The Summoner is Going Chapter 75

Translator: Cryus　Editor: Weasalopes

Collecting all the item drops took a lot of work.
Even with two people working at it, it still took us about 20 minutes.
And we only got two Heavy Crystals to show for it. The rest were just pebbles.
I kind of expected that though.
Goudi was really hesitant, but I still gave him one of the Heavy Crystals anyway.

Oh.
Speaking of Goudi…

He told me he was just normally fighting Rock Worms with his party at first.
But since there were so many of them, they all ended up having to run away.
Goudi was the slowest and got left behind.
What bad luck.

Apparently, the act of pulling monsters with you as you move has a name: Training.
An act once placed on the same level of malice as PK.
In fact, the act of using monsters to kill other players has a name too: MPK.
I didn't know that.
I decided to use that as an excuse to shift the shame away from myself.

I thought back on the time when I technically did MPK
I drew Evil Ants onto a group of PK players about to attack another party.
Wow.
【Call Monster】was quite a skill to have.

Goudi's party didn't have the option of running away at first.
It was probably because of the small number of other players on the map.
Goudi's anger was soon replaced by sadness.
The other five people in his party weren't permanent party members, but he had gone on adventures with them multiple times.
He was just a little shocked to get abandoned so easily.

Hmm…
What do I say in this situation?

I decided to just change the subject.

「So, what are you going to do now?」

「I'm returning. It'll be difficult going through the limestone cave to the south on my own though.」

「Well, it won't do if you just go die on me after I put in all the effort to get you out of that mess…」

「I really have no choice but to accept then.」

Well, as a man, you just have to take things on the chin sometimes.

「I'm exploring this map right now so it would be nice if you could join me. It's still a little too early to return anyways.」

「Huh?」

「Don't worry, I actually have something in mind.」

Exactly.
If we were in the same party, I could use【Return Home】to bring us all back to Master's house.
But it was still in the late morning.
I just got here, going back so early would be a waste.

Goudi was planning on recovering his HP using potions, but it didn't look like it was going to be enough.
Even with the effects of【Fire Heal】, he still had to walk around with only about 50% of his HP bar.
Using both【Earth Heal】and【Light Heal】, I raised his HP bar to 90%.
He was incredibly thankful at every turn.
I'd already taken care of the guy.
Might as well be thorough about it.

「So, do you know what direction your friends ran away in?」

「Ah! Could you please wait for a second?」

Goudi started walking in what I presumed was the direction in which his friends ran away.
I quickly got Helix to fly up and look around.
I wonder where…
It wasn't a bad idea to look for them.

「That would be like returning good with evil.」

Is what he said.
I suppose it would result in him leeching off of my experience points.
He just wouldn't form a party with me.
It was honestly kind of frustrating.
He insisted on me treating him like he wasn't part of my party.

It didn't take long for us to find the other five.
In fact, we also stumbled upon a strange place while we were looking for them. The place looked like an Area Portal.
The ground sloped inwards, kind of like a bowl in the ground. A huge stone was at the centre.
It was kind of difficult to tell, but it looked a little like a shrine.
I decided to check it out.

We arrived at the bowl-shaped monument.
The five people we were looking for were hanging out around the giant stone.
But something was off.
They were fighting monsters.
Three of them were already collapsed on the ground.

「Goudi, are you sure these are your party members?」

「Yep.」

They weren't looking too good.
While Goudi and I were talking, the other two were engulfed in flame.
One of them fell down and didn't get back up.
The other was jumped on by two monsters.
He swung his spear around wildly, trying to keep the monsters away, but it was useless.
The green markers soon disappeared.

「Looks like they got annihilated.」

「Looks like it.」

「I'm sure you had a lot you wanted to say to them.」

「Yes. I just wanted to know what they were thinking when they abandoned me.」

Yeah.

But I got some important information out of that.
The place was a normal area portal with event monsters.
Even at a distance, there was no doubt about the fact that they were fire-elemental monsters.
I was too far away for【Identify】to work, but I still got all the information I needed.
Based on the pattern so far, I'd say they were spirits too.
They looked like birds.

In that case, I should probably replace the slime Rig with another Summon Monster.
Slimes aren't good against fire.
I recalled Rig and summoned Goki.
I could rely on his archery skills.

About Senki…
He might have some trouble fighting against a bird-type enemy.
I still had a good amount of MP.
After the switching process, I still had around 70% of my MP bar.

I recalled Senki and summoned Obsidian.
I saw a spirit on top of the rock.

「Well, let's go then.」

「Huh?」

「You want to come with me? It's alright if you just want to stay here.」

「You're going to fight that?」

「Yeah. You can just watch if you want.」

So… What's the plan?
I managed to get some information on my enemy, even though it wasn't a lot.
The fight was already in my favour. I had a plan.
But Goudi had no way of knowing that.

「It's alright. I can win.」

Leaving him with that one line, I headed towards the rock.

I cast some spells while I was approaching the rock.
【Resist Fire】on everyone.
【Enchanted Weapon】on everyone.

After I finished all my preparatory spells, the event started.

《O traveller.》

《We art the guideposts.》

《We art the puppeteers.》

《We art the jesters.》

《If thy wish is to unseal this great rock, thou must pass our trial.》

《Pass our trial.》

《Then we shall show thee the secret that this great rock holds.》

Of course, I chose the《Yes》option.
Come at me!

Something, presumably a bird, was emerging from the rock itself.
There were two of them.
They emerged and spread their wings.
Looking at them closely, they were truly beautiful.

The bird was wearing a dress of fire.
No doubt about it.
I was dealing with a fire spirit.
I used【Identify】on one of them.

Reborn Fire Spirit Phoenix Puppy
Event Monster　???

Huh…
Phoenix?
Well, it was a fire bird.
It looked dangerous.

But I had no choice but to face it head on.
Helix and Obsidian immediately flew at one of them, and it flew up into the air and away from them.
I ran at the other one, together with Goki.

A fireball flew at us.
It burst at my feet.
At the same time, my surroundings were suddenly covered in flames.
Of course, I took some damage too.

Although because of【Resist Fire】, the damage I took was a lot less than I expected.
But it was still a scary attack.
I couldn't make a habit out of taking fireballs.
I jumped through the ring of flames around me and headed towards the phoenix.

「Geheheh!」

I heard Goki's war cry.
He looked excited.
An arrow pierced the chest of the monster in front of me.
Its HP bar went down by a bit.
But that wasn't all.

The phoenix was getting ready to fly up into the air, but in that moment, it froze.
It turned towards Goki.
A nice distraction tactic.

I rushed towards the monster.
It would get difficult if I let it get into the air.
My plan was simple.
I just had to prevent it from flying.

「Water Needle!」

I shot an attack spell from close range and grabbed one of its wings.
I pulled down the wing and wrapped my leg above its torso, pushing it down.
But something happened that I didn't expect.
Just touching the monster did damage to me.
Hot.

I had【Resist Fire】, but my HP bar was still slowly going down.
I didn't pay it any mind and started beating down on its torso.
I looked at the monster's HP bar.
It was going down.
But I could see it slowly recovering in between hits.

What?
It was similar to the aftereffects of【Fire Heal】or a Recovery Pill.
How annoying.

The monster turned its head towards me and attacked me with its beak.
It took me the utmost effort to keep its head away from me.
Suddenly, the monster's movements stopped.
Its head was suddenly completely disconnected from its neck.
Looked like Goki cut clean through with the nata hatchet.

「Gehe!」

But Goki didn't stop there.
Goki kept going, attacking the monster's wings.
Huh?
The monster still had 50% of its HP bar.

The disconnected head disappeared into nothingness.
At the same time, another head started sprouting from the cut.
What the heck…
Well, I was dealing with a spirit…
But it still looked really gross.

I followed Goki's lead and started attacking its wings.
I held down a part of the wing with my foot, and pulled on another part as hard as I could.
As its wings ripped, it took quite a bit of damage.
It was surprisingly effective.

The torn-off part of its wing disappeared.
At the same time, the wing started regenerating.
Its head was already back and I had to deal with its beak again.
Goki immediately took the opportunity to decapitate it once again.
With that, the monster's HP bar reached zero.

I looked up to see how Helix and Obsidian were doing.
The three birds were flying around one another, almost like they were doing a dance.
The red and green markers became difficult to distinguish.
While they did take some damage, Helix and Obsidian looked like they were doing well.
The monster was at just 20%.

The second phoenix fell to the ground.
I could see Obsidian's scratch marks on its wings.
Nice.
I dashed towards it, but Goki got to it first.
A clean chop to its neck.
But even with that, its HP bar didn't reach zero.
But it wasn't alive for much longer. Helix dived down and attacked it one last time, and it went down.

Great.
Nice teamwork.
Although I definitely did the least in that fight.

《O traveller.》

《We art the guideposts.》

《We art the puppeteers.》

《We art the jesters.》

《The great rock has been unsealed.》

《Thou hast passed our trial.》

《Blessings upon thee.》

《Further trials are waiting unto thee.》

The rock didn't look any different from when I started.
Well, that was to be expected.
I wasn't using【Sense Magic】after all.
But I did feel like the bowl-shaped place changed as a whole.

《The S1W1 Area Portal has been opened!》
《You have gained 3 Bonus Points. You currently have a total of 9 Bonus Points.》
《【Punch】Level Up!》
《【Heat Resistance】Level Up!》
《【Mental Reinforcement】Level Up!》

A lot of level-ups.
Nice.
The monster faded away without dropping anything, but I didn't mind.

「Nicely done.」

Goudi called out to me with a shocked look on his face.

「I saw you at the tournament, but you really do use a really non-mage-like fighting style…」

「Is that so…」

It's already become ingrained in me. Is there anything wrong with that?
I used potions to restore Helix's and Obsidian's HP bars back to full.
I used【Fire Heal】to heal myself.
Hey, look at that.
I'm a mage! I'm using spells!
I'm a proper summoner, believe me.

I used just one potion on Goki to heal him fully.
I took way too much damage.
Even after I used another potion on myself, I was still at 80%.
Well, it would be alright for the time being.

I looked at the map. The place I was at had the label: "Rock of the Fire Spirit".
That made sense.

It was just lunchtime so I sat down to have a meal.
I pulled out the food I bought at the stall that morning.
I had enough for two so I split it and gave some to Goudi.
All he had was some Portable Food.
I knew how flavourless Portable Food was.
I just felt like I had to make his lunch as enjoyable as I could.

I spent some time chatting with Goudi as we rested.
Although it was just mainly me listening to Goudi talk.
Goki somehow got to the top of the rock.
Helix was circling above me.
And Obsidian was sitting on my left shoulder.

I let him rant for a while.
Just by listening, I managed to gain some useful information.

The camps to the south of Remut were set up by players.
Originally, by just one Stonecutter.
The first camp was right next to a quarry.
I hadn't been to the place, so I couldn't see where it was on my map.

It wouldn't take much effort to reach the place, but…
The issue was with the cave I would have pass through.
Apparently, the cave was a hidden dungeon, not even known to the forums.

He told me it was filled with traps.
And that there hadn't been a single party that returned alive.
Everybody that went in died one way or another.
Zombies, Skeletons, traps…

Apparently, the limestone cave also have some unique monsters, bats, slimes, water bugs, and one monster called a Buer Slave.
Just from the description, it sounded like a monster that female players would hate.
And finally, the boss of the dungeon, the Buer Guard.
A boss that had the ability to call and fuse together with other monsters.
"Without a splash damage spell, you're going to have a really bad time," he said.
I didn't have a spell like that.
I forgot about my food and listened to him.

Our chat ended at a nice point.
Goudi's plan was to clear the Area Portal and then log out.
If that didn't work he would kill himself and respawn.
He even brought a tent to sleep in.
Along with three days' worth of Portable Food.
My preparations were nothing compared to Goudi's.

「Are you really alright? Time-wise?」

「I can go for another three hours or so.」

He really didn't have to be so hesitant to impose on me.
I'm taking my time and relaxing anyway.

In three hours, it would be 3 pm inside the game.
In other words, it would be 3 am in real life.
It would be bedtime for any normal person.

Thinking about it that way, anyone online at that time was probably a confirmed addict.
I'm not in any position to say that, though.

Oops.

「Since you've already been here for about two hours, could you accompany me just a little longer?」

「Huh? You're not going back?」

「It's alright. I have【Return Home】.」

Goudi froze.
I did my best to ignore that and started heading west.
I wanted to do something while I still had some free time.
Orc hunting.

Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human　Male　Racial Lv9
Job　Summoner Lv8
Bonus Points Remaining: 9

Skill Sets:
Staff Lv7　Punch Lv5（↑1）　Kick Lv5　Joint Lock Lv4　Throw Lv4　Evade Lv5　Block Lv4　Summon Magic Lv9　Spacetime Magic Lv2
Light Magic Lv4　Wind Magic Lv5　Earth Magic Lv5　Water Magic Lv4　Fire Magic Lv4　Dark Magic Lv4　Ice Magic Lv3　Lightning Magic Lv2　Tree Magic Lv3　Dust Magic Lv2　Lava Magic Lv2　Steam Magic Lv2
Alchemy Lv5　Pharmacy Lv4　Glassmaking Lv3　Woodworking Lv4
Cooperation Lv6　Appraise Lv6　Identify Lv6　Discern Lv2　Cold Resistance Lv3　Grab Lv6　Horsemanship Lv6　Precise Manipulation Lv6　Jump Lv3　Heat Resistance Lv4（↑1）　Climb Lv3　Dual Wield Lv4　
Physical Reinforcement Lv2　Mental Reinforcement Lv4（↑1）　Speedcasting Lv4

Equipment:
Kaya Wood Rod x1　Kaya Wood Tonfa x2　Snow Leopard Push Dagger x3　Wild Horse Leather Armour+　Snow Ape Armguard　Wild Horse Boots+　Snow Ape Leather Helmet　Rabid Horse Belt+　Rucksack　Item Box x2

Items:
Survival Knife　Woodworking Set

Titles:
Old Summoner's Pupil
Guardian of the Forest
Man of the Middle Path
Spell Archive

Monster Summons:
Volff　Wolf Lv7
Zangetsu　Horse Lv5
Helix　Hawk Lv5
Obsidian　Owl Lv4
Jean　Bat Lv4
Jericho Wood Golem Lv3
Goki　Demon Lv3
Senki　Beast Ape Lv3
Rig　Slime Lv3

Chapter end