[Four days later, the Froghemoth Swamp]
After a couple of days of resting and recovering - both for his body and his mind - Rhemurus was now ready to try his luck against the most powerful monster of the Froghemoth Swamp.
Turns out that perfectly visualizing a specific object in the swamp did work out for his [Locate Object] spell after all. To be precise, he perfectly visualized the tree from which he took a branch to make that improvised club.
- No restrictions this time, my armor is chilling back in the inn room.
Besides being able to cast arcane spells without restriction, leaving his armor behind will also enable him to use [Locate Object] on it to find his way back into the city.
Rhemurus prepared as much as he could. Since he learned that he could make crude and weak but still usable weapons with his spells, he spent many hours of the previous days making several spears out of wood and stone.
First, he used [Soften Earth and Stone] to turn stone into clay he molded with his hands into the shape of pointy spear tips, and after the clay was in the shape he desired, he dispelled the magic to turn the clay back into solid stone. Since there was no [Clay Sculptor] job class in Yggdrasil, there was no law in this world that prevented Rhemurus from doing such a thing.
Then, he used [Blockade] to grow small branches into the size of spear lengths and [Wood Shape] to both make the spear shaft slick and to mold one of the ends around a stone spear tip, securing it tight.
He repeated this process an unnecessary amount of times, each spear he placed inside his inventory so he made himself sure to only make the spears while far, far away from the city, using [Clairvoyance] to make sure there was nobody around him.
Completely unaware that Zahur - Drulia's most loyal pawn and the highest-level human rogue in the council state - was now aware that this refugee of interest could store in and take out objects from a mysterious pocket space.
After his MP nearly depleted was when he decided to stop making spears and used [Locate Object] to find his way back to the city and sleep through the night.
He told the berserkers after his first hunt that he would like to take a few days off which they had no issues with, and just to be sure, he casually asked them if they would be hunting in this swamp again to which they told him that they had no plans to hunt anything in this swamp for the next week or so.
So now he's here, nobody around, fully refreshed, MP bar refilled, inventory with a stack of disposable weapons, and no armor to restrain his arcane magic.
"It's on, froghemoth!"
Immediately casting [Fly], Rhemurus took to the skies and began to fly above the swamp area waiting for a croak-roar to shake the land once again.
Good thing he also spent some alone time practicing his flying skills.
- Should I cast [Locate Water]? Froghemoths are always found near still pools of water.
It was indeed just a 1st-tier spell, but since he's looking in a swamp, he figures that [Locate Water] would only alert him of all the water present everywhere in the swamp, so that would be a waste of his limited MP.
The fact that [Fly] was also constantly draining his MP while it was active was something that he had to keep in mind as well. He could indeed wait for the monster screech while on the ground, but since the sounds could reverberate among the swamp trees, Rhemurus believed that he would have an easier time locating the source of the croak-roar if he listens to it from the air.
Eventually, he decided to take a small break from flying around and landed at the top of the largest tree he saw.
- This is roughly the same time of the day when I came here last time, no? They told me that the froghemoth makes that giant croak daily to remind the swamp who's boss.
Perhaps waiting in the place where he was currently was a better idea than spending MP with [Fly], at least for now.
He took out one of the disposable spears from his inventory and began to look down from the top of the tree in case some creature decided to sneak on him from the lower tree branches.
"[Hawkeye]"
Even with that vision-enhancing spell he saw nothing, but he couldn't be too cautious.
- Maybe I could instead try to-
Then out of nowhere, the croak-roar made the swamp tremble again.
"There it is! Where!?"
When he hurriedly began to look in all directions, in the distance he could spot some trees literally bending because of the sonic force of the froghemoth croak.
It was there, it had to be.
"[Branch to Branch], [Embrace the Wild], [Spider Climb], [Resist Energy], [Delay Poison], [Animalistic Power], [Barkskin], [Beastland Ferocity], [Longstrider], [Mirror Image], [Low-Light Vision]."
With [Resist Energy] he gave himself [Sonic Resistance I] since the very croak-roars of a froghemoth are considered sonic attacks. There were other spells he cast on the way to the source of the sound, spear held tight in his hand, using [Branch to Branch] to blitz his way towards the most powerful monster around, a creature that's actually above level 30 in Yggdrasil standards.
"[Flame Weapon], [Sonic Weapon], [Invisibility], [Longstrider]."
As he got closer he could now perfectly see the shape of the creature that will hopefully give him the EXP he needs to reach the starter line in his path to power.
- Ah, there you are!
Huge-sized and so weird, that monster; vaguely frog-like in shape, it has four writhing tentacles in place of front legs. Its head is mostly mouth, and its mouth is mostly pointy teeth. A retractable stalk protrudes from the front of its head, at the end of which stare three bulbous eyes. The massive thing is a dark green save for its belly, which is pale. A powerful tongue tipped with barbs lolls wetly from its mouth.
Just a foot away from connecting the spear strike he also cast [True Strike] and [Snake's Swiftness] in quick succession to maximize the damage as much as possible.
The effect of [Invisibility] dissipated the moment the spear hit the monster, but Rhemurus was expecting that.
In just a fraction of a second, the froghemoth was inflicted with tremendous amounts of physical damage including fire and sonic energy. Obviously not enough to bring it down, but it was a very good start.
"Crooooooooaaaaaaaaaaak!" The froghemoth wailed, not out of agony, but out of frustration at being caught off guard.
Since the spear was disposable, Rhemurus didn't pluck it out from the frog creature, he left the impaled spear there and took out another one from his inventory while making some distance.
"[Summon Nature's Ally - 2nd], [Summon Monster - 2nd]."
With those summoning spells he called forth three pixies and three celestial wolves, respectively.
"[Haste]!"
That 3rd-tier arcane spell increased the attack and dodging speed of both Rhemurus himself and his six summoned creatures. And it was a good thing he was quick to cast that spell because the froghemoth didn't stand still and wait for the player to fully buff his second disposable weapon. But not like he was going to, anyways.
Charging towards Rhemurus with thunderous bellows, the froghemoth began to use its tongue and tentacles as whips in an attempt to grab either the player himself or one of the creatures he summoned.
The creature was fast, but thanks to [Haste], Rhemurus and his summons were faster.
Fangs and claws from the wolves, as well as dust arrows from the pixies, were striking the monster's tentacles in an attempt to redirect them from their summoner to mixed results, but thanks to [Mirror Image] making it difficult to land a tentacle hit on him, it was enough for Rhemurus to deliver several spear strikes on the massive frog while avoiding damage himself.
Celestial wolves and pixies had natural weapons and magic attacks that bypassed damage reduction, but the thing about froghemoths was that they didn't have damage reduction - or DR for short - they simply had absurdly high amounts of HP that allowed them to wither out most attacks of similar or lower level thrown at them. Thus, this one was a battle of attrition, the one who could hold out the longest would come out of this alive.
The second disposable spear eventually broke, so Rhemurus once again made some distance and took out another one. This was an attack pattern that Rhemurus kept repeating until the effects of [Haste] dissipated, a moment that he was waiting to mentally command his summons to place themselves between him and the froghemoth while he took the opportunity to cast [Twin Magic - Call Lighting].
An enhanced spell that did manage to make some decent damage since lightning was the elemental weakness of an aquatic creature like a froghemoth, but predictably, it wasn't enough to bring it down.
He felt bad about the fact that his summons couldn't surpass the monster's speed without [Haste] which meant that they were constricted and swallowed whole by the froghemoth, but he hardened his heart for he knew that he couldn't afford to not use every single advantage possible.
"[Twin Magic - Call Lighting]!"
Once again he cast the most effective spell he had against it to deliver a bit more damage while the froghemoth was busy devouring the summons, but since his druid spells are still only on par with those of a level 15, spamming [Call Lighting] even if it's buffed by [Evoker] will hardly be enough.
- Let's see if I could exploit some other biological weakness.
"[Earthen Grasp]! [Web]!"
A massive arm made out of dense compared mud manifested from the ground to grapple the froghemoth right before a many-layered mass of strong and sticky threads appeared to immobilize the monster even further.
The creature was wailing in fury. It opened its mouth wide in an attempt to taunt the human, telling him in its own bestial way that it was going to eat him, and that's exactly what Rhemurus was counting on.
"[True Casting]!"
He increased the power of the next spell he will cast.
"[Twin Magic - Ice Dart]!"
A pair of sharp and transparent icicles shot forth from Rhemurus' finger right into the massive mouth of the froghemoth, literally making the monster swallow his buffed attack spell.
Rhemurus was banking on the fact that the world he was living in now was a living and breathing one just like Earth was, so even if the froghemoths from Yggdrasil didn't have any form of weakness towards cold energy, he imagines that any living creature would suffer severe symptoms of hypothermia if it were to ingest very cold substances, and since [Ice Dart] is an evocation spell, the icy energy of the spell was enhanced even further.
So on top of the piercing damage to its insides, the froghemoth was also suffering from an extremely fast decrease in its internal body temperature, something that didn't sit well with its amphibian physiology at all.
- The froghemoth is getting sluggish, now it's my chance!
He once again cast [Flame Weapon] on his disposable spear before casting [True Strike] and running towards the monster to strike with [Snake's Swiftness], impaling another spear on the froghemoth.
But as predicted, this still wasn't enough.
"Crooooooooaaaaaaaaaaak!"
Despite the sluggishness, the froghemoth was using its brute strength to break the mud arm and web, so if his trapping spells were going to break, at least they should be used to inflict extra damage in any way they can.
Rhemurus reached into his inventory and took out a flask of Alchemist's Fire he had purchased for the hunting games that he never actually got the chance to use.
The webs from the trapping spell were very flammable, and since the fire would be contained in the webs themselves, the chance of burning the nearby swamp trees was very low.
- Alchemist's Fire would deal good amounts of fire damage, but just to be sure.
"[Energize Liquid]!"
Since [Energize Liquid] turns regular liquids into volatile substances, it can transform preexisting volatile substances into something even more powerful. Something that now that he thinks about it may indeed have a small chance of starting a fire, but that's a risk he's willing to take.
Hurling the supercharged flask made the substance explode on the froghemoth with an incredibly loud force. So much fiery energy was released that the webs burnt and were consumed much faster than they would've with a regular Alchemist's Fire blast.
- Huh, so that's how it works in this world.
Casting [Energize Liquid] wasn't as effective as he was hoping, but at least it did make the froghemoth sustain even more damage than normal.
- It's still thrashing about, how much HP is left!?
The battle between Rhemurus and the froghemoth continued for a good while, cycling between enhanced physical strikes and spells. The only silver lining in his favor was the fact that froghemoths were among the stupidest monsters in existence, an animal has higher intelligence than the average froghemoth, which meant that the same tactics do work against the same froghemoth over and over again, with the monster being unable to adapt and counter since it literally lacks the brains to do so.
A huge contrast to the worg who nearly killed the player not that long ago.
Still, such a lack of brains is more than compensated for by the absurd amounts of HP and incredible resilience. Even attacks and spells that would normally knock back the enemy don't even make a froghemoth flinch.
- What was it called? Hyper armor?
It didn't help that defense spells like [Barkskin], buffing spells like [Animalistic Power], and spells that increase missing chances like [Mirror Image] have a time limit. Not as short as spells that increase evasive ability like [Haste], but they're still only as long as those of a level 15 caster for both divine and arcane spells.
- I can feel it...the spells that allow me to barely keep up with this monster are eventually going to run out.
He already spent quite a bit of MP in attack spells and even a second round of summons, all of which have been unable to fell the froghemoth.
If he re-casts the buffing spells right after they run out, his MP bar will be dangerously close to depleting.
Most of his disposable spears were already either stuck in the froghemoth's hide or already broken, so even if he buffs his body again, he will run out of weapons in no time as well.
- The froghemoth is definitely close to death, but without [Life Essence] I simply can't tell how much HP remains.
Should he retreat? Escape the swamp and go back to the city, then after a day or two use [Locate Object] in one of the impaled spears to find the same froghemoth again.
- No, if I can recover, who's to say this froghemoth won't recover as well? We will just go back to square one.
There's also the fact that this froghemoth may be killed by another monster from this swamp, all its wounds and weakened state considered. So perhaps he may obtain the EXP without having to return?
But again, no guarantee that another monster may have the chance of killing this froghemoth who will most likely hide somewhere to lick its wounds after Rhemurus escapes its sight.
- Then...I have an idea!
Taking advantage of the frog creature's lack of brains, he cast [Longstrider] on himself again despite still being a few minutes away from expiring before turning around and running away at a speed that he made sure the froghemoth could follow.
He didn't remember exactly where they found that chuul from days before, but he hoped that if he runs for long enough he might come across another chuul or a monster that may defeat a weakened froghemoth.
"Crooak!"
With a speed that Rhemurus wasn't expecting, the monster pursuing him was capable of landing a tentacle strike on his back despite [Mirror Image] making his body hard to hit.
"Argh! [Electric Vengeance]!"
Rhemurus instinctively cast that retribution lightning spell that made an arc of lightning spring forth from his back to zap the froghemoth for extra damage.
[Electric Vengeance] was an evocation spell that didn't cost almost any MP to cast even without the [Evoker] class, but since it could only be cast immediately after the mage receives physical melee damage, it definitely wasn't a spell you can rely on all the time.
- This froghemoth must be quite desperate, to be able to strike me despite [Mirror Image].
It was indeed just that. Even if the froghemoth wasn't really that close to death, it instinctively knew that Rhemurus was the type of enemy that shouldn't be allowed to escape under any circumstances, hence why it was following him instead of taking the chance to run away itself.
- Come on! Come on! Any large monster will do!
But no matter what creature the running player and pursuing froghemoth came across, not a single creature in the swamp was willing to try its luck against the frog lord, even if it was wounded.
The only creature in that swamp that was willing to challenge a froghemoth was another froghemoth. And look what just appeared out of nowhere in front of them.
"What!? Is that...!?"
Rhemurus definitely wasn't expecting to see another froghemoth on his path, one slightly smaller than the one he had been fighting against, but he didn't have time to process anything since he needed to act at that specific moment.
As it turns out, that particular froghemoth that got in the way was a rival of the one Rhemurus challenged, and thanks to the massive amounts of damage the player inflicted and the scent of his enemy's blood, that froghemoth instinctively knew that his rival was weak and needed to capitalize on the opportunity.
"[Hide from Animals], [Invisibility]."
The human player neither knew nor cared about these froghemoths' rivalry, he only knew that stupid monsters like to kill each other to show who's boss.
Of course, those hiding spells he just cast didn't make him fully disappear from the frog monsters' sight considering the level disparity, but he did manage to make his physical form somewhat blurry, and it also succeeded in taking the larger froghemoth's attention away from himself and into the rival who immediately attacked each other without any hesitation.
And just to be sure-
"[Wall of Gloom]!"
Rhemurus created a barrier of ominous shadow between himself and the froghemoths while he ran away from the clashing monsters as far as his eyes could still spot them. He then climbed a tree and held his spear tight on his hand, using [Hawkeye] to see how the battle between the two froghemoths will go.
- So there was more than one froghemoth, huh. I bet this is called the Froghemoth Swamp because the species itself is the dominant one.
His guess was close, and based on his limited knowledge, it was the best he could come up with.
But the actual reason why the people of the nearby settlements call this place the Froghemoth Swamp and not the Swamp of the Froghemoths wasn't solely because the froghemoths are the dominant predators, but mainly because the actual strongest creature in the swamp was the froghemoth lord who was above level 50 in Yggdrasil standards.
- Oh, that was a good hit!
What mattered more to Rhemurus at that moment was the outcome of the battle between the froghemoth he weakened and the froghemoth rival who appeared to steal his kill.
- Go ahead, take my kill. The EXP will be mine either way, so I'm rooting for you!
And it seemed that luck was on his side that day because the smaller froghemoth did eventually manage to kill the larger froghemoth Rhemurus spent lots of MP and disposable weapons to wound. But...there was no surge.
- Huh? What? Still not enough EXP!?
This is something he was expecting, but it was still disappointing.
- Perhaps, perhaps the smaller froghemoth will give me the required EXP?
He should forget it. The monster who won was nowhere near as wounded as how Rhemurus left the larger one, and the player's MP bar was almost empty at this point. And if he casts even a few more attack spells, he won't have enough mana to use [Locate Object] and return to Breizen.
- Sigh, whatever...I should try again some other day.
So after swallowing his massive disappointment, Rhemurus waited until the froghemoth victor left his sight before climbing down the tree he was in and starting his trip back to the human city.
[Locate Object] lasts an hour per effective arcane level so the location of his wooden-stone armor will last 15 hours inside his head, meaning that the saddened player could take his sweet time walking back to the inn.
- I definitely would feel a lot better if it was effective for 16 hours rather than just 15...I even had the six new 3rd-tier spells I was ready to learn in mind.
But not everything goes his way in this world, even if it appears so at first.
Eventually his [Hide from Animals] and [Invisibility] spells wore off and he became visible to the aggressive fauna, but by that time he was already walking his way out of the swamp through the marshlands, and the only monsters around were the trash-tier hetfish.
Predictably, the hetfish attempted to attack him but Rhemurus was too mentally and physically tired to care, he simply used the disposable spear on his hand to make quick work of the small fries surrounding him.
And to his understandable surprise, the moment he killed the first hetfish he felt the surge he was so looking forward to feeling, at last.
"W-what!?" He said as he stopped in his tracks, barely able to contain his amazement.
It turns out the EXP the froghemoth gave him was literally just one single digit away from allowing him to reach level 31.
- So it wasn't the battle against a strong monster that made me able to reach the first level in [Arcane Hierophant], but a single hetfish. Granted, I couldn't actually kill the froghemoth, but still. This wasn't how I imagined my first step on the path to becoming powerful to be like, but wishers can't be choosers, I guess.
So perplexed he was at his current situation that he didn't pay any attention when the other hetfish were attacking him with their bullet-like body slams. Now that he was a level 31 human, the player barely felt anything from the attacks of the small fry, even without any defensive spell the hetfish were just bouncing off his skin.
In any case, Rhemurus recovered his composure and kept walking. He wanted to exit the marshland area to relax and take a good look inside his internal spell console and verify if he did, in fact, finally became an arcane hierophant.
"Okay, let's take a sit on the ground here."
He stored his spear back inside his inventory and took a deep look inside his now kinda big spell list, taking a good peek at all the 96 spells he has learned so far. Focusing on his 3rd-tier spells he could also see that the six new spells he wished to learn were right there, just as he desired.
From the druid list, he got these spells:
[Plant Growth] either causes vegetation like grass and a few trees to instantly overgrow to the size and thickness of a jungle, or raises the productivity of farmable crops for the duration of an entire year.
[Remove Disease] cures all diseases that the target may be currently suffering from.
[Summon Nature's Ally - 3rd] is a superior version of the previous tier version that now allows the summoning of small-sized elementals.
And from the mage list, he got these:
[Stinking Cloud] creates a bank of nauseating fog that can poison and incapacitate those who smell the vapors. You can become immune with [Delay Poison], however.
[Pall of Twilight] greatly reduces illumination in an area of a 20-foot-radius around the mage, creating a magical darkness that impairs enemy visibility and gives a bonus to stealth for the mage and its allies.
[Summon Monster - 3rd] is likewise a superior version of the previous tier version but now allows the summoning of proper outsider creatures like true angels or true demons, rather than just celestial or fiendish animals. Though, only small-sized ones.
The summoning spells helped him a lot during the froghemoth battle, so he's definitely going to learn all the summoning spells available on the druid and mage spell lists, especially now that he will eventually be able to obtain a prestige class that will allow him to use an awesome skill known as [Spell Synthesis]. But that will be very, very down the line, far in a future that he hopes will live long enough to see.
For now, he's just happy about the fact that he finally became an arcane hierophant.
- Even though I have such an arduous path ahead of me, I feel like such a huge burden was lifted off my shoulders.
It was only natural, after all. The chains preventing his arcane magic from being unleashed while using shields and armor have been broken, the dream of all battle mages in this world, the dream that only a select few can even hope of touching.
Even the ones who max out the [Armored Mage] prestige class still can't use arcane spells while using shields, so Rhemurus will now be recognized as an even bigger anomaly than he already is.
- There's no turning back now. For better or for worse, I won't be able to hide my abilities forever.
Not that he wanted to either way. He simply wanted to avoid making those around him even warier of him than they already are, so now that he succeeded in his first goal of becoming an arcane hierophant, he feels like he can relax a bit and put grinding at the back of his mind for now so he can focus on developing social ties for the time being.
- I guess I can continue hunting with the berserkers for a while longer. It was thanks to their aid that I could reach the point where I am now.
Though he's not sure if making connections with outcasts is such a good idea, the berserkers themselves aren't connected with pretty much anybody of importance in the human city. But, with whom else he could make connections with? The watch may be interested in a 3rd-tier spellcaster, but he hasn't tried to join them since that time he was flatly rejected.
On top of that, he didn't know the exact nature of the nasty rumors surrounding him, and the lieutenants he spoke with last time made it clear that he needed to win the trust of the populace to be given law-enforcing authority in the first place.
Not to mention the even nastier words that Drulia has been making the higher-ups of the watch hear about this refugee, ensuring that Rhemurus will have a very hard time trying to join the watch.
"What to do...what to do..."
Even though he finally reached the starting line, things haven't gotten any easier.
- Whatever, I'll think about that after I took a good rest.
So after making up his mind and getting back up to continue his journey to the city, the human player decided to do things the way he has been doing them so far; one step at a time. He will cross the bridges when he gets to them, there isn't much use in overthinking things without enough information, his mind is already tired as it is.
Meanwhile, Zahur who has been trailing him bore witness to all the things Rhemurus did during this trip to the swamp, but not even he knows of the massive power boost that their person of interest has received, and neither he nor his mistress will be aware of it until they see the refugee throwing arcane spells while covered in armor and using a shield, something that he has no interest in showing for the time being.
They will know that later, sometime in the not-so-far future, but by that time everyone will be aware of it.
[At that very moment in the citadel of Guraxus, the capital city of the Argland Council State]
In the early morning of this particular day, there was an individual preparing himself to set off.
This person was what a Yggdrasil being would call a dracotaur; an heteromorphic race that resembled a large-sized lizard with the upper torso of a lizardfolk where its head should be. Their scales vary in color from green to brown, their four-foot-long tail which is primarily used for balance ends in wicked spikes that can function as a natural weapon, and the males of the species have ornate cresting on their heads, throats, and chests ranging from bright red to deep purple.
However, in the new world, this race calls itself likrans, and would be quite confused if someone were to address them as dracotaurs. Similarly to how the dragonkin of the new world don't call themselves dragonkin, they call themselves baazi, or baaz in singular.
This likran was one of the members of the standing army responsible for traveling the country in search of strong and capable individuals that could join Argland's army.
As of late, the responsibilities of these wandering recruiters have increased because of the increasing need for powerful soldiers capable of repelling invasions from invaders of the north pole and the subjugation of doom priests, both being a blight that has been negatively affecting the council state in particular.
It's not like they can rely on specialized adventures forever, with how expensive they are.
"Alright, all set. I'm off."
As the likran was getting ready to start his recruiting journey, he first wanted to inform his nearby superior to keep him up to date.
"Grand councilor Gessenvult, I will be leaving the capital now."
The Obsidian Dragon, Gessenvult=Yukleelilith, had forward-curving horns and a spinal crest that peaks just behind the head and tapers off about three-quarters of the way down the neck. An acidic smell surrounded the dragon councilor whose pitch-black scales reflected light like dark glass.
"Ah, Galor'arn, you're the one assigned with the route that goes southwest from the capital, correct?"
"Yes, grand councilor. I have memorized the name and location of all the cities I will scout for recruits this day."
"As expected of someone as talented as you. Say, can I make a special request to you? It's quite important."
"Of course, grand councilor."
"Could you visit an additional city in your route today? It's a walled city inhabited by a primate species called humans."
"Humans, huh?"
Galor'arn comes from a military family that has served in the council state's standing army pretty much since the country was founded, almost every aspect of his family's lives revolves around matters involving the army in one way or another, so it comes to no surprise that not a single member of this particular likran family had ever heard about humans before.
"The city itself is called Breizen, the city gates have a Sky Father rune on top which makes it easy to identify."
"Yes, I think I may have seen stone walls with that rune on my previous travels of this route."
"Once there, you must ask for a particular person of interest, a refugee from an unknown land."
"...oh..."
"From what Suveria told me, this particular person should be quite easy to distinguish from the rest of the humans. So even if you haven't seen a human before, you should be able to tell who he is."
"I...of course, grand councilor."
"And I know what you're thinking. Why are we paying attention to a particular member of a race who has never joined our army before?"
"I was wondering that, yes."
"You know of a yearly event known as the hunting games, yes?"
"Yes, definitely. High marshal Barakazmith who oversees the event also takes the opportunity to see who among the participants could be good army material."
It took Galor'arn just two seconds to connect the dots.
"Wait...is this human someone who showed great promise in front of the high marshal?"
"Mmm, something like that."
"Did this particular human from unknown lands turn out to be an exceptional individual after all, then?"
"Kind of."
Gessenvult was being kind of vague, but Galor'arn didn't pry further since he knows that the Obsidian Dragon wouldn't request for an unexceptional individual to be offered a place in the standing army.
"Very well then, I will add this Breizen city into my route and I will ask for this noteworthy refugee you've spoken me of."
"We thank you for your service to our country, Galor'arn."
The likran excused himself and set off to his recruiting journey, unaware that this stop at the human city is more than just a small derailment from his usual route.
Gessenvult felt a bit guilty, but it was for the best that Galor'arn was only told what he needed to know. The details about how the Platinum Dragon Lord was adamant about this particular human refugee being sent for recruitment this day - and not a single day sooner than THIS day, in particular - didn't have to be shared, nor the fact that this human already had a unit he will be assigned to, and specific missions he will be sent to.
It will be an extremely tumultuous path ahead, but Rhemurus will have no choice but to face the future trials and tribulations that await him.
But for now, he could afford to relax a bit.
Since Galor'arn was sent to seek recruits in multiple cities, it will actually be a couple of days before the likran arrives in the human city, days that the human player spent with hunts alongside the berserkers and trying to find profitable uses for his druid spells. And while he originally hoped that [Plant Growth] would allow him to at least make a few coins in the farm district, he was basically trying to sell sand in a desert since not only was the farm district right beside the druid district, but some farmers were druids who reached the 3rd-tier themselves.
Had the 3rd-tier been a relatively hard tier to reach for the people of the council state, then Rhemurus' magic would be in higher demand like how it is in other countries where magic development wasn't such a priority, but in Argland, magic was the most important thing to develop because of its limitless potential uses.
The player wasn't discouraged, though. Even if it would take a while, he hopes to steadily gain more levels and learn more spells during the multiple hunts he plans to make alongside the berserkers, hunts that were steadily becoming easier and more profitable since Rhemurus' magic was quite a big asset for them. So much so that during one particularly successful hunt Solangus gifted Rhemurus a masterwork iron knife, a gift that in and of itself wasn't that big of a deal, rather it was the fact that the berserkers all collectively agreed to give Rhemurus a gift that made the player realize that he was truly gaining the trust of others, even if they were social outcasts.
Also, being able to use a proper weapon that wasn't disposable was a nice improvement for him, as well.
But this world still wasn't that kind to him. The closer he bonded with the berserkers, the more attached to them he becomes, and the greater will be the chance for Drulia to attempt to use them in an attempt to coerce the player into joining her side. Granted, at this point, Rhemurus was already the highest-level human in the entirety of the Argland Council State, but metaphysical power doesn't make you immune to the machinations of intrigue, at least not while the power disparity between Rhemurus and the most powerful humans of this country isn't that big.
So even if it takes days, weeks, or even months, Drulia will bide her time and move matters behind the scenes. She will do anything to get what she wants, either by manipulation, submission, or destruction. Nothing will stop her on her path to becoming the true ruler of the human city.
Nothing.
==Author's Note==
Hello once again.
It feels like forever ago when our protagonist was a mere level 1 weakass, and as of now, he's still a weakass but at least he's on the right path to becoming much more powerful. Ha!
On a more serious note, I want to apologize for both the short size of this chapter and for how late it was published.
Arc I - which as of now I'm calling the Argland Arc - is far from over, though since this is the chapter where Rhemurus finally reached the starting line he was so looking forward to, I felt that this was the right moment for me to take a break from publishing and develop a better, more solid grasp for how the story should progress moving forward.
I know what the story will be like and even know how it's going to end as well, the hard part is how the characters will get to that point. Even if you know the destination, the journey itself can be quite challenging.
Also, since it has really been a good while since the player got his last level sheet and he has been developing his combat tactics and abilities quite a lot, I think he deserved an updated sheet, so here it is.
Rhemurus
15 - Druid
10 - Mage
05 - Evoker
01 - Arcane Hierophant
Racial Level:0 / Job Level:31
Total Level:31
[Magic Items]
- Still none. (lol)
You may recall that during the proverbial drawing board, I settled for a level 1 human arriving in this world alone as a form of foil to the main character from canon, Momonga/Ainz. That was just half of the character concept, the other half was settling for the class he was going to develop since I wanted his class to also be a foil to Momonga's own.
Originally, I imagined that a cleric-fighter would work just fine, but I remembered that there's already a somewhat similar build in the canon series in the form of Shalltear who's a fighter-cleric. And I was aiming for a foil of Momonga, not a foil of one of his guardians.
Huh? No, I didn't make a typo, cleric-fighters and fighter-clerics are fundamentally different, you know.
But leaving that aside, I then imagined that a min-maxed arcane evoker could work as a foil since Momonga was a necromancer role-play build, but I then remembered again that canon already has that in the memory of Ulbert, so I discarded that as well.
Remnants of this idea were kept in the Mercenary Magicians guild that Rhemurus was originally a part of.
Then I kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking even more.
Melee fighter build was discarded for the same reason Ulbert's class was; canon already has the memory of the leader of those legendary heroes, and I was adamant about showing something that not only wasn't seen before, but also something that I was pretty certain that the author may never be interested in showing on the light novels, and that's how I got the idea of a proper dual-caster that merges arcane and divine magic into a single playstyle. Contrast to Momomga who hyper-specialized in a single school of arcane magic.
At first, Rhemurus was going to be a mystic theurge who uses both cleric and mage magic, but there was a reason I settled for a druid-mage arcane hierophant instead.
Well, two reasons.
First reason was that clerics eventually learn [Raise Dead] as a 5th-tier spell and then [True Resurrection] as a 7th-tier spell, while druids - while also divine spellcasters - don't learn those spells.
They do learn [Reincarnate] as a 4th-tier spell, but that's not the same and nowhere near as reliable.
What I'm trying to say is that I purposely avoided the path that would make Rhemurus something akin to an all-power God that can control life and death in the same vein Ainz is. He himself said so in volume 1 of the canon series; being someone who brings life is far more troublesome than being someone who brings death.
On top of that, becoming someone who can casually bring back comrades who die, even if it's a power gained very down the line, would remove a lot of tension from the challenges he will face, and I wanted to make this story in a way that things would never become easy for Rhemurus no matter how powerful he becomes.
Which leads to the second reason; clerics can use all the metal armor and shields they want, but druids must always keep in mind the fact that they must never wear metal lest they lose their divine power for a whole day. This is likewise something that even a level 100 Rhemurus will always have to be mindful of.
If you stop and think about it, Rhemurus having to be constantly worried about things that would be a legit problem to him and those around him is the perfect foil mindset to Ainz who is constantly worried about things that wouldn't actually harm him or Nazarick in any real way. lmfao
So for the time being this will be for now. I hope it doesn't take me that long to recharge my brain, and I'll see you all next time.