Translator: Charlotte Editor: Weasalopes

I decided to go back to the portal.
Just in case, there was something I wanted to confirm.
In the morning on the way to the portal, I ran into two pairs of Gozu and Mezu.
But I didn"t encounter them this time.
Maybe it was because I had only just defeated them. Maybe they would come back after a few
days.
I was still pretty sure I would get to fight them again someday.
The fact that I was in a mine was pretty odd.
Wouldn"t carrying things out of the tunnels be difficult?
Speaking of which, I hadn"t run into any ores.
It might have just been me being careless.
Anyway…
I wanted to try fighting another pair of Higher Gozus and Higher Mezus.
Although if I was looking for strong enemies, I would probably have to go for the Deva King.
I still had about half of my MP bar left.
There was a portal nearby, too.
It wouldn"t be a bad idea to try one more fight.

I started looking for another Deva King.
The first time I fought them, they had fire and earth attributes.
Of course, I started by using physical enchant spells on everyone except myself.
Then I touched the statue.

《Would you like to challenge the Deva King?》
《Yes》 　 《No》

I chose 《Yes》 and put some distance between myself and the statue.
「Practiced Spirit!」
I strengthened myself.
So, would it be the same guy as last time?

Deva King – Gyo　Lv.3

Heavenly Commander　Active
Battle Position: Ground　Fire Attribute
Deva King – Un-Gyo　Lv.3
Heavenly Commander　Active
Battle position: Earth　Earth Attribute

They weren"t exactly the same…
I had a feeling their levels were higher.
「Resist Fire!」
I cast a spell on myself.
I decided to take on the Gyo Deva King on my own.
In any case…
I wasn"t confident in the possibility that the attributes might remain the same.
But I knew then that casting resist spells before the fight was the safer option.
I"m sorry for doubting you.
Senki jumped on the Um-form
I hadn"t used 【Resist Earth】 on Senki yet, but he was still doing fine.
A creepy, obsidian-like blade protruded from the Un-Gyo Deva King.
The blade got a direct hit on Senki.
But Senki remained unhurt.
Rig completely stopped the blade.
Nice.
I knew that Rig could do it.
I trusted in Rig and it paid off.
I was still a bit anxious, though.
「Resist Earth!」
I cast a resist spell on Jericho.
Great.
I concentrated on the Gyo.
I was grateful for Obsidian"s support.
The Gyo was pierced by multiple water needles.
Oops.
It wouldn"t do to just sit and watch.

I was confident.
I had both 【Practiced Spirit】 and 【Enchanted Weapon】 .
I delivered a kick.
It didn"t do that much damage.
The blade of fire that the Gyo pulled out was scarier the closer I looked at it.
It was hot.
And I did have 【Heat Resistance】 …
It must"ve been incredibly hot.
「Lower DEF!」
I used it on the Gyo.
If I had to guess, I would say I could take care of the Gyo first.
Well, it didn"t really matter.
I had Obsidian with me.
With Obsidian keeping the Deva King at bay, I could take my time casting spells.
I dashed in with my tonfas and twisted its wrist, before throwing it to the ground.
It went well.
After a few more throws, the Gyo let go of its blade.
Good.
Now what?
A sumo battle, just as expected.

But in any case, I couldn"t go head-to-head against it.
I used a crab pinch attack to trip it as it was charging at me.
Obsidian took the opportunity to get an attack in.
I straddled it, and started hitting it while it was down.
I only got a few strikes in before I had to back up.
The Gyo stood up like nothing had happened.
It crouched.
The next moment, it clapped loudly.
It spread out both its arms horizontally, and then quickly stood up.
Followed by a leg stomp.
one to the right, and one to the left.
I was too surprised to even move.
And with both hands stretched outwards it walked closer to me.
What is this? A formal sumo match?

The Gyo charged at me.
Oh no.
It thrust its right hand at me, aiming for under my armpits.
An armpit push, huh.
I used my left arm to push up its wrist, and used my right arm to grab its exposed elbow.
And just like that, I moved around to behind it.
An arm bend.
It was a judo skill, but because it was considered a dangerous skill, it"s rarely taught to young
fighters.
Except in my case.
Why?
Because I wanted to learn all the good techniques.
As expected, it didn"t completely break its arm.
But I managed to get a decent throw out of it.
Having a weapon would actually make throws more difficult to pull off.
I rushed to where it fell and quickly did a triangle choke.
I used my tonfas to keep its right elbow in place.
My form was perfect, but its enormous strength was making it difficult for me to keep the choke
going.
Without Obsidian, I would"ve failed the choke for sure.
Its free left arm was trying to grab at my legs, but Obsidian didn"t allow it.
With multiple pecking attacks, Obsidian kept it in place.
It didn"t show any signs of pain.
But its HP bar was steadily decreasing.
It wasn"t a feeling I was fond of.
But I didn"t have any other choices.
I kept choking it.
What about the Un-Gyo?
It looked like the fight on that end was going well too.
Actually, it was already over.
It was lying on the ground in front of Jericho.
Senki was watching me fight.
There was no doubt in my mind that Senki wanted to join in.
No!
This guy is mine.
Although you could help me keep its left arm in place.
Senki took hold of the Gyo"s left arm.

He pinched the wrist, and held up the elbow joint.
Hey.
That"s a joint lock, isn"t it?
Jericho walked up and stepped on the Gyo"s torso.
With the arm now taken care of, Obsidian moved to attack its forehead.
There was no chance of escape.

《【Joint Lock】 Level Up!》
《【Throw】 Level Up!》
《【Evade】 Level Up!》
《Summon Monster 『Rig』 Level Up!》
《Please put one point into a desired stat.》

Rig levelled up.
Nice.
I was glad that everyone was growing nicely.
The stat that went up with the level-up was VIT.
I put another point into INT.

Rig　Slime Lv5→Lv6 (↑ 1)
DEX　13
AGI　7
INT　7 (↑1)
STR　7
VIT　9 (↑1)
SPI　6
Skills:
Dissolve　Shapeshift　Viscosity　Surface Tension　Nullify Physical

Rig was pretty weak if you just looked at the stats.
But there was no underestimating Rig.
The fact that Rig could nullify all physical damage was quite a feat.
Although I could really only make proper use of that by pairing Rig up with Senki.
I wanted to try pairing Rig with my other Summon Monsters, but I didn"t know which one.
Jericho would be alright, but Jericho already had a high DEF stat to begin with.
Maybe Tigris?

Well, as a last resort I suppose.
The Deva Kings didn"t leave anything behind.
I would be fine with just about anything…
Ah, I didn"t have 【Disa.s.sembly】 on.
How dumb of me…
I decided to set 【Disa.s.sembly】 back to active.

I then made my way to the portal to relax.
When I arrived, I got a message.

《Your friend has sent you a message.》

Ooh, it was Saki.
I immediately opened it.
『Your set of armour is done. Would the Wind Spirit Village do as a pick-up point?』
Ooh, now that was a top priority.
Yes please.
I immediately used 【Telepathy】 .
『Sorry, are you free right now?』
『Wait, what? Whispers?』
『Oh, yes, this is Keith. I"m quite some distance away though.』
『I see… I was a bit surprised. Yeah, right now would be fine.』
Sorry.
Sorry to scare you.
『I saw the message you sent me. Can I go to pick up the armour right now?』
『Sure, I"m logging out in about 30 minutes though?』
『That"s alright. I can make it to the Wind Spirit Village in time.』

『Huh… Ooh, you have that teleport skill, right? How convenient.』
『Yeah, I agree. Well, see you there.』
『Roger that. I"ll be waiting.』
Great.
It"s not like I was asking her out on a date or anything, but I felt a strange sense of fulfillment.
I had to hurry.
I exit the portal and left the hall.
As soon as I left the hall, I used 【Return Home】 .

I arrived at the Wind Spirit Village.
Very convenient.
The time was a little past 2 pm.
I was excited about my new equipment.

『Hi, sorry to keep you waiting.』
『I didn"t wait at all, you know?』
Both Saki and Fiona looked at me with shocked faces.
Well, I did take less than five minutes to arrive.
「So, how did it go?」
「Ah, I think it"d be best to just show you.」
I took a look at the complete set of armour on the desk.
It was certainly a beautiful product.
I used 【Appraise】 on it.

【Armour: Leather Armour】 Fighting Bull Leather Armour+　Grade C+　Rarity 4
Def+16　Weight 12　Durability 250　Power Reduction -1
Leather armour made from Fighting Bull leather. A little heavy, but it has a high durability, and
can reduce the Power of a weapon.
[Custom]

Snow Ape Skin is used to pad the left shoulder.
The surface of the armour is covered in Evil Ant Sh.e.l.ls, giving it higher defensive capabilities
and durability.

【Armour: Helmet】 Fighting Bull Leather Helmet+　Grade C+　Rarity 4
Def+8　AP +3　Weight 3　Durability 200　Power Reduction -1
A leather helmet made from Fighting Bull leather.
The leather overlaps in multiple places, increasing its defensive capabilities.
[Custom] The forehead area is reinforced with obsidian, making headb.u.t.t attacks more effective.

【Armour: Armguard】 Fighting Bull Leather Armguard+　Grade C+　Rarity 4
Def+4　Weight 1+　Durability 110　Power Reduction
Leather armguards made from Fighting Bull leather.
The skin is thick but does not restrict movement.

[Armor item: Elbow Pads] Fighting Bull Elbow Pads+　Grade C+　Rarity 4
AP+5　Def+4　Weight 1+　Durability 110　Power Reduction -1
Elbow Pads made from Fighting Bull leather. It is very st.u.r.dily made.
[Custom] The tips are reinforced with Obsidian Stones and Evil Ant Sh.e.l.ls, causing elbow strike attacks to
do more damage.

[Armor item: Gloves] Fighting Bull Gloves+　Grade C+　Rarity 4
AP+4　Def+3　Weight 1+　Durability 110
Open-finger gloves made from Fighting Bull leather. It is very st.u.r.dily made.
It protects the hands while not restricting movement.
[Custom] The knuckles are reinforced with Evil Ant Sh.e.l.ls, causing punch attacks to do more damage.

Ooh.
Every part was taken care of.
I was very happy with how the leather armour looked.
「I think it looks very nice.」
「Right? It was difficult, but worth it.」
Saki looked at Jericho and Senki who were staring at me with jealous eyes.
Rig stood still on Senki"s shoulder.
Jericho still looked n.o.ble, but Senki looked like he was about to explode, which wasn"t really his
own fault either.
Oh yeah.
I could just commission some for them.
「Hey Saki, could I talk to you about something.」
「Ooh, there was still some more?」
「Yes.」
I pulled out more skins from my 《Item Box》 .
This time, it was Sturmtiger skins.

「Have you seen this before, Fiona?」
「No, this is my first time. It looks like a pretty good item. Nice fur.」
「Yeah, I agree, but Sturmtigers? I thought they were in the map next over, are they being
hunted often?」
「Well, I don"t know about that, but I"ve been having some trouble fighting them.」
「In any case, what do you want to make out of this?」
「I want to strengthen this guy. Can you do it?」
I pointed to Senki behind me.
Saki put on a strange expression.
「I don"t really see a need though.」
「I really do need it!」
I insisted.
Please.
I had to keep going here.
I had to be a bit forceful to convince her to do it.

「Fine… I"ll measure the sizes, alright.」
「Thanks.I have a feeling he"ll grow a lot soon.」
Yes.
The amount of muscle Senki had was clearly a lot more than what he had at Lv.1.
Senki was slightly taller too.
Thinking about it that way, it would be nice to account for my Summon Monster"s growth too
when commissioning armour for them.
Well, I was already doing it.

「Could you tell it not to move?」
「Ah, yeah, sure.」

「Geheh!」
Senki let out a small sound and Saki took a step back.
「Don"t threaten me!」
「Ah, of course. I"m sorry」
Hey, Senki.
Don"t you move, alright?
Saki cautiously finished measuring Senki.
Great.
I changed into my new equipment.
Anyway…
I felt like selling my old equipment would be a bit of a waste…
For the time being, I recalled Senki and summoned Bunraku.
Bunraku"s physique wasn"t that different to mine.
If it was a little thinner, Bunraku could probably wear it.
「Could you adjust my old equipment a bit?」
「Sure. Although I don"t think there"s much room to adjust.」
「Just a little is fine, thanks.」
The leather was a little warped in some places, but Saki managed to adjust it for me.
After that, Saki got to work on tightening the boots and the belt, which wasn"t as much trouble.
There was no need to adjust the helmet and thigh guards.
The problem was now with the elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves.
They would hinder Bunraku"s movements for sure.
I didn"t want to affect Bunraku"s dexterity, so I gave up there.
I sold the rest to Fiona.

「So, what"s the total?」
「Just make it zero. All the stuff that you"ve been bringing in should count for it.」
「What?」

「Ah, and there was Margrid"s stuff too right? And the farming work you"ve been doing, too.I
think we can call it even with that.」
「Huh…」
Well, I suppose I could leave it to them.
I took the opportunity to put on my new armour.

I looked over the plains from the edge of the village.
There were, as usual, a lot of players walking to and fro and some parties returning from
hunting.
There were a lot more of them…
I decided to go on a little trip.
I switched Summon Monsters.
It would be a good idea to level-up Tigris too.
I switched out my entire team.
My new team was Zangetsu, Helix, Ninetails, and Tigris.
I suppose I could take it easy from time to time too.
Anyway.
Tigris is strong!
No, I knew that from before.
While wolves are good at both searching and battle, tigers are very good at just battling.
Tigris in particular was very aggressive.
But maybe because of that, we were having a bit of a hard time searching out monsters.
Raptors were especially elusive.
Of course, any monsters in the sky were taken out pretty easily by Helix.
Both Float Eyes and Enraged Cranes were no problem.
Tigris only had a chance to contribute if Helix managed to knock them to the ground.
Oh no.
I realised I had almost no opportunities to contribute.
All I could do was fight the occasional Raptor.
I didn"t get any chances to use spells either.
My MP bar was actually recovering while I was hunting.
Wait, Ninetails wasn"t doing anything whatsoever.

This is bad…
I headed towards the forest.
I was aiming for Wild Pheasants.

I arrived in the forest.
Evening was approaching, so I recalled Zangetsu and Helix.
I summoned Jean and Mumyo.
Great.
I wanted to have Ninetails play a more active role, but I didn"t know how.
I soon found a runaway female Wild Pheasant, but it was already starting to form small groups
with other pheasants.
I had to take them out before a male Wild Pheasant joined them.

Wild Pheasant (Female) Lv.2
Monster　Enemy Target　Pa.s.sive
Battle Position: Ground, Low Air

Low Air, huh…
Well, I had never seen a Wild Pheasant properly flying in the sky.
Anyway.
Let"s get hunting.

There were no signs of other parties.
I enjoyed myself hunting.
I also got more Pheasant Wings than I needed to make arrows.
The real fight would only start after sundown.
I aimed for the pheasants that escaped up the trees.
Wait, no.
I was more aiming for the eggs in their nests.
I was a robber.
I threw the parent pheasants to the ground, where they were quickly finished off by my Summon
Monsters.
In the meantime, I took the opportunity to hunt Polka Dot Foxes.
While taking some damage, Tigris could handle one of them on his own.
The future was bright.

I used 【Instant Portal】 and took a break.
I felt guilt towards Bunraku, but I ate Portable Food for dinner.
I was worried it might rot if I left it for too long.

I resumed my search for pheasant eggs, and soon, a long-awaited info screen appeared.

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

Well, Tigris got some experience the night before too.
Maybe that was why the level-up happened so early.
I didn"t know how many experience points each Summon Monster needed to advance, so there
was nothing I could really do.
The stat that went up with the level-up was AGI.
I put another point into DEX.

Tigris　Tiger Lv1→Lv2 (↑ 1)
DEX　9 (↑1)
AGI　17 (↑1)
INT　10
STR　18
VIT　18
SPI　10
Skills:
Bite　Threaten　Sense Danger　Night Vision　Conceal

And then it really became night-time.
Welcome to the world of the Antmen.
We were dealing with Antmen, but Tigris did just fine.
A bite between the segments of their bodies.
Tigris could take them out at a rate even Volff would have difficulty matching.
Scary…

Looked like tigers really were masters of the hunt.
On top of that, Tigris could hide himself and ambush unsuspecting monsters.
Tigris could almost act as a subst.i.tute for Jean for detecting monsters at night.
There was an especially large number of Antmen that night.
I got a feel for my new armour too.
It certainly felt a little heavier.
But it didn"t impair my movement.
I was satisfied.
I tried taking an attack from an Antman.
Just once, though.
It was killed by Tigris in the next moment.

Alright, new plan.
I decided to put exploration of the southern caves on hold for a while to level up Tigris.
I could explore the Antman caves in the area too.
I could go on expeditions to N1W2 too.
Various plans popped up in my head.
Too many choices of Summon Monsters.
I wanted to gradually strengthen all of them.
At the moment, not all of my Summon Monsters were capable of fighting a Gozu, a Mezu, or a
Deva King.
I wanted to have more options.
I had to kill some more time until Margrid"s work was done anyway.
I didn"t have to focus all my attention to the southern caves.

Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human　Male　Racial Lv14
Job　Summoner Lv14
Bonus Points Remaining: 17
Skill Sets:
Staff Lv11　Punch Lv9　Kick Lv9　Joint Lock Lv9 (↑1) 　Throw Lv9 (↑1) 　Evade Lv9 (↑1)
Block Lv9　Summon Magic Lv14　s.p.a.cetime Magic Lv7
Light Magic Lv8　Wind Magic Lv8　Earth Magic Lv8　Water Magic Lv8　Fire Magic
Lv8　　Dark Magic Lv8　Ice Magic Lv6　Lightning Magic Lv6　Tree Magic Lv6　Dust Magic
Lv6　Lava Magic Lv6　Steam Magic Lv6
Alchemy Lv6　Pharmacy Lv5　Gla.s.smaking Lv3　Woodworking Lv5

Synergy Lv10　Appraise Lv10　Identify Lv10　Discern Lv3　Cold Resistance Lv5　Grab
Lv8　Horsemanship Lv8　Precise Manipulation Lv10　Jump Lv5 (↑1) 　Heat Resistance
Lv5　Climb Lv5 (↑1) 　Dual Wield Lv8　Disa.s.sembly Lv6
Physical Reinforcement Lv6　Mental Reinforcement Lv7　Speedcasting Lv9　Spell Effect
Amplification Lv5　Spell Range Amplification Lv5
Equipment:
Staff of Guilt ×1　Tonfas of Guilt ×2　Fork of Guilt ×1　Enraged Pickaxe+ ×2　Silver
Necklace+　 Snow Leopard Push Dagger ×1　Sturmtiger Push Dagger ×2　Snow Leopard
Bagh Nakh ×1
Fighting Bull Leather Armour+ Set (New！) 　Rabid Horse Belt+　Rucksack　Item Box ×2
Items:
Survival Knife　Woodworking Set
t.i.tles:
Old Summoner"s Pupil
Guardian of the Forest
Knower of the Middle Path
Spell Glossary
Martial Arts Fighter
Monster Summons:
Volff　Grey Wolf Lv3
Zangetsu　White Horse Lv1
Summon Monster　Helix　Fighting Falcon Lv1
Obsidian　Mystic Owl Lv2
Jean　Black Bat Lv1
Jericho　Wood Golem Lv7
Goki　Demon Lv7
Senki　Beast Ape Lv7
Rig　Slime Lv5→Lv6 (↑ 1)
DEX　13
AGI　7
INT　7 (↑1)
STR　7
VIT　9 (↑1)
SPI　6
Skills:
Dissolve　Shapeshift　Viscosity　Surface Tension　Nullify Physical

Bunraku　Wood Puppet Lv5
Mumyo　Skeleton Lv5
Ninetails　Red Fox Lv4
Heather　Fairy Lv4
Tigris　Tiger Lv1→Lv2 (↑ 1)
DEX　9 (↑1)
AGI　17 (↑1)
INT　10
STR　18
VIT　18
SPI　10
Skills:
Bite　Threaten　Sense Danger　Night Vision　Conceal