Chapter Six: New Companions
Chapter Six: New Companions
Today was my ninth day in-game, although it was only the afternoon of day three in real life.
Thanks to Olto, our farm was doing great. My plan to earn money and XP by making and selling potions had taken off, and I had further expanded our farm. I had also purchased an additional mushroom log, so I could obtain more red panther caps.
The day before, I had managed to complete several delivery quests, raising my Magical Beasts Guild and Farming Guild ranks to rank 4, although my Adventurers’ Guild rank was still at rank 2.
“Seriously, am I just a craftsperson now...?”
Whatever. Today, I was ready to start making some real progress. I had made plenty of Instant Killers and low-grade potions in preparation, as well as medicine. I also planned on using my bonus points to learn some new skills. For starters, I wanted a magic skill and a reconnaissance skill. Olto was going to tank for me and fight using magic and the various potions I made. Ideally, I wanted to try taming new monsters, too, although that all depended on the effectiveness of my battle plans.
First, I wanted to tame a monster that could be my frontliner. After all, I had to be able to fight properly if I was to make any progress. My ideal monster was a strong fighter-type; I needed a real heavy hitter to help balance my party. At the very least, it would probably stop me from losing so pathetically in the beginner areas.
I walked towards the South District where our farm was located, mulling over various strategies, when something made me stop dead in my tracks.
“Huh?”
What the heck was that? I blinked, rubbing my eyes. There were two enormous trees growing on our farm. That was my farm, right?
I knew that one of them was my green peach tree, which had been growing steadily each day. It was already about five meters tall and had bloomed just the day before. I was hoping I could harvest some of its fruit today.
What was the other tree, though? I’d thought that was where I’d planted the Lakeside Sequoia sapling, but it’d been scarcely a meter tall until yesterday. Now, it was roughly three meters in height. Wasn’t it growing way too fast?
“N-Never mind that. Better go check on it!” I sputtered, dashing to the farm.
“Olto—wait, who are you?”
“Mm-mm!”
“...!”
Next to Olto was a pretty girl with long, pink hair, whose delicate features and pointy ears reminded me of an elf. She was wearing a cute and tight-fitting fairy-esque top paired with a yellow miniskirt and white thigh-high socks. Numerous decorative plants adorned her green outfit, which lent her an ethereal air and perfectly complemented her cherry blossom-pink hair. She was about 140 centimeters by my reckoning, slightly shorter than myself, and looked around twelve to thirteen years old. She could pass as Olto’s older sister...
Was she an NPC? Other players couldn’t enter your personal property without permission, but I’d heard that certain NPCs could.
“Her marker’s blue, though.”
Blue meant she was either a player or a magical creature belonging to a player. Red markers were for enemies, while yellow markers were for regular NPCs. White indicated event-related stuff, and green was for collectible items.
“Um...”
“...!”
As I was trying to figure out what to do next, the pink-haired girl got down on one knee and knelt in front of me, hand on her chest and head bowed deferentially in an obvious show of respect.
“Huh? What?”
“Mm-mm!” Olto hurried to my side as I gazed at the girl in bewilderment.
“Wh-What’s going on here, Olto?”
“Mmm.”
I hadn’t seen him mime like this in a while. What was he trying to say? I could see him drawing some sort of box in front of his face, then pretending to press something. It looked like he was pushing buttons on a large touch screen...
“Oh! You want me to pull up my status menu?”
“Mm!”
Bingo. Upon opening my status window, I noticed something different.
“There’s a new name under my Tamed Monsters section. Uh, Sakura?” I muttered.
“...♪” The girl raised her head and smiled at me. It looked like that was her, all right. Like Olto, she didn’t appear to be capable of talking. However, she was evidently one of my monsters, as she seemed delighted that I had called her name.
But why? I hadn’t the faintest idea how or why she’d appeared; I hadn’t even attempted to tame her. Could there be instances where monsters were already tamed beforehand? I guessed I was staring at one, but...
“...!”
Sakura gently tugged the hem of my robe, trying to get my attention.
“What’s up? You want me to come with you?”
“...!” She nodded. Looked like I’d guessed right.
“...♪”
Sakura led me to the Lakeside Sequoia, which had seemingly transformed from a sapling to a full-grown tree overnight. She then placed her hand on the tree and vanished from my sight as though having teleported.
“Huh?”
As I was trying to take in what had just happened, Sakura’s face popped out of the tree.
“Whoa!” I yelped.
A girl’s head protruding from a tree trunk—what is this, some kinda horror movie?!
Whilst I was reeling from the shock, Sakura emerged from the tree as though it was nothing.
“...!”
Okay, I get it now. She was most likely the Lakeside Sequoia personified. On top of that, she came with a preset name, which meant she was a unique specimen. Was she an ultra-rare monster?
Name: Sakura / Race: Tree Nymph / Base Level: Lv. 10
Master: Yuto
HP: 36/36 / MP: 38/38
Strength: 10 / Endurance: 12 / Agility: 7
Dexterity: 5 / Intelligence: 10 / Sanity: 14
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
“D-Dang, girl!”
Her stats were well-balanced, and she possessed an interesting skill set, not to mention she was equipped to do farming as well. These stats were even perfect for a frontliner. Although using a cute girl as a shield seemed rather discourteous, she was just the type of monster I had been looking for. I’d be a wimp no more! I had been debating whether to obtain a weapon skill besides wand magic or not, but that settled it; magic skills it was. That was how it ought to be—monsters in front, Tamers in the back.
“Okay, so we’re definitely learning magic. Question is, what kind? Olto already has earth magic. He can’t use it to fight, but it’s better to mix it up a bit, right?”
“Mm?”
“Hmm. How about water? Sounds like it’d be useful for farming,” I muttered to myself. Olto and Sakura nodded enthusiastically.
“You guys agree?”
“Mm.”
“...♪”
“Then water magic it is. I’ll need eight points for that. Oh, and another four points for Presence Detection. Wouldn’t wanna be snuck up on and attacked out of the blue.”
All set now! I finally had some skills I could use in battle, plus a new fighter to boot!
“All right. Think I’ll explore the outside of town once I’m done with my daily harvest and concoctions. Been eight days since I last attempted a trip.”
My tree had borne fruit, and I successfully harvested green peaches for the first time. I decided to set those aside and use the rest of my crops for concocting.
Before that, however, I had to see if my team was fit for battle. I had messed up big-time on the first day because I had failed to prepare. I needed to test my new skills and Sakura’s abilities, as well as Olto’s aptitude for fighting. That was actually a huge concern of mine. Even though Olto was a farmer-type monster, it would take ages for him to level up if all he did was farming. Ideally, I wanted him to gain some XP from fighting, too, but that would be impossible if he died early on in battles. I had to figure out if he could act as a tank or decoy, or if it was best for him to hang back while Sakura and I fought.
“Okay, let’s go deliver some goods before we go!”
“Mmm!”
“...!”
After delivering a few items to the guild, we finally exited town, and engaged in a few battles. Although I’d been worried at first, things were going better than I thought.
“Good job, Sakura! Hold ’em right there!” I shouted.
“...!”
“Aqua Ball!”
“Squeak!”
Miraculously, we were putting up a good fight, although I owed it all to Sakura. Her ability allowed her to create vines, which she used like whips to fight with. While that alone made her pretty powerful, her tree magic also made her excellent at binding and dealing status ailments. To top things off, she had a high defense, and a Regeneration skill for recovering HP, which practically made her an impenetrable fortress.
Sakura held my opponent in place while I attacked with water and wand magic, which won us most battles. My Aqua Ball was almost enough on its own to bring down a Gray Squirrel or Fanged Rat as long as I got a clean hit. Things would probably be different if we had to deal with several opponents at once, but at the moment, I was using my Presence Detection skill to single out lone monsters. I figured we’d be fine as long as we didn’t get ambushed.
Olto was doing a decent job at tanking. His defense was pretty high despite not possessing any means of attacking, which made him pretty reliable. Thanks to my two frontliners, I could focus on using magic.
“Chirp...”
“We did it!”
“Mm-mm!”
“...!”
The Aqua Ball I unleashed depleted the Gray Squirrel’s health meter, and the creature turned into light particles and vanished. One convenient aspect about LJO was that there was no need to strip monsters of their loot after defeating them; the item drops were automatically stored in your inventory.
“That’s ten already. That should do it for Sakura’s and Olto’s abilities.”
Next was my turn. I needed to test how well I could fight on my own, although I fully intended on asking Olto and Sakura for help if I found myself in a tight spot.
“Found one,” I muttered, spotting a lone Gray Squirrel in front of me. While extremely adorable, looks could be deceiving. I, for one, knew that it was a vicious little monster who could easily drive me to the brink of death.
I nervously tightened my grip on my staff. Now that I thought about it, this was the first time I was facing a monster on my own instead of running away...
No, there was no need to be fearful. My opponent was one of the weakest creatures in the game, and I had a weapon and magic to back me up.
“Mm-mm!”
“...!”
Olto and Sakura were cheering me on as well.
“All right, I think I got this!”
Time to say goodbye to being a runaway coward! I launched an Aqua Ball and attacked first, determined to win.
“Take this, you little pest!”
A sphere of water roughly thirty centimeters in diameter shot out from the tip of my staff and hit the Gray Squirrel, catching it off guard.
“Chirp!”
The squirrel’s HP was reduced by half. The distance seemed to have lessened the ball’s impact, but no matter—I had gotten the first hit. I’ll close in on it and use a melee attack next, I decided, rushing towards the creature and swinging down my staff hard.
“Hiyah!”
Whoosh! I had missed.
“Grr. One more time!”
My staff swished through the air once more.
“It’s too small, damn it!”
Not only was it fast, but it was also tiny. I didn’t feel like I was going to hit it anytime soon.
“Chirp!”
“Damn it! Why you—”
“Chirp chirp!”
As I swung my staff about frantically, the Gray Squirrel charged at me, and we both took about ten percent of our HP’s worth of damage. I could tell that Sakura and Olto were watching from the sidelines with bated breath.
“Grr. Not bad, Sandy-Cheeks.”
“Chirp chirp.”
“D’ah!”
“Chirp!”
All right! It looked like I could hit it if we attacked each other at the same time. Even so, there was still only a fifty-fifty chance that I could get in a clean strike, but whatever. When my HP was about seventy percent depleted, I played my trump card.
“Cure!”
Mwa ha ha. My health was fully restored now, and there was plenty more where that came from. My opponent, on the other hand, only had about ten percent of its HP left.
“Who’s winning now, eh?” I snarked.
“Chirp chirp... Chirp!” the squirrel squealed in terror. I lunged at it, cackling evilly.
“Muda muda!” I taunted. It’s useless!
“Chirp...”
With a final strike I depleted the last of the squirrel’s HP, and it vanished into light particles, its pitiful cries echoing in the air.
“I did it!”
I won a battle all on my own! Say what you want, but it was still my first ever solo victory! So what if I had seemed more like the bad guy?
“Okay, the next one’s gonna be our last battle for the day. I’m counting on you two.”
“Mm-mm!”
“...!”
Sakura and Olto both saluted me in reply. They really were adorable—though, where exactly did they learn to do that? AI monsters were a mystery. Once the medicine’s cooldown had ended, I took out an item from my inventory that I had been saving for special occasions.
“Ta-da-da-da-da-daaah. Behold, incense!”
Olto and Sakura cocked their heads curiously. They’d had no trouble understanding other references, but it seemed like they didn’t get this one, a scene where a famous cat robot takes useful gadgets out of his pocket. Why not, though? Did I do a lousy job at reenacting it?
Ha ha, as if. That was my go-to act at end-of-the-year drinking parties, and it always got a chuckle out of everyone. Of course, it was good...right?
“...Enough. The more you think about it, the worse the damage. Whatever. Anyway, back to the incense!”
The artifact I held in my hand was a handy-dandy item that had a one hundred percent chance of attracting unique specimens. To be honest, I had wanted to use it on better monsters like the Wild Dogs in the Eastern Plains, but I knew I would die for sure if I ran into a pack of them. A unique specimen was a unique specimen, even if it was a weak monster obtainable near the entrance of the Southern Forest.
Once again, a Gray Squirrel appeared before us. It had diamond-shaped patches on its back and forehead, a sure sign that it was a unique specimen.
“Olto, you handle defense. You’re up, Sakura.”
“Mm!”
“...!”
Olto attracted our opponent’s attention while my staff and Sakura’s whip steadily depleted the Gray Squirrel’s HP... Sorry, I got a little too cocky. Correction—Sakura was draining the squirrel’s HP; I barely contributed anything. Still, that was because I was avoiding using my magic, so that I didn’t accidentally defeat it, and also because I wanted to save my MP for later.
“We’re almost there. Sakura, focus on holding it down.”
“...!”
My plan was pretty straightforward: fight normally and reduce the creature’s HP, then use Sakura’s tree magic to restrain it and carry on depleting its health until the very last ounce with my Hold Back skill. After that, I would attempt to tame it, as long as I had enough MP for it. If I failed to tame it before my MP ran out, I would have to go ahead and defeat it, but we’d still have something to show for it, as unique specimens always dropped rare items.
“...!”
Sakura activated her tree magic, and numerous vines sprouted from the squirrel’s feet and snaked around its torso.
“It worked! First, Hold Back...then Aqua Ball!”
“Chirp!”
My Hold Back skill had a pretty neat effect when activated, making my body and the Aqua Ball I unleashed glow red. How cool was that?!
“Mwa ha ha, you only have 1 HP left now,” I cackled. The squirrel was truly on its last legs.
“Give it up and surrender yourself to me, li’l cutie! Tame!”
“Chirp!”
Some of my MP was depleted, but nothing happened.
“...?”
“Mm?”
Well, that didn’t go as planned. I wasn’t about to give up yet, though.
“Tame!”
“Tame!”
This wasn’t working at all; the only thing I had managed to do was drain my MP bar even further. Keep going! I urged myself.
“Tame!”
“Tame!”
Yikes. I only had enough MP left for one more attempt. But I’d been saving up my MP especially for this purpose! Was I not strong enough to take on unique specimens yet? Who cares? I ain’t gonna give up now!
“Come ooon, please work! Tame!”
“Chirp.”
“Huh?”
I could’ve sworn the squirrel glowed for a split second. I quickly checked my status window to find a new name under my Tamed Monsters section.
Name: Rick / Race: Gray Squirrel / Base Level: Lv. 4
Master: Yuto
HP: 18/18 / MP: 10/10
Strength: 4 / Endurance: 6 / Agility: 14
Dexterity: 6 / Intelligence: 5 / Sanity: 6
Skills: Vigilance, Collect, Pruning, Jump, Climb, Cheek Pouch, Incisor Attack
Equipment: None
“All right! I did it! Mwa ha ha, I finally got a creature with fur!”
My third monster in the bag! Granted, its stats weren’t as great as Olto’s or Sakura’s, but it was just a Gray Squirrel, so I couldn’t really hope for much more. Besides, its adorable appearance more than made up for its lackluster stats. True to its name, it had a sleek gray coat and bushy tail. It gazed up at me with round, button eyes and twitched its nose every now and then. It was simply too cute for words.
“Chirp?”
The Gray Squirrel, which had been attacking me not too long ago, now lay docile in my hand.
“Sooo fluffy!” I squealed.
Its fur was velvety, as though I were stroking a warm beanbag. This was heavenly... I could pet it forever.
“Chirp,” the squirrel closed its eyes contentedly. It really was adorable.
“You’re such a cutie patootie,” I gushed. I had to say, though, what were the chances that all three of my tamed monsters turned out to be unique specimens?
Ding-dong.
“Congratulations.”
Hey, another announcement. Could this be what I think it is?
“Since the first three monsters you have tamed so far have all been unique specimens, you will be awarded the title ‘Unique Monster Enthusiast.’”
Another title! I knew it! Were these things actually rare or what?
Title: Unique Monster Enthusiast
Effect: You have gained 10,000 G and four bonus points. Increases probability of encountering unique monsters and improves taming success rates.
While getting money and bonus points was always a plus, I was somewhat skeptical. If I encountered a unique specimen when I was low on HP or something, it’d be game over for me since they were much stronger than regular monsters. Not that I could do anything about it now...
Oh well, might as well count my blessings. It was nice to have a better chance of taming creatures too.
“Let’s head back to town. I’m out of MP, anyway.”
“Mm.”
“...♪”
“Chirp.”
As it turned out, Rick, the Gray Squirrel, our latest addition, possessed a unique ability called Collect. I had assumed, based on its name, that it was similar to the skill Gather, but this wasn’t any ordinary gathering skill—Collect focused on locating and gathering items. On our way back to town, Rick hopped off my shoulder and went off on his own, returning with a nut.
“This a blue acorn?” I asked him. I’d heard that blue acorns made food rations tastier, although I wasn’t sure how much of an improvement they’d actually make.
Still, I was grateful for his help—he ended up bringing me four walnuts and blue acorns each on our journey home. I really hoped he wouldn’t run off on me during a fight, though...
To my relief, I discovered that Rick wasn’t able to travel very far. There were limits to the distance he could move away from me, and his item collection was limited to those boundaries. It was good to know that he’d still be nearby during battles; if anything, him not being right at my side could be useful when trying to launch a surprise attack on my opponent.
“Phew. Looks like we’re back.”
While I had enjoyed being able to fight properly for the first time, I was also exhausted, mentally in particular. Who knew battling monsters would be so draining?
“There’s no place like home,” I sighed in relief, once we were back at our farm.
“Mm.”
“...♪”
There was something comforting about being surrounded by greenery, and the two massive trees seemed to make the place feel much homier—even if being in the forest didn’t give me the same feeling. You never knew when a monster might leap out and attack you out there, after all.
I wonder if I can set up a bench to relax on? Having a tea table might be nice too. Although I couldn’t tweak the inside of my barn, no one had mentioned anything about the outside.
“Chirp chirp!” Rick squeaked.
“So, this is my farm. What do you think?”
“Chirp!”
He jumped off my shoulder and climbed up the green peach tree, then curled up on one of the branches. I was glad to see him enjoying himself.
“Mm?”
“Oh yeah, that reminds me,” I said, remembering as Olto tugged on my sleeve. “Here’s a walnut. Can you plant this?”
“Mmm?”
“Is that a no?”
“Mm-mm,” Olto shook his head and returned the walnut. What was he trying to tell me? That I could plant walnuts, just not this one?
I showed him the other walnuts that Rick had gathered for me, and Olto picked up one of them and nodded, seemingly satisfied. They honestly all looked the same to me, but whatever.
“Okay, I’ll leave it to you.”
“Mm!”
“I’m heading out for a bit.”
“...♪”
The farm would be fine as long as Olto and Sakura were there, so I left them in charge and headed to Alyssa’s stall.
“Hi,” I greeted her.
“Hey, fancy seeing you here at this time of day,” she replied. “Come to sell me potions or info?”
“Both. First, the usual,” I said, handing over the medicine and potions I had concocted. Next up was some new info.
“You really are full of surprises!” Alyssa chuckled. “No one else has sold me as much information as you have. So, what is it?”
“It’s about a title.”
“...Again?” she looked at me exasperatedly, no longer surprised.
“I got it when I tamed my third monster just now,” I said, showing her my new title in my status menu.
“I see. So it’s a title related to your job.”
Her expression changed, now looking slightly more convinced.
“Do other jobs have titles like this too?”
“Yep. Alchemists can obtain a title known as ‘Originator’ if the first five things they create are original items. Summoners get a title called ‘Unique Monster Lover’ if the first three monsters they form a bond with are all unique specimens.”
That was the hard part, though. Even with planning, getting unique monsters or crafting original items from the outset was difficult unless you’d gotten a lot of bonuses. By the time you found out about these titles, it’d be too late to get them.
“Then you already know about ‘Unique Monster Enthusiast?’”
“Yeah, it’s hot off the press. I’ve already had two titleholders come to my place.”
As a matter of fact, this morning’s dataset had reported that there were now a total of fifteen titleholders: there were apparently a few players with job-related titles among them.
“We actually discovered this title during the beta phase. We didn’t have time to verify it, however, since the person who obtained it did so on the final day of the test. Consequently, we were unable to post the details in the forums. Turns out some former beta testers who knew about it were still after that title.”
“That doesn’t add up, though. Surely, you’d have more than three tamed monsters if you played until the final day of the beta test?”
“Not necessarily. There are a few ways around it. It’s possible if you obtain Tame later on in the game, or switch jobs and become a Tamer.”
Gotcha. As long as the first three monsters you tamed were all unique specimens, you didn’t necessarily have to be a Tamer. That meant you could still get this title even if you obtained the skill Tame later on.
“In that case, wouldn’t it be pretty easy to get ‘Unique Monster Enthusiast?’ I mean, you could obtain Tame and Command at the outset, then use those skills to tame a unique monster each time you run into one,” I mused. However, Alyssa shook her head.
“It’s not that easy. You must’ve had a hard time taming Rick, didn’t you, Yuto?”
“I did. Almost ran out of MP doing so.”
“Even Tamers with Monster Taming abilities struggle. The odds of a player with only Command and Tame taming a unique specimen are probably less than a hundred to one. Their opponent will most likely flee first, or they’ll run out of time before they can do so.”
Running out of time, otherwise known as Time’s Up, referred to a fight’s time limit. In LJO, the time limit for battles, excluding raids and boss fights, was thirty minutes max: if you went over the allotted time, you were forced to quit. If you thought about it that way, it seemed pretty unrealistic for non-Tamers to aim for this title. The same could be said for me if I wanted to get my hands on other job-related titles. Guess there’s no such thing as a free lunch, I sighed inwardly, deciding to ask about Sakura next.
“I’d like to buy some info now. Know anything about tree nymphs?”
“I do. They’re supposed to be quite rare, though... Don’t tell me you tamed one?”
“Sure did. She was my second monster,” I replied, explaining how I got Sakura. Suddenly, Alyssa stood up and cut me off.
“W-Wait a minute!”
“Sorry?”
“How can you be so calm?!” she exclaimed. For some reason, she was tearing her hair out. “You’re telling me you entered a no-entry zone at the Lakeside Sequoia, met the dryad, and got an item from her? C-Calm down, Alyssa, deep breath... I’ve got to hear the details!”
Although she’d seemed extremely disconcerted, she soon regained her composure and pestered me to spill more, so I tried to be as thorough as I could. It wasn’t as if I had anything to hide, so I related everything that had happened, from how my plant got infected to how I obtained the Sequoia Healing Drop and cured it, showing her my logs every now and then.
“I see.” Alyssa breathed out a deep sigh once I was done with my story, looking exhausted. Was I that bad at explaining things? As a working adult, that kind of hurt my ego.
“Is something wrong?”
“What? How could I not be shocked after hearing something that incredible?”
“Huh? Is this really that unusual?”
I’d told her about the Sequoia Dryad before, and besides, there were plenty of players who climbed that tree. The chalice might have come as a surprise, but surely there had to be a few people who’d come across it. Or so I thought...
“‘Incredible’ hardly begins to describe it!”
After organizing my information, Alyssa informed me that the place Olto and I had stumbled upon had actually been uncharted territory. In fact, the whole area surrounding the vine-covered entrance was designated a no-entry zone. It seemed that I’d been able to enter the area since I was in the middle of a special event.
“I can’t tell what triggered it, though...”
“Huh? Must’ve been my Lakeside Sequoia getting infected, right?”
“Not necessarily. Based on what I’ve seen, the Sequoia Healing Drop’s clearly meant to be used on players. Using it on plants like you did is highly unusual, which means that there must be some other event that requires the Chalice of Hope.”
She did have a point. Did entering the no-entry zone require you to trigger quests or events that involved curing diseases? Oh well, guess that was for the Quick-Eared Cats to find out.
“Never mind that, I wanna know more about tree nymphs,” I said, trying to return to the subject at hand.
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Sorry for getting off track there. Couldn’t help it.”
“No worries. Do you have any info on them, though?”
“Just a bit. At the moment, it’s unclear which areas tree nymphs appear in, but from what I’ve heard, they sometimes spawn in old forest trees. During the beta test, there were reports of sightings of them in Zone One, but apparently, people have only encountered them in Zone Two onwards in the official version.”
I supposed they were somewhere between field bosses and unique specimens then.
“Their abilities also differ a bit depending on the type of tree they come from.”
According to Alyssa, this was the basic data on tree nymphs:
Tree Nymphs
Slightly high in Endurance and Sanity
Skills: Arboriculture, Tree Magic, Photosynthesis, Regeneration, Endure, Water Resistance, Woodworking, Forest Ranger
Equipment: Tree Nymph’s Weapon, Tree Nymph’s Garments
The skill Endure prevented them from being blown away, while Forest Ranger rewarded bonuses for time spent in forests. In addition to the above, Sakura possessed Gather and Charm as well—perks of being a unique specimen, I supposed.
“So, are you selling me the info you just told me?”
“I don’t mind, but are you sure you want to buy something so vague?”
“You’ve got the logs and screenshots to prove it, so there’s no doubt it’s a real event. Anyway, we have to investigate it further! Besides, I’m sure people would be glad to know that planting a Lakeside Sequoia sapling will help you obtain a tree nymph, although it’ll be a while before they can actually try it out themselves.”
I hadn’t thought it’d be that hard, but it seemed like obtaining a tree nymph the way I did would prove to be a real challenge for other people. For one, there were only so many ways you could visit the altar at the moment, so it was difficult to obtain a Lakeside Sequoia fruit. In addition, you needed Arboriculture to grow one, a skill that other players currently lacked, as you apparently needed to raise your Farming level to level 40 to obtain it. Even the current top Farmers were only around level 30 or so, which meant they still had a while to go. On top of that, you would need a Command ability in order to get a tamed monster, possibly even Monster Taming, depending on the creature. In short, you’d specifically have to be a Tamer who’d obtained Arboriculture, and grown a Lakeside Sequoia.
Simply put, if other players wanted a tree nymph, it’d be much easier and faster for them to walk around forests and look for one. It was more or less all due to Olto that I’d been able to tame Sakura.
It’d be impossible to hide her existence if I planned to walk around with her, so it was probably better to make her details public, rather than keep them to myself and risk being bashed. I made up my mind to sell Alyssa my information, which earned me 3,500 G, minus the money for the tree nymph stats.
“Come again soon!” She waved me off cheerfully.
Online Forum [Gather ’Round Tamers, Part 2] LJO Tamer Megathread
Share the deets on new tamed monsters, show off your companions, etc.—this thread is for everyone!
- Bad-mouthing other Tamers is not permitted.
- Screenshots gladly accepted.
- Avoid double-posting.
- Be mindful of what you post.
72: Ursula
So Silver-Haired’s a Tamer then?
73: Eulenspiegel
Yep! Plus, I think that gnome belongs to him!
74: Ivan
Gotta say, I’m surprised. Means they were added to the pool of available monsters when the game officially launched, right?
75: KingOysterMushroom
Pretty much, considering they were only found in Zone Three during beta.
Just make sure you obtain Advanced Tame with your initial bonuses—it all comes down to luck after that.
I say getting a gnome as your first monster’s a huge miss, though. After all, they can’t fight to save their life.
76: Eulenspiegel
Yeah, I’ve heard about that. Amimin mentioned that on their page.
That’s probably why Silver-Haired died three times on the first day.
77: Ivan
Bet he tried his hardest to fight one way or another.
Three times, though? Even if your monster can’t fight, can you really die that easily?
78: KingOysterMushroom
It’s possible if he’d banked on his monster to do all the fighting and allocated all his points to crafting.
79: Ursula
Whoa, talk about tragic!
I’m rooting for him, though. There aren’t many of us, to begin with, and compared to Summoners, we just aren’t as flashy. Even Amimin isn’t getting as much attention as him, even if it is negative attention.
Who knows? If he manages to become a top player, people might start seeing Tamers in a different light.
80: Eulenspiegel
True that. I have loads of friends rooting for Silver-Haired too.
Besides, I saw him with another monster yesterday, so he should be fine.
Never seen anything like it: it was a female humanoid monster. Couldn’t assess it, though, since I only saw it in passing on his farm.
81: Ursula
But if it’s his second monster, that means he got it in-game, right? There are only supposed to be six types of monsters available around town...
A female humanoid? Think he bought it at the guild?
82: Eulenspiegel
That’s exactly it! I wanna know HOW he got his hands on that monster!
I visit the guild almost every day, so I’m familiar with all the buyable/sellable monsters on the list.
Of course, it could be that Silver-Haired’s guild rank is higher than mine and our listings are different, but...I doubt that’s it. Since he’s gone the farming route, it’s hard for him to earn contribution points by slaying monsters.
Think he’ll tell me how to get that monster, if I ask? I’ve never even talked to the guy, though, so I guess I gotta start by befriending him first!
83: Ivan
Good luck, looking forward to your report! I’m curious too.
It’s not that I don’t want to talk to him, but it’s been kinda hard to since that incident.
84: Amelia
Hey, guys, long time no see.
Do any of you know if you can use a Hold Back attack when using magic? Specifically with Aqua Ball.
85: KingOysterMushroom
>83
I doubt it’ll be that easy.
86: Ursula
>84
A Hold Back attack is a type of wand art. Why are you asking about using it with magic?
87: Amelia
I was gathering glowing walnuts in the Southern Forest yesterday, and I saw another Tamer battling with a squirrel.
I heard them use an art called Hold Back, and then they were bathed in a red light. After that, they used Aqua Ball—still with the same red glowy effect—which clearly hit the nearly dead squirrel, but the squirrel didn’t die.
That totally means they combined a Hold Back attack with their Aqua Ball, right? Or could it have been their monster’s ability? There was a little boy by their side, which turned out to be a gnome when I assessed it.
88: Eulenspiegel
A gnome? Was that Silver-Haired then?
89: Amelia
Come to think of it, they did have silver hair.
So that’s Silver-Haired? First time I saw him. He was pretty cute.
90: Ursula
Don’t be fooled. Everyone looks hot in this game. Sometimes I wish I actually looked like this in real life...
91: KingOysterMushroom
There’s a separate thread for that, so take your woes there!
92: Ivan
There is? Definitely not reading that. Bet it’d deplete my Sanity in an instant...
But whatever, you’re saying Silver-Haired was using Hold Back? No way.
93: KingOysterMushroom
If that’s true, that’s a pretty big deal.
94: Amelia
How so?
95: KingOysterMushroom
Hold Back is a special skill that was discovered recently. All attacks used just after its activation get a Hold Back effect, which means you don’t have to worry about accidentally killing your opponent no matter how strong your attack—even with an item like a bomb. It’s basically a boon to us Tamers.
96: Amelia
Wow! I want it! Do you know how to obtain it?
97: KingOysterMushroom
I do. It’s not easy, though...
98: Ivan
I gave up the idea as soon as I read about it on the Quick-Eared Cats’ page.
I mean, not killing a single living being (excluding plants) for four days in-game since your first login? That’s impossible.
If you manage to do that, however, you can get a title called Thou Shalt Not Kill, which grants you the skill Hold Back.
I might’ve considered it if I were still on day one or two, but I’ve already made too much progress for a do-over. Besides, if I rebuild my character, I’d have to say goodbye to my bud, Snake.
Just so you know, I’m not breaking any rules by writing this here since this info has already been made public by the Quick-Eared Cats.
99: Amelia
Redo my character?! No can do! I’ll DIE without my Bun Bun!
100: Ursula
Wait a minute, Silver-Haired was using Hold Back?
101: KingOysterMushroom
So you’ve noticed, eh? That’s right, Thou Shalt Not Kill was discovered four days ago.
The people who bought that info from the Quick-Eared Cats and attempted a redo have either just gotten that title or are still in the process of obtaining it.
According to the second survey from the devs, there’d only been one person who’s obtained Hold Back so far. That means the only player who could’ve used the skill Hold Back yesterday was the one who discovered the title Thou Shalt Not Kill in the first place.
102: Eulenspiegel
So Silver-Haired was the first person to discover it? Wow! That’s our rising star (TBD) for ya!
103: KingOysterMushroom
There’s more. The titles thread is currently going nuts after people found out that the top titleholder now owns three titles.
There are only fifteen titleholders at the moment to begin with, and the other fourteen only have one each. And yet, the top titleholder already has three. Everyone’s dying to know who it is.
104: Ursula
Huh? Hold up. If Silver-Haired was the one who used Hold Back, then we already know what two of his titles are.
One’s Silver-Haired something, and the other’s Thou Shalt Not Kill. He has to have one more then. That means...
105: KingOysterMushroom
Precisely. Amelia, you better not go around telling other people.
106: Amelia
...Sorry. I’ve already told a few of my friends about Hold Back.
107: Ivan
Guess even more people will be paying attention to what Silver-Haired does next.
***
After bidding Alyssa farewell, I made my way to Lewin’s shop where I had bought my robe, in order to buy some gear for Rick.
“Unlike Olto and Sakura, he didn’t come equipped with anything.”
Plus, I’d made up my mind to play as a rearguard, which meant I also needed to buy a new staff, which I had been putting off until now.
Upon arrival, I was greeted by Lewin, who looked as much like a hardened silversmith as ever. It looked like he had accumulated some new weapons stock too. The disorderly heap of items made the shop feel more cluttered, and practically screamed “master craftsperson.”
“What’s up? Lookin’ for something?” Lewin asked.
“Actually, yeah. I tamed a squirrel recently and was wondering if you had any equipment. I’d like to buy him some armor.”
“A squirrel, eh...? How about these, then?”
“Are those bandanas?”
Name: Scarlet Bandana
Rarity: 1 / Quality: 8★ / Durability: 100
Effect: Defense +4, minor paralysis resistance.
Weight: 1
Name: Jade Bandana
Rarity: 1 / Quality: 8★ / Durability: 100
Effect: Defense +4, minor poison resistance.
Weight: 1
“Yep. You can wrap them round their neck,” Lewin explained. I liked that they were nice and light, too—no worries about Rick being weighed down.
“I dig it. How much do they cost?”
“That’ll be 3,000 G each.”
“I’ll take the red one then.”
Red just seemed like more of his color, and if we’re talking fantasy scarves, it’s gotta be red, right?
“Here ya go.”
“Can I check out the staffs too?”
“Oho. So you’re finally gettin’ a proper staff, huh?”
“Yeah. I’ve decided to fight mainly with water magic.”
Up until now, I’d refrained from getting a new staff, even considering obtaining sword, spear, or bow skills. Now that I could rely on Sakura to do the heavy lifting though, I figured it’d be best to buy a proper staff once and for all.
“What’s your budget like?”
“Hmm. I’d like to keep at least ten thousand on hand, so...about 12,000 to 16,000 G.”
“In that case, I’ve got these options for ya,” Lewin said, showing me several different items.
“They all look pretty good.”
I had three options before me: a staff made from giant dogwood that was specialized for magic, a water ore staff that could handle melee attacks, and an enchanted oak staff. While not as powerful as the other two, the oak staff was highly durable and suited for longer battles, due to its heightened ability to automatically recover MP. I assessed them one by one and eventually settled on the following:
Name: Giant Dogwood Staff
Rarity: 3 / Quality: 6★ / Durability: 130
Effect: Attack +3, Magic +21, minor decrease in energy expenditure when using water magic, medium increase in energy expenditure when using fire magic.
Weight: 1
“Think I’ll go with the Giant Dogwood Staff. The Water Ore Staff is cool, but it’s too heavy.”
Besides, I couldn’t pass up a staff that gave water magic users a slight edge.
“I’ll take that one, please.”
“Gotcha. That’ll be 14,000 G.”
I immediately whipped out my newly purchased staff and equipped myself with it.
“Whoa! Looks great!”
The wooden staff was similar in color to my blue robe. The carved-out grip was a light blue shade, its rounded tip a deep navy, formed of concentric rings. It looked like some sort of fancy living room lamp.
Heh, I was now a full-fledged wizard.
“I’m back,” I announced upon arriving back at the farm.
“Mm-mm.”
“...♪”
“Chirp chirp!”
Olto hugged my waist, and Sakura gingerly grabbed my left hand. Rick shinnied up my arm and perched on my shoulder, rubbing his head against my cheek. It sure was nice to be welcomed home by such cuties. I patted everyone on the head, and they all beamed back at me. I played with them for a while before finally remembering Rick’s bandana.
“That reminds me, I have something for you, Rick.”
“Chirp?”
“Can you climb down for a sec?”
“Chirp chirp!”
No time like the present, I figured, letting Rick down on the ground and tying the newly acquired bandana around his neck. Although it would’ve been easier to do it from my status window, I wanted to tie it for him myself.
“How is it? Not too tight?”
“Chirp!”
It seemed to fit him just right. Rick stretched his tiny body as far as he could go and put his right paw in the air like a student raising his hand.
Olto hoisted an overjoyed Rick on his shoulders, tossing him into the air in celebration while Sakura, ever the big sis, watched over them.
“Mm-mm♪”
“Chirp chirp!”
“...♪”
We were one big family now, and things would only get merrier once I acquired more monsters. I couldn’t wait to see what was in store for us.
“Let’s keep up the good work, guys.”
“Mm!”
“...!”
“Chirp!”
All three of them saluted me in reply. Guess Olto wasn’t the only one who knew his military manners.
“I won’t lie—I was pretty worried in the beginning, but I’m excited to see how things will pan out now.”
While I highly doubted a player like me could rise to the top, I could still find ways to enjoy the game; I was already having a whale of a time as it was. I would start from the bottom, and figure out my own gaming style. With renewed determination, I turned around to face my companions.
“Let’s all do our best and have fun together!”