Chapter 163
We had begun exploring, but we immediately got our first taste of the place feared by the locals.
"C-Cold!?"
"I-I'm wearing cold-weather gear! We even made items for this! W-Why, why is it so cold!?"
The moment we stepped into the 'Black Death Ice Forest,' the temperature dropped as if the air around us had frozen solid. Shifune and Shiitake were the ones who screamed. Neither of them had lost any HP, and their markers showed no status ailments. No one was suffering any penalties from the surrounding environment, which was probably the result of our thorough preparations.
But imagine this. Imagine putting on a thick, fluffy down jacket and heading to a snowy region in the middle of winter. Exactly. No matter how warmly you dress, cold is cold! There was no problem according to our in-game stats, but apparently it was cold enough to make that seem like a lie. Me? I don't feel a thing even if my bones get cold.
"Come to think of it, was this your first time in the Black Forest?"
"Hey, what's with all the complaining over a little cold like this? The farther in ya go, the colder it gets, y'know?"
Hearing that, Shifune and Shiitake each took action. Shifune silently buried herself in Wool's fluffy fleece, while Shiitake sidled over to Shio.
Shifune did this all the time, so Wool didn't even react. Shiitake, however, didn't have things go so smoothly. She must have been trying to cling to Shio's fluffy feathers, but Shio simply flew out of reach.
"Warm me up, Shio-taaan!"
"Sorry, but if I can't move when something happens, that'll be a problem, so I can't."
"Guh! When this big sister gets lectured with such perfect logic, there's nothing she can say..."
Shio's combat style was to fire while flying along complex three-dimensional trajectories. She couldn't afford to compromise the mobility that was the key to her tactics. Shiitake understood that, so she gave up without a fuss.
"Don't worry. You'll get used to it soon enough."
"Exactly! Besides, you two are lucky you can even wear cold-weather gear!"
Shiitake was still better off because she could wear clothes. Mos-san and Nanako, on the other hand, couldn't even do that and had no choice but to endure the cold. They had resistance from their accessories, but they were still putting up with the chill.
"Uh, sorry to interrupt your commotion, but enemies are coming."
Oh, are we already getting into a fight? I had a general grasp of the enemies around here, but I couldn't rule out the possibility of a new species. We couldn't let our guard down.
"Gyu-gyu!"
What leaped out in front of us was a white rabbit monster with a faintly blue, crystal-like horn growing from its head. Yeah, I recognized it. Here are its stats.
――――――――――
Race: Ice Horn Rabbit Lv 40–43
Job: Water-Ice Magic Fighter Lv 0–3
Skill: 【Ice Horn】
【Health Enhancement】
【Strength Enhancement】
【Defense Enhancement】
【Agility Enhancement】
【Water-Ice Magic】
【Teamwork】
【Water Attribute Resistance】
【Fire Attribute Vulnerability】
【Slash Resistance】
【Cold Immunity】
――――――――――
"Hm, a pack of Ice Horn Rabbits."
"Tch, just the weaklings?"
As you could tell from Jigoro's bored complaint, this wasn't our first time encountering these monsters. If anything, we had actively fought them countless times to collect their materials.
Why? Rabbit fur is used to make cold-weather gear. In addition, the 【Water Attribute Resistance】 listed among their Skills carried over to the gear, giving it the same 【Water Attribute Resistance】. So even though I don't need cold-weather gear, I've had the surplus materials used to replace the lining of my armor.
Their drops were fur, meat, magic stones, horns, and hind legs. The horns and hind legs were fairly rare, with a drop rate of roughly five percent, judging from experience. There was even a nasty catch: damaging those parts too much during battle lowered their quality.
The hind legs in particular were materials for the 'Ice Horn Rabbit Foot Charm,' an accessory that granted the Cold Resistance we all had. It was a pain, but we gathered them desperately. Sorry for overhunting you just for your drops.
The rabbits themselves weren't particularly strong. The problem was that they always traveled in packs, so there were a lot of them. This pack alone had twenty rabbits. The Ice Horn Rabbits were adorable enough to look like stuffed animals, but with this many of them openly hostile toward us, none of us felt like cuddling them.
"All right, let's go."
"Perfect warm-up!"
The party that charged in was led by Nanako. There were nineteen of us at the moment, counting our familiars, so we had formed four parties and were operating as a Union. The group that had just charged in consisted of Nanako, Kanna, Raga, Sei, and his two familiars—the team with the greatest mobility on the ground.
"Hm. I've gotten better at hitting even the smaller enemies."
"You're pretty dexterous."
They had defeated Ice Horn Rabbits countless times as well, so what followed was a proper slaughter. Nanako's summoned crows swooped down from above, while Sei and his familiars finished off the rabbits, summoned beasts and all. Kanna accurately severed Ice Horn Rabbit necks with her fangtian halberd while remaining mounted, and Raga, riding atop her, steadily reduced their numbers with 【Lightning Magic】 while marveling at her skill.
"It's completely one-sided."
"Yeah. But the noise might draw other monsters over."
"Then let's go scout as planned! Shifune, are you okay?"
"Ugh... It's cold, but I'll go. Ruby must be cold too..."
"So we'd like to go scout. Is that all right?"
Toji asked me while watching the battle. She was also a party leader. Her party consisted of four women: Toji, Ruby, Shio, and Shifune, the group capable of moving with the greatest lightness and agility. We had assembled members who specialized in scouting, ambushes, and hit-and-run attacks. If anyone could thoroughly scout the area, it was them.
"Please do. Be careful out there."
"I know. Come on, everyone."
"Yes, Ane-san!"
The four of them immediately got to work. Shio flew between the trees, while the other three used the branches as footholds and nimbly made their way through the treetops. They looked just like ninjas.
"Hey, bro. Are we waiting here until those guys get back?"
"Looks that way. Besides, the only reason the battle started before we asked the four of them to scout was that it happened to break out first. We were planning to have them scout from the beginning, weren't we?"
Even when there had only been five of us, I had Ruby scout ahead so we could proceed carefully. Now that our numbers had increased, I was only going to be more cautious. Jigoro should have known that, but... he was probably bored.
"Yeah, but isn't this boring?"
"I figured you'd say that. Then go help Iris and Shiitake. Even if they're within sight, they'll still need guards."
"Sure thing."
So I had him guard the two crafting players while they focused on gathering materials. There was no question that we benefited from the items they made, so Jigoro obeyed without complaint. Good grief, can't you settle down unless you're moving?
"Jigoro's like a fish that has to keep swimming, isn't he?"
"He really is."
I chuckled with Gentaro, who had come to stand beside me before I knew it. He wasn't a bad fellow by any means, but still...
"By the way, Izam, have you looked into the next event?"
"Yeah. It's the event being held for the Third Wave, right?"
The other day, the administrators announced that the Third Wave would be released, and at the same time they announced a new event. It would be a showcase of crafted goods. The event had been held alongside the First Tournament before, but this time the showcase itself would be the main feature.
The event would run for three days: the day the Third Wave launched, the following day, and the day after that. The event lasted a long time, and there would even be an auction for the items entered in the showcase on the final day, so the strategy group would probably show up then too.
They were probably hoping to encourage interaction between veteran and new players as well. It would be nice if they inspired each other. It had nothing to do with me, though.
"Right. Are you two entering anything?"
"Looks that way. This time, they've added a system that means we don't have to travel to the venue."
Last time, when the event was held in Fars, players had to bring their entries to the venue themselves. This time, however, things were different. Players had already spread out across several cities, and some besides us had even reached other continents.
On top of that, the new continent known as Flamma Volcanic Island was practically a holy land for every kind of crafting. The top crafting players had moved there, so going all the way back to Fars would have been a hassle, even for an event.
Thus, a feature had been added that allowed players to submit entries to the Production Guild from the menu screen. The Production Guild was the organization production-class players belonged to, and it was serving as the host of this showcase.
"Iris seems to be taking this seriously. Apparently, she plans to use materials acquired on this expedition."
"Oh? She's taking it seriously, then. Is she aiming for first place?"
"She said that once she'd decided to enter, she had no intention of cutting corners."
I knew almost nothing about the things other crafters had made. All I knew was the information from screenshots posted on the forums.
If those were the masterpieces of the top crafters, then Iris's work wouldn't be inferior in the slightest. Besides, at present there were items only we could obtain. She should have a perfectly good chance of winning.
"What about Shiitake?"
"She wants to submit some gag items. But her real goal is apparently to make a killing by mass-producing cheap items for new players."
Alongside the showcase, the Production Guild would have consignment-sales booths for players. Apparently there would also be booths selling beginner's items, and Shiitake was plotting to use them to build a small fortune.
"Do you think it'll pay?"
"Who knows? Even if it's low-margin, high-volume sales, the customers are rookies who just logged in. The Zel they have on hand probably hasn't changed much from their starting funds, so if she wants to make money, she'll have to sell a considerable number of items..."
"Then she must have a plan. Whether it works or not, I have no idea."
Gentaro, like me, had little interest in money-making schemes, so he didn't care whether Shiitake made a profit or took a loss. Since we had gathered all the materials ourselves, the cost was zero, meaning every sale could be considered pure profit, but... it wouldn't be strange if human-player apothecaries and alchemists were aiming for the same thing.
Every player would see it as a good way to make some pocket money. I couldn't imagine we'd be able to muscle in and make a profit there, though... There were simply too many competitors.
"Consignment sales take a small fee, but they'll still bring in cash. Just pocket money, though."
"That's probably all it will be."
"Nobody thinks we're gonna make money—neither do I."
Wool had been listening in silence, and he seemed to agree with us. In any case, for now I should focus on conquering the 'Black Death Ice Forest' rather than on an event I wasn't participating in. While I was thinking that, the last rabbit in front of us was hunted down.