Namely, what the heck just happened?
We used our [Recall] network to get to Thunder Huts for the Terra Cetus quest like normal players. And like normal players, we came with the intention to actually do the quest, which was gathering meat dropped by the creatures in this area.
…So can someone tell me why we are smacking players instead of mobs?
_ Hostile player: Kuh! These guys are strong…!
Nice deduction, detective. If only you had figured that out before half of your forces got a taste of pure
_ Hostile player #2: Must be one of the top guilds! Play it safe and overwhelm them with numbers!
_ Hostile player: Ah, sure, you guys can go ahead. Thank you for your service.
_ Hostile player #2: The heck?!
_ Hostile player: Half of my guild got wiped! It's your turn to buy all of us time!
_ Hostile player #2: …I knew you guys can't be trusted! Kill them all!
Now you are fighting each other?!
Without us lifting a finger (after the initial ambush), the numerous adversaries surrounding us turn to each other as fast as they threw themselves at us seconds ago! If you guys are going to do so, please do it in advance and save us the trouble, thank you very much.
We are not going to do anything, obviously. As a famous person once said, never interrupt your love rivals when they are flirting with each other, or something along those lines~
While pondering about potential reasons for these people to attack us, I catch sight of a group who are not participating in the infighting. Are they not on the same side I wonder?
_ Hostile (?) knight: Ah, don't mind us, Miss Illusive Sprout. My guild and I have no intention of fighting you.
The dark elf knight who seems to be the leader waves off the moment he notices my line of sight. So there's someone knowing about us here after all.
And not just "knowing". I do remember having talked to this dark elf in my early days.
_ Shadyna: Hello~! It's been a while, isn't it? Since we met at [Laetque Eye], I mean.
_ Knight: It is. And I never thought you would remember a nobody like me.
_ Knight's friend (?): To be fair, trying to kill someone then groveling in front of her the next day leaves a big impression most of the time.
_ Knight: What else was I supposed to do?! We were being banned from the entire [Cooking] market!
Not that I endorse the behavior, but it did leave an impression alright. Also, he just said something interesting. What's with the [Cooking] market? I for sure wasn't involved with it at the time! Don't tell me…
_ Hessy: No comment.
So it was YOUR doing!!!
Being a responsible guildmaster in charge of preventing my members of mass destruction from wreaking havoc, I will say that I absolutely, totally… do not know anything about this incident!
Even my capable manager didn't have any comment after all~
_ Shadyna: Speaking of food, should we enjoy some sweets while we talk?
_ Knight: …Sweets?
…
Even though it wasn't in the plan, we are holding a tea party in the middle of a warzone!
The battle between other guilds is still ongoing, but they are not bothering us. Not after the first few stray shots got entire AoE volleys from our vanguards in return. They probably don't want to get wiped while their rivals remain standing.
_ Knight: As you can see, we have been learning from past events that we stand a better chance by banding together. It usually falls apart the moment a conflict of interest comes up, but it's the best chance we have.
After being tormented (tempted) with delicious treats made from high-quality rocks and gems, the dark elf knight and his friends quickly spilled the beans. The meals are as strong as a dumpling, so normal players like them could never refuse my offer.
Not asking them anything unreasonable also helped. We only want to hear from them about the actual situation around here. Sure, we had more or less figured it out beforehand, but having external confirmation is still vital in any intelligence-gathering operation.
…I appreciate the thoughtfulness, but aren't we a restaurant, not an intelligence agency…?
_ Nerin: So it's true. I have heard about this from our patrons, though I didn't think you guys could organize among yourselves…
Both the knight and I look at the archer waitress for a second, then the bloodbath all around us.
I mean, she's not wrong. The guy yelling out strategies is getting punched in the face by his supposed allies at the moment, which is not the best indicator of a unified front in most cultures. A common enemy can only unite them until it's time to divide the loots, and sometimes not even that far in this particular situation.
_ Knight: W-well, it worked somewhat in past events for many of us, so we were going for the same strategy this time. I am not going to be so crazy to take you on even if they aren't fighting though.
That matches our observations of the previous events. Understandable as a normal guild doesn't stand much of a chance in a direct confrontation with one of the top guilds. Given the choice between splitting loots among themselves or losing it all to big guilds, it's not hard to imagine what the majority of small guilds would choose.
Which is fine and all, though they might have also overestimated their strategy quite a bit due to how recent events spanned out. You see, after the battle royale under Sateri's stony feet, official events had the list of rewards communicated clearly beforehand, so there was little incentive for us or other big guilds to do more than the bare minimum. Of course people would think whatever they were doing worked (relatively) better when their biggest opponents weren't even seriously competing!
We did not ignore the events as we would miss out on the fun of course. However, when the events included collaborative vegetable growing, sparkling bandit hunting, or scarecrow burning rituals, murdering all competition tended to be pretty low on the priority list.
Now that I think about it, that was probably Sateri's intention. While we were swamped with building towns and related infrastructure, players below level cap or not in a guild were pretty much "business as usual". The events were a good change of pace for them during that time.
We grew a huuuuuuge tater during the vegetable growing event by the way, which exploded into an unholy amount of silk-like material. Not particularly strong, though it removes all materials' texture effects in crafting and as such is highly sought-after by fashion designers. Needless to say, our guild's own designers hoarded everything before anyone could think about selling it.
The look in their eyes was terrifying, I'm telling you~
Because the events were about everyone doing their own thing like that, we didn't even notice the smaller guilds banding together. That's how "effective" their strategy was.
…I should keep this thought to myself, shouldn't I?
_ Shadyna: I see~ Is that why you were preemptively attacking everyone else not in your alliance?
_ Knight: Y-yeah. Our quests are different but all located in this zone. That's how we banded to fight off other competitors together while avoiding direct conflict between each member guild.
Is that so~? I suppose they are big enough to fend off most small guilds, hence the preemptive strike against us the moment we arrived. Being a small guild sure is dangerous~
The question now is how I am going to handle this. We can certainly "relocate" everyone here with relative ease, but we won't be able to keep them out for long due to nearby player towns acting as [Recall] beacons nowadays. Getting bogged down while guilds in other zones do their quests unhindered is not a good idea either…
_ Shadyna: In that case, how about an alliance with US?
_ Knight: …Pardon?
____________
_ Wizard: N…no way…!
One by one, his guild members fell to the ruthless terror. They were laughing one moment (while murdering others), and HP-less the next. Before the powerful old wizard knows it, the entire frontline has turned into a recruitment office for the local necromancer, and the backline will join them soon.
_ Dead archer: That woman one-shot me!
_ Wizard: Wife…!
_ Dead priestess: Kyaaaaa~! That slime girl is so cute!
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
_ Wizard: Wife #2…!
_ Archer & priestess: Who would want to be your wife?!
_ Wizard: The atmosphere is important!!!
Even though there are more dead than alive players in the vicinity, the chat remains quite lively as if everyone was still alive in an alternate, happier universe. One that doesn't involve dying from buff-spitting lunchboxes, hopefully.
_ Wizard: So this is the end…
The few remaining survivors have stopped fighting altogether. It's not because they have fallen into despair and accepted their fate per se, but rather because it's a waste of consumables and weapon durability against such a difference in power.
Anyone having a different opinion can file their complaints directly to the duo who look more like they are on an errand to the market than combatants on a battlefield.
_ Pet (?): …
Dispatching the last of the resisting players, the slime girl walks over the bodies of her fallen foes towards the old wizard…
_ Wizard: …Huh?
…And walks right past him without batting an eye.
It takes a moment for everyone to realize her target is actually a big boulder behind the wizard. In fact, she even starts to mine it after a quick inspection.
_ Wizard: …You could have told us if you just want to mine a rock!!!
____________
_ Shadyna: I can't chat through my pet though…
_ Knight: Uh… what?
_ Shadyna: Nothing~!
_ Knight: …Sure. By the way, the perimeter has been secured, all thanks to your help.
_ Shadyna: You're welcome~
After I offered the dark elf's guild and his "allies" a few cartons of dumplings, they stopped fighting each other and resumed fighting everyone else. Excluding us this time, for obvious reasons.
_ Formerly hostile player: Kill them! Kill them all in the name of our lady!
_ Everyone: In the name of Lady Sprout! KILL THEM ALL!!!
They also started chanting some very worrisome war cries by the way. This is definitely not an evil god granting their cult a boon, honest~!
_ Hessy (Guild): [Dismantling] shop is up. You can leave the quest to us,
_ Shadyna (Guild): Un! Thank you very much!
The rest of my guild, free from security duties, can now focus on the quest proper. It's just acquiring meat materials so my presence is not necessary. If anything, my firepower may destroy the corpses and reduce our loots. No thanks to that.
There's pacifism not mixing well with gathering meat too. While I am able to gather materials from creatures peacefully using the taming and [Farming] trick with high-quality buff potions, my capable guild members have a different idea…
"Use the taming trick to get the loots, then kill and dismantle the corpse for more loots" kind of different, specifically.
…My guild members are cute so I sometimes forget, but dear Sateri aren't they ruthless! Sure, our main bottleneck is mob respawn time so this is the best way to increase our hunting efficiency, but we are not that desperate! Look, even our murderous allies are appalled by the complete lack of hesitation for animal cruelty!
What do you mean, you are also getting items for your quests so we get a pass?!
…Well, that's why I leave the rechargeable potions to them for taming and help our allies out with their quests. Much better for my pacifism that way, un!
Mister knight here got the quest to acquire materials from a boss, for instance. They only need one boss due to the high difficulty of subduing one, though one might argue that getting to one is the actual hurdle as well. Bosses are a luxury even among bigger guilds after all.
Lucky for them, I happen to be acquainted with a boss in Thunder Huts, or rather, the guild(s) occupying its spawn area.
_ Shadyna: Hello~! Can we have one spider boss please~?
Needless to say, the guards from Blue Blood Federation were not expecting us.
_ Guard: Sprout girl?! I mean, we are not doing it today, obviously. But…
_ Shadyna: We'll share the drops, and I've brought sweets too!
_ Guard: Please come right in, esteemed customer!
_ Knight: Oi… is this really okay…?
_ Shadyna: It's fine~ If you can't beat them, bribe them!
Materialism can and will deliver world peace! One bribe at a time!
_ Knight: That's not how the saying goes…
Little details~!
We are allowed to have the boss thanks to my charismatic persuasion (and bribery), but that is only the first step for the allied guild.
_ Knight: Alright, we will have to do the majority of damage so please sit out of the fight. I hope we have enough firepower to win this…
Of course I would even without him asking. I am a pacifist, remember?
That doesn't mean I cannot bankroll his boss raid though. Based on what I saw during deliveries to boss sites, his guild will need a few hours of grueling attritional fighting to wear the boss down. Not the best use of time when they can help push back rival alliances in my opinion.
…
_ Shadyna: That's why I'm back with support! Uh… Do you need a res?
I left my allies to their own devices for a few minutes and they are dying in droves, as expected. Can't blame them really, since they are not top-tier players with a lot of boss raiding experience.
_ Dead knight: …A res would be appreciated. And explanation too.
Demanding, aren't you~?
_ Shadyna: [Resurrection]! As for where I went to, I fetched something that will help you fight. Ta-da~!
Behold, my [
_ Knight: The sword of legend…!
_ Shadyna: It's a ballista~
That, and rusty old swords pulled from rocks of questionable quality are a downgrade from superior siege weapons if you ask me.
_ Knight: Alright! There's no way we can lose now!
With great enthusiasm, the knight jumps onto the ballista and aims at the big spider tossing his members into the air left and right. Ah, if he shoots while it is wriggling around like that…
_ Knight: FIRE!
*WHOOSH*
…It may miss.
Flying past the spider's wagging chimney, the entire barrage of five lightning-imbued bolts slam straight into one of the metallic vines surrounding the arena.
*Zzzt*
Then the entire hut turns into a charged lightning rod, with electricity running around the metal surfaces and discharging lightning strikes all over the place.
*BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM*
As the majority of lightning strikes hit the boss and the rest hit the unlucky players in the area, I remember one of the most basic rules of RPG:
Don't use [Fire] against fire-type enemies. Or in this case, [Lightning] against a lightning-type zone.
I couldn't help it, okay? [Elemental] skills are combination skills so their enchantments are also more material-consuming. That left me with eight elements to pick, and [Lightning] happened to be the one I chose on a whim, thinking it wasn't a big deal. My weapons shine through superior stats rather than emphasizing elemental weakness after all.
… I don't think my allies here would buy that explanation however.
[Warning: An
Especially when the boss flashbangs everyone and emerges as one towering blob supported by very, very long limbs.
Whoopsie.
____________
There's a reason why Honey Swamp is not a good zone for miners, and it's not immersion.
It's because a good portion of the land is under swamp water.
Sweet swamp water, sure, but still swamp water in the end. Combined with the low material level, no sane player would want to grind [Mining] in this place.
Unless they need [Honeyed Rock], like a certain humanoid pet whose mistress received a quest to collect them.
Walking along the shorelines unchallenged and extracting all the rocks she can, Gelly is making progress, but it is going way too slow for comfort. Even though most other players have learned to avoid her the hard way, there's only so much [Mining] she can do with only her lonesome self and the few nearby boulders.
She walks into one of the ponds in hope of additional ore nodes, only to be deterred by nearly complete loss of vision due to the honey-colored liquid. Drenched too, although a dry slime girl is not that different from one covered in viscous honey anyway. Just don't think too much about the clothing.
Stumped by the surprisingly realistic outcome of diving into colored liquid, Gelly's owner needs a different plan in order to complete the quest in a timely manner. Buying from the market will be expensive as there is not many suppliers and stock for [Honeyed Rock]. [Transmutation] is not much better because it's very, very inefficient. The negotiation for the sales alone will most likely take days judging from the amount of goods in either option.
It's one of those times where her fish stockpile could be of use and she sold most of it to
If only there was a way to get rid of the liquid in the ponds. That way Gelly would have access to a much bigger area to mine and progress would be much faster.
…Is what a normal player would wonder. For the extraordinarily normal sprouty girl, the question is "how to do so and get away with pacifism intact".
Pacifism is important! According to the person who blasted the sun to pieces.
Because she's that kind of person, her solution to the honey ponds is blowing them to smithereens. Unlike terrain which takes hours to regenerate, ore nodes for [Mining] respawn within minutes due to the number of players. If the swamp water is drained (blown up) and the ore nodes respawn on top of whatever terrain left behind, they will be exposed enough for her to mine easily.
Fortunately for everyone, Gelly is in no way capable of flattening an entire landscape. She is "only" a strong pet with powerful equipment and skills compared to the average players, all things considered.
Unfortunately for everyone, Gelly has access to the excavators which have been gathering dust in the underground base. While the enchantment downgrade from [Accelerate Power] to [Accelerate Bonus] will hurt the damage, it will still create a decent crater on the terrain.
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
_ Players: WHAT THE HECK!!!
Clearing the impact area of all living beings with
Of course, they are equally spooked and puzzled by the extra effort put into murdering everyone before blowing the entire place up, though they decided not to think too deeply about it. As long as she doesn't actively hunt down players on land, they can peacefully ignore some mildly bizarre behaviors.
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
…Okay, maybe not mildly after the third pond.
Not that anyone wants to stop her to begin with. The bodyguard NPC, armed to the teeth and buffed by the best support spells from an armored fairy, who in turn is buffed to absurdity by her own buffs and two [Ethereal Form] from the most powerful NPCs in the game, can and will take down a guild's worth of players within seconds once provoked. If there are still brave souls trying to take the eccentric duo on, they will be too dead (in-game) to matter.
Little do they know, "draining" swamp water in a swamp reduces its average water level. The terrain, including the lost water, will regenerate in time of course, except for a small hidden mechanism known only to the designer.
When the water level drops below a certain threshold, an event will take place.
It has dropped below this threshold, and is still dropping rapidly thanks to a certain pet, who is still oblivious to the event beginning to take place where she stands.
As for what kind of event it is…
[Warning: A
It's that kind of event.
____________
Since everyone left to participate in the event, the bartender in charge of the entire cafeteria feels a bit nostalgic as she serves drinks to the few remaining patrons with a smile. The bar's early days were hard but easygoing, and peaceful.
*FLASH*
_ Fensen: Good evening,
_ Poltea: G-good evening,
Emphasis on the "peaceful" part. That being said, the charming bartender is not bothered one bit by the change in her routine.
_ Helen: Evening, little kittens~ Worry not about the time, for the night is still young.
_ Fensen: Ehehe~! We did our best to finish our homework early!
_ Helen: Good girls~
_ Poltea: U-uhm,
_ Helen: Well~ Rather than Lava Rift, you two are needed in Thunder Huts for something else.
_ Fensen & Poltea: Something else?
_ Helen: Yes. We are fighting an Avitus Caelicola.
_ Fensen & Poltea: …EEEEEEHHHHHH?!?!
--- Topic: New Avitus Caelicola & Magnus Bestia ---
## Heaven Piercer
So… Apparently two decided to pop up in the middle of our big event. One Avitus Caelicola and one Magnus Bestia.
Anyone knows where they are? (°_°>)
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## Shining Knight
Magnus Bestia in Honey Swamp. Source: Just got eaten Q_Q
[Pic]
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## WarlordPwnage
Are you for real?! (＃?Д?)
Would it kill to NOT find them during a meta-changing event you maniacs?!
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
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## Flame knight of Darkness
The Avitus Caelicola is in Thunder Huts.
We are very sorry m(_ _)m
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## Fire mage of Justice
It was you?! Σ(?Д?)
…Hold up, isn't this timing the best chance for small guilds to get their own unique bosses?
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## OP alchemist
O_O
Artifact materials here I come!
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## UnseenMurdererY
This is our time to shine brothers! Down with the big guilds! (`?ω?′)
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## Deeply Intelligent
Please, no more… We are not even close to done with the Terra Cetus (;_;)
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