Rank F

September came to an end, and October began. Since pregnant Telesia couldn't work, Rodan was harvesting the crops by himself from morning until night.

The only other unusual thing was that Allen had finally turned six. Six years had passed since his reincarnation in another world. Thanks to the Grimoire, he'd recorded the things he mustn't forget from his time as Kenichi in its memo function, but he was increasingly unsure whether he was Allen or Kenichi.

October 1 had arrived, and turning six had raised his stats. His stats had increased from 0.5 to 0.6 times the values in parentheses. His Magic had also risen from 10 to 12. That was helpful, since the rate at which he gained Skill experience depended heavily on his maximum Magic.

His investigation of the Rank F Summons had only just begun, and he still didn't fully understand them. He still had no idea what the Summon marked 【－】 was.

At first, he'd wanted to Create and Synthesize Rank F Summons the very next day, but Enhancement seemed quite useful, so he decided to thoroughly investigate its effects first.

The Enhancement Skill

・Magic cost: 10

・Effect: Increases two stats by 10

・The stats increased are the ones receiving blessings

・The effect doesn't change based on the Summon's Rank

・The Enhancement effect remains even if you repeatedly Summon and turn the Summon into a card

・The Enhancement effect disappears if you Synthesize it

・Enhancement doesn't change the blessing values

(I see. If I have room, I should Enhance the Summons I'm keeping in my holder.)

If he ever needed to bring out a Summon, it was obviously better to summon one that had been Enhanced.

It was morning. Allen was inside a barrel, washing everyone's ragged clothes by stomping on them barefoot. It was quite physically demanding, but he could do it without thinking, making it a good time to test his Summoning Skills and mull things over.

In Allen's household, Rodan fetched water every morning from the nearby communal water source. A narrow irrigation channel ran alongside their house, so Allen drained the water there. He emptied the barrel and hung the washed clothes in the yard to dry.

(Oh! An Alba Heron is flying by. It's already autumn. Dad will be going hunting soon.)

As he hung the laundry on a pole a little taller than himself, which they used as a clothesline, a bird's shadow appeared at the edge of his vision. He could see an Alba Heron gliding leisurely past through the hanging clothes.

In autumn, another bird, about half the size of an Alba Heron and resembling a red-crowned crane, flew by as well. It was probably a migratory bird. He could feel the seasons changing.

(All right, my Magic's recovered, so I'll continue testing Rank F.)

He'd nearly finished testing Enhancement and had moved on to testing Create Level 3 and Synthesis Level 3 for Rank F Summons.

Results confirmed so far

・Create Level 3 costs 10 Magic

・Synthesis Level 3 costs 5 Magic (unchanged from Level 1)

・Synthesizing one Insect F and one Beast F creates a Bird F

"All that's left is to figure out what 【－】 is."

Once he succeeded at a Synthesis, 【－】 disappeared, but he hadn't found the right combination yet. He'd spent several days repeatedly Creating and Synthesizing as he searched for the missing type.

(It's a strange rule that I can only Create Insects and Beasts, and have to Synthesize Birds. I've already tried Insect F + Beast F and Beast F + Bird F, so next is Insect F + Bird F. Please let this work. Otherwise, I'll have to search through combinations of different Ranks.)

When he Synthesized Insect F and Beast F, or Beast F and Bird F, the Summon on the card placed in the left recess was the one produced. It had clearly been a failure. Hoping this time would work, he nervously opened the Synthesis page of the Grimoire.

He placed the Insect F and Bird F cards into the recesses that fit them perfectly.

(Synthesize Insect F and Bird F!)

When he willed it almost like a shout, the cover of the Grimoire glowed. Apparently, it indicated that the Synthesis had succeeded. But even without looking at the cover, he could tell the result by checking the Synthesis page.

"Whoa! I made a new card!"

He let out a shout before he could stop himself. He shut his mouth and picked up the card he'd made.

(Is this a plant?)

In the lower-right corner of the card were the words Plant F.

(It's a Summon, but it's a plant?)

It had a round, red body like an apple, with a face. Thin, branch-like arms and legs sprouted from its round body. A stem extended from its head, with a single leaf growing from it.

(I see, it's a plant. Anyway, I need to name it. Now I've managed to Create and Synthesize all four kinds of Rank F Summons: Beast, Insect, Bird, and Plant.)

・Its form is based on the Leech Insect F; stats:

【Type】 Insect

【Rank】 F

【Name】 Chu

【Health】 15

【Magic】 0

【Attack】 13

【Durability】 20

【Speed】 20

【Intelligence】 13

【Luck】 11

【Blessing】 Durability 5, Speed 5

【Special Ability】 Suction

・Its form is based on the Dog Beast F; stats:

【Type】 Beast

【Rank】 F

【Name】 Pochi

【Health】 20

【Magic】 0

【Attack】 20

【Durability】 10

【Speed】 15

【Intelligence】 18

【Luck】 11

【Blessing】 Health 5, Attack 5

【Special Ability】 Bite

・Its form is based on the Pigeon Bird F; stats:

【Type】 Bird

【Rank】 F

【Name】 Poppo

【Health】 11

【Magic】 0

【Attack】 13

【Durability】 12

【Speed】 20

【Intelligence】 20

【Luck】 14

【Blessing】 Speed 5, Intelligence 5

【Special Ability】 Message

・Its form is based on the Apple Plant F; stats:

【Type】 Plant

【Rank】 F

【Name】 Appo

【Health】 14

【Magic】 20

【Attack】 12

【Durability】 15

【Speed】 10

【Intelligence】 13

【Luck】 20

【Blessing】 Magic 5, Luck 5

【Special Ability】 Aroma

(Pochi, the Beast F, has Bite as its Special Ability. That's the first offensive ability. It might finally be a Summon with the kind of ability I expected. But there's a Summon here so incredible that I don't even care about that.)

Four new Summons were now available. There were many things about each of them he wanted to investigate, and he'd have to start testing them. But among them was a Summon with a blessing Allen had been waiting for.

He picked up the Plant F Summon with trembling hands.

(I-I did it! At Rank F, I finally got a Summon with a blessing that increases my Magic!!!)

It looked like an apple with arms and legs. Perhaps they'd debated which design to choose from among several proposals at a meeting in the divine realm. If they'd settled on an apple, that was amusing in its own way.

But its appearance didn't matter at all when he considered that its blessing increased his maximum Magic by five. It was exactly what he needed most right now.

There was one major concern he had at the moment. He suspected that he'd need around 300,000 Skill experience to reach Summon Level 4 next.

It had taken 1,000 Create Skill experience to reach Summon Level 2.

It had taken 10,000 Create Skill experience and 11,000 Synthesis Skill experience to reach Summon Level 3.

Given this, it seemed safe to assume that Summon Level increased when he raised all the Skills related to Summoning.

The reason was that his Summon Level had reached 3 the moment his Create Level reached 3 and his Synthesis Level reached 3.

From this, he could tell that he would need 300,000 Skill experience to reach Summon Level 4.

・Gain just under 100,000 Create Skill experience

・Gain 100,000 Synthesis Skill experience

・Gain 111,000 Enhancement Skill experience

If he used up his Magic reliably three times a day and earned Skill experience with his maximum Magic of 12 at age six, it would take him more than twenty years to earn 300,000. His maximum Magic would increase as he grew older, of course, but even so, it would take over ten years.

The Plant F cards would shorten those ten or twenty years.

(Now I just need to decide how many Plant cards to keep.)

He could keep up to 30 cards in his holder. He was probably stronger than the average villager. He never found himself lacking strength, even when doing laundry.

(For now, I should keep about ten Beast F cards. I need strength in case something happens. I was pinned down by a knight once, too. Maybe I should carefully choose the other cards and fill the remaining slots with as many Plant F cards as possible.)

He had to strike some kind of balance between leveling up and not letting his current life suffer.

(I should check what the Plant F card can do. Summon, Appo!)

The Plant F card glowed, turned into a bubble, and disappeared. A Plant F Summon appeared. It was about the size of an apple, with branch-like arms and legs, standing upright.

(Hmm, it's an apple. It has arms and legs, but doesn't move much. Well, it's an apple. Its Special Ability is "Aroma," huh? Let's see what it does. Appo, use your Special Ability!)

He gave the Plant F Summon an order to use its Special Ability. Then Appo began to sink into the ground, burrowing itself deeper and deeper.

(Huh? What's going on? It's sinking into the ground! Wait, wh-what? It's not a plant—it's a tree. A tree's growing!)

The Plant F Summon disappeared completely into the ground. A tree began to sprout from that spot. It grew into a sapling about a meter tall. He smelled it, and a scent like essential oil tickled his nose. It made him feel calm.

(Huh? That's it? It smells nice, sure, but am I really going to keep more than ten of these?)

He wondered if the Plant F Summon was useless apart from its blessing.

That evening, after his "knight game" with Krena had ended, Allen was inside the house, preparing dinner. Even then, he was thinking about how to arrange his cards.

"That man sure is late."

He should have been back from the fields by now, but he hadn't returned.

Another hour passed.

Mash was there, too, so they ate dinner first. Rodan still hadn't returned. The six o'clock bell rang. Allen played with Mash. Mash was getting tired and would soon be going to bed.

"I'm home."

"Oh, you're late."

"Yeah."

Rodan came home. He was later than usual, and his expression was troubled.

Rodan got back after six. Telesia asked him why he was late.

"What happened? You're late."

Rodan was eating late, after the rest of the family had already finished. Telesia asked if something had happened. Allen was in the children's room, but listened closely, wondering what was going on.

"I was called to the Village Chief's house."

"I see."

"They asked me to let a few commoners join the next Boar hunt."

"Oh?"

Telesia looked at him as if to ask why that would make him look so troubled.

"No, there's no problem. It's not like any of the people who've been going with us will be dropping out. They asked me to let four or five young men who want to go join us."

Rodan explained it to Telesia as if trying to convince himself there was nothing to worry about. Their conversation continued after that. Since they needed to work together, he apparently told the Village Chief they wanted time to train, and asked how the groups would be divided. Rodan told Telesia about all of it.