2-9 Irresistible for Fluff Lovers
...Good morning.
Still buried under the blanket, waiting for my mind to fully wake up, I heard a crunching sound from the tent entrance—like something being gnawed on.
Don's probably munching on nuts for breakfast. No sign of Sarsa... looks like she's already up and about.
"Master, are you awake?"
"Yeah."
Sarsa poked her head in through the tent flap.
"I'm preparing breakfast."
"Got it. How's the skill feeling?"
"Yes, no issues so far."
"Good."
Man, I'm sleepy. I forced my body upright to shake off the drowsiness and started thinking about today's plans.
Both of us had just picked up new skills, so no point pushing too hard.
Yesterday got cut short, so maybe pick up where we left off—scout along the riverbank.
I asked for her input over breakfast, and Sarsa was on board.
If she can master her Far Sight skill, the risks should drop.
I instructed her to use it actively within her limits and get comfortable with it fast.
Sipping the soup loaded with bear meat from yesterday's hunt, I warmed up my body.
Autumn's creeping in; mornings in the tent are getting chilly.
The other monster hunters around here shot us envious looks—stuck with preserved rations—but whatever.
Cafeteria's not open this early, and once the sun's up, the Warrior Squad crowds in and boots everyone out.
Your options: sleep till noon or choke down whatever scraps you've got.
"Hunt any familiar monsters we spot. Skip 'em if there are too many or they're unknowns. Think you can manage?"
"I'll do my best."
With Sarsa's improved scouting, we could pick our fights ahead of time.
Her for long-range spotting, me for close-range motion detection to counter ambushes. Pretty solid combo, if I do say so myself.
We finished eating, packed up, and stashed the tent in storage—for a fee, of course.
Leave it out, and if someone swipes it, tough luck. The Warrior Squad's just lending space.
Heading northwest, with Sarsa on scout duty right away.
"...There's a snake-like monster over there."
"Got it, skirt around it."
"Up in the sky—those are Arrowers... three of them, I think."
"The tiny dots? Damn, you can really see 'em."
Sarsa's Far Sight was proving way more useful than expected.
Downside: her MP pool's smaller than mine, so she burned through it quick and needed recharge breaks.
MP recovery isn't a flat rate—more like a percentage of max, from what I've gauged.
Not like +1 per minute, but +X% of max per minute.
My recovery speed dwarfs hers, and it fluctuates with health or activity anyway. Probably more complex than that.
Still, even with her downtime or us pushing on normally sometimes, Sarsa's intel let us cherry-pick winnable fights and dodge the risky unknowns. Hunt went smooth.
Even bagged some nostalgic chitterers from the early grasslands.
Hit the riverbank by noon—felt like an accomplishment, but this wasn't a picnic.
Upstream's riskier, so we followed the flow downstream, scanning for monsters.
Twenty minutes in, not on the river but up high: a floppy board-like thing drifting lazily.
"What the hell's that?"
"A Flying Ray."
"Oh?"
Sarsa knew it. A ray, huh? Too distant for me to tell, but okay.
"They say it's a delicacy."
"...Oh?"
People in this world devour those wriggly black orbs and jump on monster cuisine.
Scarce arable land, yet they scrape by—probably 'cause monster meat floods the market. Makes sense.
"Was it in the guidebook...?"
"Yes. High magic resistance, so arrows work best."
"Hmm. You're up, Sarsa... nah, lemme test something."
We crept close without alerting it—or rather, timed it drifting into range, then cast.
Convert mana to sand, compress into needles.
Sand Needle.
Before confirming hits, I channeled mana into a nearby stone and hurled it with a mana boost.
Slow Stone (physical). Mana-fueled, but looks like a plain toss.
"KIIIII!"
Sand Needles peppered it on scatter shot, then the stone nailed it dead-on.
As the Flying Ray lost altitude, Sarsa's arrows slammed home one after another.
Her firing rate's improved—impressive.
"Sand Needle!"
I joined in. Easy target now that it was low and stalled.
Didn't take long... before it plopped into the river.
"Ah."
"Oh no!"
Yeah, figures. We stared as it bobbed away with the current, Don-style.
"Master, magic—use magic!"
"R-Right."
Water magic to manipulate the flow... but it was already too far gone. Fail.
Ah, the materials...
"...The delicacy."
That's your takeaway?
Shaking it off, we kept downstream along the river.
Hey, maybe it'd snag somewhere.
Anyway, magic resistance claim checked out—but earth magic punched through. Confirms it's the most physical of the basic four elements. Worth it even without loot.
...Loot's just a bonus, huh.
"Not many monsters around."
I muttered as we descended the bank. Water edges should teem with 'em, right? Fewer than the grasslands. Just that Flying Ray. Shadows in the water sometimes, but nothing surfaced.
"What now...?"
"..."
"Hm? Sarsa, something wrong?"
"Gii! Gii!"
Don popped his head from Sarsa's backpack, squeaking high and urgent—sounding the alarm.
"...Monster?"
"Yes, still distant, but something's there."
"Details?"
"Yes... lots of legs, bulky and gnarled... like a crab or shrimp?"
"Crustacean?"
"Yes. But on top—a human-like upper body."
"Subhuman?"
"No... less like a human creature, more like a crustacean mimicking human shape."
"Hmm."
No such thing in the monster guide... right?
I'd crammed grassland types, but other areas? Eh.
Not unchecked—I skimmed everything once. But nada stuck.
"Any matches come to mind?"
Dump it on the sharp slave. Play to strengths.
"No... sorry. But I've memorized riverbank monsters down to the lower reaches."
"Oh?"
Too damn competent.
"Even so, nothing fits. Which means..."
"Yeah."
I got her drift. If it's obscure due to rarity/low threat, fine.
Worst case: it's listed, but not supposed to reach downstream. I.e., from the dangerous upstream.
"Likely."
"Yes..."
"Noticed us?"
"No, seems busy working... hasn't spotted or cares."
"Got it. Either way, not worth engaging."
Defense spell primed, we backed off slow. Mystery crust humanoid showed no interest, no approach. ...Phew.
"Hard to believe, but was that keeping numbers low around here?"
"Can't rule it out."
Strong invader from upstream clears out locals—common phenomenon. Monsters hit humans first, others second. Wait, prioritizing people makes zero sense anyway. That white-haired kid's words about this world's spawns being abnormal flickered by, but I shook it off.
Dig too deep, and I'd brush forbidden secrets. I want no part.
Status system screams game, but no demon lords or evil gods, right? Not flagging it! That's why I don't wanna think!
"Safe now, probably."
Sarsa exhaled, sweaty and wiped out from the tense, silent retreat.
I took a breather too, deep breath. Don poked halfway from her pack, sniffing. His skills factored into our hyper-vigilance.
The skill he'd somehow picked up recently—method unknown.
Nocturnal Don, lazing in the pack at night, bursting out midday to warn? That thing was bad news.
"Kyu kyu."
Don chilled out, munching Piyuko nuts. Danger passed.
Sarsa reached back to pet him.
Me too—sharing the love... mmm, that premium fluff unchanged. Heaven for fluff lovers.
"Gii."
Back by Sarsa, belly by me—Don grumbled in annoyance.
"Alright, veer off the riverbank from here."
"Yes, let's."
My lame idea passed unanimously. Back to base through the grasslands.
"...What's up?"
The gate guard eyed me suspiciously as I loitered.
The burly middle-aged guy from day one knew my face. Weird I wasn't flashing my guild card like a free pass.
"Figured I'd report it."
Got lost in thought recalling Slagee: reported the blood slime surge to a guard, foresaw the swarm.
Just one this time, but Don bailed from the pack in panic. Worth mentioning. No loss if it's nothing—maybe mild embarrassment. Go for it.
"What?"
"Went northwest along the riverbank. Spotted an unfamiliar monster."
"Huh? Describe it."
"Sarsa."
Hand it to her—Far Sight nailed the visuals.
"Yes. Crab-like crustacean legs and shell forming a human-like upper body. Probably over two meters tall, skimming across the water on multiple legs."
Shed sorted her mental notes on the way—fluent report. Good girl.
"Mm, humanoid with crustacean legs and shell? Sure?"
"Yes, no mistake."
Said it with conviction! Cool.
"Hmm. If accurate, that's a Ferregen. Upper variant of the man-eating crab. Should only be in the Kansen River upstream."
"Upstream, huh."
Bad hunch confirmed. Dodged a bullet.
"Tough?"
"Ferregen. Yeah, teams of high-level Warriors take 'em."
"Fewer monsters around—was that its doing?"
"Possible. Hungry one reaching downstream could've wiped the locals."
"Good call turning back quick."
"Cross Point garrison usually handles 'em. Slipped through, or mid-river crab mutated? Either way, key intel. I'll pass it up."
"Thanks."
"Might get a reward. Want it when you pass through, or pick it up yourself?"
"Where?"
"Squad brass, I guess. Details fuzzy."
"You hand it over. I'll be milling around; we'll cross paths."
"Fair. I'll process it—head in if you're going."
Evening already—no more outdoor hunts. Did the entry, crashed.
He handed off to the other guard and dipped inside—reporting or paperwork.
Their job now. I'd refuse orders on something that sketchy too.
"Earnings kinda sucked today~... Ray floated off too..."
"Yes... the delicacy..."
Sarsa sulked. Felt like cheering her up hard.
Meat shortage meant cafeteria veggie stir-fry and salad—healthy? Lopsided?—then bed.
Bit early to crash, though.
Test some new magic.
Focused on body enhancement, channeled mana through my frame steadily. So far so good. Now...
Gather it in my arm, extend, flex. Hmm.
If it's pooled, maybe boosts defense? Nah, straight defense spell's better.
No other perks, no point extending it.
Even basic four elements handle attack, defense, support versatilely.
Back to basics.
Magic: convert to fire/water/etc., manipulate motion...
Turning body into something? Terrifying. So motion.
Body moves fine without... benefit's mana-direct control sans muscles?
Nope, mana waste galore.
Wait—what?
Key epiphany just now.
Why pick muscles or mana?
Overlay mana on muscles.
...Hmm.
Manipulate mana while moving body.
No, off. Can't move pure mana.
Sync mana flow to muscle motion when moving?
Slowly extend clenched arm—a deliberate punch.
Match mana to it. Once comfy, normal-speed jab at a big ground stone.
Plain punch that'd do zilch—crack! Stone split with a snap. Felt like gripping something solid.
"Sync to body motion for power amp... magic?"
Not just world-shattering punches. Amp legs for speed/jumps/stops. Balance whole body for acrobatic fights like in movies.
Checked status.
MP down ~25 in that short burst.
Abysmal efficiency. Was flooding mana wild. Combat: pinpoint usage only.
"But... path's clear."
Grin.
This is why magic's hooking me harder than expected. Trial-error plus my knowledge recreates spells. Or births new ones. That rush is addictive.
Like solving a tough puzzle. Or that Tetris moment when the long bar drops perfect, clearing the board clean. Or... whatever, Tetris irrelevant.
Sarsa's Far Sight too—skills demand personal polish beyond acquisition. Magic especially: high skill ceiling, high freedom.
Deep and fun.
Sarsa practiced Magic Wall nearby. Magic stones under 10—restock soon.
Don, rung up by daytime wake, barely awake and dozy.
Want him recovered for night watch by bedtime.
Base is safe-ish, but can't fully trust other hunters/mercs.