Black Death Ice Forest (4)

After taking a good break and logging back in, I heard the sound of something colliding with something else. This... There was no mistaking it. Someone was sparring.

"Ha-ha! Nice! You're pretty good, aren't ya? This is fun!"

"That one didn't work either? You're amazing."

"Hahaha. It's almost funny how completely ineffective we are against you."

The ones sparring were Jigoro and the pair formed by Kanna and Raga. They weren't using magic or martial techniques, but apparently they were otherwise fighting in earnest. Jigoro deflected Kanna's fangtian halberd with his gauntlets, sending sparks flying, while dodging Raga's charges with nimble footwork.

As expected of one of the tough guys who competed with Gentaro for the title of strongest among our 'Nightwalkers.' He was holding his own against the tournament-winning pair of Kanna, whose stats had risen after becoming a Hero Jiangshi, and Raga, a perfectly synchronized mount. I could never do anything like that.

In any case, watching Jigoro eager to spend every spare moment throwing punches made me wonder if he had been holding himself back until now. Or had the arrival of players with such a wide variety of types simply broken his restraints? Either way, just don't cause trouble for the other members.

"Hey, boss. Not everyone's here yet."

"Looks that way. There's no need to hurry, so let's wait patiently."

As I watched the sparring match, Nanako landed on my staff. I had time to kill anyway, so I decided to make small talk with him.

"Come to think of it, Nanako, are you the type to check the forums regularly?"

"Well... I don't sit there glued to 'em, but I do skim over whatever topics are getting a lot of attention."

"Then you know what I've been curious about, don't you?"

"The reincarnation system, obviously."

Nanako answered immediately. And his guess was correct. The hottest topic right now was the unlocking of the reincarnation system. A player who claimed to have actually reincarnated had posted about the system, but hadn't written where they went or what they had to do. So, in truth, very little was known.

"That's right. I have no complaints about my current Race, but what about you, Nanako?"

"Me neither. There is an evolution path I want to pursue, though."

"Oh? Can I ask what it is?"

"Sure. I'm aiming to become a Karasu Tengu!"

I see. He must have heard about it from either Jigoro or Gentaro. I'd heard that there were Karasu Tengu in the Aquaria Archipelago, so it made sense that he would want to become one, being a crow monster himself.

"You want to keep your ability to fly while gaining arms and legs?"

"Yeah. Not having arms or legs is novel and fun, but it's started to get seriously inconvenient. Mos-san is also aiming for a Race with at least hands for the same reason."

Since players were humans accustomed to using tools, it was only natural that they would want arms and legs. For beasts, especially bird types, equipping too many weapons and pieces of armor interfered with their greatest advantage: flight. That left them at a disadvantage both offensively and defensively. At present, they could equip little more than necklaces and anklets. Wanting a form capable of at least a bare minimum of armament was only reasonable.

"However, gaining arms and legs probably won't be easy. You'll surely need a difficult quest or rare items. When the time comes, let me help as much as I can."

"Having companions sure is reassuring! If there's anything I can't handle on my own, I'll come ask for advice."

Nanako said that and laughed cheerfully. We continued chatting while watching the frontliners spar until everyone had gathered.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

Had we reached about the middle of the 'Black Death Ice Forest'? The monsters that appeared seemed to be divided evenly between the Undead and beasts or insects. Apparently, the deeper we went, the more Undead we encountered.

We also came across several scenes in which Undead monsters were fighting other monsters. It seemed the usual pattern was in effect: Undead attacked all living things. I should also mention that we had taken advantage of the chaos more than once.

"Everyone, something's approaching! There are twelve of them!"

"Prepare for battle."

Ruby detected the enemies' approach before anyone else and called out a warning. We were used to this by now, so we reflexively formed our usual formation.

"Are they relatives of Izam?"

"Maybe, but I doubt we'll be able to communicate with them."

What appeared were five wizard-like Demon Spirits carrying staffs and seven moving Skeletons clad in full armor and carrying swords and round shields.

That alone would have been surprising enough, seeing Undead moving like an army. But when I saw the faces exposed beneath their helmets, I noticed something strange. Their bones had something resembling gold dust mixed into them. They were clearly not ordinary Skeleton Warriors. What in the world were they?

――――――――――

Race: Demon Spirit Lv 51–53

Job: Curse Caster Lv 1–3

Skill: 【Staff】

【Intelligence Enhancement】

【Mental Enhancement】

【Dark Magic】

【Spacetime Magic】

【Void Magic】

【Curse Magic】

【Berserk】

【Wail of Resentment】

【Physical Attack Phasing】

【Magic Vulnerability】

【Status Ailment Immunity】

【Light Attribute Vulnerability】

Race: Spartoi Lv 52–55

Job: Apprentice Swordsman Lv 2–5

Skill: 【Superhuman Strength】

【Swordsmanship】

【Shieldsmanship】

【Armor Technique】

【Health Enhancement】

【Strength Enhancement】

【Defense Enhancement】

【Agility Enhancement】

【Aura of Fear】

【Status Ailment Immunity】

【Light Attribute Vulnerability】

――――――――――

According to the results of 【Appraisal】, the Demon Spirits were magic-user types, just as I had expected. The other monsters were called Spartoi. They were also a type of Undead, as their appearance suggested, and their Skills were arranged like those of warriors.

However, there was something strange about them. The levels of their Races and the ranks of their Jobs didn't match. None of their Skills had evolved, either. They looked just like players who had only recently started playing.

"Could they have only just been created...?"

The most likely explanation for the mismatch between the Spartoi's Race levels and Job ranks was that they had just been created. That was my guess, but this was no time for analysis or theorizing. That could wait until later!

"We'll handle this as usual! The Demon Spirits use 【Curse Magic】! Stay alert!"

"Got it! Take this!"

Jigoro charged in at the head of the attack and slammed a flying kick into one of the Spartoi. It had its shield raised, but Jigoro's kicks had enough force to blow away even Eiji, the heaviest among us. Could a body made of nothing but bones withstand that force with no evolved Skills?

"Kag..."

"Next!"

"Gah..."

As expected, the Spartoi struck by the flying kick went sailing. It had the 【Superhuman Strength】 Skill, but so did Jigoro. It seemed unable to win a contest of strength against him.

Jigoro then spun through the air like a top and slammed a roundhouse kick into another Spartoi, sending it flying as well. His movements still made it impossible to believe a human was inside.

"Follow Jigoro's lead!"

"Yes!"

"Let's go!"

"GROOOOAR!"

The frontliners charged in after Jigoro, who had leaped forward alone. With Kanna riding Raga, their charge widened the opening Jigoro had created, while Gentaro and the others turned the fight into a melee. Cal also dove down from above, sweeping through the enemies with his claws and tail. Good, from here on, it was our job!

"Leave the Spartoi to the frontliners. We'll deal with the Demon Spirits! As usual, stay calm and aim carefully!"

"Okay!"

"Got it!"

We watched out for teleportation using 【Spacetime Magic】 and struck the Demon Spirits with magic whenever they were about to use 【Curse Magic】 or some other spell on our allies. If we repeated that, we should be able to win without trouble. That was what I thought, anyway.

"Huh!? I-I can't move!?"

"Eiji!?"

Eiji, who had been handling one of the Spartoi, suddenly froze and became unable to move. A status ailment icon had appeared on his marker!

"Fear...? Damn! 【Aura of Fear】!"

Eiji had apparently been affected by the Spartoi's 【Aura of Fear】. Like my 【Aura of the Abyss】, it seemed to be a Skill that inflicted a status ailment with a low chance, so I had complacently assumed that it probably wouldn't affect us.

"【Holy Shield】! Cal, fall back with Eiji!"

"Grrr!"

"Nanako, distract them with every summon you've got!"

"Sure thing!"

If we did nothing, Eiji would be beaten one-sidedly. First, I created a wall between him and the Spartoi to buy us time. Next, I had Cal, who could both fly and exert great strength, pull him out. Finally, to ensure our retreat, Nanako could use 【Summoning Magic】 to hold them off...

"Y-You saved me!"

"How long until you can move?"

"About ten seconds."

"Stay here until it wears off. Cal! If anyone else is afflicted with Fear, carry them back here the same way."

"GROOOO!"

Cal flew off with a powerful cry. After evolving, Cal had become larger and more majestic, and his combat power was extremely high. His powerful, rough fighting style was sometimes frightening even to us, his allies.

"What!? I can't move!"

"Shifune too. Cal!"

"Grrr!"

"I can go now."

Cal quickly retrieved Shifune, who was frozen stiff with fear, and returned. As he did so, Eiji recovered from his status ailment and stood up. Without needing me to say a word, Cal picked him up and carried him back to the battlefield.

"【Holy Ray】! Cal-kun is so clever!"

"【Purification】! He really is."

Since Cal made it possible to retreat to the rear immediately whenever someone succumbed to Fear, we no longer had any chance of losing. Let's wipe them out all at once!

◆◇◆◇◆◇

Although several of us were afflicted with Fear a few more times, we otherwise had no trouble defeating the Undead horde.

"That was close."

"Yeah. We neglected to prepare for status ailments."

After the battle, I agreed with Mos-san's frank opinion. We had prepared thoroughly for the cold, but we had to admit that everything else had been inadequate. There was an unavoidable aspect to that, given how limited our information was, but for someone like me, who preferred to test every bridge before crossing it, this miscalculation was frustrating.

"From here on, we'll need to watch out for status ailments like Fear as well."

"I agree. But withdrawing here would be too cowardly. Let's explore a little farther. We might find materials among the drops from the monsters here that can be used to make items granting Fear Resistance."

"That's... quite possible. All right, I'll let everyone else know too."

The 'Black Death Ice Forest' might be more formidable than I had expected. We weren't in any hurry, so we would settle in and tackle it methodically.