The first hunting ground we headed to was Easter Plains, right outside of Altea’s East Gate. It had a very clear view, and I could see monsters leaping about here and there, as well as the players fighting them.
That reminds me, this is the first time I’ve seen other players fight.
“All right, then let’s get started too, shall we?” I asked.
“Yeah,” said Nemesis, and she then changed into the same black greatsword as yesterday.
I swung the greatsword up and down as I held it in my right hand — or rather, it was wrapped around my whole arm.
“This really isn’t as heavy as it looks,” I commented.
Even at my STR level, I can swing it with no trouble, I thought. It’s about the same weight as that fake sword I bought as a souvenir a long time ago on my school field trip. Or maybe about the same as a metal pipe.
“Isn’t it rude to mention a lady’s weight?” asked Nemesis.
“But this is clearly lighter than when you’re in your human form,” I said. What happened to the law of conservation of mass?
“...You’re concerned about the law of conservation of mass in a world with magic and where time flows differently?” she asked.
Well, yeah, that’s true, but...
“And besides, it shouldn’t feel light to anybody else,” she said. “It’ll only feel light for you.”
“Is that how it is?” I asked.
“That’s how it is.”
Okay, then I guess I’ll leave it at that, I thought. My level isn’t going to get any higher if I spend all my time asking questions.
“All right then, time to start grinding levels,” I said.
“I’m itching to get started.”
Two hours later.
My level had gone up by 3, and I hadn’t taken any damage yet.
“...How come I’m not taking any damage even though I’ve been getting pummeled?” I wondered.
Since I had arrived here, I had been fighting monsters like Little Goblins and Pashi Rabbits. They were the type you could take one glance at and say, “Ah, these are the small fry monsters you find in the beginning.” However, no matter how many times they had attacked me, I hadn’t taken any damage.
“You shouldn’t be surprised,” replied Nemesis. “You have fairly good equipment for your level. Also, wasn’t there a Reduced Damage skill? Isn’t all the damage below 10 becoming 0 because of that?”
So that means the monsters here can’t do more than 10 damage to me.
My initial HP had been a little under 100. Taking into account that this was a hunting ground for beginners, it was possible they had only placed monsters here with low enough strength that they wouldn’t kill a player with that amount of HP.
Incidentally, my HP was now over 700 at level 4. Liliana’s HP had been in the 5,000s with a Paladin level of 60 and a total level of 210, but at this rate, by the time I reached Paladin level 60, my HP would probably be well over 6,000.
“This may get crazy down the road,” I said.
“It might be because it’s a high-rank job, but its stat boosts are nice,” said Nemesis. “Also, HP is the highest out of all my stat modifiers.”
So the large growth in my HP was apparently the result of the total modifiers from the Paladin Job and my Embryo. The modifier for Embryos is pretty big, I realized.
Although it wasn’t as much as my HP, my other stats had of course gone up, as well. In addition, I also learned the healing magic skill First Heal.
With this, I can heal myself to some degree now.
“Hmm... I guess I’ll change spots, then,” I said. As things stand, I should be okay somewhere with enemies that are a little stronger.
“Yeah, I agree,” said Nemesis. “I also felt things were a bit underwhelming.”
Well, yeah, that’s because it only takes us one hit to slice the goblins and rabbits in half, I thought. Even though I was the one doing it, it was still kind of scary. The monsters’ corpses don’t remain behind, but if they did, it’d be one extremely gory sight.
“Let’s see,” I said, “the next suitable hunting ground would be Noz Forest, just past the North Gate.”
“Then shall we first return to the royal capital?” asked Nemesis. “It’s almost time for sweets, after all.”
Time for sweets...
“I’m okay with paying for some drinks,” I said, “but...”
What will I do if she eats as much as dinner last night? I wondered. I would like to keep the remaining money I got from selling those items to get my next set of equipment.
At any rate, we headed back toward the royal capital. On the way, I watched the other players as they fought. There were a lot of players with outfits that were in the catalog from the tutorial, so they were probably beginners like me. However, even if they had the beginner outfits, they all had at least one thing other players didn’t.
One player had a sickle and chain. The player would hurl it in the air and the chain would extend on its own to attack the monster — or so I had thought, but for some reason, it was the sickle that would travel underground and then attack the monster instead.
Another player had a baby carriage. Inside the carriage was an egg-like object, and for some reason, the player was pushing the carriage with their left hand, while desperately swinging a sword in their right hand to fight off monsters.
Another player had a stone hut. There was an opening at one section in the wall, and the player was attacking monsters from there with a slingshot. Monsters that bit onto the hut stopped moving as if they were stunned.
Another player had a red barrier. Monsters that entered the barrier would blow up as if they had stepped on a mine.
Ah, the player got blown away as well, I noticed. I wonder if all of those are Embryos like Nemesis.
“...There are a lot of different types,” I said, amazed.
“The sickle and chain is an Arms, the hut is a Castle, and the mine field is a Territory,” explained Nemesis. “The baby carriage is... what exactly? A tool that’s an Arms? Or maybe a Chariot?”
So those are the non-Maiden base category Embryos... they look really interesting.
“Are you cheating on me?! Are you thinking about cheating while you’re embracing me with your right hand?!” cried Nemesis.
...Does this count as embracing?
“I’m not thinking about cheating or anything, I just thought it was interesting how they all have their own abilities and personalities,” I said. “It’s really fantasy-like.”
Bro Bear’s Embryo was such a heavy firearm, the issue went way beyond whether or not it was fantasy-like, I added silently.
“Well, having something solely unique to each Master is the fundamental principle of Embryos, after all,” said Nemesis.
“Also, compared to the others, your first form is fairly rugged, Nemesis.”
“Rugged?!” she exclaimed.
Yeah, your greatsword mode, that is.
As we continued to walk like that, we came across another player engaged in battle with monsters. Unlike before, however, I could see the silhouettes of two people.
One of them wore a coat that appeared to be starting equipment. He was a player of about middle or high school age. He was dirty with mud and blood from battle, but even still, he was an attractive young boy that you could get away with calling either cool or cute.
As for appearances, the other person was quite unique, as well. She had a demon tail and bat wings, and was a beautiful, imp-like young girl.
“Haaa!”
“Take that!”
The two of them were fighting with all they had, but they were surrounded by four Little Goblins, and the odds were slightly stacked against them.
Now, I’d like to help, but it wouldn’t be good to just cut into their battle.
“First Heal,” I said, and healed both of their HP. I did it partly as a way to test the new healing magic I had just learned but hadn’t yet used. It was what you might describe as a drive-by heal. I couldn’t see their HP since we weren’t in the same party, but their wounds noticeably disappeared.
“Ah! That helps a lot!” one of them cried.
“Thank youuu!”
The two regrouped and resumed fighting.