Chapter Nine: Island Days
We continued to level at different spots around the islands.
We defeated a boss called the Karma Pengu. It was a monster that flew in the air and looked like a giant black penguin.
But we defeated it so easily it was almost boring. Just more of the same. It was all so easy and so expected—I figured that was probably why the other heroes hadn’t abandoned the idea that it was all just a game.
Karma Pengu Shield: ability locked: equip bonus: swimming skill 2, fishing skill 3, pekkul status adjustment (medium): special effect: underwater swimming time increased Karma Pengu Familia Shield: ability locked: equip bonus, swimming skill 1, fishing skill 2, penkul status adjustment (small)
Pekkul . . . I thought those had gone extinct?
I’d gotten pretty similar shields out of the other karma series monsters that we had been fighting since we got here.
I think they were called usaunis and inults.
It was great that I could use them if I wanted to, but they were extinct— so it wasn’t going to do me much good, was it? I was complaining to myself while I checked the monster’s drop item.
Pekkul Kigurimi?
“Is it some kind of sleeping bag?”
It was a soft costume of a penguin wearing a Santa hat. I checked out the stats.
Pekkul Kigurimi: defense up, attack resistance (small), water resistance (large), shadow resistance (small), HP recovery (low), magic up (medium): automatic recovery function, underwater swimming time increased, size adjustment, skill adjustment (small): type alteration, monster equip time, no alterations other than type
Wow! It had a lot of great effects. It was at least as powerful as the barbarian armor +1 that I was using. If it would increase underwater swimming time, did that mean that it was for diving or something?
“It looks like it’s a really good piece of equipment. Raphtalia, why don’t you . . . .”
“No thank you! I don’t care how good it is, I’m not fighting in that!”
I thought she might say that. I felt the same way.
“Alright then. You try it on, Filo.”
“I thought she hated clothes?”
“Looks fun!”
Filo turned into her giant filolial queen form, and when she went to try it on the kigurumi grew to her massive size!
Maybe that’s what size adjustment meant? That was pretty neat!”
“I’m gonna wear it!”
Filo clucked her approval as she slipped into the giant kigurumi. Then the kigurumi seemed to glow for a second before melting into her feathers?”
Then Filo was standing there as normal, but her coloring had changed to look more like a penguin, and she was wearing a Santa hat.
“Urm . . . . It feels kinda scratchy!”
“Really?”
“Yeah . . . and I feel sort of . . . sort of like I can’t flex my muscles?”
“Then take it off.”
It probably had something to do with the type adjustment effect. Its magical effects would make her into something other than a filolial, so my monster status adjustment probably stopped working. That effectively meant that monsters couldn’t use the equipment—which limited its use for me.
“But I kind of want to wear it when I sleep back at the inn!”
“Yeah, that seems to be what it’s for.”
It was probably most useful as a type of pajama. I wondered if she could just take it off so easily? But there was nothing to worry about, her coloring returned to normal, and the kigurumi appeared in her hands. What a weird piece of equipment.
“Mr. Naofumi, if I wear your armor, you could wear the kigurumi, and then it wouldn’t go to waste. “
“Raphtalia, are you seriously suggesting I wear that thing?”
Still, its effects were nothing to scoff at.
Because of my shield, the monsters weren’t able to damage me anyway. And I was getting concerned about Raphtalia and Filo’s equipment too.
“Um . . . uh . . . .”
“Fine then, let’s draw straws to see who wears it. After how it melted onto Filo, it’s probably safe to assume that it doesn’t restrict movement.”
“Oh . . . okay then . . . .”
Oh boy. It was looking like I was going to have start measuring efficiency and power next to looks and fashion. It was going to be a tough choice.
“Master, you’re so cuuuute!”
“Shut up! I’m taking it off the second we start heading back!”
I was mortified at the thought of being seen in it. And it wasn’t acting the way it had when Filo had worn it.
It hung off of me, baggy, just like a normal kigurumi.
I really didn’t want anyone to see me wearing it!
It mostly hid my face though, so unless they saw my shield they’d have no way of knowing that it was me. That’s right, I looked like a pekkul.
And it raised my stats while I had it on. But when I wore it the type adjustment didn’t activate.
Raphtalia wore my armor, and we pressed on. The Karma Pengu Familias we ran into along the way didn’t pose any threat to us at all.
“Raphtalia . . . .”
“What?! Why are you looking at me like that? I’m not going to wear that thing.”
I held out a cup of straws to her.
“You’re wearing this thing tomorrow. I swear it. Better make your peace with that now.”
“Hmph!”
As for Filo . . . well, she better just be happy that she was born a filolial.
“Well that ended up being a pretty good day.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
We were in the boat on the way back to the main island, and Raphtalia seemed concerned.
I could sort of see where she was coming from. It was the way our leveling had dropped off that had her upset.
I made it to level 73, she was at 75, and Filo was at 76.
According to the earl, it was basically impossible to level past 80 there.
When things seemed too good to be true, they were. That’s what people say anyway.
Right about the time we started approaching level 70, I’d noticed the leveling efficiency dropping off. If we didn’t push really hard to keep leveling, I didn’t see how we were going to make it to level 80.
It was still fun and interesting to collect drop items, but if the leveling efficiency wasn’t worth it, then it might be smart to start looking for another way to level. The wave would be upon us pretty soon.
“But we still leveled up, isn’t that good enough?”
“Yeah!”
Filo apparently still felt like she hadn’t done enough swimming. She was in the water next to the boat.
“Filo, I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Oh . . . .”
“Back to what I was saying, we’ve still gone up over 30 levels since we got here.”
“I know that . . . but . . . the monsters are just too weak . . . and I’m starting to wonder if it’s going to be good enough.”
“I know how you feel.”
With how things were now, the Karma series bosses barely caused us to break a sweat, and as for the rest of the monsters we encountered, they all went down with a single hit. Raphtalia and Filo had powered up very dramatically though, so I suppose that was enough to be grateful for.
There were still a ton of shields that had equip bonuses I’d yet to unlock.
We’d been leveling really efficiently since we got to the islands, but I think we were all realizing that getting more powerful wasn’t going to be quite that simple.
The levels had . . . well they possessed some sort of magical meaning, but they didn’t directly translate into confidence.
We were going to have to raise our confidence, and our morale, if we wanted to stand a hope of facing the injustices that surely awaited us in the future. There was no avoiding that.
In the online games I’d played, there were lots of players that had leveled up quickly but didn’t have the skills or the knowledge to handle themselves. They were powerful enough, but too ignorant and weak-willed to really be of use to anyone.
And there were plenty of them that made the mistake of thinking their high levels automatically made them impressive and respectable.
It was a real danger, one we’d have to watch out for. And that all went double for Itsuki and his party.
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