Expedition

The body of the slime is worth five silver; the Young Ogres and Fangpines are worth four and one silver each, respectively; and the reward for the extermination is forty silver, which is quite high because the Oodogloo is an incredibly annoying enemy to find.

The usual strategy for dealing with this annoying slime is to have one person at each farm waiting for it, then use a signal flare when the monster is found. This is a dangerous strategy because a single person will try to engage the monster and keep it occupied until more people arrive. To defeat it in a single night with just two people is a commendable feat, and with that... my fame gets annoyingly higher.

For two days, I do nothing but abuse Alissa after waking up and during the bath, train [Sense Mana] and [Mana Control] in the morning, and spar with someone who isn't Toga in the afternoon.

I buy a tea set and try to teach Alissa how to make tea, but she's more of an expert in that than I, so I just let her do her own thing. We find the not-earl-grey I drank once in a tea shop near the temple, and then we get some cheap cookies to go with it, so my mood improves a lot in these two days.

My [Block] increased by 2 (now 2+6) and [Parry] increased by 1 (now 1+5) from the sparring, but it's exhausting to fight so much, so I don't think I can keep up training like this for long.

Surprisingly, I easily learn [Sense Mana] with 2 points and [Mana Control] with 3 points. I think the magic skills are easier because I already have a lot of contact with magic on a daily basis, so this is just a solidification of my foundations.

Spending an entire morning hugging Alissa while she practices her [Mana Control] is heavenly, though. I wish we could do it every day, but today we need to go to the guild, and I notice that she seems a little disappointed when I tell her that.

We enter the guild and start checking the requests, but "coincidentally," there's an annoying duo waiting for us. Something tells me that certain people have a second house inside the guild.

"Yoo! Ryder!" A familiar and annoying voice calls to me. I turn around and see Simon, the leader of the creatively named fellowship Swift Wind. "Join me~, mate. There's an Orc Lord request 5 days away. With your girl, we can find him in a day or two, so it'll be eeeasy money!"

This time, Targua isn't here but there's someone else to annoy me.

"Do you want to kill him, Mr. Simon? Orc Lord is a monster of threat level six!" Dennis exclaims, astonished. He's a wealthy-looking, black-robed mage from the fellowship Thunder Storm. His normally disheveled black hair and beard look even more disheveled when he talks to Simon, making him seem "unhinged" to me.

Simon is unfazed by the mage's intense glare. "We got enough firepower to deal with even a dragon around here, we just lack a tracker like the fox lass." -he points to Alissa and smirks roguishly- "You don't even have to do anything mate, just order her around and we can even carry your ass!" Then he laughs out loud.

Dennis' eyes twitch, bewildered and annoyed, but he reigns it back almost perfectly. "Mr. Ryder isn't a greedy person like you, he has potential and I can give him the support he needs." -Then he spins on his heels and gives me his wild, intense stare- "Mr. Ryder, join me, and we can grow far together!"

Dennis seems to have heard the tale of how I used [Electric Magic] to stun the slime during its heavy attack so that I could counter immediately. He has a "thing" for electricity, which means I'm like a flame to this weirdo moth.

He wants to work close to me as a duo of sword and magic, but he has an annoyingly strong sense of duty and justice. He also wants to be the leader of the party, and by looking at his two tired-looking companions, I don't think that's a good idea.

I hold back a sigh and try to be a bit diplomatic, so I gently apologize and firmly decline, "Sorry guys, I want to work slowly on my own with Alissa. I still have my own personal reasons to not join a bigger party, but one of these reasons is that I want to take things

safe

and

slow

."

"What a shame, mate," Simon grumbles and shakes his head as he walks away.

"Be sure of this, Mr. Ryder: stay true to the right path, and we'll surely meet one day in glory," Dennis states and bows, then also leaves.

What...?

I think he's a bit crazy. I have no idea what the hell he means by that. Alissa's still looking at the request board, but I can see she's discreetly facepalming.

"Persistent..." She mutters with a hint of anger, her tail stiff and upright.

I smile wryly and turn around.

* * * * *

I think I'll take a day off from training, and maybe tomorrow we'll look again for work more seriously.

An attendant posts a new request and it catches my attention.

"Alissa, you know about the Moon Turtles?" I casually ask.

She follows my gaze and reads the request I'm looking at. She seems mildly intrigued by it as she recollects what she knows. "I don't know where the Moon Turtles are found around here, but I know they're an easy kill inside a dungeon," she confidently states and starts recollecting, "They can only attack by pushing out spikes from their shells, but they move so slowly it's trivial to blind them, and then they're barely a threat anymore."

I rub my chin in thought. "What about this request? Do you think it's doable?"

"That's going to depend on luck. Not every turtle has Moonlight Moss."

The request I'm interested in is a gathering one, where the requester wants an escort to where the Turtles can be found. It pays two gold coins as a reward, and since the Turtles are so easy to kill, so I assume that it's the journey there that's likely to be the problem.

The requester is a mage, so they'll help fight monsters and kill the turtles, but we'll still need to keep the area secure ourselves since collecting the moss is a very delicate process.

The kill rewards will be spread evenly among all members, and the pay is kind of high, but I guess our profits will depend on how long it's going to take to collect all this moss. Still, this is a pretty attractive request, so I better take it before someone else does.

"I think it'll be okay," Alissa assures me and gives my hand a loving squeeze. "As long as we avoid being surrounded, no enemy inside the caves can catch us if we use an Escape Bomb to retreat. It's really rare to find a monster that resists it."

Her words are a little bit reassuring, but just to be thorough, I'll research the cave monsters around this area. I haven't looked into them yet because I didn't think I'd enter a cave on the Sea of Trees.

It's the dungeoneering library that saved my life so far. The Orc Headhunter, the goblin squad intelligence pattern, the Mandrakes, the Bush Babies, the Young Ogres, the Mossy Fangpines, and the Oodogloo. All these enemies I knew their attack patterns and their weaknesses, which allowed me to create strategies that maximized my safety and guaranteed a kill.

The hunt for the Oodogloo was the prime example of that. My instant counter was possible because I knew it had a predictable heavy attack and that it was extremely vulnerable to slashing weapons. I could've assumed these things on the fly just from observing, but it's just waay easier when you know what to expect. Even the dance around the Young Ogre was only possible because I researched first.

"Excuse me, when is the scheduled negotiation for this request?" I ask the usual older brunette attendant.

On requests like these, there's a "negotiation" that will happen at a predefined time and place once the requester is informed that a hunter is interested in fulfilling the request.

"Tomorrow morning. The meeting will be here at one of our rooms," she answers with a kind smile.

So I only have one day to prepare. Also, it's possible that the requester will ask to depart immediately.

I think for just a moment before I make the decision, "Alright, send the message that we're interested in this request." Then I turn to Alissa. "I'll go to the dungeoneering guild and research the cave monsters. What about you, do you want to do something by yourself?"

"Hm..." She murmurs, and frowns gently, looking troubled.

She has been glued to my side every day since I bought her. Not that I dislike it since I'm the super clingy one, but I think that it's best for her to do what she wants once in a while. I learned how important this was from Lily.

I may have abandonment issues...

She looks at me like an abandoned puppy, and I almost immediately cave in. Cuteness is my weakness.

I pass my will saving throw and add, "If you don't ask you'll never ever leave my side ever again because I'm very clingy, but you should because it's good for your mental health to have some private time for yourself. Believe me, I have experience in this matter."

"Experience...?" She asks confusedly.

I look down and rub the back of my head. "Well it's... a matter I can't tell in detail." -I look at her and smile apologetically- "Sorry you'll just have to believe me."

I don't want to talk about Lily right now.

She pouts shyly and relents, "Okay... but I don't know what I could do by myself." Then she tilts her head, and like always, it melts my heart.

I list a few ideas, "There's the juice that I always forget to buy, there are more tea and cookies that you could search for, there's the dress that I wanted to buy for you that might be better if you just choose something for yourself, there are the bookstores where you could find a book you're interested in, there's just sightseeing or looking into the Flea Market or those crazy magic tool shops. Oh, there's the theater, and I have no idea what's being played over there, so I'd like to know more about it. Well, two things are my requests, but there's plenty that you can do."

Her ears suddenly perk up. "How about spending time in the training grounds?" She asks with an innocent smile, her tail wagging lazily.

I frown worriedly. "That's... not relaxing though, find something to relax that isn't just training," I plead.

You'll make me feel guilty from taking it easy if you're always training.

She smiles a bit smugly. "But you're going to read books to prepare, isn't that considered work?"

Ya cheeky...

I narrow my eyes reprovingly. "Just barely, and I kind of enjoy the books. There are the combat reports, the beautiful drawings, and even a few anatomy lessons."

"Ooh, is that so? Maybe I should also read them and help with the research!" She smiles and claps her hands, her tail is wagging.

Heh, this girl...

I relent and decide to just accept her submissiveness, "Then I'll at least ask you to buy cheap juice, tea, and look a bit for clothing before joining me, ok?"

"Understood, master," she smiles and nods diligently.

The juice and tea are for me, the clothing is also for me but also for her. Which middle-ages girl dislikes shopping for clothes?

I actually wanted to go to Ciel and ask about the moon...

* * * * *

So, I kind of don't want to go inside those caves. It's not like I have a phobia or something, I just fucking hate spiders...

The most common enemy over there is the Giant Tarantula, so things start just peachy. It's extremely territorial, so there's no way we won't fight one inside these caves.

They block the entrances with transparent webs, and once you get caught in one, the more you move, the more it wraps. The only fast way out is to set it on fire and possibly burn yourself to escape.

The webs are very elastic and sticky, so swinging a sword is useless, but swinging a spare spear or just a long stick to get the web to wrap on it is the best way to clear the way. The progress will be slow, but it's better than nothing.

A common strategy is to have the one in full plate to just walk into them with a torch in hand. Things might get hot, but only if they walk too fast.

That's just to get near. The Tarantula itself is a heavy monster that pounces on its prey and injects them with a fast-acting venom that's difficult to dispel. The tarantula doesn't normally prey on people, so the venom isn't as effective as it is on the Tarantula's favorite food: goblins. Though a person's limb could still become paralyzed for an average of five minutes if injected with the venom.

Both goblins and Tarantula's love caves, making the latter the natural predator of the former, and once the Giant Tarantula eats enough, goblins it evolves into the Arachne race of monsters, a half-human woman, half-spider monster. There is a report of a demon race who looks like the Arachne monster, but it's only a rumor. The only reason it's mentioned in the book is to prevent adventurers from accidentally killing a fellow humanoid.

The Arachne is highly intelligent and cunning, but it's like a deranged human who can only torture, kill, and eat. It's even more frightening than the Tarantula because they toy with their prey. They are adept at sneaking and illusion magic, and they like to slowly poison the enemy from afar with things like small traps and thrown weapons, then attack when they're weakened.

I'll need [Mental Resistance] for this, and I think that I should just tell Alissa about my skill system manipulation so that I can also give her [Mental Resistance].

An enemy to look out for is the Sludge, a parent of the slime-type monsters. It's a mass of living feces, mud, and blood, it's basically the janitor of the caves. It's vulnerable to fire, and it'll harden when heated but slow down. This makes them more vulnerable to attacks, otherwise, they move too fast and can completely overwhelm a person by absorbing them inside their disgusting bodies. They're much bigger than normal slimes and even special ones like the Ooodogloo, so they're hard to kill and even harder to escape.

Another common monster is the Giant Mole. They used to keep creating and destroying the tunnel system inside the Ant Hill, but when they broke into a dungeon they stopped digging, allowing the tunnels to be mapped. They destroyed the tunnels precisely to keep humanoids from doing that, but it's unknown why they stopped

They're aggressive and move by sound, so while it's easy to deal with a lone Mole, they can call for more, which creates a chain reaction until the party is overwhelmed and wiped out. The usual strategy is to kill one and then retreat unless someone is capable of assassinating the Mole before it can call for its allies.

Through the fellowship bond, I sense that Alissa has entered the building, so I go downstairs and see that she's at the lobby, carrying an earthenware jar and a cloth bag.

When our eyes meet, she lets out a sweet smile that melts my heart.

I get closer to her and smell something sweet and fruity coming from the jar. "Oooh. Is that the juice? What is it from?" I eagerly ask, then she hands me the jar, and I store it in my "Items."

"Gorgon fruit. I didn't know what fruit you liked, so I got something that tastes mild," she diligently responds, then waits for my reaction.

Gorgon fruit is a small blue berry with a white pulp that looks like an eye. Its taste reminds me of blueberry and lychee.

I smile apologetically. "Ah yes, I actually forgot to tell you about that, my bad, but this is a good choice."

She smiles proudly then becomes bashful, and her tail wags slowly. "And... I also bought some clothes..." She suddenly pulls me closer. "There's something for the night," she whispers into my ear, making my heart tingle.

I did give her too much for a single dress, so I was wondering if she was going to bring an expensive dress or not. I guess things ended up just right for me.

I pull her bag into my "Items," then I bring her to my research station. I'm looking through multiple books, like the dungeoneering advice book, the local monsters book, the local caves book, the local dungeons book, and two other monster books. The first gives more in-depth battle reports about the monsters and their anatomies, while the second gives dismantling tips to maximize profits.

While Alissa curiously inspects the books, I continue my research.

The Moon Turtles live inside the dungeon that the moles dug into, which is called Spiral Springs. The Turtles got this name because the Moonlight Moss that grows on their backs glows when the moon is full.

They're slow but sturdy, they breathe jets of fire or water as offensive means, and they grow spikes on their flanks if attacked. The best way to kill them is to fire inside their mouth once they start breathing or to slowly chip away at their sturdy necks while being careful of the spikes. But since Alissa is such a good shot, it's going to be an eye-popping galore.

The path to get to the Moon Turtles is a pain. First, there's the wall of tarantulas; then there are the hunting grounds where the arachnes like to prey, which are large open spaces where they can freely move above intruders and away from danger; third, there's the maze of mole tunnels, where even if we pass through the shortest path, we'll certainly have to backtrack when we meet a Mole; and finally, we have to cross the dungeon to get to where the Turtles are, which is filled with Spriggans.

The last enemy we're likely to encounter are these Spriggans, devilish imps that inhabit Spiral Springs. They like to sneak about, play pranks, and set traps. They're one and a half meter tall, male-only, human-looking monsters who have green skin, thin arms, and bark that grows from a variety of spots, which serves as armor for them.

The bark that grows on their head is even cut and fashioned as if it's a hairstyle. An elven tale tells of a Spriggan haircut contest where the elves would hunt Spriggans to find the one with the most ridiculous "haircut."

They aren't the kind that immediately goes for the kill, they'll use hit and run tactics with increasing frequency the deeper we go until we reach the floor of the Turtles. The Spriggans and the Turtles hate each other, so they avoid meeting whenever possible, making the floor of the Turtles a kind of "safe area."

The Spriggans will first try to steal, then they'll annoy and torment, followed by increasingly violent raids until they finally fight to kill once the party is tired. To deal with these imps, we'll have to be always ready to retaliate immediately with deadly force. The more Spriggans we kill, the slower they increase their attacks, and the less they'll try to torment us.

They won't be that big of a problem since Alissa can easily keep them at bay, and I can just increase her [Sense Presence] skill if she's having trouble detecting them.

So, the expedition will likely take three or four days. Starting from the entrance of the Ant Hill, it'll take one day for us to cross the caves and to reach Spiral Springs. After spending the night at the entrance, it'll take half a day to go down to the floor of the turtle and another half to do our business there, we hope. The turtles themselves will be easy to kill, but we don't know how long it'll take to collect all the moss. Then, on the third day, we'll make our way back with ease since we'll have an open path to follow.

The shitty part is crossing the territory of the Moles, and it might be safer if we just leg it, otherwise, we could be backed into a corner with the Spriggans on one side, and the enraged Moles at the other.

I trace a path for us to take and copy the maps. There are multiple routes to the dungeon that we can take and even more routes from there to the floor of the Turtles, but in the end, it's just luck if the route will be good or not.

"Wooah," Alissa coos in wonder. "All these anatomy drawings are so interesting. Now I'm sure I can kill any Tarantula and Arachne that I find. I'm glad I came." She smiles and gently sways her head from side to side in excitement, making her hair and fox ears bob.