Defense specialization and production role.

"Then, the guild competition… there are two guilds I’m wary of. One is the massive guild, [Empire of Flame], whose members placed fourth, seventh, eighth, and tenth in the last event. The other is [Maple Tree], which has a few members ranked third, sixth, and ninth."

Pain considered these two guilds the most likely to shift the battlefield single-handedly.

"[Maple Tree] had that girl in blue clothes who was talked about during the second event, didn’t they? She might be trouble too."

Frederica says.

It’s unclear how dangerous she might be—because information on [Maple Tree] is overwhelmingly scarce.

Especially regarding Maple and Kanade.

Regarding Yui and Mai, there is no information at all.

Their existence is unknown.

"Depends on the event’s nature, but we could just overwhelm them with numbers. Worst case, Pain can handle it somehow."

The guilds to which the four belong differ vastly in size from the Maplewood Guild.

Even if the minority guilds receive some favor, their sheer numbers would surpass it.

"Our guild gathers strong individuals across the board. No problem there. We've all been given poison resistance. Those with extra capacity have taken paralysis resistance as well. If anything, it's the Flame Emperor's Nation that should be on guard."

Drag says this plainly.

"Besides, our guild sends our crafting specialists into dungeons to make gear, don't we?"

Frederica's dungeon refers to the second one discovered in the third layer—a place only crafters may enter, where, for the first time in history, materials capable of bearing permanent skills have been found.

They've been running through it in parties, amassing a large supply of resistance gear.

Maple, right? Offense is status effects and shield, isn't it? Then the turtle? Can't believe it, but it feels like a max-build... I think we can contain it.

Hmm... For now, Frederica, I'll rely on you for information gathering. Make sure to secure the 【Maple Tree】 thoroughly.

Pain, you're always worrying. Well, whatever.

Frederica stepped out of the room, holding her staff in one hand.

Dread and Drag followed, exiting the room in succession.

Alone now, Pain murmured.

...The unknown is the most frightening. There's too little information on the 【Maple Tree】.

They don't know the power of Crom's gear.

They don't know Kanade's magic.

They've never experienced Sally's evasion.

They don't know Yui and Mai's destructive force.

And above all.

Almost every member believes Maple defeats enemies through poison and shield alone.

They do not know of angels, monsters, mechanical gods, or Shiroppu emitting beams of light.

Only Pain was different, she sensed instinctively, but no proof of it existed anywhere.

While Pain kept watch over the 【Maple Tree】, Izu fidgeted in the chair at the guild home, her water-blue hair swaying past her waist.

Whispers of the new dungeon reached even Iz's ears.

Even Izu, who rarely ventured outside, felt compelled to go.

—Uu… I’d rather borrow from Maple or Sally…

Of course, it was Shiroppu and Oboro she wished to borrow.

Two should be enough to avoid being felled mid-dungeon.

A penalty of gold loss, partial item loss, and a temporary status reduction applies.

It was a place she wished to avoid.

At that time, neither of them was at the guild.

Five minutes passed.

Iz was at the limit of endurance after just five minutes. She rushed from her inventory, grabbing every combat tool and gathering item she could.

Five minutes of flying through machinery.

Iz plunged into the dungeon.

"Then... mining."

Iz hacked away at the ore and crystals she found.

Production jobs could not learn weapon skills or fire magic, but they could learn specialized skills.

These were skills such as Smithing or Alchemy.

But they could only be used in a workshop.

Alchemy was an exception. Items up to level V could be crafted anywhere, but materials were required, and some had limited quantities available.

For example, the bombs—valuable offensive tools for production jobs—could only be made in a workshop, and she could only carry five.

Potions cannot be crafted beyond those with the second-lowest healing capacity.

And a bothersome bonus: damage from weapon attacks is reduced.

Instead, experience points are gained when equipment is completed using skills such as [Smithing].

Combat was harsh for those in productive trades.

Those who devoted themselves to production, regardless of cost.

Of course, Izu is no exception.

Rather, Iz is the top of the production guild.

From the release date, she dug ore without pause, hammered metal, stitched fabric, tended crops, mixed potions, and at times worked through the night, utterly absorbed.

Time shifts into strength. No rival matches its productive power.

Instead, her level in the valuable offensive skill of 【Throwing】, typical of production roles, is low.

【Throwing】 is a skill that increases damage dealt by hurling items such as knives.

Iz was focused solely on gathering materials, which is why her 【Throwing】 skill level remained low.

"There are fishing spots here too."

Iz pulls out a fishing rod and begins fishing.

The fish that are caught drop materials she has never seen before.

Iz’s eyes shine with the same unguarded sparkle as a schoolchild’s.

Iz’s fishing rod is handmade.

The materials here allow for crafting 【Skill-Attached Equipment】, though such items remain strictly 【Equipment】.

Some items have long permitted skill attachment.

Iz’s pickaxe and fishing rod possess extraordinary properties: increased rare drop rate, greatly reduced durability loss, higher item drop yield, and faster gathering speed.

These were things Iz had crafted with vast amounts of material and time, widening the gap between herself and the other producers.

Iz then moves deeper into the forest after finishing fishing.

Monsters aren’t showing up at all. I suppose that’s fortunate, for me.

A dungeon accessible only to producers cannot contain only enemies that producers cannot defeat.

Along that line, here, monsters could only appear at specific locations.

It is possible to fight only the boss monster.

Iz met a monster with crystals growing from its back in a mid-room, but avoided combat.

The reason was that she already possessed the boss's information.

The Boss Room’s escape magic array glowed the moment one entered. She knew it was possible to leave without defeating the boss. She knew the crystal the boss wore was the target material, and that it could be harvested at any time with a pickaxe.

Thus, she reasoned that using a pickaxe would suffice, yet avoided unnecessary consumption.

She pushed open the door to the Boss Room, having avoided combat with common enemies and repeated the extraction.

The room was entirely covered in beautiful, glowing white crystal.

At the far end, a large lizard curled around itself, its back piled high with crystals of the same hue, slowly rising.

“Your back crystal… I’ll take it.”

Iz then raised her pickaxe.

A minor detail.

Maple was originally designed as a speed-focused build.

During events, she would bite through players and monsters she passed, earning the name “Cannibal.”

She began the game because, in it, eating did not cause weight gain.

Such was the story.