Chapter 1186 - The Blue Sky Beneath the Gaze of Lost Blue
And so on and so forth, let's leave the master-disciple banter at that for now.
"Well then, I'm going to go check on how things are going over there for a bit... Got it? You mustn't wander or drift around, okay? Look, I'll have Sapphire standby as a lookout—cough, as a landmark, so absolutely do not leave their side. Understood? Are you okay?"
"...I understand, but I have a 'talk' with Haru-kun later."
She seemed so incredibly high-spirited that she couldn't see her surroundings, but it appeared she still had her reason and everything else properly intact. While parrying the half-glare directed at me, which was only natural given how much of a mouthy disciple I was being, I left my beloved servant (Sapphire) (T/N: The kanji reads "beloved servant", with the phonetic reading "Sapphire") to guard my master, and moved on.
Although it was offset by Ui-san's limit-breaking, innocent, carefree, healing waves, to top it off, our current location was a poison swamp zone. In other words, though it might be bad to say, as far as the eye could see, it was a paradise of gloom.
Even if the sky, which as always had lost its 'blue', was in Normal Operation, according to Tetra, the probability of clear weather was zero percent. Underfoot, squelchy and sloppy was the default, and if one carelessly stepped onto an ominously bubbling spot, a highly toxic geyser would greet them.
In addition, other poisonous and fleshy... like, what is it? Purple, sea-grape-like plants grew here and there from the swamp, swaying in the lukewarm environmental wind that could hardly be called pleasant.
When I asked Tetra "What's that?" before landing, he told me in a casual manner, "It'll explode if you get close, so be careful." It is truly wonderful to catch a glimpse of such a cheerful ecosystem.
—Well, walking carefully through such an area for about two minutes.
The three who had gone ahead, leaving Ui-san and me behind. Finding the backs of my partner and junior number one and number two was... well, if we ignore the thin mist filling the entire field that seemed really bad for one's health, it wasn't difficult since it was basically an open environment.
And so, I discovered the figures of the younger group, including Sora-san, who was the only one to quickly tuck away her ears and tail. As I approached without hiding my footsteps, Tetra's black cat ears twitched.
Whoa, how calculating... I shuddered, while enduring the temptation to take a screenshot of my field of vision—
"How is it, are you catching anything?"
A poison swamp that, at first glance, looked no different from any other. However, if one observed carefully, it was in front of a poison pool where one could certainly notice that the 'depth' was different.
When I called out to the younger-looking group, who were crouching side-by-side in a friendly and heartwarming manner...
"""Hmm..."""
"Ah, looks like a no-go."
A triple response in voices that let me grasp the situation in one go returned, and I couldn't help but laugh.
"...Don't laugh, help us. What do you think I asked for extra hands for?"
If so, what was immediately thrust at me was a half-glaring gaze and a retorting voice.
Next, Tetra, who returned his eyes boredly to the completely unresponsive line and bobber extending from the weapon suited for the situation held in one hand—namely, a 'fishing rod'—let out another sigh.
It was so deep that I laughed again.
"Seriously, what a trash game. A raid is way better."
"That comment is a bit too much coming from a ranker, don't you think?"
Well, as for what purpose we had in visiting this place—the [Waterhole of the Toxicologist], known as a mandatory penance spot for Arcadian poison users—it was simply to gather materials.
It seemed Tetra-kun wanted an infinite amount of the 'fishy' with the ridiculously long name of [Toxic Mimic Carrackfish] that could be caught here.
"Look, Sora-senpai, Kanata, you both basically get how to do it now, right? Help me."
"A-Ah, y-yes...!"
"This is my first time fishing. Both in reality (over there) and virtual (over here)."
The black-clad black cat boy took out a total of three additional fishing rods from his inventory and distributed them. As for me, I was thrown mine with an overwhelmingly and utterly careless force compared to the other three, but accepting it as a visualized evaluation score of my daily behavior, I quietly received it... and let's join in.
Quietly, in my transformed state, I lined up my height, which was lower than Sora's, with the younger group and lowered my hips.
Ah, how peaceful—if only the environment wasn't a swamp overflowing with lethal poison, that is. Our hearts, mine and Kanata's, who probably let out wry smiles at the same time, must be connected.
And yet,
"By the way, isn't there no one here? What do you mean by classic spot?"
"Well, that's obvious since poison users aren't classic. Even I've never seen a player other than myself who loves using poisons to the point of supplying everything from compounding to everything else themselves."
"Eh..."
"But the fact that information is organized enough for a word like 'classic' to be used means that a population definitely exists, right? At least enough for information to accumulate."
"Probably. Though I've never met one in person."
"Heeh..."
"Why is that, I wonder...? Is everyone doing stealth play like Tetra-kun...?"
"Who knows. Maybe all poison users just share the common trait of being bad-tempered, socially awkward introverts."
"Tetra, you're talking wild, thinking it's fine just because you're including yourself."
Me, Sora, Tetra, Kanata. While peacefully chatting side-by-side and dangling our fishing lines together into the poison swamp—or rather, poison pond—there was, as expected, absolutely no response from any of us. ...Are there really fish in here?
—Just as I began to doubt.
"...? Ah, e-eh, wa...!?"
Tug.
With a force fitting for a small, hand-sized weapon, or rather, with a momentum that didn't feel particularly powerful... but with a certain movement, the bobber connected to Sora's fishing rod sank into the toxic water surface.
Looking at it, the opponent was undoubtedly about the size of a small fish. It was not an enemy of virtual world superhuman (avatar) specs that, if considered in reality, could probably play tug-of-war with a whale, let alone a fish.
...That being said, she was the representative of innocent girls, Sora-san.
"Te-Tet... Tetra-kun! This, what, I didn't hear about what to do after catching it!"
It was exactly as expected, to the highest degree. Freezing in a posture where she desperately gripped the handle with both hands so as not to let go, she let out a panicked scream in the depths of her agitation.
In that case, on the opposite side of the useless partner who, without asking, was rapidly taking screenshots of his field of vision out of pure instinct while thinking, Oh my, super cute...
"Calm down, just like that."
The self-proclaimed younger, mature, year-round cool boy, who was neither shaken nor gushing, smoothly reached his hand toward the tip of the fishing rod Sora held. And the moment his fingertips touched the tip of the rod.
"Hae...?"
Suddenly, the movement of the line that had been thrashing on the water surface on a small scale stopped.
Just what kind of change in feedback was it? As Sora turned her eyes in a troubled manner while letting out a blank voice, Tetra, receiving her gaze that was asking for instructions, nodded lightly...
"Reel it in. Come on, quick."
A word or two. It was a brief and clear instruction in a good way.
If so, Sora obediently wound the reel with a clicking sound—
"Ah, I caught...! —...Ah, wow..."
"Uuugh..."
"Whoa..."
As expected, a small fish body. The moment that thing connected to the line showed itself from the poison pond, the reactions of the three first-timers, including Sora who was about to raise a happy voice at her achievement, synchronized.
Sora, me, and Kanata. In front of us, whose faces were uniformly twitching, dangling limply at the end of the line was—like, some kind of richly colored minimal monster.
If I had to force a real fish as a comparison... no, I don't know. It's nothing to boast about, but there's no way I have any knowledge of fish.
It was, how should I say, triangular. A body shape that could hardly be called sleek, with three upright dorsal fins standing out like the kanji for 'mountain'. And then, a perfectly round eyeball was set right in the middle of its body, rolling around left and right as if it didn't know where it was looking.
Other than that, its body color, which kept restlessly changing from moment to moment, was also a point worth noting... but what was by far the grossest was its mouth. Like, you know, it was protruding.
It was like, how should I put it. Like, with a gwopah sort of feel, the teeth and gums were completely taking a trip outside the lips... —No, well, yeah. Enough of that.
"Tetra, put it away."
"Haha."
It's not "haha." Look, Sora-san naturally pushed her fishing rod onto me. The young girl's mental state says she doesn't want to be involved with that thing.
Even for a guy, it was the type of face one would want to avoid as much as possible. It was only natural.
"Ah, haha... Um, Tetra-kun. What did you do just now?"
"Hmm? Ah, poison-killing (T/N: A play on 'ikejime', a Japanese fish-killing method to preserve freshness, but using poison instead)."
"Well, in short, the [Mimic] is the signature element here, a fish called the 'Toxicologist'... but it has an ecology where it starts self-producing the poison it ate and liked."
"...Ah, yeah. I don't really get it, but please continue."
And so, the expert began to speak of some incomprehensible common sense.
"Simply put, it has the ability to adapt its body to a stronger poison and then self-replicate. And the stupid part is that it basically has no limit to its adaptation. In other words..."
For some reason, the expert spoke of common sense that would probably be limited to an extremely small number of people, looking unusually cheerful.
"If you use the [Mimic Fish (Mimic)] as a material and do it right, you can replicate even the highest-class poisons that are far more rare and precious than this guy, which is just a pain to catch."
"""Heeh..."""
"Though, it's not such a monster that it can adapt instantly while alive. If it's suddenly fed a strong poison or multiple poisons, it'll exceed its capacity and faint for a while. So, if you send poison down the line using a skill or whatever, it's easy to catch."
"""He-Heeh..."""
He was slightly badmouthing it earlier, but this guy is totally the type who enjoys using poison, isn't he?—I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thought that in my heart.
He's so lively... I thought, wearing a lukewarm smile to respect the freedom of personal preference. He probably noticed my gaze as I once again held a one-handed rod in each hand.
Tetra let out a small "cough...", clearing his throat in a way that was also unlike him.
"...I won't ask for too much, but I'd be happy if I could stock about ten of them. Do your best."
"""Okaaaay."""
He drew out replies of affirmation to his senior-like selfishness from each of the three surrounding him.
Sora-san, you just threw your fishing rod at me earlier, didn't you? How do you plan to do your best?
I'll do my best to cheer you on. Cute.
By the way, there are multiple reasons why the [Toxic Mimic Carrackfish], which has been given the alternative name of "high-consciousness type," is difficult to catch:
・ Simply put, the population is small.
・ Naturally, other species of creatures also live in the poison pond, presenting many obstacles.
・ There are detailed dietary 'preferences' for each individual.
（Since each Mimic has preferences that could be called entirely different—such as the shape, scent, and movement of the bait—whether they bite or not changes not only based on the bait, but also on the angler's presence and rod manipulation.）
・ If you hit a dud individual, the fishing line will be bitten off in an instant.
That's about it. There is no lie in the expert's claim of it being a trash game.
There was a reason why Tetra-kun kept multiple fishing rods on hand and relied on extra help.
Also, I completely forgot to include this in the afterword of the previous chapter, but...
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◇Status◇
Title: Sword Saint
Name: Ui
Lv: 151【45】
STR (Strength): 700
AGI (Agility): 200
DEX (Dexterity): 500
VIT (Vitality): 300 (+300)
MID (Mind): 200
LUC (Luck): 0
Lv.3 [Fast Thought]
◇Skill◇
・ [Guide of the Ultimate Blade (Susanoo)] (T/N: The kanji reads "Guide of the Ultimate Blade", with the phonetic reading "Susanoo")
[Infinite Avidya] -Activated- (T/N: "Mugen Mumyo" literally translates to "Infinite Avidya" or "Infinite Ignorance/Darkness" in Buddhist terminology)
Off [Creation of Heaven and Earth] (T/N: "Tenchi Kaibyaku" refers to the creation of heaven and earth/the beginning of the world)
Off [Absolute Blade Domain]
Off [Idealte Espada] (T/N: The kanji reads "Boundary-Severing Ultimate Blade", with the phonetic reading "Idealte Espada")
Off [State of Self-Overflow]
Off [Pride of the Blade's Life]
Off [Flawless Battle Garb] (T/N: A play on "Ten'i Muhou", meaning flawless/heavenly robe)
Off ———
Off ——
Off —
—
—
—
・ Active
[Progress Astraea]
・ Passive
[Limit Break]
[Sengan no Komei]
◇Arts◇
[Kesshiki Ittoryu (Form-Binding One-Sword Style)]
[Hisui] (T/N: The kanji reads "Flying Water", with the phonetic reading "Hisui")
[Uchigane] (T/N: The kanji reads "Striking Iron", with the phonetic reading "Uchigane")
[Habakiri]
[Amayuki] (T/N: The kanji reads "Heavenly Snow", with the phonetic reading "Amayuki")
[Karehomura]
[Ekou] (T/N: The kanji reads "Layered Light", with the phonetic reading "Ekou")
[Nanahoshi]
[Noboriame]
[Yuriarare]
[Hourai]
———
——
—
—
—
—
[Yuikaze (Bound Wind)] (T/N: The kanji reads "Bound Wind", with the phonetic reading "Yuikaze")
──────────────────
──────────────────
◇Status / Trance◇
Title: Sword Saint
Name: Ui
Lv: 151【45】
STR (Strength): 900
AGI (Agility): 200
DEX (Dexterity): 500
VIT (Vitality): 450 (+300)
MID (Mind): —
LUC (Luck): 0
──────────────────
Yes. This is the status of the current [Sword Saint]-sama. Please accept it.
It seems that explanations for some of the skill details might be provided on another occasion.
Along with the whole "didn't they delete their skills?" talk and so on, you see.