Chapter 171
Chapter 171
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 171
Chapter Title: Even If It's Tough, You Have to Endure It
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That day was peaceful as well.
Precisely speaking, my body was utterly serene, but my mind was not.
“...Soon, the month will end.”
The youth, sweat, passion, and inexhaustible infinite power that had filled this body were fading away. The despair carved at my heart like it was being whittled down.
The gap between 2 and 3 is enormous.
Whether you can dodge. Whether you can parry.
At Stamina 2, dodging gets you killed, and parrying gets you killed. Activation is possible, but only merciless death follows afterward.
But Stamina 3 is different. Dodge cancels become viable, and after a parry, you can chain into normal attacks or starters.
But that's all fading. My life... my driving force...
“However, raising Stamina from 1 is no easy task either.”
I must face the loss head-on without fear. Nurture what I have instead of resenting what I lack.
“As for ways to raise Stamina from 1...”
A direct path to pump Stamina.
“Tricky.”
If I were a full-on tank build, it'd be one thing, but relying on items, potions, or synergies feels stifling.
I've already committed to a skill-focused path, so I could just abandon Stamina. But... Stamina 3 is just too sweet and alluring.
This game's foundation is pinpoint stat investment above all else, so diverting resources to Stamina leaves a bad taste.
Put simply, boosting Skill from 5 to 20 is overwhelmingly more efficient than pushing Stamina from 5 to 7.
But... then I can just farm Stamina in downtime. What else yields Stamina?
For now, let's focus on side quests for quick clears.
The Demon God quests that reward the Cloak of Extreme Heavens mostly need Eve to even attempt. They demand Anti-Magic, and anything under Magic Power 19 is a pipe dream.
Naturally, the Door to the Demon Realm is... completely out of the question right now.
The Fairy Queen's Favor requires Eve to take down El Pirane, which is no walk in the park for her now. El Pirane has Magic Power 20, but she's a veteran from battlefields 300 years past.
Hm. Shadow Hidden in Darkness is tough too. Might chat with Rudika about that later.
As I methodically eliminated subquests one by one, the convenience store door swung open.
“...?”
A pure white dress. Eyes like a cluster of snowflakes.
Toward the end of summer. Lilia Snow, who had vanished after saying the Queen summoned her and never returned, stepped through the convenience store door.
“...Yeah. Sure.”
Honestly, I was a little pissed.
The Ice Queen might summon her, sure, but how could I look fondly on a snow fairy showing up after summer's fully passed?
She was so far away that my blessing weakened, forcing me to suffer the heat.
A merchant's oath is an oath of trust. You betrayed my expectations. No more treating you like a trading partner.
“Queen... you mean the Ice Queen?”
Hmph.
Oh, really? The Ice Queen wants to commission me? Ha.
“Come sit. Tell me if there's anything you want to eat.”
Anyway.
Hearing out the story can't hurt, right?
There's a term: faction grinding.
Or reputation work, affinity farming. In simple terms, you pick a faction's side, grind their quests, build favor, and score items or skills.
And yes, it exists in D/Z SAGA too.
But with how time-starved the game already is, players only cherry-pick the ultra-honey rewards from the 10 stages as growth boosters. Almost no one runs them to completion.
The rewards are surprisingly juicy, but the quests are brutal, and they can tangle up your farming routes.
Of course, that's everyone except me.
But oh? What's this?
【The Ice Queen has submitted a commission request to you.】
【Accepting will cause all of the Ice Tribe to regard you as 'Neutral'.】
【You will gain free access to the Frostbite Plains.】
【However, the Scorch Tribe will become hostile toward you.】
【Accept?】
“Let's hear the request first.”
“Intriguing. And?”
“...Well.”
Why wouldn't I bite?
This is pure honey.
“I'll accept.”
“Yeah. Looking forward to working with you.”
【The Ice Queen and her tribe now regard you as a 'Neutral' figure.】 【Anomalous weather in the Frostbite Plains will no longer target you or your companions.】 【All monsters residing in the Frostbite Plains will no longer preemptive strike you.】
【Warning: All of the Scorch Tribe now harbor even deeper hostility toward you!】
“Deadline?”
“Sheesh. Same as ever.”
“Anyway, I'll handle it as fast as possible.”
“Of course.”
Naturally, no one knows what Laya Dia Frost likes better than I do.
Alright.
Time to set out on the expedition.
Lilia said to call her when it's ready, then holed up in a corner of the store and started sleeping.
I get that's how the Ice Crystal faction handles quest reports, but watching her live so carefree makes you wonder if anyone has it that easy.
More importantly...
“This expedition is a problem.”
In the original game, it's an expedition where you're insecure no matter who you bring. But now, it's different.
In fact, it's gotten to the point where whoever you bring doesn't matter, which makes it even trickier.
It's such prime honey territory that I'd prefer someone whose company is comfortable. In that case, those four are the pick.
But as I keep repeating, this game demands ruthless schedule management. Ideally, you parallel three or four—no, as many as possible.
So the one chosen was...
“I'm busy!”
“I know.”
“Then why...!”
Eve von Loengrin.
No, I really don't want to travel with her either, but there are solid reasons this time.
“Before, you begged me to go on an expedition together despite it being unreasonable. Now that I'm asking, you're refusing?”
“Ugh... That time, there was a reason! A huge one!”
“Is that belly fat your huge reason?”
“I'll kill you and bring justice to this world!”
“Hmph. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not going because I want to be with you.”
“Then leave me alone! I said I'm busy!”
Yeah, I want to leave her alone too.
But it's not because she's my belly fat squad... er, Eve squad.
“Have you finished all the missions dictated by that book with the First Emperor's arrangements?”
“...Still about 300 short.”
“That's why we're going together. The place we're headed allows for stable hunting.”
“...Huh?”
“In other words, it might unlock your new power.”
“...Ugh!”
I don't want to go with Eve.
It's that Eve needs to promote for the future story to smooth out.
“Stable hunting... No such place exists, right? Isn't everything outside Jefrin Academy's central district dangerous?”
“Normally, yeah.”
Yeah, normally that's true.
But the quest timelines got weirdly tangled, creating one tiny loophole.
“So it's not normal this time?”
“Exactly. You'll see once we get there. I guarantee complete safety.”
There are five promotion quests total anyway. Might as well knock one out quick while we're at it.
And the place we arrived at was the Scorchwave Desert.
Whose land is this Scorchwave Desert, exactly?
“Hehe, my little siblings coming to my house? I'm over the moon!”
This hell of blistering heat. In the heart of the desert lives an ancient breed that scatters lightning.
The Blue Dragon named Filthia Bluebreeze rules this land.
“Got it. Big sis has heard the whole story. Little bro's venturing the desert for new culinary heights. Youngest for growth. Right?”
“That's right, sis.”
“Yes, sister.”
“Perfect! Your big sis will guide you! No monster will stand against sis. Let's start the desert adventure!”
And that makes it crystal clear why I picked Eve as my companion.
Filthia is ridiculously soft on me and Eve.
“...Wolfram. You were right this time.”
“Now you get why it's safe here?”
“...Yeah. Probably the safest place in the world.”
Yeah.
With a dragon sparkling like that, what's there to fear?
After that, we traversed the desert under Filthia's guidance.
Endless sand. Sand. And more sand. A veritable sand banquet.
No Egyptian civilization here, so no pyramids, no Sphinx, no obelisks.
Just sand, even more sand... and monsters.
Even so, Filthia pointed at the air with a finger and grinned brightly at us.
“Ah, that's the dune that formed the day before yesterday. And that one's from three days ago!”
“...Ah, I see.”
“...Are you memorizing all of them?”
“Hehe. See, big sis has patrolled this area every day for 300 years, so she knows every dune by heart!”
Dunes. Sand hills in the desert.
They shift several times a day with the wind, yet she introduced them like scenic landmarks. We were speechless.
Why on earth memorize that? Eve caught my skeptical glance, nodded in full agreement, and finally blurted it out.
“Sister. You... memorize when every single dune formed?”
“Huh? It's not that I memorize them. They just... stick.”
“...Huh?”
“Dragons have perfect memory... Even if I don't want to, it all lodges in my head...? Big sis remembers every dune she's seen from 300 years ago to now...?”
“...Ah.”
“...Hm.”
We had nothing to say to Filthia, whose eyes had dimmed slightly.
This is on Hark.
Afterward, Filthia and I decided to help with Eve's promotion quest first.
“I see. Papa's book has a way for the youngest to grow stronger?”
“Yes. First, kill 500 monsters. Eve, you said 300 left?”
“Yeah... Isn't 300 still too many? Ugh...”
“Then how about big sis drags them in near-death, and youngest just finishes them off?”
“...W-Would you? Sister?”
Eve's face lit up, and Filthia nodded.
And I... said nothing.
No need to say anything.
Because...
“The count isn't going up... Why?”
Last-hit leeching? As if. Nice try cheating.
The original game rewards only effort. Exploits like that don't fly.
“You thought the First Emperor's arrangements would be that easy?”
“Sniff...”
“Hm, Papa was strict too... For now, I'll herd them one by one, so youngest has to fight solo.”
“...Okay.”
The strategy after that was straightforward.
Filthia dragged over one monster at a time, cast invisibility to drop aggro, and Eve sniped the dazed foe with light spears.
But while Eve's Magic Power is near-infinite, her Stamina is finite.
In the end, she ditched Soul Change first, then Perfect Insulation.
The conditioning magic that wraps the body in mana to maintain even temperature around her is inefficient and mana-hungry. Raising her perceived body temp by just 2 degrees lets her fire dozens more spears.
In short, Eve is sweltering miserably right now.
“...Haa. Hoo...!”
“Youngest, fighting!”
Ugh, look at her drenched in sweat.
Thank goodness that's not me.
Thanks to Lilia's perk, I feel no heat. Filthia's guidance kept my Mid-tier Wind Spirit's Blessing intact.
No heat, just blankly staring at the blindingly bright desert.
“With this... 499...!”
“500! Done...!”
At last, Eve slumped to the ground.
Got it. She finally hit 500.
Congratulations, Eve.
“...Huh?”
But here's the thing.
In other words, Eve's second quest is...
“No way... Monsters... 1,000...? Double...?”
I usually defend D/Z SAGA to the hilt, but this one's tough.
What can you do when the game's a trash fire?
Even if it's screwed up, you have to endure it.
That day, until sunset, I enjoyed tea time while listening to Eve's fury-laced chants.