More Experimenting

"Phew! That was another fun day of hunting."

It was now 4 pm and Allen was wrapping up another day of hunting. He was about to turn back and start looking for edible prey to bring home.

Currently before him lay the corpse of an armored ant whose head had been caved in by a Teddy. After learning that he could safely kill armored ants with the power of the Beast D Summons last time, he had shifted from only hunting orcs to hunting armored ants as well.

According to what he saw through Hawk Eye from Sharing with Hawkins—he now valued Sharing very much for enabling him to practically scout in person—there were many more armored ants than orcs in the vicinity. Thinking about it, it made sense that ants reproduced at a higher rate than pigs did.

'Now then, I've gotten permission from Sebas, so let's bring this back too.'

Allen flipped over the armored ant with the crushed head and swiftly used his mithril sword to separate the armor from the rest of the body. Naturally, he remembered to fetch the magic stone as well.

Until recently, he had prioritized only the hunting aspect and therefore had not brought back any materials from the monsters he killed. After all, it would take two to three hours to go to a shop where he could sell everything, and the shop was quite a distance from the mansion as well. He much rather preferred spending that time hunting. In his eyes, XP was worth far more than gold.

However, now that he had reached Summoning Lvl. 5 and could kill armored ants without much trouble, his way of thinking had changed a little.

First, it occurred to him that he could use an armored ant's armor instead of a shoulder basket to carry the beasts that he was bringing back for meat.

Consequently, he now instructed his Summons to aim for the head and not the body when fighting armored ants. After that, he learned that this armor could be sold for one gold apiece. The unit price was extremely high and it was convenient for carrying meat back with. And so he had decided to bring one back with him every time he went hunting.

Allen had also asked Sebas whether he could sell these pieces of armor to an armorer. The Baron's family could buy them off him too, except that the family had no use for them. So Sebas had given Allen the go ahead.

Then Allen came up with the idea to ask one of his fellow servants to bring the armored ant shells to an armorer and sell them on his behalf.

When he explained that he intended on letting whoever helped him keep the proceeds from one piece of armor for every ten that they sold for him, Sebas also gave this the green light, saying that many of the servants would be more than happy to take on the task. This was how Allen managed to save himself the time needed to visit the armorer's.

'All right, done with the butchering. Let's get started, then.'

Just because the day was ending, it did not mean that Allen's hunting was over. Thanks to the thirty Fish D cards he now kept in his holders, his Intelligence was over 1,600. As Sharing with one Summon required 200 Intelligence, he could now Share with eight Summons at a time.

What's more, he had done a little more testing and confirmed that Night Vision did indeed serve as a scouting Ability for use at night—just that it could not see behind obstacles—and that the duration of the effect of Splash lasted for twenty-four hours.

Now that he had finished all his preliminary analysis of the Rank D Summons, he was about to attempt sending a group of Summons out into the wild by themselves—while Sharing with them, of course—to hunt remotely.

'If possible, I'd like to form two squads, but that would mean there being only four Summons in each squad. It's probably better to keep them all together in one larger party of eight.'

The group was composed of one Insect D, four Beast Ds, one Bird E, one Bird D, and one Fish D. The most important thing about having Summons fight on their own was ensuring that none of them died. Allen was too far away to replenish their numbers, so a death would mean a permanent decrease to the party's fighting power. This was why including an Insect D and a Fish D for their effects was absolutely crucial. Bird E and Bird D would serve as the group's scouts in the daytime and nighttime, respectively.

Naturally, the bulk of the fighting would be left to the Beast Ds. It was also their duty to protect the other Summons.

'Yep, these numbers should be more than enough to handle Rank C monsters. Guys, off you go. Make sure you don't attack other adventurers!'

The most important thing to the Summons Squad this time was not how many monsters they could kill, but how well they could avoid hurting other adventurers. Allen knew they would fully obey the instructions he gave them, but just in case, he stressed again that they were not to retaliate even if under attack by said adventurers.

Allen had also given Bird E and Bird D specific instructions to steer clear of adventurers. The reason he went to the extra trouble was because he would be sleeping at night. Sharing could still be maintained while he slept, but he naturally would not be able to give instructions should a situation crop up.

During that time, the Summons would have to move at their own discretion. This was why Allen had been extremely thorough with the warnings he left with them.

There was one more thing that Allen was quite sure of but had yet to properly confirm: the duration of Sharing was very likely thirty days, the same length of time that Summons could remain Summoned. Going to sleep with it active felt like falling asleep in front of the computer while gaming in his previous life—he could still hear the sounds coming in through the feeds.

Even while returning to town, Allen continued monitoring and giving instructions to the eight Summons. When doing so, he did not have to instruct each one separately; no, he was capable of instructing all of them at once.

The reason he could watch from eight pairs of eyes, comprehend all eight Summons' movements and relative positioning, keep in mind the details of their Abilities, and send them instructions all at the same time was likely entirely due to the boon of 1,600 Intelligence.

It was currently still Bird E's turn at scouting. Once it got a bit darker, it would be time for Bird D to take over.

'Gotta find monsters to kill first. Let's start with a small group.'

Thanks to Sharing, Allen had only just learned that, just like Night Vision, Hawk Eye also could not see behind obstacles. A quick pan around with it revealed a pair of orcs three kilometers ahead.

'Perfect timing.'

The discovery was instantaneously passed on to the other seven Summons, which promptly began making their way over toward the monsters. Thanks to obtaining Sharing, the speed at which Allen could convey information had improved drastically. Because he could directly see what his Summons were seeing, even when they were using their Abilities, he could give them much more specific instructions that were tailored to their situations. The entire process had become incredibly streamlined.

As the orcs' position was in an area where plant growth was sparse, they could clearly see the seven Summons approaching. Both sides shifted into battle readiness as the two groups approached each other.

When they got close enough, Insect D used Spider Silk to tie up the two charging orcs. Then the Beast Ds followed up with Crush, killing them off before they could even react.

<You have defeated 1 orc. You have earned 1,500 XP.>

<You have defeated 1 orc. You have earned 1,500 XP.>

'Heh heh heh, that was a piece of cake. The Summons are a bit slow on foot, but I can deal with it.' Allen personally had much higher Agility than the Rank D Summons.

Although he was slightly dissatisfied with their speed, the hunt continued.

'I do also have to focus on helping the Summons so they can get used to doing this.'

When a new Summon was born, it inherited all memories and experiences from those of the same type and rank that had lived before. Having the members of this Summons Squad learn the intricacies of hunting as a group was also an important goal of this initiative.

The next morning, Allen awoke to find that his XP had not gone up at all, even though the log on his grimoire was filled with records of the monsters that had been killed by the Summons Squad.

In other words, while he was asleep, the monsters were practically only polishing their individual skills without any benefits coming back to Allen himself. He felt a warm feeling bubbling up inside his chest after learning that what amounted to AFK gaming did not work in this world.

He made a memo, then decided to do more analysis of the conditions for gaining XP.

***

Several days later, Allen was attempting something new using Sharing.

The scene for the day's experiment was to be Krena Village. He was currently viewing the nostalgic landscape of his home village through the eyes of Chappy, the Bird G Summon that looked like a parrot. A distance that required five days on foot for a normal human being had only taken the Strengthened Bird G several hours.

"I am Krena the knight! Here I come!"

"Ready!"

Krena and Dogora just happened to be starting a new match. After almost two years, their fights were no longer on the level of "play." Dogora's dad, the village weapons merchant and blacksmith, had probably been the one who forged the iron sword and ax the two children were using. The sound of weapons clashing resonated louder than ever.

At the same time, a slight distance away, Mash and Pelomas were playing knight together using wooden swords. It had been so long since he had been back that Allen could not help but have Chappy perch on a tree so that he could watch this scene longer.

'Ah, no, I have something I want to pass on.'

After confirming how much his friends had grown, Allen moved on from Krena's house to that of his own family. Theresia was in the earthen-floored room.

'It's mother! And wow, Myulla's grown so big!'

Bird G managed to infiltrate the house without being spotted by Theresia.

A lump rose in Allen's throat as he gazed at her through Chappy's eyes. It had been less than two years since he left, but it felt like it had been more than ten.

Clink.

"Huh?"

The sound of a metallic noise prompted Theresia to turn around.

Chappy was already gone. Instead, only a single gold coin lay on the ground.