Inventory Is God
In games where small victories matter, inventory capacities vary, but one thing is certain: at the very least, an inventory holds more than any person could physically carry in reality, and it weighs nothing at all. And in RPGs, the inventory is both invincible and divine.
Whoosh! Supplies poured from my inventory as the two warriors and my summons busily sorted them. Logs were driven into the ground, stone bricks stacked to form walls. Meanwhile the archers and mages picked off anything that drew too close, turning the entire slope into a cacophony of battle.
“Don’t let them climb!”
“Buy time until the base is finished!”
“Once that thing’s up, the hill belongs to us!”
Just as we’d agreed beforehand, the adventurers spread out around the perimeter, cutting off the War Ants’ approach. Because we’d planned from the start to secure at least one key point before reinforcements arrived, everyone on the northern hill moved like a single organism.
Of course, the special strains weren’t about to sit and watch.
“Kieeeeeek!”
“Kiiik!”
They must have felt the threat the moment they saw us building at the summit; they scattered pheromones, calling in every special strain they could. Losing the hill meant magic would rain down on them from above. Just as acid artillery was lethal to humans, magic was catastrophic for ants. After all, anyone who wanted to become an adventurer as a mage had to master at least one area-of-effect spell as a bare minimum. If every mage on the hill flung even a single wide-range spell, the ants would be annihilated. Acid bombardment was merely annoying, something you could somehow block. Magic, on the other hand, was an unavoidable natural disaster.
That was why the special strains threw everything they had into climbing the slope and destroying the base.
“Idiots. Did you really think we wouldn’t anticipate that?”
Watching from the crest, I let out a snort and looked down. Thanks to the adventurers perfectly sealing the approaches exactly as planned, base construction was proceeding without a hitch. Two warriors who could lift an entire log without breaking a sweat and tireless summons made short work of the labor. The moment the foundation was set, the rest was easy: keep stacking bricks to raise a low rampart while the mages reinforced every layer with spells. The already sturdy stone grew even harder under the magic, so Goro quickly scaled the finished wall, found a good vantage, and began loosing arrows.
“Don’t worry about ammunition! I brought at least a few hundred shots!”
“Never thought I’d live to see the day I wouldn’t have to worry about arrows as an adventurer!”
“That’s why inventory exists, genius!”
It was better than any subspace bag on the market. Because we’d stocked consumables in quantities that would never run out, Goro drew his bowstring with a delighted grin. I watched him put arrow after arrow through the ants’ eyes with pinpoint accuracy, then turned my gaze to the Ikelos stationed along the rampart.
Summons brought forth through a contract with a unique dimension only a Summoner could touch had their physical forms constructed according to the Argo Saga system. That was why these particular ones had taken Ikelos shapes instead of their original ones. The upside was that they had inherited all of Ikelos’s freedom.
The blue eyes of the Ikelos—who originally should have possessed no ego—were staring straight at me. I felt their desires transmitted through pure will and smiled.
“Those experience points were originally saved for a new skill, but it doesn’t matter now.”
Experience was scattered everywhere anyway.
Without hesitation I unfolded the cluster of light inside my body, located the required skill, and spent the points to unlock it. The moment the restrictions on the Ikelos were lifted, their bodies shifted, transforming into upright knights standing firmly on two legs.
Ikelos Form Change — Knight Configuration
The five knights tested their new bodies, then lined up neatly along the rampart. With a soft hiss, they extended their hands. Cracks formed in the air, and dozens of shards poured out. The fragments gathered around their palms, coalescing into massive bows. Arrows made of the same shards glowed with blue light.
“Handle the shooting yourselves. Looks like I’m going to be busy.”
After ordering free fire, I watched blue arrows streak across the sky and punch clean through ant carapaces before stepping to the edge of the rampart. The adventurers below were holding the line for now, but there were only about a hundred of us on the northern side. The enemy, on the other hand, seemed to be pulling special strains from nowhere; their numbers grew with every passing minute. They outnumbered us several times over, so it was only a matter of time before some broke through the defensive line and started climbing the slope.
“So they aren’t going to hand it over easily after all.”
I’d expected as much, so I stayed calm. I stepped lightly off the edge of the rampart. My body hung in the air for a brief moment before dropping like a stone; I adjusted my balance mid-fall and landed softly in front of the wall.
“Finally our turn.”
“I was about to die of boredom waiting.”
Arash and another adventurer dropped down the same way and took up positions beside me. All that remained was to slaughter every special strain that charged us like lunatics and hold the hill. For adventurers, that was easier than eating rice cakes while lying down.
“If it gets too hard, tell me.”
“A guy who can’t even use aura is talking big.”
“I’ll clear out the ones coming at me first, then come help you lot.”
I watched with relaxed confidence as the special strains came rushing in. Even though Goro, the mages, and the Ikelos were sniping from the wall, far more were still closing in.
“How many are there in total?”
Since I received experience even from what my summons killed, I wouldn’t have to worry about EXP for a long while. I smiled brightly and raised my left hand. The Rune Golem that received the signal spread both arms and began drawing in mana.
“I’ll open the show, then.”
As mana gathered inside the Rune Golem’s body, the runes engraved across its surface started to shine. After several seconds of full charging, it sent me a mental confirmation. The moment I lowered my hand—
Gravity Field
Guuuuung—!
An enormous attractive force erupted from the runes, yanking the charging special strains forward.
“Kiiik?!”
“Kik?!”
More than a dozen of them floated helplessly into the air and were dragged right in front of the Rune Golem, looking around in panic. Before the nearest one could regain its wits, the golem acted. Kuuuung! It brought its massive rock fists together and slammed them down on the ants directly ahead. The special strains’ tough carapaces were meaningless against the crushing weight. The Rune Golem shook the pulped corpses off its hands, took one heavy step forward, and the remaining special strains finally reached the base of the wall.
“Let’s go!”
We, who had been waiting in front, collided with them head-on. I dodged a Blade’s razor mandibles and drove my sword into the joint between its segments. That spot was a fatal weakness even for War Ants, so the effect was immediate. Once its head was severed from its torso, the knight-role Blade couldn’t last long and collapsed.
It was a clean kill, but they weren’t coming alone.
“Kiiiiik!”
“Kiiiiiiik!!”
I slipped between two charging Blades, slicing through their joints, then rolled sideways to avoid a Digger lunging at my back and severed its segments as well. While I recovered my stance, Goro and the Ikelos covered me with a hail of arrows. I gave them a thumbs-up to thank them for the perfect timing.
After that, I simply repeated the process. Target only vital points for maximum efficiency. When my posture broke from overextending, rely on long-range support. No flashy techniques were necessary. Only by killing with optimal efficiency could we wipe out the endless swarm.
As I methodically severed joints and reduced their numbers, the special strains finally realized they were facing no ordinary opponent and stopped charging blindly. It wasn’t fear of death; they had simply calculated that the exchange was no longer efficient.
Wondering at their sudden caution, I scanned the ones now encircling us and quickly understood why they had paused.
“It’s a Giant!”
“Those crazy bastards actually dragged a siege weapon up here!”
Shouts rose from the adventurers fighting War Ants at the base of the hill. The noise swelled instantly, and soon a colossal ant broke through their lines. The Giant strode toward us with majestic arrogance, as if flaunting its size.
“Ha, now they’re even bringing Giants?”
It was at least five meters tall. An acid artillery unit perched on its back had its weapons trained on us. I’d never heard of this combination before; it must have been a new tactic they were testing.
Too bad for them. I wasn’t the kind of idiot who thought he had to solve everything by himself.
Kwaaaang—!
Light flashed around the Giant for a split second, and its body exploded into dozens of pieces. The acid artillery unit on its back was shredded before it could fire a single shot. Standing atop the corpses was Grid, giant battle axe resting casually on one shoulder.
“Kahaha! You shouldn’t ignore this side!”
As expected of one of the mere twelve Silver-class adventurers among two hundred and fifty-two. Having successfully played his role as bait, he laughed heartily and began sweeping every ant near the base with wild, powerful swings. His arrival seemed to act as a signal; the other Silver-class adventurers who had also served as bait began appearing on the hill one after another.
“Oof. Good thing I wasn’t late.”
“A fight? Then I’m jumping in!”
“Looks like it’s in full swing. Mind if I join?”
“What? Am I the last one?”
Covered in wounds and drenched in ant bodily fluids, they still moved with relaxed grace, slaughtering every enemy around the hill. Their speed was so fast my eyes could barely follow. With only five additional fighters, the fierce battle’s momentum shifted completely in our favor in the blink of an eye.
After finishing off the last desperate special strains and regaining our composure, we simply stared in awe at the Silver-class adventurers’ performance.
“So that’s what Silver looks like.”
“A wall we still can’t cross.”
“A wall we’ll cross someday.”
It was an overwhelming sight, yet none of us felt discouraged. Turning the impossible into reality and completing requests with abysmal success rates is what adventurers do. I prided myself on possessing more ambition than anyone else in the world, so I simply swore that this wall, too, was one I would eventually surpass, then focused on recovering my spent stamina.
Once my strength returned, I had the leisure to notice the wounds on the Silver adventurers’ bodies.
How powerful must the special strains be to wound warriors like them?
“Special strains do consume a lot of resources, but the ones we fought were mass-produced.”
“The ‘real’ special strains… no, the upper species must consume an absolutely insane amount of resources to create.”
The Silver-class adventurers who had kept those monstrous upper species from reaching the hill finished mopping up the remaining enemies, sealing our victory on the northern slope.
The moment a spear pierced the head of the last resisting War Ant, cheers erupted across the hill.
“We won!”
“This is what it means to be an adventurer!”
“Never look down on us again!”
No one had been looking down on us, but I didn’t want to ruin their moment of triumph, so I kept quiet and studied the Silver adventurers’ faces instead. Despite the splendid victory, their expressions were far from bright. Their mission had been to act as bait to tie down the upper species and kill them if the chance appeared. Judging by their faces, they had failed to finish the job.
So we’ve only taken one stronghold so far.
The real battle was only just beginning.
Below the celebrating adventurers, the War Ant legion and the subjugation force gathered. Rest time was over. It was time for the full-scale battle to commence.