Squeals of monsters of the night resounded in the peaceful meadow. Squelches of blood and guts rained down upon the emerald grass. One swift strike from a blade comes crashing down on a Shafox's head, cracking it open like a watermelon sliced in half and revealing the inner carmine that sprayed out like wildfire.
In his eyes, it was the same old, same old.
It became easier for him now after three gruesome months. He began to surmise the events that has transpired as he rains down merciless destruction on the population of nighttime monsters.
Kuki and Raika has been steadily increasing their levels, and more importantly, their skill's proficiencies and stats. As of now, Kuki has developed his ability to handle various groups of monsters in a row, while Raika's sniping skills has reached onto a frightening level for the monsters. Kudo has taken them to his Mother's mansion—whether they wanted to or not—to have them use the equipment in the training facility to increase their stats.
It was beneficial for them as ranged fighters so they can move well, but they had to continue training under Kudo's spartan schedule which made their bodies scream in pain through the process. Along with that, he has also increased his own experience. Not in level or skills, but racking up experience on fighting against stronger opponents. During his nighttime training, he has gone beyond the Shafoxes, and focused on more terrifying monsters that skulks around the vicinity which no adventurers would dare go after on their own—Harpies.
Harpies are aerial monsters that are basically humanoid creatures with wings as arms. Thanks to their flight, they are difficult monsters to hunt without a proficient ranged fighter. However, Kudo went alone. He didn't use his classic Bastard sword, but his Flamver Bow which, unexpectedly, was improved by Kuki himself.
Kuki's Crafting Skill was Woodmaking which was a skill that crafts wooden weapons such as a bow and staff. Kuki learned this skill to help make better bows for Raika. It was rather sweet of him to do this for a friend which even Kudo asked him to improve his bow which he cannot do on his own. Using the bow, he made quick work on the harpies, but he didn't stop at just that. He used whatever technique he could think of, mainly using his Plus Chain to develop techniques on taking down stronger opponents. Along with the experience points, he also developed his instincts and quick thinking.
It was one of those nights when Kudo managed to take down several harpies at once. Standing on the earthy terrain underneath the sky riddled with stars as always, several bodies of feathery creatures were left on the ground, some slashed and pouring blood while other were left without air. The bright moonlight delivered its lightshow down to his body, adorned with bruises and small cuts as if they were medals from war. His torso expanded and compressed as he tried to regain his air.
"Hah..." Kudo heaved a sigh. "That was a mess. Whoo..."
If it weren't for his bow and Plus Chain, he probably wouldn't have survived. His heart was still racing, beating against his chest from adrenaline. He put away his weapons and decided to return home for the night as the moon was nearing the horizon. Right as he turned around, he stopped for a moment and put his hand into his shirt and grabbed the necklace hidden within it.
For several months, Kudo has been taking out his necklace for good luck, and for reassuring of a good battle to come. His ruby necklace, given to him by Hinota, has been his source of courage this entire time. It was his inspiration to become stronger.
"Hinota... I wonder how you're doing after all this time. I hope you're eating well..." Kudo whispered to the necklace, acting as if it was a pseudo-communicator in his mind to Hinota.
"...Heh, it's not like you can listen to me, but this makes me feel calm."
Just as he said, his heart started to relax, relieving his body of the stress from the recent battle.
"I hope that things are going well for you... things are going fine for me. I'm starting to get used to this place now," Kudo continued to talk, all the while curling his lips upwards. "Though, the guild members can get kinda personal, but my friends have been supporting me all this time. I really hope that someday you can meet with them yourself, Hinota..."
His heart stung a little now the more he talked. It was getting too much recently. The more he talked, the more he wanted to see Hinota and talk to her, just to see how she was doing even if it's for a moment.
His longing to see her was becoming stronger each passing day. Seeing Kasara most of the time made it worse as her fiery red hair and sharp eyes reminded him of her so much that it hurts.
Heaving another sigh, Kudo put the necklace back into his shirt. He decided to keep it out of his mind by checking his skills for any improvements. Opening up his menu, his breath was taken away when he spotted a name that was never there before.
"Oh... that's a new skill!"
He must have missed a notification during his training. He looked up at the description after he touched the name.
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【Plus Summon】 Lv. 1 Proficiency: 0%
You are able to call upon a being that lives in the empty void. According to the [LUK] stat, you can call upon different beings.
MP Cost: 50 per Second or 1500 for individual control
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"Plus Summon... I can summon something?!"
—Summoning:
A skill that allows a mage to bring a familiar from a different dimension to this world, and use its own skills to support him in battle.
Kudo now has such a skill, despite the fact that he has a support class.
"Man, this class really is something..." He felt giddy, his excitement replacing his longing as he cracked a smile. "Then, time to test it out!"
Kudo called off the menu and put himself into a stance. Gathering the mana within his body, he lifts his hand in the air, palm sprawled out as he shouted:
"——《Plus Summon》!"
As soon as he shouted, something appeared in front of his palm. It was a small magic circle, glowing with a white color before it expanded into a much larger size.
Then, in front of him appeared another magic circle. Kudo could see the strange runic inscriptions on the border of the circle, wondering what they mean. The magic circle began to glow brighter with each passing second. He felt the mana within his body being drained as if his energy was being sapped from him as the circle glows brighter. He imagined that he was summoning some powerful creature ready to destroy everything in its path.
Then, the magic circle flashed with a bright light, blinding his eyes a little. It was such a bright light that he wondered if it brightened up the sky.
His eyes managed to recover a little, and he spotted the culprit that blinded his eyes so. But he was left in shock.
"...This... is my summon?"