After our … scout flight and taking care of the biggest threat, we were having our lunch break, while we were also going over what monsters we should hunt.

  Because the guild master, who had actually somehow gottehe A-rank monster, asked for it, I let Alice take charge of deg what monsters will be hunted. Apparently this was going to be a part of her rank-up exam.

  “I think these monsters should be hunted.” Alice said, pointing out a few locations on the map, which Goblin Calligrapher had drawn before we began our break.

  “Good. What do you think about these?” The GM asked.

  “... are they? I don’t think they are a problem, right? They are quite far from any major roads and vilges.” Aliswered.

  “Correct. But think about this. What was here?”

  “... there? The A-rank monster was there, right? But Brian took it down already, so why?”

  “Exactly. The major monster which was calling that area its own has beeed, what do you think will happen?”

  “... I … I’m not sure.” Aliswered meekly.

  “Other monsters will likely try to take over the trol of that area. These orcs, these forest tigers, maybe even this imp group might head there. And that will result in a fight. What do you think will happen then?”

  “Won’t they just kill each other? Or maybe one group will win and take over that area?” Alice theorized.

  “Possibly, but one group also might retreat. And if these tigers retreat, where do you think they will end up?”

  “... close to the road?”

  “Correct.” The GM firmed.

  “So we should take them down?”

  “No. Again, you are thinking too simply. The D-rank tigers are a smaller threat, their territory is already between the road and the area where the sword-horn lived and lenty of power avaible, so what do you think we should take down?”

  “... the orcs then?”

  “Yes. Now, what do you think will happen then?”

  “... the tigers and the imps will fight for this area, right? And the tigers will win?”

  “Yes. That is the likely oute. And that would result iigers moving further away from the road, making the road safer.” The GM cluded.1I have no idea if that is what would actually happen, I just feel like that is correct

  “... I see.” Alice said, as she wrote down a bunch of things intreen covered notebook.

  From that point on, I let Alice take charge of the quest. Sure I was still flying Big Core, but that was all I did. Letting Alice point out the points where we would go, aiake down the monsters, either solo, or with Ria and Paulina’s help. She did summosu Fuhma to help her out oime, but that is still solo. Kind of.

  Spoiler

  [colpse]None of the monsters stood too much of a ce. Even the k orcs were quickly taken down by Alid Ria. The two of them are really growing in power so quickly. I remember wheook on that orting mission with Saber Fang. Back then, Alice’s spells really didn’t hurt them that much, but now she could pierce them with one dark spear. They might not die i, depending ohe spear nded, but they still took major damage from each shot. So I guess you could say that she has enough power to pierce their defenses.

  In total, she hunted 7 orcs, 9 imps, 5 forest deer and two k snakes, called bakes. Yes, they are in fact b color. How did you guess? They are quite fast and have lethal poison, so getting bitten is extremely bad, unless you carry an antidote with you. Some call them the practice before fighting wyverns, as with wyverns you also have to look out for the poison, except that from wyverns it es from the tail, not the fangs. And wyverns fly.

  Also, after the first time, I made sure that Alice had t the corpses to the teleportation beam before I stored them in ste, just because she was “having it too easy”, acc to the GM. Well, if she had a rge magic bag, she could use that.

  After our return trip, we got down from Big Core and drove Overdrive to the guild to recap the quest. Ria actually offered to ride on the roof of Overdrive to give Alid Paulina more space, but the two of them said it was fine, so we were all inside. And at that point I would have just summoned a sed one a Ria and Paulina take that one.

  At the guild, we were guided straight into the GM’s office. We got a few looks from the advehat had returned already, but nothing more than that.

  “Now, first of all. Miss Wat. I believe that you have the knowledge and power required of a k adventurer.”

  “T-thank you.”

  “However, you seem to rely too mu Brian. You struggle to take and unless he orders you to. This in itself isn’t always a bad thing, as it doesn’t take away from yood qualities, but it might cause problems in emergencies, if you have to take and in an ued situation. And it is something you should work on, as you might not get approved to B-rank unless you act as a party leader. But that isn’t an issue for now. I’ll fill up your paperwork and you take it to one of the receptionists. They will update yuild card.”

  “I - yes. Thank you. I’ll do my best iure.”

  “Now, as for you.” The GM said as he turned his gaze to me.

  I purposefully made a face, trying to have that ‘What, Me?’ look.

  “Don’t make that face. You kly what I mean. … hah. What am I to do with you?”

  “Nothing.” I offered.

  “Nothing? How I just ignore what happened?”

  “Question, did anyone know about the sword-horn bull? Probably nht? Just based on the fact that you didn’t know of it. So if no one knew about it, why do you have to report about it?”

  “... haaah. Fine. I’ll see if there will be as ing in. But hat if any do, I will be rep this to the higher ups.”

  “That’s not what I actually meant. I meant that you should just report what happeo the higher ups as I know you have to do that. And just not tell anyone else anything, assuming that no one knows about it to begin with.” I expined. “That way, there will be no rumoing around about it, right? People will just assume that you were able to force yourself to observe us, like your assistant tried. Sometimes not telling people the truth is for the best.”

  “Hmm. I suppose you have a point. But what about the corpse of that monster? Don’t you want to sell it?”

  “I could, but I kind of want to keep it for an experiment. At least some parts of it. And I kind of feel like I should give the monster core to a certain noble because of the core he let me use.” Yeah I know. An A-rank core isn’t really a rept for an S-rank core, but at least it be a pceholder, until I find an S-rank monster.

  “Are you sure?” Paulina asked. “That thing is worth a lot of money.”

  “About keeping all of it, iving the core to Christina?” I asked. “Well, I could sell some of it, but I’d at least keep the core and the hide. As I said, I want the core for your sister and the hide for my own experiments.” To be specific, for the fe project. If I do make a fe in a space isoted factory room, I’ll need materials. And A-rank monster hide should be great for that. I make my own version of what is being made for Ria and I.

  “Well, I won’t tell you what to do with your monster corpse.” The GM said. “But even if you do have … what did you call it? Iory? Won’t it go bad?”

  “It might, it might not. I’m willing to take that ce.” I answered vaguely.

  “... if you ge your mind, we will be happy to iate a price for it.” The GM offered. “Now off with you, before you break my sense of reality any more.”

  I got up and we all left the room.

  “See you ter.”

  After that, we quickly visited the receptionist, so she could update Alice’s card to k. Then we sold all of the monsters she hunted. In total, she got 101 gold s for them. A good k of money. She gave me 25 gold for transport and butchery fees, Ria 15 gold for her help dealing with the snakes and orcs. And Paulina 10 gold for her part in hunting the orcs.

  I have to say, it really isn’t worth it to hunt B-rank monsters. They just aren’t worth the threat level they have. I guess the quest reward for them is higher, so maybe that will make up for it, but the materials just aren’t worth the increased risk factor.

  stop before returning home was the armor store. We had gotten that letter yesterday and I even asked the maids to write up a response, so we had to visit.

  “Wele. Oh, it's you. And Lady Paulina. Wele.” The female dwarf was holding down the front of the store. “Miss, how has the cloak been serving you?” She asked Alice, referring to the mage’s cloak she bought from here previously. Well teically I paid for it, but anyway. Alice should now have money, so I could ask her to pay me back, but I kind of want to find out if she realizes herself that she should do that.

  “I really like it. It's really nice.” Aliswered.

  “Gd to hear it has been serving you well.” The dwarf said, walking to us and taking a good look at the cloak. “Hmm. Minor damage only. Good. Have you fought anything strong after you got it?”

  “We did fight a hydra a few days ago.” Aliswered.

  “A hydra? You are the ohat took it down?2Obviously the hydra materials would bee avaible on the market, and as armor makers they would likely find out about it I didn’t know you were of that high of a rank. I would have reended something more than that had I known.”

  “Do you have something like that?” Alice asked, likely feeling the burn from all of that money she has earned from both today and the hydra.

  “No, not on hand. It would have to be a order.” The dwarf answered.

  “Okay. Then I’ll keep this for now. I was also thinking of visiting that other store you reended.” Alice said.

  “Be sure to tell them Atrea sent you.” The dwarf dy, possibly rea, reminded her.

  “Now then. To what you came here for.” She said, walking back behind the ter. She then opened a rge closet and pulled out two leather jackets. Well, it is actually armor, not a jacket, but it does look like a jacket. “Miss, you first.” She said, looking at Ria.

  Ria took a step forward and tried on her armor.

  “... alright. This is good. The sleeves are just a bit too tight. We’ll have to loosen them up when we install the metal ptes. That will also give some more space for the gaus…” She said, as she was looking at Ria. “Move your arms around a bit. See how it feels.”

  She did as instructed, moving a bit and throwing a few punches.

  “Does anything feel off? Anything too tight?” Atrea asked.

  “No. It is loose, rather than tight.” Ria answered.

  “Good to hear. But it should feel just a bit loose at the moment, as it will get a bit tighter as the metal parts get added.” Atrea said. “But it does seem to fit you nicely, so we just keep going.” She said, and helped Ria take off the jacket. “Now, your turn sir.”

  I took my turn to try on my ‘jacket’.

  “Hmm. Yes. It seems to fit just fine.” Atrea said as she was taking a look. “Move around a bit, try how it feels.”

  I did as ordered and swung my arms around a bit. The armor didn’t limit my movements basically at all, so that is great. I thought it erfect, until I ran into a little problem.

  “... I ’t roll up my sleeve.” I said, as I tried to clear my terminal so I could activate my duel disk. The leather was a bit thick, so rolling it wasn’t easy.

  “Your sleeve? Why… oh? That thing your terminal turns into. I’m so sorry. I fot to sider it as you didn’t have it out when I measured you.” Atrea apologized when she realized the mistake we made. I ’t really even bme her, as I should have sidered it myself when she measured me. “How should we deal with that?”

  “We could just cut off that part of the sleeve?” I offered, recalling how my noble’s clothing will actually only have elbow length left sleeve, so my terminal will be visible for all to see.

  “That will simply not do. Please give me a moment. I’ll …”

  Our final choice for the fix was to cut a slit into the sleeve which my duel disk could extend out from. That way, I could both have a full sleeve proteg me, while also being able t out my duel disk when I . It would affect the defense a bit, but my terminal under said sleeve should make up for it.

  “I think we will have them finished in just about a week. I’ll be seeing you then.” Atrea saw us off.

  We returo the manor and made our report there as well. I was quickly questioned about the A-rank bull, but as soon as I showed him the monster core from it, Tahlia had dismahe mow, he believed that I was telling the truth. He offered to buy the core from me, but I just told him that I nning on giving it to Christina to make up for the one used in my dungeon.

  Alice also got her reward card. Dark Bde. She actually wanted Dark Bde the Dragon Knight, but I told her it would be useless for her without Dark Bde, so she agreed to get it first.

  Spoiler[colpse]Also, in case you were w, I’m not actually going to give her a toploader Polymerization. When she has all the parts for the summon, I’ll either give her a oime use Poly, or just let her borroloader Poly. They have the effect outside of my monsters, so I don’t want Alice to have one. Not because I don’t trust her, but because I wouldn’t trust ah that power.

  After that, the rest of the day ractice time. Magic practice with o Queen, telekinesis practice with Paulina, Ria was w hard on both trolling blood iron and Vampiriodification with Grimson and Scarlet Sce, and Alice was w hard with Mana, trying to learn a new spell. All around, all of us were trying to get stronger.

  Well, I’m not. I’m just having fun. I highly doubt that I’ll ever be able to exceed the power of my most powerful summons, so I’ll just focus on utility teiques instead of straight power.

  But still, I should practice swordsmanship again. Maybe tomorrow be a bat practice day. Ria learn some pung teiques from one of my monsters, while I practice with the sword. We didn’t have anything pnned for tomorrow, so yeah.

  Of course, the day ended with level ups. That is the norm, right. For myself, I got one more level into Mana trol. I really think I might for learning Space Magic, so yeah. Just one more, then tomorrow be Unity. For Ria, I leveled up Unarmed bat Teique.

  SpoilerName: Brian WoodRace: Human !Level: 72HP: 2410Mana: 315th: 695Defense: 895Magic: 855 Skills: Pack Opener LV.4 (unique)Different Dimension Factory LV.2 (ue LV.10 (unique) Telekinesis LV.3 (extra)Summoner’s Unity LV.3 (extra)Dungeon Founder (extra)Summon Water Spirit (extra)Health scious (extra) Mana trol LV.7 Water Spirit’s Blessing (Greater)Language prehension (humanoid)Sve MasterSves: Rhianna

  [colpse]SpoilerName: RhiannaRace: DhampirLevel: 64HP: 1780Mana: 199th: 1035Defense: 745Magic: 920 Skills:True Blood Magic LV.5 (Racial)Vampiriodification LV.2 (Racial) Card Summoner LV.2 (extra) Fire Magic LV.3Mana trol LV.4Fast Mana Recovery LV.4Internal Magic Teique LV.5Unarmed bat Teique LV.5Flickering Step LV.3Power Boost LV.5Defense Boost LV.3 Blood Sucker (Racial)Sve. Master: Brian Wood[colpse]Well, that’s it for today. Good night.

  nro_8