Chapter 142: Master Angler

"That’s great," Sona said, beaming. "Now Akana won’t be able to beat me."

Venigo let out an "oh." It was true; once in her mist form, Sona was virtually invincible. Being completely immune to all physical attacks made her the most troublesome enemy imaginable for someone like Akana, who relied entirely on her claws.

However, once misted, Sona was also unable to use weapons to attack her foes. She could only rely on her life-drain ability to slowly wear down an opponent's stamina... but Akana’s speed was enough to leave her in the dust.

Still, what would happen if Sophie and Akana were to encounter other vampire lords? Venigo couldn't help but ponder that possibility.

"Sophie is fine; I’ll just prepare some fire bombs and magic scrolls for her. As for Akana, if I gave those to her, she’d probably just sneak off and play with them," Venigo muttered, scratching his head in frustration. "Forget it. I’ll just make sure she’s never left alone."

After a hearty meal, Venigo and Akana went on two more hunting excursions. This was partly to thin out the local monster population and partly because Venigo needed to accumulate materials. After all, whether using Mary’s Alchemy Atelier, Nanoka’s Invention Workshop, or the blacksmithing techniques from *Swordcraft Story*, he couldn't conjure finished products out of thin air; he needed a variety of raw ingredients.

Yet, the nearby monsters seemed endless. After working for a long time, the ramen backpack was nearly full, but the water nearby still seemed to teem with countless elemental creatures.

"Looks like we’ve got a real problem," Venigo complained.

He scanned his surroundings and suddenly pointed toward the northwest. "Sona, look at that small hill over there. Is it very close to the rift gate?"

Sona stared for a moment and nodded.

"Let’s head there," Venigo said, snapping his fingers. "I have an idea. But I’ll need some manpower and materials. Sona, go back and get people. I need..."

He thought for a moment, pulled out a piece of parchment and a piece of charcoal, and quickly scribbled down a list.

"Have Sophie contact the High Council and borrow some supplies and personnel from them. Then, we’ll start working on that hill."

About ten hours later, a massive amount of supplies was being continuously transported by Lady Fris’s fleet to the small hill—which had originally been a hundred meters high but was now half-submerged in water.

Frameworks, bow arms, trawling nets, cables... following Venigo’s design, the semi-finished parts unloaded from the ships were quickly assembled into an oversized ballista.

Its sole purpose was to fire specialized nets into the water and then use a pulley system to drag any caught monsters onto the shore. Since it only fired nets, there were no strict requirements for accuracy; as long as it could shoot far, it was enough. The crude ballista was built accordingly.

But the results were quite good.

With this net-launcher and the accompanying pulley-crane, Venigo’s fishing efforts became much faster. Every day, he could pull dozens of water elemental creatures and magical beasts from the water. The Prism mercenaries, already standing by, would swarm in to finish off the isolated monsters, dismantle them, and efficiently collect the spoils.

"Sona, go tell Lord Newton’s mages that the monsters here have decreased. Tell them they can come and start their preparations. We will handle the security," Venigo said. "Oh, and after you notify them, go scout the surrounding area and see if you can spot those troublemakers."

Sona gave a soft "oh" and vanished from Venigo’s sight.

A while later, the mages arrived, gliding gracefully on their specialized floating skiffs, and landed on the hilltop. Venigo went up to greet them, but seeing their cold demeanor, he didn't say much and simply directed his men to clear a circular space and level it with tools.

He brought out a homemade spirit level to ensure the ground was as flat as possible. Many of the mages behind him watched in surprise; they hadn't imagined that a "vulgar mercenary leader" would possess such professional knowledge.

"By the way, isn't this the one who seems to be a guest of the Chief Archmage, the one who often visits him..." a young female mage whispered to her mentor, the old mage leading the team.

Venigo turned back and smiled at the young woman. He snapped his fingers and, right in front of the mages, initiated his Character Construction.

This was no longer a secret; Sir Newton knew of it. However, they didn't know how many characters Venigo could construct. Before the High Council, Venigo only used a few familiar roles.

Well, letting them know one more wouldn't hurt.

Character Construction: Master Builder Handy.

Builder Handy—obviously, this was the most suitable role Venigo could think of. With his help, the mages quickly erected a platform and began inscribing a magic circle upon it.

During this time, the Prism mercenaries split into eight groups, each guarding a direction against the monsters that occasionally emerged from the water. Venigo stood at the edge of the platform, continuing his fishing game with the net-launcher.

When he grew bored, he would let Little Wolf Princess or Sona take over. In any case, the merchants had sent plenty of net-projectiles.

Among them all, Iru’s attacks were the most effective. Every time he raised his arms, he would spray magnetic electrical currents from his palms, instantly turning the lunging monsters into charred husks. Only a few of the most powerful monsters could withstand Iru’s magnetic storm.

Even so, Venigo’s giant wooden hammer, Akana’s spider claws, and Sona’s dual daggers could kill any surviving monsters in an instant.

"Although the rift gate is broken, it seems only the weakest creatures are coming out," Venigo said with dissatisfaction. "Even a low-combat role like Builder Handy can take them down."

"I actually think that wooden hammer is quite impressive," Sona whispered from the side.

"Is... is that so?" Venigo replied blankly.

The *Master Builder* system, Builder Handy. Although set as an "ordinary" carpenter, a guy who could easily bat away swarms of Black Hands or heavy machinery like baseballs was hardly an ordinary person.

The enemies were too weak, and Venigo quickly lost interest. He used the role one last time to reinforce the net-launcher and the mages’ wooden platform before deactivating the construction.

Venigo switched to his pair of gold and silver revolvers, equipped his Precision Ring and Power Ring, and utilized the air currents of the "Blue Sky" to move at high speed. He alternated shots with both hands, turning the hunt into a target practice game.

His own physical attributes were slightly above average, and with the enhancement of the two rings, he had the arm strength and accuracy to wield the revolvers. Since the targets were large, they were easy to hit. *Bang, bang, bang*—the gunfire rang out in a continuous stream as Venigo poured out his ammunition without a second thought.

After playing for a while, Venigo noticed a light flickering rhythmically at the rift gate.

"What is that?" Venigo called out to a nearby mage, pointing at the glow.

The mage shook his head impatiently, about to tell him to mind his own business, when he suddenly froze. He stared at the light and let out a sudden, startled cry.

"Master! Over there... the rift gate!"

The light grew brighter, and an inexplicable sense of crisis pressed in, making one's hands and feet grow cold, triggering an instinctual urge to flee.

"Damn it, are they trying to completely destroy the restrictions on this rift gate and flood the entire Free Heaven?"

Sherry suddenly leaped up, stepping onto a surging wave of water and freezing it into a path of ice. She slid rapidly toward the rift gate.

"She..." the leader of the mages, Archmage Jayka—one of Sir Newton’s students—frowned.

"Don't worry, she is extremely sensitive to water elements," Venigo replied. "Those boring lunatics, and the mastermind behind Deyja—sooner or later, I’ll settle the score with them."

"I hate those lunatics from Deyja," Jayka complained. "They should just stick to being dark wizards in the Kingdom of Erathia; why come to our Enroth to cause trouble? Thanks to them, my research time has been cut in half!"

"You should have expected this," Venigo said with a cold laugh. "Prince Archibald is, after all, the chosen lord recognized by the Deyja wizards."

Jayka fell silent. In the hair-raising silence that followed, Sherry drifted back to Venigo’s side.

"Someone is attacking the rift gate," Sherry said. "It’s a two-pronged approach: one side is countering the magic circle disrupting the elemental rift, and the other is eliminating the monsters attacking the gate."

"That’s easy," Venigo said, snapping his fingers. "Prism, protect the mages. My lord, you handle the counter-magic. Sherry and I will go into the water to deal with the monsters."

"I'm going too!" the Little Wolf Princess scrambled over, holding a piece of fish in her mouth, and said muzzily.

"Go, go, go—you're a puppy who can't swim, stay out of the way," Venigo waved his hand. "Go clear out the big and small fish making trouble nearby."

"What about me?" Sona asked timidly.

"You deal with the assassins, if there are any," Venigo said. "Does anyone have any objections?"

Excellent, no one did. Venigo laughed, grabbed Sherry’s hand, and leaped into the water.

Sherry trotted in front, the water beneath her feet appearing alive as it consciously formed a path of ice. Venigo followed closely behind her, and once they were far enough to be out of the mages' notice, he initiated his Character Construction.

*Dragon Ball Adventure*, General Blue of the Red Ribbon Army.

This was a strong soldier with exquisite combat skills and psychic powers. Truth be told, this capable commander of the warlord faction was quite outstanding in the game system; whether it was his paralyzing glare or his telekinesis, he could cause significant trouble for any opponent.

This was Venigo’s choice. Let the battle begin!