ding on that, the dog-types’ evaluation would change. Is there information on the boards?

Well, it’s in the direction of my travel so let’s fight. I do a preemptive strike with【Dark Lance】and have #1 stand next to me. If he had a shield, I would have him stand in front though. Maybe instead of having him hold one-handed axe, I should give him a greatsword and make him an attacker? But we are in the forest right now. It might get in the way of the swings.. I could make him only do slashes from above?

For now, I told him that I will take the enemy on myself and to attack when there is an opening. Looks like #1 is attacking from behind. ..#1EEEE! Looks like the wolf got annoyed with being attacked from behind, and kicked with hind legs like a horse, cutting lots of #1’s HP. Instantly putting him in the red zone.

In a normal game, as long as the tank holds hate and there are no area of effect attacks, it would be safe, but it looks like that isn’t the case in this one.. Speaking of which, during the world quest, the general attacking tanks also involved the surroundings in his attacks.

For now, it looks like attacking directly from behind is no good. I should have him attack from a diagonal position in the back. A spear would be good for attacking from a distance, too. This is difficult.

While #1 is waiting to recover, I beat the wolf.

"#1, let’s change your equipment.”

“*KLOK*”

Considering his HP, I resummon him. And while at it, I absorb the Forest Wolf, before summoning #1 at double the extra cost. With this his stats should go up by a bit. The #1 who crawled out from the ground, had the ?Sword? Skill and was holding a greatsword.

When I have #1 with me, my ?Nercomantic Secrets?, ?Supervising Undead?, ?Immortal Royalty? and ?Royal Authority? all go up, which is nice. Let’s have #1 do his best.

“Listen, #1. Attack the wolf diagonally from behind. After attacking once, move away.”

“*KLAK**KLAK**KLAK*”

Very good. Then, let’s start proceeding again.

I want more Capacity, but Forest Wolf drops make me curious. Let’s see, the drop information board.. Forest Wolf.. huh. Wolf Leather and fangs, Wolf Meat. Yup, no need for that. Absorbing them all in. If I want wolf meat, I will hunt wolves. While Wolf gives 1 Capacity, Forest Wolf gives 3.

Since I opened the BBS, I might as well check enemy information.

The other enemy here is Aquilegia..? A plant-type monster that has something like a skeleton hanging off it. Its weakness is fire and because it cannot move, it’s really easy to beat. If you get too close, it will entangle you by surprise which spells trouble.. it says. If it doesn’t move, might as well ignore it.

I progressed deeper and deeper into the back while beating Forest Wolves. I saw several Aquilegias along the way, but they were just as information said, so I ignored them.

#1, who had his style changed, is doing well as an attacker. That’s good. The enemies are wolves, so he sometimes misses, but it cannot be helped. At this point his stats are low. It’s all fine as long as he doesn’t die. I have no leeway on Capacity right now.

Speaking of which, when you use【Dark Ritual】you get experience with ?Darkness Magic? and ?Alchemy?, but in exchange, ?Appraisal? and ?Disassembly? don’t go up, do they? This is truly troubling.

According to the map, I’m already in the next area.

I dismissed #1, leaving him behind. Enemy should be stronger by an entire stage, doesn’t seem like #1 will be able to keep up.

The area that has the old temple also seems to be a forest area. However, this one could be said to be a dense forest. Looks like there is hardly any sunlight or moonlight passing through the trees. An eerie forest devoid of human touch where Undead appear,.

That’s.. a Revenant. He has no ?Decomposing Body? so his appearance is that of a human.. is what you could say? The rags he is wearing aside. His movements are slightly off. In any case, the Revenant is not targeting me...

A red diagonal line..! Above me?! Flying Headdd.. that was close! Oh but, there is no need for me to get all desperate to avoid considering it’s a dark element attack. Well, there is no reason to get hit on purpose either.

Was Revenant linked? ...But he isn’t attacking. His marker shows a link.

I begin a magic battle with the skull in the sky. Of course, with light magic. The enemy uses dark magic. But the problem is that the skull doesn’t stop. So aiming for his flight trajectory is necessary. Well, when I start channeling it shows me the skull’s predicted movement. However, this line shows where the skull will be “in case it continues to fly in the same direction at constant speed”. A slight change in speed or direction and my attack will either graze it or miss. It’s one thing from above, but attacking upwards is especially hard.

While responding to the enemy's magic with【Royal Defense】I attacked back with【Light Arrow】and【Light Lance】. The ball-type bullets are slow, so the least required speed is that of a lance. ...So I can beat it with two attacks. It has low endurance so probably one and a half is enough.. This is pretty harsh. Other enemies will need at least three hits.

Let’s disable ?Spatial Magic?’s【Inventory Expansion】for now. I’m definitely going to be short on MP. Let’s get in a state where I can use【Overspell】without problems.

A few seconds after I beat Flying Head, the Revenant’s link was removed and it returned to normal state. It’s decided, they won’t go after me as long as I don’t involve them.

In the middle of the area, there was a quest mark, so in there must be the old temple. Let’s head straight there.

If I carefully listen to the sounds, I can roughly tell where Flying Heads are? There is a sound of leaves rustling that comes from above. It’s the “I heard something above us!” thing.

Looks like enemy respawns aren’t too frequent? I think I’m the only one in this area.. although I do have night vision, this is a forest so my line of sight is pretty bad.

...Mm? Is something there? Most likely just now that was ?Intuition?, but.. it’s.. not my imagination! OWaa!! Coming at me from three directions is NO FAIRRR!

When the enemies’ attack came, ?Sensing Danger? activated and a line was displayed showing their attack path, so I avoided it and parried. Mr. ?Butō? is wonderful. And ?Sensing Danger? shows me the range of enemy attacks just like it's shown in classic MMOs. With the Skill level its precision will probably increase. This is pretty useful, or rather, a must-have when playing solo?

Armored Skeleton Wolves, is it. The thing just now was probably a surprise attack using ?Shadow Magic?. It was pretty harsh. Even now it’s harsh seeing as I’m surrounded from three directions! It would be much easier if I could use【Light Burst】. But I’ll be blown away as well if I use it, you see.

Maintaining a triangle around me, they continue to circle. HAHAHA, I’m not going to panic. I’m in general a counter-attacker.

I created a【Light Lance】on the tip of the rapier and directly hit the ske-dogs with it as they jumped at me one by one. I used【Light Ball】and【Light Arrow】to keep them at a distance. It’s enough if it disrupts their cooperation’s timing. I also mixed in【Dark Bursts】. While the enemy has resistance, I have enhancement. They don’t have absorption or immunity, so I discovered that it’s fairly effective for making enemies falter.

Looks like I can unexpectedly manage this. No, I received plenty of grazes and some HP damage. But let’s have my automatic recovery Skill do its best. With that said, I’m at 60% so I recover with【Dark Heal】. At 80% now.

〈Your Race has reached level 20. Some Monster Skills have been unlocked.〉

As expected of higher level mobs, pretty sweet. However, I don’t have time to check Skills in a place like this. Let’s note it and check later.

So level ups recover everything? Thanks.

That’s.. Armored Skeleton Soldier, Armored Skeleton Archer, Phantom Knight link? Bastard sword, short bow and mace with a large shield. Troublesome.

Hn?! I got found by an archer?! Whoa, running straight for me. A bow.. let’s use【Royal Counter】against the bow and do my best with【Royal Defense】against normal attacks. When I use arts I get an assistance that allows me to slash them down easily, a normal【Parry】is pretty difficult, but not impossible. I can tell rough trajectories thanks to ?Sensing Danger?, so it’s on the easier side.

Before he arrives I should shoot magic toward the archer. Let’s go with【Overspell】【Light Lance】, how about.. it! Mm.. still standing. As expected of Lv36.

Still, the Phantom Knight is pretty slow. I can’t tell if it’s faster than I am, but.. oh? PLEASE STOP THAT【Arrow Rain】DAMMITT?! ...Nn? Hahahaha, trees are OP. Looks like Undead aren’t smart enough to select Skills matching the map. The most annoying Art can be neutralized with some branches.

【Overspell】has a pretty long cooldown, and the soldier carrying a bastard sword came over so I used【Light Arrow】on the archer.

I’m kind of a bad match against Skeletons. Although my weapon is magic-based, the rapier’s attack type is thrusts.

I repelled the attack of the charging soldier with【Break Parry】and when he lost balance, I create【Light Lance】on the tip of the sword and slash. Lost balance makes one receive double damage for three seconds. But I still didn’t beat him!

The Phantom Knight joins. This guy is troublesome. His weakness is blunt attacks and light. Even if I want to use ?Slender Sword?’s【Penetrate】, there is no weaknesses on Undead!

Arrows continue to fly at me, the Phantom Knight holding a large shield stands in my way and the soldier’s attacks are pretty dangerous.. this won’t work, will it? Looks like those guys are the main enemy here, or rather.. the very basic spawn combination. In other words, if I have problems against them, then this area isn’t good for me. Even though I somehow managed against the 3 wolves!

I blocked two arrows from【Rapid Shot】, parried a mace and finish off the soldier who tried a jump slash - farewell! Next is the archer who’s low on HP.

My remaining HP is 60%... it’s about time I heal up. But first let’s use【Light Arrow】on the arche...hnn?! WAI--, SKE-DOG! Nonono, wait, LET’S BE CIVILIZED... gueh?!

If this is how it’s to be, then I’ll take the archer with me! Stop biting on my arm, SKE-DOG! The Phantom Knight swings the mace at me so I use the ske-doggo as a shield. Serves you r.. oufh. Isn’t three extra ske-doggos a little, way too much?

I do【Dark Burst】and then【Light Arrow】...alright, archer is down.

Ske-dog armshield is strong against a mace. Farewell, ske-doggo. Mace is a blunt attack. And farewell me. I’m sure the next me will do better...

AFUHN.