Fairy Tale Chronicles

Volume 1, Chapter 1

Translator: Adam Seacord

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「So, what now?」

「Now?」

「Not about money, or anything else immediate. What’s our goal here?」

「Aw, shucks…」

They had spent the previous day in denial of their reality by making bags of other items, but it was too pathetic to just walk around without a destination. They had to face the world in front of them and figure out what they had to do.

「Well, our ultimate goal should be to head on back to Japan. The first thing to do, I reckon, would be to gather all sort of information.」

Hiroshi said, as he frantically struck the rocks in his hands on each other. Haruna gave a quick nod.

「Even just to gather information, we’ll have to find a town, first.」

「Yeah, but they could tax us just to get in. We betta get some stuff worth a buck or two…」

「We can talk to them first to see?」

「That’s all dandy, but I just want to process these guts here into potions before we go. These materials rotted in the game after a while, too.」

With that, Hiroshi pointed at a few of the organs from the bear they cut open the day before. Hiroshi would say that he was only desensitized to the grotesque disembowelment of the bear, thanks to the disembowelment skill that anyone would obtain in the game.

「What can you make from them?」

「A level 3 special potion. I could use it for any level 5 potion, but we don’t got materials to make bottles for it. Besides it don’t look like I could make anythin’ more than a level 3 potion with the stuff around here. So I decided to put it towards special potions.」

「What kind of special potions?」

「A Strength potion from the heart of a bear or wolf over a certain power level, a Vitality potion from the liver, and from a bear, maybe an Antidote from the stomach.」

「A Berserker Bear meets that power level, then?」

「Bears, more so than other animals, are good for making potions. I mean, there’s a heap of materials required… For example, a basic level 2 potion requires about five different materials, and double that for a complex potion. Ya have to combine that many different materials. If we take into account the materials I sprinkle in to make it my own, there really is an infinite number of variations.」

To what seemed like too vague an answer, Haruna wanted to ask if Hiroshi was sure. Before she could, he added:

「Well, I think they just group all the potions that have similar effects and call them level 2s. Like they do for some stuff in reality, too.」

「Hmm… I guess so. So, what have you been making over there?」

「A joke of a mortar. I can’t make a bottle without one.」

「I’ve been wondering, but… How come you can only carve the bigger rock down? They look like the same material to me.」

「Right. I pumped up the smaller with a short-hand enchantment. Can’t do it ‘til you’ve got at least intermediate in Enchantments, along with Manufacturing or Crafting, by the way.」

Haruna, absorbing all the new crafting information, nodded with amazement. She knew that Hiroshi had reached Advanced Crafting when she watched him collect all sorts of unfamiliar materials when taking apart the bear, but she didn’t quite grasp how much depth there was to it.

「You can really do a lot with these things, can’t you?」

「Actually, your skill level don’t go up much without doin’ all sorts of things.」

「Sounds like a lot of work…」

「The knack for crafting’s repetition, routine, and acceptance of futility.」

Even as he said so, Hiroshi finished the mortar, albeit rough around the edges, which could serve their purpose.

「So, Toudou-san. How much harvestin’ do ya do?」

「Around Novice 15. Then I gave up to go walk around town.」

「So, like, average?」

「Yep, average. Sorry.」

「No, no. If everyone could make it to intermediate and advanced, I’d lose my only edge.」

「Yeah. And it looks like I’m much better at cooking and singing.」

Hiroshi agreed, and brought back the derailed conversation.

「Then, I’d hate to ask, but could you help me gather some materials? Anything you can grab is just fine, and I don’t need that much.」

「Sure thing. I haven’t practiced much, though. So don’t hold your breath.」

「We can’t carry around too much to begin with. Take it easy.」

「Okay.」

Haruna waved him off, walking off into a bush. After watching her leave,

「Alright, then. Let’s get into it.」

Hiroshi said with a stretch as he began the very work he suggested.

By digging a quick hole and stacking some rocks, there was a furnace. Then, Hiroshi repeatedly collected some select stones from the river bed, which he crushed in the mortar to line up the ingredients for glass. After a certain amount was ready, he shoved a load of firewood, which he had processed in some way, causing a fire too powerful to be just burning on wood.

Then, he finished the glass in this mock-up furnace, shaped them, until he had about thirty bottles. After collecting all the vegetation he could from around their campsite, Haruna, wearing exhaustion on her face, came back with a pile of grass and leaves she could barely fit in her arms.

「Would these be enough to- You made the bottles already!?」

「Just now.」

「Aw. I wanted to watch you make it…」

「Maybe next time. I threw together a pot, too. I’ll whip up ‘em potions.」

With that, he did some odd motions after crushing and mixing the ingredients, then bottled what he had cooked down in the pot.

「It makes a decent amount.」

「Yeah. The leaves aside, if a bear’s heart could only fill this tiny thing, there’ll be a riot.」

With that, he whipped up ten bottles each of the three potions, before finally plopping down, with a tired look finally creeping up on his face.

「Thank you.」

「Phew, making all the tools from scratch was a little much…」

「If I were you, I would have given up halfway through.」

「Hold up. I’ve been thinkin’ while I was craftin’… You sounded like your Bard skill level’s pretty high?」

「I’ve got an Extra Skill, so I would be lying if I told you it wasn’t high.」

Hearing the keyword Extra Skill, Hiroshi looked impressed. Seeing that, Haruna was now sure of an inclination she had. But, she decided to hold off asking about it, and let Hiroshi finish.

On a side note, an Extra Skill is a skill with unbound powers obtained through meeting certain requirements and beating a dedicated quest. There were many different Extra Skills, from an ultimate attack of an ancient hero, the perfect defense that disables any attack, to a dance for the gods, but all of them had in common that the triggers for the quests were never made clear, and that just possessing the skill provides all sorts of ridiculous modifiers.

「Well, if you got an Extra Skill an all, I just thought what the heck we’re doin’ here making measly bags and potions, instead of bamboozlin’ past the guard and have you sing a ditty in the plaza.」

「But even if I do… We couldn’t carry much of that money without a bag, right?」

「Yeah, guess you’re right.」

「Besides, the heart would rot without making it into potions, too, so it’s not a waste… What do you think?」

「Right, that’s why we were making ‘em potions. It was like raising cows to make cheese, I forgot all about that.」

In response to Haruna snorting out a chuckle to this accurate yet ridiculous metaphor, Hiroshi returned a half smile as he passed her one of the completed bottles.

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「Here’s a Vitality Potion for starters. You don’t seem like the type for brute strength, Toudou-san.」

「I’ve never used these kinds of potions before. What’s it like?」

「In-game, it gives you a bonus modifier to your Armor for twelve hours. I can’t promise it’ll taste any good, but I didn’t fail the crafting process so it should work the same.」

「Twelve hours? They last a while, huh?」

「The full boost only lasts three hours, tops. The effect gradually wears off, until it’s miniscule after six to nine hours, and finally gone after twelve hours.」

「That game really puts the devil in the weirdest details, doesn’t it?」

「The devil himself. Well, they didn’t seem to implement any effects from combining potions, so I’ll whip up some Magic Potions, too, next time.」

He said, judging that Haruna rather leaned heavy toward magical skills.

「Yes, please. So, Azuma-kun.」

「Yeah?」

「Why don’t we show each other our cards already?」

「Our cards?」

「Uh-huh. Like which skills you acquired at which Skill Level, or what Level you are now, or how far you’ve completed the main quest?」

Hiroshi’s eyes wandered into thought.

「Hate to tell you, but I don’t got my stat screen. I don’t remember the details.」

「Your best guess is fine. I don’t remember everything about my own stats or skills, either.」

One of the reasons that compelled them to believe that they were in reality was the fact that, while they could use any powers from the game just fine, they couldn’t see their stats. As for skills acquired in the game, muscle memory would tell them how tired they would be after how much of work to yield how much results. However, it was inconvenient to not be able to see the numbers on the skills they haven’t maxed out in the game.

「Hmm…」

「I don’t know what’s on your mind, Azuma-kun, but from here on out, we’re in this together.」

「Yeah… Well, I did already whip ‘em potions up. And I don’t think you would…」

「I would what?」

「Back in the day, there was some drama going ‘round craftin’. It was during my breaks so I didn’t get involved myself, but it ended with one of them not bein’ able to play the game no more. Bunch of other folk quitted crafting or the game itself. All the Craftsmen, including me, we’re more careful ‘bout showin’ our skills. Earlier, it felt so much like an emergency that I stupidly over made ‘em potions.」

Haruna, sensing the gist of said drama, simply replied sorry. She finally grasped why there were almost never any rumors of anyone with high Crafting skills. All she knew was that something happened during the time of high school entrance exams.

「To start with, do you know how many craftin’ skill there are, Toudou-san?」

「Wha? Oh, let me see… Excavation, Harvest, and Fell, for the materials. From there they branch into Refinement, Weaving, Building, and Crafting. Then you finish the product with Forging, Sewing, Metalworking, Compounding, and Tool Building… I think? 」

「That’s the ballpark. Besides that, there’s Carpentry, Furniture Makin’, Ship Building’, Construction, and Tinkerin’. Categorically, there’s also Cookin’, Fishin’, Enchantin’ and Farmin’.」

「I could see Cooking, but Fishing and Enchanting, too…?」

「Yes ma’am. Well Enchantin’ also counts as magic, so that’s affected by Magic Skill Levels, too.」

Looking at this way, Crafting, or even Manufacturing skills, were vast. Aside from Tinkering, Haruna had never even heard of skills like Carpentry, Construction, or Ship Building. By the way, Fishing and Cooking, out of these skills, lack ranks, in exchange for a higher maximum Skill Level.

「The Manufacturin’ skills I haven’t maxed out are Cookin’, Fishin’, Farmin’, and Construction. And I still need the Extra Skill for those, plus Enchantin’ and Furniture Makin’.」

「…Excuse me!?」

「Nothing to write home ‘bout. All the skills in the first processin’ branch will max out on your way to getting’ to Advanced Craftin’, and once you’re past Novice 70 for the Manufacturin’ and day-to-day kinda skills, although it’s only one skill per log out, will go up on their own while I’m logged out even without materials.」

「Still, it’s just… Unbelievable.」

Chuckling at Haruna’s face, he decided to show her inside the magician’s cap some more.

「I don’t know what your impression was, Toudou-san, but Craftin’ Skills are, other than Attack skills when hunting down the big boys, take the shortest time in total to raise their Skill Levels. It’s real, real, simple. Everything except the work is mindnumbin’ and hard, that once you get the materials and all sorted out, it’s a pretty quick climb to Advanced. Other than a few exceptions, you gotta work on them all at the same time to get the materials, anyway.」

「Still… You know?」

「There’s more tricks to it. Once you get all the Novice Craftin’ skills to 50, you get a skill called Making Mastery that shortens work time and load, increases success rate and yield, along with the amount of materials gained when gatherin’. Once you get this skill, the times you can use those skills skyrocket, so it’s so much easier to get your Skill Levels up.」

「I had no idea…」

「It’s not known too well. I mean, there was a guy who didn’t know about, or missed this skill and couldn’t get past Intermediate. So, if you put like two years into it after getting this skill, as long as someone helps you hunt materials that is, anyone could max out the skills you listed in Advanced.」

All Haruna could take away was that this particular skill seemed backwards. The design seemed malicious in holding back the skill until the worst part was over. Through the Craftsmen community, he knew that forty players had gained some sort of Extra Skill (in a non-harvesting skill). Fifteen of them have maxed out all major Crafting skills.

While Hiroshi had the most Extra Skills out of all the craftsmen in the game, there was one more lunatic who had mastered all Crafting skills (other than Extra Skills), which was more than Hiroshi could say, and this person also had the Extra Skills for Enchanting and Construction as well.

Long story short, Crafting in this game becomes easier as a player levels up.

「Backwards, ain’t it? But if this skill was too easy to get, Craftin’ could get too easy to do… So I think it works out in the end.」

「I guess you’re right…」

「That’s better for me, anyway. Now for the last trick… Carpentry, Ship Buildin’, Construction, Farmin’ and Fishin’ all benefit more than other skills from leavin’ them alone. 」

「Really?」

「Yeah. Especially for Carpentry, Ship Buildin’, and Construction, since any task can take five consecutive in-game days once you’re intermediate, so for these skills, they calculate the in-game time rather than real time for leaving the skill on when you’re not logged in. They don’t take as many uses to get the Skill Levels up, too.」

That made sense to Haruna. Time in Fairtytale Chronicles pass at four times the speed of real life. Any other Skills, when left alone, applied the Skill Level increase to real time, on to which any modifiers from the Skill Level or Making Mastery were applied. If a player wanted to get to Advanced Compounding by leaving the skill on during log outs, it will take more than a few years.

While the Crafting department was rich in hidden gems that make grinding easier, anyone without the mental capacity to devote the entire four hours (the limit to consecutive game-time, built into the VR system itself), or sixteen in-game hours to gathering and processing materials, save for healing Stamina and MP, had no chance of reaching Advanced.

In other words, as long as the player had such a mind, and had the right information, even a high schooler could reach to Hiroshi’s level in, say, five years. For better or worse, the design only calls for simple repetition.

「So, for Construction and Carpentry, I raised them up during high school entrance exams ‘cus I got some jobs building castles for Guilds or NPCs. All I had to do was pop in once a month, and I could package up any adjoinin’ facilities at once, which let the Skill Levels fly up. Besides, only when building a castle or a house, you can set up the Construction on the foundation and the building process at once.」

Before Hiroshi started studying for entrance exams, there were no drama regarding the Craftsmen. So, there was still enough room for these kinds of requests. Most likely, in the current climate of the game, it wouldn’t be that easy.

「You can make castles, too…」

「Castles, too. 」

「It takes ridiculously long, and can’t shorten it much by Makin’ Mastery either, but I could do ten or twenty of ‘em at once, not countin’ the add-on facilities.」

「Did you max out Ship Building the same way?」

「Uh-huh. Toward the end of the high school entrance exam period. That one I raised with a fleet buildin’ quest from an NPC, and one of the guilds I made a castle for joked about making a battleship, so I hopped on it.」

Haruna came to realize she had only been scratching the surface of the game, mentally shaking herself for not knowing about such an exciting quest.

「As for the Extra Skill, it was when I maxed out Forgin’. I took a weird quest from this NPC I got to know through the years, and kept wonderin’ around like I was told until they told me to make a weapon out of these materials I never saw before, ‘front of a temple. Once I did, I got a skill called Weapon of the Gods. So I had a hunch and popped in here and there. Sure ‘nough, I got a bunch through the same process.」

「Oh, that’s like I how I got mine. Mine’s Song of the Gods, by the way.」

「I’ve heard of a self-proclaimed hula dancer who made an armored version of a hula skirt get a skill called Dance of the Gods.」

「I guess the other day-to-day skills are the same way, at this rate.」

「I doubt they’re all that way, but most Extra Skills in the last stage of craftin’ are Something or Other of the Gods.」

Other day-to-day skills included Acting, Comedy, Musical Performance, Laundry, Animal Training, Negotiation, Bartering, and much, much more, but their effects were varying, to say the least. There was even a theatrical guild comprised entirely of players with Carpentry, Acting, and Comedy skills.

Hiroshi once helped build elaborate sets tantamount to those on sketch comedy shows on TV. He had relished the depth of Fairy Tale Chronicles in the flexibility to create such things.

Also, most day-to-day skills aren’t separated in ranks, but simply have a high maximum Skill Level. Still, unlike combat skills, very few people maxed these out. Many are rumored to not even have an Extra Skill.

「I guess those are my cards. As for combat skills, my Attack and Taunt are at Advanced, and I’m past the halfway mark on Smash, and the rest are all Novice.」

「How about magic skills?」

「I just couldn’t get ‘round to it. Other than day-to-day magic that helps Craftin’ and Craftin’ magic themselves, they’re untouched.」

「Okay. But since you have so many Extra Skills, I bet your parameters are through the roof.」

「Yeah, for Armor, Constitution, and Stamina. The rest are well, average for my level, I reckon. Oh, I finished the first chapter of the main quest, and I’m level 124.」

Haruna was shocked all over again hearing his level. Much higher than she thought. It was easy to explain his high Armor, Constitution, and Stamina, since all Crafting skills (even Enchanting and Cooking) for some reason, all raised Armor and Constitution. Perhaps as a carrot to get players through the initial torture of the process, their modifiers were considerable.

The game had no cap on the Character Level of a player, once they beat the first chapter of the main quest, until which they are limited to level 100. Although, even the infamously difficult main quest set the bar for beating the first chapter relatively low.

Any player could beat it smoothly if they played through the game straightforwardly. So, most people dwelled between levels 100 and 200. However, Crafting skills didn’t raise the player’s Character Level, so most craftsmen had lower Character Levels. A friend of Haruna’s gave up on Crafting after going through Novice Compounding, and their levels were already 40 apart at that point.

「Not too bad, ain’t it? I go into dungeons to gather materials, so it went up on it’s own. I’m mostly on the front, or tankin’ actually. So I got a higher Taunt and base Attack.」

「Ah, that makes sense. We might be a good team, after all.」

「Uh-huh? I pegged you for a long-range type.」

「More of a swinger, I guess. I’m in the middle with buffs and debuffs. I have the maximum skills for those, too. Other than the Extra Skills. My level’s 153.」

「I see. How ‘bout your Skill Levels?」

「Only maxed out Goddess’ Blessing. The rest are 70 percent, I think? Just over half way on all the Status Disruptions.」

「That’s impressive.」

Hiroshi was very impressed, hearing that she had mastered the post powerful of the well-known support magic skills. Support magic had weird conditions to raise their Skill Levels, which made them surprising difficult to grind. In addition, their contribution in a party is set low, which made raising the Character Level more difficult than the Skill Levels.

To top it off, it consumed a lot of MP, and often needed to be used multiple times. Many players had given up on these skills along the way. While not as neglected as Crafting, it was still a skill branch that suffered from areas outside of their effects. Of course, it didn’t contribute to Character Exp.

Unlike Attack skills that gain Skill Levels faster by beating up stronger enemies, or Healing skills that grow faster by healing a large amount of damage, Support magic Skill Levels only rouse at a certain rate. This contributed to the small number of players using these skills, despite their importance in a party.

Although, the silver lining to grinding Support magic was that, as the Skill Levels and effects increased, the basic cost of spells never increased (while they even occasionally decreased). That’s why any player who could take care of themselves in combat, and who could use high-level Support magic are wanted more than healers, and often had priority for drop items, as well.

「Goddess’ Healing is halfway, too. And I’ve maxed out some Intermediate Attacking Spells, and Intermediate Magic Sword. My favorite class of weapon is the Rapier, I think.」

「So your edge is the number of cards in your hand. You really are well-balanced.」

「Yep. Someone told me this style was cool, so I got talked into it.」

Seeing Haruna’s embarrassed grin, Hiroshi reevaluated the attractive girl in front of him. He didn’t expect her to have a side that could be talked up to making a big decision. Her looks certainly matched her fighting style of overwhelming the opponent with the number of cards at her hand, with a magic rapier at the center of it, but judging from demeanor at school, he would have pegged her for a patient, not flashy, but careful fighter, using Status Disruptions and slowing down the opponent before going in for the kill.

The Combat skills and Magic skills are the most diverse of all of the skill branches in Fairy Tale Chronicles. Only basic Attack and basic Archery, along with each weapon skill and Arcane Knowledge are separated into Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced.

The other skills, which are more like techniques, provide the player with powerful moves as they meet the requirements for them, in lieu of a rank system. Unlike skills that are divided into ranks, the player doesn’t necessarily need to obtain the weaker skills in the branch as a prerequisite.

The general flow for obtaining moves and spells were to learn them from an NPC after meeting set requirements, but there are other methods. A player could invent their own, retrieve it from artifacts, have another player teach them, etc.

However, inventing a skill was extremely difficult, which only the top three players in the game have achieved, once or twice each. Rumor has it that one of them has an Extra Skill, but the truth of the matter is unknown.

As a side note, the maximum Skill Level of non-ranked Crafting and day-to-day skills were 500, and the rest maxed out at Skill Level 100.

「Other than that, I have a bunch of little skills, the Extra Skill for Singing… And I’ve mastered Cooking.」

「If you got the extra skill for Singin’, why don’t you use Cursin’ Songs?」

「It’s reaches such a wide range and I can’t choose the targets… It’s awkward to use.」

「Right. Come to think, the Hula dancer said the special dance was awkward ‘cus it affected everyone watchin’.」

For better or worse, Fairy Tale Chronicles was the game that put the devil in every detail. As a result, there were more than a few dud skills out there. Despite Singing and Dancing each having an Extra skill, they have devolved into mere tricks of the trade for taking a few coins from NPC.

「And those are my cards.」

「So if something goes down, I hold up the target while you take care of it? Like with the bear?」

「That’s what it looks like. Sorry to give you the more painful end of the stick.」

「It’s all right. It’s better for the world if a guy like me gets beat up rather ‘an a cute girl like you.」

「Cute or not, I think I’m too old for you to call me a girl, don’t you think?」

Hiroshi ponders for a moment.

「Don’t you think our late teens are on a blurry line when it comes to terminology?」

「True.」

「…Semantics aside, why don’t we get something to eat?」

「…Yes, let’s.」

Ditching the derailed train, they decided to tackle the issue at hand.

「It’s a pretty far treckin’ to town…」

「Sure is.」

The next day, they cleaned up the campsite where they stayed two days, and started walking towards a town. Two whole days spent in a patch of land with no roof over their heads. Although they had enough bear belt left over to make blankets for both of them after making the bag, it was less than the careful strategy.

After their conversation, they decided that it was an awkward time of day to move camp, and Haruna requested for Hiroshi to make more potions because she wanted to see him craft the glass bottles.

In the end, Hiroshi crafted all sorts of level 2 potions, which were easier to make, until he collapsed. Although it was much easier than the first batch of special potions since he had all the equipment necessary.

It appeared that, despite the less than optimal conditions, Hiroshi didn’t fail any level 4 and below potion, thanks to his Extra Skills Brewing for the Gods and Medicine for the Gods, but Hiroshi didn’t mention it as he couldn’t verify that fact.

「Come to think of it, a Berserker Bear meant we’re pretty far from town.」

「What a weird spot to be dropped in, you and I.」

「Ya said it.」

In order to find the town from their vague memories, they kept on the small pathways that looked like people used regularly. It wasn’t paved like a main road, but more defined than a single footpath. Needless to say, Hiroshi kept an abnormal distance between him and Haruna.

Their surrounding vegetation wasn’t tall enough to call it a forest, nor short enough to call it a plateau. They agreed, judging by the landscape, types of vegetation, and wildlife, that they were near Wulls, the capital of Farlane.

The disagreement arose, however, when it came to the direction they should head in. They settled on going in the opposite direction of where the Berserker Bear came from. Backtracking the bear’s path would drive them further into the woods.

Wulls was also the starting point of the game, and the oldest location that had been implemented since Beta. Even in Beta, the entirety of Farlane was more than vast. No one traversed the entire region during the Beta period.

「Isn’t that a main road?」

「Sure looks like one. Now, which way are we goin’…?」

「No signposts that I can see…」

While it was only natural, there were no signs that showed where this little road was headed. Even Hiroshi, who remembered grinding around this area back in the day, never remembered a signpost.

Although it was five years ago, this road was often used by the neighboring people and adventurers who wanted ingredients for some medicine. The forest up ahead consisted of a similar landscape, too.

「Which was it, now…?」

Walking up to the center of the wide road, they looked around for any clues.

「You remember this place, Toudou-san?」

「Not at all. I haven’t really walked through this area in four years. I haven’t even been to Wulls in two.」

「I ain’t much better. I was a hermit out in the middle of nowhere. Up until last year, I went to Wulls a lot diggin’ for quests, but I didn’t really need to get out of the city.」

「I was based in Darl, so I don’t know my way around these parts anymore.」

They sighed in unison. If anyone else were there, they could have asked them the way, but unfortunately no one on the street. Normally, caravans and the like would be passing by, but it looks like they hit a pocket of dead time.

「All right, let’s tip a stick…」

「And what if it goes fallin’ down the middle?」

「Eeny meeny miny moe?」

「Why don’t we eeny meeny from the start?」

Haruna gave a nod to Hiroshi’s observation. While they were bantering, a silhouette appeared ahead.

「Toudou-san. Someone’s over yonder.」

「You’re right. Let’s go talk to them.」

They walked over to the approaching silhouette with the zeal of finding an alien on a new planet. With precautions for confrontation, of course.

「They don’t look all right.」

「Yeah, they’re in a hurry.」

「The one bein’ carried looks horrible.」

「…I’ll talk to them.」

Determined, Haruna approached the pair. Ready to jump in between them if need be, Hiroshi followed her, hand floating near his knife. They were aware that Haruna was much better suited for the breaking the ice with strangers.

「Excuse me…」

「My apologies. We’re in a hurry.」

「What happened to him?」

「Clawed by a Venomous Wolf. I treated the wound, but once the venom circulates, he’s done for. So, excuse me…」

The man spat out in a hurry without slowing his feet as he continued in the direction Hiroshi and Haruna came from.

「Azuma-kun, can’t we use the antidote you made for a Venomous Wolf…?」

「It should work.」

Despite feeling a tinge of uneasiness at the convenience of the situation, they still decided that letting this character die wasn’t worth one of their antidotes.

「Do you know any Antidote spells, Toudou-san?」

「Nothing that will work on a Venomous Wolf’s. It’s pretty rare to get clawed, and most people are immune anyway, so I didn’t really spend the time.」

「Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.」

Status conditions like Poison and Paralysis are less effective to, and easier to cure for players with higher resistance or immunity. Poison and Paralysis both have various causes, and requires either an antidote that matches the source, or a Cure-All potion only available to Advanced crafters, or else a spell that matches the particular status condition or a high-level healing spell.

When combating status conditions, which included over five variations of poison alone once a player was out of the introductory area, most players decided to build resistance rather than healing every time they were afflicted.

Therefore, other than players who had been healers since the approach of building resistance was popularized, not many players had an arsenal of spells that could heal physical status conditions. Hiroshi, in fact, just carries around a bunch of Cure-All potions.

In addition, his original compound of the max-level Cure-All potions can prevent all status conditions for the next six hours. Which only drove status-healing magic away from his peripheral. Of course, most players had no access to such ridiculous potions, so in high-level dungeons, the spells carried certain weight.

However, for players like Hiroshi and Haruna, who are in the middle of the curve when it comes to combat, it was just not prioritized. It was difficult to grind for (drinking less effective antidotes resulted in the resistance growing faster than the Skill Level of healing spells), which left these branches often abandoned. In fact, being poisoned on purpose and using HP healing spells to survive until it wears off was easier and more effective for building resistance.

「So, try givin’ this to him.」

「…Will it really work?」

「It’s an antidote made from the stomach of a Berserker Bear, so it’ll work dandy with slow-actin’ poison.」

Although still suspicious, the man apparently decided to take his chances, since the two strangers didn’t seem malicious. He lowered the man from his back, and carefully pulled the bottle up to his mouth. The poisoned man, barely conscious, started drinking the liquid inside. His breathing gradually calmed.

「Toudou-san.」

「Mm-hm.」

Haruna, who took a glance at the man’s wound while he was drinking the antidote, activate a Novice healing spell to close up the wound.

「He should be all right, now.」

「That was quick.」

「It’s an adventurer’s blend, so it can’t be too slow treatin’ a little poison.」

The man nodded in agreement. The afflicted man slowly stood up as they watched.

「That potion really works well…」

「You two are a life-saver.」

「Please. We just happened to have the antidote.」

「Yessir. I just whipped ‘em up ‘cus I didn’t want the materials goin’ bad. Don’t worry ‘bout nothin’.」

The men stared back at the two teenagers who didn’t seem to understand how valuable it was to be able to create potions at such a high caliber just to make use of materials at hand. The men couldn’t help but look at these strangers up and down.

Their first impression was they were very young. Judging by their stature, they seemed to be adults, or fifteen, but just barely. The men were confident that the boy and girl were under twenty.

They had an immature attitude about them that made the men question how they could make such an effective potion. If Haruna’s body was closer to the Japanese average, they would have believed that she was twelve years old.

「Anyway, thank you. I must pay you for the potion. How much do I owe you?」

「I got no idea of the market value right now. How ‘bout enough to eat for a couple a days, and you show us the way to the closest town?」

「…No problem.」

Hiroshi answered honestly. The first man gave them half of what he was preparing to pay the doctor. Frankly, they were ripping the kids off quite a bit, but the men could tell that the boy and girl knew that fact, and didn’t mind too much.

「So, what are you two doing in these parts?」

「We’re a little lost, ya see…」

「We’re unfamiliar with the land, so we don’t know which way to go to get to town…」

「To top it off, we’re broke. We ain’t even sure we can get into town once we’re there…」

The men look at each other, witnessing that not only did these kids not know the lay of the land, but any general knowledge about this country. They were opportunistic enough to shortchange them for the potion, but they weren’t rotten nor damaged enough to leave these kids, who saved one of their lives, to rot. They were on their way to Wulls anyway, so they decided to have the kids tag along as they figured out how much they needed to teach them.

Not to mention that, the soft-looking guy aside, the girl looked like a decent fighter. It was possible that she could take both of them down. Judging from pieces of their conversations, the girl might be the sheepish-looking guy’s bodyguard.

「I understand. We were on our way to Wulls, anyway. Come with us.」

「Thank you very much.」

「No, we have to be thanking you. Oh, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. I’m Randy, and that’s Kurt. We’re adventurers based in Wulls.」

Hiroshi and Haruna introduced themselves in return. The poisoned one was Kurt, and Randy was carrying him. They were both of a muscular build, and didn’t seem to possess much magical powers. Neither of them seemed to use much magic. Kurt seemed to be the more approachable one, but their difference in character seemed minimal.

According to them, they were class 7 adventurers, third from the bottom. In other words, they were just entering intermediary levels. These settings seemed to be carried over from the game, as Hiroshi was also a class 7 adventurer. Haruna was class 5, but rumor has it that, even some of the addicts of the game, who had made it halfway through the notoriously difficult fourth chapter of the main quest, still stuck at adventurer class 8 or 9.

「So, what happened that you’re lost and penniless around these parts?」

「Somethin’ real strange happned and we blacked out. When we came to, we were at the entrance of that forest over yon’.」

「…I get that a lot, lately.」

「…You know other folk like us?」

「Only in rumors. In Farlane, the court has ordered to take in those individuals. You should check in at the palace, soon.」

Hiroshi and Haruna couldn’t help but raise a brow in confusion. While the phenomenon that occurred to them was treated like mere rumors, the court had issued a decree to take people in afflicted by it. Strange.

「That means that the higher-ups in the country reckon these outlandish rumors are true…」

「Indeed it does.」

「Doesn’t anyone pretend to be affected by it?」

「Apparently, they have a way of telling who’s really been through it.」

Kurt answered Haruna’s question… Which only raised more questions.

「If they can tell, that means that there was at least one person who’s really…?」

「Ain’t sure. I ain’t sure, but it don’t sound right.」

「I wasn’t expecting it to go over without a hitch, but it’s getting more complicated than I expected.」

「We’re in for a load of trouble, ain’t we…?」

It seemed all too convenient. The thing with the antidote was, at best, a very lucky coincidence, but someone was behind the royal decree. Although, Hiroshi and Haruna foresaw that it would be difficult to get through this without getting themselves involved.

「In any case, we gotta fill our pockets, so we gotta figure out how to make money…」

「I’ll try singing for a bit. It’ll be acapella, so I don’t know how well it will work out, but…」

「Oh, do you sing, Haruna?」

「Somewhat, I guess.」

「Do you mind doing a quick song for us?」

Haruna nodded to Kurt’s request, and took a deep inhale before echoing her clear, pleasant voice through the area. Even the animals wondering by stopped to listen. Song of the Gods, held its power.

「…Who are you two? Really.」

「Just two lost kids.」

「Just two kids from the country who don’t know left from right, who might be starvin’ to death tomorrow if we don’t get no one’s help.」

Hiroshi and Haruna gave their non-answers to muddy the water… About a lot of things.