BXBX NOVEL Volume 3, 1.3
Volume 3, Chapter 1.3
Translator: Kureha
Editor: Weasalopes
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「I’ve been overdoing it but I’m getting the hang of it now.」
The Stone Ants have attacked the two of them from all directions. Yet they have managed to take down most of them. Stone Ants were strong monsters, yet it wasn’t a challenge for one person to take them down. Like Tatsuya, even if their combat style was magic-based, it wasn’t difficult with range combat skill and weapon class over 100. Under such conditions, even a single person could take down an entire group of Stone Ants. However, for someone to be able to annihilate a swarm without any special equipment and regardless of the attack order, they must have a very high player skill.
「By the way, don’t you think these weapons a little too powerful?」
「 Yeah, this Katana and two-handed swords are both weaker than purgatory swords by three folds. But the weapon functions and easiness to use matches up to it.」
「Hiro has adjusted my equipment so that it’s easier to use but the functions are so extreme that I can’t just mess around with it.」
「The wand with dual function? I was surprised that such a thing was possible but I thought you’ve had it before?」
「I heard this from Hiroshi afterwards but he didn’t have enough material at the time. So, he put together something that would shoot out similar strength magic in different directions. Now that I think about it, that staff he made from holy steel was ridiculously strong so I shouldn’t be surprised over something like this…」
「…That staff sounds ridiculous so I won’t ask anything about it.」
「Yeah, that’s for the best.」
A robe that has higher physical defence status than wearing multiple layers, a wand that can convert stored damages into HP and MP, a ring that collects up HP from magic damage it has received. Tatsuya remembered a few items which Hiroshi had invented making him wonder if they have been able to preserve the power balance. It seems that they were a little naive in preparing their status condition. However, that can be easily levelled up along with their skill so they made the right decision by making enchanted items. Yet, the power balance was very concerning.
However, there obviously are some limits to the extreme of the weapon functions. Even though it stores magical damages, it cannot block off advanced level magics. Even though the physical damage status is higher than wearing multiple layers, it will easily lose against equipment made from materials of the same rank. However, it doesn’t change that fact that it would break the power balance once those items are released to the public. It’s not a good look for someone who is a craftsman, but you cannot blame Hiroshi for making these items.
Putting the reputation aside, perhaps only a Japanese person would be capable of crafting such high-level items.
「But there sure are a lot of them around here.」
「If we don’t take them down, we won’t get paid. We’ve got to work but it’s such a pain~」
「By the way, can we use these guys for something?」
「Don’t ask me.」
Like that, Tatsuya and Makoto exchanged words like how the ant’s head is obviously important, and somebody was interested in buying its legs and so on. They took down the Stone Ants one after another, remembering the sales value of the monster’s parts. In the end, they decided there was nothing valuable as Hiroshi didn’t mention anything before they have left.
「50 of them altogether.」
「They continued to attack without a break so maybe there’s a nest nearby.」
「You’re right. We better report that when we get back.」
The very existence of Stone Ants’ nest is highly dangerous. If the nest isn’t near a village or a city, it wasn’t a problem. However, considering they were only three hours out of the city by foot, the nest needed to be taken care of immediately.
「If Hiroshi and others were here, we would go look for the nest and take it down but…」
「I think that would be too much for us. Let’s call it a day.」
「Couldn’t have agreed more.」
Agreeing to Tatsuya’s words, Makoto carelessly started to clean up the mass of dead Stone Ants. If the nest was close, they needed to leave soon. Or else, more of them would come to attack. It would be a bother to come back so the two did want to take down the nest right now. However, Tatsuya’s stamina will most likely hold up for the first half of the combat and be taken out by the number in the end. It would be a different story if they had the equipment they had back in Farlane.
「hm?」
On their way back to the city, Makoto noticed something.
「What’s the matter?」
「I thought I could hear something rumbling behind us…」
「… the dust is being kicked up,」
「It’s closer than I suspected,」
「The situation might be a little too much for the two of us to handle,」
「Yeah,」
As they continued to talk in a surprisingly relaxed tone, Makoto head in the direction which she heard rumbling. This wasn’t a form of friendly service. If they let the swarm rampage on like this, it was likely that the two of them would end up getting caught up in the mess as well. So, if they can save a couple of people during the process, they might as well do so. These two weren’t like Hiroshi and others. Unless they were some level of merit or a significant disadvantage, they would not jump into unrelated business.
「A swarm of Rock Worms huh,」
「What’s going on around here?」
They couldn’t tell the exact distance between the swarm and them as the dust storm was screening the field. When Makoto and Tatsuya noticed the swarm, it was already two minutes into the fight. The swarm of rock worms was larger than the swarm of Stone Ants which they just fought off. And they weren’t exactly the type of monster somebody would want to come across in an open area. In the first place, Rock Worms weren’t a type of monster which travelled in groups.
Near the swarm was a chariot which seems to belong to a travelling merchant and another well-built chariot with the temple’s logo painted on the side. A group of people who seemed to be bodyguards and adventurers were attacking back at the Rock Worms. However, Rock Worms usually required an adventurer of minimum class 6 but they would barely manage to take them down. These monsters had a circumference of 2 meters and an average length of 10 meters. Without exceptional skill like Hiroshi and Douga, it was impossible to fight them head-on and come out of the battle harmless. Also, their outer layer was physically made of stone. That was their main difference with Stone Ants which has an outer layer as hard as a stone. It was not possible to cause any damage to these monsters just by using normal weapons with mediocre skill.
「Let’s go and help them out!」
「Naturally!」
To be honest, they didn’t want to face such a monster alone. They were hoping for the best-case scenario where the people who are already fighting would cover for them in return for the two giving the group a helping hand.
「Wide Heal!」
「Tiger Claw!」
Tatsuya cast Oxygen Ring, a selective spell which wouldn’t harm the innocent. Rock Worms breath; cutting off oxygen would result in suffocation.
「I’ve got your back!」
「Thanks!」
The group accepted Makoto and Tatsuya’s help without hesitation. The situation gave them no time for their pride.
「Oxygen Ring!」
Tatsuya activated oxygen ring. An effective spell which won’t harm the innocent. The Rock Worms required respiration. Taking away oxygen would result in lethal damage.
「I’ve gotten around 70% of them!」
「Got it!」
Makoto responded; she used the suffocating worms as stepping-stones. She pierced her double-handed sword at one of the worm’s back, making it struggle in its pain.
「Lightning Slash * Single Thunder Strike!」
She continued to attack. Yet the damage wasn’t lethal. The Katana made of magical steel still wasn’t enough. So, she switched to a double-handed sword made by the Lumen tribe. She only ran in one direction. Yet her blade managed to reach a wide range. fourteen worms were sliced down in one blow. It was only a matter of time for the worms to be taken down. She just needed to keep up the pace. However, Tiger Claw is a ignore defence skill. It cost too much of her magical energy. And lightning related abilities required twenty seconds to cool down. Makoto and Tatsuya haven’t used a significant amount of magic yet. However, they did not have the stamina or MP like Hiroshi. Meaning they couldn’t boost their stamina temporarily. That wasn’t the only issue.
「Lumen King Sword * Ring Cut!」
Makoto used higher cost skill. But the damage level to the monster was much higher. This took down the majority of the worms. This was one of the skills she has learned during game time. A skill where one sword morphs into multiple copies. Both Lightning Flash and Lumen King had a user-friendly function for a rapid ability. Ignoring the magic cost, weapon damage and strength, the skill didn’t require a lot of practice..
Such a skill would be enough to break a normal Katana in one blow. However, it was made by an intermediate class craftsman. It also had a ridiculous amount of enchantments on it. However, it did show some level of damage. But the blade was still sharp enough. And there were no visible cracks. If anything, it showed a sinister glint. As if to crave more blood. Makoto wanted to place another strike. But only inefficient skills were left. Unless she gathered up the dispersed swarm. So, she held back on her temptation.
「Smash Horizon!」
Makoto used a smash type ability. Forcibly gathering the Rock Worms in one spot. Followed by magic which would fling them off in the same direction. So that the swarm would be as compact as it could be. It hit one of the worms that separated from the group to attack the chariot. Being flung away by Makoto’s attack, it crashed into another worm close by. Eventually, they crashed up into a mountain of worms.
「Oxygen Ring!」
Tatsuya expanded the range of oxygen rings with dual activation. Taking down the remaining Rock Worms.
「It’s finally over,」
「Good work everyone,」
While Tatsuya and Makoto were fiercely fighting, the knights seem to have finished off the worms which they were initially dealing with. The knights were not copying Makoto and Tasuya’s battle strategy. After they were healed, they blocked off fatal attacks with barriers; setting up traps and spells which would slow down the worms’ movement and kept an eye out for each other back.
「You two have really saved us, thank you for your help,」
「Don’t sweat it, we would have been caught up in the swarm too if we didn’t do anything. And without your back up, we would have been in danger as well.」
「It sure didn’t look that way.」
「It looked easy because we have good weapons. We’re not strong enough to take down that mass just by the two of us alone.」
Tatsuya continued to explain yet nobody seemed to believe him. However, it was true that Tatsuya would have struggled to cast the oxygen ring if the others weren’t already holding back the Rock Worms. If they missed the opportunity to set up the oxygen ring, the only future for them would have been getting crashed down by a swarm of worms.
Also, the reason why they could take down the worms with such ease was that Makoto used Katana made by Hiroshi. If she used a normal Katana made by a normal craftsman, it would have shattered when she used the second Lighting Flash. But even her Katana had some level of damage by the time she had pulled out the Lumen King Sword. If she made another strike, it wouldn’t have demolished, but the auto repair would likely not have been enough to fix it.
「Anyway, there’s no way we would be able to take all of these guys back home…」
「I don’t think there was a much space left in the storage either…」
「Isn’t the combat proof certificate enough?」
「There’s a skilled craftsman in our party so we thought he might be able to make something out of them …」
No matter how they phrase it, impossible cannot be turned to possible. So, they started to put in a few of the worms which they have taken down into their bags.
「… Your bags fit a lot.」
「Well, it has a capacity adjustment and the craftsman we mentioned also added a couple of twists to it so…」
He responded casually to the clear, silvery voice of a woman. But as he finished putting the worms into the bag, he tilted his head. Then slowly, turned to the direction of the voice.
「Thank you very much for helping us earlier.」
In front of Tatsuya stood a girl probably in her late teens or early twenties. She had gentle blush over her cheeks and her eyes were shining beautifully. She had the common skin tone of many of the Darl citizen but had cool blue eyes and golden blonde hair which was unusual in Darl.
『Hey, Makoto…』
『I can’t believe you fell for such an expected situation.』
「… Not funny ….」
As Makoto gave a dead honest opinion, Tatsuya just stood there, waiting for the girl’s response.
「I’m working as a Priestess in Darl branch of Igreos temple. My name is Primula Norton. I would like to personally thank you two. Could you please tell me your names?」
As they heard the overused phrase, they sighed, and told her their real names, not knowing the mess which they were stepping into. This was the beginning of a certain trouble which Tatsuya would regret in the future.
===
The two saw it as a bother to explain what had happened to Hiroshi and others later. So, naturally, they went over to where Hiroshi and others were after the incident.
「…wat the hell is goin’ on here?」
They were standing in a very odd scenery. Mio and Haruna were surprisingly getting along with the newbie adventurers. The same went for Hiroshi but he was too focused on sorting out the pile of stone. And amongst them was a girl in a priestess outfit.
「um, some stuff happened.」
「Yeah, a lot of stuff.」
「Anyway, it looks like you guys had a lot going on here as well.」
「Yeah, there were.」
To Haruna’s half-awake response, Tatsuya responded in the same tone as her. Like that, the day ended with a mundane and un-fantasy world like conversation.