After repelling the group that was approaching, they temporarily went outside the plains zone and took a break.
Although Rashia was mentally tired as a result of power leveling, it was also possible to say that her vitality and magic power were in the best condition.
“Uu, I thought I was going to die.”
“We managed to hold on though.”
“That’s not it, I think the Bio Hound is very formidable for a commoner. Especially its appearance.”
Shin also joined Wilhelm in teasing.
“Please don’t make me remember~”
She remembered the monster dragging its internal organs while approaching. Rashia’s shoulders quivered as she glared at the two people. Although one might say, there was not a bit of threatening language.
“That reminds me, was that the first time you fought that monster?”
“It’s not about the experience, though I am surprised! More than that, it was the rapid leveling up that scared me!
“That was expected since there is too much of a level difference with these monsters. Perhaps you will be around level 150 when you acquire 【Purification】.”
Rashia was a human without reincarnation so her level rising was kind of interesting. Her level would probably become near to Wilhelm. Though their fighting power was as different as heaven and earth, in the first place their role was also different, so it could not be compared.
“While that may be true, my body feels light and is overflowing with magic. Yet I am a little worried that my body has become so different.”
“Normally the level goes up little by little. You shouldn’t even feel a damn thing as it happens.”
“There is no way but to get used to this. Well, though it’s bad for you to attack a weakened enemy, this is for you to use, Rashia.”
Shin said that while taking out the secret book of 【Heal】 and 【Cure】. He understood that from the battle earlier, 【Heal】 art was similar to the【Heal】 skill, but its effect was fairly weak. According to Tiera, it had 1/3 of the skill effect, but he thought that it be lower depending on the user. The damage dealt was too low, though it be might due to the level differences. In fact, Rashia raised her level without stopping, so she was about level 40*. However, she still couldn’t defeat several dying Bio Hounds, so it was too inefficient. (T/N: It was level 40 in WN and 70 in LN)
Due to such circumstances, he thought he had better teach her these skills. Since it was not a combat system skill, he didn’t have to worry about it getting misused.
“What is that?”
“This is a secret book. A skill, corresponding to its content, will be yours when you use it. It has 【Heal】 and 【Cure】this time.”
“Eh! The skills will be mine?!…I cannot accept such an expensive thing!? How much money do you think I have!?”
Rashia shook both of her hands in front her face. What kind of skill for a commoner? Her reaction was clearly understandable.
It was known that anyone could learn a skill by using a massive amount of money, so Shin’s words were misunderstood.
“I don’t need any compensation if you keep it a secret. I was originally going to teach you anyways. If you have these skills, you will be able to help those suffering, too.”
“And then? What’s up with this stinkin’ speech, tell me your true intentions!”
Shin tried to say lines that were out of character, but it seemed to be too suspicious somehow. Wilhelm’s eyes said “Don’t try to lie to me!”.
“Arts will get you nowhere. With this, we can speed up.”
“You are such a pain!!”
“What a wonderful rebuttal. But you should know better than me how weak the arts are, right? Even with the level difference, it is taking too much time since she needs to defeat 200 monsters. We can’t leave the orphanage to just Thoria-san for days, and that pig guy might start something while we are here.”
It became hard to argue with Shin when he mentioned the orphanage. There was no disadvantage since he knew that inefficiency was the problem. And he was certain that both 【Heal】 and 【Cure】 were useful to the church.
For Shin, those skills were for a beginner who had just began to play the game, to the extent that he felt that it was just petty help. Honestly, it might be somewhat out of this world’s common sense, but he thought about spreading it on a large scale only if the source was hidden.
Needless to say, the main reason he wanted to hurry was because there might be something bad happening while they were away. The absence of Wilhelm, who had the biggest combat capability, was a good opportunity for the opponent.
“I understand. I will accept your offer.”
“Do that.”
Rashia opened the secret book with a timid look. As she started to scan it, as with Tiera when she learned 【Analyze】, a green light enveloped Rashia and faded after a while.
“How is it?”
“Ah, yes. Certainly I understand how to use them.”
“Doesn’t she need to read it before learning it?”
“I heard that the method of learning is that it enters your mind.”
Shin replied to Wilhelm who was stretching his neck from side to side to look.
“It’s true, but it’s difficult to explain with words.”
Rashia mumbled with deep emotion while staring at the secret book she held.
“Well then, shall we go again?”
“Yeah.”
Shin got up from sitting, and was followed by Wilhelm.
“U-Understood.”
Rashia, who was originally not tired, began to move immediately too. A Pawn class Skull Face and a Bio Hound approached them as soon as they entered the field, and partly because her level had gone up, the effect of 【Heal】 was demonstrated in an interesting way.
The gloomy aura of the Bio Hound slowly faded with the Art, but dissipated instantly with the Skill, like how smoke was blown away by the wind. Shin didn’t have to weaken it, as he saw that the Bio Hound disappeared with several heals. From there, Shin understood why a skill successor would get favorable treatment.
“I guess there is a big difference in power.”
“Hmm? Well obviously, those were the Arts, you know.”
Wilhelm responded while looking ahead.
“Iya, it’s just that it’s my first time seeing an Art upgraded.”
“…I’m kind of surprised at how little you understand.”
The two people didn’t stop moving while talking frivolously. While Wilhelm crushed the arm and leg of a Jack class Skull Face with Venom, Shin beat a humanoid monster, gray orc, with the back of the blade.
The gray orc had another name, Zombie Orc. Its appearance was exactly like an orc version of a zombie monster.
“Please comfort those who are wounded, 【Heal】!!”
Rashia’s healing was focused on the weakened monsters. The level difference was still huge, but the Heal, which became a skill, showed a far superior effect compared to the art version. The two undead were changed into grains of light without much effort.
It was Rashia herself, who was surprised the most at the rapid level up and skill effect.
“It seems like it will speed up a little with this.”
“However, to meet the requirements ― almost none of these creeps are higher than level 150. Even if it is daytime, I wonder if it is because we are outside of the sealed zone, how annoying.”
“…Wait a moment. What is this seal talk? I’ve never heard of this.”
“Oioi, did you come without knowing about it? So that dangerous monsters don’t go out from here, there is a monster protectant barrier set up inside the plains. For some reason, the higher level undead appear near the center. The guild is managing it strictly.”
“I see, the effect of the seal is concentrated onto the strong monsters, and leaves the weak alone, huh?”
“The seal item seems to have a limitation too. It couldn’t be used here, I guess.”
Normally for a dungeon, the deeper the layer, the stronger the monsters are. Apparently on these plains, the depth of the layer seems to have been changed to the distance to the dungeon’s center.”
“What should I do to enter inside the seal?”
“An A rank or higher guild card from an adventurer shouldn’t have any problem. Since it is managed by the guild.”
“Then there is no problem. We will battle inside the seal tonight.”
Shin said while watching Rashia eliminate a gray orc. The low-level monsters didn’t approach much now, probably because her level rose. This meant they had to change the hunting ground. Though some of the monsters which attacked, such as the Jack class Skull Face, exceeded level 150 as expected, they were only a few in number including the 2 encounters, which they defeated just moments ago.
The number of the defeated could be counted with the fingers on both hands and were far from the target number. The 3 continued to battle for a while, and then decided to withdraw once Rashia’s level rose above 80.
After returning to the base, they took a nap until the sun set. The surroundings were clear, but Shin and Wilhelm took turns standing watch for cautions sake. Whether Rashia was mentally tired or not, she fell asleep without taking much time.
Shin decided to do some skill investigation while he stood watch because he had some spare time. Since he had already been using the combat system skills since the first day he transported into this world, he used detection system skills this time. There was a limit to how many skills he could use simultaneously during the game, and he had to activate them one by one.
“This is…”
He unintentionally leaked out a voice.
When he attempted to use more skills than the limit number, no problem seemed to arise. In addition, skills that were not possible to use simultaneously before were now possible. For example, when 【Sign Perception】 and 【Search】 were used together. Moreover, each skill effect’s advantage was put together, and the weak points almost vanished. The range of the effect was extended, and the distinction of individuals was possible at the same time.
“The effect from the skills combining was already exceptional. Are there any changes with the effects of the similar skills when used simultaneously?”
This one required more inspection…he made a mental note of it. There appeared to be only a pattern of more benefits for the moment, but he doubted whether it would go that conveniently well.
Besides, various thoughts filled his mind, like did it have any effect even with the automatic activation types? Was it restricted to manual activation types?
The time for standing watch passed in an instant while he was doing the inspections.
The sun set, and the time was 8:00 at night. Shin and Wilhelm judged that it was a suitable time, and advanced into the interior of the Wraith Plains with Rashia. Shin thought that it might take some time, but they were able to advance without much trouble since the haze that covered the plains in daytime was dispersed in the bright moonlight.
“What’s up with that haze? I certainly thought it would appear at night.”
“Well who knows, but from the story of my magician colleagues, the magic power in the dungeon has begun to leak out, though it is only a story.”
“Magic power?”
“They say that the dungeon itself is like an undead monster. Since the dungeon rose above the ground halfway, it receives damage when the sun shines upon it. I think that has affected the dungeon, which is filled with magic power, to overflow above ground.”
“Really? Certainly I understand that as a theory.”
It was a commonly known point that an undead was weak during the daytime. In fact, the undead emit a black aura when they are in the sun. It’s something like HP, which one could see. However, it was released into the air with time. Perhaps that was the real nature of the haze, a grand version of the aura that breaks out during the daytime.
“Hmm, I wonder if the lost magic power is being restored now?”
“I guess so. Well, that has nothing to do with us now.”
After Wilhelm said that, they returned to walking for a while. A transparent blue wall that was set up in front of them came into view. It appeared that they somehow had arrived at the seal location.
“Is this it?”
“Correct, this is the seal I talked about during the day. The blue wall is easy to understand since it is visualized, but it also covers the invisible, aerial part.”
“I see.”
Its height was only 4 mels at most, even if it was called a wall. Shin thought that there was a possibility that monsters could jump over, but it seemed that he was worried for nothing. Wilhelm looked back for an instant.
“Now then, is everyone ready?”
“Anytime.”
“I-I’m okay, too.”
“Kuu!”
Shin, Rashia and Yuzuha answer to Wilhelm’s words. Wilhelm, who verified it, put his guild card on the wall, and an entrance of about 2 mels high and 1 mel wide appeared.
Wilhelm entered first as he had battle experience in the seal. Rashia and Yuzuha were next to enter, and Shin was last. It was to guarantee their safety, just in case a monster attacked from behind.
Inside the seal, it seemed no different from the outside.
However, the enhanced perception ability of Shin, by using the skills together, already picked up several hostile presences. Since he still had enough time before coming into contact with the enemies, he focused on obtaining detailed information on each individual.
―― 3 Rupt Raptors from the front.
―― 2 Jump Kins from the left.
The appearance of the Rupt Raptor was a wyvern that had lost its wings. There were no hands, and it possessed a powerful leg with a strong kick. Moreover, there was the additional effect of paralysis on its claws. Its average level was around 170.
Seemingly, Jump Kin was a flying pumpkin. Wait, that isn’t jumping, is it? Shin wanted to retort. Anyways the pumpkin was rotten. Expressions of emotion showed on the rotten pumpkin and it used fire magic skills when it was happy, and earth when it was sad. Its level was about 200 on average.
“They are coming, huh”
Wilhelm muttered while Shin analyzed the enemies. It seemed that the enemies had arrived at Wilhelm’s perception range.
“Rupt Raptors from the front, Jump Kins from the left.”
“You know?”
“Ah, Wilhelm, handle the Rupt Raptors. I will divert the Jump Kins.”
“If you say so.”
They nodded to each other and began to mobilize.
Protection of Rashia was left to Yuzuha, while Shin and Wilhelm rushed to their targets.
Shin came closer to the enemies with a speed different from before. He drew his katana and kicked the ground to jump toward the two Jump Kins.
The Jump Kins were floating 2, 3 mels above the ground.
“Sish!”
Two lines of sword sparks drew an arc in the sky, and the Jump Kin stopped their movements the following second. Shin landed before the sounds of 2 raw foods falling to the earth resounded in the quiet plains.
Thus, with the strike from the back side of the 『Red Chidori』, the 2 monsters suffered a double abnormality state of faint and paralysis. Shin took out a large wrapping cloth from the Item Box, and quickly wrapped the Jump Kin. He returned to Rashia for her to deal the finishing blow.
Then, about a dozen seconds later, Wilhelm also faced off against the Rupt Raptors.
With no hands, it could be said that it was, without a doubt, a bipedal type dinosaur. Its body was about 2 mels and was half rotted, similar to the Bio Hounds, although its speed and strength were not comparable. It was clumsy, but it became a troublesome monster when it cooperated.
“Fyun!”
Wilhelm exchanged attacks with the front Rupt Raptor, while the other two Rupt Raptors together leaped upon the trap he set and were knocked down by Venom. The body of the Rupt Raptors were brittle. Hence, when a bone was broken, a vivid sound of internal organs exploding could be heard.
While confirming with a glance that it didn’t disappear from the damage he dealt, Wilhelm stood against the remaining Rupt Raptor. Whether or not it didn’t have a choice to escape, the last remaining one stared at Wilhelm.
“Going easy on something is so damn bothersome.”
Simultaneously with that phrase, the view of the Rupt Raptor turned black.
The Rupt Raptors had their heads caved in, with broken legs, and parts of their body had also collapsed while being tied by the rope. Wilhelm too, then returned to the place where Rashia was.
“Ii～ya～～～!!”
It goes without saying that a scream from Rashia was heard, from where the three people were gathered.
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While Shin’s party worked hard hunting undead in the middle of the Wraith Plains, dozens of mels from there, the sound of battle resounded from several figures inside a forest.
“Surround it! Aim at its core!”
“Give the injured potions for recovery! Priests and Mages use the light system arts!!”
“Attract the Jack’s attention! Don’t let it cooperate with the Pawns!!”
While the group of knights in full body shining armor let out a loud voice, they slashed at the Skull Faces. Behind the guard knights who handled a shield, there were a group of people wearing robes and priest cloths while firing dazzling light balls at the Skull Faces.
The black aura around the Pawn class Skull Faces vanished the moment it touched the light and it turned into mere bones. However, no one loosened up their guard in this place. Because the most formidable enemy still remained.
“Guu, its attack is too heavy.”
“Anyone who has strength left, go help! It won’t be possible to suppress it if the number of people standing decreases any further!!”
“Damn, what the hell is that!?”
Voices of half desperation resounded through the forest. Though there were dozens of knights with extensive fighting ability and they were hand-picked from the alliance countries, they hadn’t dealt any damage that could be said to be a fatal blow.
“No matter how much of a Jack class it is, we are supposed to endure here, but…”
The complaint that leaked unintentionally was drowned out by the sound of sword and shield clashing.
Normally, the battle should have ended a long time ago, but the Jack class Skull Face held a strange white shield, that repelled the vigorous attacks from the knight group. Many of the knights were injured by the damage taken from the counterattacks.
The skilled knight who commanded the battle, Berg, was also unable to decide whether they should attack the Skull Face which made unexpected movements.
It had an abnormal upper limit of expert class, quick sword techniques, in addition, the shield almost nullified the light attribute magic and magic system arts that should have been the weak point of any undead monster. Although the Skull Face was surrounded, attacking it unskillfully caused injury and the risk of being impatient was getting bigger.
(With the way things are going, it will not move anywhere. If only that shield didn’t exist, at least something could be done somehow…)
Since the battle had started, Berg had contemplated it a countless number of times. The existence that made the Skull Face a formidable enemy. High defensive ability and magic resistance. When he thought about it, the Skull Face’s movement hadn’t become slower, so it seemed that the shield wasn’t that heavy. He couldn’t help but to click his tongue, as if it was using some kind of irregular weapon in this battle.
(However, that doesn’t mean that no damage was dealt to the enemy either.)
Berg and the rest of the knights had their pride and had gained experience through numerous battles, thus they had techniques. By using every effort they had, little by little, they managed to deal some damage somehow. While ascertaining comrade and enemy conditions, they would eventually reach the road to victory. However, following the situation, Berg was getting ready to call for a withdraw when a silver flash ran into the knights’ view.
As the flash ran straight toward the Skull Face without stopping for a moment, he quietly stood still next to it.
――――Time stopped.
The battlefield which should have been filled with clamor, regained its former silence in an instant.
The real nature of the flash was silver hair that shined when hit by light. Because the owner of the hair ran too fast, it was seen only as a flash to the eyes of the knights.
Though the knights were slow and full of openings, no one felt danger from it. It was because they knew that the person with silver hair had never failed to give a decisive blow once so far.
The silver hair seemed very graceful with brilliant silver and transparent blue eyes. The expression showed a faint smile that possessed both motherhood and a mystique kind of work of art, too.
Pointed ears were visible when her hair was blown to the side by the wind, showing that her race was either elf or otherwise high elf.
Her clothes resembled waitress clothes, but they were not necessarily similar. If a person with modern knowledge was nearby, they would have guessed it was close to the maid cloth type called Victorian Maid. The apron was big, and the hem of the skirt was long. That was the uniform that the employees of Tsuki no Hokora wore. Was it made to fit her body? Or because she had a good figure originally? The clothes boosted her breasts to the bulging point, it was obvious that the eyes of several of the knights were focused on them.
Her attire itself brought about a calming atmosphere. The person who held a dagger in one hand, who gathered all of the attention in the battlefield to herself, was the sole High Elf of Tsuki no Hokora. The acting manager, and who conveyed the skills from ancient times.
That person was, Schnee Raizar.
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