Chapter 268 - Versatile, Jack Of All Trades And The Versatile Battle Mage (VII)

The tentacles are still trying to wriggle out of the cave so before it can fully get out, we used our Teleport Stone. It needed 5 seconds to cast and we have to stay still for that to finish casting. If we did it inside the cave, there is a high possibility of the Teleport Stone breaking when interrupted while casting it so it is best to be safe than sorry. As soon as the teleport stone finished its casting time, our bodies were covered in bright light before we disappeared from where we stood.

...

Our bodies appeared again but this time, we are now back to the simulated village. 

"Oh! Master is back!" the first to notice me was Kurogane of the Dark Desert Wolf Pack since he was near when we arrived.

When they heard we have arrived, they quickly gathered around since they know I will report my findings.

"Settle down guys, I think we will stay here for quite a while. Let me explain the situation to everyone."

After that, I explained some of the things that occurred inside the cave. It took quite a while since Lina also explained some things.

"I see. So the target this time is a Foreign being and it is immortal and Invincible until wave 60? That doesn't sound so good to me," Goro said scratching his chin.

"There are some books back at home in the past that put some details to these creatures. I thought they were monsters in myth at first but I didn't expect that they are actually real?" Lucia was surprised when she heard Foreign Beings are real and not just products of imagination.

"In any case, we will have to focus on fortifying this village and defend it until wave 60 until we can take action. Until then, we will have to work a lot more than usual. Are you guys ready for this?" I looked at everyone.

"We will be able to do it, Master. Also, isn't it fine to also fail?" Atlas asked.

"Yes. We can fail in defending the Village. However, we will be restarting from scratch, and all our resources to defend the village that will be carried over after the failure will be the horde coins that are not spent."

"Is there anything wrong with it, Atlas?" Lucia asked.

"No, but I have a suggestion regarding this that might allow us to gain our advantage on this feature," Atlas said.

"Oh? Are you going to suggest losing purposely?" I looked at Atlas since I am also thinking the same thing after seeing the state of the boss and the requirements to remove its invincibility and immortality.

"Yes, Master. That is what I have in mind. Since I doubt we can earn much every wave, it would be a much more logical thing to earn horde coins from the waves we can defend against and wait until we can no longer defend the village without upgrading the defensive and offensive mechanisms of it. Since we won't be spending the horde coins, we will be able to accumulate a lot of coins that once we managed to get a lot, we can just go and upgrade everything to the max level and wait until wave 60 before we go launch an attack. How does that sound?"

Hearing Atlas's suggestion, I clapped my hands in delight. I don't even have to explain everything since what he just said is also my plan after witnessing the might of the enemy.

"Master?" Lina was surprised by my reaction.

"I like it, Atlas. That plan is indeed a good way to do so. We wouldn't worry about the villagers since they are just dummies. Also, if we just focus on the monsters, that also means a good way for us to train our skills that we don't have fully mastered and we need a live target to demonstrate, this is a perfect chance to utilize it since we can fail without risk here."

"Hey! I like the sound of that! I can keep on burning enemies as much as I can and practice the spells I wanted to practice! Thanks for suggesting this, Master!"

Due to this suggestion, everyone got hyped with the incoming horde. Since fighting and using their skills to perfect their skills in battle against monsters, it is a good chance to increase their familiarity with the skills and moves they currently possess. And since the main target of the enemies is the village, the enemies rarely attack which is why it is a good way to get used to the skills and the effects of your talents and abilities.

And with that, our grind for Horde coins begins.

...

...

Two months have passed since we are inside the portal. It took us a while but there are many things we have to do after. First, just like the real world, night and day exist here, and sometimes, there are special waves like the night wave horde. These typical waves only occur during the nighttime. It isn't typically hard but it's troublesome since Night Mode hordes are not part of the normal wave as they only appear at night. Basically, you can call them the bonus round.

Still, even though they are bonus rounds, they are ruthless in the attack. During our first night, the one that annihilated our village is the night wave since we didn't expect it. But once the enemies in night wave die, I earn quite a lot of Horde Coins depending on the monsters that appear during the Night Horde and how well we defended the base. Since then, we got excited about killing the Night Horde due to the number of coins we can receive after a successful defense against the Night Horde.

Now, we are nearing the end of the grind. After two months, the amount of Horde Coins I can carry is now nearing its limit. I didn't notice it at first until a notification showing the amount of Horde coins storage is nearing its limit. That's when I hit 980,000 horde coins.

We are almost near the final defense and the crappy defensive walls of the Village are now nearing their final life. The longest wave we managed to hold is Wave 34. Any longer than that we can no longer finish it.

"So this is the very end of our grind, Master. Have you already mastered how to kill the enemies here?" Lina asked.

"Heh, I already memorized most of it. Although they are irregular and they don't spawn with definite numbers, I managed to learn a lot of their moves and master my abilities in fighting. This might be what the training for being a Versatile is really about."

The others also arrived and gathered around us.

"So the walls can no longer hold them back?" I asked.

"Yes, Master. There is no need for us to defend it and we should just wait for the reset to happen," Atlas answered.

"So how many horde coins did we get in total, Master? We killed a lot so I doubt we earned so little," Lucia said as she tried to peer into the panel where I display the amount we got.

"Yep, we got to hit the limit."

"Aww, that's too bad I guess. I thought we will be able to not hit the limit. I was even thinking of aiming to nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine amount of coins."

"Too bad, we cannot do that but that also means we are now ready to start our upgrades."

...

We waited for an hour before the village that was wrecked to pieces by the monsters has finally returned back to its glory as nothing happened. The wave count also returned to zero which means we are now going to spend the horde coins and we are now getting our first preparation for the next waves until we reach wave 60. Until then, we will have no rest.

...

Outside the portal, the entity of the Shrine of Ascension smiled as she looks at the footage of the exploits of the people who are fighting inside the portal.

"Heh, what an interesting bunch. This is the first time I saw challengers exploit the feature of the portal. But that isn't a bad thing, I enjoyed how much they grow inside. And even though time slowed down for them, it was just like watching a few-minute show here in this place. If I remember correctly, they are already in their second month in that world huh.

"..."

"Why are you so quiet, you are watching the person who might be capable of lifting your burden so why are you looking so serious?"

"..."

"Heh, even if you just not talk and just stare at me, your face is giving off the response I wanted to hear. And to think that you would choose the right thing, Death-sama."

"..."

The person that the Entity of the Shrine of Ascension is talking with is non-other than Death, the one who is responsible for giving him talent and power.