Volume 1 - CH 10

I tightly grabbed the sword on my back. As I’d yet to get any magic iron ore its durability was still low.

But it will probably still work out. I still had my hand-to-hand fighting technique. Of course, making a surprise attack is one of the fundamentals of fighting monsters. That sort of tactic was taught to be cowardice when I was in the knight’s academy, however out here none of that applies.

It’s a world where you do what you can. I didn’t want to get injured, so I used that tactic every time. As soon as the hobgoblin moved its attention away from my location I went after it.

“Gobu!?” The goblin looked towards me in surprise. It swung the club it was holding at me, but I swung my sword in response.

I slashed at the hobgoblin’s legs. It was quite the deep cut. I wasn’t sure if I could take it out in a single blow, so I made sure to take its mobility out first. I gave the faltering hobgoblin a kick.

This was so I could test out the effects of hand-to-hand fighting technique. The hobgoblin’s body went flying. It certainly gave no less than the power I was imagining it would. As I thought, the skills from silver orbs are outstanding.

For now, I wanted all of them even at level 1. It didn’t take much time to defeat the hobgoblin. I checked how many points I got from defeating it.

100, huh. Although I’m always happy to be getting points, I was hoping that I could get a few more since it was ranked higher than a regular goblin. …Well, it’s not a problem. With that in mind I set out to hunt some more hobgoblins.

I kept in mind to watch for other monsters as well. If I could find one more type of monster, I should be able to earn 5000 points.

I glanced at the gacha window. The date today was April 21st, so I only have 9 more days remaining. I would like the be able to roll the gacha more in that time even if just a little bit.

I have two possible theories about that. First, once the date passes, the gacha will disappear. The other possibility would be that starting may a different gacha will appear.

The latter possibility holds a lot of my own optimism though. Honestly, the former possibility seems a lot more likely. I don’t really have a whole lot of trust left in god by this point.

That’s why I’d really like to roll the gacha as much as possible before the end of the month. At the very least I’d like the raise the level of my rainbow skills a just little bit more. I walked around with while thinking about that, and then I came across a new monster.

I immediately checked it with appraisal. It was a monster called a fang cow. It looked like a cow, but it had two sword-like fangs. I’d probably die if those cut me.

I moved cautiously, and the moment I got behind it’s back I charged at it. I cut the fang cow with my sword. However, it was incredibly tough. Since the sharpness of my sword directly correlates with it’s durability score, it might be a challenge to cut with it in its current state.

The fang cow turned around and swung its fangs at me. I blocked it with my sword, but at the same time I heard a metallic cracking noise. You’re kidding me.

…I somehow managed to defeat it. That was strong. It was far more difficult of a fight compared to any of the other monsters I’d faced up till this point. And then when I confirmed my points… 200!?

I thought that it was a hard fight, but it seems it really was stronger than the other monsters. But if that’s the case, then that means there is a difference in the number of points each monster gives.

I don’t know how the number of points is determined, however. Not that I really need to find out. I just have to every point I can out of every monster I find after all.

In any case, a fang cow is certainly a tough opponent.

A fang cow is beef, huh. I’d heard that it was incredibly tasty. Thanks to the cooking skill I was able to understand how to perfectly cook the meat without burning it.

I’d really like to have it with salt, pepper, and soy sauce, but salt comes from the ocean, pepper comes from peppercorns, and I’d need salt, soybeans, and wheat for soy sauce. There’s a variety of things in this forest so it isn’t impossible that I’ll find some.

For now, the most realistic goal would be to find seawater so I could make salt. Perhaps if I were to swim down the river it would be connected to the sea.

Once I was done cooking the meat, I brought it to my mouth. …The sizzling juices of the beef were unlike any other meat I’d eaten before! Delicious, this is just far too tasty! If I were to find something to season this with, I might end up getting addicted to it.

That must be the effect of cooking technique! I checked with cooking technique right away. Cooking technique also had the ability to prepare ingredients, and to create a dish.

I tried making a steak with it. It was cooked instantly and appeared in a random spot. Then I brought it to my mouth.

However, it didn’t taste quite as good as before. …I see. It seems that in exchange for cooking it instantly, the taste drops compared to doing it myself.

In that case I ought to grill the meat myself. It doesn’t really take that much time anyway.

While I was grilling, some hobgoblins came along. They seemed to be aiming for my food.  There were two of them. It took a bit of effort, but I managed to defeat them no problem.

I drank some potion to quench my thirst while simultaneously reliving some of my fatigue. Fuu, things are starting to balance out. I should probably find a new base for now.

I set out again once I finished my meal. Hunting monsters, making potions from medicinal herbs I found, filling my stomach with fruits and the like… with that sort of mood I made my way through the forest. I found some magic iron ore on the way and immediately went to repair my sword with it, but then I noticed an entry in my smithing skill.

It seems I could create a new weapon by combining the fang of a fang cow or magic iron ore with a sword. I was curious about it so I immediately set out to take out a fang cow. It was a tough fight, but I somehow managed to take it down. I then cut off it’s fang with my sword.

I then combined the fang cow fang with my sword… and then this appeared.

Oh! It even restored its durability. This was more than I expected. Thanks to that I could keep the magic iron ore. For now, I used the magic iron ore to make a knife I could use for dismantling.

Using my sword to dismantle everything would lower its durability after all. After making a knife for dismantling I made a fishing rod with a nearby spider web and a branch. It made a pretty good thread from that, so I took the thread part off and used it to hold my knife to my waist.

The smithing skill also let me create things without actually making them by hand. I don’t have a workshop to use or anything after all. I bet that things I make by hand with the smithing skill would also have a higher quality.

This should do for now though.

I should also try to enjoy fishing when I get some leeway. I walked around thinking about that until I discovered a large tree.

I involuntarily admired it. There was a small hole among its roots about the size that a single person could lie down in.

This might be a good place for my base. The space around here is a more open too, so it would be easy to make a field. Right away I used the land working skill to plow the area so I could plant the momon seeds, orange seeds, and the chuchu grass.

I had brought the hoe along with me but considering that I’ll be moving bases again it might be better to avoid doing unnecessary things.