After finishing our report at Marquis Frederica’s mansion we, the two of us, walked through the streets of Feel before heading to the Hunter’s Guild to report the completion of our request and for an appraisal.
We were actually invited to ride in Marquis Frederica’s beast carriage along with old man Linus and Grand Hunter’s Master, but we declined since we weren’t in a hurry and wanted to relax a little.
So instead, we decided to enjoy our date while arm in arm.
“You know, this is actually the first time I’ve walked around like this with Yamato.”
“Come to think of it, that’s true. Until now, well, even now, we’ve been quite busy, so we haven’t had many opportunities to be just the two of us.”
Yesterday we walked around with Meena too, joining us as a third person, and that was fun in its own way.
On our wedding day, Apricot-san was there, and the day after that I got engaged to Meena, so this is the first time it’s just been me and Prim.
Of course, we walked together many times before we got married, but back then we didn’t know each other’s feelings yet, so it wasn’t really a date.
“Still, it’s hard to believe you actually evolved into an Ancient Human today of all days. Marina will be so happy!”
“…I was planning to break that flag, though. If I’d known, I might not have bothered with the Silent Bees.”
This morning Marina told me not to be surprised if I evolved into an Ancient Human by the time she saw me next, but I vehemently denied it.
Yet here I am, having evolved into an Ancient Human.
Talk about fulfilling a flag I set myself.
Personally, I wanted to avoid that, so I intended to break it, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
It’s not too late to ask, but why did this happen?
I guess hunting so many Silent Bees was a mistake?
It’s said that Ancient Classes have a chance to evolve after level 61.
Apparently, you’re forcibly evolved at level 70, but historically, few have reached the Ancient Class, so we can only speculate by comparing it to High Class evolution, and there seem to be many ambiguous aspects.
While their appearance is almost indistinguishable from High Class, their fur, hair, and scales gain a brighter luster than High Class, and the magic consumption for their aptitude element is significantly reduced.
They apparently gain more magic power, and to have the magic consumption further reduced, even if it’s limited to their aptitude attribute, seems pretty broken.
As we walked through the forest with the princess of Retisencia, we were of course attacked by monsters.
Perhaps sensing that the Murder Bees had been defeated, we were attacked by a considerable number of Silent Bees.
Jade was pulling the cart, but I thought it was a good opportunity, so I made him my test subject for Ice Sphere, which I had been repeatedly experimenting with to develop the ability to freely control a spherical form of ice. At first, I couldn’t handle it well.
Then, I remembered that in games and anime, they often accelerate their thought speed to use such abilities, so I tried using the acceleration magic, Accelerating Magic, and surprisingly, it worked too easily.
Thanks to that, I was able to use Ice Sphere very stably, and I can’t deny that I got carried away.
Of course, we defeated other monsters besides the Silent Bees.
“Accelerating Magic is difficult, but if you can master it, it makes combat much easier, so I’m happy I can use it now. Also, if I could manipulate fire like with Ice Sphere, my combat repertoire would expand greatly, and if I had magic that could affect a wide area, even if it’s not quite a barrier, I feel like my extermination power would increase dramatically.”
“I think so too. In fact, we’ve used area-of-effect magic a lot in our previous battles, and there were times when things would have gotten troublesome without it.”
When Flam was captured, or when the Trader’s Guild was taken hostage, there was a possibility of casualties if we didn’t have area-of-effect magic.
Thinking about it, targeted magic might be more useful than simple area-of-effect extermination magic.
Unlike Engraving Magic controlled by Engraving Tools, magic is used with one’s own magic power and imagination, so Engraving Magic has the advantage in terms of control.
However, since magic takes the form of your imagination, magic that doesn’t require an Engraving Tool might be more effective in sudden situations.
In fact, Ice Sphere moved exactly as I intended.
“‘Questing’. The monsters I hunted today are one Murder Bee, nine Silent Bees, thirty-four Forest Bees, nine Forest Fungus, four Iron Beetles, five Stag Reapers, seventeen Wood Wolves, three Treants, and one Cursed Treant! Wait, Cursed Treant? That’s an Anomaly Species of Treant!”
She suddenly used Questing and was checking today’s results.
The good thing about the hunter magic Questing is that it can display the number and location of monsters hunted per day, on an individual basis and on a raid basis.
When you’re in a raid, you sometimes operate individually, so in that case, the number hunted by raid members isn’t combined, which prevents arguments.
The Hunter’s Guild can also know in detail where any monsters are, and where Anomaly Species or Catastrophe Species have appeared, so many Hunters report while checking Questing.
Because it’s such convenient magic, we learned hunter magic as soon as we became Hunters.
There’s also the sustained Stamina Recovery Magic, Regenerating, which allows you to recover quite a bit of stamina even with a short rest, making it extremely useful for long hunts or climbs.
In fact, I used it when climbing Mylight for the Evil Drake subjugation.
Wait, Cursed Treant?
Treants are B-rank Monsters, so the Anomaly Species, Cursed Treant, should be G to I-rank.
Are you kidding me? That’s the same rank as the Evil Drake.
“I didn’t think there were any of those, but this was probably their fault too, wasn’t it?”
I couldn’t agree more.
Thanks to Prim using Questing, I found out that we had defeated a Cursed Treant, an Anomaly Species of Treant, which surprised me.
I did notice a Treant with black leaves, but I just thought it was a rare species.
“That’s why you don’t notice things even when you evolve into an Ancient Class. Although, I didn’t notice the Cursed Treant either.”
Prim didn’t notice either?
Well, since we were testing Ice Sphere and Extreme Flame Wing as we moved forward, we weren’t paying much attention to the types of monsters.
From now on, I’ll make sure to confirm the type of monster before attacking.
By the way, the rare species of Treant is called Bloody Treant, and it has leaves the color of blood.
I need to remember the characteristics of monsters, so I should study hard.
“So, regarding the purchase price, would it be alright to hand it over tomorrow?”
When I asked Kamina-san at the Hunter’s Guild for the purchase, she gave me a very weary look.
We’ve been bringing in quite a few items almost daily, and not just rare species, but even Anomaly Species.
Because we bring in Anomaly Species so frequently, not only the Hunter’s Guild staff but also the monster disassemblers dispatched from the Crafter’s Guild are accustomed to it, and nobody is surprised anymore.
I find that a bit concerning.
“Yes, that would be fine.”
“Understood. Also, here is Yamato’s License. Congratulations again on evolving into an Ancient Human.”
“Ah, thank you very much.”
Shoot, Grand Hunter’s Master and old man Linus had already returned to the Hunter’s Guild.
At this rate, it’ll probably spread throughout Feel by tomorrow.
“It’s already spread. We were just told by Ordo, who is on guard duty, a little while ago.”
I heard Raus’s voice.
Where did he come from?!
And why could he read my thoughts?!
“He just walked in normally as Kamina was saying congratulations on your evolution. Also, if you make that kind of subtle face, anyone would notice, wouldn’t they?”
Prim explained, but I didn’t feel any joy from it.
Or rather, Ordo is on guard duty here?!
It seems I need to teach that guy a lesson.
“Please don’t make such a scary face. No one has evolved into an Ancient Class in decades. Congratulations, Yamato-san.”
“Thank you. Even though I’ve evolved, I don’t feel any difference.”
Certainly, I feel like my magic power has increased, but not dramatically.
They say a luster appears on your hair, but my hair is black, so it’s hard to tell visually, and I might not even notice until I see my Library or License.
“There are quite a few High Class individuals, so much is known about them, but there are only two Ancient Classes: Yamato and Grand Hunter’s Master. Furthermore, Yamato has only just evolved, and is a guest, so perhaps he is slightly different from a pure Helios Orb person.”
That’s a possibility.
The word ‘evolution’ existed in my world too, but it referred to adapting to the environment over a very long period, not a phenomenon where one’s appearance drastically changes upon reaching a certain level.
While I hypothesize that magic power and insignia are the same thing, I still fundamentally believe my world and this world are different.
There are many things I can consider, but perhaps there’s no point in thinking about it.
In fact, since guests can have children with people from this world, there’s probably no real difference.
