Translator: Cryus

Speaking of which, I haven"t read the details for the other skills yet.
I"ll look them up on a new window.

【Magic Skill】Wind Magic Lv.1 (New! Random Bonus Initial Skill for Summoner)
A magic skill that allows the user to cast wind spells.
Advanced wind spells may be available upon Lv up.
※Spellcasting is automatic by default, and may be set to manual.
※A penalty will be applied when the user is equipped with metallic weapons and armor.
※Spells may be enhanced through equipment with M・AP+.

【Production Skill】Alchemy Lv1 (New! Initial Skill for Summoner)
A production skill that allows the user to process materials and create various items.
Manipulates everything that conforms to or opposes physical laws, as well as everything that interferes with magical processing.
Advanced items may be created upon Lv up.
※Different tools may be required depending on item creation.
※The creation of some items may require a level of mastery over Magic Skills.

【Support Skill】Cooperation Lv1 (New! Random Bonus Initial Skill for Summoner)
A support skill that allows the user to a.s.sist another by switching in or performing simultaneous attacks.
Effective in performing skillful actions.
More skillful actions may be performed upon Lv up.

【Support Skill】Appraisal Lv2 (New! Initial Skill for Summoner)
A support skill that allows the user to determine the value of items.
The user may determine the value of items of higher rarity upon Lv up.

【Support Skill】Identify Lv2 (New! Random Bonus Initial Racial Skill)
A support skill that a.s.sists the user in gathering information on his or her field of vision.
The ability to gather information may increase upon level up. Mainly effective in gathering information on monsters.

I"ve finally read through all of it.
I can roughly understand most of it, but the【Cooperation】skill remains a mystery.
I don"t even know if it"s an active or pa.s.sive skill.
Do Support skills literally support players?
Are Random Bonus skills just extra skills?
Do the【Appraisal】and【Identify】skills activate just by staring at items and monsters?

Oops.
I"m starting to think too much.
We should move on.

We"re hunting Wild Dogs and Horn Rabbits individually on the way to the forest.
The path continues into the forest, which isn"t too thick. I"m beginning to see the tower in the distance.
There are more dead ends in the forest as we enter.
We should be on the lookout for monsters.
I use 1 more potion on Volff to recover as much HP as I can.

「Volff, watch out for surprise attacks.」

Volff lowers his posture and stays alert in response to my warning.
Ooh, that"s kinda cool.

As we continue forward, I begin to sense a presence from multiple places at both sides of the forest.
The noise is getting louder too.
There seems to be a few parties hunting in the forest.
I just saw a party of five chasing a couple of badly injured Wild Dogs that are trying to escape.
I shouldn"t interfere.
They, too, cast a glance at me, then ignore me.
No.
One of them stops and examines Volff.

「Oh, it"s just a Monster Summon. s.h.i.tty Summoners.」

Saying that, he goes after his companions.

Yeah.
I know, but it still hurts.

I"ve finally reached the area around the tower without encountering any monsters.
I see 2 bow wielding soldiers at the top of the tower.
There are 4 soldiers at the base of the tower, each of them equipped with a spear and a shield.

「Wait!」

I hear someone calling for me.
I stop and take a look around me.
I see a building behind the tower that looks like a small guardhouse, surrounded by a stone base.
There are yellow markers on top of the soldiers" heads. They"re all NPCs.

「Is that a wolf? Or a dog?」

「He is my partner.」

He seems to be on guard against Volff. I don"t blame him.
From an NPC"s perspective, Volff doesn"t seem like a creature that would conform to a player.
It may be wise to put a collar on Volff from now on.
Volff is standing on my left and wagging his tail because the NPC said「Wait」.
I"m gently patting his head with my left hand.

「Are you alone?」

Are you one to talk?

「No, I have my partner here.」

「But aren"t you too lightly equipped for someone who has come all the way into the forest?」

I don"t know what to say to you.

「I shall leave as soon as I have concluded my business here.」

The soldier stops talking to me.
He seems to have lost interest.
The other soldiers don"t bother looking at me either.
I guess they wouldn"t.

I"m taking another look at my map to confirm the location.
There"s a small village further down the path from the tower.
Halfway on the path is a giant rock. I just have to proceed on the narrow path from there.
As soon as I leave the tower behind me, Volff growls all of a sudden.
I take up my rod. Is it a monster?
The silhouette that appears from the forest is the largest of all the monsters I"ve encountered so far.
It"s a horse.

Stray Horse　Lv.3
Monster　Enemy Target　Active・Enraged

【Identify】tells me that it is in fact a monster.
The marker is red too, although I"ve never seen a horse as a monster.
Its level is slightly higher as well.
It charges me before I can ready my rod. It"s fast.
I thought I heard its hooves pounding on the ground right next to me, but I"m still alive.
It seems that Volff pushed my entire body onto the ground to evade the horse"s charge.
He saved me. Nice one, Volff!
What happened to the horse?

The Stray Horse maintains some distance, then prepares to charge at us again.
What should I do?
The horse has an advantage when fighting on the road.

「Come, Volff!」

We have to retreat into the forest for now.
I wouldn"t say that we have an advantage now, but it"s better than fighting it on the road.
The marker is still flashing, indicating that it"s still targeting us. I need to run faster!

I can"t shake off the horse. It seems to have heard my rugged breathing as soon as it entered the forest.
I have to stop it somehow.
I just need some time, even a moment, to use my magic attacks.
As soon as I hide behind a tree trunk, the horse charges and breaks it from the side.
That was close.
I"m hiding behind another tree, with Volff accompanying me.
Where"s the horse?
I stick my head out just slightly from the cover of the tree trunk and take a peek.
I see the tail of the horse. It doesn"t seem like it"s noticed us yet.
The marker on its head is still flashing.
Should we go?
No.
I stop Volff with my hand just as he"s about to get up.
We"ll wait for it to leave.
We can"t make a single sound. We need to stay low and hide our presence.
Volff obeys and echoes my intentions.

The horse doesn"t turn towards us. Not long after, the marker stops flashing.
It"s leaving.

「We shouldn"t overdo it.」

I explain myself to Volff.
We could probably manage it somehow if we had a proper party.
There"s an info popup.

《You may learn the following Support Skill(s):【Hide】【Detect Presence】》

Um.
I was only trying to escape the battle.
So by trying to hide myself and detect the enemy, I can learn similar support skills. Does that explain it?
I don"t know if this makes sense.
I"ve decided to stop overthinking, and to keep moving instead.

I"ve found the landmark soon enough.
There"s a really big rock.
It looks magnificent, befitting of its image as a keystone. I can"t bring myself to climb it.
This is as far as we can go on the main path from the town.
We have to continue on the narrow path, which barely looks different from the main path drawn on the note. It looks like a animal trail.
We should be on guard against surprise attacks.

「Let"s go.」

Volff follows close.
No, he"s taking the front now.
I guess it"s natural for wolves to be better than humans at scouting while traveling.
I should leave this to him.

There"s something in the bushes.
I thought there were enemy monsters, but they were just frogs and snakes that aren"t hostile.
I"m freaking out. In contrast, Volff is calm and composed.
But he suddenly stops.
He stays low and remains still.

It"s a bird. Or is it a chicken?
Its body is about 50 cm long. Including its tail feathers, it"s about 80 cm long.
The marker is red, indicating its hostility.

Wild Pheasant (Female)　Lv.2
Monster　Enemy Target　Pa.s.sive

【Identify】activates automatically when I look at it, showing me its information.
Hmm, so encountering a pa.s.sive enemy means that I can approach it without alerting it.
The fact that it has (Female) on its name probably means that the male version also exists.
It"s occasionally picking at the snake near its legs.
I guess it"s eating the snake.

Now, what should I do?
Hunting is the most desirable course of action, but I don"t know how strong Lv.2 monsters are.
But I do know how I should attack it.

I bring up my list of spells.

Summon Monster (Summon Magic)
Recall Monster (Summon Magic)
Force Bullet (Universal Offensive Magic)
Sense Magic (Universal Perception Magic)
Control Air Current (Wind Magic)
Physical Enchant: Wind (Wind Magic)

Force Bullet is probably the only long range attack I have.
Control Air Current probably means just that.
What does Physical Enchant: Wind do?

I stare at the spell while saying『Effects』.

【Physical Enchant: Wind】Spell: Wind Magic
Bestows the power of wind, temporarily increasing one"s AGI.
May be used on other targets within a 5 m range of the user. Can be resisted.
Lasts for 15 minutes.

An AGI buff.
I"ll find out if it works.
I tell the system to cast quietly, and then select the spell from the list.

(Physical Enchant: Wind!)

I"m casting it on Volff.
I place my hand on his neck and finish the spell.
There"s a small marker on top of the one that already exists on him.
That"s probably for the purposes of Identify.

(Chase it after I attack it.)

I whispered to Volff.
Next, I start executing the spell after selecting it from the list.
I cast it quietly.
The monster I"m targeting is still eating. It"ll work.

(Force Bullet!)

Volff dashes off as soon as I unleash the spell.
He"s fast.
I"m following them as well.

The spell hits it, knocking it off balance and reducing quite a bit of its HP.
Volff bites into the bird"s neck as it looks this way.
The monster tries to counterattack with its legs, but it can"t possibly reach him at that angle.
Volff struggles a little, but manages to pin it on the ground.
By the time I reach them, it"s already over.
It"s breathing its last.
That was disappointing.

《You may learn the following Support Skill(s):【a.s.sault】》

Yet another Support skill I can learn. There"s too many.
I"m still undecided on all of them!
I stick my Survival Knife into its corpse, which disappears after dropping an item.
It"s a wing.

【Material】Pheasant Wing　Raw Material　Grade D+　Rarity 1　Weight1
The feather of a Wild Pheasant (Female). A material most commonly processed into arrow feathers.

That"s a helpful hint.
Players who use a bow and arrow as their main weapon will most likely want this, thought it"ll have to be processed.
As for me, I have no other use for it than to sell it. I put it into my rucksack right away.

Volff has been guarding me while I"m collecting loot. Good boy.
Speaking of which, I wonder if Monster Summons have any skills of their own.
I"ll take a look.
I call on the system to show me Volff"s stats and skills.

Monster Summon　Volff　Wolf Lv2　On Alert

Stats
DEX 8
AGI 25 (+2)
INT 12
STR 11
VIT 15
SPI 10

Skills
Bite　Dash　Threaten　Listen

His AGI is really impressive.
The (+2) is probably due to the effects of Physical Enchant: Wind.
I don"t really know if +2 is good or bad for a novice adventurer.
I for one think it"s consolatory. I check my surroundings to make sure there are no more monsters before leaving.
I still don"t see my destination.

The narrow path is near the animal trail, but reaching it shouldn"t be difficult.
I just saw a group of 14 Wild Pheasants gathering in the distance.
There are about 3 of them, each colored silver, white and black. They look flashy.
Each of them is rather large.

Wild Pheasant (Male)　Lv.5
Monster　Enemy Target　Pa.s.sive

I used【Identify】on one of them.
This guy"s scary.
I also【Identify】the other males, which are about Lv.4 and Lv.3.
The females are Lv.1 to Lv.3.
Perhaps because there"s some distance between us, they leave without spotting us.
That was close. I can"t let my guard down in the forest.
I"ll be in trouble if I encounter that horde by accident.

After some time reaching and traveling the narrow path while staying alert, I"ve finally arrived at my destination.
The hut is surrounded by a stone base.
I can only see a part of the roof, which looks rather worn out.
There"s a bit of smoke coming out from the chimney. That means there"s someone living here.
The gate looks simple but st.u.r.dy, giving me a secure feeling.
Obviously, it"s still shut.
I wonder how I should get in. There"s no intercom or anything.

《Who might that be?》

A voice echoes in my head as if it"s an info popup.
Where is the voice coming from?

「Um, I am Keith, a novice adventurer. The Adventurer"s Guild has been so kind to introduce you to me.」

I try answering in a loud voice.

《Can you prove it?》

「If this note will suffice.」

Volff stays closer to me, growling in a low voice.
Is he afraid of something?

Volff looks up sharply at the gate.
I"m looking at it as well.
Just above the gate, there are many projectile traps intended to stop intruders dead in their tracks. A bird is perched on one of them.
It"s a white owl, and a pretty huge one.
There"s a yellow marker on its head, indicating that it"s an NPC.

Magi Owl　Lv.???
Monster Summon　On Alert

Whoa, it looks really strong.
I can"t even【Identify】its level.
Volff looks afraid too.

《Could you leave it on the ground for me to see?》

「Yes.」

I do as I"m told, leaving the note written on parchment on the ground.
The owl descends onto the ground.
Its wings are large, as if showing off its status as a bird of prey.
Its feathers are beautiful, as are its deep blue eyes.

《Very well.》

The owl picks up the note with its beak, and flies to the other side.

《I shall open the gate. You may enter.》

I don"t know what kind of device is controlling it, but the gate opens with a rumble.
And it shot up pretty quickly too.
I walk through the pa.s.sageway, which is more like a hallway. There"s a tiny house right in the middle of the excessively open s.p.a.ce.
This place feels somewhat strange.

Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human　Male　Racial　Lv2
Job　Summoner Lv2
Bonus Points Remaining: 21

Skill Sets
Staff Lv2　Summon Magic Lv2　Wind Magic Lv1　Alchemy Lv1
Cooperation Lv1　Appraisal Lv2　Identify Lv2

Equipment　Beginner"s Rod　Simple Clothes　Cloth Shoes　Rucksack

Items　Survival Knife

Monster Summons
Volff　Wolf Lv2