Vending Machine - 142 - Strength in This World (Patreon)

How has everyone been doing?

As for us, with a powerful team at hand, we have been fighting and causing endless destruction within the forest.

Monsters which were now free of the ring, no longer attacked the village in endless waves. However, whenever we cut down or, in Ramis’ case, pulled up a tree, they would still appear, eyes filled with endless fervour.

There was no way of avoiding their attacks if we wanted to get rid of the trees standing in our way. I have long lost count of the number of monsters we defeated.

Still, there were benefits to having the enemies converge upon us like this.

While Ramis dedicated herself to uprooting trees, I was assigned the task of defending our location and fighting against the vegetable monsters. Thanks to my enhanced plastic bottle attacks, monsters were quickly defeated. Not to mention, I had been racking up lots of points from this.

I don’t like the fact that they exploded into vegetable juice when damaged, but thankfully, my <Barrier> protected us from the worst of the splashes. The Big Eaters’ main attack involved bites, so they have quite a lot of juice sticking to their bodies, leaving a smell so strong that their little noses wrinkled in distaste. However, since they went on to chew and swallow whatever they have bitten off, I guess those vegetable creatures don’t taste bad?

However, from the rate they are eating, it looks like it won’t be long before they cannot move…

My thoughts continued to wander as I watched the Big Eaters.

Speaking of points, I have been lowering the prices of the vending machine items or even giving them away for free a lot these days. So, the points earned from defeating enemies are valuable.

These veggie monsters are not that strong, so it felt almost rude to compare the points gathered with floor bosses, but they are still good for subsidising my goods.

In the battle against the Lava Demon, the creature took quite a bit of damage through the water attacks, so I collected a substantial amount of points even though I did not land the final blow. While I still don’t have enough points to exchange for a Gift, I don’t have to worry about not being able to provide food for the people.

"Alright, let's do this!"

It was incredible to watch Ramis work. Even though it was a pretty familiar sight, it was still quite an astounding sight to see a girl pull up large trees, roots and all, from the ground as though they were nothing but weeds.

It was no ordinary feat to pull out a whole tree just through brute force.

I was pretty sure that Ramis’ strength had increased since our first meeting. I have been watching over her for a long time, so I can say with confidence that she has grown stronger.

To begin with, I have always been puzzled by the hunters of this world. The power gap between a hunter and an ordinary citizen was too incredible and I have always wondered about it. However, I now think I have an idea of how it all works.

However, it could all just be my wild speculations.

In the first place, I received points when dealing damage or defeating enemies. Points which I could freely use to purchase goods or enhance my status.

I once asked Kikoyu through her touch telepathy whether it was the same for the people of this world.

Her reply was:

“Points? I do not believe that such a system exists for us. However, it is common knowledge that when you defeat a monster, you gain their life force and this strengthens one’s body.”

When I heard this, I thought that while ordinary people may gain experience points from defeating enemies, they could not freely allocate these points to certain parts of their skills and that these points are probably distributed arbitrarily.

Values that are enhanced by points would vary among individuals. For example, some may find it easier to increase their physical strength while others may have a low rate of increase in certain abilities. That is to say, the difference lay in ‘talent’.

In Ramis’ case, she appears to gain strength easily.

She had also defeated a lot of enemies up till now, in gaming terms, she would have gained a large amount of experience points and levelled up.

During our battle with the Demon King Frog, though she could only pull a carriage full of people and walk slowly through a swamp with me on her back, she could probably pull that carriage more easily now.

"Good grief, what a troublesome thing."

Grandpa waved his fan, the colour of a clear sky, and a large gale blew upending a few trees from their roots. A flick upwards with his fan and the uprooted trees were blown to the sky and sent flying through the forest.

That kind of unconventional magic was not something that he could originally use when he first started out.

From what he told us, while drinking mineral water out of a plastic bottle, although he had talent from a young age, it was honed through countless of battles with Director Bear and others, defeating numerous monsters. He talked to us as if we were his grandchildren.

From his story, the theory that defeating monsters would result in experience or points that would increase one’s ability made sense.

However, I was the only one who could efficiently allocate those points through my own will… while I was busy contemplating this, the surrounding trees disappeared completely.

“Ah, please don’t throw away trees you’ve pulled or cut down. We will absorb them,” it was Kikoyu, with a ball of soil – a fragment of Mister Field – in her hands. Seeing large trees being sucked into a bowling ball size bit of soil was nothing short of strange.

When asked, Kikoyu said, “Plants are more easily absorbed.”

I guess we’ll have to take her word for it. We did ask her if Mister Field could absorb the standing trees, but it looked like that was impossible.

“Mister Field seems to hesitate when it comes to rooted plants,”

Even though plants shouldn’t have any consciousness, Mister Field still showed them consideration. What a gentleman.

Anyway, thanks to Mister Field, the disposal of trees proceeded smoothly and the path towards the Floor Boss steadily opened up.

The ground, which had been pockmarked and hazardous due to the uprooted trees, was smoothed out by Grandpa’s earth magic so that the cart pulled by Botan could move forward smoothly. In short, everything was going fairly smoothly.

After we defeated the Floor Boss, we could still make use of this path in the future.

The Dark Forest is a place where light rarely touches the ground. Therefore, unless you’re a creature who is stronger in the dark or have some kind of <Night Vision> Gift, you will need a source of light even during the day.

Now that we have a wide path that allows light to shine through, it significantly reduces danger during the daytime.

“I wonder, would the Floor Boss, that Elderwood, attack us out of anger,” muttered Hyurumi as she swayed on the cart, her eyes staring contemplatively at the sky.

On the cart were Kikoyu, Hyurumi, and the elderly couple, so unless something really extraordinary happened, that was the safest place for them. Which was why Hyurumi could just stare absently at the clouds and think random thoughts. I myself felt a little sleepy too.

“In the first place, he was a pretty mild-mannered Floor Boss, it was rare for our settlement to be attacked. We really can’t underestimate the power of the King of the Netherworld.”

A shadow flared up from the ground, taking the form of a person and a golden coat swirled around them.

Speaking of which, I guess it would be almost impossible for anyone to find the Director of Darkness when he’s in his shadow form?

“I heard it suddenly came to this side of the settlement?”

“That’s right, that huge tree just appeared there one morning, surprising us all. It only spread its pollen so none of the walks and buildings were damaged, so I guess it was not too bad.”

If such a huge tree were to launch a physical attack, the entire settlement would probably have been destroyed.

To think that their aversion towards damaging any kind of wood, even logs, would stand even against the Commander’s manipulation. Was this odd quirk the only reason why the hunters and adult men were able to survive?

“Elderwood was not a bad fellow. He won’t attack unless disturbed. Also, you know that the trees here are pretty flammable?”

“Ou! We heard. Fires are strictly prohibited here, right?”

“That’s right, but there are fools everywhere. There had been quite a few hunters who had used fire when cornered. Fire would spread in an instant in a forest like this. The Elderwood is the guardian of this forest and can manipulate trees and use water magic to extinguish

fire. In short, he was like a guardian deity of this floor.”

I guess when in a life-threatening situation, there would be hunters who would use fire to try and survive, knowing that it would lead to catastrophic disaster.

"But Hyurumi, can we really defeat the Elderwood?" Director Bear asked.

“Well, it’s possible. The poison I made is extremely effective against these plant-based monsters. If we pour it directly onto its body, we could probably defeat it. That’s the plan at least.”

The ever-confident Hyurumi, who had the utmost faith in her invention, was hesitating for the first time due to her opponent.

“It has a mouth and eyeballs, so it’s not impossible to pour the potion in.”

Apparently, Elderwood was sentient enough to have eyes and mouth but lacked the intelligence to carry out a conversation. So, the plan was to punch a hole through the mouth or eye area and shove the poison in.

Speaking of which, the ‘medicine’ was loaded on the cart in barrels. There were six barrels in total, which Hyurumi estimated should be enough to do the job properly.

Still, since the Elderwood was so huge, the effect may not be immediate, so the plan was to retreat once the barrels had been deployed.

“It’s basically a kind of plant poison, made up of things that plants hated. Humans won’t die drinking it, but it’s pretty unpleasant so I don’t recommend you drink it,” said Hyurumi to Shui and the Big Eaters, who were staring intently at the barrels.

These five beings really could not be trusted when it comes to food and drinks. If we don’t explain something properly, they may think ‘It must be delicious since they are hiding it’ or ‘Yeah, right’ and drink it anyway… I’ll just give you guys some snacks to distract you, alright?

There was really no room for me to get involved in this subjugation mission. So, I should just stay here and [1] ensure that our allies don’t screw things up for us on this side.

“And what’s that barrel? Is it some secret alcohol that someone’s planning to secretly enjoy?”

Clearly unwilling to give up, Shui pointed at a barrel which was lying a little bit away from the rest. Her eyes were basically like lasers.

"That's an empty barrel. The concentration is a lot higher than originally planned, so we needed one less barrel. However, it packs a more powerful punch, so please don’t worry about it.”

"I see..."

Sui was disheartened. The Big Eaters were disheartened. Well, there was really no need to be that downhearted.

I guess I should raise up their spirits with their favourite Karaage. Maybe if I fill up their bellies with carbonated drinks, they will be quiet for a bit.

“Yay! Karaage~ Karaage~!”

"Yay, yay!"

It looks like Karaage is something like a staple food for them now.

Seeing the Big Eaters and Shui standing in a happy circle was a nice, calming sight. While the main players attack the Elderwood, we still need people to defeat the minor enemies and keep them at bay. So, it is best to keep their spirits up and nourish their energy while I still can.

The ones who would take on the Floor Boos are, Grandpa, Ramis and… Kuroyata.

There were three ways to get the barrels into the Elderwood’s mouth, wind magic, throwing, or have Kuroyata fly the barrel up.

The opponent was so large that his mouth was quite high up, making it impossible to use a ‘normal throw’ to send the barrels of pesticides into its mouth or eye holes. Apparently, this was not a new idea since other hunters have also thought of using this method, but have no adequate means of delivery.

On that note, our party have multiple options, involving magic, superhuman strength and air transport, so we are quite fortunate.

It was reassuring to be able to take on the enemy while fully prepared. I am quite hopeful for our situation as our strength and strategy are both well thought out. However, there is no telling what would happen when plan hits reality.

We need to stay alert and not let our guard down.

[Gumihou: Ok, sounds like nobody’s taking any chances here]