Free Life Fantasy Online-Chapter 63

63

After waking up, I squirm on the bed to put on the VR device and first go to the Merchant Union.

From the looks of consignment, soil aside, it appears that Water of Recollection is being traded. Apparently if you die with a container in your hands and come back after scooping some, it will get you a little money.

But this, this will be pretty much only bought by «Mixing» or «Cooking» folks. And it’s easy to get to boot.

Rather than selling Nether goods to players, Residents will purchase it for more. Although, people who realize that will probably stay quiet.

And I found out that compared to the small corner that other players can move around inside, items in my home…in other words, the Evernight Castle, are of higher Quality.

There is C Quality water on sale, but for any higher quality… apparently it is necessary to fill a request with one of the Immortals that have passed through the trials.

And it looks like a fair amount of food-type items are being traded. Looks like I can’t earn like I have before. Just as scheduled, let’s shift to «Alchemy»-type crafting.

I saw what there was to see, so let’s put on consignment the items I made yesterday and log out for the time being.

After finishing a meal and other morning activities I log in.

“Ah! It’s Tasha!”

“Good morning, Abbie.”

“Good morning! I found the strangely expensive Magiclay!”

“Did you buy it already?”

“Not yet!”

“Then wait for a bit longer? I want to raise the quality.”

Getting C+ in that environment is way too pitiful, so I want to get at least B rank… if possible, I want to get up to A rank.

But it feels like that requires not only «Alchemy»’s level, but also «Magic Ability».【Magic Manipulation】is part of it, after all.

After talking a little with Abbie, we separate. Looks like she is having fun. Dorie-san is with her, so I guess there is nothing to be worried about.

After seeing her off, I use the Silver Key and jump to Vershtedt.

From here, I follow the road to the North and at the branching I head to the right, where I find a town. Area map-wise, it looks like I’m intruding upon the Northeastern area 3 - 2 diagonally from below.

If I went to the road on the left to the Northwest, I would arrive at Bellafont. Area number-wise it would be 3 - 16 since the numeration is done clockwise.

It appears that towns seem to surround the Old Temple Area that is 2 - 2, but passing by that map would be pretty harsh, so I pass by diagonally.

The path with a road is the regular route.

I summon a Wyvern and fly over the road. There are no fliers in this area, so it’s safe. Let’s head to the third area right away.

The color of the ground here continues to be mostly brown rather than green, hm? The terrain has many slopes and the road looks to be tough on carriages. To be precise, on the horses that are pulling the carriage… that is.

Putting the fact I am flying on a Wyvern aside, I travel by riding on Servants who have no stamina, so the tiredness doesn’t matter to me anyway.

More importantly, it is about damn time I had a saddle made. I somehow manage thanks to the «Riding» Skill, but it would be better to have a tool for it. Maybe I should order it at Dantel-san’s when he logs in.

Fighting in mid-air is harsh, so I have #1 fly low. There is plenty of iron lying on the ground, but they are clearly the enemy. They would have been carried away long ago if they weren’t.

Iron Tortoise, Iron Golem. Finally Golems appear on the field as normal enemies, hm? Also, there are Acid Hawks.

Let’s proceed while praying that Acid Hawks don’t target us.

There is a party fighting with a Golem. ...Hm? It’s possible to gather Iron from Golems? They are swinging their pickaxes like mad.

Umm, searching BBS… Iron Golem. When you attack Golems with Pickaxes, they drop a set amount of Ingots. Tortoises drop a certain amount of Ore when defeated… is it.

So it means that it is possible to gather Iron Ingots as you fight. Iron can be turned into Steel, and Steel is necessary for Cobalt HSS, so the amount of Iron that is used is quite large. Which means it’s not too bad as a means for earning. It appears that «Mining» Skills are not necessary for it.

While watching people fight, I head straight for the statue in the central plaza and unlock the portal.

〈Felforge's Portal was Unlocked〉

〈You can set it as a respawn point. Yes/No〉

Naturally it’s a No.

With this I became able to teleport here, so now let’s… but before that, I guess I need to buy storage. I go to a store and confirm there are Huge storages for Ore and Jewellery Box. I withdraw a total of 120k at an union and purchase them. My savings turned to just 500k. I need to earn some money, mm?

I asked the person from the store about mines and let’s march on.

The hole in the mountain where you can mine ore… the shaft it is. The shafts which players use are the ones that have been mostly mined by the Residents; unused and abandoned.

Iron and stuff are necessary for the country, so it definitely is under supervision. The moment it turns 『“At this rate we will go in red…”』 they abandon a shaft. And they begin digging out a new one.

In other words, as a game setting...

『“It’s not good enough for the town to use as a mine, but it’s still possible for individuals to mine things inside there. However, monsters have made it their dwellings and there is no light. If you don’t mind that, then you are free to use it.”』

Is what it means.

They aren’t managing it so there are cases where monsters make it their dwelling, and light also is not free so they have removed(?) it, these are sensible reasons.

By having adventurers, players included, mine the shafts they are preventing monsters from overflowing from the shafts. Which means that the town has it a little easier.

Well, putting the setting aside, I don’t need a light source since I have night vision; if anything, darkness is raising my stats so I don’t need to prepare and can go in right away with just a Pickaxe.

In the end, it’s still a game, so there are plenty of gathering points all over.

*clang, clang, clang* sounded the sound of mining, Ore has rolled from the wall and I had a Worker pick it up. Having to pick them up all the time is bothersome. This is really handy.

My companions are an armor and a wolf, as well as a Worker.

When an enemy comes I can have the Worker mine and fight myself, but if there is no enemy I can mine myself. I have nothing to do anyway.

I have Worker pick up what I mine and receive it all at once after I finish mining. I forgot to equip the Worker with a bag-type item… Let’s order one together with the saddle. Do I have enough money for that?

The Pickaxe which nearly died yesterday broke right away, so I started mining with a newly bought Steel Pickaxe.

It’s just Molybdenum and Vanadium, isn’t it. Where is Magi Iron? If it wasn’t found yet, it must mean it doesn’t appear in shallow parts.

...Hnn? It was Magic Power-imbued iron, wasn’t it. Isn’t it possible this Ore is influenced by Mana concentration? Then there is a possibility it doesn’t appear in this mine.

...It is a shame, but let’s satisfy myself with raising «Mining» Skill as the main objective.

Oh, an enemy. Goblin Miner and Goblin Bomber.

I leave the Goblin wearing a helmet and armed with a pickaxe to my Servants. I take on the bomber which is holding a round of explosives .

I leave mining to my Worker. His crafting and gathering Skills are shared with me, so the experience gained is also linked.

I cast a spell at the bomber and take his target. #1 uses【Appeal】to draw in the miner.

A load of bombs flies my way, which I reflect. If possible I would like to hit him with them directly, or right next to him. By hitting back the enemy with the bomb or hitting some surface it explodes. In other words, a shock must be applied to it.

Bombs actually seem to be Area of Effect attacks. Their AoE is small, but if they fall near the target it will receive damage. I guess I don’t have to mention that being hit directly deals more damage?

With that said, he sinks with the spell I cast in between reflects. Ranged enemies are so nice and easy.

I use【Bind】on the miner, then we all beat him up and I absorb the bomber in the meanwhile. The miner also died so I took him in too.

And then I take the ores from the Worker and go for the next gathering point.

I find several gathering points nearby, so I have Armor guard Worker as he mines ore, then take Wolf with me and mine a different point.

Although I won’t say that efficiency is everything, you should be efficient whenever it is possible. Especially when there are no risks.

In the shallow parts there are just Goblin Miners and Bombers, so it should be pretty easy. They are level 30+, but without a ruling-class Goblins are still just Goblins...

Let’s head for the deeper parts while mining.

Oh, it’s silver. Oh, gold came out, too. It might be better to sell those to Residents. Normally gold and silver would have been mined until depletion, but…well, it is a game.

Nnn… the Skill goes up real nice. Looks good as long as I pretend not to see the Pickaxe getting worn out. The wear is gradually growing smaller too, so let’s continue mining.

I guess all things from around here are for selling… I lost loads of money for housing, so I would by all means like to turn this into new savings.

I am absorbing monsters, so I can’t sell drops. With that said, Capacity is important. If possible, I want to secure myself enough to summon Servants with extra cost.

However, both miners and bombers are of normal goblin size, the increase is 3 Capacity. This feels a little sad...

But Goblin drops are petty, so it’s still better to absorb them.

While I was clanging away, #2 as wolf entered combat posture and so has #1 as an armor. I switched to my Athamé and had Worker continue mining.

Ahh, there it is, Murder Mantis. It’s a mantis that conceals itself and its sound to slash at people’s necks.

When someone is focusing on mining, they receive a surprise attack aimed at their weaknesses, and depending on their build they can even die instantly.

My build includes «Intuition» and «Sensing Danger» so I won’t get attacked by surprise, but in some cases the level of those Skills can be too low, so one can’t overestimate themselves here.

«Wild Instinct» and «Survival of the Fittest» enhance those, so I don’t have any issues at this point.

In regards to Murder Mantis, after you prevent the initial surprise attack it turns into a simple, big mantis. I fire a spell to make it show itself and we beat it up.

Combat-style wise it appears alone, so it is all up to whether you can notice it before it approaches you. If you notice it, it is hardly any threat.

They are most troublesome when they come during combat with other enemies.

Other than mantises, there is also Plague Mouse.1 They seem to be dealing Poison and Weakness Status Ailments. They aren’t too strong, but unlike mantises, they appear in groups of at least four.

In other words, they are annoying pests that chip away at you with Status Ailments rather than their direct attacks. Although Poison decreases your HP slower than Deadly Poison, it properly chips it away. Depending on the Intensity, it might chip away more than Deadly Poison does.

Of course, it doesn’t matter to us who are Immortal and Undead so they are only annoying because of their large numbers.

Weakness decreases all stats, so… How about you guys get some countermeasures against Status AIlments, okay…? Is what they seem to be saying.

Oh, an Ore I'm seeing for the first time.

[Material] Halcium Ore　Rarity: Ra　Quality: C+

Although the amount mined is fairly high, it is difficult to process and requires good facilities.

However, it is an extremely hard Ore which is far easier to process than Adamantite, and is often used as its substitute.

I see. So this is the reason people say adamantite exists. So Halcium is Adamantite’s lower tier version.

Just as the description said, it is easier to process than adamantite and “so so” facilities are enough. Considering the high amount of Halcium being produced, it must be fit for mass production.

But well, more importantly, to players it is all about whether “it can be used for equipment”. It is said that it most likely is above Cobalt HSS.

The problem is, that it doesn’t exist in real so its alloys are completely unknown. Smiths will probably start by trial and error.

Should I skip Cobalt HSS and make my Servants equipment Halcium-made? There is also an option of using elemental metal, but… the problem is the numbers.

Let’s sell elemental metals to Ertz-san and buy Halcium-made equipment.

Now, let’s hole up here until either lunch or until my Pickaxe snaps.

I use【Return】to return to my palace.

Then I head directly to the back and together with Worker I mine the recovered Ore Vein. It takes two days ingame… in other words, half a day in real for it to recover. So I can mine it 40 times a day in real.

I hate Molybdenum and Vanadium. I don’t want Molybdenum and Vanadium… Vanadium it is.

Right, I knew it. Give me only Magi Iron and gems, please. Gems can be also mined in Felforge, so I wouldn’t mind Magi Iron alone.

Hm… unexpectedly much of Magi Iron dropped. My remaining Pickaxes turned into just one, so I need to buy more when I go to sell stuff.

Now then, first let’s log out and eat lunch.

Cup noodles might be nice from time to time… Nn… dandan noodles.

“Fooood!”

“Pick.”

“Instant! I wonder what’s there~.”

It’s been a while since I ate some, but it is quite tasty isn’t it? Well… I think it wouldn’t sell if it wasn’t.

“By the way Onee-chan, I heard PKs came after you?”

“...You sure know well.”

“PKK people said so.”

It seems that PKK people were following the PKs and they were recording.

They wanted to join the combat, but I beat all attackers. There were Servants of mine, so they would be found out if they approached to close.

It wouldn’t be a problem if PKKs appeared, but… the situation was a little complicated.

And so, that video was apparently pasted on my personal board.

“I heard that Light is no longer your weakness, but, you can block an Explosion with a Burst?”

“Apparently you can if it’s opposite elements. I heard about it from the Chancellor so I tried, and I think it was effective?”

“Hee! But it doesn’t sound very usable...”

“Well, the situation it can be used is just too specific, y’see.”

“Right~.”

While nomming on noodles, we talk about the game.

Isn’t it good when we have a subject we share interest in to talk about?

“Your pose was strange, what was that?”

“A fairly special Rare Skill.”

“Hee! Makes me curious!”

“Nnn… well, fine. There probably are plenty of others like that.”

I tell my little sister about “style”-type Skills. Although it is a Rare Skill, it has its good and bad parts, y’know.

“In other words, if we enter some kind of dōjō as disciples, we will get a Rare Skill unlocked?”

“I guess. If there is some kind of style in that place, that is.”

I don’t think it would be only in Nether, and in «Kokon Musou»’s description it said that it exists on the surface, so there should be multiple styles like that. No one will mind if I tell everyone about them.

Most likely there will be some kind of requirement for becoming a disciple, but I don’t know that much.

“Arts are the forms, you see. They activate with motions, it is necessary to memorize the movements, but there are no cooldowns.”

“I see… sounds like it picks its user, quite fun.”

“Depending on style, they might specialize in different things, so you should start by searching them.”

“Are there “beating other dōjō” events, I wonder?”

“Who knows~? Setting-wise, it feels more like a place for an arena rather than tournaments?”

“BRUTALITY!”

This style-type Skill’s weakness are bind-types, isn’t it. If I become unable to move, I won’t be able to use forms and will get crushed.

Feels like there should also be other things other than binds that will affect it. In places with bad footing I won’t be able to move largely, so their compatibility with the style is the worst.

I can only say I need to do my best selecting area for fighting, but binds are a problem. At the moment, is raising Magic Resistance the only measure to prepare for them? I need to consult this with Chancellor and Lana after logging in.

“Onee-chan, you’re ×1 with Light?”

“Yup.”

“But it’s still four people’s worth of ×1 magic… isn’t more than half of it negated by the Burst?”

“I have high SPI and MDEF from equipment. Also, it must be because I have Dark magic strengthening bonuses.”

“Aren’t you already a Raid Boss, Onee-chan?”

“The reason they lost is because they attacked from range. Were I surrounded and attacked from up close, I would normally die?”

I have【Mirror Form】for fighting against range, so it’s pretty easy.

But if I was surrounded by close combat players from the first batch, it would be impossible for me. Considering my binds, I could stop one with them, so at least three are needed. First batch’s firepower probably would shave my HP off. And they will likely survive a single of my bursts.

Zombies have the most VIT right after armors, but unlike armors they do not have a weapon they are weak to. In exchange, they don’t have any specialty.

Armors are weak against blunt, but are strong against other things. Skeletons are weak against blunt, but strong against thrust. Zombies have everything equal.

With that said, the strongest against close combat would be Ghost-types. They have little of VIT itself, but astral bodies are strong against slashes, blunts and thrusts.

I am a magic attacker who can also act as a subtank, y’know. Though hit & run and retreating combat is impossible for me.

“Oh, right. But in close combat, if they’re unlucky my aura’s Instant Death will proc.”

“...Was your aura strengthened? There was no instant death, right?”

“It evolved and changed from «Aura of Darkness» to «Clad in Death». From the feel of it when I tried, Instant Death has about a 5% probability...?”

“Well, Instant Death would be something like that.”

If Instant Death probability was to be too high, it would be bad game-wise… Instant Death magic with long cooldown is one thing, but they can’t make it too high for an aura-type.

“By the way Onee-chan, you were in the North? That’s rare.”

“Went to raise my «Mining», to get materials for Servants, and to earn money.”

“Ahh, I see. You do have an Ore Vein.”

“They are higher level than me, so I guess I will stay North for a few days?”

“I also need to change weapons, ehh… should I wait for silk with armor?”

“Didn’t you say you were going for plate armor?”

“I intended so, but I thought light armor would be nice~.”

“Leather?”

“I thought of ordering a military-looking one piece dress. When strengthened, it would work as a light armor.”

“Nnn… ahh, that type. Mantle included?”

“Obviously!”

So she’s not going for a knight, but that type, hm? It’s probably an issue of AGI. My little sister is a hit & runner.

Just as she said, it’s a military-looking one piece dress. And she’s going to use a halberd with that. Well, isn’t it fine?

She’s going for a mantle because it’s cool, I bet. From the Residents' perspective it’s apparently a must-have item, but that is for the sake of sleeping outdoors and protection from rain.

As long as there is no event like the camp event, players don’t normally sleep outdoors.

“Now, let’s game!”

I clean up as I see off my little sister run to her room, then after resting a little I also log in.

Ertz-san probably isn’t there yet, so let’s first consult Chancellor and Lana about countermeasures against binds.