48-50
[ARC 2] CHAPTER 7: GEARING UP!
Greydra
Changed the [Blade Dance] skill obtainable from Assassin at Lv.10 to [Critical Dance].
What happened last night?
I remember up to the point when Ice-guy ordered the barrel of wine... but after that's just haze.
Eh, no prob. Except that the fallen angel turned strangely meek after that? She didn't tell me off when I made them wait for me to wake up, or rather, she wished me a good morning. What gives?
The only thing she, and Ice-guy, was against was to give me booze again. Seriously, what gives? But I have this vague feeling that yesterday was great. Maybe I should stock some for myself?
Even the hang-over the next day wasn't so bad. A little Dark Heal was all I needed to get rid of it. Why did the fallen angel go angry for that? Something about not getting why I was able to use magic despite the headache.
Now, all I gotta figure out why all the Bite-skills gained proficiency yesterday. Even by the strange occurrence that [Bite] got enough to level up from the one-man-banquet, that doesn't explain why the Ailment-Bites did so as well.
"*Yaaaawn*, where are we headed for anyway, Garami?" - Alf
Ice-guy must be weak against mornings. He's still half-asleep.
"The smith. Got an order to collect." - Garami
"Alright then. I need to get a new weapon myself... something's off here." - Alf
"There is?" - Garami
"Yeah: why're you talking like a normal person?!" - Alf
I am? Hmm... am I?
"Alfred, just forget it. She is not going to be nervous or anything around us after yesterday..." - Noire
"Ah, you're right. Yesterday..." - Alf
What about "yesterday"?
"Ah, why can I not forget? Why can I not forget..." - Noire
And now she's started to chant something?! And I've been wondering about those bandages on Ice-guy and the bite marks on the fallen angel... I didn't see anything. Ah, what a nice day~.
---
"Welcome... what happened to you two?!" - Shula
"...Nothing much." - Noire
"...Just a final supper, kinda." - Alf
"Where's Waylin?" - Garami
"Ah, in the atelier... wait, that's not it!" - Shula
The two goons started to hold the Jewel girl in check for some reason, so I went ahead.
"Welcome... Garami! My soul-girlfriend! Are you happy?" - Waylin
"Way happy." - Garami
I welcomed the tiny fairy's high-five with my finger.
Waylin's just a few centimeters high, dressed in a light-green hoodie that contrasts with her dark-green hair. Not to forget about her spunky attitude that makes her larger than life and hotter than the sun. As in scorching and annoying for most people. She's on the same level as miss Rassel!
"Come and see, come and see! The most recent masterpiece of the fantastic Waylin-sama!" - Waylin
"'Sama'?" - Garami
"It's a Wakoku thing." - Waylin
Oh yeah. That Japanese-inspired country. It was on the Luxuria continent, was it? Must be the work of some otherworlder. They, or rather, we, are called Migrants, was it?
While I was lost in thoughts Waylin showed off her latest creation, the clothes I wanted her to make for me using the yarns of threads I gave her.
The outfit consisted of a jacket of dark wine-red colors plus purple lines with wide-open sleeves and a large hood, with a slim-fitted, black undershirt that reveals the shoulders underneath, plus black hot-pants with a belt to hang weapons and pockets for items. There are also black long boots and fingerless black gloves.
I tried them all on, and I have to say: it fits almost too well. The clothes are light enough to make the battle robe I used before seem heavy.
"It's good, right? It's good, I know! The threads you brought were fabulous to work with! We tested a prototype cloth's defense yesterday, guess what happened? It withstood just as much damage as a full-plate armor did!" - Waylin
Wow. That sounds impressive. What their stats? Starting from the undershirt...
Clothing imitating that of the Weaver of Misery, who brings misfortune to them it encounters.
And so it's... wait a sec, the durability is 2,000!?
Clothing imitating that of the Weaver of Misery, who brings misfortune to them it encounters.
Eu tu, jacket?!
Clothing imitating that of the Weaver of Misery, who brings misfortune to them it encounters.
Even the pants...
Clothing imitating that of the Weaver of Misery, who brings misfortune to them it encounters.
Clothing imitating that of the Weaver of Misery, who brings misfortune to them it encounters.
Y-yeah, they're all broken. And what's this "Set Effect"? Can kinda guess it, but...
Yup. It's the type that activates when you got all parts equipped on you. The effects are... Darkness attribute up, plus thread skills up, and Death attribute up... wait, why the last one!?
Is this what the description meant about "misfortune"? And both the Darkness- and Death attribute boost isn't limited to the basic attribute either, but also combination attributes like Shadow. Even stuff that's not directly related to the attributes is counted, like necromancy...
Nice~.
But still, who's this Weaver of Misery?
"Cool, right? It's cool, right? My latest masterpiece~?" - Waylin
"It's cool. But, 'Weaver of Misery'?" - Garami
"I don't f*cking know. What the heck? I was half-expecting to make a Named Item or two, but a whole set was outside of what I could predict." - Waylin
Named Items. The stuff that's worthy of a god's admiration, therefore given a name by them.
"Another thing, I was given a Quest when I finished the job." - Waylin
"Quest? As in finishing this?" - Garami
"Bingo! I mean, they're 'inferior prototypes' and all..." - Waylin
"...I'm not against giving you a supply of threads, but the finished work's going to me." - Garami
"By all means! The reward for this Special Quest is more than enough! Besides, I think these will be stuck as Garami's no matter what I do..." - Waylin
In that case, it's just to give, give, and give to the next year! Threads are free for me to produce anyway~.
"WHOOOAAAA!!" - Noire
Urgh, she's gotten past the Shula-wall.
"That is so cool! Waaaaant..." - Noire
The fallen angel had gone fangirl over my outfit. Is she a fashion freak?
"Is that why you asked for new clothes for her and Alf? They're in the ba-gack!?" - Waylin
And the fairy was kidnapped while talking to me. "The fallen angel's a fashion diva", noted...
"I'll go and make sure Waylin stays safe," said Ice-guy, following the fallen angel to the storage.
...I'll go and look for Armveil. Because I wanna see if my weapons are ready. D-definitely not because I'm lonely!
I walked around the backside of the store, which is pretty big considering it also contains various ateliers for the production of different types of items. I encountered several weavers like Waylin who looked like they collapsed due to overwork.
Geez, this organization... hmm? You had to work overnight to get used to some new monstrous thread-material? There's something like that out in the world~.
Okay, jokes aside, that "monster thread"'s gotta be what I gave 'em. In hindsight, a skill named [Spider Lord's Threads] sounds like something a high-rank spider will have.
I lucked out due to my newest evolution featured a royal pedigree, but normally, ogres and the likes won't be equipped with spider treads. It's like I'm abusing a bug to get this skill at this stage. Not that I complain. Bugs rules! But spiders are better.
I ignored the fallen brave weavers and entered the forges... only to find the smiths also down for the count.
...I'm not responsible for this! I only gave threads, not some super-fantasy metals like Orichalcum... ah. This is my fault.
I entered the room containing the biggest forge and found Armveil, slacking off with some alcohol despite it being early in the morning.
"Garami! Nice timing. Your orders were finished just a few moments ago." - Armveil
"That's nice... but what was that?" I asked, pointing behind me to the fallen warriors.
"Those guys didn't know their limits and ended up keeping me company over the night while working on your orders." - Armveil
He stayed up as long as the others, but's still healthy enough to enjoy a drink? Does he have [Sleep Nullification]?
"The various stuff you wanted to be upgraded are on the shelves," said Armveil while pointing towards a few hills littered with weapons and armors. These are gonna be useful for when I bring out humanoid undeads.
I absorbed the new items into [Necromantic Rite] while throwing out those that already occupied the space. These are the next in line to be upgraded.
"As for the other thing, let me tell you, that was the worst item I've ever worked with." - Armveil
"Then, it didn't work?" - Garami
"Didn't work? Who do you think you're talking to? I'm General Armveil of the evil organization Nequitia's Logistics department! There's nothing I can't craft!" - Armveil
Ooh... wait, you're a General!? First time I heard that!
"Here you go! A personalized weapon made from the worst Godly-tier weapon that's ever existed!" - Armveil
That's right. I asked for this General-smith to make me a weapon... using the Deathcailber as materials! I didn't believe he could actually do it. I just wanted that cursed sword a fair distance away from me so it wouldn't try to stab me like after I defeated Glavras with it.
The new weapon is a dagger with a pale-white hilt in a black scabbard. And its name and effects are Carnwennan... what?
"But man, to make an Extra-tier weapon out of a Godly-tier, shall I think of it as having surpassed the original creator, or am I one step ahead? A weapon that grows with the user's definitely worthy of praise if I have to say it myself, but still-" - Armveil
"Hold on, what's this name about?" - Garami
"Huh? I didn't name it. The finished result turned out like that when it was finished. It must have caught the eyes of some god or something." - Armveil
Heeeh, you don't say~... I'm worried. This dagger is strong, that's for sure... eh, I'll forget it. It's not for certain that there's a dagger that's just like this one in Avalar... right?
---
We were a little late in arriving at the Union, mostly due to the fallen angel having to take her sweet time admiring herself in the mirror.
She's traded her uniform for a sleeveless silver one-piece dress and a dark-grey coat with marine-blue straps. She's also got a new staff that looks like a silver teacher's pointer with a yellow gem attached to the end. It can also be retracted like a pointer, and she's currently having it in a holster on her coat.
Speaking of clothes, Ice-guy... didn't go through a big change. At most, he got a new track jacket, now light-blue with black as opposed to his previous black with light-blue. He's also got a nasty-looking halberd made of a silverish metal, but he's keeping it in a special pocket. Kinda like an Item Bag for a single weapon.
All their new clothes are made with the threads I contributed with, so their defensive powers should be around a "full-plate armor worthy of an Advance-tier tank", according to Waylin at least.
They did get many looks of admiration when they entered the Union. Especially the fallen angel. She's a beauty when she keeps her mouth closed.
Me? I'm using stealth-skills at max. Imagining strangers looking at me is making me sick...
I turned off the stealth the moment we entered the Union-
"Why can't I wiiiin!?" - Cowboy adventurer (?)
"Boss, stay strong!" - Priest adventurer (?)
"Is this bird using some weird skill or something!?" - Goblin adventurer(?)
"Mrgh..." - Orc adventurer (?)
"Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Don't think I'm finished just yet!" - Gust
...We entered the Union, right? Not some casino?
The reason why I'm asking is the large crowd of people surrounding a certain table in there, where an intense poker game is going on between a guy with a cowboy hat, a big goblin... rather, a hobgoblin, an orc with an impressive fur coat, and... Guuuuuuust.
There's also a priest-lady cheering the three first contenders on... but looking at the first three guys, and all the other fellows stripped to their underwear spread all over the place, it seems Gust is having the winning streak of the century, if not the millennia.
"...Isn't that the bird that was with you on the haunted island?" - Noire
I seriously wished he wasn't. Also, why poker? Did some Migrants introduce it to this world?
Just as I was thinking of grilled raven cuisines, the Union Master entered the scene.
"Garami. Can't you stop that bird already? The Union's going to lose adventurers due to their lack of funds." - Carion
That stupid no-limits bird...
"Wait, Garami knows the Union Master?" - Alf
"And you two are?" - Carion
While the two goons introduced themselves to the Union Master, I went over to the game table.
"ARRGH!! I LOST AGAIN!!" - Cowboy adventurer
"Boss! Keep it together!" - Priest adventurer
"Ka-ka-ka-ka! Now, who's the next unfortunate vic...tim..." - Gust
"...What are you doing?" I asked the bird, as he was going visible pale as I stared him down.
"E...e-he-he-he. J-just a friendly game of poker..." - Gust
"...I see. Then, I'm joining." - Garami
I grabbed the cards spread out over the table and started to shuffle them.
"Eh? Garami, not to be rude, but do you know how good I'm with the cards? Sorry to say this, but today's the day when I will triumph over you!" - Gust
---
3 minutes later
"WHYYYY?!" - Gust
Sorry about that. I'm not the type to challenge an impossible game.
But here I marked the cards with certain magic patterns that only [Magic Sight] could catch on, but I still got one winning hand after the other without ever needing the markings. Heck, what was that royal straight flush at the end for?
This whole event did raise my likability with the guys in the Union when I returned all the items I'd won back... urgh. Why couldn't the idiot bird have challenged some of the girls instead?
One of them, the cowboy guy, grabbed my shoulder in the excitement when I got the royal straight flush. It ended up with him getting blasted into the roof with my Mana Burst uppercut enhanced with [Aura of Darkness] and a gauntlet made with thread with an extra boost thanks to [Impact Thread]. Even I was surprised at that combo's explosive power...
Sorry cowboy... but I'm also a victim here! I would have fainted if I hadn't bought [Faint Resistance] right before shutting down!
The priest girl and the other two latest victims of Gust's winning spree turned out to be members of the same Party as the cowboy fellow. Rather than that, they were selected as Gust's bodyguards! They had tried the same strategy as me in beating Gust at his own game, but the result... well...
For some reason, the priest girl apologized for their leader's behavior. Isn't that my role? Anyway, I got them to take the first shifts of guarding Gust for the next few days. That'll give me enough time to whip up Ice-guy and the fallen angel into skill-shape.
Speaking of skills, I must compliment myself for using [Parallel Processing] to obtain [Faint Resistance] like that. Its skill level should have reached a high level by now...
Both it and [Thought Acceleration]... And why's [Faint Resistance] at Lv.3 already!? How bad am I with dudes!?
The final thing that irks me is [Pilfer]. I haven't stolen... ah. Those three kidnappers. Thinking about it, I'm guilty of both murder and robbery then...
It's not my fault! That was pure and legal self-defense! And the evidence (the stolen goods) is currently getting whitewashed by Armveil, so nothing can be used as proof against me!!
More importantly, where are those... found them. Over at the Quest Board. They must have finished introducing themselves to the Union Master. The guy himself has returned to behind the information counter. Is that one of the Union Masters' jobs?
"Garami! Look at this Quest!" - Noire
The fallen angel showed me one of the Quest notes. Let's see... "help with the Great Desert Tuna Fishing Raid"? What's this?
"Raids are the equivalent to a happening where lots of people get hurt! There, I will show my miraculous and fabulous skills with healing magic-" - Noire
"Pass." - Garami
"WHYYY!?" - Noire
'Cause there are no benefits for us. The reward is pretty nice, but money's the last thing I need. I still haven't used up the reward money, let alone even thinking of what to use the Queen-bounty for. And even if we entered this raid-event, it's only gonna give us a positive impression of the other fishermen. We need a more fitting job to up the reputation of the organization.
"Then what about this?" - Alf
Let's see... "Rats have started to overrun the sewers without warning. Locate the source of this disturbance. Double the reward if the source is destroyed", is what it says.
The reward... 10,000 Sols? Ah, the Quest giver is the mayor of this place, plus the Union. No wonder... and 1.5 Skill Points?
Hey, this ain't so bad. Getting rid of the rats will improve our standing with the mayor himself, not to mention the Skill Points can be used to allow these two to get Sub Classes, even if we don't destroy that source. And hey, it's rats. I've hunted those since I was a Grey Demon.
I ignored the complaints from the fallen angel and told the receptionist that we were accepting the request.
Time for some rat-hunting! Wonder if I should bring a flute?
Greydra
Kigal-Note/Magician Classes: Thaumaturgist
Description:
The Thaumaturgist Class is an Intermediate-tier Magician Class that focuses on synthesizing miracles without the need of a holy- or wicked being.
While classes such as Priest and Warlock asks for the assistance of a greater being, holy or evil respectively, the Thaumaturgist deviates from this practice. Instead, they focus on creating a miracle through the use of magic alone, to prove that humanity will not lose to these greater beings.
A Thaumaturgist focuses on many different subjects of support-type magics, with their origin coming from healing-type magics.
Unfortunately, despite their massive range of spells, they lack support-type skills that allow them to enhance the effect of their spells and to reduce their costs, as opposed to the aforementioned Priest class and Warlock class, among others.
This class is one of the rare examples of an Intermediate-tier class with access to the [Workshop Creation] skill, which allows the Thaumaturgist to create a special area, a Workshop, where their magic can be enhanced or improved. Due to this, Thaumaturgists are more welcome during defending battles, rather than an assault.
Garami's comment: ...And the user of this class is an angel...
[ARC 2] SPECIAL CHAPTER 1: ALFRED'S REPORT
[Status Report]
As ordered, the investigation of the newly appointed General-candidate, named Garami, is proceeding... without too many problems.
The first impression is that of an emotionless ogre. She always keeps her dead-pan expression and almost never changes it.
The few exceptions are when she is being proposed food, or when she experiences great anger. This makes me believe she has a large number of emotions, but lacks the ability, or the experience, for her to demonstrate it visibly for others. She is also averted to social interactions, but she can handle those that are below her to certain degrees. Females, especially.
Tempting her with feasts looks like the easiest way to make her play along with our plans. As for how much the mentioned strategy will cost, I do not want to think about it. I can say that she is at least a big candidate for the [Gluttony] Extra Skill.
Garami's strength is an equal mystery. She is capable of hiding her presence from the populace with ease, producing threads that can be used to create A-rank clothing, and if Armveil's deduction is right, capable of defeating a King of Ghost and take their weapon. Not to mention she is capable of retrieving a unique C-rank monster to the Union.
The following facts make me believe she is not understanding her own strength, as long as her proclamation about wanting the organization to defend her from the local mafia-group is correct.
And a final, but all the more important subject: do not give her alcohol.
I tried to do so, but the result was disastrous. Excuse my language, but how bad of a drunk can one girl be?
Not only did she break her dead-pan character, she even showed extraordinary insight regarding combatant Noire's past dilemma and made her overcome it. Be noted that they both were drunk at that time.
After that again, she started to chew on combatant Noire, saying something about never having tasted an angel before. And she did taste. Rather, she chewed of parts of combatant Noire's body. I even lost my hand when I tried to stop her. If we did not have the high-tier potions with us, and that Garami herself was filled at the right moment, we may have lost some bodyparts that night, if not our very lives.
As it is important, I will say it again: do NOT give General-candidate Garami alcohol, unless you are prepared for casualties.
Reporting Operative:
Combat Agent Alfred Loxley, possible-candidate for a one-armed bandit.
[ARC 2] CHAPTER 8: RATS, RATS, RATS!
So, Velantas city is made of six towers in a circle around the seventh one. The populace lives on bridges between and on these six circle towers, while the seventh can be used on the inside as well. How do they fix the sewers then?
The bridge-towns simply release it into the lake as it is, but what about the towns twirled around the towers? The answer is: they use the inside of the tower as the sewer. Why? Because the ground would turn too unstable if they dug out a sewer system.
In other words, I think I may have bitten more than what I agreed on...
---
"...and therefore, try to find the root of the rat problem. Traveling through the whole system is presumed to take a month due to the lack of light, the rat monsters, and having to restock on provisions, so be careful down there."
After saying his bit, the old sewer-working old man left to fetch the keys. For what? For the massive steel doors which act the entrance to the sewers! What are they keeping down there to need such stupid-solid doors?!
Crap, the two goons are looking at me. Stop starring at me like that! I didn't know a few rats would take so long to exterminate!
It didn't take long before the worker returned with the keys. Heavy sounds came from the door as it opened up. Seriously, what do they have in there?
"Here are the keys to open the doors from the inside. Make sure not to lose them." - Worker old man
I was given the keyset of keys... which I imminently threw into the Storage. Not gonna lose those.
After the doors closed with the same, heavy sounds, the goons didn't waste any time complaining. I ignored the sound with a:
"Stop wasting more time complaining and start working."
They shut up hearing that, probably because they too didn't want to stay in these sewers for too long, if not at all.
The sewer tunnels are divided into two types. The first is the entrance type, as I've named them, which is a simple tunnel connected to the entrances to the surface.
The second type is the norm, the waterway tunnels. These are the norm. Just like the name suggests, these are tunnels that have a large waterway in the middle of the tunnel with pathways on the sides and a few grid-bridges connecting each side here and there.
There were some problems, such as Ice-guy not being able to see in the dark, so we had to use a torch. Or so I thought, but then I remembered I had the spell version of the [Night Vision] skill, so I used that on Ice-guy. Almost forgot about that one...
The fallen angel was alright. Seems like that [Celestial's Sight] skill shares effects with several sight-related skills, such as [Night Vision] and [Magic Power Perception]. I-it's still not enough to compete with [Magic Sight]!
A problem we didn't encounter was that regarding space. You know Ice-guy's using a halberd? Turns out the sewer tunnels are big enough to let him swing the big thing around, no problem.
The flip-side is, we can't use my idea regarding his [Ice Wall] to block the tunnel. You know, in case a tidal wave of rats come charging?
Despite the differences this whole situation had with my plans, we still advanced into the tunnels. I deployed 3 Skeleton Rats for 35 Materials each, so they would be able to use my [Auto-Mapping] skill. They also got [Presence Perception] in addition to their [Lifeforce Perception], so they should not get caught by something hidden in here.
Using more Materials for an undead creation allows me to enhance the undead's stats, or add one of my own skills to the undead. In this case, I created the Rats so they could map the area, so the extra Material cost is well worth it.
However, despite my diligent act of converting the corpses that I can't eat, I'm still only at 132 Materials! Way too little to make the army of undead rats I want. Mapping would be so easy if that was possible...
It's been an hour since we first entered the sewers, but we've yet to encounter any enemy rats. No one wanna face uuuus~...
Damn those wimpy rats. They fled with their tails between their legs before we even saw them! I need Materiaaaaals!!
Ice-guy and the fallen angel's not complaining at least. They used some magical anti-smell items to withstand the sewer smell.
Ice-guy in particular is happy with the current situation. He bought the skill version after experiencing the effects of Night Vision, and his skill level just goes up without him even needing to lift a finger. And he only needed a single Skill Point for it...
M-moving on! Charge, charge, CHARGE!!
Huh, Rat #3 discovered something in his tunnel. [Auto-Mapping] got this nice feature of showing other living creatures you are aware of when it reached skill Lv.15. It's no worth for me normally, but in conjure with the Rat scouts, this effect shows its true worth!!
Let's see, one, two..., 10..., 100? Uh-oh.
E-e-escape #3, ruuun! Retreat, retreat, RETREAT!!!
#3 hightailed it outta there... but he's leading the monster-army with him! Oh, crap.
"Battle positions." - Garami
Ice-guy and the fallen angel looked at me in confusion but started to prepare themselves when they saw me setting up spiderweb on spiderweb in the tunnel that #3 should emerge from.
Ku-ku-ku. I never got the chance to show it off in the Water-Knot, but this instant-web technique is through the use of [Create Trap]. With it, I get a helping hand when creating traps, plus I can instantly create any trap I've made before, as long as I save said trap in the Recipe list of the skill.
And what is my most used trap ever? Webs!
But still, the webs aren't placed with the thought of balance accounted. They're not big enough to cover the whole tunnel, so only one side can be attached to a wall. They're still holding on, but they're less solid than the webs I'm used to. Better cover that up with more webs.
#3 arrived not long after the sixth web was in place, running through the small gaps I'd created in the webs at the bottom, before closing it. The sound of many footsteps came from the tunnel #3 arrived from...
Wait, isn't this a little too many from the sound of it? Also, they do not sound like not your garden-variant rat... or sewer-variant either. The footsteps are too heavy for that.
And not too soon arrived the answer to my question: humanoid rat-people.
"Ratmens!?" - Noire
I thought it would be something like that. They look like a rat and a goblin had a child. Lots of children... or rather, too many? There are tens of them already insight, and more are coming from the tunnel.
You would figure that I would freak out over the crazy amount of rats, but they all got caught in the webs. Once the first line filled the web, the second one tried to push on in blind rage, which broke loose the first web, only for the whole deal to be caught with the second web.
This is not good. They're breaching all the perimeters!!
I hurriedly started to throw out more threads... when did I get so fast with them?
I Identified my status while throwing threads and saw that I had various status-up buffs on me. What gives?
Fallen angel! Was that you? Good job! Heck, when did she start throwing them out? My thread working is so efficient now that it's scaring even me. Damn, those buffs are efficient. But the ratmen are still pushing on!
And before I noticed, some of the rats had started to swim upstream to bypass the web barrier. That's unfair! I've got no waterproof threads!
Then, Ice-guy came to the rescue. He slammed the hammer-part of the halberd into the waterway, and with that, the whole thing froze over, wait, it froze over?!
Only the part starting from the third web and a few meters after the final line of defense, but the rats that were swimming in that area are frozen solid.
Ice attribute skills are too OP when used in the water...
Seems like the waterway doesn't get clogged due to the massive block of ice in the middle of it.
The old worker-guy said something about there being some small channels in the walls of the waterway that allows the sewer water to run through in case the main way gets blocked.
The rats started to climb on top of the ice block, but it's too slippery for them to travel far enough. Those who manage to reach the web-free area gets to meet with Ice-guy's halberd.
But man, Ice-guy's ruthless with that thing. The halberd weapon has three different weapons attached to the end, with Ice-guy's being an ax, a spear, and a hammer. And he's using all parts equally well to slash, stab, and crush the ratmen. I would have pitied them if they weren't attacking us.
It didn't take long for the ratmens to start ignoring the thread-and-rat-barricade and focus more on crossing the iceblock. That means I can help on the frontline instead of this tedious barricade-working! Heck, can we even remove this stuff afterward? This side of the tunnel's turned completely white, with just a few thuds of fur sticking out here and there.
But, how am I supposed to assist? Ice-guy needs as much space as possible to swing that halberd of his, and there's not much space that needs to be guarded either. The fallen angel just needs to give a few support spells here and there when the old one's about to expire, but all I can use is Night Vision.
Hmm... I think I got an idea.
I climbed up to the roof above the waterway with my threads, for then attaching my feet to the roof with some sticky threads.
While upside-down, I produced a durable thread that could act as a whip. Then, I drew out the new dagger of mine... whoaaaa... that's some dark blade right there...
Crap, I got sidetracked. Anyway, I bound the Carnwennan to the end of the whip-thread, then I started to spin the improvised flail a little, before throwing it at the unsuspecting ratman-army. The blade struck the rat right in their head.
Headshot! Insta-kill!
Poor lad. Especially since I used the Aura, Mana Burst, and even [Poison Coating] on that blade...
Let's keep this going!!
---
*Urp*, who the heck came up with the spider-dangling idea? I'm gonna kill 'em...
So yeah, staying upside down all that time was NOT a good idea. All the blood went to my head. Urgh...
But, we got rid of all the rats. I mean, it was only a question of time before we got rid of them all. My improved chain-and-sickle, or rather, thread-and-dagger, got rid of most of the ratmens before they could get close to Ice-guy.
They sometimes tried to cut the thread with the old-looking swords they had, so I had to be careful about that... until I figured out that I could use [Parry] Arts with my improved weapon. Then there were some magician-types there who tried to blast me off the roof, but the Magic Guard Art of the [Guard] skill blocked them. This must have been the first fight I've ever used [Guard] so much...
Ice-guy didn't use any fancy moves to save stamina, but he still pummeled every ratman that got within his range. One of them even had a decent metal shield, but Ice-guy simply used some trusting Art and broke through it. Simple, but reliable.
Even the fallen angel got to contribute with something else than just support. While the buffs were up and running, she shot Holy Magic spells at the ratmen whenever she got the chance. She used up quite the amount of MP Potions... should I have her focus on getting the [Overeater]/[Golden Ratio] combo that I have?
Both Ice-guy and the fallen angel's barely able to move from the exhaustion. We've recovered with potions and healing spells, but the mental exhaustion is a different story, so we're taking a break now. I'm all for a break myself...
I ordered #1 and #2 to return while having #3 patrol around here and warn us for any monsters that may try to ambush us. I also made a #4 and #5 with the corpses I converted to help him.
Now that's outta the way, let's use the break to look at the rewards.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
Level has increased. Reached Lv.15
You have earned a total of 1.2 Skill Points
Due to "Champion of Alvatria", an additional 1.2 Skill Points has been earned.
[Threadsmanship] skill level has reached Lv.Max
You have earned 0.6 Skill Points
Due to "Champion of Alvatria", an additional 0.6 Skill Points has been earned.
Acquired title: [Master of Threads]
Skill, [Thread Mastery] has been unlocked.
Acquired title: [Rodent Slayer]
Acquired Skill: [Resistance Increase (Small) Lv.1]
Skill: [Resistance Increase (Small) Lv.1] has been integrated into skill: [Resistance Increase (Small) Lv.Max]
Weak! The rats are too weak! That many, and I only got 4 level-ups!
Ice-guy got only three levels, and the fallen angel two. They also got the Legion of One title, plus the Vermin Bane title, so that's two more Skill Points for them after the Champion cheat.
Ice-guy also got the Beast Slayer and Rodent Slayer. That'll help his stamina and resistance even if just a little.
The fallen angel got the Magic Arts User title due to her spell-spamming. The MP-reduction effect is great for a spell caster like her.
The clean-up was just as horrible as the fight itself. Ratmen doesn't have any particular good materials, so I was allowed to convert all of them. It was a paaain. But [Necromantic Rite] reached Lv.9 from this. A good trade-off?
The total amount of ratmens were:
That's a lot. Good thing that the ID Card counts the monsters we kill or this would have been impossible. Not to mention that [Chaotic Concurrence] has such a low cooldown period when used with Rite. Even better than I could convert those who were in the iceblock or the heap of webs. Those in the webs were killed with Holy- and Darkness magic by the way.
Converted to undead Materials, the regular F-rank Ratmens gave 2 Materials for each individual, meaning I got 424 Materials just from them! Add the E-rank Class Ratmens that give 4 for each, and that's a total of 824 Materials obtained from this one fight! Yahoo!!
...But seriously, looking at the list, we were damn lucky with our opponents. If a Ratman Fire Mage or something had snuck in, things may have ended differently. My threads are weak to fire.
Then there's the fear of some other monster getting attracted by the ruckus we made. I received more damage from the anxiousness of something like an alligator monster suddenly appearing than what I got from the rats.
But, we're fine! All okay! The work's not done though.
"Hey, can we not return? We defeated the rats..." - Noire
Even if not everyone understands that!
"The Quest was to find the source of the rat outbreak, not defeat the Ratmen themselves." - Alf
So said Ice-guy, while still a little listless...?
Crap. #2 got done in. So fast, it never managed to give me any info about the assailant.
I ordered #1 to return to the area we're resting at while dismissing #3 and summoned two Skeleton Shield Warriors with extra materials for a power boost.
"What's up?" - Alf
"Gotta check on something. Be ready for a quick escape." - Garami
I left the Shield Warriors behind as guards (even if they're weaker than Ice-guy) and went off to the area where #2 breath... where #2 stopped living... stopped un-living... you get what I mean!
It didn't take much time to arrive at the scene of the crime. #2 had been killed (let's go for that) in a large area where many of the tunnels converge. I kept my stealth-skills running at high, hoping I wouldn't be caught off-guard like #2.
It must be the middle of the tower... or so I say, but we've not ventured so far in to reach the middle.
Anyway, all the tunnels ended in a huge area that looks like an inverse tower inside the tower. Or rather, like those big malls with a free open space between the floors? Where one can see the bottom even from the top floor?
The waterways continued down the edge, turning into waterfalls. It would be a pretty sight... if it wasn't sewer water. I wish I had taken one of those smell-removing magic items as well instead of toughing it out.
However, the smell isn't the real problem here.
In the airspace was countless of thin threads. Threads forming something I know all too well. This waterfall area has been turned into a spider's hive. And what a spider it is.
A jet-black body with white markings picturing skulls on its back, the top of its head, and the knees of each leg. It's bigger than an ox, and its head has three faces, similar to an Ashura.
...Mhm. Okay.
Tactical Retreaaaat!!
Greydra
Kigal-Note/Monsters/Demi-Monsters: Ratman
Description:
The Ratman is a demi-monster that is considered a hybrid between Fiend Goblins and rats. They live in urban areas where regular humanoids do not live, like in sewers and ruins.
Like the Goblins, they form tribes of their own and evolves into species that are based on an Intermediate-tier class. Again like the Goblins, they do not need to spend Skill Points on these classes, nor do they have to complete requirements as difficult as other races need to, but only for the evolution.
Ratmen is a cowardly species and will only attack when backed into a corner. However, when they do strike, they do so with the attitude of berserkers, not caring about their own life while attacking whatever they come across. They do retain some of their senses of survival, as they will focus solely on escaping an enemy they know they cannot defeat.
Appearance:
Ratmen looks like bipedal rats on the size of humans in their early teens. The fur color variates between the different tribes.
Abilities:
The Ratmen's sole strategy of battle is to overwhelm their enemy with numbers. They will keep on attacking until every either the enemy or every single Ratman is defeated.
These creatures are capable of using tools like humans, so they can be tricky to deal with sometimes. They also have no set skill list they all follow, so the variety between the many Ratmen can also be a threat if they get the chance to swarm on you.
This swarming strategy can increase the Ratmen's Danger Rank from F+ to D- easily. They are considerably weaker in one-on-one fights.
Finally, the Ratmen can easily have many different sicknesses and diseases in them, so other monsters try to not interact with them as much as possible, unless they are a greater source of diseases, of course.
Garami's comment: Don't go and "of course" me!!!