Chapter 362: Underwater Warfare Course and Underwater Power Gathering
Saturday morning, I logged in before the appointed time because Tyrol asked me to be at the Lagoon Sea today.
When I looked at Koihi, she was awake.
"Ah...Takuto-oniichan..."
"Are you alright? Koihi?"
"I'm fine"
Then a stomach bug rumbles. Koihi's face turns red.
"I haven't eaten for a long time. It can't be helped. Wait here for a minute. I'll go make you something"
"Th, Thank you very much"
I checked Wako and she was awake. Get permission to let Koihi eat something first and bring the food to Koihi.
"A~h! Oifuidefu"
"It was good..."
Koihi stared at me as I said that. I had tasted this before with Lily. Strangely embarrassing.
"It's not good for you to look at my face"
"I don't think so! Au"
"Look. There will be repercussions, so just be quiet"
I feed Koihi and tell her what happened. Koihi, who is relieved to tell that everyone was safe, is still a kind child.
"I'm convinced if Sky Fox-sama went wild..."
"Right. Now, I'm going to go give some food to Wako"
"Yes. It was a treat. Please take good care of older sister"
I patted Koihi's head and made rice for Wako.
"It's embarrassing, but it's nice to do it like this, isn't it?"
"I was seriously worried?"
"Huhu...I'm very happy about that. I realize how much Takuto-san cares about us..."
That's right...well, when I was hospitalized, Kayo-nee and the twins cried for me, and while I was annoyed, I was also happy. Then, Lily and Nowa send me a synchro message.
『Takuto! Lily is in trouble! H, Help』
『...Don't be shy』
『I will! The meat is not purple! Nowa-chan! W, Why are you sticking a fork in the meat?』
『...I'm imitating Nii. A~h!』
I heard Lily's scream and flapping sound. I laugh along with Wako. By the time I went to subdue the commotion, it was too late.
"...I think it tasted too good"
I thought Nowa was great for saying that.
Later, while I was making bioethanol, Tyrol and the others logged in.
"Ah, Takuto-san. Nice to meet you today"
"It is I who should say so, well please...the others are gathering over there?"
"Yes! We still have some time left, is that all right?"
"No, we just finished, so let's head over. It's bad to keep them waiting"
So I went to Port Town Blumen and found quite a few players. Shallow-san and the others were there, too, so I said hello and chatted. Apparently, they were sending out a boat at everyone's request. Well, it's time for the appointment.
"I'm Takuto the summoner. Since you haven't asked me what exactly I'm supposed to do, let's go with a question-and-answer format. I will answer if I can answer"
So, I answered the questions as I went along.
"Is swimming skill essential?"
"If you use a submerged magic submarine, you will not drown in water. But it consumes effect time and magic power, so you have to think about that"
"What is Takuto's underwater battle like?"
"Not good. Basically, the summoned beasts are in charge. I only know dolphin, but I can fight without problems in riding battles. Conversely, if you want to fight close combat, I think it is almost essential to be mounted"
These are the topics everyone discusses. Then we talk about summon beasts and tame monsters for underwater combat. Among the summoned beasts I didn't know about were sea turtle, crab and jellyfish. The sea turtle seems to have evolved.
From there, information about this sea attack...but this is hard to explain because I don't know the exact distance or anything. Now that I have the paper, I'm going to start writing in earnest today. I'll tell them what I know, everyone is interested in the sunken ship.
After that, I gave them information about monsters and advice on composition and so on and finished the lecture on underwater battle for now.
After that, those who were able to summon water creatures were sent out to challenge the shallows. I knew they were struggling with the unfamiliar underwater battle at first.
"Cosette, Felt, no! Like this!"
"Takuto-san, help! I don't understand what Tyrol is saying!"
"Tyrol says things by feel, so..."
"Why don't you just ride slowly at first and get used to it?"
They both looked at each other like, that's it! No, no, don't suddenly try to ride a dolphin at full speed.
"Ta, Takuto-san! It's a shark! Shark!"
"Tyrol, you up for this?"
"Yes!"
Tyrol gets on the dolphin and takes down the shark. Then everyone has been identified and tamed and now that they are familiar with the ship and underwater combat, it's time to get down to business. We went out to the distant sea.
I spread out a piece of paper on the boat. With this, I try to show the general area of the wreck. Then, Shallow-san comes.
"Takuto-san, is that paper!?"
After all, the existence of paper is not known yet?
"Yes. I have recently become able to make it and I was thinking of writing down the location of the sunken ship"
"Indeed. That is good. It will be useful for the strategy. Have you already drawn a map?"
"I'm working on the Mangrove Forest. It seems to be a maze"
"It must be difficult...if you don't mind, could you show me the map?"
So I show the map to Shallow-san and he exclaims.
"Takuto-san...I wouldn't exactly call this a map..."
It's just a maze with lines drawn on it.
"There was no other way to write it. It's just a way to find your way around the maze for now"
Needless to say, my lack of artistic sense also played a part.
"It may be difficult to write in detail indeed. Takuto-san...would you leave this ocean map to me?"
"Shallow-san, can you draw a nautical chart!?"
"I can't draw a full-scale one. Because I don't know the speed of the ship. But I can draw something reasonable"
"I would love to have you do it!"
Then Shallow-san quickly drew the map. He drew Port Town Blumen, looked at the magic compass and noted the direction. Wow...it looks like a map. As I despair of my lack of artistic sense, Shallow-san's companion warns.
"Flying Fish!"
"From this side too!"
"From both sides! Wh, What are we going to do?"
"The summoners will take care of the enemies on the right side, while the beastmasters on the left side will use magic to deal with them"
Then I ask Lara and the others who have a seahorse.
"The seahorse can run on water, right?"
"Yes. Shall we go?"
"I ask. I want you to flank or rear up on the flying fish"
"Understood!"
At my command, everyone split to the left and right, aiming and shooting at the flying fish with magic.
"Because my current position is around here...the border with the distant sea is around here. That's roughly where we were attacked by the enemy..."
Shallow-san became engrossed in map-making. Then a rescue call came from Tyrol and the others in the water.
『Takuto-san! There's a large school of Hammerhead Sharks!』
『There are Tiger Sharks too! Help!』
『I'll be right there. Sharks are not scary as long as you don't get too close. Those of you who are fast, distract the sharks. Those of you who are slower, attack from a distance near the ship. I'll take care of the escort』
Everyone replies, and I go into the water. Then I summon. The members are Lian, Chess, Puyosuke, Dian and Surfi.
『Hydra!?』
Dian's appearance surprised everyone a bit. Let's go to Dian's first battle.
Dian shoots his breath one after another and the number of the shark army is decreasing rapidly. There were some survivors, but the summoners' magic and Tyrol's team took them down. The sharks still get close, but they wrap themselves around each head of Dian and then bite him.
Some tiger sharks caught in other heads of Dian were taken in and deliciously preyed upon by Puyosuke. That's pretty cheesy, isn't it? Dian was also hit by a hammerhead shark, but he was undaunted. I could feel the difference in their prestige.
Dian is basically a gunner and a defender. He hasn't used resurrection yet, but if push comes to shove, he can probably defend himself with his head. In fact, the head in the center is so thorough that it hasn't engaged in close quarters combat.
Then Surfi reacts to something. I knew it wouldn't end like this.
"The enemy is coming from the other side. Let's split up our forces. I'll go to the enemy on the other side. Dian will defend here. Tyrol and the others will continue to kill the sharks. Everyone else, you take care of the sharks first. Let's make sure we do it right"
『Understood!』
Then, I got on Surfi and aimed at the enemy and found a large number of them.
Starfish Lv17
Tame Monster Subjugation Target Active
It's a starfish. I thought they looked weak compared to the sharks, but the starfish deployed a magic circle all at once. Oh no!
"Puyosuke! Hide in Chess!"
Puyosuke hides behind Chess and as Chess takes a defensive position, lasers are shot at him from the starfish. He's a nasty one, isn't he? Then the Starfishes try to aim at me, but they can't keep up with Surfi's speed. This is...
"Lian, I want you to attack them from behind"
"From behind?"
"Yeah, they can only attack from the front. Me and Surfi will play a decoy role, so you can attack with Chess and the others"
"Okay!"
While Lian and Chess were taking out the starfish, Tyrol and the others reported that the sharks had been wiped out. I passed the information on to them, too and the beastmasters succeeded in taming the remaining starfish.
Underwater magic forces are valuable. They will be very useful as a turret like Dian. That's where the information comes in.
『Lian's spear skill level has reached 20. She has acquired the spear skill 【Penetrator】』
We all dismantle and move on. Then we enter the sunken ship area.
The beastmasters and summoners are resting on the ship. The reason being is that although Tyrol alone can be covered by Puyosuke's defensive range, it was impossible for all of them to be covered by it.
Since they had come all the way here, they wanted to go for the big one and they found a large ship, but there was a problem. There was someone sticking out of the boat.
Jumbo Moray Eel Lv30
Normal Monster Subjugation Target Active
It's the moray eel from the old island. I guess they want us to defeat this guy, but...it's obviously a trap. There is no way there is only a jumbo moray eel for the number of people here.
For now, we retreat and discuss the situation with everyone. There were two opinions. One is that we should go and the other is that we should retreat. Perhaps it was because they had seen Dian's battle, but everyone was bullish.
"If Hydra is there, we can go"
"Right!"
"...What do you think, Takuto-san?"
"I honestly think it's going to be tough. The enemy this time will most likely be the strongest underwater enemy I've fought"
I'm almost certain of that, given the size of the ship. And they're being polite and inviting. Still, if Hydra is there, I'll get an opinion on how to handle it. Then I'll make it clear, too.
"Everyone's right, we might be able to manage it"
"That's right!"
"It's going to be alright!"
"I can't afford to worry about everyone else, however. Dian will not be able to defend himself either. There is also a possibility that Shallow-san's ship will be the target of the battle. With that in mind, I would like to hear your opinion again. Do we do it or not?"
The result was to retreat. Everyone was still unfamiliar with underwater combat. The location is marked by Shallow-san, so we can come here anytime. We promised to challenge it together after raising the level of underwater combat and the underwater combat lecture was over.
Name Takuto Love Summoner Lv15
Vitality 82
Magic Power 222
Strength 72
Defense 40
Agility 60
Dexterity 138
Skills
Fighting Lv15
Kicking Lv20
Staff Lv30
One-handed Sword Lv30
Spear Lv19
Katana Lv15
Throwing Lv9
High-Speed Chanting Lv38
Summoning Magic Lv38
Seal Magic Lv24
Horsemanship Lv33
Alchemy Lv23
Mining Lv28
Logging Lv33
Dismantling Lv40
Appraisal Lv31
Identification Lv38
Fast Magic Lv2
Flame Magic Lv3
Land Magic Lv2
Sea Magic Lv4
Darkness Magic Lv3
Sacred Magic Lv10
Lightning Magic Lv32
Explosion Magic Lv31
Wood Magic Lv27
Ice Magic Lv29
Space-time Magic Lv40
Beast Magic Lv2
Delay Magic Lv4
Continuous Chanting Lv6
Underwater Action Lv12→Lv15
Swift Lv4
Reading Lv14
Cooking Lv39
Feeding Lv8
Fishing Lv20
Synchro Lv16
Cooperation Lv7
Name Lian Merrow Lv1
Vitality 58
Magic Power 120
Strength 55
Defense 39
Agility 100
Dexterity 84
Skills
Spear Lv18→Lv20
Staff Lv1
Singing Lv20
Curse Song Lv5
Dancing Lv1
Swimming Lv14→Lv16
Water Bullet Lv8
Water Magic Lv11
Rengeki Lv1→Lv3
Diving Lv8
Fascination Lv5
Sound Detection Lv10
Water Wave Motion Lv1
Humanification Lv23
Name Chess Blizzard Bear Lv21
Vitality 66
Magic Power 79
Strength 95
Defense 82
Agility 42
Dexterity 44
Skills
Bite Lv23
Fighting Lv22→Lv23
Defense Lv15→Lv16
Provocation Lv16→Lv17
Ice Armor Lv15→Lv16
Physical Destruction Lv4
Assault Lv21
Underwater Action Lv14→Lv16
Ice Claw Lv22→Lv23
Ice Fang Lv10
Snow Hiding Lv5
Ice Breath Lv14
Ice Throwing Lv16→Lv17
Cold Resistance Lv5
Name Puyosuke Clean Slime Lv11→Lv12
Vitality 90→92
Magic Power 0
Strength 0
Defense 111→115
Agility 40
Dexterity 52
Skills
Predator Lv26→Lv27
Defense Lv14
Physical Disable Lv20
Transformation Lv29
Impact Absorption Lv17
Splitting Lv15
Regeneration Lv20
Provocation Lv10
Corrosion Lv9→Lv10
Underwater Action Lv14→Lv15
Extreme Cold Body Lv22→Lv23
Purification Lv17
Water No Effect Lv6
Fire No EffectLv8
Name Dian Hydra Lv1
Vitality 95
Magic Power 110
Strength 120
Defense 70
Agility 84
Dexterity 84
Skills
Bite Lv21→Lv22
Coiling Lv13
Swimming Action Lv12→Lv14
Poison Dragon Scales Lv12→Lv13
Multiple Rengeki Lv17→Lv19
Fear Lv5
Lethal Poison Lv19→Lv20
Super Regeneration Lv7
Curse Destruction Lv1
Deadly Poison Breath Lv18→Lv19
Water Breath Lv1
Heat Detection Lv8→Lv9
Mimicry Lv3
Resurrection Lv1
Name Surfi Orca Lv7→Lv9
Vitality 30→32
Magic Power 36→40
Strength 39→43
Defense 20
Agility 48→52
Dexterity 40→42
Skills
Swimming Lv10→Lv12
Jump Lv3
Water Fang Lv4
Rush Lv5
Assault Lv5
Sound Detection Lv6→Lv7
Jamming Sound Wave Lv3
Water Blade Lv3
Sprint Lv6
Horse-Riding Lv10→Lv11
Wave Raising Lv2