Chapter Four: The World Is a Scary Place
Chapter Four: The World Is a Scary Place
“Southern Forest, here we come! Be extra careful, everyone!”
“Mm!”
“...!”
“Chirp chirp!”
“Growl!”
After taking care of our tasks on the farm, I set out on my first-ever gathering mission to the Southern Forest with my trusty companions. My goal was to get wood for Sakura and more nuts for making cookies, and maybe even find some new herbs while I was at it, if I was lucky. While the Southern Forest had a higher difficulty level than the Western one, that meant we would probably gain more XP and discover new items.
“I’ll leave the foraging to you, Rick!”
“Chirp!”
“Olto, Sakura—you two back me up, okay?”
“Mm!”
“...!”
“And you, Bear Bear. I’m counting on your strength, got it?”
Olto and Sakura clenched their fists in determination while Rick and Bear Bear jumped up and down excitedly. I was glad to have such reliable companions.
“Charge!” I yelled, entering the forest with gusto. The entrance was pretty much the same as the Western Forest, dotted with the same type of trees. However, true to its reputation, a Wild Dog suddenly appeared before us. This place wasn’t known for its difficulty for nothing. We encountered the creature so soon that Rick didn’t even have time to activate his Vigilance. We were caught completely off guard.
“Grrr,” the beast growled at us.
“Yikes!”
We hadn’t even gotten into formation yet! What now? Was it better to attack or retreat? Just then, Olto stepped in front of me.
“Mm!” He glanced back and gave me a thumbs-up as if to say, “Relax, and leave it to me.” Gosh, Olto! I swooned. You’re the man!
“A-All right, guys! Let’s bring this mutt down!”
“Growl growl!”
“...!”
Before I knew it, the fight was over.
“Huh? Were Wild Dogs always this weak?”
Now that I had Bear Bear, our party was a lot more stable. They made attacking much more efficient and also drew the enemy’s attention. Fighting had never been easier.
“Good job, Bear Bear! Keep up the good work!”
“Growl!”
After several battles, we emerged more confident and better coordinated. Unless we messed up big-time, it was highly unlikely that we would be in danger of a party wipe. Incidentally, due to our expedited fight time, we were able to gather items more efficiently. I hadn’t realized how much difference a strong team would make. As we were gathering weeds, nuts, and wood, I heard the familiar chime of a bell.
Ding-dong.
“Hey, it’s an announcement from the devs.”
It was probably the usual notice, sounding at noon on the dot. It was by now customary to receive some kind of notification almost every day regarding skill corrections or bug fixes and the like. I hadn’t bothered to read these notices up until now, as there had been very few corrections or updates that concerned me. However, it was probably a good idea to read today’s notice. While I didn’t care much for the announcement about the Martial Arts Tournament, the other notification seemed highly relevant, which read, “Regarding Changes and Updates to Selective Breeding.” Selective Breeding was a derivative ability you could learn once your Farming skill reached level 10. I hadn’t really looked into it as I had yet to reach that level, but I’d heard that it was a skill that allowed you to create new crop varieties by breeding different types of plants together.
“Let’s see... It’s no longer gonna be considered a skill, huh?”
Until now, Selective Breeding was considered to be a skill that derived from Farming. With the new changes the devs were rolling out, it would now be considered a type of agricultural art. In addition, minor adjustments were also being made to its specifications. Thus far, this was how Selective Breeding had worked:
Bury whatever items or crops you want to crossbreed next to each other on your farm.
Apply Selective Breeding to the aforementioned items.
Wait a few days for the skill to work its magic.
If you succeed, new crops will start sprouting, and if you fail, the items you buried will disappear.
With the new update, you would now be able to tell whether you had succeeded or not on the spot. If the crossbreeding was a success, you’d receive seeds for your new crops; if you failed, your items would turn into trash. The one trade-off was that the new crop variety would be slightly more difficult to grow. This process was far more user friendly—the previous version had been way too complicated. Anyway, the pros far outweighed the cons.
One of the biggest perks of this update was that your Farming skill level was now directly reflected in your Selective Breeding skill, which meant you no longer had to work on raising your Selective Breeding level independently. Additionally, the more you used Selective Breeding, the more XP you gained for your Farming skill, which made leveling up much easier. Last but not least, there were fewer barriers to experimenting with breeding combinations, now that you could learn the outcome immediately. I was sure tons of Farmers would be attempting to crossbreed all kinds of crops now. While I hadn’t learned the skill yet, I was about to level up pretty soon. Then it would be time to get cracking—I refused to fall behind!
“Right now, my priority’s the Southern Forest, though.”
As long as we didn’t stray far from the entrance, we were able to deal with consecutive battles without any difficulty. Once Rick and Bear Bear had reached a higher level, we could probably venture deeper into the forest. Our biggest yield so far was the heaping pile of nuts and mushrooms that we’d managed to gather, mainly thanks to Rick. Before I knew it, he’d brought us over twenty-odd items.
“Better roll up my sleeves.”
“Chirp?”
“You may have the upper hand at foraging, but you can’t beat me at gathering wood!”
I flitted from tree to tree with my ax, whacking every Logging node that caught my eye. I didn’t mind that most of the wood I got was brushwood, as this was mostly for Sakura’s benefit and leveling up my Logging skills. Every now and then, I came across other types of wood, such as Begini Walnut and Begini Beech, but unfortunately, they were of the lowest quality. Should I get a new ax? I wondered. Even if my skills leveled up, the quality of wood probably wouldn’t improve as long as I was still using a beginner’s ax. Thankfully, I was pretty used to felling trees by now and no longer needed to keep looking down to strike the Logging cursor.
“All I need now is a better ax.”
As I was mulling things over, I heard a loud splintering noise.
“Huh? What was that?”
I quickly scanned my surroundings in search of the source but saw nothing amiss. Where did that noise come from? Seeing my puzzled face, Olto gave my robe two sharp tugs.
“What’s up, Olto?”
“Mm-mm,” he murmured, pointing at my hands.
“What are you...? Huh?! No way!” I yelled, finally realizing what he was trying to tell me. There was a crack in my Logging ax, and the blade was partially chipped. Not only that, but its Durability had plummeted to zero as well, something that I’d been neglecting completely. I had apparently gotten carried away. Because I had so little experience with fighting, I’d never had to worry about the wear and tear of my equipment, and as a result, had never bothered checking my tools’ Durability. While I felt bad for breaking Sawyer’s gift, I was glad it hadn’t been something more valuable like my armor or weapon. I decided then and there to check my equipment more frequently from now on.
“Can’t do much with a busted ax. Guess I’ll call it a day...”
“Mmm.”
“I’d like to look for a new ax too. Wonder where I can get one.”
Upon returning to town, we headed to Lewin’s shop first, as I figured that’d be the most likely place to have an ax. Unfortunately, Lewin didn’t have any Logging axes that I could use, as they were all far too heavy for me.
“The only ax that might work for ya is this one,” he said, handing me a beginner’s ax.
“Hmm. I was hoping for something else, though.”
Although equipment for beginners had no restrictions and could be used by anyone, they also tended to be mediocre.
“If not this ax, your only other option is to make a new one. Ya could make it lighter by lessenin’ its damage per blow and forgoin’ other special abilities.”
“I see... It must cost a pretty penny, though, right?” I said dramatically.
“I ain’t playin’ along,” Lewin replied, frowning.
“Spoilsport,” I huffed. Not that I expected him to anyway.
“Hmph. An ax for you won’t require too many materials, so it won’t cost ya that much. Besides, you’ve been out gatherin’, haven’t ya? If ya bring me some items I can use, I can give ya a discount.”
Something he can use, eh? I rummaged through my inventory and handed Lewin a pile of items, such as water ores, copper ores, and Rock Ant shells and jaws. Green peach wood was apparently handy to have too. I tried giving him the iron ingot as well, but according to him, there was a possibility I wouldn’t be able to wield it due to its high rank. Oh well, better luck next time.
“Aight, I’ll give ya a call when it’s ready. What do ya wanna do with the leftover items?”
“Hmm, think I’ll sell them. I’d like a discount for any items sold.”
“Gotcha.”
I looked forward to seeing Lewin’s creation. Unfortunately, this also meant that I couldn’t get more wood until my ax was ready.
“Guess it’s back to the farming grind...”
Might as well obtain Selective Breeding today. Only have one more level to go. I made up my mind and headed home, spotting a familiar face outside my farm when I got there.
“Ah, there you are! Yoo-hoo, Yuto!”
“That you, Ashihana?”
Had she come to buy herbal tea already?
“That was quick.”
“Of course! Anything for tea!”
Herbs didn’t have any addictive properties, did they? I supposed they were safe, given that I was fine, but...
“Glad you like them. Leave some for Sawyer, though, okay?”
“Yes, but never mind that... What’s up with this pricing?!”
“Huh? Is it too expensive?”
They were essentially dried weeds, after all. Was 100 G too much for such an item? However, Ashihana seemed to think otherwise.
“It’s too cheap!”
“Really? But they’re made from weeds. Besides, they don’t have any effects either.”
“Still, 100 G is ridiculous.”
“You think so? Shall I up it to 150 G, then?”
“Oh, Yuto...” she sighed deeply. Even that was apparently still cheap. But this was simply a treat that had nothing to do with clearing the game. True, there might be a few people like Ashihana and Sawyer who wanted it, but surely it wouldn’t do to set the price too high?
“It’ll sell. I guarantee it!” she glared, inching closer to me.
“Okay, I get the message. Back off, will you?!”
“First things first: you ought to set prices as high as you can. You should also limit the number of purchases if possible, say, around three to five items per person. Otherwise, someone’s gonna buy out your entire stock,” Ashihana advised.
“Come on, you can’t be serious. I’m pretty much in the middle of nowhere. How many players actually pass through this area?” I scoffed.
“Word travels fast, you know? Don’t underestimate the power of networking,” Ashihana cautioned, her expression earnest—dead serious, evidently.
“Hmm. Okay, if you say so.”
Given that Ashihana was the main reason I’d decided to sell herbal tea blends in the first place, it seemed best to heed whatever advice she doled out. After tinkering with the settings of my stand, I was successful in setting a purchase limit. The stand was able to read the buyer’s information during checkout, which prohibited any one player from making purchases over the limit amount on the same day.
“All right. The most expensive one’s 500 G, and the rest are 400 G, minus the last one, which is 300 G.”
The cheapest tea only used two types of herbs, hence the price.
“Sounds about right.”
“Hey, why don’t you buy some before I raise the prices? I’ll change the settings once you’ve made your purchase.”
“No can do. I’m the one who insisted you raise your prices, so I’ve got to set an example!” Ashihana refused adamantly, arms crossed in a defiant X.
“But—”
“Absolutely not!”
That’s that, then. She seemed unlikely to budge. Once I’d given in and made the necessary changes via my settings, Ashihana bought one each of every tea blend, wanting to try out different flavors. She would’ve been better off buying them in bulk before I updated the shop’s settings, but she really seemed to have a strong sense of obligation—borderline stubborn, one might say. I suspected she wouldn’t even accept anything for free if offered. What to do...? Maybe if I had a valid reason...
“I’ll have to pay you a consulting fee, then.”
“Huh? A what?”
“A consulting fee. You gave me tons of advice, remember?”
“Knock it off. I don’t need any money.”
“Don’t be like that,” I chided her.
“But...”
“It’s fine. Besides, It’s not like I’m paying you in cash,” I said, sending Ashihana an item transfer request. The contents were—you guessed it—assorted tea leaves. She was my friend, after all.
“No, really...”
Despite her protests, Ashihana was unable to hide her grin. Heh heh, you say you don’t want it, but your expression seems to suggest otherwise, my dear... Ahem, definitely got carried away there. Something in her tsundere-like reaction seemed to have awoken the perverted old man in me. Still, what was a little teasing between friends?
“If you really don’t want it, then perhaps I’ll take it back.”
“Huh?”
“I’m gonna drink them now.”
“No, wait!”
“What is it?”
“Wh-Who said I didn’t want it?! I-If you’re willing to give it to me, I gladly accept!”
I had to fight back a grin; Ashihana reacted exactly as I had expected her to. I did my best not to let it show, maintaining an impassive face as I opened up my Trade screen once more.
“All right, here you go,” I said.
“Thanks.”
“I have some cookies too. Want some?”
“I can’t possibly accept those!”
“I don’t have enough ingredients to make them in bulk, though, so it’s unlikely they’ll ever make an appearance in my stall.”
“Is that so?”
I had a decent stock of edible grass, which could also be purchased at the Farming Guild. Unfortunately, sourcing honey and nuts was a bit of a problem. Nuts were sold at player-run stalls, and I could almost begin harvesting them on my farm or forage for them if necessary. However, I was having trouble obtaining honey in large quantities. Although products made with honey, such as honey dumplings, were available everywhere, there weren’t many shops in the Town of Beginnings that sold honey as an ingredient. Even at a general store like Alyssa’s, it was usually sold out. If I wanted to save some honey cookies for myself and my companions, there simply wouldn’t be enough left over to sell. While it was possible to make cookies without honey, there was no question they tasted infinitely better with it. To give her a better idea, I gave Ashihana a cookie made only from acorns to try.
“Hmm... It’s good, but...!” she mumbled with her mouth full.
“Not good enough, eh?”
“Unfortunately, no. I wouldn’t be willing to pay money for it.”
“I thought so.”
I explained to Ashihana how it was currently difficult to obtain honey in large quantities. As soon as I was done talking, I noticed a glint in her eye.
“You just need honey, right?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Got it! Hang on, I’m going to put a pause on my other projects and get cracking on that beehive, pronto!”
“Hey, no rush. It’s not that urgent.”
“Be back soon!”
Hold your horses, girl! I sighed as she waved at us enthusiastically, speeding off in a cloud of dust.
“...Guess I’ll be getting my beehive sooner than I thought.”
I felt like I’d rushed her without meaning to, but the truth was the truth. I hadn’t done anything wrong, had I? After Ashihana left, I decided to work on my Farming skills so I could pursue Selective Breeding. Two minutes into watering my crops though, I received a notification that I’d leveled up. It turned out that my XP gauge had been close to full already.
“So much for psyching myself up.”
On the bright side, that meant the skill was now mine!
“Heh heh heh. Finally, my time has come... Time to experiment!”
I’d already set my sights on what I wanted to grow: Cure Carrots, a type of hybridized crop that I’d seen before at a stall.
“The owner did say they made them with Selective Breeding.”
Even if the skill mechanics had changed with the update, the types of crops you could produce shouldn’t have been affected. A vegetable with healing properties seemed like it would be highly versatile, if I could grow it. If I made a salad with it, I could possibly create an item that recovered both HP and MP.
“For starters, I’ll need... Well, carrots, obviously.”
I pulled out a carrot from my inventory, to which I needed to add a healing effect. Would medicinal herbs do the trick? I had enough of both to experiment with, so may as well see; the proof of the pudding was in the eating.
“Let’s see... Yup, here we go.”
I placed both blue carrot and medicinal herb on the table and activated my agricultural art. An item selection screen popped up, prompting me to choose the two items in front of me.
“Select that and that, and...voilà! Selective Breeding!”
The next instant, light engulfed the carrot and medicinal herb, and the two began to swirl and merge together. Had it worked? ...No, of course not. As if I’d nail it on the first try. The light gradually turned black until smoke rose from the mixture with a small Poof! In the end, all I was left with was something resembling a lump of coal.
“So much for that.”
I should’ve known the sailing wouldn’t be that smooth from the get-go. Still, I might as well give up experimenting if I was going to let a minor mishap like that discourage me.
“Let’s try carrots and potions next.”
This attempt also ended in failure. I experimented with several more items that had healing properties, such as medicine and salve-making plants, but none of them bore fruitful results. Guess I’ll have to rely on the forums for this one, I finally conceded.
“The forum sure is active after the new update.”
The Selective Breeding thread was gaining a lot of traction. There, I discovered where I’d gone wrong. Much to my dismay, cure carrots could only be created by combining carrots with cure potions, an item sold at NPC shops in Zone Three.
“Dang it, that means I can’t actually make them now.”
I had wasted a bunch of precious ingredients, but at least I had fun. I decided to give up on making cure carrots and try out other combinations instead, using the various nuts and weeds I had in my arsenal. Unfortunately, this got me no closer to succeeding. After thirty attempts, all I had to show was a zero percent success rate and a pile of trash in my inventory. By some miracle, however, my final hit-or-miss attempt unexpectedly succeeded.
“N-No way. This combination...?”
Who would’ve expected spinach and weed water to yield any results? Once the ingredients had merged and the light had dissipated, I was left with an item labeled Unknown Seed. To be honest, I didn’t expect much from such a weird combination, but since it was my first successful attempt at Selective Breeding, I decided to take good care of it.
Now that I was on a roll, it was time for more experimenting, this time with cooking. By that, all I meant was checking on the blue acorns that I’d soaked overnight.
“Don’t look any different,” I said, taking the blue acorns out of the wooden pail they were in. My Appraisal results showed no changes either. My efforts hadn’t been in vain, though, as the cookies I made using these nuts had improved in quality by one star, just as I’d expected. To be honest, however, there wasn’t a marked difference in terms of taste. It could just be that my taste buds sucked, but the results were pretty much the same with other foods as well. What was important was the fact that soaking acorns had improved their quality, as it seemed like this could apply to other nuts too. For now, I would soak some blue acorns and walnuts in purified water and see what would happen tomorrow.
With that, I concluded my experiments for the time being. I still had a bit of time left until I had to log out; perhaps I would lend the others a hand with farming and then head out on another expedition. Or so I had planned, until I stepped outside the barn and was greeted by a sight that gave me pause.
“What is this?”
A strange, oval-shaped object sat in front of the barn. At first glance, it looked like a rugby ball, light-green in color and glowing with an enamel sheen. I had seen an object of this shape and size before.
“C-Could it be an egg?”
While the color was drastically different from the egg Bear Bear had hatched from, the shape was similar. I quickly assessed the object.
Tamed Monsters’ Egg
Parents: Olto, Sakura
“Holy cow! Olto and Sakura gave birth!”
In LJO, the story went something like this: while nurturing compatible monsters on the same ranch or home base, their magic sometimes fused together to create an egg. This was probably the devs’ way of making things kid-friendly. I remembered this fact clearly due to the lack of any sort of mating or reproductive behavior in the monsters. Olto and Sakura were both humanoid monsters that hailed from fairy-type races; in that regard, you could say they were highly compatible. Additionally, monsters could only breed once in their lifetime. That meant this would be Sakura and Olto’s first and last egg. To make up for that, Monster Breeding was apparently more effective than the Summoner-specific system, Monster Synthesis, although I still wasn’t clear on the details...
“Wonder what their child will look like?” I wondered dreamily. If it was a gnome, I could think about expanding my farm. If it was a tree nymph, it would stabilize my party even more during battles. In any case, it was a win-win scenario. There was also the possibility that it would be an entirely new species, although my money was on it being another humanoid monster.
“Can’t believe I don’t even get to watch it hatch.”
This was something I learned from the forums; apparently, no one had ever witnessed the moment an egg obtained from Monster Breeding hatched; one moment, there was an egg, the next, there was a new creature. During the beta test, several players had attempted to monitor their monsters for hours on end, but no eggs hatched while they were looking.
“Gotta get an incubator for this baby!”
Leaving the others in charge of the farm, I stowed the egg away in my inventory and rushed off to the Magical Beasts Guild.
“Welcome,” Barbara greeted me.
“So you’re in charge today,” I replied. I was in luck. For some reason, the guild was a lot busier than normal, with five other players present besides me. While that might not seem like a lot, I was usually the only visitor when I showed up, which meant there were six times more people than usual. Out of the five, four of them were women, which was a distinct characteristic of Tamers and Summoners. Most of the players had chosen this class for cute monsters, after all.
“Hey, that’s...”
I spotted a player carrying a familiar basket on their back. It was the same basket I’d borrowed when I accepted the trash-picking quest a while ago. Perhaps they were a beginner. Good luck, mate. You’re in for a tedious task. I silently cheered them on.
“What brings you here today?” Barbara inquired.
“Well, my monsters laid an egg.”
“How wonderful! Congratulations. Would you like an incubator then?”
“Yes, please. Could you show me the ones for personal use?”
“Before that, how about reporting a few quests as complete?”
“Huh?”
According to the list that Barbara showed me, I had two quests I could complete right then:
Special Quest
Requirement: Show Barbara an egg your tamed monsters laid.
Reward: 3,000 G
Time Limit: None
Special Quest
Requirement: Show Barbara an egg born from two unique monsters.
Reward: 30,000 G
Time Limit: None
Thirty-freaking-thousand?! Granted, it was a tough quest to complete. Not only did you have to acquire two unique monsters, but you also had to obtain an egg from them. As soon as I presented my egg to Barbara, she squealed excitedly.
“Oh, wow! What a marvelous egg!” she gushed.
“Y-You think so?”
I knew that she went gaga over rare monsters, but I didn’t know her love extended to eggs too. Whipping a magnifying glass out of nowhere, Barbara began to examine the egg in earnest. She seemed so engrossed in what she was doing that it didn’t feel right to disturb her. After five minutes, she finally appeared to calm down, returning the egg to me with a dazzling smile as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“Phew. It was a pleasure to encounter such a rare egg.”
So even eggs weren’t safe with her. Never underestimate a true monster enthusiast, I reminded myself. It had been extremely unsettling to see a gorgeous woman like her nuzzling against a huge egg. But hey, at least Rick and Bear Bear got to level up.
“Well, Yuto, you now have enough contribution points to raise your guild rank. Would you like to take on the rank-up quest?” Barbara offered.
“Like I said, I came here for an incubator. Would that have any effect on it?” I asked.
“Indeed, it does. Once your guild rank reaches rank 5, you’ll have more incubator options to choose from.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes.”
So that was why she suggested I fulfill those two quests before doing anything else. Talk about a considerate AI; she was more than just a mindless robot.
“Can you tell me more about the incubators?”
“Of course.”
Although I wasn’t able to purchase them yet, Barbara kindly offered to give me a rundown of the items. Once I hit rank 5, I’d have three more available options. Besides the regular incubator and growth accelerator that were currently available to me, I would also be able to purchase an ability-enhancing incubator, a battle skill incubator, and a crafting skill incubator. Memorizing all these names was going to be a chore.
“Man, they cost a fortune.”
They were all hella expensive too. All three incubators cost more than double the price of growth accelerators. Ability-enhancing incubators cost 15,000 G, while battle skill incubators and crafting skill incubators cost a whopping 20,000 G. Their effects were well worth the investment, though. Ability-enhancing incubators granted you an initial stat boost of +8 at random. Battle skill incubators gave you a +3 initial stat boost as well as a combat skill. Finally, as the name suggested, crafting skill incubators gave you a crafting skill in addition to the same stat boost as battle skill incubators. While skills were assigned at random, there was no worry of getting a complete trash skill that your soon-to-be-born monster couldn’t use.
“They’re a great deal, don’t you think?”
“Totally. These are infinitely better.”
I had one week to do something about my egg before it disappeared. If I raised my rank before that, I could use one of the new incubators. In order to complete the rank-up quest, I had to bring three monsters level 10 or higher to the guild. While Olto and Sakura fulfilled the requirements, Rick was still at level 7, and Bear Bear at level 6. It certainly wouldn’t take a whole week to get them to level 10—if anything, I could probably get it done today if I really pushed it.
“Time to get grinding!”
I surprised even myself with how quickly I kicked into high gear once I left the Magical Beasts Guild. Less than thirty minutes later, I set off with my companions to the Northern Plains for Rick and Bear Bear’s leveling marathon.
“Our opponents may be tough out there, but it’s the best place to earn XP. Let’s do our best!”
“Growl growl!”
“Chirp!”
At first, I considered going to the underground passage below the bridge, but ultimately decided against it since there were only Rock Ants there. I would run out of MP in no time if I was the only damage-dealer. We were better off fighting as a team in the fields where we could earn more XP.
“All right, Olto! Hold them right there! Bind them, Sakura!”
“Mm-mm!”
“...!”
“Bear Bear, Rick, finish ’em off!”
“Chirp!”
“Grooowl!”
“Aqua Ball!”
Bear Bear and the others defeated the Wild Dog that appeared, while my Aqua Ball put a Rock Ant at death’s door. We continued to hunt down monsters that way, using copious amounts of medicine and poison as we went.
“So far, so good!”
Though the going was still tough, fighting was much easier than I expected. Now that I thought about it, my stats had already surpassed the minimum threshold, and Sakura and Olto were more than well-equipped for battle. Plus, now that I had items to spare, there was no way our team would get knocked out straight away. Taming one more monster would most likely ease the strain on us, and I still had one available party slot left. However, doing so would lessen the amount of XP each member would receive. Therefore, I decided against acquiring any new monsters until Rick reached level 10, not to mention that failing to tame one would result in a waste of MP.
Since the enemies in the Northern Plains were more advanced than others, Rick and Bear Bear had already leveled up twice. The next time Rick leveled up, I’d be able to fulfill the rank-up quest’s requirements.
“Let’s keep the momentum going, guys!”
“Chirp!”
That being said, it was already evening. If we carried on like this, darkness would soon be upon us. During the night, monsters were stronger and appeared in larger numbers. Lower visibility also meant our chances of getting ambushed were greater. No matter how smoothly things were going at the moment, I wasn’t that full of myself to believe we’d be able to keep fighting after dark.
“Better start grinding someplace closer to town,” I muttered aloud. Just then, I heard the familiar Ding-dong! of a server-wide announcement.
“The raid boss of Zone Four, the Berserker Dog, has been defeated. New system features have been unlocked.”
Whoa, they’d defeated a raid boss already?! Though I’d heard rumors about raid bosses, I knew next to nothing about them since they were pretty much out of my scope.
“That means the urban areas in Zone Five have been unlocked.”
In LJO, towns were located in odd-numbered zones, while even-numbered areas only had rural villages with small stores and inns. A town as large as the one in Zone Five likely had a greater possibility of having new items and features. The forums were likely to be buzzing with activity for a while, with new information on how to defeat raid bosses popping up and more raid parties making attempts. Not that any of that was any of my business, of course!
“Well, it’s nice to have the game liven up.”
“Mm?”
“You’re right, now’s not the time to be idling about.”
The sun was starting to set. I had to return to the Town of Beginnings as soon as possible. Just as I was about to head in that direction, Rick began to fidget. He seemed strangely restless as he suddenly tugged on my hair.
“What’s up, Rick?” I asked him.
“Chirp chirp! Chirp!” he squeaked agitatedly.
“What’s wrong? Something over there?”
Rick moved his tiny paws frantically, gesturing to something in the distance. Though this area might be called the Northern Plains, it wasn’t just one big open field for miles to see. There were hills and depressions, as well as areas where bushes and shrubs were concentrated. From here, I couldn’t see what Rick was trying to tell me, due to the tall grass obstructing our view. Was there something I was missing? As I made a move towards whatever Rick was pointing at, he gave my lips a sharp tug, shaking his head furiously.
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
I had apparently misunderstood him. Was he telling me to run?
“Come on, what is i— No way!”
You blundering fool! After everything Rick had done to try and warn me!
“Screeeech!”
A thunderous roar echoed around us, adding to my already mounting anxiety.
“Run!” I yelled. An enormous Rock Ant, more than three times the size of a regular one, had emerged from the thicket. To make things even worse, it was accompanied by countless other normal-sized Rock Ants. I’d heard rumors about it, but I certainly hadn’t expected to encounter it at this stage!
“So that’s a predator!”
Predator monsters were bosses who wandered around the playing field. While there was supposed to be one creature per field, the chances of encountering them were fairly low since they roamed the vast area at random. However, they were extremely tough to beat, and there were even stories of a twelve-person team with an average level of 18 being annihilated by a Zone Two predator. They were far more powerful than field bosses, which made them an utter menace. The predator of the Northern Plains was the Large Rock Ant. At first glance, they simply resembled giant Rock Ants; therein lay the danger. Beginners who underestimated them all met a miserable death. What made this creature so terrifying was its immensely tough defenses, as well as its ability to summon regular Rock Ants and trap players. Messing with them would get you surrounded by ants in a flash, making it impossible to escape. Not wanting to deal with such a monster, I ran as fast as I could in order to put some distance between the Large Rock Ant and us.
“Run! Faster!”
“Mm-mm!”
“...!”
“Don’t fall behind, Bear Bear!”
“Growl growl!”
Although I’d suspected Bear Bear to be the slowest, they seemed to be doing just fine. Contrary to their appearance, Bear Bear was actually more agile than me. What was I saying? There was no way they’d fall behind.
“Guess that means I’m the slowest!”
“Chirp!”
“Yeah, I know! You don’t have to remind me!”
Rick, who was perched on my shoulder, slapped my head repeatedly. He was probably urging me to run faster since the predator was right behind us.
“Damn it!”
“Chirp chirp!”
“...Are we...okay now?” I gasped as we walked through the field five minutes later, hyperaware of our surroundings. We were practicing what we had learned from the forums, which was to keep our distance from predators even after shaking them off, as they were not stationary monsters.
“Everyone here?”
“Mm...”
“...”
“Growl...”
“Chirp!”
The others seemed beat, but Rick, who had been riding on my shoulder, was cheerful as ever. At least we were all together, though. Man, that was scary as hell! Just when I was finally getting used to regular battles too. Clearly, today was not my lucky day, encountering such a monstrosity like that.
“I didn’t bother checking which direction we were running in. Where are we anyway?”
“Chirp chirp!”
“What now, bud?”
“Chirp!”
“Come on, you’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Rick was panicking once again. Could it be that the Large Rock Ant was still after us? I was mistaken, however; a giant black dog the size of a bull suddenly jumped out from the bushes before us.
“Grrrr...”
Just like with the Shrub Worm battle, a translucent wall began to surround us.
“A boss wall? This must be a Savage Dog, then. J-Just my luck to run into a freaking field boss!”
I’d been so busy trying to get away from the predator that I didn’t realize I’d stepped into field boss territory. The fact that the scenery all looked pretty much the same didn’t help either! Though predators were also known as wandering bosses by players, they were classified the same way as unique and rare monsters. That was why I’d been able to outrun the Large Rock Ant. However, the creature standing before me was undoubtedly a field boss. There was no escaping from it.
“D-Damn it! Get ready to fight, everyone!”
Like it or not, our only option left was to face this beast head-on.
“Mm!”
“...!”
“Growl!”
My companions quickly got into formation at my command, no doubt battle hardened from our previous fights. Olto stood at the forefront as a tank, with Bear Bear and Sakura flanking his sides. Being our guerrilla attacker, Rick hid behind the others, waiting for an opportunity to launch an assault. I got into a magic-firing stance, protected on all sides by my tamed monsters.
“Rrrrr...!” the beast growled, its voice a low rumble that sounded as though it came from the depths of the earth. Its two red eyes glared at us with menace. Yikes! This was terrifying, even for a dog lover! However, there was no escaping from a boss. It was either fight and win, or die trying.
“Let’s stick to the usual, okay?!”
I was trying my hardest to remember what I’d read about Savage Dogs online. While I’d done preliminary research into the four areas adjacent to the Town of Beginnings, including the bosses of each field, I hadn’t really simulated a fight with a Savage Dog, since I’d planned on tackling the field boss of the Western Forest first. If I remembered correctly, chasing it was a bad idea due to its swiftness. It was better to lure it in with a tank and attack it with magic or a bow and arrow.
“Rooooar!”
“D’aah, here it comes! Olto, Sakura, keep it tied down! Bear Bear and Rick, you two follow me.”
“Chirp?”
“Growl?”
Although I didn’t want them to push themselves too hard, this was an opponent that demanded 110 percent of our efforts. While Olto and Sakura kept the dog at bay, I took out a hunter potion that I’d been saving up for emergencies and poured the contents over Rick and Bear Bear.
Name: Hunter Potion
Rarity: 2 / Quality: 6★
Effect: Grants weapons a minor poisoning effect and slight paralyzing effect for 16 minutes. (30-minute cooldown)
Status ailments worked even on field bosses, who didn’t have a very strong resistance to them. This was still Zone One, after all. Seeing as we weren’t heavy hitters, we had no choice but to rely on items like this if we wanted to defeat this bastard. This hunter potion was my last resort. Thank goodness I’d saved it until now instead of using it during regular grinding.
“Good luck! What matters isn’t how powerful your blows are, but how many hits you can get in.”
“Chirp!”
“Growl!”
Thus began our fierce battle. The Savage Dog’s main form of attack was to charge at us, or swing with its fangs and front paws. Since it was one of the earliest bosses, it didn’t have too many specialized moves. Still, it was incredibly fast, not to mention each blow dealt a significant amount of damage. Even Sakura and Olto, who were the toughest among us, had nearly twenty percent of their HP shaved off in a single blow. If it had been Rick or me, we’d probably be under fifty percent by then.
I aimed my Aqua Balls more carefully than usual, taking care not to attract the Savage Dog’s attention. After all, if I died, it’d be a full party wipe. At the very least, I had to make it out alive. If I had amazing reflexes and actually did martial arts in real life, I might be able to fight with my monsters on the frontlines and sock the boss one. While that had a nice ring to it, it definitely wasn’t happening! A total wimp like me couldn’t risk putting my life on the line.
Bear Bear and Rick followed my orders, focusing on getting in as many small jabs as possible rather than large, powerful blows, aiming for status-ailment damage. I prioritized healing my monsters with medicine instead of attacking, waiting for an opportunity. As long as I didn’t mess up the timing of healing my monsters, we could put up a decent fight, especially as there was only one enemy. However, a minor slipup was all it took to land us in hot water. Unused to concentrating on fighting for so long, I unwittingly made a mistake.
“Grarrr!”
“Whoa!”
I lurched forwards, having gotten annoyed at the monster for dodging my Aqua Ball. Crap, I’d gone too far! The Savage Dog sprang to its feet at once, sprinting across the field towards me, its black body a blur. It slammed into me with tremendous force, sending me flying into the air.
“Guh!”
I felt a great weight on my stomach and chest, and a floating sensation washed over me. Since this was a game, there was hardly any pain, but my breath caught in my throat, and the impact of the blow immobilized me momentarily.
“Grrr!”
The Savage Dog ran towards me again, ready to finish me off. This is it, I’m done for! I whimpered, bracing myself. To my surprise, however, the final blow never came.
“Mm-mm!”
“Grr?”
Just as I’d made peace with respawning, Olto jumped out in front of me to protect me, holding off the towering great beast’s fangs with nothing but a hoe. Krrrrk! A high-pitched sound like two swords clashing together rang throughout the air, and Olto and the canine came to a halt.
“Grrr!”
“Mm-mm!”
Olto and the dog had planted their feet into the ground and were trying to throw each other off. Both gnome and beast were locked in a glaring match, their faces within a hair’s breadth of one another. That’s some nerve you’ve got, Olto!
“Mmm! Mm-mm!”
“Grrrr...!”
Still engaged in a battle of strength with the Savage Dog, Olto turned just his head my way and mouthed something at me. He was probably telling me to make a run for it or heal myself while I had the chance. Damn, Olto! What a man!
“Brr...” I winced as I quickly downed a potion. Having done that, I hurriedly retreated to the rear, as pathetic as that sounded. Here I was, scuttling around like a cockroach while a child protected me—some picture that was. I vowed to be more careful from now on. After enduring several more close calls, an opportunity finally presented itself to us. The Savage Dog, who had been poisoned and was gradually diminishing in HP, had finally ceased moving, thanks to paralysis.
“All right! Now’s your chance, Sakura!”
“...♪”
Until now, the dog had been too swift for Sakura’s tree magic, but now, she could properly take aim at it.
“...!”
Sakura used a double Branch Binder attack, a move that suppressed her opponent’s movements with vines, successfully containing the Savage Dog. The vines wrapped themselves around the beast’s legs, neck, and tail, chaining its body to the ground. Thanks to the added effect of paralysis, the dog seemed unable to move an inch. All we had to do now was attack it relentlessly.
“Get ’em, guys!”
“Growl!”
“Chirp chirp!”
“...!”
“Mm!”
I continued to fire Aqua Ball after Aqua Ball, while Olto, who possessed no other means of attacking, slapped the dog with his tiny hands. Sakura’s whip, Bear Bear’s claws, and Rick’s incisors helped to whittle down the Savage Dog’s HP.
“G... Grrrrr!”
However, once its HP dropped to below ten percent, the Savage Dog became rabid and tore the vines off its body, breaking free of its bondage. Now that it was rabid, it could no longer be tied down or contained. A reddish-black aura surrounded the dog as it tossed its head back and bellowed at the sky.
“Roooaaarrr!”
Instantly, a shock wave emitted from its mouth swept across the field, flattening everything in its path. It was a Roar attack, a nasty type of AoE skill. Not only did it deal damage to opponents within its range, but it also had a slight chance of paralyzing them.
“Guh!”
I whizzed through the air, having received the full brunt of the shock wave. I immediately tried to get up and found myself unable to lift a finger. Crap! I’d been paralyzed! On top of that, I had evidently dealt a significant amount of damage with my last Aqua Ball, making myself the next target. I could only lie there as the large black creature charged at me.
“Grarrr!”
The Savage Dog lunged at me, baring its massive teeth. Unless I did something to defend myself, I’d be a goner for sure! Unfortunately, my whole body was paralyzed. Since I was lying on my stomach, I could still get a glimpse of what was going on. Sakura and Olto had apparently been paralyzed too. While Bear Bear was still able to move, they were too far away to help me. This really is the end! I despaired silently. The next moment, something unexpected happened.
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
“Grrr!”
Rick had pounced on the Savage Dog from the flank. That’s right—Rick’s red scarf was resistant to paralysis! On top of that, his attack was apparently considered an ambush, perhaps even a critical hit, and the Savage Dog’s life meter plummeted to zero.
“Grrrr...”
“Chirp chirp!”
Rick stood astride the gradually disintegrating Savage Dog, his tail standing on end as he let out a roar—or rather, squeak—of victory. You cutie pie! Well done! I wanted to say and hug him, but alas, I remained paralyzed.
Online Forum [New Discoveries Galore!] A Discussion Thread for New Discoveries Made in LJO, Part 4
Feel free to report anything you’ve noticed, however trivial.
Don’t make things up.
Don’t assume others are lying.
If possible, include a screenshot as proof.
552: Heartman
So, what you’re saying is, I should go to the Quick-Eared Cats if I wanna find out why people have started collecting trash all of a sudden.
553: Hiruma
That particular piece of info seems to be in hot demand, so I’m sure they’ll upload it to their forum soon.
If you don’t wanna fall behind, though, you’re gonna want to buy the info from them.
554: Fuka
Our party’s actually started weeding recently!
555: Heartman
I’ll pay the Quick-Eared Cats a visit later. I’m curious to know why so many people have been picking up trash and cleaning out the gutters lately.
556: Fuka
Yeah, you do that.
And now, it’s my turn! Believe it or not, I’ve discovered a new job!
557: Hiruma
Great to hear that. Primary or secondary?
558: Fuka
Secondary. It’s a Tamer-derived job called Dark Tamer.
Sounds pretty badass, dontcha think? It’s just hearsay, though, so I dunno the details.
If any of you have the deets on it, please share them!
559: Formaggio
You just gonna leave us hanging there?!
Actually, what kind of other class change options do Tamers have so far?
600: Hiruma
A normal class change would be Journeyman Tamer.
There are also several options depending on what kind of monsters you’ve tamed.
Those who’ve tamed more than three beast-type monsters have the option of becoming a Beast Tamer.
Taming reptiles will allow you to become a Scale Tamer, bugs an Insect Tamer, and birds a Bird Tamer.
At least, those are the ones I know of.
601: Hendrickson
>558
I heard a bit about it from a friend of a player who became a Dark Tamer.
Like other jobs, you can change classes once your Job level reaches 20.
Once you change your class to a Dark Tamer, you’ll only be able to tame ghosts, cadavers, demons, and evil spirit-type monsters. The monsters you previously tamed will also disappear unless they fall into one of those four categories.
Additionally, you’ll also unlock the negative scoring of your monsters’ favorability score.
602: Heartman
What do you mean by that?
603: Hendrickson
Apparently, if you abuse your monsters or ignore them for too long, they’ll start to hate you and refuse to listen to you. Worst-case scenario, they’ll turn against you and attack you.
Dark Tamers also unlock friendly fire, which enables them to sustain damage from their monsters.
604: Fuka
So there is a favorability score. Wasn’t expecting to discover that here...
What are the benefits of becoming a Dark Tamer, though? Doesn’t sound like there’s anything in it for you. Is it really a secondary job?
605: Hendrickson
For one, it gives you a huge overall stat boost.
You also get pretty powerful buffs for the four types of monsters you can tame.
606: Fuka
What’s the prerequisite for changing your class? Taming those four types of monsters?
607: Hendrickson
While I don’t know the lowdown of it, I have a pretty good hunch.
You most likely need to have a low favorability score.
The Dark Tamer in question was notorious for abusing their tamed monsters. Many Tamers witnessed them kicking and punching their first monster, which was a baby chick. Everyone hated their guts.
My money’s on your tamed monsters’ favorability score having something to do with it, seeing how you unlock negative scoring when you become a Dark Tamer.
608: Hiruma
Are there even any monsters Dark Tamers can tame at the moment?
609: Heartman
There are monsters known as Poor Zombies in Zone Three. To be honest, they don’t look very appealing, and they’ll most likely only be useful as tanks.
Highly doubt you could form a stable party with just those guys.
610: Hiruma
Let’s see... Dunno any demon-types.
Evil spirits... Nope.
Ghosts... Nada.
Cadavers... Only Poor Zombies.
That’s about it, right? Being a Dark Tamer is no joke.
611: Formaggio
Actually, I just read on the Magical Beasts thread that there’s been a sighting of a ghost.
612: Fuka
Ugh, no thanks, that’s too spooky for me. Where did they see it? I’ll make sure to avoid that area!
613: Formaggio
They aren’t clear on the details yet. There have apparently been several sightings across Zone One and Two, though.
Physical attacks won’t work on them, so you’ll have to defeat them with magic.
614: Fuka
All across Zone One and Two?! You’ve gotta be kidding me! I quit! Time to yeet myself outta here.
615: Hiruma
Come on, it’s vulnerable to magic, so there’s no need to freak out.
More importantly, there weren’t any ghosts until now, were there? Did they suddenly start spawning?
616: Heartman
That earlier announcement about the raid boss being defeated may have been a trigger.
They did mention something about unlocking new features.
617: Hendrickson
Good point.
Who knows what else might’ve been unlocked?
618: Fuka
Oh, I know!
I saw an unmanned stand in the Town of Beginnings. Never seen anything like it.
619: Heartman
Actually, I heard you can acquire honor system farm stands by raising your guild rank at the Farming Guild.
There are a few of them in Zone Three, although I’ve never heard of one in the Town of Beginnings.
620: Fuka
Well, whaddya know. Think we’ll also be able to buy herbal tea leaves in Zone Three, then?
621: Hiruma
Herbal tea, you say?
622: Fuka
Yep. They were selling them at the farm stand in the South District of the Town of Beginnings.
They’re a wee bit on the pricey side, but they taste amazing!
623: Hiruma
Never heard of that. You say they’re selling these in the Town of Beginnings? Not Zone Three?
624: Fuka
That’s right. Or rather, they were.
I bought one to sample, and when I went back for more, they were all gone.
625: Heartman
What kinda effects does it have? Any notable buffs?
626: Fuka
None whatsoever! Purely for enjoyment. They honestly taste incredible, though!
I can’t believe they sold out that quickly, despite the five-per-person daily limit...
Too bad! Should’ve bought more while I had the chance!
Whoever’s running that stand, hurry up and restock those tea leaves!
627: Hendrickson
Who knew a buffless item could be that popular?
Just how good is it? I’m curious now.
After all, there are loads of people who can’t stomach the taste of herbal tea in real life.
628: Heartman
I’m curious too. I’m in the Town of Beginnings now, so I might as well check out that stand.
629: Hiruma
I’ll look for it too.
630: Formaggio
South District, was it?
631: Fuka
N-No wait, I lied! It tasted horrible! So don’t bother searching for it!
632: Hendrickson
You can set up honor system farm stands on your farm, right? I remember there being an agricultural district just on the outskirts of the South District.
633: Heartman
Bingo
634: Hiruma
There you go.
635: Formaggio
I’ll look up the place immediately.
636: Hendrickson
Super tasty herbal tea, eh? Can’t wait to taste it.
637: Fuka
Waaah! Leave some for meee!
“I seriously thought we were done for, but...we did it, guys! Well done, especially you, Rick! You saved us!”
“Chirp.”
Rick squirmed on top of Olto’s head, scratching his head sheepishly as I praised him. If he were a human, he would probably be saying something along the lines of “Aw, shucks!”
Our hard-fought battle against the powerful opponent had resulted in a level-up not only for myself, but for my monsters. Both my base level and job level had now reached level 10, which meant that I could use my bonus points to obtain a wider variety of skills. I looked forward to weighing my options. With the increase in job level, I had also learned a special skill called Breeding Boost, which improved the chances of my tamed monsters laying eggs.
Name: Olto / Race: Gnome / Base Level: Lv. 11
Master: Yuto
HP: 35/35 / MP: 43/43
Strength: 8 / Endurance: 7 / Agility: 6
Dexterity: 13 / Intelligence: 14 / Sanity: 10
Skills: Arboriculture, Propagation, Luck, Bountiful Harvest, Heavy Bo Staff Skills, Earth Magic, Farming, Digging, Night Vision, Forced Cultivation EX
Equipment: Earth Spirit’s Hoe, Earth Spirit’s Scarf, Earth Spirit’s Garments
Name: Sakura / Race: Tree Nymph / Base Level: Lv. 13
Master: Yuto
HP: 42/42 / MP: 44/44
Strength: 10 / Endurance: 12 / Agility: 7
Dexterity: 8 / Intelligence: 12 / Sanity: 15
Skills: Arboriculture, Tree Magic, Photosynthesis, Gather, Regeneration, Endure, Whip Skills, Water Resistance, Charm, Woodworking, Forest Ranger
Equipment: Tree Nymph’s Whip, Tree Nymph’s Garments
Name: Rick / Race: Gray Squirrel / Base Level: Lv. 10
Master: Yuto
HP: 29/29 / MP: 23/23
Strength: 7 / Endurance: 9 / Agility: 18
Dexterity: 8 / Intelligence: 5 / Sanity: 8
Skills: Vigilance, Collect, Pruning, Jump, Climb, Cheek Pouch, Incisor Attack, Flee (New)
Equipment: Scarlet Bandana
Name: Bear Bear / Race: Honey Bear / Base Level: Lv. 9
Master: Yuto
HP: 45/45 / MP: 32/32
Strength: 15+3 / Endurance: 11 / Agility: 8
Dexterity: 10 / Intelligence: 6 / Sanity: 6
Skills: Cuteness, Gluttony, Smelling, Cultivation, Claw Attack, Climb, Poison Resistance, Sweet Scent, Beekeeping
Equipment: Dog Jacket+, Dog Shirt+, Dog Ascot Tie+
Out of my monsters, Rick was the only one who had obtained a new skill. Flee was a skill I possessed as well, which made it easier for me to escape from my enemies. Since Rick often went foraging alone, it would likely come in handy for him.
“Looks like I’ve used up all my healing items, though...”
To make things worse, all of us were down to fifty percent of our HP, not to mention our MP was about to run out. While we didn’t have to worry about being attacked by regular monsters in boss areas, the question was how we were going to get home. I wasn’t entirely sure if we’d be able to return to the Town of Beginnings without any means of recovery.
“What now?”
Night had already fallen upon us. The monsters in the area were now several levels stronger and greater in number compared to daytime. Was it possible for us to make it through the Northern Plains in our current state? Given the situation, it might actually be better to move on to Zone Two. I heard there was a safety zone right near the border; perhaps it would be best to head there, log out, and wait until morning. But what if I encountered the nocturnal monsters in Zone Two? How would we fare in our diminished state?
“It’s no use. I can’t decide.”
When in doubt, rely on the power of democracy!
“We’ll follow the majority vote! Those in favor of continuing?”
“Mm!”
“Chirp!”
“Growl!”
Everyone but Sakura raised their hand or paw. That settled things.
“Right then, let’s head to the safety zone in Zone Two.”
“...”
“Don’t look so worried, Sakura. It’ll be fine as long as we stick to running and don’t engage in any fights.”
“...”
Ten minutes later.
“Damn it! We were almost there!”
“Booooo.”
A herd of translucent, faintly glowing humanoid monsters was floating before us. Simply put, they were ghosts. By the time Rick warned me, we were already face to face with them. They appeared to be incredibly fast runners—or rather, fliers, since they didn’t have any legs. We tried to flee from them, but they caught up to us in no time flat.
“What the hell are these things?!”
While entering Zone Two hadn’t been part of my plan initially, that didn’t mean I hadn’t done my research. I’d been especially careful to read up on all the monsters in the area. However, none of the sources I’d read had mentioned anything about monsters that resembled ghosts or spirits. Obviously, there had been no information about actual ghost sightings either.
“Looks like they’re called Lesser Ghosts...”
Nope, never heard of them before.
“Whooooo.”
It seemed like fleeing the scene wasn’t an option. As if fast-moving ghosts weren’t bad enough already, they weren’t the only threat we had to worry about.
“Grrrr.”
Behind the ghosts were two adorable bear cubs growling at us menacingly. They were Little Bears, the same as Bear Bear’s parent monster. While they looked cute, they were a force to be reckoned with, their defenses higher than that of Wild Dogs. Together, the three ghosts and two cubs encircled us, blocking our way out. Emboldened by the idea of safety, I’d been too impatient and put us at risk. I should have planned our escape more carefully and asked Rick to be more vigilant on the way. Had I done so, we might have been able to avoid this double-whammy encounter with ghosts and Little Bears. Our only choice now was to fight and win.
“Places, everybody! There’s no way outta this. Olto, you block the bears. The rest of you, attack the Lesser Ghosts!”
I decided to attack first to take control of the situation. If we could get rid of the ghosts, our chances of surviving would improve. Or so I had hoped...
“Growl! Growl?”
“Chirp?”
Rick and Bear Bear, who had leapt at the ghosts in front of us, went right through them, unable to deal any damage. The same went for Sakura’s whip. Rats! Physical attacks didn’t work against them, only magic! While that was pretty orthodox for ghost-type monsters, I hadn’t been expecting to encounter them so early on in the game. I quickly began chanting the incantation for my Aqua Ball, preparing to fire back. As I did so, however, the ghosts concentrated their attacks on me, unfazed by my tamed monsters passing through their bodies. As the one chanting a magic spell, I was now the target of their enmity. Now would be the time to ask for Sakura and Olto’s help, but unfortunately, I couldn’t utter any commands until I had finished my incantation. My tamed monsters stepped in front of me, intending to shield me from the ghosts’ attacks. However...
“Mm-mm?”
“...?”
Being incorporeal entities, the ghosts passed through Olto and the others and swooped down upon me, crashing into my body. Surprisingly, the shock I braced myself for never came. All I felt was a momentary shiver run down my spine, and the next second, the ghosts had passed through me. Huh? Was this some kind of fumble on their part? Unfortunately, I soon realized that wasn’t the case, as my life meter had been reduced slightly. Apparently, their damage was very real, even if there wasn’t any impact. Crap, it was only a matter of time until my HP ran out if the ghosts continued to attack me like that! I started to fear there was a respawn in my near future, when...
“I’ll help you!” a girl yelled to me from behind, followed by an alert asking whether I wanted to accept her assistance. While players were usually restricted from taking other actions during spell incantations, this was the one exception. Pausing my chanting, I selected the Accept button.
“I-I accept!”
“Roger that! Circle Edge!”
As soon as the girl shouted her incantation, the swarm of ghosts around me disappeared.
“Huh?”
I was momentarily at a loss, as I hadn’t been expecting her to defeat the ghosts that easily.
“Never mind them. You should do something about those Little Bears, pronto!”
“Oh, right.”
I’d almost forgotten we were still mid-battle. Though the ghosts had been dealt with, I still had to take care of the Little Bears. Following the girl’s advice, I defeated the remaining monsters in short order.
“We’re...alive.”
I could hardly believe it.
“You were in a pretty pickle right there.” The girl whistled.
“Thanks.” I bowed deeply at my approaching savior, a lightly equipped girl with fiery-red bunches of hair on each side of her head. The long broadsword in her right hand looked incredibly out of place. I felt a rapier would’ve been a better choice for her appearance, although of course, this being a game, the type of weapon you could wield depended on your overall strength. Judging from her avatar, she looked like nothing more than a high school student.
“Don’t mention it. I’m sure you would have done the same for me. Besides, I’d always wanted to play the hero and help someone in distress.”
In LJO, players were able to intervene in battles under certain conditions, provided it wasn’t a special fight like a boss battle. While they weren’t able to join the other party, they could use their skills, arts, or items to assist them just once. Other than the fact that some pushy assholes demanded an extravagant show of gratitude for their help, there were really no disadvantages to being saved. If, say, you were deliberately reducing your HP to level up your healing magic, you could simply refuse the other person’s offer. Furthermore, accepting their help didn’t reduce the amount of XP or items you could gain either.
On the other hand, there weren’t many benefits for the person doing the helping. The only thing they could gain from assisting another player or party was five percent of their XP—items and money weren’t part of the package. In short, it was much easier and more beneficial to defeat monsters yourself. This was supposedly a measure to prevent low-level parties from depending on stronger parties for assistance. If you depended on high-ranking players to help you each time you fought, you’d be able to gain XP far too easily in the beginning areas. Intervening in a fight was considered a gesture of goodwill and nothing more.
“I’m Yuto, a Tamer. Thanks for saving my ass back there.”
“I’m Akari, a Sword Ranger.”
“Was that a type of sword art? It seemed to work against the Lesser Ghosts.”
“Oh, that was an effect of my sword, not an art. My Claymore of the Morning Mist has a water attribute.”
It was probably the same effect as what Lewin’s mace had. That meant you didn’t necessarily have to use magic against them; attribute damage was equally effective.
“What’re you going to do now, Yuto?” Akari asked.
“I was actually planning on heading to the safety zone. Didn’t think I could make it back to town at night as I’m all out of healing items.”
“Gotcha. In that case, want me to accompany you to the safety zone?”
“...You sure?”
“Of course. I was just about to head there myself.”
This must be a blessing from heaven! I’d been saved from the jaws of death by an angel.
“I’ll take you up on that, then.”
“Mm!”
“...♪”
“Chirp.”
“Growl!”
Olto and the others mimicked me and bowed as well. Akari squealed excitedly.
“E-Eek! That’s adorable, Yuto!”
My tamed monsters really were popular with the ladies. Akari’s face fell as she was immediately repelled by a harassment block upon trying to pat Olto on the head, but I was hesitant to send her a friend request just yet. I didn’t want her to think I was trying to leech off her or hit on her, so I decided to wait for her to make the first move.
“Shall we get going?”
“Y-Yeah. Let’s go.”
Ten minutes after Akari saved us, we arrived safely at the safety zone, which was indicated by a large tree with a protective shimenawa rope around it. We had already exchanged friend codes on the way; Akari couldn’t contain herself and simply had to pat my monsters. Seriously, you would think people like Ashihana and Akari would be more selective about their friends. Not that I minded, though, as I was happy to become acquainted with stronger players. I was just worried about potentially coming off as a playboy.
“Thanks a bunch. You’ve been a great help.”
“Not at all. I’m glad I got to cuddle with such cuties too!” Akari smiled, holding hands with Sakura. She looked truly content, beaming from ear to ear, Rick sitting on her shoulder.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Yuto.”
“Likewise, Akari. I’m not familiar with your job, though. Sword Ranger?”
I’d memorized all of the initial job classes, and Sword Ranger certainly wasn’t one of them. Was it some kind of rare job that only appeared at random? I was taken aback when Akari informed me that it was, in fact, a secondary job. Apparently, it was a job class you could switch to once your Ranger job level reached 20. No wonder she was so strong.
“Normally, you’d switch to a job called Journeyman Ranger, but Sword Ranger popped up as another option while I was working on raising my sword skills,” she explained. Did that mean there were other job options for Tamers too? I had to check out the forums later, although it’d be quite a while before I could change jobs, seeing as I was still at level 10. Sword Rangers were supposedly sword fighters equipped with Rangers’ search skills. The only drawback was that since they couldn’t wear heavy armor like regular sword fighters, they weren’t really made for fighting on the frontlines.
“I’m actually quite famous, you know? I’m the Ruby Red Explorer.”
“Huh? You mean, the one with the title?” I asked in disbelief. Akari nodded in reply, grinning.
“You guessed it.”
No way! So she was one of the three titleholders, just like me, the Silver-Haired Pioneer. I wasn’t sure if comrade was the right word, but it was my first time encountering another titleholder. Now that she mentioned it, she did have red hair. Just like I’d gotten my moniker from my silver mane, she, too, seemed to have gotten the title, Ruby Red Explorer, from her flaming-red hair. Akari puffed out her chest, looking smug. I almost forgot, but the other two titleholders had actual noteworthy achievements, unlike my humiliating title. Of course, she had every right to be proud. As I mulled things over, Akari stroked her chin, looking as though she were considering something important.
“A silver-haired Tamer with a gnome...” she murmured. I didn’t like where this was going... “Are you the Silver-Haired Pioneer?” Damn, that was quick!
“Wh-What made you think that?” I asked.
“Well, you’re exactly as the rumors said.”
“Oh yeah?”
Go figure. I guess my cover had long been blown since the incident with Mirei.
“Yeah! I’ve been dying to meet you!”
“Huh? Why?”
“What do you mean, why? There are only three of us secret titleholders. Of course, I’ve been curious to learn what the other two are like.”
I hadn’t been... After all, I was sure I’d just be made fun of. If my title hadn’t been such an ignoble one, I might’ve felt the same way as Akari. Then again, did she actually mean it when she said she was curious about me?
“So, you are the Silver-Haired Pioneer, right?”
“...Yeah, you got me.”
“I knew it! This is amazing!”
She seemed genuinely pleased, no signs of mockery. It looked like she really was happy to meet me. Seeing her smile lightened my mood as well.
“Heh heh.” Akari suddenly let out a different sort of chuckle as though remembering something.
“What’s up?”
“Oh, I was just thinking about how all three titleholders are solo players, that’s all.”
“Are you also friends with the Purple-Haired Adventurer then?”
“Yep. His name is Siegfried. He role-plays as a knight.”
Role-playing as a knight, you say? He sounded like quite a character. I was starting to get curious too.
“What’s he like?”
“Like his title suggests, he’s a purple-haired knight. Apparently, he only wears white or silver armor since he’s really into his role.”
“That kind of armor isn’t easy to come by, is it?”
“Not only that, but he also has a horse. I heard he used up all his bonus points from the beta test on it.”
“W-Wow, that’s some dedication,” I marveled as Akari rattled off various details about Siegfried. Was it really okay to be sharing all this personal information with me, though? Judging from Akari’s tone, however, I needn’t have worried.
“Sieg’s always playing the hero, and he always tells you his name when he leaves. He’s super famous in that regard. You can easily look up what I just told you in the forums.”
So, he was that type of player. As intriguing as he sounded, a white knight with a hero syndrome didn’t exactly strike me as the sort of person I wanted to become friends with.
“By the way, what are you doing after this, Yuto?” Akari asked.
“Me? I’m gonna log out, then return to town in the morning,” I replied.
“I see.”
However, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to return to town safely yet. Even if I recovered my HP and MP, I no longer had any healing items on me.
“Guess I’ll camp here for a bit while I look for medicinal herbs and stuff so I can create potions,” I added sheepishly.
“Don’t you have any on you?”
“I used them all up in the Savage Dog fight.”
“I see... I don’t have a lot either since I don’t really need them in this area.”
Although she’d already advanced to a secondary job class, I was still impressed that she was able to move freely in Zone Two as a solo player. Being a fighter was part of it—the rest probably had to do with her playing skills, which were far beyond my reckoning.
“Wish I could accompany you to town, but I haven’t accomplished my mission yet,” Akari said regretfully.
“What mission?”
Come to think of it, it was unusual for a player of Akari’s class to be in a place like this. Perhaps she was in the middle of a special quest or event of some sort.
“So, I’ve actually been farming the Savage Dog to get some materials for armor.”
“Farming? You gonna, like, create a full-body Savage Dog suit or something?”
Some equipment granted you special skills or bonuses if you acquired it as a set. Did she intend to deck herself out completely in Savage Dog gear? Boss materials had to be pretty difficult to obtain. If she wanted the whole shebang—helmet, body armor, footgear, shield, innerwear, and accessories—she’d most likely need to grind for hundreds of hours to obtain enough materials.
“No, nothing like that,” she answered. I had apparently guessed wrong. “I’m specifically after the Savage Dog Shin Guards. It’s a special type of footwear. I need four Savage Dog tails for it, a rare drop.”
“Four rare boss drops?” I repeated. That really was a challenge. Rare drops typically had a drop rate of less than ten percent; for bosses, it was probably even lower. Who knew how many hours she’d have to farm to acquire four of those?
“Exactly. I’ve managed to collect three so far, including one I bought from another player, but...I’m having a hard time obtaining the last one. I’ve already fought them about forty times too.”
“Forty? As a solo player?”
“Yep. Thanks to all that farming, I’ve gotten pretty good at fighting Savage Dogs.”
I bet.
“I’m impressed you can take on a Savage Dog on your own.”
“Oh, but it’s easy once you get the hang of it. It does speed up the more you reduce its HP, but its defenses also get lower. Sure, it’s pretty dangerous right after it unleashes its Roar Attack, but if you’re prepared for it, it’s a great opportunity. You can even potentially defeat it if you manage to deal a large blow while it’s gearing up for an attack,” Akari rattled off casually. Easy enough for you to say; I could never.
“Didn’t you defeat a Savage Dog too, Yuto? You don’t happen to have its tail, do you?”
I didn’t realize until she mentioned it, but I’d been so focused on getting to the safety zone in one piece that I hadn’t bothered to check my drops after the fight.
“Don’t hold your breath...”
I’d have to be hella lucky to get a rare drop on my first win.
“...Got one.”
Wait, seriously?
“What? You did?!” Akari cried in amazement.
“Y-Yeah.”
I was shocked too. I had to do a double take to make sure I hadn’t mistaken it for something else. Upon checking my inventory, I discovered that I’d obtained two Savage Dog pelts, Savage Dog fangs, Savage Dog claws, and finally, one Savage Dog tail.
“Um, any chance I could have that...?” Akari asked expectantly. Hmm, what to do now? I could potentially have a use for a rare-drop item.
“I’ll sweeten the deal, obviously!”
Well, she did save my life... Besides, I wanted to get home in one piece.
“Okay, I’ll sell this to you, so could you accompany me back to the Town of Beginnings?”
“You want me to be your bodyguard? Sure thing!”
“Really? You don’t mind?”
“Not at all! No biggie. I was starting to get tired of farming Savage Dogs all day.”
“I see.”
Awesome, that took care of my journey home.
“Is it okay if I log out first and come back at dawn?”
“I don’t mind, but is that time all right for you?”
“It’s totally fine! I’m on summer vacation now.”
Turned out she was a student after all.
“Think I’ll log out for now too.”
When I logged in again the following morning, my HP and MP had fully recovered.
“No worries about dying right off the bat now.”
Since I had arrived a bit earlier than our appointed time, it would likely be a while before Akari came online. As capable as she was, I’d still have to do my fair share of fighting, so I figured I would make some recovery items while I waited for her. At the moment, I only had enough ingredients to make two potions and one medicine, which didn’t exactly put me at ease. While I had Monster Heal as a means of recovery for my tamed monsters, allotting MP for that meant I would have fewer chances to use other magic, which was why I was keen on preparing some medicine.
“Wonder if there are any ingredients nearby?”
I used my Appraisal skill to scan the area I could observe from the safety zone for medicinal herbs and the like.
“Rick, Olto, Sakura, I’m gonna need you guys to gather some stuff too.”
“Chirp!”
“Mm!”
“...!”
My three companions saluted in acknowledgment and scattered outside of the safety zone.
“Don’t push it! Take care of yourselves!” I yelled after them.
“Mm-mm.”
“Chirp chirp.”
They seemed to be heeding my warning, so I supposed I needn’t worry too much. While they were at it, I decided to search the vicinity of the safety zone.
“Growl?”
“Oh, right... You stand guard, Bear Bear. If someone looks like they’re in trouble, go save them.”
“Growl!”
Bear Bear nodded sagely and drew themself up to their full height, then began craning their neck to observe their surroundings. Phew. That seemed to at least appease Bear Bear. Our search turned up a decent number of ingredients, but only one life sunflower, which meant I could only make one low-grade potion. I’d have to make do with the three salve-making plants I had found instead.
“First, let’s start with potions.”
I sat down on one of the thick tree roots of the safety zone’s giant tree and took out my concoction kit. The concocting itself wouldn’t be an issue since I had purified water with me.
“Mm-mm!”
“Chirp chirp!”
Having returned from item gathering, Olto and Rick were now playing tag with each other. Now that I thought about it, this was the first time we’d been away from town for so long. Was our farm okay? We’d made sure to water all our crops yesterday, but I was keen on getting back soon to see how they were faring. As I ground my ingredients to a paste, lost in my thoughts, the protective shimenawa rope tied around the tree glowed a faint purple.
“Whoa!”
I nearly dropped my bowl in shock, barely avoiding wasting the few precious ingredients I had managed to obtain for my single low-grade potion.
“Wh-What the hell’s going on?” I stuttered.
“Morning, Yuto.”
Once the light had subsided, I was greeted by the sight of Akari. Apparently, that light had been a signal that another player was about to log in. Come to think of it, this was the first time I’d seen another player log in up close.
“Have you been waiting long?” Akari asked, glancing at my concoction kit. Evidently, she had thought she had arrived late.
“Not at all, I just happened to log in early. Don’t worry about it.”
“Phew, glad to hear that.”
“Thanks for agreeing to accompany me today. Sorry for all the trouble.”
“Don’t mention it. You are selling me that tail, after all. Besides, I was planning on returning to the Town of Beginnings anyway to see a friend, so it’s no trouble at all.”
“That so?”
“If anything, I feel kinda bad that that’s all you’re asking of me.”
Guess that makes two of us.
“Are you in the middle of concocting something?”
“I was, but I’ll clean up now.”
“It’s okay. I’ll eat something while I wait.”
I’d fully intended to wrap things up before Akari arrived, but evidently I’d spent too much time on gathering. I decided to take her up on her offer and carry on with my task.
“Sorry. Thanks.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Better hurry up and get this over with. As I resumed grinding ingredients in my mortar, Akari began munching on some sort of dumpling that she took out of her inventory. It looked like a millet dumpling coated with brown sugar, something I had never seen before. According to my Appraisal skill, the item was called a portable dumpling. Was it a recipe derived from food rations? While it looked rather tasty at first glance, Akari’s expression told me that wasn’t the case. The way she grimaced, you’d think she was eating mud.
“Something the matter, Yuto?”
Oops. I had apparently been staring at her without realizing it. Here I was, a grown man ogling at a high school girl whilst she ate. Clearly, that wasn’t a good look.
“Uh, it’s just that I’ve never seen that food before!” I sputtered. Even I could tell how flustered I sounded. Crap, what would she think of me? Thankfully, however, my worries were unfounded, as Akari nodded satisfactorily.
“I almost forgot that this is your first time in Zone Two,” she said.
“Does that mean they’re available from here onwards?” I asked.
“Yep. You can easily buy them in Zone Three.”
So this was the kind of food you could get in the more advanced areas!
“Wow! How are they different from food rations?”
In response to my question, Akari offered me another portable dumpling from her inventory.
“...You’ll find out soon enough. Here, take it.”
“You sure?”
“Of course.” Akari smiled as she handed me the dumpling. I noticed a hint of mischievousness in her grin, which made me slightly wary considering her earlier reaction. It seemed rude to turn down her offer, though, so I took the portable dumpling from her and gingerly bit into it.
“...Gah! The heck is this?!”
The next instant, my expression contorted into a grimace, much like the one Akari had been wearing. While it wasn’t bad enough to spit it out, it was still pretty awful.
“Ha ha ha ha. Gotcha!” Akari cackled at my reaction.
“They taste exactly the same!” I gagged. The dumpling tasted exactly like basic rations, which were already essentially unsweetened energy bars with an extra kick of bitterness. I supposed it was slightly moister than food rations, though. The closest thing to it I could think of was a sata andagi, an Okinawan donut, devoid of all sweetness.
“People say they’re still better than food rations since they’re not as dry and crumbly. They also recover your hunger status by five percent more, so I prefer to eat these instead.”
“Do you make them yourself?”
“I buy them from NPC shops. I heard that you can buy the recipe for them in Zone Three, though.”
“I’m amazed you can eat this stuff.”
“Really? They taste slightly better than food rations, though, don’t they?”
It was true that while they were both disgusting, the portable dumpling was slightly more palatable than food rations. Still, I could scarcely call it delicious.
“Leaves a nasty taste in your mouth.”
Due to the game’s unnecessary realism, the bitterness still lingered on my tongue.
“This calls for a palate cleanser.”
I took out some herbal tea leaves, added them to some water in a pot, and brought them to a boil. The tea would likely be ready by the time my potion was complete. In the meantime, I nibbled on a cookie to get rid of the bitter taste in my mouth, letting the sweetness coat my tongue thoroughly. That reminded me—I had to feed my monsters too. I took out each monster’s food from my inventory and handed each of them their share. Sakura alone sipped on some water as she basked in the sun, not needing any food due to her Photosynthesis. Akari gazed at Rick and me curiously as we munched on our cookies.
“What’s up?”
“What are you eating?”
Wait, did she not know? Herbal tea I could understand, but surely cookies weren’t hard to obtain? As an experiment, I tried offering her a cookie and some freshly brewed tea.
“Consider these thanks for the portable dumpling.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. They barely cost a thing anyway.”
“Well, if you insist,” Akari said, hesitating as she took the cookie from me. She was probably imagining something similar to food rations. Perhaps she thought I was trying to get back at her with an equally disgusting food item. The minute she bit into the cookie, her eyes widened in surprise. She then stared at the half-eaten cookie before putting the rest into her mouth, nodding a few times. After that, she took a sip of herbal tea, and her eyes flew open once again. It was fun to see her expression change so dramatically. Actually, it was interesting to see how everyone reacted whenever I gave them cookies and herbal tea; it made sharing them all the more worthwhile.
“Y-Yuto! Can I get these in the Town of Beginnings?”
“I made them myself.”
“You did? Really?”
“The cookies aren’t hard to make as long as you have Cooking skills.”
Didn’t Akari know about these cookies either? I hadn’t expected a frontliner like her to not know about them. That just showed how unpopular Cooking skills were. Come to think of it, not many players did choose to obtain Cooking with how easy it was to obtain rations otherwise, not to mention the fact that the skill hadn’t yielded any notable results during the beta test. Most people considered obtaining magic or combat skills a far better use of their bonus points than spending them on learning Cooking.
“I’m sure more players will acquire the skill once the game progresses and they have more bonus points to spare,” Akari said thoughtfully.
“Not for now, though.”
“No, I guess not. But I’m surprised by how good these taste. Maybe I’ll obtain Cooking too.”
“The only ingredients you’ll need are edible grass, honey, and nuts, so I’m sure you’ll be able to get them easily.”
“That’s it? And yet, they taste this good?”
Akari seemed utterly amazed. Perhaps this was my cue to preach the benefits of Cooking skills. Not that I necessarily wanted to proselytize—I simply didn’t want it to be seen as some sort of trash skill. Besides, if more people realized the perks of Cooking, more players might choose to acquire it. If that happened, there might be greater opportunities to discover new recipes or food items. I, for one, was keen for that to happen; the more chefs, the more kinds of delicious food. Time for a little push. I decided to let her try something else besides cookies.
“Hey, wanna try something else?” I offered.
“Huh? Seriously? I’d love to!” Akari gushed. That being said, the only foods I could make in Auto Mode without messing up were salads, grilled skewers, and soups.
“All right, I’ll make a soup with purified water, pumpkin, and carrots.”
“A soup, eh?”
“I’ll throw in some grilled skewers too.”
As the name implied, I needed some skewers, so I handed Sakura some wood to make them. Skewers were apparently easy to make, even if your Woodworking skill was at the lowest level. For meat, I chose to use rat meat that I’d gotten from a monster drop. Rat meat could occasionally be obtained from Fanged Rats and Gray Squirrels, although I found it weird that squirrels were considered “rats.”
Name: Vegetable Soup
Rarity: 1 / Quality: 4★
Effect: Recovers hunger status by 23% and HP by 3%.
Name: Rat Skewer
Rarity: 1 / Quality: 3★
Effect: Recovers hunger status by 12%.
The effects were nothing to boast about, but what mattered was the taste. I bit into one of the skewers, feeling my teeth engage in a tug-of-war chew with the stringy chewiness of the meat.
“Hmm, not bad, I guess.”
To be honest, with food rations being the standard, anything tasted better in comparison. In actuality, the skewers were like dry, overcooked chicken tenders, and the soup tasted like a plain, almost bland vegetable broth. You could say it tasted mildly comforting if you were trying to be nice about it. Had this been a bad idea? I highly doubted I’d be able to promote the perks of Cooking with these dishes. Or so I thought...
“This is awesome!” Akari exclaimed as she ate up the food I prepared with gusto. These dishes were apparently a treat if all you were accustomed to was basic rations.
“Glad to hear that.”
“I never knew food in this game could taste this good!”
“Anyone can make them as long as they have Cooking skills.”
“I can?! I’m definitely learning Cooking, then!”
It looked like I’d succeeded in recruiting a new member into the Cooking gang.
“Town of Beginnings! I have returned!” I announced grandly upon our safe arrival back in town, three hours later. Despite my fears of respawning along the way, we had made it back in one piece.
“We made it safely...I guess.”
Akari seemed to have mixed feelings about the situation. She wasn’t cringing at my Anavel Gato impression...was she? No, she was probably disappointed because she scarcely had anything to do on our return journey. For better or for worse, the only monsters we encountered on the way were ones my tamed monsters and I could have dealt with ourselves. Because it was morning, we didn’t even run into any Lesser Ghosts. The truth was, I hadn’t needed her to protect me at all. That seemed to be weighing on Akari’s conscience.
“Hey, you did save us a few times! Remember how you wiped out those Wild Dogs by yourself? That was badass!”
“But you didn’t need me, did you? You could’ve won that fight without my help.”
“No, not necessarily.”
“Really?”
It was true that Akari’s presence had made the fighting much easier. Knowing that she had my back had let me attack with more force than usual, which meant that I defeated my opponents at a faster pace and sustained less damage. Even after hearing that explanation, though, Akari still looked unconvinced, as though she was not certain that the little work she had done gave her the right to accept my rare boss drop. According to her, she was just grateful that I wasn’t trying to rip her off, even though I could have easily overcharged her if I wanted to.
We had already settled on a price: 6,500 G. That was by far one of the most expensive items that could be obtained in Zone One. However, if she were to buy the same item from other players or shops, chances were she’d be charged over 20,000 G, and the price had been going up ever since the Quick-Eared Cats started selling the recipe for Savage Dog Shin Guards. Once the group had released the details officially it would only shoot up higher.
“It’s fine if you can get them but they’re usually out of stock,” Akari sighed. It would only become harder to obtain the drops from here on out. “I’m betting you that within the next few days this place is going to be teeming with folks grinding for Savage Dogs.”
Aside from being lightweight and strong in defense, Savage Dog shin guards also boosted your Attack and Agility stats, as well as reduced the amount of damage you sustained. That description alone was already impressive. Their stats put them pretty high up on any melee fighter’s wish list.
“Savage Dog tails are a compound ingredient that can be used for other types of armor too. That’s what makes them so highly sought after.”
“Compound ingredient?”
“They’re materials that, when added to the armor-making process, give bonuses to normal armor.”
Akari broke it down for me: the Wild Dog Shirt I was wearing, for example, was made from four Wild Dog pelts and one ore-type material. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t be able to add any other materials to the mix. However, items called compound ingredients could be added during weapon- and armor-making processes even if they weren’t included in the recipe. In the case of Savage Dog tails, you could expect a boost in Attack for weapons and a boost in Agility for armor. No wonder most people wanted them. I didn’t see much use for them myself, however, since they apparently made things quite heavy.
“Lots of people want to use them for crafting, even if they don’t intend on making shin guards,” Akari explained.
“So that’s why the price has skyrocketed.”
“Exactly. So you see, 6,500 G is actually a steal.”
“But that’s still nearly twice as much as if you sold it to an NPC shop, right?”
“The lowest going rate if you sell it to other players is 8,000 G, though.”
That being said, I’d already kept her tied up for a while, not to mention she’d given me the bigger share of the items and monster drops we obtained on the way home. Honestly speaking, I felt bad. It wasn’t as if I stood to lose anything by giving away the Savage Dog tail anyway.
“Never mind that. After all, I insisted.”
“Hrm, if you say so.”
We completed our exchange once we arrived at the entrance to town, me handing over the Savage Dog tail and Akari the 6,500 G payment. She then got her fill of petting my tamed monsters before setting off to see her friend.
“Hope to see you again sometime.”
“Yeah. Thanks for everything,” I said, extending my hand.
“Likewise! Between the tail and playing with your monsters I couldn’t ask for more!” Akari replied, grasping my hand and shaking it enthusiastically. “See you again, everyone!” she waved, turning back to glance at us every now and then as she departed.
“Let’s get going too, shall we?”
“Mmm.”
“...”
“What’s up? Do you miss her?”
“Chirp chirp.”
“Growl.”
Saying goodbye to Akari seemed to have dealt a blow to Bear Bear and the others. Perhaps encounters like this helped my monsters mature and develop more complex personalities over time. Like they say, it’s important to treasure every meeting.