Translator: Cryus

The marker on the ape"s head is red, indicating that it is a monster.
There"s a small marker layered on top of it, indicating that it"s under a spell.
It has a Guided status.

The ape looks straight at me. It seems to have determined that I"m an enemy.
It hunches its back and glares at me.
I equip my Beginner"s Rod with both hands.
I"ve never used staves before.
But I"ve seen my grandfather use one.
I"ve learned kendo from him since I was young.
I"ve partic.i.p.ated in Mixed Martial Arts as an amateur.
Even though they were mock battles, I"m used to fighting against real opponents.
I"m fairly confident.

The ape suddenly leaps straight at me.
It"s fast.
It"s coming at me at such an inhuman speed that I didn"t have time to attack him.
I dodged it only because I was lucky.

「Geheh.」

The ape is laughing at me.
It seems convinced that I"m inferior, and is making fun of me.
What an a.s.s.

I hold the rod from the bottom to defend myself.
I bring up the list of spells right away.
I automatically cast the spell that I selected.

「Physical Enchant: Wind!」

This ape is fast.
I have to be able to keep up with its movements.

It"s pouncing at me again.
It"s performing the same attack. I"m focusing on dodging it.
I evaded it without a hitch, probably because of the spell"s effect.
But I was unprepared for its next movement.
The ape threw a stone at me.
It advanced towards me at the same time.
I was able to avoid the stone, but not the ape"s charge.
Pain is coursing through my left shoulder.
I could barely see the ape biting me.
I didn"t think a graze would hurt this much.
I select the Leg Sweep Arte and execute it.
But it works differently from what I imagined, and I missed its legs.
I"ve left an opening.
The ape draws closer to me.
I face him again and thrust my rod forward, but the ape swiftly dodges my attack. We end up crossing each other.
In the next moment, I feel pain in my right leg.

The ape seems convinced that it has the upper hand.
It"s making that strange sound again as it"s coming at me.
I spread out my body slightly and prepare to counterattack.
We cross each other again.
This time, I refrain from attacking right away, aiming instead for the moment after it attacks.
I succeeded in making the ape miss. I was probably lucky.
The moment we cross each other, I bash the ape"s head with my rod, then follow up by kicking its stomach with my knee.
The ape rolls on the ground and quickly turns around to bite my leg.
It"s going to be a low tackle.
The ape is really fast.
I thrust my rod downwards.
I hit its back, but the ape ignores it, turning around and charging at me again.
But that gives me enough of an opening to attack.
I kick it straight in the head.
It rolls on the ground again, and leaves some distance between us.

My shoulder really hurts.
I"ve lost more than 20% of my HP.
On the other hand, the ape hasn"t even lost 10% of its HP yet.
I think my attacks were pretty effective, but my weapon is a Beginner"s Rod, and I"m a Summoner.
It"s a poor job for the front lines.

I"m selecting another spell.
The ape is charging at me once again.

「Physical Enchant: Earth!」

It"s leaping into the air this time.
I raise my rod to the air while holding the bottom.
There"s no way it can evade my attack midair.

I managed to hit its stomach, but it ignores the damage and takes a swing at my head.
This is bad.
I bend backwards to avoid the attack.
The ape grabs my rod with its hand.
It"s trying to swing me away. I"m able to match its strength, but I"m clearly at a disadvantage.
I"m heavier in terms of weight and size.
But I can"t underestimate its beastly power.

I continue holding my ground while casting my next spell.
I finish casting and let go of the rod at the same time, causing the spell to hit his face at point blank range.

「Force Bullet!」

I"ll let him enjoy his victory in the tug of war in exchange for the spell.
I"m not expecting to deal much damage.
Instead, I"m trying to force an opening.
The ape flinches from the spell. It"s not looking at me.

This is my chance.

I grab the ape"s right arm with my right hand.
I grab its right with my left hand, then twist it with all my strength.
I"m using the momentum to get to its back.
The ape reacts quickly.
It"s rolling on the ground in an attempt to take me with it.
I trip it with my right leg, causing it to fall to the ground.
It"s still trying to keep its back guarded against me.
I tighten my grip on its wrist with my left hand while twisting its entire hand.
I"ve performed the lock successfully.
If I manage to restrain it, I"ll have a chance of winning.

Everything went well up to this point.

But the ape is stronger than I imagined.
Even though I"ve locked it in place, it"s trying to break free.
It"s attacking me with its left hand which is still free.
It"s starting to thrash around wildly using its entire body.
I wrap my legs around its torso.
I tighten my grip using my back muscles.
The ape is resisting against that as well.
It"s trying to bite my arm. Doing that should be painful for the ape, but it doesn"t stop anyway.
It almost broke free.
I"m using more force. I don"t have another choice.
I have an overwhelming advantage, but I could lose it in an instant.

We"ve reached a stalemate.
No, I might be at a disadvantage.
The ape"s HP bar is still over 80%.
Its strength still hasn"t decreased.
I don"t have any other means of attacking it.

No, there may be another way.

Weapon Artes won"t work, but my spells could.
I"m grabbing the back of the ape"s head. This could work.
I select a spell and cast it automatically.

「Force Bullet!」

The moment the spell hit the back of its head, it reacted as if it"s trying to jump.
Its body is getting stiff.
I"m trying to make the arm lock stronger by leaning forward and using my body weight.
Will it work?
I"m about to hit him with another spell, but he interrupts me by thrashing about with even more strength.
He"s not letting me do the same trick twice.
Its HP hasn"t gone below 70%.
This is going to be pretty tedious.
Or rather, I"ll run out of MP first.
I"ve already used up half of my MP.

Isn"t there any other way?
Skills.
Can I obtain a skill that will strengthen me?

I"m checking the list of obtainable skills while trying to stop the ape from resisting.
Weapons. Nope.
Defense. Magic. Production. These won"t work.
Support. This is my only hope.
The support skill that caught my attention was【Grip】. I only need 1 bonus point.

I obtain the support skill【Grip】and activate it immediately.
How"s that?
I think my grip is slightly better.
The grip from my left hand feels more secure.
I"m pushing down slightly on the ape"s head with my right hand.
The ape starts shaking its head in discomfort, but that only causes more damage to itself.
That works in my favor.
But I can"t let my guard down.
I continue restraining it.

We"re at a stalemate, but it"s looking good for me.
It"s starting to cry in discomfort as I use more of my back muscles.
Its HP has been reduced to half.
I wonder how much time has pa.s.sed since the battle started.
Since its resistance is weakening, I tighten the arm lock and press my entire body against it.
Its sharp cries continue piercing my ears for a while.
In a final attempt at resisting, the ape hits my leg and claws at my left hand with its free left hand.
Its attacks are hurting more than before.
The effects of Physical Enchant seems to have expired.
I reapply Physical Enchant: Earth on myself in order to raise my defense.
I continue restraining him.
I had to reapply it one more time.
If I remember, the effects of Physical Enchant: Wind lasts for 15 minutes.
It took a long time until the ape finally breathed its last.

《Wind Magic Level Up!》
《You may obtain the following weapon skill(s)【Joint Lock】》

It really was a close victory.
My HP has decreased by about 30%.
I haven"t completely drained my MP, but I was cutting it a little close.
My clothes are now tattered and dirty.

「I did not expect you to win.」

Master was silently watching the whole time. There"s a hint of surprise in his voice.
Unless it was just my imagination, of course.

「For now, I shall heal you. I will give you my advice when we reach home.」

He begins casting a spell.

「Earth Heal!」

I"m fully healed in an instant.
The pain is also going away gradually.
How does a single spell recover all my HP immediately?
Either Master is really something, or I"m just too weak.
I should put that thought aside.
I stick my Survival Knife into the ape I defeated, and collect the item drops.

【Material】Snow Ape Skin　Raw Material　Grade C　Rarity 3　Weight 2
The skin of a Snow Ape. The hairs are thick and long.

【Material】Snow Ape Bones　Raw Material　Grade C　Rarity 3　Weight 0+
The bones of a Snow Ape. Light and tough.

The item drops look pretty rare.
This is a good feeling.
The fight wouldn"t have been worth it otherwise.

「If you are ready, shall we go then?」

He recalls the 2 Automatons that were gathering the herbs.
Not a moment later, the Roc Bird flies towards us and lands gracefully.
It seems to be holding what looks like giant lizards in its legs.
I stare at it and instinctively【Identify】it.

Snow Wyvern　Lv.???
Monster　Enemy Target　Carca.s.s

That looks scary!
It"s holding one carca.s.s in each of its legs.
This Roc Bird is strong!

「Oh, that is a rather good catch.」

Upon saying that, he sticks his Survival Knife into the carca.s.ses and collects the items.
I see him collecting some kind of scaled skin, some fangs, and some needle-like items.

I"m sorry I got c.o.c.ky after defeating a mere Snow Ape.

It was cold on the way back.
It"s not as bad as before, thanks to the Cold Resistance skill.
While we were traveling, I browsed through the help sections for my skills, weapons, and spells.
I think I"ve learned a lot from this battle against the Snow Ape.
Now I know how hard it is to fight alone and to go solo on adventures.
I was able to defeat it because I had a few options remaining, but it would have been different if I had been under the Panic status.
It would"ve been certain death.
I really have to know my limits.
While patting Volff"s head, I decided to read through the help screen .

「We have arrived.」

「Yes.」

The Roc Bird drops us off and disappears.
As we travel down the bas.e.m.e.nt, Master enters yet a different room.
It"s most likely his workshop. The room is really wide.
The ceiling is high up.
The room is filled with pots, gla.s.sware, and other miscellaneous objects.
There"s even a boiling pot and a stove.
It"s underground. How does this room get ventilated?

「Leave the jute bags on this desk. Let us eat once you are done.」

「Okay.」

I do as told and left the bags of herbs on the workbench.
We"ve managed to gather quite a large amount of herbs. Carrying everything was easy thanks to the《Item Box》.

「What about making the potions?」

「Lunch comes first.」

Now that I think about it, I do feel hungry.
It"s probably past noon.

AnotherLink Saga Online seems to be following the time in real life.
Except day and night are reversed.
It"s past midnight in the real world, but it"s not a problem for me.
I"m a game junky.

「Normally we would be eating upstairs, but is it alright if we eat here?」

「It"s alright.」

Master claps his hands.
After a short while, a humanoid opens the door and enters.

Metalskin　Lv.???
Monster Summon　???

It looks like an Automaton, but smaller.
It isn"t decorated at all, but its metal surface has a glossy sparkle.
It looks like it has brought food for us.
There"s my share too.
Master"s food is the same as mine, but it"s about half of my share.
The food has caught Volff"s interest as he sniffs the food continuously.
There"s bread, vegetable soup, fried fish, and some fruits.
I take one of the fruits and【Appraise】it. It"s just a normal pear.

「Shall we talk while we eat?」

「Okay.」

The food tastes pretty good, and the bread is actually freshly baked.
I"m listening intently to Master, trying as much as possible not to look away from him.
I understand what he"s really trying to say.

I"m reckless.

It seems he"s really trying to teach me how to practically survive solo adventures.
I think I understand.
But it"s strange that I feel even more strongly that I want to do what I"ve been doing.

「Well, it"s not like I plan on living an idealistic and indifferent life.」

「Then what will you do?」

「I want to keep adventuring while helping people in need. That"s what I think right now.」

Master looks surprised by my response.

「I may be alone right now, but I used to go on adventures with friends. I was never alone.」

I suppose.
It wouldn"t be much of a problem if I was as strong as he is though.

「Listen. Most monster summons specialize in physical attacks. It would be best if you dedicate yourself to rear support.」

「I"ve already decided.」

「You are a stubborn one.」

It looks like he"s giving me a perplexed look on purpose.
I wonder if he really means it.

「In that case, you should at least focus on evading and taking damage in battle. You need to be strong enough to protect yourself.」

「Okay.」

I want to make it a moot point eventually.

「And you need to think about your equipment. Also, your monster summons will be of help to you, at least in battle.」

He shifts his focus to Volff.

「Speaking of which, even though you are a novice, you will need to learn how to use each monster summon to your advantage, you know?」

That"s what I wanted to talk about.
The number of monsters I can summon increases with my Summon Magic level.
In other words, the number of monsters I can summon is the same as my Summon Magic level.
In my case, it"s at Lv.2, so I can have 2 monster summons.
But I can only summon one monster at a time.
If I want to summon a different monster, I have to use Recall Monster on Volff first.
And I have to keep a close eye on my MP.
I plan on deciding how to use my new monster summon the next time I log in.

「But I guess it"s not a priority for me to worry about what new monster I should summon yet.」

「You will surely have to think about it, sooner or later.」

I will.

「You may let this Metalskin take care of the cleaning. I will need your help now.」

「Okay.」

Making potions. To be honest, I"m interested in it.
But the giant pot he"s using is probably made of copper.
He also has a smaller pot for use.
He takes out five stacks of Healgra.s.s from the jute bags, and leaves them on top of the desk.
He begins casting a spell.

「Liquid: Water!」

Water is flowing from his left palm into the pot.
It"s half filled.
Next, he takes the five herbs in his left hand, and closes his eyes as if concentrating on something.

「Quick Recreate!」

He crushes the herbs and drops them into the pot..
He moves the contents into the smaller pot.

「Alright, the contents are ready.」

Huh?
Was it that easy?
He takes an empty gla.s.s bottle from his own item box.

「Hey, what are you doing there? Come and help me fill the bottles.」

There"s a funnel and a ladle in each of his hands.
It feels like I"m being bewitched by a fox or racc.o.o.n.

Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human　Male　Racial Lv3
Job　Summoner Lv2
Bonus Points Remaining 11

Skill Sets
Staff Lv2　Punch Lv1　Kick Lv1　Summon Magic Lv2
Light Magic Lv1　Wind Magic Lv2（↑1）　Earth Magic Lv1　Alchemy Lv1
Cooperation Lv2　Appraise Lv3　Identify Lv2　Cold Resistance Lv1　Grip Lv1（New!）

Equipment　Beginner"s Rod　Simple Clothes　Cloth Shoes　Rucksack　Item Box

Items　Survival Knife

Monster Summons
Volff　Wolf Lv2