Frontiers ~Chronicles of Bucket-san’s Detailed Pioneering~ - Chapter 122 – Good luck, Bucket

Fifth Arc

“There is something wrong with this when compared to the rest of the world, right…?” Mika commented.

“Yeah…” I nodded.

“Completely different.” Hime agreed.

What we were seeing was a metallic city that blows steam out of thick pipes installed on the ground.

The sky itself felt a bit smoky due to all that steam being blown.

This is… “Steampunk?” I muttered.

“Yeah!” Mika exclaimed.

“Seems like it.” Hime nodded.

We weren’t the only ones surprised by this sudden steampunk city that seemed completely out of place when compared to the rest of the world. Everyone that came to visit was having the same flabbergasted expression.

This is the newly unlocked city, Liber.

It was unlocked shortly after the Halloween event started, and as usual, it became available after enough Demon Trees were cut down.

It was a field area that was treated as a safety area, but also… It was very unique.

Differently from the Mizuri Village that had no buildings nor residents at the start, this city has been like this from the moment it was unlocked. It made me wonder how they were even here until now.

But these thoughts were put aside once I entered the city, because like… I mean, this is a steampunk city in the middle of a medi-fantasy setting!

“The development team surely didn’t hold back…” Mika muttered.

“Look, a robot.” Hime told us.

“Apparently Magic Stones are used to power these steam engines, by the way.” I commented.

“Oh? Can you make them then?” Mika asked me.

“The recipes aren’t difficult, but I don’t have the necessary skill. It requires something I never saw before, the Magictech skill.” I replied.

“Is it a skill that is derived from others? Or is it something that can’t be obtained without clearing some conditions first?” Mika asked me.

“Forums.” Hime replied.

“Oh!? Is there new information available!?” Mika asked.

“Which thread?” I also asked.

A lot of people are coming to Liber, since it was just unlocked.

Naturally, as more people come here, more information will be obtained as the city is explored. Such information is being quickly spread on the forums.

That’s pretty good timing for the three of us, as we had just come here to play, but I now got an opportunity to get new recipes.

Though the recipes requiring skills that I never saw before was a bit troublesome… Still, that’s why the new information is so important.

“Seems like you can get it at a school?” I commented.

“Eh!? I don’t wanna worry about studying in Frontiers!” Mika exclaimed.

“Did you do your homework?” Hime asked her.

“… Not yet.” Mika replied.

“Good luck.” Hime told her.

I giggled, “Good luck, Mika!”

“Yeah…” Mika groaned.

According to the information on the forums, Magitech, which is essential for the recipes on Liber, can only be obtained in a building called Magic School.

So I guess I’ll have to study, just like Mika said?

I haven’t been able to go to school much, so if I have the chance of experiencing it in Frontiers, then I definitely want to do it.

Mika and Hime are both already going to school normally though, so it will probably be suffocating for them to study at the game too.

But well, on Mika’s case the homework that she received is more urgent than Frontiers.

Both Mika and Hime are on the same school and at the same class, so they should have received the same homework.

But differently from Mika, Hime already finished it… As expected of Hime.

I wish Mika could learn from her.

******

“Well, I’m not challenging this one!” Mika exclaimed.

“Good luck, Bucket.” Hime told me.

“Well, I figured it was going to be like that from its name.” I said.

After going to the location where the Magic School is located and looking at its pamphlet, we confirmed that Magitech was a skill that could only be used in crafting.

Moreover, it’s a special skill that can only be acquired in Liber and that cannot be neither evolved nor unlock derivative skills.

It’s not hard to acquire it though. You just take a few lessons at the Magic School and then take an exam.

Some people already did it even, and most of them acquired the skill without issues.

It doesn’t seem to be hard for crafters to get it. The people that failed the exam were apparently all combat-focused player Pioneers who didn’t pay much attention to the lessons.

With this in mind though, Mika and Hime have no need to take the classes, as they’re specialized in combat.

And as I make equipment for them both, they’ll be fine for as long as I get the skill.

“Well, let’s keep looking around. I can come back here later when I’m by myself.” I told them.

“Agreed.” Hime replied.

“Seems good to me.” Mika said.

We still didn’t finish sightseeing the city, so I’ll leave the lessons of the Magic School for later.

After all, this school is going nowhere, and our time together is limited. I’d rather spend it sightseeing instead of parting earlier for the sake of classes.

******

Liber is a city supported by steam engines and Magitech.

Before it was unlocked, it was apparently able to survive by relying on a strong barrier that surrounded it, but this also meant that it couldn’t expand in any way.

So, right now, the residents are being very welcoming to the Pioneers that are visiting the city, as our appearance means that the city will no longer need to rely on its incredibly limited resources to survive.

Also, not only Pioneers, but a fair bit of NPCs seem to also be coming here from Capital Sabrina.

On a side note, Liber isn’t near Sabrina, but is instead near Dotril.

However, there was no information on any book about the existence of Liber at all… This is truly a mysterious world, isn’t it?

Also, this is the first time we hear about a city that was able to survive even after being completely surrounded by Demon Trees. It was incredibly surprising even to the NPCs.

Normally, nobody can survive in an area that is taken over by Demon Trees. Not to mention that the trees would destroy all the builds as well.

But Liber was able to somehow withstand it thanks to their excellent Magitech and steam engines.

Demon Trees kept trying to attack the city, but with the Magitech, the NPCs were able to somehow fend them off. It was quite amazing.

And well, this area wouldn’t necessarily reappear on the same location if it ends up getting taken over, so I think it’s very important that everyone helps the defense here now.

On another note, Capital Sabrina has a really large population, and there’s no way it would be able to survive without the Pioneers obtaining materials from the surrounding areas on each day.

Sure, the capital does produce some ingredients, but it is not close to being self-sufficient… People on the forums seem to think that the city would at most last for a month if it was completely surrounded by Demon Trees.

On the other hand, the Mizuri Village is completely self-sufficient, so it should be fine for as long as the Demon Trees don’t destroy the cultivating areas.

But well, if Sabrina was lost, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the wonderful meals on Kuuruu’s Restaurant, so everyone, please do your best to maintain the capital as well!

On another note, other restaurants that serve delicious dishes with Options have started to open up on Capital Sabrina, which ended up making the Mizuri Village and its high-rank ingredients become even more important than before.

******

“The exam time is now over!

“We’ll announce the results in ten minutes, so please wait until then!” The person handling the exams told us.

It’s been a few in-game days since I did the sightseeing with Mika and Hime in Liber.

The Magic Science class was fairly easy and it took less than a single day in real time to be cleared.

I wasn’t surprised about it though, since I had already heard of it on the forums.

Still, the contents of the exam seem to change each time, so I couldn’t memorize the answers in advance.

Nonetheless, I took the classes seriously, so my exam results were perfect.

It was the first time in a long while that I took lessons at school, and this felt very fresh and enjoyable! I’m very satisfied!

Quite a few player Pioneers came here to take the classes, but some NPC Pioneers seem to have come too.

It’s a bit hard to distinguish players from NPCs on behavior alone, but the appearance tends to make this process much easier.

As in, player Pioneers usually don’t bother with changing clothes much, while NPC Pioneers tend to use casual clothes while within the city. They’d rather not wear a full set of equipment when they aren’t fighting.

But for players the gear feels comfortable enough, so they usually don’t bother with changing out of it.

It’s not like it’s hard to change clothes though. One just needs to manage the inventory a bit.

Still, this kind of thing ended up creating a pattern where one can usually identify NPC Pioneers by looking at their clothing.

Of course, player Pioneers can use casual clothes too, so you can’t be sure about it just from that.

In any case, while I was looking at the NPC Pioneers to kill time, the result of the exams were announced.

And of course, as I took the classes seriously, I passed!

And like this, I got the Magitech skill right away, so the school time was over.

It’s nice that the system could just deliver the skill to everyone immediately, as it would take quite a while to deliver the skill to all students one by one.

With this, I can finally start working on the newly obtained recipes.

It’s a bit disappointing that the Magitech has no evolution nor any derivative skills, but it’s still a skill that can be obtained without spending Skill Points, and it can also give me more Skill Points as I level it up, so I’d say it’s pretty worthwhile.

And well, while Magitech is essential to work with the new recipes, my current tools and facilities can be used to work on them just fine.

I wouldn’t mind purchasing new facilities if needed to though, even if it would cost me quite a bit of money.

Well, I might be okay with it, but many others wouldn’t be, so I guess this system is ideal.