Mr. Nobu’s Otherworld Chronicles Chapter 81

on Sat.u.r.day, September 14, 2019 zweindrei

Chapter 81 From Snow to Flying Fish   Oh hi there~. It's your friendly neighbor n.o.busada again~.
We got too much into it last night, we were too embarra.s.sed to go back to the bedroom where Futsuno-san and Mitama were, so I ended up sleeping in the bathroom with Kagursan. Of course I dried it up beforehand.

The bear that I lopsidedly destroyed yesterday turned out to be a relatively strong monster. I got some level ups which I completely missed during all the commotion. I won't give my thanks, but it has been good nourishment. Dunno its name though since I didn't even get Discerning-sensei to perform.

Kagursan in her most natural state was giving out sleeper's breathing next to me. Yup, she's soft and fluffy.

By that I mean she's in her lil' girl mode!

For some reason, she turned into lil' girl mode when I invited her to sleep together after we were done. Perhaps she thought I would attack her again in the futon otherwise... I can't deny that, yep.
Since I can't exactly make a move on her in that state, I've settled with poking her fluffy cheeks. Fuaaa, guess I'll take another nap. Together with Tamchan who had sneaked in before I knew it, I went on another journey to the dream world.

"Ya can't sleep no more------!!"

Clang clang, while repeatedly striking a frying pan, mom, I mean Futsuno-san barged in.

"It's almost noontime already. No matter how safe it is, we're still in the middle of a dungeon expedition y'know. We did agree to take it easy, but yer' takin' it too easy. OK, Kagursan, you too rise and s.h.i.+ne now. Even Mitama's up, all prepped up early you know~"

Mea culpa. I'm repenting at max. Wonder if it's the destiny of a j.a.panese man to somehow reflexively take the seiza stance here.

After having rice b.a.l.l.s I put away last night for breakfast, I decided on our plan today. We're gonna explore the left pa.s.sage that seems to be a dead end. Then we will raise our levels and secure more rice depending on the situation. Looks like all three girls have taken a liking to the rice.

'n.o.bu-kun, n.o.bu-kun', Futsuno-san cheerfully drew near as I cleaned up the tableware.

"Had a great time last night, didn'tcha."

Futsuno-san poked me while grinning with an indescribable smile on her face.
Irritated a bit, I decided to launch a counteroffensive.

"...And it's your turn tonight, Futsuno-san."

She faltered, "Mugugu" when I whispered that in her ear. Fufufu, I won't be the one on the receiving end every time.

On the way to that pa.s.sage, I asked the girls about growth cap.
From what I'm told, apparently such things do happen. Only a Cla.s.s whom a particular individual has an apt.i.tude to is given by the temples, but there are also rare cases where an individual would end up hitting a growth cap. In that case, you'd have to go to a temple that can change your Cla.s.s. And that requires a huge lump of money, so the poorer ones end up giving up trying. No one has any idea how to break through that cap.

Well, I guess that can't be helped. Regardless whether there's a cap or not, I'll just keep changing up all Cla.s.ses I got. I get more the higher a Cla.s.s grows anyway. At the very least, acquiring useful Cla.s.s Skills should make a difference.

As we made our way in the left pa.s.sage, it's clear that it's identical to its symmetrical opposite side. Yep, there's even an island in the center of a marsh at the end. We won't make the same mistake as before, so we're gonna attack with ranged magic from afar. There's absolutely no people here as only a few spots are popular among adventurers on this floor. Since experience points are distributed evenly among all party members, there's no problem on that front.
Mitama and Kagursan will be on the lookout while I and Futsuno-san prepare our magic.

"Alright then, let's go at it. No need to worry about your mana, feel free to go all out."

"Yes sire. Whew, being able to cast magic without worrying about mana feels like a dream."

Then us two start to chant our magic. Flame magic would risk causing fire, so I'm gonna use some really cool modified water magic, frozen magic. And since there's no need to specify a target with it being an area attack, I recite a spell that focuses on raising power.

"Wind, wind. Cometh together into a storm that swallows all. Rage, dance, tear to pieces."

"Freeze, halt halt ravage that vessel as snow flutters. With whirling snow comes wind. Blow, enrage, turns this world silvery."

"Wind Storm!!"

"Diamond Dust!!"

The storm Futsuno-san produces overlaps with my magic to form a blizzard. The synergy between the two enlarge our magic range, covering everything in white. Since mana is not a problem, its momentum never recedes. Eventually, the view in front of us turned into a world of silver.

Yep, we overdid it. The joint work was too fun. Forget the two girls behind us, even Futsuno-san was dumbfounded at this result.

No wonder. I mean, the marsh and all trees around it have been frozen solid. Confirming with Discerning-sensei, it seems Alrauna, Alraine, and even the Evil Tadpole got dragged in straight to their demise.
What the heck was that struggle yesterday even. Well, I suppose it's something we can only do when there's no peering eyes. If people found out, it wouldn't end with just us standing out. And now, let's get to collecting. These monsters have been frozen solid like statues, but I'm sure they can be smashed to bits. It's Kagura sensei's turn.

Smash, smash, Kagursan's metal rod broke the statues. Afterward, we went to fetch all the drop items. The girls occasionally slipping off because they weren't used to snow-covered grounds was part of amus.e.m.e.nt. Umu, wonder if I should make shoes to run on snow.

We went back and forth between the left and right to secure more soul stones, materials and rice using the same method. We found out that only Evil Tadpole won't resp.a.w.n until a certain amount of time has elapsed.
After three days of leveling up and item farming, we finally set foot on 7F.

7F.

It's an unusual s.p.a.ce with a vast ocean going as far as eyes can see.
If you walk straight from the stairways, you will find yourself at a scenery with an ever expanding horizon. It's clearly way too vast. I can't see the end.

Well, we're gonna take a hard turn and avoid the s.p.a.ce with the vast ocean this time though.
If you turn right at the pa.s.sage and go counterclockwise, you'll come across the stairway to 8F apparently. I plan to use the time we have remaining in this expedition to explore the small rooms located in each branches of this pa.s.sage.

Some of those small rooms are infested by hidden monsters and even treasure chests. The marine products dropped by those monsters are what Gramada consume. It's like some sort of cultivation.

Apparently, a branch of woodworking guild had set up an office here to search the ocean once upon a time. They'd set sail and defeat giant sh.e.l.lfish monsters that sp.a.w.ned in the ocean in one big haul. Those monsters had pearls in them apparently, but today the popularity has declined. Recent adventurers seemed to have lost their vigor, the demand for s.h.i.+ps waned and the branch withdrew.
It seems they still offer rental service for s.h.i.+ps that have been moored here if you make a special request. But since the cost incurred will be enormous if even one s.h.i.+p sinks, only those who have too much money or authority even think of renting one. Oh right, there was that quest for a Fish Dragon or something. I won't take it even if offered though.

We're going through the pa.s.sages to explore the small rooms. I've been catching sights of other adventurers here and there.
Okay now, time to beat these monsters asap and get our hands on marine products! Our princess here won't stop drooling behind me. Oh yes, looks like she's looking forward to it.

A swarm of fish is blocking our way. They're floating in the air though!

Flying Fish p.a.w.n Lv16
HP: 26/26 - MP: 4/4
Soldiers flying fish. Several will form a group to launch an attack.

We beat them easily and we got us sardine drop. Mitama rushed over, and before I could ask if she wanted it grilled, she chomped a sardine from head down. Apparently catfolks are okay with eating fish raw. Still surprised me though since I didn't think she'd chomp it down from the head.

Alright, let's keep it together and march on.

These Flying Fish vary in strength depending on their subt.i.tle. Fishy promotion if you may.
According to the guild, presently it's known that there are p.a.w.n, Guard, Knight, General, Queen and King. And the marine products dropped also change depending on their strength. They all give Wakame seaweed and Kombu kelp as common drops however.

p.a.w.n is sardine.
Guard is mackerel.
Knight is salmon. Rare drop gives you salmon roe.
General gives bigeye tuna as the rare drop. Common drop gives you albacore.
Queen is skipjack.
Comes King and you get bluefin tuna.

Amazing. Will that big thing get dropped down the earth like boom? The price for a slice I saw at the market here was cheaper compared to j.a.pan's price, but it was still quite expensive.

There are also various monsters other than Flying Fish.

Black Tiger
Big shrimp that walks on eight legs. Careful of counter from its tail fin.

Ryouma Jellyfish
Jellyfish floating in air. It attacks with many means besides electric shock. Not fond of forming a group, they're known to act alone.

Savage Starfish
Giant starfish that somehow walks on two legs. It falls onto an adventurer then proceeds to eat them.

YaranaIka
Southern-style colorful Ika (squid). Getting caught in its gigantic suckers will surely stop you dead in your tracks. Apparently it may also lay its eggs inside dead bodies.

We seemed to have gotten better at cooperating as we eliminated all monsters with relative ease.
But we encountered problems. Treasure chests and traps. Our party has no one capable of overcoming those.
We tasted the frustration of not being able to open a treasure chest we found after much trouble. Since this was a grave situation, we held an emergency meeting. I should have noticed it sooner, but things were just going too well. I mean, we never even encountered a treasure chest with a lock before.
We gotta go back and post a quest to the guild for this, so I thought while tampering the treasure chest having nothing to lose in trying.

That chest exploded and turned my hair into an afro, but I digress.

And thus, the week-long expedition came to a close as we made our way back.