'A Beast God?'
Looking around, there was nothing in particular to be seen.
Come to think of it, I think I saw a similar phrase earlier too.
'……Don't tell me this refers to a <Divine Beast>?'
If so, that's even stranger.
Divine Beasts are beings even I have never encountered in the forest.
Let alone at this point, before even entering the forest—the odds of running into one could safely be called zero.
'A hidden class…….'
Setting aside the problem with no answer, I switched my line of thought.
A hidden class means, literally, a concealed profession.
Explained that way, it sounds somehow grand and broken, but that's not necessarily the case.
At least in this game, a hidden class is a double-edged sword.
'Necromancer is exactly like that.'
Necromancer is also a hidden class of the <Dark Mage> profession group, but alongside its strengths, it carries fatal weaknesses just as great.
Namely, the moment its identity is exposed, most NPCs' affection hits rock bottom and they turn hostile.
That's a bigger penalty than you'd think.
'In the end, to keep exploring the forest long-term, interaction with NPCs is indispensable.'
Even granting that you can handle all sorts of tasks by commanding the undead, you can't exactly entrust them with equipment repair or crafting.
"Those sons of bitches……. Where'd they hide?"
"Crawl out now and I'll spare your lives."
The voices of Dorman's group could be heard.
They were gradually closing in, spouting words that wouldn't fool anyone.
I once more checked their average level, headcount, the quality of their equipment, and so on, then estimated my odds of winning.
'About ten percent.'
That's looking at it as hopefully as possible.
In other words, I had no more options either.
I'd never heard of the class <Tamer> before, but whatever it was, completing the class change meant one more strategy I could take…….
[You have changed class to <Tamer>.]
In this situation, that was reason enough to press the 'Y' button.
After completing the class change, I looked at the Magic Beast once more.
[Tame Lv.19 'Blade Weasel'?]
YES again.
[Attempting to tame Lv.19 'Blade Weasel'.]
[The target's current goodwill toward you is 61.]
[Taming Success Rate: 61%]
[The <Dice of Fate> are rolling…….]
'Oh, fu—.'
There was a success rate for taming, too?
Over sixty percent isn't low, exactly, but somehow I felt uneasy.
In FoS, every action subject to probability correction is decided by a twenty-sided die.
Meaning, if the success rate is 61%…….
'The die has to show at least 8 or higher.'
The odds aren't low, but somehow, I'd grown uneasy.
[Die Roll: 6]
[Taming has failed.]
Fuck, I knew this would happen.
'What do I do?'
What else. Calm down, first.
Don't panic—expand the scope of thought first.
This is reality now, so it's not as if Magic Beasts can only be controlled through the systemic subordination called 'taming,' is it?
If I can grasp the Magic Beast's characteristics and train it—by feeding it, communing with it, analyzing it, and so on…….
[The Trait, <Friend of Magic Beasts>, activates.]
What's this now?
[Retrying taming.]
[Rolling the <Dice of Fate> again…….]
⁝
[Die Roll: 19]
[Taming has succeeded.]
[A high roll was obtained on the die.]
[Additional stats are granted to the tamed beast.]
At the same time, a status window that wasn't my own appeared before my eyes.
Blade Weasel
Level: 19
Grade: Magic Beast Race: Beast Type
Stats
Strength: 7(+10) Agility: 22(+10)
Endurance: 8(+10) Magic Power: 1(+10)
Spare Points: 0
Skills
<Blade Whirlwind>, <Stealth>
Traits
<Quick Wits>, <Loyalty>
Somehow the format looks familiar.
This is…….
'A companion NPC's status window.'
This shows up for a Magic Beast?
What this meant was that, rather than simply taming it, I could even raise it like a companion NPC.
'No, wait.'
It's more than that. The fact that there's a <Spare Points> field means I can even control the direction of the Magic Beast's growth.
Considering the companion bastards whose levels you could raise but whose stats got allocated however they pleased, this is practically a cheat.
Because in this goddamned game, having more choices is always a good thing.
"M-Mr. Kaindel……."
A faint voice cut off my musings as a gamer.
Come to think of it, this was no situation for leisurely analysis.
"Come here."
I beckoned the two of them over, then said.
"I'm going to explain the plan now. There's no time to say it twice, so get it the first time."
"B-but my sister is hurt right now……"
"You treated her with the potion. There shouldn't be any external wounds, should there? And if things go on like this, we all die anyway."
"……!"
The mage looked at me with trembling eyes. I felt a touch of irritation at how he still hadn't grasped the situation, but…….
Thinking of it as bolstering an NPC whose mental stat had dropped, I opened my mouth calmly.
To raise the odds of winning even a little.
"Those people tried to kill us. Even the most oblivious person can tell by now that it was no mistake, can't they?"
"……"
"From here on, I'm going to act so that I don't die. I'll do anything to survive. Just like I did on the train earlier. What are you two going to do?"
In the end, these siblings too stood before a choice between two.
Like me, when I'd thrust the spear by my own will.
"……"
The silent mage's gaze went to his sister's shoulder.
The wound had been healed by the potion, but the bloodstains still remained.
"……I'm fine."
The sister said in a faint voice.
Her voice was still frail, but her eyes held far more strength than her brother's.
As the mage met those eyes, his body trembled faintly.
"……Mr. Kaindel."
The mage, Kazen, looked at me with a stiff face.
"What should I do?"
***
After explaining the plan to the two of them, I looked at the Magic Beast.
And, as I'd told the siblings before, I explained the rough outline of the plan.
"……Do you understand me?"
The intelligence of <Magic Beasts> is by no means low.
They simply can't speak—but that they possess intelligence on par with sapient beings was something found throughout the game's in-game books.
According to the lore, long-lived Magic Beasts pass through a stage called Rare Beast and evolve into Spirit Beasts, and at that stage, they're capable of communicating with humans in language.
"……"
Even so, watching it look up at me with those bright, round eyes made me uneasy.
'This thing is the core of the plan.'
<Stealth> and <Blade Whirlwind>…….
I know the exact power, duration, range, and so on of those two skills.
This plan can't succeed without this thing.
'No help for it. I just have to trust it.'
A plan riddled with holes like this was the thing I hated most, but times like now, when there's no clever move, are the exception.
"Go on."
Still, seeing it leave the moment I jerked my chin, it seemed to have understood to some degree.
The weasel vanished, and I immediately dropped flat and crawled under a train car.
Advancing prone across the damp, cold ground, I thought about Dorman's party.
'Their headcount is five.'
Had the archer withdrawn?
Or had she finished some rough first aid and taken up position again?
I knew she'd been hurt by the Blade Weasel, but not knowing the extent of her injuries, I'd have to prepare for the possibility of an arrow flying too.
"……How's Reina?"
Meanwhile, voices came from not far off.
"One of her eyes is gone."
"……Goddamn bastards. I'll kill them."
"Hold it. The men, especially—you saw how they look? Top-grade goods. Put them on the black market and they'll fetch a tidy sum."
"Suck my dick—the black-haired one. I'm taking one of that bastard's eyeballs."
"Well, that much might be fine? I hear plenty of customers are into that sort of thing."
Crazy bastards.
They were still a little way off.
Somehow it felt like moving carelessly would get me spotted, so I stopped advancing at once and waited.
The two, not knowing my position, walked slowly toward me.
Now?
'Not yet.'
Just a little further.
The distance—almost within reach, yet not quite—had me on edge, but I endured, even holding my breath.
'Seven steps.'
Now I could see the two's equipment far better.
Only below the knee, granted, but I could still tell they weren't Dorman.
Probably the two who'd been ordered to scout the area at the very start.
'One's wearing boots plated with iron, huh.'
That'd be hard to cut through with my current equipment.
'Six, five, four…….'
Finally, three steps.
I chose my target, then swung the scythe at once.
"Gyaaagh!"
A scream burst out along with blood.
The one whose ankle had been slashed collapsed on the spot, but the other—the one wearing the steel boots—quickly widened the distance and shouted.
"Found him! He's here!"
Only then did he kick the train car I was hiding under.
THUUUD!
Broken as the train car was, it was still bigger than several ordinary carriages.
Naturally, it wasn't going to tip over from this bastard's kick, but staying hidden in this cramped space wasn't the answer.
Get surrounded, and I'd be a rat in a jar, quite literally.
I quickly crawled across the ground and slipped out the opposite side.
Tap-tap-tap!
Footsteps from across the way.
Seemed they'd realized I'd gotten out from under the train.
I ran in the opposite direction of the sound for now, but…….
WHIZZ—
The instant I heard the sound of something cutting the air, I rolled sideways.
A single arrow, lodged in the ground where I'd been.
'Fuck.'
I thought her eyeball got blown out?
Checking the direction the arrow had come from as I rolled, I saw the archer nocking an arrow on the train's roof. Right. She does have a bandage wrapped around one eye, at least.
'Is that why she missed?'
Of course, I couldn't be optimistic.
If her class is archer, she'd have a Trait or skill or two related to the bow, so she could be getting that correction.
WHIZZ.
The moment another arrow flew, I hid behind cover.
At the same time, a new enemy appeared in front of me.
"Found you……. You little rat."
Iron-plated boots.
So it was this one.
'Nelson, was it?'
One of the two Dorman had first ordered to search the area.
Keeping an appropriate distance, I said.
"Cold, aren't you. What about your injured companion? Leave him like that and he'll bleed to death."
"He won't die from that. Pulling off your head and bringing it back should make a fitting get-well gift."
Watching him talk of murder as if it were nothing gave me chills.
But this must be the common way of thinking in this world.
A world where killing and being killed is only natural.
In that case…….
The strange one isn't him—it's me, and the one who has to change is me too.
WHOOSH!
"Urgh……?"
The instant a wind whipped up from somewhere, Nelson shut his eyes on reflex.
'Sylph.'
It seems she'd raised a wind mixed with grit and sand, as instructed.
The moment I kicked off the ground even before Nelson had closed his eyes and swung the scythe within range, Nelson too stepped back and drew his sword.
WHOOSH!
'Fuck.'
Did he really close his eyes?
One step faster and I'd have taken out his throat.
My reach was longer, but the scythe was an unfamiliar weapon, so handling it was still awkward.
Meanwhile, Nelson was glaring at me, forcing his bloodshot eyes open.
'Fuck.'
So much for cheesing it with the opening ambush.
I pulled out the tentacle I'd tied at my waist and swung it. It wasn't suited for use as a weapon, of course—
"Urk……!"
But binding an opponent's ankle like this was well within its capability.
"Fuck! What the hell is this now!"
The moment Nelson toppled with a crash and spat out a curse, I ran straight at him and kicked his wrist.
CLANG-CLATTER!
The sword he'd been holding flew far off. A fist thrown on reflex slammed into my ankle.
"Kh……."
Is his strength stat fairly high?
For a moment I felt pain as if my ankle were breaking, but thanks to the leather boots I'd picked up and put on, it was bearable.
Enduring the pain, I swung the scythe.
CRUNCH!
The mantis scythe struck dead center of Nelson's head. With a sound like a bursting watermelon, blood sprayed in every direction.
The sensation, still one I couldn't get used to, gave me chills, but this was no time to be lost in feelings.
'Where are they now?'
He'd shouted my position out loud. Which meant there was a high chance his companions were already nearby.
……Let's sort out the situation.
The archer can't shoot properly—
One has a severed ankle—
And another I just dealt with.
'Two left.'
First, the party leader, Dorman.
I have a grasp of this one's fighting style.
What worried me was the last one. An enemy I had no information on, as of now.
'A rogue? A mage?'
Or, don't tell me…….
I thought of the profession groups with the worst compatibility for me, then soon looked around.
"……"
It's strangely quiet.
What?
It'd be to these bastards' advantage to attack right away while I'm exhausted.
'Something feels off.'
An ominous silence seemed to lodge in my throat.
Originally, I'd meant to find a place to hide or recover my stamina until the enemy came…… but somehow, the feeling that I'd be fucked if I did that only grew stronger.
Just as I was about to move, however, I suddenly sensed multiple presences behind me.
"You've got a nice face."
"……"
"And Nelson…… tch. Dead, is he?"
Dorman.
The problem was that he wasn't the only one who'd revealed himself. Four in sight alone.
'The worst.'
The leg of the one whose ankle I'd first cut with the scythe was reattached clean, as if it had never happened, and the archer with the injured eye had long since thrown off her bandage.
I realized the worst possibility I'd imagined had come to pass.
'A priest, of all things.'
The last one's class was healer.
While I fought Nelson, Dorman had been getting his injured companions healed.
"Why? Didn't expect there to be a priest?"
Facing four enemies, I let out a sigh.
"Two tanks. Two damage dealers. One healer."
"Hm?"
"I mean there's no reason to be surprised. That's the most basic party composition there is."
"What bullshit is that?"
"And one more thing. I didn't sigh out of despair. It's because the odds I'd barely managed to raise have plummeted yet again."
Dorman smirked.
"You lunatic. Odds of winning? What, about one percent?"
"Fifty."
"What?"
Originally it was seventy, but now it's fifty percent.
The moment Dorman made a dumbfounded face, the mage's voice rang out.
"Light!"
"Ha!"
As if they'd been waiting for it, the four in front of me shut their eyes at the same time.
I'd thought they would.
These bastards, too, were a Delver party that had been through thick and thin.
There was no way they'd fall for the same tactic twice. If anything, if they'd been stupid enough to fall for it twice, that would have been a problem for me.
"Now!"
Because then my plan would have failed.
At my shout, the Blade Weasel, releasing <Stealth>, revealed itself behind Dorman's group.
The claws of the Blade Weasel, its eyes glaring as if enraged, glinted sharply.
CRRRRRRUNCH!
<Blade Whirlwind> was fired forward.