Translator: Cryus

After taking care of some errands, I login to the smell of some gra.s.s.
There"s also the smell of some kind of citrus.
It smells like oranges.
It"s a nice, refreshing morning.
I"ve already had some breakfast in the real world, but I need to eat here too.
After greeting Master, we had some breakfast. Now I"m waiting to help him.
Oops, I almost forgot something important.

I need to think about what my new Monster Summon should be.

The stairway to the bas.e.m.e.nt is closed, but it appears when I place my hand on a hollow in one of the pillars. It"s just as Master taught me.
I descend the stairs and head to the room with the workbench.
My Master Aurnier is already here.
He reeks of alcohol and is leaning on the desk.
He"s covered in a blanket, so I should leave him alone for now.

I should check the list of monsters I can summon.
I bring up the list of monster summons in a virtual window.
The first on the list is none other than the Wolf.
When I fix my gaze at the next row, the New Monster Summon Selection Menu opens in a new window.

This is what the list looks like.

Wolf
Horse
Hawk
Owl
Wood Puppet
Bat

I already decided which monster to summon, but there are 2 new choices now.
I should read the details for each of them, then reevaluate my decision.

【Wolf】Monster Summon　Battle Position: Ground
A wolf. Mainly attacks by biting.
Boasts superior mobility. Possesses superior ability in combat and searching, as well as various other situations.

【Horse】Monster Summon　Battle Position: Ground
A horse. Mainly attacks by charging and trampling.
Not purely suited for battle, but extremely tough and superior in mobility and transportation.

【Hawk】Monster Summon　Battle Position: Air
A hawk. Mainly attacks by pecking and clawing.
Executes combat and searching in midair. Possesses high visibility.

【Owl】Monster Summon　Battle Position: Air
An owl. Mainly attacks by pecking and clawing.
Has no problem flying in forests and dungeons. Possesses night vision, and is quiet when flying.

【Wood Puppet】Monster Summon　Battle Position: Ground
A puppet made of wood. Mainly attacks by fighting fist and foot.
Not really suited for battle. A loyal servant who knows no fatigue, and carries out tasks with skill and precision.

【Bat】Monster Summon　Battle Position: Air
A bat. Mainly attacks by biting.
Especially active during the night. Able to fly around even in the darkest of places.

I should definitely choose a monster summon that has air superiority.
The likely winner is the Hawk, and the Owl is probably a close match.
I should probably start thinking about summoning a Bat when I start entering dungeons in earnest.

I wonder what I should do for the other summon.
I could probably use an additional Wolf.

Master"s Metalskin is quietly bringing in the breakfast.
This guy doesn"t talk to anyone besides Master. I have a word or two to say about it.
The breakfast looks amazing.
There"s bread, cheese, eggs, and salad, with some soup on the side. A standard western style breakfast.
It was the same yesterday. This is a workshop, not a dining room.

「Good morning Master. Wake up.」

I place my hand on his shoulder and shake him lightly. He finally opens his eyes.
He doesn"t reply to my greeting. It seems as if his blood pressure is low.
He hasn"t moved at all, so I"ve decided to go ahead with breakfast.
I mean, the Metalskin is signaling for me to eat first.

「Oh, Keith.」

By the time he responded, I had already finished my breakfast.
Has he been eating without noticing me at all?
I wonder if his blood pressure is really that low.

「Oh, right. We have to deliver the potions to the Adventurer"s Guild.」

「Do you need help with anything?」

「I already organized everything yesterday. We should be alright for now.」

He resumes eating slowly.

「It will take some time until then. You may spend some time making potions.」

「Okay.」

Half of the Healgra.s.s in the jute bags have already been used up.
Are we going to collect more herbs today?
I won"t refuse, but there"s also the possibility that he"ll want to see me fight another monster.
Should I add the defense skills【Evade】and【Block】?
Maybe I can add the skills unnoticed, and Master will think I am a naturally gifted fighter. But that may be wishful thinking.
I have 7 bonus points remaining.

I arrange the empty potion bottles and prepare to light the fire for the pot while thinking.
There may be other skills that make me want to obtain on impulse.
I feel like a lower middle cla.s.s guy hesitating to buy something.

I proceed to make the potions with these thoughts in my head.
Besides the pure water which I obtained through water magic, everything else is my own handiwork.
I"m using 2 Healgra.s.ses, which makes 4 potions.
I"ve made 3 Grade C potions and 1 Grade C+ potion to my surprise.

【Recovery Item】Potion　HP+9% Recovery　Grade C+　Rarity 1　Weight 1
An ordinary potion. Restores a small amount of HP.
Leaves a bitter aftertaste when you drink it.
※Cannot be used repeatedly. Item cooldown is 8 minutes.

The recovery amount has increased slightly.
But what"s important is the decrease in the item cooldown.
That"s helpful.
I remember the battle against the Ants yesterday.
It would have turned out a lot differently if I was able to recover my HP faster.

「Keith, you cannot deliver that potion to the Guild.」

「Huh?」

「It will cause problems later if we do not deliver items with a consistent Grade」

That made me think a little.
It"s only natural for Adventurers to want better items.
If they fight over a single Grade C+ potion…
And if a PvP war breaks out…
They would use all the potions we delivered just to fight over the Grade C+ potion. It"s unnecessary trouble.
I keep the Grade C+ potion in my rucksack, separate from the Grade C potions.

I"m making another round of potions.
All 4 potions turned out to be Grade C. That"s a little disappointing.
Master is about to finish his food, so I stop there and put away the tools, then patiently wait for him.

He hands me the bag-shaped《Item Box》after he finished his food.
I"m carrying the goods outside his house.
He begins summoning when we get outside.

「Summon Monster!」

A horse appears. It looks st.u.r.dy, and its black, smooth skin is shining.
I used【Identify】on impulse.

Battle Horse　Lv.???
Monster Summon　Standby

Whoa.
It"s a horse designed for combat.
I fix my gaze on the Battle Horse section, and a new virtual window opens, showing me the description.

【Battle Horse】Monster Summon　Battle Position: Ground
A military horse. Mainly attacks by charging and trampling.
A horse trained for combat. The support skill Horsemanship is recommended for riding it into battle.

Master takes a riding gear from his own《Item Box》and attaches it onto the horse.

「We"re not using the Rock Bird from yesterday, are we?」

「Mhm. It will cause a riot if we ride it into town.」

I can imagine.
I didn"t think about that before.
Honestly, riding it is easier now that I can bear the cold.

「Well, are you going to run and keep up with us?」

He looks at me in amus.e.m.e.nt.
It"s kind of impossible to run at a horse"s pace all the way to town.

「No, I"ll try a new summon.」

I go to my spells list and select Summon Monster, then point to the second row, just below Volff"s name.
This should allow me to register my new summon.
After seeing Master"s summon, I feel like I"ve decided what I"m going to do with mine.

「Summon Monster!」

A magic circle appears on the ground, and a horse appears in it.
My MP bar decreases a little, but not as much as before.
My horse has brown skin, while her mane and tail are deep dark brown in color.
She reminds me of Mt. Kurikoma.
1
Her black, wide eyes are pretty. It feels as if she"s staring back at me.
She really looks less muscular than the Battle Horse, but her slender form makes her look beautiful instead.
What should I name her?
I was thinking about using kanji for her name, when the input method changed all of a sudden.
Her stats look really p.r.o.nounced.

Monster Summon
Zangetsu（残月）　Horse Lv1
DEX　 7
AGI　18
INT　 7
STR　20
VIT　22
SPI　 6

Her stats look really impressive.

「Do you intend to ride a naked horse?」

Oh, right.
I"m such an idiot. I forgot the most important thing.

「I completely forgot.」

「That you did. There is no need to worry. I shall lend you my riding gear. 」

He takes out another set of riding gear from his《Item Box》.
It looks rather well used.
Master is teaching me how to put it on Zangetsu.
She obediently allows me to put it on her.
She didn"t go wild when I put the saddle and bit on her.
The problem came when I put my leg on the stirrup and tried to straddle onto the saddle.

How exactly do I get on?

I don"t have any experience in riding horses!
I search for Horsemanship under Support Skills. It"s available.
I use 3 bonus points to learn it, and activate it immediately.
I"m using the reins on Zangetsu to make her stroll, although it"s a little unsteady.
My body is jolting up and down in a peculiar rhythm.
It"s moving automatically to make it feel natural and stable.
This is a refreshing sensation.
I have a good point of view too.
Now I"m trying to make her turn right and left, as well as making her stop.
I can do this.
Learning how to ride a horse is only this easy in games like this.

「Shall we go then?」

「Oh, Master. Please wait a moment.」

There"s something I have to do first.
I should register and summon a new monster.
Should I use a Hawk or an Owl?
Alright, I"ve decided.
I select Summon Monster from the spell list, and go to the 3rd row, right below Zangetsu.

「Summon Monster!」

A Hawk emerges from the magic circle that appears on the ground.
My MP slowly decreases to about 60%.
This Hawk looks more ferocious than the Steppe Hawk that I saw before.
His claws are sharp and long, and are curved obtusely.
His eyes look really frightening. From a different perspective, it looks like he has really good eyesight.
I hurry up and give him a name.

Monster Summon
Helix　Hawk Lv1
DEX　10
AGI　21
INT　18
STR　10
VIT　10
SPI　12

He flies up when I finish naming him.
He circles around above my head for a while before landing on my shoulder.

Whoa! His claws are digging into my shoulder!
He flies up again and lands on the tip of my rod this time.
I"m surprised considering the area of the tip is very small. He"s skillful.
I should get him something that acts as a replacement for a perch.

「Hmm.」

Master is looking at me in satisfaction. His Magi Owl is perched on top of his staff.
It seems like the Magi Owl is staring at Helix.
And it seems like Helix is staring back at the Magi Owl.
There"s no need for a compet.i.tion. I don"t think we can win if we fight it.

「Let us go then.」

Zangetsu and I are taking the lead.
The narrow path to Master"s house was tough for me to walk on, but Zangetsu seems to have no problem at all.
I"m the one having trouble as I"m jolting up and down.
The support skill【Horsemanship】is helping for sure, but it"s still difficult to maintain my balance.
This is when magic comes in handy.

I cast Physical Enchant: Aqua.
It temporarily raises DEX, so I thought it would make riding easier.
Bingo!
I can feel the difference.
I still have to be careful, but I think I can manage now.
The effect went away just as we were about to go on the main path towards the town, but I don"t feel as much of a difference.
The main path isn"t as rough, so I don"t have to rely on Physical Enchant: Aqua.

Incidentally, we ran into Wild Pheasants (Female) 3 times.
They were all alone.
I took them all down without dismounting.
Thrusting my rod downwards on horseback clearly deals more damage.
Their HP decreases drastically in one hit, and at times we even obstructed their movements.
Zangetsu joined in the battle as well.
Just by trampling on them and attacking with my rod decreased their HP by a lot.
However, it was easy for the monsters to evade Zangetsu.
I should learn to time our attacks with Helix"s and strike at the moment the monsters are stopped in their tracks.
It"s difficult to execute.
But it"s also fun and interesting.
It"s taking me some time to get off the horse and collect the item drops, but I hope Master doesn"t mind.

Helix didn"t get a chance to attack.
I"m planning to have him help in tougher battles, but right now it"s just me and Zangetsu.
I"ll give him a workout when we"re going to the plains.

Our speed increased by a lot when we went on the main road, which was relatively flat.
This time, Master took the lead.
We reached the watchtower in a very short time.
It took me an hour to walk that distance yesterday, but we took just a few minutes by horse.
I know how convenient it is in the real world, but I"m more aware of it now in this game world.
We"re approaching the town pretty easily.

But I was naive to think that.
Master never lets me have an easy time.
When we went on the road to town, Master told me off for letting Helix fly above us.
He also told me off for wasting time hunting every monster I saw on the way to town.
Well, in a way, it"s just what I wished for.

While we were approaching town, I had been hunting Wild Dogs and Horn Rabbits one after another.
There were quite a number of item drops.
A big part of it was due to Helix getting the drop on them. His attacks were extremely effective.
Whenever Helix saw a monster, something similar to an info popup would inform me about it.
It"s a strange feeling that"s difficult to describe, but I knew whenever it happened.
It led us to the monsters" positions, where we set up our surprise attacks.
By the time we went up to the monsters, we already had an advantage, so it turned out really well.
We finished the battles quickly as well.
But there were a few monsters that didn"t let us have our way.

For example, the Wild Dogs.
They were in packs of 5.
Zangetsu charged right into the middle to separate them. Helix attacked them from the air to disrupt them too.
I had also been swinging my rod at them.
But the dogs had good teamwork. We couldn"t trample over them easily. Zangetsu and I, and even Helix, didn"t get out of the battle without a scratch.
Even then, we won without taking too much damage.
It did take some time and effort to defeat them though.

Next were the Horn Rabbits.
Helix found them pretty easily when he flew in big circles.
More than half of them were resting near their burrows.
Even when Helix informed me that they were there, the rabbits sensed us coming, and quickly hid in their burrows.
They attack other adventurers rather proactively, but it seems they are afraid of aerial attacks.
But Helix only had to perform about 3 attacks to finish them off.

After that was the Horned Rabbit.
There was only 1 of them.
At first, I thought I wouldn"t do much damage even if I hit it with my rod with full strength.
【Identify】told me that it was indeed a Horn『ed』Rabbit.
I had to use magic to defeat it.
I used Physical Enchant: Earth to raise the defense of my summons, and used Force Bullet to intercept the rabbit"s attacks.
Honestly, it was a tough battle.
Even though it was alone, we suffered some injuries. I had to use potions on everyone after we won.
I had fought it before, so I wasn"t surprised.
What surprised me was the fact that it was easier than I had imagined.
It had been a lot tougher for me yesterday.

Finally, the most annoying monster was the Steppe Hawks.
It was only natural because Helix was the only one who could attack them.
The Steppe Hawk had attacked us for the Horn Rabbit Meat.
Helix warned me beforehand, so I used Force Bullet to intercept it when it came closer.
That was when another Steppe Hawk came and attacked us.
I used Physical Enchant: Wind to raise Helix"s AGI while fighting the other Steppe Hawk by diverting its attention.
Honestly, it was annoying.
I"m looking forward to seeing what Helix can do when he levels up.
I could probably have made it easier by using magic, but at this point my MP would probably be drained in no time at all.
Also, I"m not confident that my spells will hit.

We defeated a lot of monsters, so naturally there were a lot of spoils as well.
As usual, the Wild Dogs didn"t drop anything.
This was my first time seeing the item drops from Steppe Hawks.

【Material】Steppe Hawk Feathers　Raw Material　Grade C-　Rarity 1　Weight 1
The feathers of a Steppe Hawk. Normally used to make arrows.

Another easy hint.

With so many item drops, I put the storage bag that came with the riding gear to good use.
Even my Rucksack and《Item Box》became full.

The《Item Box》sure is useful, but I still haven"t been able to display its true worth.
The number of items I can store in the《Item Box》is the square of the number of my Racial Level.
The restrictions are based on the volume of each object instead of the weight.
In terms of cubic standards, Length (cm) + Width (cm) + Height (cm) = 200 (cm) seems to be the standard for an object.

What kind of standard is that?

Also, the number of items is more of a concern than the size of the items.
It"s really inefficient to store small and light items such as potions into the《Item Box》.
I could leave the bigger items in my rucksack, but it"ll be a hindrance in combat if it gets too bulky.
It would be best for me to focus on leveling up and expanding my《Item Box》.

The item that dropped most was the Wild Rabbit Skin.
I should talk to a player who specializes in making armor, if possible.
The Simple Clothes I"m wearing are worn out and tattered, so I want to get it replaced.
I also want to get a collar for Volff, a set of riding gear for Zangetsu, and a leg band for Helix, but that"s an issue for when I can afford it.
There are so many things I want to get.

Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human　Male　Racial Lv3
Job　Summoner Lv2
Bonus Points Remaining 4

Skill Sets
Staff Lv2　Punch Lv1　Kick Lv2　Summon Magic Lv3
Light Magic Lv1　Wind Magic Lv2　Earth Magic Lv1　Water Magic Lv1
Alchemy Lv1　Pharmacy Lv1
Cooperation Lv2　Appraise Lv3　Identify Lv2　Cold Resistance Lv1　Grab Lv1
Horsemanship Lv1（New!）

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

Items　Survival Knife

Monster Summon
Volff　Wolf Lv3　Recalled

Monster Summon（New!）
Zangetsu　Horse Lv1
DEX　 7
AGI　18
INT　 7
STR　20
VIT　22
SPI　 6

Monster Summon（New!）
Helix　Hawk Lv1
DEX　10
AGI　21
INT　18
STR　10
VIT　10
SPI　12