Having finished breakfast, we immediately set off toward the river.
Since there was a stream nearby, it allowed us to maintain the barrier surrounding our base in the Dream World.
“Oh right, the scale of the barrier and the distance I can sustain it for have expanded a little.”
Dream World said this once we stepped outside.
“Oh? I see. Well, since it’s been guarding the grounds of this base, your ability has been constantly activated, huh.”
Abilities grow depending on how their owner conceptualizes them, and in some patterns, experience points accumulate with each use.
“Yeah. Even when I was alone, I maintained it at maximum capacity the whole time, so I expect it to keep expanding from here on.”
Perhaps it was just my imagination, but it felt like Dream World was responding to my conversation more naturally than before.
“So, can we use the barrier to protect Suuka’s place too?”
In response to Shou’s question, Dream World answered, “Not yet.”
Phantom Beasts that had sensed us noticed our intention to leave and drifted closer.
Fenrir’s Mashiro approached Mochiko, while Black Dragon’s Mikoron came to me.
“I think I’m about ready to summon a third fluffball, but I’ve been hesitating.”
Shobune’s [Fluffball Summoning Ability] has two major advantages.
The first is that as long as she can form the image in her mind, she can summon and command everything from fantasy creatures to original lifeforms.
The second is that, aside from flesh, she can harvest any other material from the summoned creatures.
From sheep, she gets not just wool but milk and lanolin oil as well; recently, she even managed to summon a Cashmere Goat.
While limited to fluffy creatures, this means she has unlimited access to animal fibers.
Combined with my crafting ability, it allows us to produce massive quantities of clothing right here on this desert island.
Covering mobility, combat, and the ‘clothing’ aspect of basic survival, it’s a highly useful capability that carries a heavy load.
“I want to learn some new spells too, soon.”
”…Yeah. I guess I need to push myself harder, too.”
Both Chiyu’s [Healing Magic] and Shinfu’s [Attribute Magic] are naturally developing new incantations as expected.
It speaks to their character that they don’t forget their drive for self-improvement despite all that progress.
We divided up into groups of five or so and split the rides between Mashiro and Mikron.
I had them head toward the river.
“They say abilities grow over time, but what does that mean for mine…”
Shion’s face fell, clouded by anxiety.
“Ability that lets you detect lies.” Speaking of its evolution was indeed a tricky concept.
By the way, even though my companions knew about Shion’s ability, they didn’t change how they treated her at all.
It wasn’t like she could expose every lie; it mostly just meant her jokes and pranks were seen through, so there was no real harm done. That probably helped a lot.
“Mightn’t the number of targets increase, allowing you to keep track of them all simultaneously?”
Lora, the maid, offered up a hypothesis.
“I see, that would be amazing if it happened. But being able to detect lies from so many people sounds like it would be tough for Shion too. Hopefully, she’ll gain an on/off switch or some way to adjust sensitivity first.”
“Fufu, sure. I think I can still be of use here on this island. Besides, I imagine this ability would be much more useful back on Earth, with so many people involved. So even after we return to Japan, I’ll keep supporting you, Sōsuke-kun, to make sure no one ever tricks you.”
Shion said that with a bright, warm smile. “Ah, uh, right. You got it.”
At the sight of that smile, my heart skipped a beat without warning.
“If the number of people increases, does that mean me and Lora-chan will get similar upgrades? Like, ‘Instantly finish makeup for everyone!’ or ‘Instantly figure out what everyone wants!’ kind of thing?”
“That sounds wonderful indeed.”
Lora smiled at Shōbu’s chain of associations.
Admittedly, if both of their abilities allowed them to adapt to a large number of people at once, the efficiency would certainly improve.
“If I… would it mean the number of creatures I can transform into increases?”
“Or is it that? Mm, Sousuke, what was it, the thing where various animals combine together?”
“A chimera?”
“Yes! So Miya will be able to transform into a form mixed with all sorts of animals?”
“Ah, I see… that might be so.”
”…By the way, what will happen to Sensei?”
“Mm. He’ll obliterate mountains with laser attacks.”
Chiyu has read too many battle manga due to my influence.
“I-I wouldn’t do such a thing… but… will I become that strong?…” It’s more than what Sensei can handle, though.”
“Regardless of whether we’ll reach a point where mountains get obliterated or not, for now, once the battle-capable members reach the river, let’s deal with Aurbank first.”
Since I reorganized the party before breakfast, the bonus for Sensei Tanka’s participation has also been restored.
Apparently, the points gained from defeating monsters double.
I think it’s unfair that the base values are kept secret, but since that’s how the system works, there’s nothing to be done about it.
This isn’t all; the daily survival bonus has doubled as well.
For every day of survival, my lifespan in Japan used to extend by one day. Now, it extends by two.
Think about it: if we stayed here for a year, while the others gained just one extra year, we’d get two full years added to our lives.
Lost in these thoughts, we arrived at the river.
I expected the Arvanks to swarm out and attack all at once, just like last time, but something felt off.
Sure enough, a pack of giant beavers crawled out from the river, but their aggression was noticeably weaker than before.
There seemed to be many more lurking in the water, yet they paid us no mind, merely making splashing sounds… and that’s when we realized it.
“I see! River fish were added to the ecosystem, so they’re just feeding on them!”
“Eh? What do we do? If they keep devouring them like that, aren’t we going to run out of fish entirely?”
“On this island, the fish should respawn. But if they get wiped out every time they regenerate, we’ll never be able to go fishing again.”
“We need to hurry and take them down before the fish population disappears…”
“I’m afraid that taking down the Arvanks might end up sweeping in the river fish along with them.”
The words I spoke elicited reactions from Shouko, Chiyu, Shiin, and Fuumi.
I had anticipated a battle, but my plan was to wipe them out as they rushed at us all at once.
I hadn’t expected some of them to ignore us entirely.
But we had no choice but to adapt.
“Let’s split into ground and air teams. The ground team will use the Dream Realm’s barrier for defense while taking down the monsters. Fuumi, you’re our heavy hitter. We’ll handle the ones in the river as the air team. Genchuu, transform into your Black Dragon form. Mr. Luminous, ride Genchuu and focus all your fire on the Arvankus alone. I’ll mount Mikoron and drop rocks onto their heads.”
My companions nodded instantly at my instructions.
Dream Realm focused on maintaining the barrier.
Even the non-combatants—Shouko, Shiin, Chiyu, Roa, and Shoubu—held spears, piercing enemies from within the protective sphere.
Mashiro stepped outside the barrier and trampled the ground-level Aervank.
Deep Magic kicked the enemies to the curb.
Mr. Luminous, riding the Black Dragon Genchuu, picked off enemies one after another with light beams, while I dropped rocks onto the Arvankus above me.
Before long, the herd of Arvankus was completely eradicated from the area, but…
“Ugh… could it be that those red things are…”
Shouko said, her face pale.
After the battle, the water surface was tinged with vermillion, and fish carcasses and chunks of flesh floated listlessly on top.
“If we move, we might run into another herd, so let’s stay put and wait for this stream to clear.”
The fish that fled from combat or the impact of the [Arvanq] might return eventually.
If they don’t come back, we’ll have no choice but to give up and move to a different location.
Thinking about it this way, one could argue that adding ocean fish would have been easier, though…
Considering the high number of players who haven’t discovered how to find the sea, I can understand why river fish were chosen.
“Let’s look at the bright side. If acquiring them is this much of a hassle, they might actually hold significant value as trading materials.”
“What a positive outlook, Mr. Kuno. Th-That was quite admirable… C-Can I take a break for a moment, teacher?”
The teacher seemed to be squeamish about blood, so he averted his gaze from the water’s surface.
“Yume-kai, could you make the barrier a bit larger? I’ll pull some chairs out of my [Inventory]. Let’s try to enjoy a bit of that camping vibe… but please, try not to look at the river.”
So, with that, we decided to wait for a while together.
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