『Time for training.』


  Vandalieu told this to his undead servants after making them line up in front of the cave.

  Because of Rodcorte’s curse, Vandalieu couldn’t level up or change Jobs, thus making it impossible for him to become stronger on his own. So he tried to change his way of thinking and thought:『If I can't become stronger, then I’ll just make my servants stronger.』


  His reasoning was that if the undead following him were stronger, he could become capable of doing a wider range of things.

  『Going to the town with them might be difficult, but Mom did say that there were some adventurers that had Jobs in which monsters did their bidding, like Tamers, Lesser Mages and Summoners, so it’ll work out somehow.』


  In the future, he wanted them to have enough strength to fight monsters easily, but for now, if they could carry him and run with the same speed they had when were alive, it would be enough to get out of this forest and go on a journey.

  『They can’t even defeat wild wolves and bear as they are now, let alone monsters. Just the other day, my Bone Goblin was broken by a living Goblin.』


  The Undead that he had recently created were all very weak. Well, that was to be expected since he had a group of level 1 Undead. Well then, why didn’t he just create stronger Undead? That reason was that he didn’t know how to make Undead above level 2.

  In his previous life when he had awoken to the Death Attribute, he hadn’t experienced turning anybody into Undead except himself.

  『The researchers at that facility would have never given me the chance to gather servants. When I awoke, my control over both my body and my magic had already been taken away long ago. If they hadn’t done that, I would have found out about the various things they were researching, like immortal soldiers. Well, that facility ended up failing anyway.』


  He decided to change gears and check the fighting potential of his servants. Excluding the bugs that he used for gathering information, he lined up the Undead that looked like they could fight.

  Bone Monkey, Bone Wolf, Bone Man, Bone Bear and Bone Bird. These were the ones that seemed suited the task. There were also Bone Boar, Bone Rabbit, Bone Goblin and so on. But the only ones who were complete, without missing or broken bones, were these five only.

  『Well then, let us start the…training? Wait, what should I even make them do?』


  Vandalieu, who suddenly realized that he had no idea about what to make Bone Monkey and the rest do, was at a loss for words.

  Even amateurs had an idea about what do when training in order to become strong.

  One would run to increase stamina and do strength training to increase muscle strength.

  One would learn the moves of martial arts or unarmed combat and then have sparring sessions to get practical experience, and so on.

  But what would be an effective, Experience-Point-earning training for the Undead lined up in front of Vandalieu?

  Running? It would be pointless. They have no heart or lungs, and in the first place, what would be the point in the untiring Undead aiming to gain more stamina?

  Strength training? No, still no use. They had no muscles in the first place, having bodies solely made up of bones, so what exactly would they be trying “exercise” by doing push-ups and sit-ups?

  Unarmed combat and martial arts? Vandalieu didn’t know any, so there was no way to teach them.

  Sparring? The mental capabilities of the Undead were too low; if he had them fight, they would keep fighting until they were in pieces. It would just become a contest for one of them to crush the other.

  To begin with, Vandalieu himself never received any real training for fighting. On Earth, he did a moderate amount of exercise, but it was on the level of practising judo in physical education class in middle and high school; certainly not something that could be used in a real battle. In Origin, well, nothing more needed to be said.

  『Maybe I can ask the spirits of Orbie and those hunters… No, it’s impossible.』


  Those guys knew how to use bows. And the Undead didn’t yet have enough mental capacity to use bows. There’d be no point in teaching them.

  『Let’s check their status for now.』


  Though Darcia had failed to check Vandaleiu’s status when she tried, he was easily able to check the status of the Undead. What had been impossible for even a parent to do was probably possible because the Undead were in a subordinate relationship with Vandalieu. Darcia didn’t know much about the Jobs that let one control monsters like Tamer or Lesser Mage, or the skills related to them, so there was no way to be sure why.

  The status of the Undead was the following:

  Name: Bone Monkey/Bone Wolf/Bone Bear/Bone Man/Bone Bird

  Rank: 1;

  Race: Living Bones;

  Level: 0;

  Passive skills:

  Dark Vision;

  Active Skills:

  None

  『They’re weak… Too weak.』


  The Undead all belonged to the same race, regardless of what creature’s bones had been used to make them, and they all had the same status.

  Living Bones: Corpses that moved despite having become only skeletons after death. They had no other special characteristics.

  They did move, but their movements were clumsy and their strength was far below that of an average adult male. As for agility, they weren’t capable of running; their movement was slow. In addition, they couldn’t use the abilities and skills that they had while they were alive.

  The bones themselves were hard, but it would be easy to defeat them by attacking their joints.

  They had almost no intelligence or instincts, and at most they would make practice dummies for apprentice adventurers.

  In short, they were undead that couldn’t be relied on in battle.

  『So how am I supposed to make these guys stronger? I created them two months ago and they’re still level 0. I guess that means that they haven’t done anything that would gain them Experience Points as Living Bones. Then what would gain them Experience Points?』


  Swordsmen would gain Experience Points through battles and training, farmers through farming and weaponsmiths through forging weapons. So what would Undead need to do to gain Experience Points? How did monsters normally gain Experience Points?

  『By killing humans, maybe?』


  It occurred to him that they would need to harm humans as monsters would do, but… Even if this would work, it would be difficult to do in practice.

  Vandalieu would feel no remorse no matter how many of the people of Evbejia he killed, but if he killed people and then the Adventurers’ Guild sent out a request for him to be exterminated, he would be forced back to his underground lifestyle.

  He might be able to escape using the Undead as a decoy, but complete skeletons of large animals like Bone Monkey’s weren’t easy to find. They weren’t servants that he could use carelessly.

  『Well, let’s try killing things like rabbits and mice.』


  Because Vandalieu had needed fresh blood as a replacement for his mother’s milk, the Undead had captured animals like rabbits in traps, but kept them alive. Vandalieu would then bite them with their fangs to suck out their blood.

  If the Undead killed the animals themselves, they might be able to gain Experience Points.

  The next day, the Undead successfully captured a Goblin alive.

  High Priest Gordan’s expedition had decreased their numbers, but not completely wiped them out. There was a reason the Adventurers’ Guild was always requesting the subjugation of Goblins.

  「Gyiih~! Gyageeh!」


  There was no way to know whether the Goblin was trying to be menacing or hurling insults at them in the Goblin language, but it was shouting in an annoying voice as the Undead held it down.

  『So this is a Goblin…』


  Vandalieu looked at it with excitement, though his face was expressionless. It really was a fantasy world, he thought.

  Goblins. They were the typical small-fry monsters found in numerous fantasy works and it seemed like Lambda was no exception.

  It was lower-rank monster that not only lived in Devil’s Nests that were inhabited by monsters, but also lived in normal forest and even grasslands. Its body had dark green skin with a height reaching around the chest of a grown human and it had long ears like an elf, but its face was incomparably ugly.

  Its strength was about the same of an average human, if not a little less, and it wasn’t particularly agile. Its mental age was the same as a three-year-old, and it armed itself with a tree branch while using the hide of an animal to cover its body for protection.

  It was at Rank 1 and stronger than a single of the Living Bones Undead, but if alone, it was so weak it could be taken down by a farmer with a hoe. However, there was several superior types as well, so it was wise to be cautious.

  But the thing Goblins were feared for the most were their reproductive capabilities and adaptability.

  When breeding, Goblins birthed at between three to eight children at once. The newly born children became full adults in six months. The Goblins could keep on increasing in numbers regardless of if they were in the middle of a scorching desert or in the middle of winter.

  『Oh and there’s also the setting that often occurs in fantasy works where they kidnap human women. Though apparently it’s not as common as Orcs doing that.』


  He considered the knowledge Darcia had given him, but he thought it unlikely that the Goblin in front of him could do that. Simply because it didn’t have the strength to.

  『For now… all of you, go ahead and deal the finishing blow together.』


  His initial excitement was over; now it was time to see if the Undead could gain Experience Points or not.

  「Giyaahhhhh!」


  Bone Monkey and Bone Man hit and kicked the screaming Goblin on its head, Bone Bear and Bone Wolf bit and scratched it, while Bone Bird pecked at it. It was a gruesome method, but since the Living Bones couldn’t finish off the Goblin in one hit, it couldn’t be helped.

  Within ten seconds, the Goblin stopped moving. Vandalieu checked the status of the Undead.

  Name: Bone Monkey/Bone Wolf/Bone Bear/Bone Man/Bone Bird

  Rank: 1;

  Race: Living Bones;

  Level: 24~32;

  Passive skills:

  Dark Vision;

  Active Skills:?

  None;

  They had leveled up from level 0 to level 2.

  『Oh, they leveled up! Now it's clear that Undead can gain Experience Points from killing living things.』


  Having found out that even the Undead that he created using death-attribute magic could gain Experience Points, Vandalieu was both relieved and elated at the same time. With this, the prospect of living as an adventurer somewhere away from the influence of Amid Empire and the Church of Alda wasn’t impossible. He felt really good.

  『Hmm? I feel a little too good… status.』


  He was a little curious, so he tried checking his own status.

  Name: Vandalieu;

  Race: Dhampir (Dark Elf);

  Age: 8 months old;

  Title: None;

  Job: None;

  Level: 3 (Up!);

  Job history: None;

  Attributes:

  Vitality: 24;

  Mana: 100,001,203;

  Strength: 29;

  Agility: 4;

  Endurance: 31;

  Intelligence: 29

  Passive skills:

  Superhuman Strength: Level 1;

  Rapid Healing: Level 2;

  Death-Attribute Magic: Level 3;

  Status Effect Resistance: Level 3;

  Magic Resistance: Level 1;

  Dark Vision;

  Mental Corruption: Level 10;

  Death-Attribute Charm: Level 1

  Active skills:

  Bloodsucking: Level 2;

  Limit Break: Level 2;

  Golem Creation: Level 2

  Curses

  Experience gained in previous life not carried over

  Cannot learn existing Jobs

  Unable to gain Experience Points independently

  A surprising change had occurred.

  『My level has gone from 0 to 3!? The curse is still active, so why?』


  In the 8 months that he spent after being born on this planet, Lambda, his level had not increased at all no matter what he did. Even when he practised death-attribute magic, or killed rabbits by sucking them dry, or even killed Orbie and his partners in the same way.

  He checked his status again; there was no mistake. However, the “Unable to gain Experience Points independently” curse was still there.

  Then why? As Vandalieu was thinking about this, an explanation came to him.

  『Maybe, when Bone Monkey and the others gain Experience Points, a portion of that goes to me?』


  On Earth, there had been games with systems where when friendly monsters or the clones of the protagonist gained Experience Points, the protagonist gained a portion of that those. Had something similar happened here?

  『The effect of the curse just stops me from gaining Experience Points on my own, but gaining Experience Points by having the Undead under me earn it for me is effective… For curse a god cast on me, that’s too big of a loophole.』


  To overlook that fact that Vandalieu could get around the effect of the curse that had been cast in order to drive the death-attribute-wielding Vandalieu to suicide by having the Undead gain Experience Points for him. It was such a big loophole that he thought it was some kind of trap for moment. Rodcorte wouldn’t even have to think for a second to realize that Vandalieu could create Undead.

  However, the more he thought about it, the more Rodcorte seemed like a simple fool.

  『Now that I think about it, what he is doing is basically just passing all the work to us. Giving strength and opportunities to us… to everyone excluding me, and then offering no detailed instructions or following up with us afterwards. In that case, it would be natural to think that he wouldn’t be able to predict something like this.』


  It was likely that Rodcorte was viewing Vandalieu and Amemiya Hiroshi from a place that was far above. It wasn't like a nobles-and-peasants relationship, it wasn’t even in the same dimension. It was like the relationship between a player playing a simulation game and the player character inside the game. That was the extent of the gap between them.

  That was why even though he had put Vandalieu through such a terrible experience, he had merely thought “That was wrong of me” and nothing more. That was why, on top of that, to make Vandalieu give up on his revenge, Rodcorte thought nothing of trying to drive him to despair so that he would commit suicide.

  That was why Rodcorte didn’t think too deeply about Vandalieu. To him, Vandalieu was just one character among a hundred and one characters.

  『That’s why it was a curse like this. At this rate, I might be able to do something about my Job too.』


  Vandalieu felt delighted and invigorated, but at the same time, remembering all those thing made his wrath against Rodcorte flare up again. And then he renewed his vow to never commit suicide, a vow that he had made to himself many times before.

  Incidentally, he went ahead and had the corpse of the Goblin buried. The blood of Goblins tasted bad, there were no raw materials to be gotten from it, and since he wasn’t an adventurer, he couldn’t collect a bounty on it so there was no point keeping its body parts as proof of killing it. He thought about turning the corpse into Undead, but thinking that increasing the numbers of bodies that needed training would be a hassle, he said goodbye to it.

  When the sun had completely sun below the horizon, a bonfire could be seen burning in front of the cave in the forest.

  Five Undead with bluish-white flames burning in their empty eye sockets were gathered around the red fire. And then there was the child that looked like a toddler with such white skin that one would shiver at the sight of him, even in the red glow of the fire.

  In addition, the spirit of a beautiful, yet scarred Dark Elf appeared beside that toddler, as if cuddling him.

  If a traveller happened to come across the scene, such fear would be instilled in him that he would run away as fast as he could.

  The Dark Elf’s spirit slowly opened her mouth.

  『~?』


  It was an awkward song. It was said that it was the song that the champions had sung on their birthdays long ago, and it was still sung on birthdays in Lambda to this day.

  Kakakakak, Kashakashakasha.

  The Undead that had nothing but bones, instead of the song began making sounds with their teeth and beaks, or their hand or feet bones in rhythm with the song.

  『Happy first birthday, Vandalieu!』


  Receiving the blessings of the spirit, the toddler breathed in, and whispering a few choice words, blew in the direction of the bonfire.

  「Heat Leech.」


  The bonfire which was robbed of its heat by the magic spell imbued in the breath promptly went out. The surroundings became pitch black, but the hearts of the ones present were shining like the sun.

  『Happy first birthday, Vandalieu. Your Mother is really happy.』


  「Thank you, Mother.」


  The humidity of June in the country of Mirg was less than that of early summer in Japan. Vandalieu had turned exactly one year old today. They were gathered here to celebrate his birthday, but he couldn’t deny that it was less than glamorous compared to the birthday parties in typical households in both Earth and Origin.

  There was no cake and no presents. Their feast consisted of soup, with stock made from the bones of a raccoon with its meat finely minced and cooked with some spices.

  And, of course, the fresh blood of a raccoon.

  Though he had forcibly made the hard, smelly meat of the racoon into something edible, it was in no way an excellent meal. For a Dhampir like Vandalieu, it could be said that the blood was the only saving grace.

  『I’m really sorry. If your Mother was still alive, I’d have made you a proper feast.』


  Nonetheless, Vandalieu was happy.

  「There’s no need to apologize, Mother. I’m very happy.」


  Vandalieu had lived on both Earth and Origin, but this was the first time he was experiencing someone celebrating his birthday. In Origin, no researcher would celebrate the birthday of a guinea pig. To them, it was probably nothing more than increasing the number in the age field of their data records by one.

  On Earth, he had lived with his uncle’s family, but was told「You’re going to becoming a very responsible adult in the future, so if we start celebrating your birthday or christmas while you’re a kid you’ll become spoiled」and thus received no presents or cake. He had never even been congratulated once, even though the uncle did celebrate his own children’s birthdays.

  For Vandalieu, this was his first birthday party.

  『Vandalieu…』


  「Besides, today is a very memorable day when a lot of happy things happened.」


  Vandalieu said to Darcia, who had become teary eyed and reminded her about the other memorable things that had happened.

  First of all, he had become able to speak properly. This was a surprisingly important thing, because by being able to speak words, he was finally able to chant the spells he was casting.

  Up until now, he had been unable to chant the spells, and had been forcibly activating them by using an absurd amount of Mana. Therefore, each spell used Mana several times more Mana than it normally would and its potency was less than half of what it would normally be. If he hadn’t possessed such an abnormally huge amount of Mana, he would not have been to come as far as he did.

  However, since he did come this far without reciting the spells at all, as soon as he was able to speak, he gained the【Chant Revocation】skill, which allowed him to cast spells without chanting them.

  Apparently, it was such a rare skill that even Darcia was shocked, although she was a little bit depressed by the timing.

  In addition, Bone Monkey and the other Undead had reached Level 100 and increased their rank to 2.

  Name: Bone Monkey/Bone Wolf/Bone Bear/Bone Bird;

  Rank: 2;

  Race: Bone Animal;

  Level: 0~7;

  Passive skills:;

  Dark Vision

  Active Skills:?

  None

  Name: Bone Man;

  Rank: 2;

  Race: Skeleton;

  Level: 4;

  Passive skills:?

  Dark Vision

  Active Skills:?

  None

  As usual, there were no skills except Dark Vision, but there were great benefits that had come with increasing their rank.

  The overall attributes of Bone Monkey and the other Undead, which had now become Bone Animals, had increased to match the values they had as when they were alive. In addition, they now not only obeyed Vandalieu’s commands, but had their own intelligence of normal beasts.

  Bone Man was the only one that had changed into the Skeleton race after the rank up, but that was a given since he was made of the bones of a human. He had the strength and agility of an average human, and from the viewpoint of adventurers it was still a small fry, but for Vandalieu it was a reassuring addition to his forces.

  If he made him wear the leather armor that he had obtained from Orbie and the other hunters and then equip him with a dagger and wooden shield that he had made by creating a Wood Golem, he could prepare a fine skeleton warrior. Right now, it was practising using a bow.

  Incidentally, Vandalieu had also reached level 100. However, since it was the level 100 of “None” Job, his attributes did not increase that much. Although he had technically fulfilled the requirements for a Job change, he didn’t have access to the facilities required for a Job change, namely the special rooms that could be found in various guild or temples, so it was meaningless.

  Finally, even though his forces had come together somewhat, Vandalieu thought that it was still too early to exact his revenge on Evbejia. His power was still far too little. Even now, starting and completing his revenge would be possible. But he wasn’t sure that after that he would be able to run away from Evbejia and reach a place far away from the Mirg country where a Dhampir could live peacefully in a town. He must get his revenge on Evbejia and feel satisfied afterwards, so for now he was amassing power and supplies.

  「I’m thinking of starting to hunt bandits from tomorrow.」


  Bandits. They were not monsters, but rather armed factions of criminals that worked as robbers in the outskirts of towns.

  In other words, they were humans.

  How was the goal of amassing power and supplies related to taking the initiative to kill humans? There was very logical answer to this.

  「Recently, no matter how many hares or raccoons the Undead kill, their levels don’t go up, and there no monsters stronger than Goblins in this forest. But Evbejia is the center of the path that leads to other villages, and if we search for some bandits, I’m sure we’ll find some. If we kill the bandits, that’ll become Experience Points for the Undead, while the supplies they have hoarded will become ours. Two birds with one stone, I think.」


  And on top of that, in this world, there was no law against killing bandits and taking their loot for yourself. On Earth and Origin, killing and taking their stolen good made you a full-fledged criminal. However, in Lambda, even if a normal citizen killed a bandit, he would not be treated as a criminal. On the contrary, you were praised as having done a good job and no one called you a「killer」or told you that you「took away their human rights.」The stolen goods were treated as the rightful property of the one who took down the bandits. If the original owner really wanted to regain his possessions, it was thought that he should independently negotiate with the one who took down the bandits.

  『But, isn’t taking down bandits dangerous? Even D-class adventurers do it in a group.』


  Darcia spoke to Vandalieu, worried about him. He smiled at her reassuringly.

  「I’ll prepare a proper ambush, so it’s okay. Besides, I already have an idea of where I can find some bandits.」


  And so, from the next day, at the age of one, Vandalieu began to do work by himself that even D-class adventurers did in a group.

  Name: Vandalieu;

  Race: Dhampir (Dark Elf);

  Age: 1 year old;

  Title: None;

  Job: None;

  Level: 100 (LEVEL UP!);

  Job history: None;

  Attributes:

  Vitality: 34;

  Mana: 100,001,223;

  Strength: 32;

  Agility: 7;

  Stamina: 33;

  Intelligence: 45;

  Passive skills:

  Superhuman Strength: Level 1;

  Rapid Healing: Level 2;

  Death-Attribute Magic: Level 3;

  Status Effect Resistance: Level 3;

  Magic Resistance: Level 1;

  Dark Vision;

  Mental Corruption: Level 10;

  Death-Attribute Charm: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!).

  Chant Revocation (NEW!).

  Active skills:

  Bloodsucking: Level 3 (LEVEL UP!).

  Surpass Limits: Level 2.

  Golem Transmutation: Level 2.

  Curses

  Experience gained in previous life not carried over

  Cannot learn existing Jobs

  Unable to gain Experience Points independently

  Appendix 6 — An introduction to the races — Arachne, Empusa and…


  Regarding the strength of Vida’s races (An excerpt from manuscripts held by the Mages’ Guild branch of the city of Niarki in the Hartner Duchy)

  In addition to their Jobs, those of Vida’s races that originated from monsters have Ranks displayed in their Statuses like monsters.

  Depending on these Ranks, their Attribute Values can become higher than those of races such as humans.

  They possess both bonuses from Jobs and the physical abilities of monsters, and they are capable of equipping themselves with arms.

  Thus, they are capable of undergoing repeated Job-changes, and if they are in an environment where they can equip themselves well, it is obvious that races like Arachne, Scylla and Lamia can become stronger than the average human adventurer. This is also the reason why Vampires and Majin are viewed as threats.

  While there are many monsters that never increase their Ranks even once during their lifetimes, the members of Vida’s races that increase their strength in these environments increase their Ranks at least twice on average. (The time required for this depends on the individual and the race that they belong to.)

  Also, it is dangerous to judge the strength of members of Vida’s races from their Rank alone. When they have bonuses to their Attribute Values and Skills from their Jobs and are well-equipped in addition to that, it can be assumed that they are more effective in combat than their Rank may suggest.

  Whether for better or worse, members of Vida’s races that originated from monsters are often restricted from becoming adventurers or members of the national army as soldiers and knights.

  But caution should be taken, as there are Vampires who have penetrated deep into human society.

  An introduction to races - written by Luciliano

  The following accounts might differ in parts from those of the Adventurers’ Guild and Mages’ Guild, but I have written them after directly seeing and talking to members of each race within the Boundary Mountain Range and conducting my own investigations.

  Arachne

  One of the two races born between Vida, the goddess of life and love, and Zanalpadna, the evil god of carapaces and compound eyes.

  They possess the upper body halves of beautiful women and the lower body halves of spiders. At present, they are divided into three types - large-build, medium-build and small-build - each with their own special characteristics.

  Immediately after the birth of the race, it is thought that only one type of Arachne existed, likely the medium-build Arachne, and they diverged into three types after the war between Vida and Alda that took place a hundred thousand years ago.

  Incidentally, according to materials that I borrowed from Zanalpadna’s Chief Mage Bakota-shi, it seems that aquatic Arachne do not exist.

  It is likely that the aquatic Arachne described in the Adventurers’ Guild’s manuscripts refer to Arachne that have developed cultural practices, such as using their thread to create pouches filled with air, that make an aquatic lifestyle possible. It seems that their biology is no different from other Arachne.

  Because they are a race of only females, their upper halves are those of beautiful women from the perspective of humanoid races, and many Arachne resemble humans. They have compound eyes on their foreheads and backs, but if those are kept hidden, it would be difficult to tell whether they are Arachne just by looking at their upper halves.

  Unlike Scylla, the features of their upper halves can vary greatly; individuals can have hair, eyes and compound eyes of a variety of colors.

  But if they give birth to males of a certain race over multiple generations, it seems that the characteristics of those males appear in the upper bodies of the Arachne.

  Their spider-like lower bodies have an armor-like exoskeleton and eight legs with strange claws at their ends. Small-build Arachne often have bright colors reminiscent of fish that live in tropical regions, while medium-build Arachne are divided roughly evenly into those with plain colors and those with venomous-looking colors. Many large-build Arachne have plain colors but have tufts of fur growing on their lower bodies.

  Medium-build Arachne still have the traits of the race’s founder and are the most common type of Arachne. Their base Rank is 3.

  Their upper bodies look like those of women in their late-teenage years to their twenties, and they have lifespans of about three hundred years. They have a good balance of qualities for combat and magic. They are well-suited to become adventurers of all kinds.

  Also, they are the type of Arachne that can produce the highest quantity of thread in a single day, and their threads are the most stable in quality as well.

  Small-build Arachne are a type of Arachne specialized in using threads in an agile and dexterous way, and many of them have an affinity for the wind attribute. Their base Rank is 2.

  They are even smaller in size than adult human men. Their upper bodies have the appearances of women in their early-to-mid teenage years, and they have lifespans of about two hundred years. They are well-suited to becoming scouts.

  Many of them have childish personalities that match their appearance, often playing pranks with their threads. Even during my short stay in the nation, I witnessed Master falling for these several times.

  They produce the highest-quality thread among Arachne, and they are adept in creating delicate structures with their thread. However, the amount of thread they can produce in a single day is less than the medium-build Arachne.

  Large-build Arachne are the type of Arachne that are fewest in number, and they are powerful, heavy warriors. Though they do not have much talent for magic, they make up for it with exceptional physical qualities. Their bodies are about as large as a carriage, and they have considerable horsepower as well. Their upper bodies look similar in age to medium-build Arachne, but their proportions match their lower bodies; the upper bodies are about the same size as those of Titan women. They have lifespans of four hundred years, and with a heavy weapon in hand, they could easily scatter a group of average adventurers.

  But as they are not good at tight turns, even if they become adventurers, there are many places that they cannot go… or at least, places that they would not be able to go in human societies. This does not apply in Talosheim or the region enclosed by the Boundary Mountain Range.

  But perhaps because their ability to create thread has retrogressed, their thread is of low quality and they produce far less in quantity than small-build Arachne.

  All three of these types are categorized as Arachne, and there is a chance of any of these being born to parents of any type. It is possible for a small-build mother to have a large-build daughter and vice-versa.

  Also, the ability to cover ground quickly is another feature that all Arachne have in common.

  In Zanalpadna and the rest of the area enclosed by the Boundary Mountain Range, there are almost no Arachne living as ordinary citizens, but it seems that they all generally become craftsmen that create cloths, clothing and arms from their own thread. This is the same for Arachne outside the Boundary Mountain Range as well.

  The difference is that they acquire their own original Jobs such as Spider Tamer, Samurai and Kunoichi. The existence of these Jobs was not recorded in documents in the Amid Empire, Mirg shield-nation or the Orbaume Kingdom.

  There is the possibility that the Arachne outside the Boundary Mountain Range are in hiding, but it is likely that the worship of Zanalpadna and the knowledge of the culture from another world left behind by the champion Hillwillow are the reasons for this.

  Zanalpadna’s citizens mainly live on materials hunted and gathered from nearby Devil’s Nests and Dungeons, as well as grains such as wheat that is harvested in low-difficulty Dungeons such as the Shell-less Open Field.

  But they generally enjoy meat and fish. It seems that mammoth meat is their soul food.

  In Zanalpadna’s case, their romantic behavior comes down to group marriages; it is ordinary practice for multiple men and women to live in the same tower-shaped dwelling. It seems that nothing is considered an affair as long as one dates one of the men or women within their group.

  Incidentally, it is apparently also normal for individuals to leave their group and move to another group.

  It seems that for a long time, there have been cases of Arachne leaving Zanalpadna and marrying into families of other races in other nations - Noble Orcs and the other main races of the other nations. The Arachne likely see this as a rare opportunity for themselves to find partners that are stronger than themselves - in other words, companions that they can rely on.

  Outside of the Boundary Mountain Range, they form settlements like the Scylla and live together with males of other races.

  They give birth about once every ten years, and they lay several eggs at once. They often repeat this process several times over their lifetimes. All Arachne children have similar appearances regardless of which type of Arachne they are, but as they repeat their yearly molting, their sizes and the colors of their exoskeletons change and their fur grows, allowing them to be distinguished.

  This molting allows the healing and regeneration of any injuries in their legs or exoskeletons, as well as the compound eyes of the upper body. However, it seems that multiple molts are required to regenerate legs that have been completely lost.

  In Zanalpadna, there is a culture of using the molted husks to create ‘necklaces of deep affection,’ which are used as presents to symbolize friendship and love. Accepting such a necklace as a male is equivalent to accepting a proposal, so caution should be taken.

  There is a ritual used to turn a member of a non-Vida-created race into an Arachne. A priest of Zanalpadna blesses a special spider (which takes several years to raise), and the spider and the target (limited to females) are wrapped in thread. It is said that the target is reborn as an Arachne after ten years.

  Many who undergo the ritual become medium-build Arachne. But there are apparently rare cases of the target becoming a small-build or large-build Arachne if a small-build or large-build spider is used for the ritual.

  Incidentally, there is a race known as Andro Scorpions that live in deserts; could they possibly be related to the Arachne? I am interested in this topic, but it seems that at the very least, they do not exist within the Boundary Mountain Range.

  I shall have Master assist me in researching this when he steps foot into human society.

  Empusa

  One of the two races born between Vida, the goddess of life and love, and Zanalpadna, the evil god of carapaces and compound eyes.

  They have appearances that look as if praying mantises and women have been combined, and they have a pair of sickle arms in addition to a pair of arms that look like those of a human.

  But like praying mantises, it seems that they have a limited ability to fly and they are unable to fly freely over long distances. Their wings are mostly used to glide.

  Many Empusa individuals are tall compared to human women, and some have heights of over two meters.

  Their existence has been forgotten outside the Boundary Mountain Range for a long time, but they are certainly a fully-fledged, Vida-created race.

  Their exoskeletons are about as strong as those of small-build Arachne, about the same as leather armor. But the sickles of even Empusa children are far stronger and sharper than cheaply-made weapons.

  The sickles of those who have increased their Rank multiple times are apparently not inferior even when compared to magic swords made of Mythril or Adamantite.

  Empusa have a base Rank of 4. But they are a race with a meager talent for magic, so few of them use elemental magic.

  They have lifespans of four hundred years, and in Zanalpadna, they co-exist with the Arachne and live in the same marital groups. It seems that when they marry into other nations, they adopt the marital customs of those nations.

  There are even less Empusa living as civilians than Arachne; it is safe to say that they are non-existent. As their bodies resemble those of humans more closely, it is likely that they can work as adventurers in a greater variety of environments.

  About half of Empusa choose to be scouts while the other half become frontline warriors, and there is no small number of offense-oriented shield-bearers who use their sickle-arms to attack and their other two hands to hold shields.

  Like the Arachne, many Empusa individuals yearn to become Ninja and Bushi. Like the Arachne, they can acquire the Samurai and Kunoichi Jobs, but with Zanalpadna’s divine protection, they can acquire the Mantis Tamer Job, a special Tamer-type Job that allows them to tame praying mantises rather than spiders.

  The Empusa’s view on love is… so strange that one cannot help but to question whether they are really women.

  When appealing to members of the opposite gender, they put a heavy emphasis on showing how strong, attractive and rich they are.

  This is the reason the Empusa Berserker Gaol invites Zeno to clear Dungeons and go hunting.

  It would seem that the gender roles are reversed, but if one thinks about it rationally, the Empusa are a race specialized for hunting and combat as their sickles would suggest, and this might be only natural if one considers that they live within the Boundary Mountain Range, an environment surrounded by Devil’s Nests.

  I very much hope that Gaol and Zeno can overcome this cultural difference.

  Empusa have the same culture of giving necklaces of deep affection as the Arachne; they symbolize friendship if given to members of the same gender and love if given to members of the opposite gender. They use the husks from their molts to create the necklaces like the Arachne, but as Empusa cannot produce threads, they request Arachne individuals with whom they have close relationships to provide threads in order to assist in the creation of the necklaces.

  For the Arachne being requested to do this, this holds the same meaning as being given a necklace of deep affection.

  They produce children at the same pace of once every ten years or so like the Arachne, laying clutches of multiple eggs twice or three times over their lifetimes.

  The ritual to turn a member of a non-Vida-created race into an Empusa requires the same methods as the Arachne ritual. The difference is that a praying mantis is used instead of a spider, and they are wrapped in foamy mucus instead of threads.

  Majin

  Human societies, not only Alda’s followers but Vida’s followers as well, believe the Majin to be a race created between Vida and a powerful monster. They are believed to be evil and peerlessly cruel. They are thought of as manifestations of evil that enjoy every immorality there is in this world, and requests to exterminate them are sent out by the Adventurers’ Guild as soon as they are discovered.

  But the truth is that they are a race born between Vida and Zantark, the war-god of fire and destruction, who fused with two evil gods.

  They are a separate race from the Kijin, whom human societies believe to be a single race with the Majin. It seems that this misunderstanding stems from the fact that the ancestor of the Majin race and the ancestor of the Kijin race are twins, just like the ancestors of the Arachne and Empusa.

  They do not have particularly virtuous personalities, but they are not evil or peerlessly cruel, nor do they enjoy every immorality. They do have strong pleasure-seeking, hedonistic tendencies, but compared to Master or myself, many of them seem to be within the realm of being ordinary.

  In the region within the Boundary Mountain Range, it is said that Zantark’s child that inherited more of the evil gods’ blood founded the Majin race, while the one that inherited more of Zantark’s own blood founded the Kijin race.

  At present, the Majin race is divided roughly into three types, but like the Arachne, only a single type of Majin existed before the war that occurred a hundred thousand years ago, and the other types appeared after the war. There are records of Pure-breed Majin left in the Majin nation, so I shall include them and describe the four types of Majin.

  First, the Pure-breed Majin that were simply called Majin at the time, from which the current Majin race originated. From legends and such that are left, it can be concluded that they had a base Rank of 5. They apparently had the simple appearances of humans with blue skin and a pair of horns on their heads.

  Because they didn’t have wings, they could not fly through the air, but just like the Majin of the present, they possessed exceptional physical qualities and dispositions for the use of magic, so it seems that they were still a powerful race.

  Next, the Battle-Majin Diablos. Godwin, the current king of the Majin, belongs to this category.

  They possess two horns, membranous wings, a tail with a triangular tip and blue skin. They also have muscular bodies that are as large as those of Titans. They are a combat-oriented race, exceptional both in combat techniques and the use of magic, and their base Rank is 7.

  The Adventurers’ Guild fearfully refers to these Majin as Majin of flames; many of them are masters of Fire-Attribute Magic and possess a strong resistance to fire. There are eyewitness accounts of them swimming in lakes of magma.

  Obscene-Majin Succubi… Males are referred to as Incubi. Iris Bearheart has transformed into this type of Majin, and Gerazorg, the one responsible for the failed coup d’état, apparently belongs to this category as well.

  Features such as their horns, membranous wings and the color of their skin are the same as the Diablos, but their physiques are similar to those of humans, with many individuals having balanced bodily proportions… Also, there are rumors that many have tails with heart-shaped tips rather than triangular ones.

  Their base Rank is 6, and though their physical abilities are not poor by any means, their magical qualities are more exceptional. However, the most characteristic thing about this type of Majin is that they all possess the Allure, Spirit Siphon and Illusory Transformation Skills.

  It is said that Succubi use these Skills to seduce men while Incubi use them to seduce women, and they suck the ‘spirit’ of their victims.

  But because their Illusory Transformation Skill does not work on members of the same gender, it was said in human societies that couples with poor relationships that slept in separate rooms were suitable targets for Obscene-Succubi.

  When I said this to Obscene-Succubi, they told me that it would be more normal to target unmarried people living on their own. This is a very reasonable argument.

  In addition, it seems that they have no problem in continuing to live without using Spirit Siphon. Human ‘spirit’ is apparently nothing more than a luxury item like alcohol to Obscene-Majin.

  Beast-Majin Vandals. Other than having two horns and blue skin, they have little in common with the other two types of Majin. It is a mere coincidence that their name is similar to Master’s.

  Their bodies have beast-like characteristics … or rather, they simply possess beast body parts, and it is possible for two Vandals to appear to be completely different races.

  Those who simply have fur, scales or shells covering over half of their bodies and those with beast-like ears, tails, fangs and claws are the plain ones. There are some with the upper bodies of wolves or tigers, and some with the lower bodies of enormous four-legged beasts or serpents.

  Their base Rank is 6, and they have better physical ability than aptitude for magic. It seems that many of them have beast-like personalities as well.

  What all Majin have in common is that they have no lifespans; unless they encounter unexpected accidents, become sick or die in battle, they continue living forever. Perhaps because of this, they have a strong sense of unity as a race.

  They treat those who have relations with them with particular importance. Thus, they have strong bonds within the groups that they belong to. But as this is not limited to members of their own race, it seems difficult to say that they are exclusive.

  As for Gerazorg, who betrayed the Majin nation, it is thought that he felt more of a bond with Bugitas and his subordinates than he did with Godwin and the other Majin.

  There are generally no ordinary civilians among Majin. Those of the Majin nation believe it right to polish one’s skills and fight, so all Majin acquire combat-related Jobs. However, as they have unlimited lifespans, it seems that many of them become absorbed in hobbies to keep themselves busy and end up becoming as skilled as first-rate craftsmen.

  Their suitability for becoming adventurers does not even need to be written about.

  Several unique Jobs that only Majin can acquire have been confirmed. The most well-known among these is the Demon Tamer Job. Demons are likely creatures that are coagulated masses of the contaminated Mana of one or perhaps both of the evil gods that fused with Zantark. This is likely the most well-known Job because the Majin with these Jobs can command Demons, or perhaps because the Demons resemble them.

  Because of this Job, there is an overwhelming number of people in human societies who believe that Majin are a superior race of Demons.

  To explain this as a former citizen of human society myself, Arch-Demons and Greater Demons do resemble Diablos, and Lesser Demons, which have the heads of goats, have many features in common with Vandals. While they are rare, there are also Demons that resemble Succubi, so I do not think that this misunderstanding is surprising.

  There are many other unique Jobs such as Beast Majin Warrior, Majin Swordsman and Battle Majin General.

  The Majin’s views on love and marriage depend on the individual. While many live an ordinary married life with a certain man or woman, there are also those who assist each other in raising children and then separate once the children are raised. There are also some who do not stay together even with children, and the mother raises the children with her parents and siblings.

  There is no marriage system in the Majin nation; they have a system where men and women can have relationships with each other as they like. In other words, the nation’s official stance is, “Do what you like.” But it seems that if one is too irresponsible, one will end up like Gerazorg.

  Perhaps as a side-effect of Majin having unlimited lifespans, the race as a whole has difficulty creating children, and it seems that many of them do not feel the need to have children. As a result, many of them have more than one child, but it is not uncommon for it to take them many years to do so.

  However, though this is an extreme exception, there was apparently an Incubus who had over a dozen children, so it seems that there are still large individual differences.

  That applies for the development of Majin children as well; there are those who develop at the same rate as humans and become adults after fifteen years, and those that develop like Elves and half-Elves, their development slowing down in their early teenage years and requiring between twenty to thirty years in order to reach adulthood. There are also those whose appearances remain fixed as those of children.

  That is why in the Majin nation, a system has been adopted where the individual and their parent must acknowledge that the individual has become an adult and the individual must pass an examination at a government office before they are certified as an adult.

  As adulthood for Majin is a certification, it can be invalidated or revoked if individuals do very foolish things.

  Incidentally, Gerazorg did such foolish things repeatedly, and planned his coup d’état after having his adulthood certification revoked multiple times… nobody approved of him.

  Regarding rituals to turn members of other races into Majin. Majin are able to turn not only humans, Elves and Dwarves, but other races of Vida that do not originate from monsters (Those with no Rank in their Statuses), into Majin as well.

  The most well-known ritual is… It is questionable as to whether it can be called a ritual, but it is the method of repeated intercourse with an Obscene-Majin. Simply having repeated, continuous intercourse with an Obscene-Majin over a long period of time can turn one into a Majin, so if one ignores the time and process, it is the simplest method.

  It is thought that the Mana in the Obscene-Majin’s body is transferred to the partner through intercourse, and once it passes a certain threshold, the partner transforms into a Majin.

  The required time is… As no detailed records remain, it cannot be said with certainty, but it is a year at most. As for the required frequency… I will deliberately refrain from recording it here. It seems that the higher the Rank the Obscene-Succubus is, the less time it takes and the less frequent the intercourse must be.

  If such a thing is possible, one might think it strange that the Majin population is not exploding. But a partner that an Obscene-Majin would have repeated, continuous intercourse with would naturally be someone who is special to that Obscene-Majin… so it seems that the population will not explode.

  The next most well-known ritual is the one used by Godwin on Iris Bearheart, the Battle-Majin’s ‘Blood Cocoon’ ritual. The required time period is as short as seven days and seven nights, but a special magic circle and a holy grail are necessary, and a great quantity of live sacrifices must be prepared. It is normally a very difficult ritual to carry out.

  Thus, this ritual was not conducted very often in the Majin nation. Human societies are not even aware of this ritual’s existence.

  The last ritual is the Beast-Majin Vandals’ ‘Beast Majin Den,’ but it is a bloody ritual that involves the candidate being placed inside a small, consecrated hole in the ground and then fed only the flesh and blood of Vandals to finally emerge as a Majin.

  It is likely that the same effect as intercourse with Obscene-Majin is being used through the act of eating. There are even fewer cases of this ritual being conducted than the ‘Blood Cocoon,’ and there are almost no records of them, so the details are unknown.

  The kind of Majin that the target of a ritual becomes is determined not by the race of the Majin that conducted the ritual, but the birth… the body of the target.

  Those of races less than two meters in height, such as humans, Elves, Dwarves and Dark Elves, almost always become Obscene-Majin.

  Those with heights of a little over two meters, like Titans, become Battle-Majin.

  And Beast-people and those who have inherited remarkable beast-like characteristics often become Beast-Majin.

  But the Majin nation also possesses records of Incubi with muscular, three-meter tall bodies, Battle-Majin as tall as the chest-height of an adult and Succubi with the ears of beasts being born as a result of these rituals.

  Half-Noble Orc

  A race born when Master conducted a pseudo-reincarnation for the first time… indeed, it is a new humanoid race rather than a new monster. She can acquire Jobs, so there is no doubt about it.

  She is a young girl with special characteristics such as ears and a tail resembling those of a pig’s, and an enormous… at this point in time, three-meter-tall, body. Judging from her current pace of development, it can be assumed that she will reach the appearance of a fifteen-year-old human by the age of ten; in other words, she will become an adult by that age.

  Would she likely be mistaken as a half-Titan, half-Beast-person by those who look at her appearance? Boar-type Beast-people do not exist, so they may realize that something is strange about her afterwards.

  She has possessed great strength since birth, and her stamina is exceptional. She is still six years old at present… in human terms, she would be just short of nine years old, but she already possesses the muscular strength to crush a Rank 3 monster with her bare hands.

  But it seems that she is not adept with magic. It is unclear as to whether this is a characteristic of her race or whether learning magic is too difficult for her at this age.

  … It is meaningless to compare her to Master, even if they are of the same equivalent age, so I shall refrain from doing so.

  There is still only a single individual of this race, so investigating the race as a whole is impossible. It is also unknown as to whether males of this race can exist. After hearing that Master would advance into the Noble Orc empire, I had thought that this would be a chance for the birth of a large quantity of new half-Noble-Orcs, but…


  Once Master works as an adventurer in human societies, I would very much like him to accept many requests to exterminate Orcs and Minotaurs.

  If he does, we will likely know whether Orcs can become half-Orcs and Minotaurs can become half-Minotaurs.

  Legion

  They are a human. Some would disagree, but… they are a fully-fledged human that can acquire Jobs.

  Their appearance is that of a sphere made of around a dozen mannequins made of flesh (different from being skinless with their muscles exposed) entwined around each other… and there are countless pieces of flesh that look exactly like human limbs and heads protruding from the sphere’s surface.

  Of course, this is only their original form; they can change their size and form at will with the Size Alteration and Form Alteration Skills.

  Their body does not contain skin, hair, bones, viscera, hearts… or even brains; they are simply made of flesh.

  They are like a Slime made of flesh, but even if they are to be compared to a Slime, Slimes possess a core inside their body. Legion does not even have such a core. In other words, there are no parts of their body that can be considered vital spots. In addition to this, they possess a tremendous amount of Vitality and astounding regenerative abilities.

  They were weak to heat and lightning before, but as they have acquired a resistance Skill, it can be said that this weakness is now gone.

  And the thing that I find most difficult to believe is that Master is not the one who caused Legion’s birth.

  Master simply created the ‘base form of life’ and the ‘base form of spirit’ that became Legion’s foundation, and the ones mainly responsible for Legion’s birth were Ricklent, the genie of time and magic, Zuruwarn, the god of space and creation and the god of the foreign world of Origin.

  Have these three gods not surpassed Vida? However, I will deliberately refrain from recording which aspect they have surpassed her in.

  Their personalities, or rather, their minds, are… extremely difficult to comprehend. They have shared memories and senses, so it is apparently similar to Master’s clones that he often creates through Out-of-body Experience, though they all possess different personalities.

  It seems that Pluto generally takes leadership of them most of the time, but this apparently does not mean that she is the center of their personalities. In fact, even when her personality separates from the rest with the Long-distance Control Skill, the remaining personalities of Legion can continue functioning with no problems in her absence.

  According to Enma, one of Legion’s personalities, “One person is everyone, and everyone is one person.”


  And since they are a race, they should be able to reproduce… produce children, but that is a mystery as well.

  One could assume that it is highly likely that they can reproduce through fission like Slimes… In fact, there is a theory that Slimes can reproduce by laying eggs rather than through fission.

  This is a theory that an egg of the same color as the Slime grow inside its body, and the egg hatches as it is laid, making the process appear to be fission.

  As for which method Legion would use… I would certainly like to know.

  Luciliano put his pen down and let out a deep sigh. “My lifespan is not long enough for me to find that out. Should I become a Vampire after all? I can’t imagine my own appearance if I were to become an Incubus… But which of them would I choose a ‘parent’ from? I suppose for now, I will ask Master to increase my lifespan through Youth Transformation.”


  As if setting this matter aside, Luciliano set aside the paper upon which he had written details about the half-Noble Orc and Legion, and then prepared a fresh piece of paper.

  “I must record the details of the Vida-created races living within the Boundary Mountain Range while I can. Master will likely not hold back in influencing them in a way that will greatly change their culture and lifestyles. Once that happens, it will be a lot of trouble to find out how things were before.”


  Luciliano was supposed to be an Undead specialist, so why was he making these natural-history-like records?

  He did ponder this question himself, but he didn’t think that this was a bad thing.