'Haaah!　It's the end!

　With a burst of energy, Meguru-san unleashed a blow that exploded into the Volcano Golem's torso, finally chipping away at its HP.
　Baghee!　With a bang, the core of the golem that seemed to be in the heart of the body shattered, and the golem disappeared as if its entire body collapsed.


'Good work~'

'Phew ...... thanks for your hard work. After all, the third form was strong, wasn't it?

'It was simply strong. It was easy for me to fight because of its simple movements.

'Sukuna-san's been almost useless since the second form, after all.

'Magma was the hardest.

　With Meguru immersed in the afterglow of defeating the Volcano Golem, we discussed our impressions of the Golem battle.
　He was quite an interesting opponent. I don't think I'd have much trouble soloing it now, but I was able to avoid some of the big moves thanks to Meguru's information, so it would have been a struggle if I hadn't seen it before.
　I have to thank Meguru for giving me all the information.

'At any rate, I'm glad I was able to test-drive the level-up in the battle against the giant dragon.

'After all, thanks to the fact that I spent the second half of the event leveling up, I think I had more time to spare compared to the last time I lost. However, most of the credit goes to Sukuna-san.''

''That's not true. You were a great source of damage for me.

　Although my attack was also able to pass through, perhaps the ice attribute was good for some reason, and about 60% of the damage was taken by Meguru.
　His level is 81 now, so he must have high status including being a child. Each blow had its own power, and he was quite reliable.

'Ah!

'What's wrong?

'I didn't use the Evening Darkness gimmick after all: ......'

　'I thought it must be the trump card of this battle, but I forgot to use it because it was a much simpler boss than I imagined.

'Is it a gimmick?　It's a weapon in the dark weapon category, isn't it?

'Yes, it is.'

　Meguru seemed to have some knowledge of gimmicked weapons, and responded to my words.

　The gimmicked weapons that Haruru has been creating frequently are technically treated as weapons with the "dark weapon" category.
　In the case of the "Kugelschreiber", a slashing and striking integrated dark weapon that I once destroyed in a day, it was treated as a weapon with three categories: "Striking weapon", "Two-handed club", and "Dark weapon".
　The 《Dark Weapon》 category is, in essence, a proof that it is a prepared weapon, and it seems that creating a dark weapon requires a different skill than the normal blacksmithing skill.

　Incidentally, "Meteor Impact Zero" is a bit of an exception, and it is not considered to be a dark weapon.
　The "big explosion when the weapon is destroyed" is considered to be a problem with the material rather than a gimmick.
　There may be some kind of restriction that the weapon must be made to be used repeatedly.
　I'd like to say something about the fact that the material used to make Meteor Impact Zero, which Haruru claimed was made of pure heavy metal, contained gunpowder, but in the end, it saved my life.

　In any case, the gimmick in Yooyami is one that can be used repeatedly.
　It's not that you can't use it in conjunction with the gravity attribute, but you can't use it against the giant dragons because of the ...... performance that can engulf the people around you when you use it.



'What kind of gimmick is that?'

'Umm ...... don't tell me!

'Well, ......, why don't you just tell us?

'We haven't even shown it in the distribution yet, you have to save your trump card until the end.

'It's not fair to just say something suggestive...'

'Mm-hmm...'

　I'm sorry for Meguru's disappointment, but since it's such a good opportunity, I've decided to drag it out a little longer.
　It'll be a good story for delivery.

'Now, did Meguru-san finish some kind of quest?

'That's right. It's a quest related to the limited skills of the demon tribe, but the difficulty level changes depending on the person. Himiko's quest was very easy from my point of view. Her level is so low that she probably hasn't even passed the first test yet.

'Why don't you help him out? ......'

'No, it's kind of ...... funny.'

　I guess you could call me a teasing character.
　'Himiko, I heard that you arrived at the demon village quite early, but you haven't been out of the village for almost a month.

'You look like a person with a lot of guts. He seems to be enjoying himself.

'Well, I guess it's okay if he's enjoying himself.

　By the way, his level is just over 40.
　He's about as strong as a Fierce player, so he might have a few more steps to go.


'Speaking of which, what are you going to do on the way back?　Do you want to go rock climbing?

'Probably only Skuna-san can do that. Don't worry, there's a warp point over there.'

　I hadn't looked around much, but there was indeed a magic circle that seemed to be able to warp in the direction Meguru was pointing.

'I see. However, it's a bit difficult to capture the dungeon from here...'

'No, we're not going to attack it. That warp point leads directly to the exit on Griffith's side.

'Oh!　That means I won't get the bonus status points for defeating the boss, right?

　I'm both grateful and disappointed.
　I'm happy to be able to go to Griffith because I want to go to the demon village as soon as possible, but I miss the bonus status points I get for defeating the dungeon boss.

'You can just come back again.

'Oh, that's fine.'

'It's only a bonus for the first time you defeat it.

　It's not the first time you clear a dungeon, it's the first time you defeat a boss. Well, as long as it doesn't go to waste, it's fine.
　I'll try it again when I get a chance.


　I quickly changed my mind with such cash thoughts, and Meguru and I escaped the ancient ruins of the Flame from the warp point.


☆


'From the fifth city, Griffith, the strength of players and NPCs will increase. In the fifth city, the strength of players and NPCs will increase, and the monsters that appear will be much stronger than before.

　On the way to Griffith through the ancient ruins, I received an explanation from Meguru.

'It's partly because you have the ability to get through the huge labyrinth, but more than anything, it's because most of the players who reach this city are over level 50 and have changed to a higher job.

　When the proficiency level of most of the professions exceeds 30, the higher level professions are released and you can change jobs.
　Proficiency is gained by one point for each level up from level 21, so the line at which you can change jobs is level 50.
　Most of the higher-level jobs are upwardly compatible with the lower-level jobs, and the experience required for leveling up does not change between the lower-level jobs and the higher-level jobs, so in most cases, not changing jobs is only a loss.

　If you don't change jobs, it is probably because you are trying to achieve a special condition related to the proficiency level at which you can change jobs.
　For example, if you reach level 70 without changing from swordsman to swordman, you will be able to become a swordmaster.
　It is said that the more difficult the conditions for changing professions are, the higher the performance of the profession will be, so it was not impossible for some players to continue to maintain a lower level profession in order to achieve this.

　But, well, even if we're talking about this, it's not going to happen to the two of us here.

'Changing jobs... ...... I'm jealous...'

That's right. I found out from Sukuna that children can also change jobs, but ...... level 90 is really hard.''

'I'm almost there, though. I'm almost there, but even with that golem's experience, I only got about half of what I got before I leveled up, so it's going to be a long road from here.

　Both players, who had chosen the special occupation of child, sighed as they made their way to Griffith.
　I'm not sure what to make of it.
　Well, I can't say it's a hindrance in general, because I've received a few extra quests and rare skills thanks to being a doji.


'Well, it's starting to look that way.

　With Meguru's words, I turn my attention to the front.
　From a distance, the exterior walls are a reddish brown color, different from any other city I've seen so far. Could it be that the material used is different from that of ordinary exterior walls?

'That's the fifth city, Griffith.

　That's Griffith. The fifth city.
　I've seen several cities so far, but there's something I recognized at a glance besides the outer wall.

'...... is small, isn't it?

'It would be more correct to say that the previous cities were too big. As I said before, the monsters that appear around Griffith become much stronger. That's why there are fewer players. The average level of monsters in the field differs by 15 between here and there in the giant labyrinth.

　Does this mean that the number of players who can reach this point is simply decreasing because of the sifting process?
　I thought about it that way, but that wasn't the only reason, Meguru continued.

'Also, unlike up to Fierce, where the only base is the city, from here on out, the number of towns and villages that can be used as bases, like the demon village, will explode. You don't need to have a big town, because the players will simply be dispersed.

　It's true that up until around Fierce, most players gathered in the more convenient towns.
　The city of beginnings in particular was large enough to easily accommodate tens of thousands of players.
　Even now, it may be crowded with players from the third and fourth groups, but that's beside the point.



　Up until the beginning, the only places to rest, recover, and replenish items were in the big cities.
　But that's not the case from here.
　There may be tribal hideouts, outlying villages, and inn towns.
　In short, the number of possible bases for adventure will increase exponentially.

　Therefore, there is no need to build a large city like the city of beginnings, Dualis, or Trillia to be a receptacle for players.
　From Meguru's explanation, I guess that's the reason why Griffith is not that big.

'Still, Griffiths is quite useful as Griffiths. The clan home of the Dragon Fang is in Griffith, and I heard that the master of the Round Table is also based in Griffith these days.

'Oh, Drago's place and Ah-chan's place. Speaking of which, how is Shuya?

　As for Aa-chan, I miss her a lot.
　Arthur, the clan leader of the clan Knights of the Round Table.
　He says he's the strongest swordsman in the clan, and I'm sure he is, but I've never seen him fight.
　Shuya, who I fought with in a raid battle not long ago, is also a player of the Round Table.
　He was an aloof person, but he was the one who risked his life to protect Rin.
　He was surprisingly well-informed, and even introduced us to the players before the raid battle. He's probably a good guy.

'As for our plans after this, we'll just stop by Griffith and move on immediately. The reason is, of course, to go to the demon village.

'How far is the demon village?

'It's quite far. If you just rely on the map, it might take you three hours on foot, four hours including battle.

'Wow, that's a long way.

　It's like clearing another giant labyrinth.
　In this way, I'm really glad I made the transition after defeating the Volcano Golem.
　It's just before noon now. Even if it took us four hours to get to our village, we would still be in time for the evening visitors.

'Moreover, the village of demons is not subject to the effects of wings, so I can't even fly there from here, I have to work a little harder.

I'm sure you're not the only one who has a problem with this.

　In WLO, the 'city' refers to the numbered cities. The traveler's wings will only allow you to travel to the city named XX, including the city of the beginning.
　Of course, you can only choose a city as your destination, but you are free to fly from your village or village to the city.

　If you think about it, Meguru might have lost a lot of time every time he fought that golem.
　I'm pretty sure he set his respawn point to the demon village.

'Well, even so, I think we can see Griffith enough to pass through. Fortunately, the demon village is on the other side of the city.

'Hmm, I'm looking forward to the new city.

　While listening to Meguru's explanation, we arrived at the main gate of Griffith.
　Presenting my menu card instead of the admission procedure, I finally arrived at the fifth town.