It was a few hours till dusk when the first day of the hunting games officially ended, too late for lunch but too early for supper, so the teams simply cooked large meals to fill their bellies and allowed themselves to relax. Conversation, dice games, and even strategy board games were used to pass the time, but some individuals simply wanted to just drop and rest their fatigued bodies, like Rhemurus.
By the time he woke up from his near-coma it was nighttime, he was the last one to eat his share of food which was basically just the leftovers everyone else left behind, but it was still more than enough to fill his growling stomach to the brim.
"You even eat like a savage wolf, I bet this hunt really did bring out the primal beast inside you, huh?"
"Mmm, I will take it as a compliment."
"Please do! I think wolves are awesome."
"So..." Lord Erodel decided to step into the conversation the refugee was having with a fellow teammate. "...tell us, did you progress as you expected? I did notice that you used [Produce Flame], was that a new spell you didn't know how to use before today?"
"Yeah, I just learned that spell today. These hunting games are better than I expected! I really appreciate you inviting me."
Even though he said that so casually, the words that Rhemurus just said made the humans a bit amazed at him.
The native spellcasters of the new world can't just master a new spell immediately after learning it, they must have a proper practice, develop a good feel for each specific spell, put in the effort.
Yet this foreigner from who knows where can masterfully use a new spell immediately after learning it?
- Just where did this guy come from? Is what some humans began to ask themselves. The player was bringing quite a bit of attention to himself, which isn't exactly what he wanted at all for the time being, but it couldn't be helped. His nature as a player will sooner or later place him at a level that nobody in the new world will be able to ignore.
But in any case, what remained of the night was quite uneventful. Everyone went to sleep and Rhemurus could rest easy knowing that his MP bar would be fully refilled the next day, and he was looking forward to seeing how much his mana pool had grown.
[The second day of the hunting games]
Next day began almost the same as the first day of the hunt did, everyone was allowed to sleep as much as they needed for the second day of the game would officially begin at the same time the first day did.
The human player woke up earlier than the previous day, though still a bit later than the other members of his team.
Rather than immediately getting up, he took a moment to feel his internal spell console and see how much he has progressed since arriving here.
- Nearly 30 spells now, if I get seven more levels, I will also be able to learn 3rd-tier spells!
However, once he reaches the 3rd-tier, there is a small conundrum that he should decide now instead of later; should he go ahead with his original plan of becoming an arcane hierophant, or should he just ignore his accidental [Mage] level and keep on as a mono-class druid?
If his memory was right, the prerequisite to get the [Arcane Hierophant] job class - which was the first one in the mage-druid line of hybrid prestige classes - was to be able to cast 3rd-tier divine druid and 3rd-tier arcane spells. The reason he decided to become one was to both take advantage of his accidental level and to show this world that he could be a very valuable individual since pretty much everyone he has spoken to so far has both told and shown him how valuable spellcasters are, and the more exotic magic a caster can use, the greater is this caster's worth.
- Combining druidic and arcane power would surely make me quite the notorious individual, eh?
However, to fully carry on with that idea, he has to purposely halt his druidic progression once he reaches the 3rd-tier in that branch, and start leveling up his arcane mage class until he reaches 3rd-tier in that branch, too.
In theory, it sounds easy enough, but can he do it in practice?
The first day of the hunting games was quite brutal, he got really hurt multiple times and he had to both spend his MP in [Cure Light Wounds] and be healed by Othollo to not drop dead on the spot.
- Oh right, I can learn 2nd-tier spells now, so [Cure Moderate Wounds] is a spell I have to add to my to-get list.
Only reason he was certain he could keep pushing forward was that every new level in [Druid] not only increased his spellcasting ability but also his physical stats as well.
It wouldn't be the same with more [Mage] levels, however, since not only he wouldn't even be able to use any new arcane spell he learns while wearing his wooden armor, but also his physical stats would barely increase at all.
So basically, from the perspective of those around him, he would be giving the impression that after reaching the 3rd-tier of druid magic, he began to stagnate again.
- Maybe I could hide the fact that I'm a 2nd-tier caster for now. That way if I start to get more arcane levels, I can just pretend to improve as a druid.
Of course, that is only if he's serious about becoming an arcane hierophant instead of just going forward as a druid and pretending his single [Mage] level doesn't exist.
- In this world it may not really matter, if the overall level of most individuals is so low, having such an incredibly specialized build doesn't seems that essential.
He would be forgiven for having an unoptimized build, yes.
In the new world, having a higher level overall is generally more important than having a min-maxed build, so even if a player with 1 level in arcane mage and 99 druid levels would be a laughing stock back in Yggdrasil, in this world he would still be a God either way.
However...even if the world itself may not mind, Rhemurus himself definitely would mind. He would mind a lot.
Tanaka Ito was an extremely hardcore player, obsessed with power gaming just as much as the next hardcore player. He would never in a million years forgive himself for having such a lackluster build, especially in a world where other players exist, the possibility of finding at least somewhat decent gear wasn't nonexistent by any means.
So yes, Rhemurus will definitely aim to become an arcane hierophant. The path will be much harder than simply focusing solely on druid levels, but so be it.
"Alright, it's decided. Let's get to it."
He got up after a few stretches and walked out of his tent to the sight of excitement among everyone around him.
Apparently, the second day of the games will be slightly different from the first one. How different, however? That seems to be a surprise since it's easier to show it to the new participants than tell them.
"So everyone has their health crystals? Everyone?"
Othollo began to ask everyone present if they were in possession of some sort of item called 'health crystal'.
It was embarrassing, but because he didn't want to regret not having something that seemed necessary, Rhemurus was the only one who raised his hand.
"I, um, I guess I don't have one."
"Oh hi! You just woke up? Here, hopefully, you won't need these." Said Othollo as he took out five palm-sized stones from a pouch and gave them to him.
The stones were red in color and had rough shapes. When he asked what these health crystals were exactly, the other humans told him that they are standard healing items; to use them, you just need to crush them. Whether you're strong enough to crack them with your hands, or you need to drop them to the floor and stomp on them with all your weight behind them, once crushed the health crystal releases positive energy that the body absorbs to heal damage.
"So you don't use potions?"
"Potions? Like, liquid substances?"
"Um, yeah. Back in my homeland, our standard healing items were potions."
"Well, maybe some other countries may use potions, but as far as we know here in Argland, we prefer health crystals."
Rhemurus didn't know this yet, but health crystals were actually much easier and more cost-effective to make than potions.
Among the treasures that the countries under the dominion of Tsaindorcus have, the basic concept of health crystals was designed by none other than the Platinum Dragon Lord himself after his extensive study of the Yggdrasil item known as [Sealing Crystal]. While such a powerful item couldn't be perfectly replicated, the dragon lord nonetheless found a method to create a lesser version, a method that could be taught to tier magic users to hold spells in clear variations of gemstones like quartz, agates, sapphires, and the like.
Originally, only 1st-tier spells could be stored, but after centuries of magical progress, crystals holding up to 4th-tier spells can be found in the large council state cities without having to look too hard.
Health crystals in particular are the ones stored with a [Cure Wounds] spell, but the healing spell's potency varies depending on the divine caster who stored the spell in said crystal. The crystals that Othollo gave to his fellow members of the human team which he himself made had [Cure Critical Wounds] stored in them.
- Now that I mentioned it, I still have that healing potion stored in my inventory. I wonder what I will ever do with it.
He also wondered why they were given healing items today but not the day before, since the first day was quite brutal. But he figures that the reason will be revealed soon enough.
- Don't tell me, today will be even more brutal than yesterday? If so, I imagine it will be hard for me to pretend I'm not a 2nd-tier caster now.
In any case, Lord Erodel eventually informed everyone that the second day of the hunt was about to begin, so the teams likewise left their tents and began to walk towards the bulette grounds once again.
"Huh? What happened to the bulette carcasses? I remember there was a sea of monster corpses yesterday."
"Oh right, I keep forgetting these are your first games."
Erodel took the opportunity to give Rhemurus a rundown of how the second day of the hunting games go.
Bulettes are so voracious that they aren't above cannibalism. In fact, the main source of organic food for bulettes is other bulettes, since they already devoured every other form of nearby wildlife pretty much immediately after the Demon God of Beasts corrupted them so long ago.
However, since the evil deity that created them wanted to take countermeasures against any attempt to eliminate the bulettes, one of the alterations included the ability to survive solely on inorganic matter like minerals and the like when real food is scarce, but that doesn't mean that bulettes don't prefer to eat meat when it's available.
And yet another demonic alteration given to them was the ability that allowed the bulettes to get smarter as they got older, and those particular bulettes that are smart enough to not live so close to the surface and prolong their lives by avoiding confrontation with fellow bulettes most of the time are known as dire bulettes, monsters with enough mental fortitude to resist the [Bay] skill from the yeth hounds of the level the high marshal can summon.
In theory, the Shield Dragon Lord could replace quantity for quality by summoning a single higher-level yeth hound that would have better chances of affecting the dire bulettes, but wasn't a guarantee. So instead, what Barakazmith did last night was to take the bulette corpses and ferment them in massive amounts of cheap alcohol he had prepared just for today. Alcohol mixed with herbs and aromatic substances that are capable of making magical beasts go mad in a frenzy.
This treated bulette meat was 100% guaranteed to attract the attention of the dire bulettes even more than any skill or spell could without actually decreasing their physical or mental faculties, because where's the fun in fighting weakened monsters?
"Even though the dire bulettes will be mad, they won't be the same stupid beasts we fought yesterday. These bulette variants will be more coordinated with each other, and since they will have devoured the fermented meat, they won't be starving at all."
- And I imagine their overall level will be higher than regular bulettes as well, no? Damn, even though I'm higher level now, I get the feeling today will be much harder than yesterday.
That feeling was correct. Rhemurus will have to use everything he has and more to have a chance at making the most of this second day.
"It's alright, just follow my elder son, listen to his wisdom. You will be fine."
Othollo for his part began to walk in front of his team, then turned around to address them before the second day officially starts.
"Mmm, it seems that the extended [Bless] spell I cast yesterday will expire around this hour."
"Huh? You cast [Bless] yesterday?"
"Yeah, I did, Rhemurus. Right after you joined us! You didn't notice?"
"Um, no. I believe I was too busy staring at the guests from the empire."
- And way too lost in my own thoughts, as well.
[Bless] was a 1st-tier divine spell that gave a sacred bonus to attack and defense, as well as resistance to fear effects for both the cleric and those surrounding the cleric.
- So...it was thanks to you...
Now it made perfect sense, why Rhemurus could even scratch the bulettes in the first place, why those monsters' strikes - despite hurting - didn't kill him in one shot, why he could even stand after the first wave was eliminated despite swearing that his legs were about to disintegrate. It was thanks to the buffing spell from Lord Othollo.
"Give me a moment, I will cast another one. [Extend Magic - Bless]"
A golden burst of light emanated from Othollo in all directions, like a ripple in an otherwise calm surface of water, filling everyone in the human team with great courage and strength. And since it was extended, the [Bless] spell will have its duration doubled.
- I seriously can't believe I didn't notice yesterday, I need to develop the habit of paying more attention to my surroundings.
"Hey, refugee!"
"Huh, yeah, Ursion. What is it?"
The one who just called for Rhemurus was someone known as Ursion, the weapons and armor expert of the human team and the one with the most effective warrior levels in said team.
"Your wooden plates are still broken, one good strike from a dire bulette, and your armor will break for good."
- Talk about telling the obvious, but it's not like I have a spare one.
"Here, I have this alchemical stone to patch it up. Stay still."
Ursion reached into his bag and took out an obsidian flask of sorts. He removed the cork and splashed the flask's contents on the wooden armor, which was a type of cement-like substance that quickly spread throughout the wooden plates before solidifying, giving the armor a new solid stone layer.
"The alchemical stone layer still won't make it as durable as it would be fully repaired, so don't be too reckless, alright?"
"Yeah, I get it. Thanks, Ursion."
It was his own fault for acting though with his 'I don't need no team' mindset from the day before that caused his armor to break in the first place, so Rhemurus will be mindful of teamwork today.
"And so, is everyone ready!?" The thunderous voice of the high marshal could be now heard, which meant that it was go time.
He was holding a massive wooden casket on his talon, a casket that he threw with great force towards the bulette grounds. A massive hole was made in the place where the casket was thrown, and the moment the casket broke, the smell of fermented bulette meat could be felt throughout the entire hills.
It was neither appetizing nor repulsive to herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores. It was a scent that was custom-made to attract bulettes and only bulettes, a result of the specific mixture of herbs and substances to prevent the participants from getting distracted during the second day of the games.
And soon enough, the ground began to shake just like the previous day, but instead of erupting from all burrow holes, the dire bulettes all congregated in the place where Barakazmith threw the fermented bulette meat, feasting on the remains of their slain fellows.
"There's more meat over here! You oversized knuckleheads!" Screamed the leader of the dark dwarf team, Durzagon Blackhammer.
Lord Durzagon is a powerful blackguard - or antipaladin, as they're usually called - of the Eight Gods of Conquest. More specifically, he's a self-proclaimed champion of Duerro; a dwarf fighter player, and a member of the aforementioned individuals that arrived in the new world 600 years ago.
Duerro specialized in the use of a particular weapon remembered as the dwarven waraxe, a weapon that his loyal adherents always replicate from lesser new world materials and master its use in combat with incredible zeal, something that all the worshipers of Duerro do regardless if they're dwarves or not.
Hence, the weapon in the hand of Lord Durzagon was known as [Dark Sun], a dwarven waraxe forged from adamantite and enchanted with a crimson fire that always burns at the blackguard's command. But on his other hand, he had a flask filled with a substance that was sticky and adhesive that always ignites every time it was exposed to the air, a substance known in some places as [Alchemist's Fire].
Durzagon threw the flask with incredible strength, aiming at the place where the dire bulettes were aggregated at.
"Come here you walking armor pieces! Soldiers of Grakclstugh, to battle!" Yelled the dwarf leader as he commanded his forces to advance.
However, the one at the helm wasn't Lord Durzagon, rather the most capable healer of the dark dwarves was the one at the front line as the hunting games tradition sustains; the warrior-adept Garhor Moonblight.
Garhor was no priest, however, since [Adept] was actually the basic starter class of spiritual spellcasters, just like [Mage] was for arcane casters. That said, spiritual spellcasters still dabbled in the healing arts, hence why despite being a warrior-adept multi-class, Garhor was a capable healer nonetheless mainly because only 1 of his levels was given to [Fighter], the rest of his progress was instead put in improving the strength of his spirit, focusing his power inward rather than outward.
"Don't let the dwarves hold all the glory to themselves! Hunters of Durbal, let everyone see who the real monster-killers are!"
Likewise, the leader of the bugbears, the master ranger Lord Khulgran, also riled up his own men forward.
And so on and forth, each leader began to pump up their own teams as if the first day was just a warm-up of sorts and today was the actual day when the hunt begins.
"You heard the high marshal! Forward!"
Lord Erodel was no exception, he pointed his staff toward the dire bulettes and everyone began to run behind Othollo. The spellcasters in the human team used the same buffing spells as the day before, and Rhemurus likewise didn't prepare much except for casting [Longstrider] to run faster, since he figured that if he could rely on teamwork, he wouldn't need to reveal the fact that he was a 2nd-tier caster now.
However, he saw two disparities from the day before; Arioch began to run near him and cast [Blades of Fire] on Rhemurus' scimitar before going back to his previous position, without saying absolutely anything. Then, Othollo cast [Extend Magic - Divine Power] on himself, which is a 4th-tier divine spell that transforms the caster into a warrior of the same level of whatever is the total level of the cleric - akin to the [Perfect Warrior] arcane spell - except that the cleric also gains an extra bonus to physical stats, HP, and retains the ability to cast other spells as long as [Divine Power] remains active.
- Arioch increased the power of my weapon, and Othollo used [Divine Power]? This will be far more serious than I anticipated.
Those two disparities alone were enough to fully cement the fact that this second day will be grim, so just to be sure-
"[Hawkeye], [Omen of Peril]...whoa!"
His gut was right, the dire bulettes were no joke! Thus, Rhemurus removed any lingering intrusive and distracting thoughts from his mind and steeled his resolve like never before.
And so the slugfest began-
"A powerful beginning to the second day of the hunt! All teams have excellent starts!"
Even though Barakazmith was also the commentator on this second day, he was also preparing himself to swoop in and use [Mage Hand] to remove any participant that got critically injured and was too far away from the team's healer.
And the high marshal wasn't the only one with a more determined mindset. Every single member of all teams was now focused entirely on collective teamwork, unlike the previous day when it was a more chaotic battle royal against the monsters where some individual action could be afforded, hence why nobody seriously chastised Rhemurus for his lone wolf behavior the first day of the games.
But today, no selfish behavior of any sort will be tolerated.
The dire bulettes were stronger, faster, and smarter than regular bulettes, just like they had told him, but the player was very calm and collected nonetheless since he had entered a state of mind that he hadn't touched in more than a year already until now; his PvE monster-slayer mode.
Just like Tsadok had advised him the day before, Rhemurus took the opportunity to familiarize himself with all members of the human team, adding their abilities and weapons to his mental list. He in return gave his allies a list of all the 1st-tier druid spells he could cast, which ended up leaving some of his fellow humans quite dumbfounded at how fast he was now progressing as a druid and also about how he could now use some druid spells that the humans of Argland had never heard about before.
In either case, now Othollo could properly make the most efficient strategies with the information available to him. The only thing that Rhemurus hopes is that him hiding his 2nd-tier spells doesn't end up biting his team in the ass.
The first move of the human team was the high priest using [Bane], a 1st-tier divine spell that filled the cleric's enemies with fear and doubt, inflicting a penalty to attacks and making them more susceptible to fear effects.
At that very same moment, another cleric immediately cast [Widen Magic - Prayer] which was a 3rd-tier spell that gave a luck bonus to attack for all allies and an attack penalty to the enemies, a penalty that stacked on top of the one inflicted by Othollo's [Bane].
Next, all the druids - except Rhemurus - cast [Body Entangle] on as many dire bulettes are possible, while the ones that weren't caught in the vine trap spells were sniped from a distance by Arioch and Ommarra who each used the 2nd-tier spell [Scorching Ray] which allowed them to blast the monsters with several fiery rays. Erodel for his part cast a 4th-tier arcane spell that didn't exist in Yggdrasil; [Lesser Missile Storm], a much more powerful version of the 1st-tier spell [Magic Arrow] that - instead of firing arrows - fired much larger projectiles around the size of javelins, likewise made out of the defense-shattering [Force] element.
A considerable chunk of the dire bulettes was either killed or severely wounded by these first attacks, and the ones that survived were chopped down by the melee specialists alongside the clerics and druids of the human team. Among them was Rhemurus who used his flaming scimitar and [Snake's Swiftness] to kill three weakened dire bulettes, kills that were surprisingly enough to gain another level right there on the spot.
- Damn! These dire bulettes carry some juicy EXP!
Luckily, Rhemurus was prepared. He still didn't know what would happen if he levels up without knowing beforehand what class and spells he wishes to obtain, but he has no intention of experimenting in the middle of combat, he can always do so in the future, in the middle of more controlled circumstances.
The new 2nd-tier spells he just got from his ninth druid level are:
[Soften Earth and Stone] makes wet earth soften into thick mud, dry earth into loose sand or dirt, and stone into soft clay that can be easily molded or chopped.
[Body of the Sun] allows the druid to draw into solar energy to make its body emanate fire, illuminating the surrounding area and inflicting fire damage on anyone who touches the druid.
[Summon Nature's Ally - 2nd] was the tiered-up version of [Summon Nature's Ally - 1st], allowing the druid to call forth a large-sized animal or medium-sized fey. Either that or three creatures that can be summoned with the 1st-tier version of this spell.
Also, since Rhemurus now had a grand total of 10 effective spellcaster levels - even if they were split between 9 divine and 1 arcane - he also qualified to obtain a metamagic skill to enhance his spell in a specific way at an extra MP cost, and the skill he picked was [Penetrate Magic] which would make his spells harder to resist.
- At the speed I will be gaining EXP today, I better start preparing for getting more levels at a higher rate than yesterday.
It's true that he was literally in the heat of combat, but he couldn't afford to not prepare, his gut was telling him that. And since he doesn't have the aid of another player who also started at a low-level in this world and had to level-up without a console, he had no choice but to trust his gut.
Thus, after preparing which 2nd-tier spells he will obtain in the next level-up, Rhemurus kept fighting alongside the rest of the human team who were now retreating to a safe distance away from the entangled dire bulettes.
However, [Body Entangle] could only restrain the unharmed dire bulettes for so long, so predictably, the monsters broke loose and began to ferociously run towards the humans, but they were expecting that.
"Rhemurus, now!" Commanded Othollo to the refugee.
"[Path of Frost]!"
This 1st-tier druid spell was among the ones that the humans of Argland knew nothing about, so they were quite amazed at the sight of a spell they never saw before.
With the ground beneath them turned into slippery ice, the dire bulettes were helpless when the human bard, Rutilus, used the enhanced spell [Widen Magic - Iron Horn] to unleash a powerful sonic wave that pushed back the dire bulettes who tried to gain a stable footing to no avail. So frozen solid the ground was that they couldn't even burrow through it.
Rhemurus took the initiative and cast yet another spell that the council state humans had never seen before; [Sandblast]. The super-heated sand didn't hurt the dire bullets that much, but again, the player didn't need to kill them, he just needed to mark them.
That said, despite everything that was happening right now, Rhemurus was still actively trying to avoid looking suspicious, so he avoided using his newly acquired metamagic skill and wanted to give the impression that he was really looking forward to killing the monsters himself.
"Lord Othollo, do I press on? I can strike them with [Produce Flame]!"
"No, conserve your mana. Let the long-range weapon users do their thing for now."
Human rangers and archer fighters were firing arrows from their bows, some druids and clerics were hurling their javelins, and even the rogues took out their crossbows.
Lady Ommarra - Arioch's fiancée - in particular was a multi-class rogue-wizard, an [Arcane Trickster], so she was able to use the 1st-tier arcane spell [Magic Weapon] on her own crossbow to fire magical bolts that dealt extra damage on top of her sneak attack critical hits.
But eventually, the barrage of projectiles ironically pushed the dire bulettes back far enough that they escaped the area affected by Rhemurus' spell, giving them stable footing once again. Stability that they used to either burrow underground or just run around the frozen ground.
Likewise, the humans were expecting it.
Erodel cast the 3rd-tier spell [Tremorsense] to temporarily give himself that sensory ability of the same name, which was basically the supernatural ability to feel underground vibrations to accurately pinpoint where the dire bullets who burrowed underground were moving towards.
The dire bulettes who ran towards them were slaughtered without mercy for they were already quite wounded, and when Erodel revealed the exact location where the burrowing dire bulettes would come out from, the humans moved out of the way for Iaome to cast the 3rd-tier druid spell [Spike Growth] which made the vegetation in her spell's area of effect to become extremely hard and sharply pointed, severely cutting the already wounded dire bulettes who sprang out of the ground just to meet their ends at the other end of the human's weapons.
All those kills likewise gave Rhemurus enough EXP to reach his tenth druid level, so he was prepared to obtain the following spells:
[Heart of Air] temporarily transforms part of the druid's body into something akin to an air elemental, making the caster light as a feather. While the spell is active, the druid can jump 10 times higher than normal, falls as if the spell [Feather Fall] is always active, and if the druid can fly, the flying speed is increased by 30%.
Rhemurus picked this spell specifically in preparation for the 3rd-tier arcane spell [Fly] he plans to obtain in the future.
[Creeping Cold] turns the enemy's external body fluids into ice, creating accumulative cold damage that swiftly freezes to death low-level opponents and causes freezing slowness to anyone who can endure it.
And [Cure Moderate Wounds] is the superior version of [Cure Light Wounds] that Rhemurus all but forgot about until now. He feels embarrassed of having forgotten about it since the ability to heal one's wounds is a main reason why he was planning to switch from arcane magic to divine magic back in Yggdrasil.
But...but...hold on...something wasn't right...
...something...was wrong...! Something felt totally wrong!
- W-what!? What is this...hole...? Is this a hole!? What is this!?
Unlike the previous times he had leveled-up, this particular time Rhemurus felt...off. Something was missing, something that shouldn't be missing was missing, it was hard to explain in words.
Basically, if leveling-up was akin to shedding your current body in favor of placing your consciousness in a newly made body that was superior to the original, then when Rhemurus shredded his level 10 human body to inhabit his newer level 11 human body, he immediately felt a physical dissonance as if his newer body was missing a limb. No, as if it was missing a crucial internal organ.
He took a quick pick into his internal spell console and, where it should've been a total of 33 spells, he only saw 32. Of the three new 2nd-tier druid spells he desired, he only saw [Heart of Air] and [Creeping Cold]. [Cure Moderate Wounds] wasn't anywhere!
"How...how I could've forgotten..."
Rhemurus was so dumbfounded by his mistake that he made the fatal mistake of not paying attention when his [Nature Sense] skill warned him of the dire bulette who got close enough to bite off his left arm which was holding his light wooden shield.
"Gah! Fuuuuuck!"
The dire bulette began to suck in as the landshark it was, so without thinking, he used his flaming scimitar to cut off his left arm and cast [Longstrider] again despite knowing that this second casting wouldn't stack with the already active one and ran at overhuman speeds towards the back lines of the human team who hurriedly took him in with panicked expressions on their faces.
"Rhemurus! Your arm!"
"Quick, your health crystal!"
The player dropped his scimitar and used his remaining right arm to reach into his bag and take out one of the crystals Othollo gave him before, a crystal he crushed with great desperation.
[Cure Critical Wounds] was a 4th-tier spell that unleashed tremendous amounts of positive energy. Not as much as the 6th-tier spell [Heal], but it was enough to restore the arm that Rhemurus lost to that dire bulette.
"What were you thinking!? Just standing in place like that!"
"I know, I screwed up. I'm sorry, won't happen again." He said as he picked up his scimitar which reignited itself the moment he touched it.
"Are you sure? This is your first hunt, no? It's understandable if you lose yourself to shock, but if you can't keep your head cool you will just be a burden to the team."
"I'm aware. And I will make it up to all of you, promise!"
As he kept making excuses for himself, Rhemurus was silently lamenting how stupid he was, for he now remembered what he did wrong; he totally forgot that even though the spell [Cure Moderate Wounds] was indeed in the divine spell list, it was a 2nd-tier spell for the clerics, but it was a 3rd-tier spell for the druids.
Since Mercenary Magicians never allowed divine casters to join them, they could only get their knowledge about divine spells from third-party sources, like the 'official' Yggdrasil wiki which already had dubious info to begin with.
Anyone would forgive silly Tanaka for misremembering the position of that spell in the druid tier list, but he himself wouldn't.
No, he's going to call this extremely painful and incredibly shameful lesson 'wisdom' and move on.
- Mmm, let's see if I can fix it.
With a more tranquil head, Rhemurus now replaced his desire for [Cure Moderate Wounds] with the desire for a proper 2nd-tier druid spell called [Animal Trance] which forced any animal or magical beast who looked at the druid to continuously stare at said druid in fascination, leaving them defenseless against attacks from the caster's allies.
He wasn't sure if it would work against these dire bulettes, but he could always need it in the future, you never know.
And now, that hole he felt was filled. His level 11 human body was complete, but he couldn't bask in the relief because right at that very moment after getting [Animal Trance] he felt the surge again.
- What, already!?
It turns out the kills that gave him his tenth druid level were also enough to give him an eleventh druid level as well. And since the dire bulettes he marked were still being killed, who knew how many levels were left.
"Now that I think about it, I will just breathe for a minute, then I'll be back into the fray."
"Really? None of us would blame you if you sit this one out."
"I'm alright, just a bit out of air. Please let me remain in these games, it's such a big opportunity for me, and I would never forgive myself if I miss it."
"Alright, alright. I admire your enthusiasm."
"We'll watch your back for this minute, but if I reach the conclusion that you need more than just a minute, I'll give a sign to the high marshal to [Mage Hand] your ass out of here." Said another cleric who acted as a backup healer in the back lines.
"Thanks! It'll just be a minute, or less, even."
Wasting no more time, Rhemurus began to remember what other 2nd-tier druid spells he could properly recall, and so for his next druid level he settled for these spells:
[Chill Metal] makes any metal touched by the druid extremely cold, inflicting cold damage on anyone touching said metal.
[Heat Metal] makes any metal touched by the druid extremely hot, inflicting fire damage on anyone touching said metal.
These two spells counter and nullify each other.
And the third one was [Delay Poison] which gave complete immunity to any poison that may already be in the druid's body or the body of whoever the druid casts the spell on, as well as immunity to any poison one may be exposed to while the spell is active.
He then immediately desired three more 2nd-tier spells, but he didn't get them. Which meant that that was it, he was now a level 12 human.
- Well, for now, that is. I still need four more druid levels before I can start working on getting arcane levels.
So with no more reason to stay still, Rhemurus got back up, thanked the back-line support, and rushed back into the front line.
While he wanted to take a moment to mourn the perpetual loss of his shield from Yggdrasil, he could do that all wanted after this hunting day was over. So now holding his scimitar tight with both hands, Rhemurus brought down his fury into the dire bulettes. But it wasn't a blind fury, however, it was the calculated fury of a hardcore player who was determined to make all bulettes pay for the actions of one particular bulette who was already slain by someone else anyways.
It was a carnage! Not only where the human team was fighting but literally everywhere in the bulette grounds of the Manthor Hills. Even Barakazmith had a hard time keeping track of everyone, and the guests from the empire were also lost in the chaotic frenzy that surpassed the one from the day before.
The aarakocras led by their leader; Lord Wuorlah who was the high priest of an obscure forest deity, was firing a barrage of lighting spells and using other [Air Domain] abilities to snipe the dire bullets from the heavens, and his dozen or so fellows were also masters of long-range combat with their unique crossbows and thrown weapons.
Alongside the abeil and kir-lanans, they were displaying for everyone to see the well-known fact that having the natural ability to fly gave you an objectively superior advantage over any land-bound enemy.
Still, all races were performing spectacularly. Near-fatal wounds were occasional, obviously, but nothing a health crystal couldn't fix, and the high-level clerics, druids, and adepts were always looking after their teammates anyhow, so the possibility of a participant actually dying was relatively low.
And so it eventually arrived, the end of the second day of the hunting games. A day that was so long that it was near nighttime by the time the wave of dire bulettes was eliminated.
"Words can't begin to describe how amazed I am! You can all go back to your homes tomorrow knowing that you made the Shield Dragon Lord stare at you in awe! Magnificent!"
Barakazmith wasn't just spouting flattery, he meant every word he said.
As a dragon lord that has lived for such a long time, he has always been amazed by the grit and determination of the races weaker than his own, and even to this day he wonders if he would even have the guts to be a general if it weren't for the power and abilities his race gave him.
In contrast to his glowing words, the bulette grounds were quite the morbid sight; spattered blood and environment destruction that made the remnants of the previous day look quite tame in comparison.
Participants were even more exhausted than the day before, but their moods remained in good spirits, for they knew that despite everything the Manthor Hills threw at them, they stood their ground, they pushed forward, they won.
None of them, however, felt nowhere near as accomplished as Rhemurus felt.
He was so glad that he decided to team up with the other humans, for despite his increasing level meaning that he would continuously need even more EXP each time he leveled-up, he still managed to obtain eight levels on the second day of the hunting games, a considerable increase from the seven levels he got the day before because of the aforementioned increase in the EXP required to level-up.
Divided between 15 [Druid] levels and 2 [Mage] levels, he was well on his way to becoming an arcane hierophant.
The twelfth level in druid gave him:
[Resist Energy] gave the druid or anyone warded by it the [Resistance I] variant of either [Acid], [Cold], [Fire], [Lighting], or [Sonic].
[Fog Cloud] creates a bank of fog that billows out from a designated point, obscuring all sight including darkvision.
[Gust of Wind] creates a severe blast of air of approximately 50 mph that originates from the druid and affects all creatures in its path.
For the thirteenth druid level, he got:
[Spider Climb] allows the caster to traverse vertical surfaces and even ceilings.
Even if he was planning to learn [Fly], he never knew if he would need to climb somewhere instead of fly somewhere.
[Flaming Sphere] creates a burning globe of fire that rolls in any designated direction and burns anyone it strikes.
[Wood Shape] enables the druid to reform a piece of mundane wood into a shape that fits the druid's purposes.
And for the fourteenth level he desired:
[Embrace the Wild] allows the druid to gain the supernatural and magical senses of any magical beast of a lower level than the caster.
[Branch to Branch] gives the druid a bonus to speed when moving from branch to branch in a thick forest as well as a bonus to stealth while moving in said environment.
[Easy Trail] radiates an energy that gently pushes plants aside, allowing the druid and anyone walking alongside to easily move through overgrowth vegetation.
It was the fifteenth level that finally gave him his first 3rd-tier spells, which were:
[Call Lighting] calls down a 5-foot-wide and 30-foot-long vertical bolt that strikes at the designated point, inflicting electric damage to both the target and anyone nearby said target.
[Daylight] makes a touched object shed light as bright as daytime in a 60-foot radius - almost 18.3 meters radius - and dim illumination at 60 feet beyond even that.
And at last, he could add [Cure Moderate Wounds] to his spell list, somewhat procuring his continued survival even if just a bit.
Now he could finally, finally go back to his arcane spells, after so long.
So with nostalgia warming his heart, Rhemurus picked these 1st-tier spells with his second mage level:
[Identify] is the first in the line of item appraisal spells, giving the caster full knowledge of the properties of low-level magic items.
[True Strike] gives a magical insight into the next immediate attack, making it akin to a critical hit regardless of where the caster strikes the opponent. And if the hit lands in a place where a critical hit would normally be, then the damage is doubled.
[Summon Monster - 1st] conjures an outsider creature, like an angelic owl or a demonic hound, to fight alongside the caster.
It's true that he already had [Summon Nature's Ally], but those druidic spells were limited to magical beasts, fey, and eventually elementals of varying sizes, while the [Summon Monster] arcane spells instead had a much wider variety of options like animals with outsider traits.
As of now, he had a total of 51 spells split between 45 divine spells and six arcane spells. He now knew more spells than the vast majority of spellcasters in the new world could ever dream of learning, and this was just the beginning!
- Will I be able to join the watch if I reveal I'm a 3rd-tier caster now?
However, now that he was thinking it through, would the watch really be a good place for him? Their job is to apprehend lawbreakers, not kill them, which means that there won't be EXP for him.
- I guess I could do it for the money. Though, maybe there could be other options?
It's not like he was forced to work in Breizen to make money, Hakuun did tell him that this country values magic users a lot, and Aerodus had also spoken to him about other places in the council state where spellcasters were in greater demand.
- In either case, tomorrow is the final day of these games, I should make the most of it and see how many more [Mage] levels I can get.
His goal clear, Rhemurus joined the rest of his team on their walk back to the tents, anxious to take a good rest and see just how much greater are his MP reserves now.
While he knew that he had no right to become too prideful, he still allowed himself to feel more confident, for he was now a completely different individual from the one he was just two days ago.
==Author's Note==
Heyo, it's been a while.
So, important announcement; Starting from this chapter forward, this fic will have two chapters published per week, rather than just one. Chapter 14 will be published this upcoming Wednesday, then chapter 15 will be published next Sunday, and so on and forth.
With that out of the way, this part isn't just to transition into some level sheets. Rather, I want to share something that will hopefully be just as helpful to you readers as it will be to me the author, which is basically a document designed specifically to keep track of the spells our protagonist has learned so far.
Rhemurus currently just has 15 druid levels and 2 mage levels, not a single prestige class, and no magic items either, which I feel doesn't justify a new sheet just for him, so I hope the document serves as a good display of his progress for the time being.
This is the URL that goes after typing (docs) dot (google) dotcom: document/d/1LO6oWvDcjkxuALfPL1UVm3qsB0OlBWtHaLruCusFvVA/edit?usp=sharing
Do forgive these weirdly explained instructions, this site for some reason is preventing me from properly sharing the Google document.
So with him taken care of, here are the sheets of the prominent members of the human team.
Othollo - High Priest of Sky Father
08 - Cleric
04 - Battle Cleric
06 - Priest
05 - Divine Disciple
Racial Level:0 / Job Level:23
Total Level:23
[Magic Items]
- Gorgon Scale Mail
- Shimmering Necklace
- Gauntlet of Giants (Strength Enhancer)
- Cape of Resistance
- Enchanted Greatsword
Now before you start sassing me about how clerics and priests are the same things in this series so Othollo has no business having both [Cleric] and [Priest] as separate classes, I want to direct you towards the canon level sheet of Lakyus, the leader of Blue Rose.
If you're not into d20 or JRPGs, clerics are basically the staple divine casters of western RPGs that can use weapons and armor, while in Japanese RPGs the priests are basically squishy divine wizards. The new world, strangely, seems to have both types of divine spellcasters in it, and as seen with Lakyus, [Cleric] and [Priest] both stack with each other for spellcasting progression, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to cast 5th-tier spells.
[Divine Disciple] is a prestige class that would normally require the cleric to know 4th-tier spells before obtaining it, but again, new world natives don't care about that. Othollo is very powerful for his level, it turns out.
Iaome - High Druidess
10 - Druidess
05 - Nature's Warrior
06 - Primalist
Racial Level:0 / Job Level:21
Total Level:21
[Magic Items]
- Ironwood Breastplate
- Circlet of Jewels
- Bracers of the Elements
- Enchanted Shortspear
- Darkwood Shield
The second job class she acquired, [Nature's Warrior], is yet another example of new world natives bypassing some Yggdrasil requirements since under normal circumstances she would need at least 10 levels in [Fighter] alongside her druid levels to qualify because it turns out that [Nature's Warrior] is a pretty powerful class.
Combine that with [Primalist] which is a job class that allows druids to use stat-buffing skills that stack with buffs from spells, then Iaome is likewise very strong for her level as well.
Arioch - Heir of the Chieftain
07 - Sorcerer
10 - Elementalist: Air
Racial Level:0 / Job Level:17
Total Level:17
[Magic Items]
- Bracers of Armor
- Ring of Wizardy
- Nymph's Cloak
- Enchanted Quarterstaff
It may not seem like that big of a deal at first, but the fact that Arioch is a sorcerer - and NOT a wizard - is actually bigger than one may think.
Ever since Breizen was founded, their chieftain has always been a wizard, the first Lord of the human city in particular was a disciple of a storm giant mage who's still around. But those centuries of ensuring that not only is the chieftain an arcane mage but that the chieftain's wife is likewise a wizard has ingrained so much arcane potential in the royal family's blood that they eventually produced an "inborn" arcane mage, otherwise known as a sorcerer.
Also, since the one who introduced Argland's humans to arcane magic was a storm giant in particular, [Elementalist: Air] has likewise been a job class that all chieftains and their heirs have had levels in.
Ommarra - Fiancée of the Heir
03 - Rogue
06 - Wizard
04 - Elementalist: Earth
05 - Arcane Trickster
Racial Level:0 / Job Level:18
Total Level:18
[Magic Items]
- Arcane Skin (Padded Armor that ignores Arcane Spell Failure)
- Bracelets of Accuracy
- Spider Cloak (Allows to use the [Web] spell once per day)
- Enchanted Twin Shortswords
- Darkwood Crossbow
Despite her current status as Arioch's fiancée, Ommarra began her life as an orphan on the streets who had to steal to survive, hence why her very first levels were invested in [Rogue].
She was eventually saved and taken in by an orphanage opened by high priestess Pontia, an older sister of Lord Erodel - and by extension a younger sister of sage Aerodus - who nourished all the orphans she could save and noticed Ommarra's talent for the arcane.
Her [Elementalist: Earth] job class is the result of Breizen's deeply rooted religious tradition, since if their chieftain is a "Chosen One" of the Sky Father then his wife must likewise be an envoy of sorts for Land Mother, no? Hence why the mothers of future chieftains always had levels in this class. And no, the storm giant that taught their very first leader arcane magic wasn't actively trying to tie his favored element with that ancient religion, the humans of Breizen just couldn't help themselves from making that convenient connection.
And [Arcane Trickster] is basically Ommarra making the most of her unsavory origins, since it would've been a shame if the levels invested in [Rogue] went to waste.
By the way, I'm aware that Erodel is missing, but his level sheet will be shown in the next chapter, alongside the sheets of other prominent participants that will be my way to show how exotic can individuals raised in a country ruled by a "true" dragon lord be like.