Chapter 6: Incident
Chapter 6: Incident
Roughly two months after the knightly order’s visit, Theresia became pregnant once again. According to the village midwife, the birth would take place next year. Because of this, Rodin was back to working the fields by himself.
Theresia insisted on naming this third child, as Allen and Mash had both been named by Rodin. However, because she and Rodin had agreed that he would get to name all the boys and she would get to name all the girls, Rodin simply replied, “Sure, if it’s a girl.” Apparently, he had every intention of naming the child after another monster if it turned out to be a boy.
Today, Allen was sitting in the garden, his back leaned against the tree with a circle of peeled bark on its trunk. His grimoire was floating before him, golden text gracing its front cover.
<The Skill XP of Synthesis has reached 10,000/10,000. Synthesis has reached Lvl. 3. Summoning has reached Lvl. 3. Expansion has reached Lvl. 2. You have obtained Strengthening. You have 1 new message.>
“I’ve done it... I’VE DONE IT! Summoning finally leveled up again! That took absolute ages! And...whoa, this is a lot of information. What should I start with?”
The moment Synthesis reached Lvl. 3, a whole bunch of lines had flowed by in the log.
It sure took a while. How long has it been since I started leveling Synthesis up? Hmm...damn, a year and eleven months.
Every single day, Allen had poured all his MP into using the Creation and Synthesis skills. Because it took six hours for his MP to recover, he did three sets every day—four on the rare occasions when time allowed. Finally, all that effort had paid off.
There was plenty that piqued Allen’s interest in the lines of text, but of course, it only made sense to first check his Status. He opened up his grimoire to the first two pages.
Name: Allen
Age: 5
Class: Summoner
Level: 1
HP: 20 (40) + 26
MP: 0 (20)
Attack: 5 (10) + 26
Endurance: 5 (10) + 6
Agility: 12 (25) + 10
Intelligence: 15 (30) + 4
Luck: 12 (25)
Skills: Summoning {3}, Creation {3}, Synthesis {3}, Strengthening {1}, Expansion {2}, Deletion, Sword Mastery {3}, Throwing {3}
XP: 0/1,000
Skill LevelsSummoning: 3
Creation: 3
Synthesis: 3
Strengthening: 1
Skill ExperienceCreation: 8,786/100,000
Synthesis: 0/100,000
Strengthening: 0/1,000
Creatable SummonsInsect: F, G, H
Beast: F, G, H
Bird: F, G
???: F
HolderInsect: G x 2, H x 2
Beast: G x 13
Bird: G x 2
???:
Nice, I got a new skill! And just as I thought, I now have access to Summons that’re Rank F. And just like with Bird G, this “???” is probably gonna stay hidden until I figure out what to put together to Synthesize it, right? I wonder what it is! Dragons would be good. Come on, I want dragons! Summon: Divine Dragon!
Allen had gotten a bit overexcited from the level up. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and turned his attention toward the next bit to confirm.
I just used up all my MP, so I’ll have to check out the Rank F Summons later. Seeing the time now...it’ll be after dinner, then. Okay, next thing.
The pages turned rapidly according to Allen’s will.
Heck yeah, more slots to store cards in!
Each level of Expansion gave Allen ten more card holders in the grimoire. Now that it was Lvl. 2, he could store a total of thirty cards. Thanks to this, the number of buffs he could receive from the cards had just gone up significantly.
Hmm, looks like that’s all I can check out at the moment. Last is this message from the gods. It’s been a while since the last one.
There was a single glowing page at the back of the grimoire. Apparently, the complaints Allen had continuously lodged through prayer every day had paid off.
Are they finally apologizing? Let’s take a look.
Dear Mr. Allen,
Thank you very much for your continued usage of our services.
Please allow us to first offer our sincerest apologies for the incident where the Appraisal system failed to display your class properly. Additionally, we also apologize for the delay in this reply.
We have taken measures to remedy the issue. Going forward, “Summoner” will be correctly displayed in the Talent field whenever you are Appraised. We have also informed the Pope of the addition of this new class through a prophecy. No further details about your class were revealed in conformity with our general policy of not disclosing details about any class.
Next, please allow us to respond to the matter of all of your stats being appraised as “E.”
As you surely already know, this reading is indeed derived from assessing both a stat’s potential ceiling and expected rate of growth. Residents of this world are not informed when they level up—a phenomenon they colloquially refer to as “overcoming a Trial of the Gods.” As such, modes (i.e., the concept of varying degrees of difficulty in leveling up) are also not common knowledge.
Due to there being no change in the assessment criteria behind the rankings assigned to each stat, your readings will remain as “E” going forward. We ask for your kind understanding.
However, we understand that it would be unfair for you to be the only person unaware of the growth potential of your stats. As such, we are including below what your readings would be if rate of growth is not considered. Additionally, we have added this information to a Memo page so that you can refer to it even after this message disappears. Kindly note that these values are independent of the buffs you receive from your Summons.
Name: Allen
HP: A
MP: S
Attack: C
Endurance: C
Agility: A
Intelligence: S
Luck: A
Talent: Summoner
All of our staff here in the Divine Realm will continue to apply ourselves to the improvement of our service. We kindly ask for your continued patronage.
Lastly, we believe this to be sufficient by way of an apology and expression of sincerity. Please refrain from sending us further claims of a similar nature.
Sincerely yours,
Elmea, God of Creation
When Allen finished reading to the very end, the words on the page faded away. As promised, the growth potential of his stats had indeed been added to a page in the Memo section.
Hmm, looks like the five months of persistent praying for improvement haven’t been for nothing. So, all my stats are still going to be “E” when I get Appraised again. What is this mention about a prophecy? It’s my first time hearing mention of anything of the sort.
When Allen had been Kenichi and had lost his equipment in a game, the management staff had also sent him a similarly polite and long-winded message. However, despite the courteous response that he received this time, he knew better than to abuse the same tactic. After all, he was now dealing with gods, not just a game service provider. For all he knew, they might just erase his existence if he pushed too far.
Looks like my stats are basically Krena’s re-shuffled for a support build. The number of S, A, B, and C rankings is the same as her Sword Lord class.
Allen compared the page showing his own Status with the page where he had recorded Krena’s during the Appraisal Ceremony. He had confirmed before coming to this world that the Sword Lord class had three stars. From this, he drew the conclusion that his own class could perform at least as well as a three-star class even without all the buffs from the cards.
And leveling up is described as “overcoming a Trial of the Gods,” hmm.
Just once before, Allen had asked Rodin about the experience of leveling up, assuming that he must have leveled up before from all the great boar hunts he had been a part of. The answer that Rodin gave was something along the lines of, “Yep, I got stronger when I overcame a Trial of the Gods.”
With this, Allen’s analysis of his Status was largely over. The next thing was to test out Strengthening and check out the new Summons, but it would have to wait until after dinner, when his MP would be back to full.
＊ ＊ ＊
After dinner, Allen cleared away the table and washed up so that his pregnant mother could rest. Then Mash approached him, asking, “A’en, play w’ me?” so he played with him for about thirty minutes until Mash tired out and fell asleep. Only after Allen tucked him into bed did he finally have time to himself.
To start, he planned on testing Strengthening out before it got completely dark.
As soon as Allen chanted, “Strengthen!” inside his mind, a line of silver text appeared on the cover of his grimoire.
<Which card do you wish to Strengthen?>
Oh? It didn’t say, “You do not have enough MP.” I had half-expected it to tell me I couldn’t use the skill yet, just like last time.
Allen recalled the time when he first obtained Synthesis and had to wait until he turned three years old in order to have enough MP to actually use the skill.
Well, here goes. Insect H: Strengthen!
One Insect H card floated out of its slot. It stopped before Allen’s eyes, then started shining with a golden light.
Woowwww! Allen almost exclaimed out loud from excitement, but he managed to clap his hands over his mouth in the nick of time. When the light subsided, the card was now a different color.
Let’s see. Whoa! The blank parts in the illustration on the card are all shiny now!
The negative space around the depiction of Denka that used to be plain white was now a dazzling gold. Right below, a new line of text had been added.
<Endurance + 10, Agility + 10>
I see, so this skill makes the Summons themselves more powerful. My class isn’t just about using the higher-ranked Summons, then.
Appearance-wise, however, nothing seemed different about the grasshopper in the illustration.
Wait, would this affect Denka’s size? Hmm, let’s try Summoning it. Summon: Denka!
The Strengthened Insect H appeared in a faint burst of light.
“Ahh, so the size doesn’t change, but it does glow to indicate that it’s been Strengthened!”
“Gosh, Allen, Mash, go to sle— Hm?”
“Urk!”
Apparently, Theresia had heard Allen’s voice and decided to come into the room to tell her children to go to sleep. As soon as she stepped in, however, her eyes met with Denka’s.
“NOOOOO!!!! A BUUUUGGGGG!!!! Why do bugs keep coming into the nursery?!”
Despite having been Strengthened, a single stomp was still all it took to reduce the grasshopper into ephemeral bubbles of light.
“Uh, good night...” Allen mumbled, promptly throwing his blanket over his head and doing his best to pretend like nothing had happened.
＊ ＊ ＊
October rolled around and Allen turned six. Although he had taken to writing down his memories as Kenichi in his grimoire, he was starting to have difficulty differentiating between his two identities as of late.
His stats had gone up again, with his max MP increasing from ten to twelve. Since the rate at which he could train his skills depended on how much MP he had, this was a very significant step forward.
As he had only just started analyzing the Rank F Summons, there was still much that he had yet to confirm. He still had no idea what the “???” was this time. The reason was because he had quickly caught onto how much potential Strengthening promised. He had originally intended on going straight to Creating and Synthesizing the Rank F Summons right after checking out Strengthening on the day of his level up. However he instead decided to first fully explore its capabilities.
Allen now looked back over the notes he had written down in his grimoire.
Strengthening costs 10 MP to use.
It adds +10 to two stats.
The stats that get bolstered are the same ones that Allen gains buffs from.
The effect of the skill is the same for Summons of all ranks.
The effect of the skill does not disappear no matter how many times the card is Summoned and Unsummoned.
The effect of the skill disappears when the card is used for Synthesizing.
Strengthening a card does not affect the buffs that Allen receives.
Looks like I can just let cards sit in their holders and go around Strengthening each one whenever I want or can get around to it. Obviously, if I use my Summons to fight some day, I’d want to use Strengthened ones.
It was currently morning, and Allen was washing his family’s clothes by stepping on them inside a large barrel with his bare feet. This was surprisingly heavy manual labor. The mindless, repetitive nature of the task made it the perfect time to analyze his class.
The water used in the house came from a large jug that Rodin went to fill at a communal well early every morning. Used water would then be poured into a narrow ditch beside the house. Allen emptied the barrel into this ditch, then proceeded to hang up the newly washed clothes.
Oh, hey, the albaherons are flying. It’s already fall, huh. Which means it’s almost great boar hunting season again.
As Allen continued lining up the laundry on the clothesline that was slightly taller than himself, he looked up at the sky, spotting the winged silhouettes leisurely soaring high above. In addition to the albaheron, there was also another species, half as large and similar to what Allen remembered as a Japanese crane. The appearance of these migratory birds truly made him feel the change of the seasons.
Well then, my MP’s back up to full, so let’s resume checking out the Rank F Summons.
When Allen was finally done studying the Strengthening skill, he had promptly turned his attention toward Creation Lvl. 3 and Synthesis Lvl. 3, the two skills that opened the door to Rank F Summons. He had already gotten started making notes in his grimoire.
Creation Lvl. 3 costs 10 MP to use.
Synthesis Lvl. 3 costs 5 MP to use (unchanged since Lvl. 1).
Bird F is Synthesized using Insect F and Beast F.
“All that’s left is to figure out what this ‘???’ is.”
Despite having devoted the past few days to using Creation and Synthesis as often as he could, Allen had yet to discover the correct combination for the new type of Summon.
The only two kinds that I can Create outright are Insects and Beasts. By some strange rule, Birds can only be made through Synthesis. I’ve already tried Insect F x Beast F, as well as Beast F x Bird F. The only variation left is Insect F x Bird F. Please let this work. Because if it doesn’t, it means I’d have to start trying out Synthesizing cards of mixed ranks.
When Allen had attempted Synthesizing the two previous variations, only the cards placed on the right page in the grimoire remained, with the left ones disappearing completely. These results were clearly failures. Now, he opened up to the Synthesis page once more. His heart pounded with anticipation as he carefully placed an Insect F card and a Bird F card into the impressions.
Synthesize: Insect F with Bird F!
The front cover of the grimoire shone brightly, signifying that the process had been a success. However, Allen did not need to check the cover—the newly Synthesized card was right before his eyes.
He suddenly whooped, “Whoo! Success!” and picked up the card.
What’s this...? “Grass”?
The brand-new card had the words “Grass F” in the top left corner.
Grass as a Summon...? Well, I do also have insects. It’s a bit too late for that, I guess.
This new Summon looked like an apple, but it had a face and thin arms and legs that looked like twigs. A stalk protruded from the top of its head, connected to a single large leaf.
So, this is the plant-type line of Summons, right? Well, first things first, let’s name all the new Summons. All right, this is all four new variants of Insect F, Beast F, Bird F, and Grass F fully discovered.
Status of Insect F (Leech)Type: Insect
Rank: F
Name: Sucker
HP: 15
MP: 0
Attack: 13
Endurance: 20
Agility: 20
Intelligence: 13
Luck: 11
Buffs: Endurance 5, Agility 5
Ability: Suction
Status of Beast F (Dog)Type: Beast
Rank: F
Name: Pochi
HP: 20
MP: 0
Attack: 20
Endurance: 10
Agility: 15
Intelligence: 18
Luck: 11
Buffs: HP 5, Attack 5
Ability: Chomp
Status of Bird F (Pigeon)Type: Bird
Rank: F
Name: Poppo
HP: 11
MP: 0
Attack: 13
Endurance: 12
Agility: 20
Intelligence: 20
Luck: 14
Buffs: Agility 5, Intelligence 5
Ability: Transmission
Status of Grass F (Apple)Type: Grass
Rank: F
Name: Appo
HP: 14
MP: 20
Attack: 12
Endurance: 15
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 13
Luck: 20
Buffs: MP 5, Luck 5
Ability: Aroma
Beast F’s Chomp is the first attack-based Ability I’ve seen. Now we’re talking! This is much closer to what I’d originally imagined a Summon to be. But never mind that—there’s another one that I’m even more excited about!
Now the roster of Summons available to Allen had expanded by four. They all looked interesting in their own way, and he would definitely be taking his time analyzing each of them in turn. However, he was most excited by the one that provided the buff he had been most desperate for all this time.
The boy picked up the card of the Grass F Summon with quivering hands.
I finally get a Summon that buffs my MP!!!!!!!!!!
Appo had a pretty funny-looking appearance, being basically an apple with hands and legs. Allen imagined a bunch of deities up in the Divine Realm crowded around a conference table littered with design suggestions. He was not sure what to make of the God of Creation finally settling on this one, but Allen honestly couldn’t care less what the Summon looked like—all that mattered to him was that it helped increase his MP. It was going to be absolutely indispensable going forward.
Allen had been nursing one very large concern. Namely, that he was going to need more than 300,000 Skill XP to reach the next level of Summoning. Raising Summoning to Lvl. 2 had required 1,000 Skill XP for first reaching Creation Lvl. 2. Raising Summoning to Lvl. 3 had required both 10,000 Skill XP to reach Creation Lvl. 3 and 11,000 Skill XP to bring Synthesis up to the same level.
In light of how Summoning had reached Lvl. 3 when Allen obtained Synthesis Lvl. 3, it seemed clear that the only way Summoning would level up would be when all the associated skills were raised first. According to this conclusion, the math was clear that obtaining Summoning Lvl. 4 was going to require more than 300,000 Skill XP. Allen listed everything down in his grimoire while doing the math in his head.
100,000 Skill XP for Creation Lvl. 3 → 4
100,000 Skill XP for Synthesis Lvl. 3 → 4
1,000 Skill XP for Strengthening Lvl. 1 → 2
10,000 Skill XP for Strengthening Lvl. 2 → 3
100,000 Skill XP for Strengthening Lvl. 3 → 4
At six years old, Allen’s max MP was twelve, and he could regularly expend his MP three times each day. At this rate, it was going to take him more than twenty years to accumulate 300,000 Skill XP. Of course, the value of max MP would go up as he grew older, but even so, the math worked out to over a decade.
This Grass F card carried the potential to massively reduce those ten or twenty years.
Now I have to decide on how many Grass cards to keep.
Allen had a maximum of thirty holders in his grimoire. This had granted him more strength than any run-of-the-mill villager. He could at least do the laundry without having to stop and rest.
For now, let’s keep ten Beast F. I’d need the power if anything happens. I still remember how it felt being pressed to the ground by that knight. Let’s Create a few copies of the other cards, then dedicate all of the remaining slots to Grass F.
Leveling up was indeed important, but it should not be prioritized so highly that it affected quality of life.
I should probably also check out Grass F’s Ability. Summon: Appo!
The card faded into bubbles of light as the Summon appeared. The apple with a face was skillfully standing up with its stick-like appendages.
Okay, it’s an apple. It has arms and legs, but doesn’t really move around much. I mean, makes sense, with it being an apple and all. Let’s see its Ability in action. Appo, use Aroma.
Grass F immediately started burying itself into the ground. It vanished from sight in no time at all.
What the...? Why is it— WHOA! A tree suddenly sprouted out!
As soon as the Summon was fully underground, a sapling rapidly wriggled upward, eventually stopping at around a meter tall. A fragrance like essential oil tickled Allen’s nose. It was a very calming aroma.
Uh, is this it? Sure, it smells great, but what am I supposed to do with ten of these cards?
The first impression Allen had of Grass F was that it was going to be a card good for nothing but the buffs it offered.
＊ ＊ ＊
That same evening, after finishing the usual session of playing knight with Krena, Allen was helping out with dinner while mulling over what to do with the distribution of cards in storage.
“Rodin’s late today,” Theresia murmured worriedly.
Normally, Rodin would have been back from the fields quite a while ago. And yet, he was nowhere to be seen.
Another hour passed by. Because they could not make Mash wait any longer, the family decided to start eating first. However, even after they finished, Rodin was still out. The six o’clock bell rang. Allen played with Mash, then tucked him into bed.
Just before Allen himself drifted off, Rodin finally came home. He had a conflicted look on his face. “I’m back.”
“Late day today, hm?” Theresia asked, setting out the belated dinner for her husband. Allen perked his ears to catch what he could from the nursery.
“Mm.”
“Did something happen?”
“I was called to the village chief’s house.”
“Yeah?”
“And he said he wanted us to accept a few commoners into our great boar hunting party.”
“Is...that a problem?”
Rodin paused, then said, almost as if to convince himself, “No, there’s no problem. Our whole group will still be there. It’s just that four or five new youngsters will be joining us, that’s all.”
That was the end of the topic, and the conversation returned to the usual exchange between the two. Allen burrowed under his blanket and allowed himself to fall asleep.
＊ ＊ ＊
Splash!
Allen woke up to the sound of the water in the family’s jug being poured out and refilled.
“Good morning, papa.”
“Oh? You’re up. Good morning to you too.”
Ever since coming to the world, Allen had been having trouble waking up early. It was only recently that he had managed to consistently get up at six in the morning without an alarm clock. He watched as Rodin performed his usual morning routine.
“Here you go, honey.”
“Thank you.”
Theresia was also awake. She handed Rodin a jute bag filled with dried meat and potatoes and a leather waterskin. He draped it over one shoulder and secured it.
There was a two-meter-long pole with a large, broad blade secured to one end currently propped against the wall in the room with the sunken fireplace. This was a spear tailor-made for great boar hunting that Rodin had borrowed from the village’s weapons shop the day before. He had spent all of last night carefully checking it and making sure there were no problems with it.
Rodin picked up the spear. “Well then, I’m off.”
“Are you going to be back late?” Theresia asked.
“We have newcomers today, so the plan is to do the hunt close by. I shouldn’t be out too late.”
With that, the man walked off into the slightly biting cold.
I wanna join the great boar hunt someday too. I need to level up, after all.
Allen’s level was currently still one, despite it having been six years since his reincarnation. The reason was simple: there had been no way for him to encounter any monsters. All serfs needed their village chief’s permission to step foot outside their village, and village chiefs almost never gave it. Events such as the great boar hunts, which were crucial to the village’s survival, were an exception. As a general rule, serfs had almost no freedom of movement.
After seeing Rodin off, Allen resumed his daily stone-throwing regimen.
It’s pretty much confirmed by now that it’ll take a million throws to reach the next level. I’ve already done more than 200,000 throws since the last level up and Throwing still hasn’t gone up.
By now, the stones that Allen used had become entirely smooth from all the throwing, but he still continued throwing them. Come rain or wind, he still threw them. Even Rodin and Theresia had not expected him to keep it up so religiously. When Rodin went to consult Gerda, he learned that Krena played knight every day as well and so was convinced that this was perhaps just how all children were.
With things being like this, normal skills are clearly not suitable for me. What I can gain from them is not worth the effort I have to put in.
By now, Allen’s Sword Mastery and Throwing were both at Lvl. 3. Based on what he knew, it would take repeating something 10,000 times to gain a skill from scratch, another 10,000 times to raise it to Lvl. 2, 100,000 times for Lvl. 3, with the numbers going up tenfold for each successive level.
At this rate, it would be difficult to get any skill to Lvl. 5 even if Allen spent his entire life working at it. In all likelihood, Lvl. 4 would be the best he could achieve. If each level up doubled the effects of the previous level or some other equally tremendous boon, then it might indeed have been worth all the effort. However, this was clearly not the case.
It’s true that the damage I’m dealing is greater than back when I didn’t have the respective skills. I don’t know for sure since there aren’t any damage counters, but going by feel, I’d say it’s only double what it was originally now that I’m at Lvl. 3. Given the case, it would be best for me to focus solely on Summoning. I can use a sword and throw stones when I need to in a pinch, but it’s about time to dial down how much I’m focusing on them. Especially now that I know the effect of Grass F’s Ability isn’t to just make a nice smell.
Allen looked toward the one-meter-tall sapling giving off an essence-oil-like fragrance that he was standing next to. It emitted a pure and relaxing scent that he wanted to continue smelling forever.
He looked down at his grimoire.
Yep, the time it takes for my MP to recover has definitely gone down from six hours to five hours.
Ever since Allen first planted the Grass F tree in the garden, the number of times that he could gain Skill XP by using MP each day had gone up from three to four.
For the past five years, he had been earning Skill XP in cycles of once every six hours. If he really pushed himself to do four reps in a day, he had to do it once late at night, once early in the morning, once right after lunch, and once in the evening. However, he would have no choice but to revert to three reps or fewer the next day.
After planting Grass F, however, Allen had managed four repetitions every day for three days in a row. Upon careful observation, he determined that the time it took for his MP to recover to full had changed to five hours. This was huge for his leveling progress.
Well, I think I’ve learned everything I can about Appo’s Ability.
Allen did a final once-over of his notes on Grass F inside his grimoire.
It releases a nice smell that induces restful sleep.
It shortens the recovery period of MP to 5 hours.
After its Ability is used once, both the card and the Summon disappear (turns into a tree).
One thing different about Grass F was that its Ability could only be used once. After being activated, it was no longer a Summon nor a card. It was quite literally just a tree. Of course, it was fully visible. It could be touched. It could be replanted.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Allen! It’s almost time for lunch!”
“Coming, mama!”
Although the Rank F Summons had been unlocked, there was still quite a lot about them that Allen could not explore in full. For example, Beast F had an Ability named Chomp, but he could not very well direct it to go bite a random person or even himself. As such, there was no way for him to confirm the effectiveness of the attack.
“A’en, no mo’!”
“Okay, Mash, I’m sorry.”
Because Allen had been outside by himself for more than two hours, Mash glomped onto him as soon as he came back inside. There were still two more months until he turned three and could join Allen out in the garden. If he was left inside the house by himself for too long, he would get huffy.
It doesn’t seem like I’m going to get much out of throwing stones for more than an hour each day. It would take more than five years to reach the next level, plus I have to look after Mash too, so I guess it’s about time to move on.
Allen dug into a steamed potato while racking his brains for something that he could do together with Mash.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Today was fun, Allen! Did you get stronger?”
“I guess.”
Though I’m still no match for her. A Sword Lord is just way too strong. Kuhhhh!
The afternoon playing knight session had just ended. Just as she had been doing for the past three years, Krena dashed off back home. Only on the rare occasions when she got express permission to sleep at Allen’s house did she stay overnight.
After the total number of cards that he could stock went up to thirty, Allen had promptly Created more cards to fill in those newly added slots. Now, although he was still carrying out various experiments and had reserved a significant portion of those slots toward increasing his MP, his fighting strength had also been bolstered quite a bit.
His current card distribution was as follows:
Beast F x 11
Insect F x 2
Bird F x 2
Grass F x 15
Consequently, the buff to his Attack had reached as high as +55. Krena, who had been playing knight with Allen for three whole years, had felt the slight change.
Now that Allen had finished studying the Rank F Summons to the extent of his abilities he had taken to focusing solely on leveling Strengthening.
Hmm, Strengthening is almost Lvl. 2. I should level up tomorrow at this rate.
Allen was absolutely over the moon at how much faster he was earning Skill XP thanks to Grass F.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Papa’s kind of late, isn’t he?” Theresia murmured next to Allen as the two of them were making dinner together. It was indeed getting late. On days when Rodin went hunting, he would normally be back home around this time. He had even said that today’s hunt would be at a nearby spot.
“Mm. Papa’s late.”
The two of them had thought to prepare a slightly more sumptuous meal than usual to celebrate Rodin coming home from the successful hunt. However, no matter how long they waited, he still did not come home. Because Mash could not wait too long, the family had to start eating without Rodin.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Another hour passed, and the six o’clock bell rang.
“How much longer will he be?” Theresia was understandably starting to get worried. When Allen came back out into the main room after tucking Mash into bed, she turned to him and said, “Allen, hun, you don’t have to wait up. Papa’s been back late from hunting before, hasn’t he?”
“But he said he would be early today.”
“So he did. We’re blessed to have a son who cares so deeply about us.”
Theresia ruffled Allen’s hair.
＊ ＊ ＊
Another two hours had passed. It was now completely dark outside.
“Oh! He’s finally back!”
They heard the voice of someone approaching the house, prompting Theresia and Allen to peek outside. They spotted a dot of light against the dark, inky night. The light, which was likely a torch, was very tiny, indicating that it was still rather far away.
This is quite late. But I’m glad papa made it home safe and sound.
Slowly but surely, the light drew closer. As it did, it became apparent that it was not just one light, but two.
Hm? He’s not alone?
The lights then split into three. Then four. As they got closer and closer, their numbers grew and grew, until eventually they had become ten distinct lights.
Shouts came over the wind. Allen’s chest tightened with a sense of foreboding. When he looked to the side, he saw from her face that Theresia was feeling the same way.
When the procession was almost at the house, Gerda’s voice shouted, “Rodin! It’s your house! You’re home!”
Theresia was off before she knew it, rushing toward the approaching torches. Allen was right on her heels.
When she got close enough, however, Theresia froze in her tracks. She clapped her hands over her mouth in shock at the unbelievable sight before her eyes. Her body quivered violently.
“P-Papa...?”
Rodin had indeed come home, but on a stretcher being lifted by several men. The torches illuminated his figure with a harsh, flickering light. The hemp rags wrapped around his body were stained completely black and were hardened from an unbelievable amount of blood.
