2-8 Acquisition
Heading further northwest from the Eneito Base brought us to the banks of the Kansen River, which flowed down from the distant southern mountains. It was home to plenty of aquatic monsters and those that favored watering holes.
There were all sorts of beasts to watch out for, but until we reached the riverbank, we'd mostly run into the same grassland monsters as before.
The scary ones up north in the grasslands were that giant herbivorous dinosaur we'd spotted yesterday, the Rebeus, the heat rock bear, and something called a Keigo.
The Keigo looked like a feline predator made even more ferocious, with wings sprouting from its back. That was straight out of the monster guide's illustration, and Kargid, who'd shown us around the base yesterday, had warned us about it as a high-priority threat.
Each one was no joke on its own, they could leap into the air and pursue you relentlessly from above, and worst of all, they hunted in packs.
Some individuals even use magic. If a pack attacks, brace for wind, ice, lightning, and all sorts of spells.
Those Keigos had a decent chance of showing up in the northern grasslands, so the advice was to steer clear.
Not exactly rookie-friendly enemies for the grasslands, huh... Rebeus too, for that matter.
If it was just one-on-one, anyone who could take down a heat rock bear should manage, so if they doggedly pursued you, just tough it out.
Steer clear of heat rock bear territories, but with Keigos, there's no real countermeasure—just give up and head to the river monsters.
Up to this point, we'd been getting mostly earth and wind magic stones, but the water's edge should yield water-attribute ones too.
Not that it matters much since I wasn't using them myself!
Encounters were ramping up now that we were this far out—no need to hunt them down anymore. I skulked along, staying hidden, scouting for easy prey.
Sarsa occasionally sniped Arrowas out of the sky as we crept slowly toward the riverbank.
Just as I spotted what looked like the river, Presence Detection pinged a violently moving object.
"Something's out there. Let's check it out."
We advanced cautiously, positioning ourselves to avoid detection, toward the signal. There, a bull with a sturdy, bullfighting build was bellowing and charging at something. What the hell?
"That's a red bull, right?"
"Yeah... so that's one."
I felt like we said the same thing every time we spotted a new monster, but whatever. What else was there to say?
It was starting to feel like filling out a monster compendium in a game—kinda fun, actually. I used to be a completionist gamer back home.
This one was especially exciting. It was a red bull.
Red bulls were top-three tastiest monster meats you could hunt in the grasslands.
Those magnificent horns splitting left and right marked it as a male. Females moved in herds, which made them tough to hunt, but males wandered solo, freely away from the group—hard to track down intentionally, but worth it if you found one.
That said, female meat was supposedly tastier in terms of flavor... Figures, it's a cow after all.
Even the male was supposed to beat regular beef, so expectations were high. The issue was whatever it was fighting...
Looking closer, there was some kinda unrecognizable critter at the bull's feet. At first glance, it looked like a sloppy pile of animal corpses mashed together—not like a single creature at all—but it squirmed and dodged the bull's attacks, so yeah, it was alive. A Sanshent, I think.
Rumor had it they incorporated corpses into their bodies, maybe a slime variant or something... Who cares. It was gross as hell.
Those sloppy corpse lumps had bulging eyes poking out everywhere, which ramped up the creep factor, but apparently left it with no blind spots. It attacked by absorbing stuff and could even sling spells.
"Filth needs disinfecting."
I drew my magic gun, charged it for max power, and fired. The two were so locked in combat they barely reacted—easy hit.
"Nnghmooooh—!"
"Kishishishi!"
Both let out cries? of agony. I channeled magic into my magic sword and slashed the red bull's neck in one stroke. Then fire magic on the corpse-sludge thing—burn, burn!
I kept piling on fireballs until the Sanshent was charred to ash and gone. Evil vanquished.
"Good work."
Sarsa approached, bow at the ready. She'd followed up my slash on the red bull with shots to finish it off. Competent slave.
"I'll drain the blood... Hmph."
Sarsa tried lifting the red bull but hesitated at its muscled bulk.
I stepped up and grabbed the head.
"I'll help with the heavy lifting. Don't hold back."
"Yes."
Working together, we dragged it to the river, bled it out, and cooled it down. Then butchering time.
Magic stone, meat, all going home. Horns were useful too. Hide... if we had time and space.
Priority one: meat.
At the base, where they might not buy everything depending on type and amount, meat was always welcome.
It fetched market price or a bit more.
We portioned the meat, wrapped it in cloth, and packed up.
Glancing at the burnt filth... yeah, I'd overdone it—no magic stone left. Yoyo reflect. But it was too gross; unavoidable.
Goblin-tier non-elemental stone anyway, so whatever.
"Meat's heavier than expected... Ditch the hide?"
"Tough to process too, yeah."
With encounters this frequent, we were hitting carry limits.
Hire a porter? Buy another slave?
...Either way, no cash. Plus more guys could mean trouble—assaulting Sarsa or falling for each other? My sanity couldn't take it. Vetoed.
"Was gonna scout the riverbank today... Head back?"
"Yeah."
We made it back by early afternoon; they bought the red bull meat at a premium for dinner.
Ate a late lunch in the mess hall. They even grilled us fresh red bull steaks—delicious.
Mmm... yeah... beef.
"Good?"
"Yeah, the fat's not greasy—easy to eat."
Sarsa could tell the difference.
"Hunt around here this afternoon?"
"Yes."
Ideally more profitable stuff like red bulls. Took a long post-meal break to refresh, then headed out again.
"Hm?"
Out exploring casually, I spotted a huge bird-like shadow in the distant sky.
It sparkled occasionally, bobbing up and down wildly.
"Monster?"
"Probably."
If it was hunting or fighting another monster, getting too close could redirect it our way—not fun.
We observed discreetly until it vanished—flew off or killed, who knows.
Staying wary, we pressed on when a group in plate armor approached from ahead.
"Hmph."
"What now?"
"...No hostility, should be fine. But that's a lot of 'em."
"Ten or so, yeah."
They advanced in formation, on high alert. Close enough to make out faces, I recognized one.
"Kargid!"
Sarsa blurted it out.
"Oh? You two from yesterday... lingering around here, eh."
They'd quizzed us detailed on river monsters, so probably didn't expect us still nearby. He looked surprised.
"Yeah, scored some prey this morning, came back once."
"I see."
Kargid was up front, so we chatted, but the whole squad halted. Standing around was rude; I was about to wrap up when a female squad member next to him scowled.
"Vice-captain, who's this?"
"Monster hunters I showed around the base yesterday."
"Monster hunters? Some lone merc talking to Lord Kargid like—"
"It's fine."
Kargid didn't mind, but my tone was too casual, apparently.
I'd forgotten, but he'd had some house name or middle name—noble vibes. Nailed it. Formal speech?
"Ah, sorry. Should I watch my tone?"
"Nah. Bloodline aside, I'm just a squad member now."
"I see."
What now? My speech was getting weird.
"So, uh, that fight ahead earlier?"
"Us. Keigo pack showed up."
"Keigos?!"
The priority threats he'd described—ferocious beast-cats.
"No casualties, repelled 'em clean. You're safe."
"Appreciate it."
If the squad hadn't handled it, we might've been targets. Straight-up grateful.
"Gotta push on."
"Yeah, thanks."
We stepped aside, watching them pass. Mid-packers carried Keigo corpses—heavy loads. Some beast hauling two solo...
As described: fierce big cat, not quite lion or tiger... maybe tiger dialed up to savage. Shoulder-carried size was reasonable, but each had pristine white wings from the shoulder blades. Kinda divine-looking.
Further ahead, near the battle site, something off.
Dozens of Arrowas circled, diving at the ground. Peering carefully, multiple beast-corpse sprawls—Keigos, from the scene.
"Didn't haul 'em all."
Couldn't carry everything; probably took the best/biggest.
Shooed Arrowas with arrows and spells when a biggie lumbered out from the back, lured by the feast. Red-and-black fur bear... heat rock bear.
Smaller than the last one. No reports of one here before, so young one striking out solo.
"Smaller specimen, too late to run. Let's take it."
Signaled Sarsa, drew magic gun. Aimed for the bear gorging on Keigo guts—three shots.
Swapped job to Swordsman, drew greatsword, charged.
Bear took clean gut hits, bleeding, but reared up undeterred. One arrow pierced it.
By the time I closed, four more shots—three hits, one face nice-shot.
"Nice, Sarsa."
Activated Water Wall, sprayed Water Balls.
Thrust magic-infused sword straight in as it flinched, then backed off—Air Pressure assist. That move was second nature now, near-automatic.
Progress.
"Groooar!"
Inexperienced youth? It mustered one fireball—splashed harmless on Water Wall. Realized futility, turned tail.
Too late.
One-sided barrage on its back: slash, shoot, stab, shoot.
Sliced legs—tendons cut?—it tumbled, couldn't run. Done.
Parried flailing limbs, counter-shredded torso. Sarsa's arrows studded its face; movements slowed.
Under three minutes, lights out. Total victory.
"Alright... whew."
Poked with sword to confirm death, sighed.
Won, huh.
Lucky it was weak.
"Good work."
"Might draw more scavengers to the corpses. Quick butcher?"
This heat rock bear's hide was shredded from frontal assault, small size—little salvage. Limbs, organs maybe.
Keigos... mostly bird/bear-chewed, stones already extracted. Wings sold well—took intact ones.
Bit of cash, nice.
"Lame fireball, half-assed decisions... this bear was weak."
"..."
"Hm? Sarsa?"
Post-butchery, prepping to leave—no reply from Sarsa. Scowling, clutching head, swaying.
"What?!"
Rushed over, supported her waist, peered at her face. Conscious, blinking like checking something.
"Dizzy? You okay?"
"Y-yes, no, sorry. Hit sudden..."
"Sudden what? Explain."
"...Calm down. Probably... got a skill."
"Skill? Huh?"
Followed her lead, pulled up her status.
Archer leveled up. And yeah, a new skill: Far Sight.
"Got Far Sight."
"Knew it."
Sarsa looked relieved.
"You felt it acquire?"
"No, like... suddenly, scanning surroundings, distance zoomed in—head hurt."
"Ah, yeah."
No warning, eyes suddenly get zoom—shocker.
Making sense she'd freeze or wobble. This world's system was subtly user-unfriendly.
Without me, she'd think medical issue vs. skill—couldn't tell.
"Worried it was illness..."
"Fair. Wish it logged skill gains or something..."
"Status gods are busy. No time for that."
Ah, yeah. That's how normals saw it.
I viewed it as buggy software—fix the UX. But to locals, divine/mystical.
"Not Charged Shot, though."
Normal for level 10-ish: Charged Shot.
"Sorry."
"Nah, not bad. Special talent, unique skill maybe?"
"Dunno. Special can be good or bad."
"Hm. This Far Sight?"
Skill descriptions only for mine—hers inaccessible.
Literal: see far. Her account backed it.
Auto-zooms when focusing distance, probably.
"Control it?"
"...Yeah... staring triggers it. Magic Wall practice helped—sense magic flow now. Block to eyes, no trigger... think so."
"Makes sense. Needs practice, but scout/snipe gold."
"Really?"
"Yeah, own it."
Sniper potential? Or scout? Archer led to scout jobs for apt ones.
Either way, new skill—great. Versatile maybe. MP down 2 quick—thirsty, but...
Whoa, testing dropped another 1.
Magic skills savable with practice—proven. Should settle.
"Pull back today. Risky fighting unskilled."
"Yes."
Back to base, pitched tent.
Tents came and went, but always ~10. Unpopular field—what were they after?
Early dinner, fetched water, hunkered in.
Hand in water, stirred slow, heating image. Water+fire combo. Fire alone worked, but guzzled MP.
Combos unlocked magic versatility. Specialists like Earth Mage quick power, but generalist Mage long-term fun.
I could dual, cheat-style.
Sarsa practiced Magic Wall nearby.
Initially struggled, but nightly reps: now decent walls at range from bracelet.
Blocked physical/magic, but output way below my elementals.
Emergency only.
Bonus: magic handling boosted skill control—overdelivered.
Bedtime: check my status...
Whoa? New skill surprise. Mage just got Magic Bullet.
Body Enhancement Magic, huh. Let's see...
Body Enhancement Magic: Unlocks direct magical intervention on one's own body.
Hm. Magic skill descriptions vague as ever.
Clear: self-body magic. No ally buffs.
Activated, circulated magic slowly through body.
...Yeah, like water magic flowing into water—infuses body with magic.
But then what?
Base elements: infuse, manipulate target.
Fire manipulates fire, water water—basic/ultimate.
Body? Infuse self... but I could move already.
Duh.
Tested: just infusing boosted no attack power/speed. No convenience.
Effects unclear—needs testing.
Did I do afterword already?
Added map to 2-5. Same in reference room. Teba region map for interested. (Don't expect high quality...)