Chapter 1-25 : Lake Clar (part 1)
Since the day I found Lynette being ‘lectured’ by Rin and the others, I’ve been spending my time grinding while waiting for Lynette to complete my new armor.
I would log into the game to go hunt monsters and do some quests as soon as I returned from my campus. Sometimes, I played with Ruka, sometimes solo.
The level of my skills had increased quite a lot, and I also learned some new skills.
ーーSKILLSーー
Skill Points : 10
Equipped Skills
【Japanese Sword Mastery】Lv 1
【ATK Boost】Lv 21
【AGI Boost】Lv 26
【DEX Boost】Lv 22
【Perception】Lv 18
【Stealth】Lv 12
【Appraisal】Lv 19
【Storage】Lv 16
【Sever】Lv 11
【Cat’s Eye】Lv10
Special Skills
【Hunter】Lv ー
Inactive Skills
【Sword Mastery】Lv 30
【Gathering】Lv 22
【Nursery Rhyme】Lv 16
【Butcher】Lv 15
【Growth Acceleration】Lv 12
【Compound】Lv 1
【Cooking】Lv 1
First, I learned【Cat’s Eye】. It’s a simple skill that allows me to see better in darkness. It’s very useful for hunting monsters at night in the forest. The higher the level is, the better I can see my surroundings in the dark. I would normally return to the town when the sun went down, but thanks to this skill, I could keep hunting monsters through the night without a problem and doubled my grinding duration.
Next, I learned【Growth Acceleration】which I heard about from Nansa oba-chan(1-14 part1). This skill can accelerate the growth of plants, but not just plants; it actually works on food ingredients too, so I decided to learn it.
I also learned【Nursery Rhyme】. Actually, I’m still not sure if it’s a useful skill or not since the description only says that it allows me to sing children’s songs. Its level increases automatically as I hum. It’s kinda useless now, but it might have some useful effects at a higher level.
Lastly,【Japanese Sword Mastery】. Because my【Sword Mastery】had reached its maximum level, which was 30, I could now open its skill tree and learn sword branch skills. There were two sword mastery branch skills I could learn:【Western Sword Mastery】and【Japanese Sword Mastery】, and since I use a wakizashi (short katana) as my weapon, naturally, I chose the latter.
Today, I planned to level up my freshly learned【Japanese Sword Mastery】skill, but I kinda wanted to go to a different hunting spot. While I was wondering where I should grind today, I remembered Nansa oba-chan told me about water creatures called Squidspiders in a lake deep in the western forest. (1-14part2)
Now that I’ve decided on my next destination, I went to Erst Town first to buy some supplies such as food and potions, and then left the town through the west gate.
It’s currently 3 am In-game time, so it’s still dark here at the entrance to the western forest, but I can see just fine thanks to my【Cat’s Eye】skill.
Erst Wolves and Erst Bears live in this forest. With my current abilities, I could easily defeat them, but I didn’t want to waste my time, so I decided to go deeper into the forest by jumping from tree to tree like a ninja, avoiding combat as much as possible. I couldn’t do this kind of maneuver before, but it’s possible now with my current level of【AGI Boost】. Luckily, there seemed to be no flying monsters in this forest, so I was able to proceed smoothly.
While taking breaks on the trees at intervals, I kept going deeper and deeper into the forest, and a few hours later, I finally reached the area I had never been before.
A while after, a huge lake with crystal clear water came into view. I got down and approached the lake. There was a wooden plaque next to the lake saying, “Lake Clar”. It seems to be the lake Nansa oba-chan was talking about.
「Alright. I think it’s the perfect time to learn a skill to swim.」(Alice)
I opened the ‘Common Skill List’ window and spent one Skill Point to learn【Swimming】. Now I should be able to swim in this lake.
*/TL : Just some explanations. Common Skills can be learned from the list, while Hidden Skills can only be learned when some secret requirements are met. You need to spend Skill Points to learn skills, but sometimes you can learn for free after triggering some events. For example, you can learn skills for free after being taught by NPCs. Alice learned【Compound】for free after Nansa taught her how to make potions. Sometimes, NPCs will teach you Common Skills, and sometimes Hidden Skills. 【Compound】is a Common Skill, while Alice’s【Sever】and【Hunter】are Hidden Skills.
After learning the【Swimming】skill, I stepped closer to the lake and crouched down on the edge. I stared at the water. It was strangely clear for a lake in the middle of the forest like this, so I decided to identify the water first before diving into it. I took out an empty potion bottle, collected the water, and used my【Appraisal】skill.
〈Lake Clar Water (consumable) : Very clean water. It can be used as drinking water.〉
「So I can drink it? *Gulp gulp* Pwah~」(Alice)
Curious, I immediately drank the water. It tasted just like fresh water, and it was easy to drink. It seemed to be pure, high-quality water.
「I think I’m gonna take this water and give some to Nansa Oba-chan later.」(Alice)
Thinking the water might help Nansa oba-chan to make better potions, I took out some empty bottles and started collecting it.
ーBlub blub blub
「…Hm?」(Alice)
Is it just me or… the water was bubbling just now…
Since it was night, and I was just relying on a skill to see my surroundings, it was hard to see what was in the water.
I continued collecting the water, but then it started bubbling again.
ーBlub blub blub
「I knew it. There’s something approaching from the bottom of this lake.」(Alice)
I quickly took a step backward and put my hand on the handle of my wakizashi, ready to unsheathe it anytime.
Soon after, something appeared from the water. It wasー
「A squid…? No, it must be a Squidspider…」(Alice)
While staring at me, the creature showed one of its tentacles and… waved it at me.
「It’s… waving at me…?」(Alice)
I remember Nansa oba-chan said that they were not aggressive monsters. They won’t attack humans or other monsters unless they feel threatened, and judging from its strange behavior, I think it wants to tell me something.
It was waving at me, so I raised my hand and waved back at it. It then came out of the lake and slowly approached me. It probably thought I wasn’t a threat.
Obviously, it was much bigger than normal squids, and it had a unique way of walking, which looked like how spiders walk.
*/TL : I think it looks like this
There was no sign that it would attack me, but I didn’t put my hand away from my wakizashi just in case.
Looking at me, the Squidspider moved its tentacle. This time, it was beckoning me.
「Hmm… Seems like it does want to tell me something… Does it want me to follow it?」(Alice)
I came to this lake to kill these creatures and level up my skills in the first place, but now I kinda lose the will to do that.
Now I’m more curious about what this fella wants from me.
After beckoning me, the Squidspider turned around and went back into the lake. It then turned to me and beckoned me again before it dived into the water.
It obviously wants me to follow it.
Since I had just learned【Swimming】, I could follow it and dive into the lake, but…
I wonder what this creature wants…
It doesn’t look hostile at all, but it might lure me into a trap or something. I shouldn’t let my guard down.
With that in mind, I jumped into the lake.
You can gain access to [Early Access] page and read up to ten chapters ahead by supporting me on [Patreon]