CH 117

Chapter 117 – Big!

I was now making a bit more steel gear than before, as I was only crafting event items for Mika and Hime, so I had more free time now than I had had so far.

And talking about free time, I also used quite a bit of it to draw my beloved Magical Formations. And speaking of Magical Formations, my Principle of Magic Circles skill is now at level 100.

It’s a very important skill to me, so it has a high priority to be evolved, but I don’t have enough Skill Points for it.

To evolve it to Improved Principle of Magic Circles, I’d need 30 Skill Points, and I only have 23 right now, so I need a bit more.

The NPC quests involved with solving the incident did allow me to evolve a decent number of skills, so I’m gathering some Skill Points by leveling those up.

Due to that, I think I should be able to evolve Principle of Magic Circles soon.

… Though well, I’d still be pretty happy if I could get some more Skill Points through quests.

******

The long event was finally ending today.

The top ten people on the leaderboards had their names and points hidden, but I know both Hime and Mika were among those people.

The people on the 11th position and below were publicly available, so I could check the list and make sure that Mika and Hime were on the top ten.

That said, the price of the Shadow Tears suddenly stopped rising, and instead, started dropping quickly.

That’s probably because some people were hoarding them up, and now that the event is at its end, they’re trying to quickly sell them at whatever price.

Therefore, the rankings may still fluctuate drastically with the Shadow Tears sales.

But in any case, today is the end. The event’s ending day was announced back when it started, after all.

Though there are some rumors on the forums about one last special mini-event happening before the end.

It has become a particularly strong theory because no raid bosses appeared at all today, even though they were appearing at fairly large numbers until yesterday.

“Alright, I’ll be there soon.” Mika said.

“Going.” Hime said.

“Oh? Did something happen?” I asked them.

Both Mika and Hime bought Shadow Tears on stalls until their funds were completely exhausted, but since no raid boss appeared afterwards, we were all just chatting at my workshop.

However, they both got a call at the same time and things seemed to be about to get hectic.

“Huge crystals suddenly appeared a small distance away from each of the four gates of the city.

“Moreover, there is a strange shadow within it, so it’s probably related to the event!

“It’s probably going to start a special battle at the right time or something.” Mika explained.

“Let’s go.” Hime said.

“I wonder if I should try looking at it from the gate…” I mused.

“Yeah, sure! Let’s go together!” Mika exclaimed.

“Go together.” Hime nodded.

As expected, something special is indeed happening on this last event day. It will surely make the rankings fluctuate once more.

Since the crystal is outside the gate, it should definitely involve a battle, but as nothing happened yet, I think it should be okay to at least see what it’s like.

And well, I’m curious about this large crystal.

******

“Big!” Mika exclaimed.

“It’s big…” Hime commented.

“Wow… I’m glad I came to see it.” I said.

“What is even going to be done with this? Is a giant mob coming out from inside!?” Mika wondered.

“Raid boss.” Hime stated.

“It will probably be a pretty strong one…” Mika commented.

“Yeah, though I think it will take a while to happen.” I told them.

“Wasn’t the shadow inside a bit smaller though?” Mika said.

“I think so.” Hime agreed.

“And it’s now covering a tenth of the crystal…” I commented.

This giant crystal apparently had a pretty small shadow inside it, but it’s slowly growing as time passes.

Everyone is expecting something to happen once the shadow completely fills up the giant crystal, because… Well, that’s what would make more sense.

Some people on the forums did the math on it based on the noticed growth speed of the shadow, and apparently the crystal will be completely filled at around 9pm in real time.

That seems like an ideal time that allows the majority of the playerbase to participate, so it’s a pretty good supposition, I’d say.

In any case, I’m happy that I was able to visit the site and see it for myself.

I’m no good in battle though. At most I might be able to make a few more items for Hime and Mika before the fight starts, so… Let’s go back to the workshop for now.

******

Quite a few discussions are being held at the forums right now.

After all, everyone that was participating on the event are now having some free time since no raid bosses appeared recently.

Mika and Hime both ran out of funds to buy Shadow Tears too, so they’re all just posting on the forums while waiting.

They could post anonymously if they wanted, but they instead decided to verify their identity, so their words are being seen as words from celebrities right now.

After all, they’re not only very strong, but Mika is a fantastic commander in-battle, while Hime’s support capabilities are below no one. Especially now that she has her spider doll.

In any case, the discussion on the forums seems to be revolving a lot about what to do to handle a mass appearance of mobs, or smaller number of strong mobs, or what to do if they both appear together.

Of course, there can also appear new unique event mobs and some other special things, so plenty of speculation is going on right now. Everyone seems enthusiastic about the last portion of the event.

Even the people who are not at the top rankings seem to be looking forward to it, in fact.

And on that note, the battle is a bit far from the gate, but not super far away, so it might actually be possible to spectate it in real time while on top of the gates.

Some people said that on the forums, so maybe I should check it out too once I finish making Mika and Hime’s items.

Well, everyone must be thinking the same things, so it will be crowded for sure, but that’s fine.

******

“You can see it from here.” I said.

“It’s far.” Hime commented.

“Well… That can’t be helped, I guess?

“Don’t you have something that can be used in this situation, Yuri?” Mika asked me.

“Ah… Maybe this?” I took out an item from my inventory.

“Ooh! As expected of you!” Mika exclaimed.

There is a passage that can take you above the gate.

Usually speaking, this is used by guards to get to the top of the gate and stay on lookout, but it is also accessible by the general public.

In normal situations, not many people climb it, but… This time, plenty of people are here. It’s quite crowded.

As expected of the last stage of the event. Everyone who can’t participate in the battle has come to look.

I’m one of those people, in fact.

However, the giant crystal is kinda far away, so I can’t see it that well from here.

Though I took this into consideration and looked for a recipe of something that could be used to solve the problem.

“Binoculars?” Mika asked me.

“I was hoping for a telescope, but I found no recipe for it, so I tried making this instead.” I explained.

“Well, there are quite a few people with it, so I guess it’s the best option available.” Mika looked around as she said that.

“Everyone thought the same, it seems.” I replied.

This binocular isn’t very popular because it doesn’t have a good magnification feature, but it’s still convenient in cases like this one.

In fact, there are people doing business here right now. And they’re selling those binoculars for an absurd festival-like price.

“Well, it’s still kinda early, but we’ll be waiting over there.” Mika pointed towards the crystal.

“Let’s go.” Hime said.

“Alright, good luck!” I told them.

“You can count on us!” Mika exclaimed.

“We’ll do it.” Hime said.

There is still some time before the expected time for the crystal’s hatching, but plenty of people are already gathering around it.

The prediction is still just a prediction, after all. We can’t be sure that something will happen only when the shadow fills it whole. Or even if anything will happen at all.

But we can expect it to happen then, because… Well, it’s an event. There is no reason for nothing to happen.

******

Around the giant crystal, many combat-focused player Pioneers were waiting.

Visitors like me were crowded on the top of the gate.

It was almost 9pm in real time… I’m looking forward to what will happen!

“Ah.” Was this voice mine or someone else’s?

Regardless, that voice was drowned out in an instant.

Once the time arrived, the shadow completed filling up the giant crystal, and then it suddenly started spreading all over, swallowing everything in the surroundings.

Including us, who were stuck on the top of the gate.