cave.

The first thing I did was change up my team.

First, I summoned Mumyo.

My aim was, of course, the Cla.s.s Change.

On top of that, I summoned Jean to keep watch, and Jericho to act as my tank.

Finally, Bunraku and Creep, who were in need of some level-ups too.

They didn"t really get to do anything during the tournament.

I wanted to let them let loose for once.

I used【Night Vision】on myself and entered the cave.

Alright…

I immediately started looking for Gozu and Mezu

Going down the main branch, the first monster I ran into was a group of Kobolds.

Jericho could"ve swept them away on his own pretty easily…

But I wanted to let Mumyo and Creep get as much action as possible.

Even then, they were still easy enemies.

Where were the Gozu and Mezu…?

I headed towards the nearest room, and sure enough, they were there.

Gozu　Lv.2

Phantom　Enemy Target　Pa.s.sive

Battle Position: Ground　Fire Attribute

Mezu　Lv.7

Phantom　Enemy Target　Pa.s.sive

Battle Position: Ground　Fire Attribute

Nice.

Oh!

I had to keep【Disa.s.sembly】in reserve.

I took the time to use strengthening spells on myself too.

Great.

It"s been a while.

It didn"t even take two minutes for the fight to end.

I took some time to reflect afterwards.

First, I used way too many spells.

Using both【Practiced Spirit】and【Gravity Mail】 was pretty unnecessary.

I didn"t really have to use them from the beginning.

Just one of them would probably do for weaker enemies.

I was glad I didn"t use【Water Power】.

The same went for my Summon Monsters.

I used all my physical enchant spells, but【Gravity Mail】was a bit excessive.

The fight was too easy.

The Gozu went down in less than a minute.

I was reminded again that【Gravity Mail】was a pretty strong spell…

But it was a bit of a waste if I had other spells already active.

I hurried onwards to the next Gozu and Mezu sp.a.w.n point.

I could probably fight another pair while my support spells were still active.

When I got to the room, I found exactly what I was looking for.

Gozu　Lv.3

Phantom　Enemy Target　Pa.s.sive

Battle Position: Ground　Fire Attribute

Mezu　Lv.3

Phantom　Enemy Target　Pa.s.sive

Battle Position: Ground　Fire Attribute

Good.

I was looking forward to a more difficult fight.

But my wish didn"t come true.

Our synergy was just that good.

Even without my Staff of Torture, I managed to defeat it pretty easily.

I only needed to lead it into the wall once.

And then all I had to do was kick it.

I didn"t even have to use any joint locks.

Hmm…

I had to change my strategy somehow…

But it was difficult to hold back sometimes.

The problems really only started with the next pair of Gozu and Mezu.

Gozu　Lv.4

Phantom　Enemy Target　Pa.s.sive

Battle Position: Ground　Fire Attribute

Mezu　Lv.4

Phantom　Enemy Target　Pa.s.sive

Battle Position: Ground　Fire Attribute

In the middle of the fight, my support spells faded.

I was expecting it, but【Gravity Mail】was the first to go.

The fight became a struggle almost instantly.

Because of Jericho, the Gozu was easily taken care of.

It was the Mezu I now had difficulty fighting.

After the spell faded, it felt like I lost a lot of power, and I was blown away pretty easily.

The damage from that one blow took out 30% of my HP bar.

This is bad…

I genuinely had no idea how the fight was going to end.

But, I still somehow managed to defeat it.

《Summon Monster『Bunraku』Level Up!》

《Please put one point into a desired stat.》

I almost never used Bunraku in battle.

But Bunraku still managed to provide a plain but effective support.

And with Goki being the way he was, Bunraku was the only true support Summon Monster I had.

Bunraku"s fighting style was definitely plain…

But he was still a valuable a.s.set.

The stat that went up with the level-up was DEX.

I put another point into SPI.

Bunraku　Wood Puppet Lv6→Lv7（↑1）

DEX　28（↑1）

AGI　10

INT　19

STR　12

VIT　12

SPI　11（↑1）

Skills:

Bow　Cooking　Magic Resistance [Slight]　Self-Repair [Slight]

Great.

From where I was, a pair of Deva Kings was actually closer than another pair of Gozu and Mezu.

If no one else was there, I guess I could challenge them?

I arrived in front of a pair of Deva King statues.

No one else was fighting them.

But in the same hall was another player happily fighting against a pair of Lion-dogs.

One of those players, huh?

Looked like it was just a coincidence that the Deva Kings were free.

It was a good opportunity.

Let"s try fighting some Deva Kings.

【Water Power】was more than halfway towards fading.

But I didn"t care.

Use as much of it as you can!

There was a good chance of me getting something nice from the Deva Kings too.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to re enable【Disa.s.sembly】.

I used【Water Power】only on myself.

But I was using physical enchant spells on everyone.

I had a mental enchant spell on myself too.

And on top of that, I had used【Gravity Mail】on everyone.

Collectively, I was sure the spells were going to make a big difference.

On myself, I also had【Resist Fire】and【Enchanted Aqua】.

On my Summon Monsters, I used【Resist Earth】and【Enchanted Wind】.

As much as possible, I tried to strengthen myself with support spells.

I wanted to know just how strong we could become.

But the Deva Kings seemed a bit off.

Deva King – gyo　Lv.7

Heavenly General　Active

Battle Position: Ground　Fire Attribute

Deva King – Un-gyo　Lv.7

Heavenly General　Active

Battle position: Earth　Earth Attribute

Hey!

I hadn"t seen that level number before…

I left thinking about it for later.

I took on the gyo on my own.

I left the other one to my Summon Monsters.

Recall your past fights!

The Deva King I was facing was undoubtedly strong, but I was still confident.

The Deva King"s level was higher, but so was mine.

I had some new spells too.

「Practiced Spirit!」

An important skill I had to keep in mind.

I tightly gripped my tonfas and ran at the gyo.

Was it strong?

Of course it was strong.

Until I could take its weapon, it was a difficult fight like usual.

It definitely felt stronger.

Its movements were faster too.

And it was hot.

Its attacks all accurately hit their mark.

But I could use that against it.

It made it easier to do counter-attacks.

I was stronger too, and my spells were better.

While its defences were stronger, I could get good hits in.

After a strong hit to its wrist, the gyo dropped its weapon.

And as usual, it took on a sumo stance.

Even then, it was still fast.

But at least then I could estimate its range better.

I took some damage too, but counterattacks became a lot easier.

Knocking it over was difficult, but not impossible.

My spells were definitely doing their part.

I was technically smaller, but I didn"t feel like I was at a disadvantage.

I managed to manipulate the gyo"s movements and defeated it.

It took me a little over three minutes.

When I looked around, I noticed Jericho had already defeated the Un-gyo.

I was right in going for the fight.

I still had a good amount of time left in my spells and martial art skills.

It didn"t look like any other players were coming over.

I guess I could go again?

I only had to recast【Water Power】.

Deva Emperor – gyo　Lv.7

Heavenly General　Active

Battle Position: Ground　Fire Attribute　Water Resistance

Deva Emperor – Un-gyo　Lv.7

Heavenly General　Active

Battle position: Earth　Earth Attribute　Wind Resistance

Wait, what?

These guys go through Cla.s.s Changes too?

But that wasn"t the main problem.

They had resistances!

But I didn"t have the freedom to panic.

They were already moving towards me.

The gyo towards me,

The Un-gyo towards Jericho.

I didn"t expect them to take the initiative.

A blade shot out of the Un-gyo and pierced Jericho.

Jericho immediately liquefied, but he still took a good amount of damage.

But in exchange, Jericho managed to quickly cover half of the Un-gyo"s body.

Wrapping behind it, Jericho then pulled out one of its legs, sending it to the ground.

Creep took the opportunity to slide up its legs.

It looked like they were doing well.

No no no no!

I had to focus on myself too!

A fiery blade shot towards me.

The blade was even flashier than those belonging to the Deva Kings.

Their outfits were different too.

Something like an angel"s raiment was floating around its body.

The belt seemed a lot shinier too?

Even its face looked angrier.

As I slipped under its armpit, I stabbed it once with my tonfa, but the hit felt different.

There was no doubt about it.

I was up against a strong enemy.

It was going to be more difficult than anything else I"d encountered before.

It just felt different.

「Meditate!」「Bless!」

I used some martial art skills and started casting a spell.

I had to do something about its weapon,

While I endured its attacks, I dedicated all my efforts to hitting its wrist and elbows.

But I couldn"t get it to drop its weapon.

In fact, while I was trying to do that, I got grazed a few times by its attacks, and took quite a bit of damage.

I was glad I had【Resist Fire】, but it was still going to be tough.

I couldn"t get careless.

「Flash Flood!」

Water against fire.

Seemed like pretty basic stuff.

I managed to get the attack in from close range.

At the same time, I grabbed its right elbow and twisted its right arm.

I pulled and twisted my whole body.

But I didn"t get to pull off the throw.

As expected, its power levels were unlike anything else.

I was about to hit the ground, but while I had a grip on its arm, I got a few knee strikes in.

The first hit wasn"t enough, but after three hits, I managed to break its arm.

The weapon finally fell out of its hands.

Finally…

I couldn"t rest just yet, but it was looking up.

The gyo"s HP bar was at about half.

I could probably make it somehow.