As Ethan and the party slowly walked through the surrounding countryside, the plains stretched wide under the soft afternoon sun, a green sea of grass and farmland bordered in the distance by misty mountains. The smell of damp earth carried on the breeze, mixed faintly with the scent of crops and animal pens from the villages scattered in the distance. He slowly allocated his skill points. He was glad now to have chosen the boon that granted him a multiplier of 10x all skill points gained.
With this boon he could sink as many points into Explosion as Megumin had in the anime and would still have enough to learn every other Arch Wizard skill, as well as strengthen the specific spells he wanted to. (The leveling system in Konosuba seems to be purposefully vague. A max level is never mentioned to my knowledge, and if you so choose you can even sink every skill point gained into one skill to make it even stronger). One spell he was really looking forward to was Light of Saber. The idea of casting it with his hands or the point of his spear to merc some mobs was exciting to him.
Ethan even controlled how Aqua spent her skill points, not allowing her to waste nearly as many on useless party magic as she had in the beginning of the series, though he still allowed her to learn some. With his potential he really had no worries about being able to accomplish anything. Killing the Demon King was more a matter of time to him rather than a true obstacle. If Ethan really wanted, he knew several ways he could become overpowered in an afternoon, but he wanted to take his time and have fun with this new opportunity.
As for Kazuma, Ethan advised him to save his current points until he could learn some thief skills from Chris, as in the anime.
"Geez Ethan, how do you already know so much about this stuff already? We've only been here for half a day so far," asked Kazuma.
"Well, I've played a lot of video games with a very similar premise to the way people in this world level up. When you think about your gaming experience, I'm sure you know what I mean. I've also read plenty of build guides too and even created my own. Although this is reality and game mechanics don't really work here the same, the general premise is similar. Plus, while you and Aqua were messing around in some of the stores, I had time to talk to some of the adventurers in town."
"Ah, that makes sense... I guess I was just so flustered when I got here I couldn't think straight, ahaha." Kazuma laughed.
While one of the main motivators Ethan had was the adventure, freedom, skills, and fictional women he had read about, he also had some good friends back in reality, and he took care of his bros. As far as Kazuma went, Ethan thought he was a good-hearted guy when it really came down to it, and he didn't mind helping him out some while he was here. Honestly, as far as Ethan was concerned, Kazuma didn't really interfere with any of his goals. He wasn't interested in Megumin, and it would be nice to have some male friends to hang around.
As they were walking, Ethan noticed the target of their first quest off in the distance. His eyes narrowed, grip tightening on the shaft of his spear. "There," he said, pointing across the fields.
Kazuma followed his finger and immediately paled. "...You've got to be kidding me."
Great, bulbous shapes the size of small cars squatted among the tall grass. Their slick, mucous-covered bodies gleamed in the sunlight like someone had dumped a bucket of slime over a truck-sized toad. Beady yellow eyes blinked slowly in unison, and every so often a long, ropey tongue lashed out, snaring some unlucky insect—or in one case, a wandering chicken that squawked pitifully before vanishing into the frog's maw.
"I looked into the details of the quest on the notice board. These giant toads tend to gather near the farms around mating season and eat the small herd animals. Unfortunately, it is also common that people go missing around the same time due to these creatures. They are more vulnerable to piercing attacks and elemental magic," Ethan said.
While recreating the events of the anime might have been funny, he was here to level up and didn't want to waste any time.
"Aqua, as an Arch Priest your spells are geared towards support and combating the undead. While you can also cast water spells, they aren't very well suited as weapons against these slimy toads, so you will buff me and Kazuma with your support spells and stay in the backline."
"Got it Ethan! Yay, no fighting for me, muhahaha!" chirped Aqua.
"Kazuma, while your sword would be fine against these toads, you currently have no practice, and your stats and skill points are too low. So instead you will use the bow I had you buy and harass the toads while I engage them," Ethan said.
"Ok! But isn't it a bad idea for you, an Arch Wizard, to get up close to them as well? Wouldn't it be better for you to work with me to crowd control the frog while we hit it from a distance?" Kazuma asked.
"While your strategy would normally make sense, I'm not your typical Arch Wizard. Don't forget that unlike you I actually picked up a powerful boon instead of choosing Aqua—no offense, Aqua. Plus, while I don't have the time or the drive to explain right now, my spear has some properties that make close combat no problem," Ethan explained.
"Geh!" Kazuma grimaced, reminded of his missed opportunity to choose a powerful skill in the dark space as a cloud of gloom covered his face.
"Oh yeah, I remember Ethan chose the skill point multiplier. I bet you wish you chose that right now, huh Kazuma? Hahaha!" Aqua laughed while holding her stomach in laughter, a mocking look directed at Kazuma, who somehow looked even worse than a second ago.
"Well, that's enough. Also, keep your guards up. While we can only see two frogs right now, I heard they like to bury themselves under the soil to cool down, so there might be more than we can currently see," Ethan explained.
"Let me start this. Fireball!" he called out as he charged ahead at the first toad with his spear leveled towards it. A mass of fire seemed to emerge from the spear tip and flew to the toad with a force he hadn't imagined possible as a level one.
"Nice. So I can use the spear as a focus for my spells like I thought," he said internally.
The spell hit the frog with a bang, striking its left eye and leaving a cratering mass of scorched flesh behind, an arrow from Kazuma not long after finishing the toad off. The toad likely would have died if left alone, but at least now Kazuma would get more experience from having a greater level of participation.
"Nice work, your buffs seemed to really help, Aqua. Let's repeat this on the other toads and quickly finish the quest." Ethan smiled as he spoke.
As the quest was a repeatable one, and any amount over the minimum five was considered bonus money, they cleared the entire area of toads. By the end of the grind, around a couple of hours later, they had managed to kill 23 toads, and both Ethan and Kazuma had gained five levels apiece. Aqua, as a goddess, was already max level and so didn't benefit from the experience.
"Alright, now that we've gathered the last of the toads in my storage, let's head back to the guild and turn it in. We still need to secure lodging tonight."
"Ah, finally we're back at the guild. My feet are so sore! I need something to drink," called out Aqua as she proceeded to sit down at a nearby table and order a drink.
"Kazuma, if you want, go sit with Aqua and order us some food. I'll turn the quest in and claim our reward," Ethan said.
"Sure, that sounds fine to me. You know, it feels sort of nice being here now. The first quest wasn't even all that bad." Kazuma looked better.
"If only you knew the suffering I saved you from... maybe I'll show you someday if I decide to let you see how the show went, haha," Ethan thought to himself.
As he went over to the counter, Luna greeted him. "Hey Ethan, I'll process your quest for you if you want," she said, the other receptionists looking over at her with deadpan expressions.
"Sure, that sounds nice. Outside is a cart we rented with the frog parts already processed," he said, not yet sure whether or not he wanted to reveal his inventory function until he learned more about the world and whether or not he could get his hands on a storage item.
"Excellent. Depending on how well you did with the processing, we can cut out the guild processing fee and give you a larger payment. Now, how many toads will you be turning in today?" Luna asked.
"23," Ethan stated calmly.
"23!? Are you sure? You just started adventuring!" Luna looked at him in shock as murmurs started from the adventurers, some of the men looking on in envy, while some of the more attractive and confident women gave him inviting looks and smiles.
"I think we're just lucky, but at least now we know I'll have enough money to take you out on that promised date later this week," Ethan said with an easygoing look.
"Date? I mean, if you want to call it that... I'm looking forward to it too," Luna said with red cheeks as she finished handing him the money and checking the adventurer card.
Aqua, sitting at the table brooding over a bottle of alcohol, interrupted in a whiny voice, "Ethannnn, come have a seat already..." as she scooted out the chair closest to her, face already red from the alcohol.
"Well, I'll talk to you later, Luna." Ethan grasped her hand and gave it a squeeze as he walked towards the table.
"Kyaaaa! This might finally be my chance to get married!" Luna excitedly murmured under her breath, hands covering her cheeks as smoke poured out of her ears.
Ethan walked over to the table next to Aqua and Kazuma. "I'll be right back, gonna return the cart to the rental place. Should only take around five minutes," he said, while thinking to himself, Time to use the rest of the toads in my inventory and see what type of spear I might be able to unlock.
After taking the cart back and walking to a secluded spot, he quickly took out the frog parts and had the spear absorb the materials. "Let's see what we get here," he muttered excitedly, rubbing his hands together.
The spear interface opened up before him. New spear unlocked: Toad Tongue Spear.Abilities: Spear can extend like a frog's tongue, shooting out several meters to snag, pull, or impale enemies. Spear can function like a mid-range grapple—user can hook smaller mobs toward him or himself toward larger enemies. Grants slight boost to poison and acid resistance.
After seeing the new stats gained from the spear, Ethan transformed it and tested out its new properties. The way it was able to extend and retract reminded him somewhat of the zanpakutō of Gin from Bleach.
"Hmm, quite a useful ability from such a simple enemy. I can't wait to see what other abilities I can unlock. Well, let's head inside and eat. Plus, I still need to rent us rooms for the night," he said, walking back into the guild hall.