Chapter 341: Pumpkin ghosts and desert canyon raid
At night, I log in as usual.
I was going to go to Hawk Valley for the night, but a quest came up, so I headed to the Sandwall Desert.
First, I take Lily and Koihi to Nefert Town to gather information.
Then suddenly I heard a story that sounded bad.
"...Between you and me, I heard that Coconut Village was attacked and burned to the ground"
"Is that true?"
"Yes...I heard it from a fellow caravan member. I'm sure of it"
I heard they sometimes attack caravans, but I never thought they would burn villages. But I don't think they would burn it down without a reason. Shall we go? I'm also curious about the famous coconuts.
"Thanks. I'll add some color to the information"
"Hehe...you know the story. Older brother. Thanks"
Now, shall we go to Coconut Village, relying on the desert compass? The members are Lily, Koihi, Nowa, Hix and Cinth.
"Lily, please don't use your powers"
"I know~. Takuto"
I hope so. We met a lot of light bodies on our way to Coconut Village. Identification.
Will-o-Wisp Lv17
Summon Monster Subjugation Target Active
The Will-o-Wisps deploy their magic circle all at once. Then comes a red laser. Heat lance!
『Dive and duck!』
We all swoop down at once, ducking the heatlances and I take aim at the Will-o-Wisps.
"Shining!"
I took down the Will-o-Wisps, but I took the blitz damage. That's a nasty skill to have.
Then Lily attacks the Will-o-Wisps with her signature big swing and the Will-o-Wisps are obliterated. Then Lily takes electric damage, but Lily is unperturbed.
"Oh? Doesn't it hurt?"
Checking the status, Lily has not taken any damage. The holy dragon blessing is a skill that prevents abnormal conditions. It does not prevent skill damage. Then the suspicious thing is the blessing of the stars.
So, Lily was to defeat Will-o-wisp.
"That's it!"
Koihi warns as Lilly annihilates all the Will-o-Wisps.
"Takuto-oniichan! Above!"
"What!?"
We're suddenly hit by a direct hit of flame. Damn! The one triggered by annihilation!
I looked up and saw an enemy with a pumpkin head, a cloak and a lantern in its hand.
Jack-o'-Lantern Lv35
Summon Monster Subjugation Target Active
"Kabokabo!"
You son of a bitch...you laughed at me for being a pumpkin!
"Shining!"
"Kabo!"
My Shining and the flames from the Jack-o'-lantern's lantern collide. Tsk! I guess we're even!
"Kabo!"
Jack-o'-lantern waves his lantern and multiple fireballs float in the sky and come flying at me.
"Water Wall!"
I block it with a water wall. This guy is a joke, but he's strong. But I'm not going to get into a magic war with him!
"Rune Magic!"
I use my rune magic and just when I think I have sealed it, the Jack-o'-lantern disappears as a phantom. That was an Illusion!?
I heard a metallic sound behind me.
Koihi was stopping the knife held by Jack-o'-lantern.
"I won't let you do it!"
"...N!"
When Nowa attacked with shadows, the Jack-o'-lantern ducked.
"Holy Fire! Flash!"
Koihi releases a flash with holy fire in it, but it is lost in the illusion. Then Jack-o'-lantern appears in front of her, laughing.
"He's getting away..."
"...N"
"No, you saved my life. Thank you, Koihi, Nowa. Thanks to you, I know how to attack the illusion"
"Eh?"
I stock Shining with delay magic. Now I'm ready to go.
"Koihi, point me in the direction he appears"
Probably because of that guy's skill, I don't feel any sign of him. Koihi is my best bet here.
"Y, Yes!"
I hold my staff up to the Jack-o'-lantern. This is not the same power as before!
""Shining!""
"Kabo!"
The shining and the Jack-o'-lantern's flames clash with each other, the power of shining increased by continuous chanting. This time I push, but here Lily slashes at the Jack-o'-lantern.
"Yaaaa!"
But the Jack-o'-lantern stops working its magic and disappears in an illusion. An unexpected event, but it comes.
"Takuto-oniichan! To the right!"
I hold my staff to the right.
"Release!"
Shining was released and hit the Jack-o'-lantern with the knife. Bingo. Earlier, Koihi had stopped Jack-o'-lantern's attack. In other words, at the moment of the attack, Jack-o-lantern had become real.
Spica had also used an illusion to avoid and then attacked. I have never used illusion during an attack. In other words, illusion is probably a skill that cannot be used during an attack. And when I saw that he had avoided Nowa's attack, I saw that there was a time lag between when he attacked and when he was able to use his illusion. Whether Lily knew this and attacked is a mystery.
"Ka, Kabo..."
Jack-o'-lantern disappears in illusion. It will come again...but now that the story is known, the rest is left to Koihi.
But the Jack-o'-lantern took an unexpected action. It was not me he was after, but Lily. That's not a wise choice.
"!! Yaaaa!"
"Kaburaaaaa!?"
Sure enough, Lily's danger premonition detected the Jack-o'-lantern's attack and Lily's counter hit the Jack-o'-lantern directly. He was blasted in a straight line to the ground and the impact of the collision sent up a cloud of dust.
"That thing is dead"
"I think"
"...I'm sure of it"
To take on a natural enemy, of all people, is a match made in heaven...a man in heaven. I find the fallen Jack-o'-lantern and dismantle it.
Charcoal: Rarity 5, Material, Quality C-
Charcoal used to build a fire. It is also used for cooking and heating utensils and for blacksmithing.
Flame stone: Rarity 5, Material, Quality C-
A stone that reacts to fire and bursts into flames. If you make a mistake in mixing it, it will be a catastrophe.
Flame stone is probably a material for bombs. I regretted a great deal about charcoal. I went through the sale of a seven-ring and charcoal stove at Elixir Lapis. The heating device could be a kotatsu? I don't believe there was one in Elixir Lapis...maybe it was somewhere else.
We were out of the desert and into a canyon. Apparently there is Coconut Village at this point.
But they would not let us get out of the canyon safely.
"Takuto!"
"Something is coming from the right wall!"
I let Hix rise to avoid the attack. What came out of the canyon wall was a huge drill. That drill transformed and became a mole. I identify the enemy.
Drillmole?
? ? ?
Now that transformation, I want to see it again...did I miss it? I thought the drill broke in half and it turned into a mole.
The mole has a drill nose and drilled fingers for hands.
"Mogu!"
Transforming again. Yeah, it's still a drill all of a sudden. Then it comes toward us as a drill.
Hix uses his lightning breath, but it doesn't matter, it comes at us. As it rises again and runs away, Koihi warns.
"Takuto-oniichan! Beside!"
What!? A spiky iron ball breaks through the wall and appears, which Hix is unable to avoid and is blown away by it.
"Change!"
Koihi changed into a ball of fur and prevented me from hitting the wall. She can do this kind of thing for change. It helped but it worked...identify the enemy.
Ankylosaurus?
? ? ?
We got hit by a blow from the tail of an ankylosaurus...
"Hix, are you okay?"
"Pii..."
Looks pretty tight. He got hit by a completely unexpected attack. He may not be an option.
"Take it easy, get some rest..."
"Takuto! Look out!"
A drill came flying at me. Then, Lily gets hit by the drill.
"Muuu! Yaaaa!"
Lily bounced off the drill. It hits the wall, but apparently no damage occurs during the drill.
Then the Ankylosaurus starts wagging its tail. Drillmole points a finger at us. I prepare for wall magic, but Lily warns me.
"Takuto! No wall! Koihi-chan! Nowa-chan! Spin around, please!"
"Yes! Lily-oneechan!"
"...Leave it to me"
Ankylosaurus sent a spiky iron ball with a spiky tail. Lily catches it and pops it off.
Drillmole sent a finger drill flying. Drill missiles! Koihi changes the course of the drill missile with her spirit power and Nowa parries the rest of it off in the shadows.
From Lily's statement, it looks like the wall can't prevent this attack. Alright. I take out my Scarlet Ring.
"Lily, you take care of the Ankylosaurus. Cinth, you support Lily"
"Okay! Takuto!"
Now, Koihi, Nowa and I will deal with Drillmole. The key is Nowa.
"...Nowa, after we seal it, we teleport and fly. Seal its drill transformation. Koihi, you deal with it until then"
"...N"
"I understand! I'm coming!"
I use rune arts and rune skills to block martial arts and skills. Seeing this, Koihi slashes at me but transforms into a drill. I knew that skill is not an attack skill...I teleport to move.
It doesn't even move when attacked. While I'm thinking about what to do, Nowa sets up Drillmole, who is still in the drill and not moving.
"Dragon Technique, Dragon Absolute!"
Under the effect of dragon absolute, Drillmole's vitality and magic power decrease.
Attack magic and weapon attacks don't work, but these things do. That means. Poison and other abnormal conditions were still effective.
Drillmole transformed and aimed at Nowa.
"...Shadow Binding. Nii, Koihi. Please"
"Ah. Flash!"
"Evil Flame! Iai-Kiri!"
Me and Koihi´s martial arts killed Drillmole. Now, Lily...
"Yaa! Muu! Taa!"
She was waving Est Oracion in time with the tail of the Ankylosaurus. It looks like she is undergoing some kind of special training. Cinth noticed that we were watching her and raised her hand.
She seemed to be out of her depth.
"Emm, what do you want me to do? Takuto-oniichan"
"...I'm sorry if I interfered with the training"
Nowa just doesn't want to fight.
"We'll make her stop. If Est Oracion breaks, we're on a scolding course with Setia and Hephaestus. Hephaestus will cry, won't he? And I don't know what's going to happen to Setia"
"I, I'll stop!"
"...N!"
I think the scariest one of us to piss off is Setia.
Since we're here, I'm going to recover Hix. Then I'll use my rune arts and rune skill on the Ankylosaurus to block its attacks.
"Oh, that?"
Lily is stumped when the attack is over.
"...Evil Eye!"
"Firestorm!"
Ankylosaurus goes up in the air with Koihi´s firestorm.
"Explosion!"
Ankylosaurus explodes in the sky above. Then Hix, in a whirlwind, body slams the Ankylosaurus into the ground and the Ankylosaurus is knocked down. And finally came the info to level up.
『The level of Love Summoner has increased. You have gained status points 2pt』
『The level of Love Summoner has increased. You have earned skill points 1pt』
『Katana skill level has reached 15. The katana martial art 【Nukiuchi】has been acquired』
『Hix´s level has reached 20. Evolution is possible』
『Cinth´s level has reached 20. Evolution is possible』
With this, the remaining skill points are 6pt. All status points were turned into magical power.
Then Lily complains.
"Ah~!? Lily's enemy~!? It's terrible. Everyone~"
"You're taking too long. Look at Est Oracion. If you break Est Oracion, Hephaestus will cry and you'll get a course of plenty of scolding from Setia. Lily"
"Eh? ...Ah"
Lily looks at Est Oracion and her blood runs cold. She told Setia she'd take good care of it and here we are. Lily must have known how much it would piss her off.
"Th, Thank you...everyone"
I was impressed by Lily who thanked us earnestly. Well, let's evolve.
Name Takuto Love Summoner Lv9→Lv10
Vitality 76→78
Magic Power 202→207
Strength 60→62
Defense 40
Agility 60
Dexterity 120→123
Skills
Fighting Lv15
Kicking Lv 20
Staff Lv27
One-handed Sword Lv 30
Spear Lv19
Katana Lv14→Lv15
Throwing Lv9
High-Speed Chanting Lv37
Summoning Magic Lv34→Lv35
Seal Magic Lv23→Lv24
Horsemanship Lv31→Lv32
Alchemy Lv20
Mining Lv28
Logging Lv33
Dismantling Lv39→Lv40
Appraisal Lv30→Lv31
Identification Lv35→Lv36
Fast Magic Lv2
Flame Magic Lv3
Land Magic Lv2
Sea Magic Lv4
Darkness Magic Lv2→Lv3
Sacred Magic Lv10
Lightning Magic Lv31
Explosion Magic Lv28→Lv29
Wood Magic Lv26→Lv27
Ice Magic Lv29
Space-time Magic Lv40
Beast Magic Lv2
Delay Magic Lv2→Lv3
Continuous Chanting Lv3→Lv4
Underwater Action Lv12
Swift Lv4
Reading Lv14
Cooking Lv38
Feeding Lv8
Fishing Lv20
Synchro Lv16
Cooperation Lv7
Name Lily Dragonewt Cura Lv22→Lv23
Vitality 92
Magic Power 96→98
Strength 193→197
Defense 65
Agility 78→80
Dexterity 72→74
Skills
Light Fist Lv10
Flight Lv25→Lv26
One-handed Sword Lv35→Lv37
Large Sword Lv30→Lv32
Danger Premonition Lv2→Lv4
Hammer Lv13
Rengeki Lv13→Lv14
Tempering Spirit Lv30→Lv31
Light Magic Lv6
Light Wave Motion Lv8
Dragon Technique Lv12
Dragonification Lv6
Dragon Breath Lv3
Holy Dragon Blessing Lv5
Name Koihi Shrine Beast Lv18→Lv19
Vitality 81
Magic Power 110→112
Strength 113→116
Defense 50
Agility 132→135
Dexterity 82
Skills
Katana Lv24
Dual Wield Lv1
Wind Blade Lv10
Flame Magic Lv12
Evil Flame Lv16
Holy Fire Lv23
Sign Detection Lv24→Lv25
Danger Premonition Lv26→Lv27
Spirit Power Lv6→Lv7
Illusion Lv2
Shinto Magic Lv6
Lookout Lv9
Swift Lv10
Sorcery Lv4→Lv5
Blood Awakening Lv9
Cooking Lv18
Invocation Lv1
Beastification Lv3
Name Nowa Dragonewt Obsession Lv18→Lv19
Vitality 66
Magic Power 141→144
Strength 50
Defense 42
Agility 60
Dexterity 118→120
Skills
Shadow Manipulation Lv13→Lv14
Flight Lv7
Curse Strike Lv4
Shadow Detection Lv10
Shadow Movement Lv6
Shadow Hiding Lv16→Lv17
Shadow Binding Lv15→Lv16
Shadow Summoning Lv4
Sign Isolation Lv9
Mimicry Lv5
Night Vision Lv20→Lv21
Evil Eye Lv7→Lv8
Dark Wave Motion Lv2
Darkness Magic Lv2
Dragon Technique Lv4→Lv5
Dragonification Lv4
Evil Dragon Blessing Lv5
Name Hix Lesser Griffon Lv18→Lv20
Vitality 76→80
Magic Power 94→98
Strength 126→130
Defense 50→52
Agility 138→140
Dexterity 68→70
Skills
Flying Lv30→Lv31
Claw Lv10→Lv11
Riding Lv21→Lv22
Whirlwind Lv18→Lv19
Windproof Lv10
Wind Blade Lv9
Gale Lv17
Afterimage Lv14
Wind Magic Lv14
Lightning Magic Lv14
Lightning Breath Lv10
Majesty Lv4
Strengthen Horsemanship Lv18→Lv19
Name Cinth Imp Lv17→Lv20
Vitality 32→36
Magic Power 58→62
Strength 30→36
Defense 24→26
Agility 58→64
Dexterity 36→40
Skills
Flight Lv12→Lv14
Bloodsucking Lv7
Night Vision Lv9→Lv10
Sign Isolation Lv9
Hiding Lv5
Dark Magic Lv9→Lv11
Curse Lv1