Chapter One: Lectures and Reunions
Paladin, Ray Starling
It was the morning after the hellish day during which I’d fought the Gouz-Maise Gang and the Revenant Ox-Horse.
Before dawn broke, Nemesis and I were dashing through the Nex Fields on Silver’s back while talking about what we would do from now on and hunting the local monsters.
Defeating Gouz-Maise had made me level up to level 39, and this hunting had increased that number to 40. My HP now crossed the 5,000 mark.
Becoming able to ride Silver increased my speed and hunting effectiveness with him. What I found particularly effective was firing Purgatorial Flames at groups of monsters as I passed them by.
“A red-black man on horseback releases a stream of fire without as much as a ‘hello’ and leaves, just like that,” said Nemesis. “No matter how you look at it, that seems like a description of a real villain.”
“I’m aware,” I said.
Still, I feel that killing a large number of normal monsters is a better way to level up than going through the hassle of killing a single boss monster, but whatever, I thought.
Momentarily satisfied with my level, I stopped the hunt and decided to do some tests. Specifically, I wanted to see what Silver and the Grudge-soaked Greaves, Gouz-Maise could do. The stats bonuses on the Greaves were exactly what the item said they were, while the energy gathering caused by Grudge Conversion seemed to work just as intended.
Also, I noticed that it wasn’t necessary for the grudge to come from the dead. The negative emotions released by the living were significantly weaker than those of the deceased, but they could still be converted to MP and SP.
That meant that keeping the enemy alive and torturing them was a good way to stock up on both of those stats. As useful as that seemed, however, the idea of actually doing it just freaked me out.
The other skill on the greaves — Rider and Horse, As One — had proven to work just fine yesterday, when I’d begun using its Horse Riding skill bonus to ride Silver. Thus, it was time to test Silver’s own skills.
There were a total of three — Running, Wind Hoof, and one unknown skill that showed up as only “???” on there. The Miasmaflame Bracers also had an unknown skill on them, so I could only assume that unknown skills weren’t that rare.
First up was Running, which — as it said in the name — was a skill that allowed Silver to run while someone was riding him. The speed and quality of the running was dependent on the rider’s Horse Riding skill level. How horse-like, I thought.
Then there was the other skill, Wind Hoof. It could only be used when the rider’s Horse Riding skill level was above 3 or Riding skill level was above 6. The description said that it “Allows air-travel by compressing the air under the hooves” and “Uses the rider’s MP to create a barrier of compressed air.”
The difference between Horse Riding and Riding was the fact that the former was exclusive to horses and thus allowed better use of them for less levels, while Riding could be used with anything ridable in exchange for needing more levels.
With all the riding I’d done while going back from the Mountain Belt to Gideon and the dashing we did since predawn today, my Horse Riding had reached level 2. The +1 bonus from Rider and Horse, As One made it level 3, allowing me to use Wind Hoof.
I tried it out and... sure enough, we flew. Though it was less like “flying” more like “running on invisible platforms in the air.”
“Whoa.” I couldn’t help but be moved.
“What a view.” Nemesis shared my sentiment. It was something that I could never have experienced in real life.
As great as the experience was, however, the act’s similarity to riding a horse over glass made me feel a bit anxious and scared. Still, I got somewhat used to it after about an hour or so. Thankfully, Silver himself covered the cost of this air-running ability, leaving my MP completely untouched.
However, the skill could be used in a way that did drain my MP.
It was the barrier of compressed air. According to the skill’s description, I could use it to protect myself from attacks.
There happened to be a Goblin Archer right below me, so I used it to see how well it worked.
“Go on, shoot!” I shouted. The result was simple — the arrow broke through the barrier as if it wasn’t even there and sunk into me.
Slightly panicking, I used Purgatorial Flames to burn the Goblin Archer below.
Man, I know I’m the one doing it, but hanging in the air and raining fire on those on the ground is pretty messed up, I thought.
The Goblin tried fighting back, but all its arrows got burned before they could reach me.
Once I overcame this unexpected predicament, I began to analyze what had just happened. The problem was obvious — Wind Hoof’s barrier was just way too weak.
I began thinking about why it was like this, and it didn’t take too long for me to find the root of the problem.
I simply hadn’t used enough MP. With my maximum MP being so low, I had subconsciously used it sparingly and — naturally — hadn’t gotten the results I’d wanted.
When trying it again, I used all of my MP. My next opponent was a Goblin Warrior.
“Bring it on!” I shouted.
The result was simple — its ax broke through the barrier as if it wasn’t even there. I’d expected there to be a wall-like patch of air, but the ax had cut through it like it would paper.
By a hair’s breadth, I avoided getting split in half and began fighting the Goblin Warrior. Naturally, I emerged victorious, but not having any MP made it a harder battle than it should’ve been.
“It’s no good,” I said.
“No good, indeed,” agreed Nemesis.
Wind Hoof’s air-running effect was great and all, but with my meager amount of MP, the barrier aspect seemed completely useless.
“The efficacy seems quite poor, if you ask me,” she added.
Yeah, seriously, I thought. Miasmaflame Bracers — a special reward — allowed the use of powerful skills such as Purgatorial Flames and Hellish Miasma for far less MP than Wind Hoof. I could only assume that it was a testament to just how great special rewards were, and...
“Ah,” I said as an idea came to my head. I had a certain combo available to me.
So I tried it. And the result was simple — a great success. Not only did the barrier stay intact, it increased my defensive ability so much it was immense.
The only problem was an unexpected side effect that got me all covered in mud.
Also, there was something I had to keep in mind.
“I can’t use this in the city,” I said.
“It’s a quick way to get on the wanted list, no doubt about it,” commented Nemesis.
This new way of using the skill was so dangerous that we decided not to touch it unless the situation called for it.
After we were done with the testing, we went back to the city, I took a shower at the inn, and then I made my way to Gideon’s knight offices. I went there because Liliana had told me to report the destruction of the Gouz-Maise Gang to them.
I entered the offices in Gideon’s first district and saw many Knight-like people busily running around. They seemed about five times busier than high schoolers getting ready for a school festival.
It appeared like there was some event coming up soon, and they were hard at work preparing for it.
Trying not to get in their way, I went through the less crowded hallways and made my way to the office Liliana had told me about.
However, before I could get there...
“Ah.”
...I ran into a white armor-clad knight whose face I recognized — the one that Liliana had referred to as “Sir Lindos.” From the way he stopped and stared at me, it was fair to say that he recognized me, as well.
“Hello,” I greeted him. However, all I got in response was silence.
Well, I already know that he doesn’t think too highly of us Masters, so whatever, I thought.
Not minding his attitude too much, I began heading to the office again.
“I hear that you defeated the Gouz-Maise Gang,” said Sir Lindos before I could walk away.
“Yes,” I replied. “I can’t say that I did it alone, though.”
In response, he silently closed his eyes. “Thank you.”
Then he left after saying just that.
“Huh?”
What am I supposed to make of that? I thought.
“Maybe he just wanted to express his gratitude?” said Nemesis.
“But why him, of all people?”
“I’m not one to know.”
Slightly confused at what had just happened, I went towards the office again.
Gideon’s knight offices had a free-to-enter area dedicated to the citizenry’s appeals and the like. Naturally, there were lots of secretive areas where civilians weren’t allowed to enter, but the office I was looking for was in the open area. There were guides to help people get around, so I had no trouble getting to my destination, where I quickly began going through the relevant procedures.
During the process, I was told something about merit or whatever, but I didn’t remember most of it. Almost the whole of my visit consisted of me looking at and signing some documents.
Most of them looked fine, and I didn’t hesitate to put my signature on them, but I refused to sign the one that gave me “The Right to Acquire the Treasure Plundered by the Gouz-Maise Gang.”
There was no denying that I had monetary troubles. Sure, with me getting the Grudge-soaked Greaves, I no longer had to buy an Amulet of the Equestrian Tribe to get the Horse Riding skill, but the thinness of my wallet was a problem nonetheless. However, I was highly averse to the idea of possessing money the scumbags hoarded by preying upon children. That was why I asked the office to donate that money to charities that helped children.
With Hugo also having a right to those dirty riches, my only regret was the fact that I’d decided this without consulting him. Sure, his letter had said that he needed no reward, but it still didn’t feel right to not get his input on this. If he didn’t agree with this decision, I was fully intent on giving him the reward I’d get from the guild.
However, I felt that this would never happen. Hugo and I hadn’t known each other for long, but I was certain that he’d have done the same thing as me if our positions had been reversed.
We were alike, and not just because we were both Maidens’ Masters.
Once I was done signing the papers, I was told that I was probably going to be contacted sooner or later, so I gave them the address of the inn I was staying at here in Gideon. With that, the procedures were done, and we began making our way out of the offices.
Before we left, however, one of the workers there stood up.
Facing me, he bowed and said one thing: “Thank you for avenging my little boy.”
I didn’t know what to say in response to that.
I’d had such gratitude directed at me back when I saved Milianne and protected Alejandro’s people against Gardranda, but the situation was completely different this time.
Specifically, there were two main differences.
The first was the fact that I had only taken part in this incident’s end. I had only seen the conclusion of the tragedies surrounding the Gouz-Maise Gang. I hadn’t seen anything but the results of what they’d done, and the final end Hugo and I had delivered upon them.
To the people living in this city, the tragedy had been a process that had constantly tortured them. Since they hadn’t been able to do anything about it, that suffering had probably extended to the country’s knights, as well. In fact, that might’ve been the reason why Sir Lindos had thanked me. However, I knew nothing about this painful process these people had been involved with.
The other difference was the fact that I wasn’t being thanked for saving anyone. I had been thanked for avenging the son the worker had lost. The tragedy had already happened, and many children kidnapped by the Gouz-Maise Gang had lost their lives.
Though we’d successfully saved the boy that our quest had indicated, and a number of other children along with him, the number of undead I’d burned in the dungeon had been at least ten times greater.
Far too many children would never return home. Thinking of that made my heart ache.
I felt unreasonably guilty about all that was lost and the fact that I had been too late to do anything about it. I couldn’t forgive myself for that, and felt that I had to make up for it somehow.
But...
“What can I even do about this?” I murmured.
“I certainly don’t know,” Nemesis responded, with a wry smile on her face. “I can see that you’re seriously troubled about this, but there isn’t much I can say to you as you are now. If I have to, however, I’ll merely suggest that beating yourself up over a tragedy that already occurred and wondering whether it could have been prevented or not is best left to protagonists of time loop stories. It’s better to be troubled by what has yet to come. After all, you don’t have the power to go back in time. You are only human... and my only Master.”
“‘What has yet to come,’ eh?” I asked.
“Things will probably be the same as they always were,” she said. “You’ll happen upon an incident, and if you feel like letting it happen will give you a bad aftertaste, you’ll intervene and help those you feel should be helped. I am fully certain that this will keep happening to you.”
After a moment of thought, I realized that I’d been doing primarily that ever since I’d entered Dendro. No, in fact, such events had been with me ever since I was a child.
“That makes me seem like a highly haphazard individual,” I said.
I didn’t have a plan most of the time, and I often let the flow lead me to all sorts of trouble, which I’d often dive into headfirst. It never came to me when the incidents actually happened, but when I looked back, it often seemed like I’d gone straight for them of my own accord.
My words made Nemesis smile.
“There’s a number of things I like about you, and that’s one of them,” she said.
“‘That,’ as in...?” I raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t run away when you feel like you have to save someone.”
“You like me for being foolhardy?”
“No, I like you for not hiding your courage, no matter how fearsome your opponent is. That part of you makes you very cool, if you ask me.”
I was silent.
Well... You’re gonna make me blush, I thought.
“However, even if it’s par for the course for you to face opponents far greater than you, it would be far better if you were the stronger one,” Nemesis said. “So, if you feel like you must do something, you should start by raising your base power.”
“Base power, eh?” I said.
It was obvious that I’d become stronger than before, but I was still among the weaklings of this world. Even with my trump cards Vengeance is Mine, Like a Flag Flying the Reversal, and my special rewards, I’d still needed lots of luck to emerge victorious against all the formidable foes I’d fought so far. After all, the PK, the Superior Killer, had ended me as if I was nothing.
“However, if you want to talk about becoming stronger in that regard, you have a far better person to turn to than myself,” said Nemesis. “Look, you have a friend that’s far more experienced than us. If we ever want to give the Superior Killer what’s coming to him, we should ask her for advice.”
Nemesis pointed at the café where our group agreed to meet. The “her” she was referring to was the woman sitting in the café’s open terrace as she waved at us — Marie.
“So you want to become stronger. I see, I see,” Marie said as she nodded in a pondering manner.
While I was telling the Journalist about what was troubling me, Nemesis got herself a pile of sandwiches for breakfast and dug into them.
Well, there goes the money I made during this morning’s hunt, I thought.
“Indeed we do!” said Nemesis. “We need your advice if we ever want to give the Superior Killer what’s coming to him.”
“...Right,” Marie said. She covered her face for some reason.
“Since you’ve played Dendro far longer than me, I imagine you’re pretty knowledgeable about it,” I said.
“Oh, believe me, I am,” she said. “I’m unemployed, and I’ve been doing this for more than a year now. Been going hardcore, so to speak.”
...Is your life all right? I thought.
“Anyway, you want to know what you must do to become strong enough to win against the Superior Killer, correct?” Marie asked. “Hmmm.” She put her hand against her mouth and pondered something before speaking. “What do you think are your weak points?”
“Weak points?” I asked.
I feel that I’m still weak in many ways, but if I have to converge on something specific, then...
“My range is too short, and also everything goes to hell if I mess up Nemesis’s skills,” I said.
“Indeed, that’s more or less right,” nodded Marie. “Can you explain why?”
The problem with my range was obvious. Vengeance, my trump card, was limited by the reach of my greatsword, and though my Purgatorial Flames went a bit farther, the distance still wasn’t particularly notable.
Given that, it would be hard for me to do anything about those who used guns or magic and attacked from hundreds of meters away. Sure, I could defend myself against such opponents by using Counter Absorption, but the skill’s maximum stock was very limited. The tough enemies I’d defeated so far — Demi-Dragon Worm, Gardranda, and Gouz-Maise — had all been close-range fighters, just like myself.
Meanwhile, the Superior Killer, who stood at a distance and shot monstrous bullets at me, had killed me without getting as much as a scratch on him. If that wasn’t a weak point, I had no idea what was.
There was also the lingering possibility of me failing to use my skills properly. That included scenarios where I used Counter Absorption against the weakest of attacks — basically wasting it — or where the enemy stopped the damage conduction from Vengeance is Mine by removing the part of the body I’d landed it on, which was something I’d thought about during the Gouz-Maise fight.
If my enemies were aware of these possibilities, they could easily nullify Nemesis’s unique skills. It wouldn’t usually be a problem on the first fight, but that would change the moment they figured out how my skills worked.
“Yes, you seem to know why those are big problems,” said Marie. “However, you forgot another weak point.”
“Which is?” I raised an eyebrow.
“The lack of speed or toughness.”
Yeah, I’m gonna need an elaboration, I thought.
“All right, Ray,” she said. “You want to get stronger, so I’ll tell you what you must do from the game’s perspective,” she continued. “‘Raise your AGI or END.’ That’s it.”
...What?
“Now wait just a second,” I said. “That can’t be all there is to it, is it?”
“Of course,” Marie nodded. “There are job and skill builds to consider, not to mention their synergy with your Embryo. However, when looking at the way the game works, you simply must raise either of those stats.”
“‘Must’?” That word seemed kinda off in this context.
“Now, Ray,” she spoke up again. “Have you ever felt that the surroundings slowed down when you were fighting?”
“...Yeah, actually,” I answered. That sensation was especially palpable when I was strengthened by Reversal. The world seemed to be in slow-motion, making it far easier for me to evade the enemy’s attacks.
“That happens because of the greatness in difference between AGI in normal situations and battles,” she explained.
“‘Difference’?” I repeated.
“Yes. First of all, when you don’t have a job, you’re much like a standard person on Earth. You know how your stats were at about 10 or 20 back then?”
“Yeah, I remember them being around that range.”
“So, as you already know, when you raise your job levels, that number can go to 100, 200, or even break the 1,000 mark if you pick a high-rank job with a focused stat growth. Those numbers become ten times greater when they’re about HP, MP, or SP.”
“I’m aware.”
By the time I maxed out my Paladin job, my HP would likely be far above the 10,000 mark. But it wasn’t like this job was focused only on HP, and from what I could tell by looking at Liliana’s stats, standard Paladins didn’t get that much of it, so my stat growth was probably greatly influenced by Nemesis. It was fair to assume that other Masters could easily get to those numbers with their own Embryo bonuses.
“All right, so,” Marie continued. “The amount of time experienced by a person with 10 AGI is different to that experienced by a person with 100.”
“Hm?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Right now, when we’re not doing any fighting, we’re experiencing time the same way someone with normal AGI does,” she said. “However, when you enter a battle or merely make a conscious decision to switch it, that stat instantly changes. Why not try it?”
“Hm...”
With the bonus from the Grudge-soaked Greaves, my AGI was about 100. Just like Marie suggested, I consciously changed my stats. In that state, I looked down the street and, sure enough, the people there were walking at a slightly slower pace.
It was the first time I’d experienced it outside of battle, and the results slightly impressed me.
“It’s not like the time perceived scales directly with AGI,” Marie added. “However, this function is a part of the game’s system, and no Master, tian, or monster is an exception. I think it works like this because a constant slowing down would affect people’s day-to-day lives.”
“So AGI affects the amount of time experienced during battle, huh?” I said as I pondered.
By now, it made sense why Marie had suggested that it was a “must.” Experiencing more time gave those with greater AGI a huge advantage in battle.
“It doesn’t matter all that much to rear guard roles,” she continued. “Vanguard roles, however, must have enough AGI to allow them to act faster than their opponents or enough END to survive their attacks. Those focusing on the latter also need to find ways to fight back.”
With me being a Paladin, my build was leaning towards END. However, it still wasn’t high enough for me to survive attacks from those more powerful than myself. Also, Paladin was my very first job, so I didn’t have the stats that most people would normally have after maxing out low-rank jobs such as Knight.
Clearly, my situation wasn’t the best.
“By the way, riding fast mounts and the like has no effect on the time you experience,” Marie added.
I was fully aware of that. Riding Silver had increased my movement speed, but I didn’t feel like there was much of a change in the time I’d perceived.
I said, “But man, I’m surprised I was able to win such tough fights without being aware of this difference, and...”
Suddenly, I realized that the tough enemies I’d fought against so far hadn’t had that much AGI. The Demi-Dragon Worm, Gardranda, and Gouz-Maise had all excelled in endurance rather than agility.
“Remember that you can take six low-rank jobs and two high-rank jobs,” Marie spoke up again. “Your overall power is greatly affected by how many of them you have.”
“So, with me being on my first job and my level not being all that great, I still have a long way to go, huh?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “Oh, just so you know, AGI-focused Superior Jobs can get their AGI to five digits.”
“Five?!” Superior Jobs seem to have a serious stat inflation problem, I thought.
“People with such jobs can move at supersonic speeds and even block or catch bullets mid-flight,” Marie continued. “Also, this is merely something that I happened to hear through gossip, but they say that the so-called Superior Killer has an AGI-focused Superior Job, so you should really raise your AGI or END if you want to stand a chance against him.”
Well, if that guy’s an AGI build, getting my stats up is pretty much a necessity, I thought. Wait, speaking of stats...
“What if I focus on STR?” I asked. Increasing offensive ability seemed like a very simple, reliable way of becoming powerful.
“STR build?” she asked. “You’ll die.”
D-Die?!
“Focusing on STR would have you sacrifice AGI and END, after all. No matter how hard you hit, you won’t be able to dodge or bear many attacks, leading you to dying pretty quickly. The fate of all glass cannons.”
“So that’s how it works...”
“There are some well-balanced builds that merely happen to have high STR, and there are people such as the King of Beasts — the ‘Physically Strongest’ — whose every stat is so high, it’s stupid. However, your average STR builds are just fodder.”
I see, I thought. Also, if I recall correctly, the King of Beasts is one of the imperium’s Superiors. I didn’t know he had “Physically Strongest” as a nickname.
“That just about settles the talk about the basic power relations in fights,” said Marie as she took a cup into her hand. “Now, let me tell you about player skills.”
After gulping down some of her tea, Marie took a breath and began talking again.
“There’s so much to player skills that I’m not sure where to begin. Well, for example, if you’re good at martial arts in reality, you can use those techniques in Dendro just fine. Or if you can draw, you can do it here without getting the skill for it.”
“Martial arts, huh?” I said.
Naturally, with him being a person who had won Un-kra, the one that came to mind was my brother. However, instead of applying those skills to his Dendro fighting, he used a minigun and even rode a tank.
Can he even do any martial arts in that suit, though? I wondered. It sure didn’t look that comfortable to move in. And hell, bears are usually the targets of martial artists, not the other way around.
“Well, the subject of real skills involves too many person-to-person differences, so let’s leave it aside for now,” said Marie. “In battle — especially against other people — there are three main things one must always consider.”
“Which are?” I asked.
“One: you must know the conditions in which your opponent is strongest; two: you must know the conditions in which you are weakest; and three: you have to be able to predict your opponent’s ultimate attack.”
“Hm...” I could understand the first one. Basically, I had to avoid being where the enemy wanted me to be. The thing that came to mind was my fight against the Demi-Dragon Worm. Though I’d emerged victorious, there had been the lingering possibility of me getting pulled underground, like my brother was. Even with Nemesis with me, the chances of me winning while fighting in absolute darkness — their natural habitat, at that — would have been extremely slim.
The second one made sense, too. It reminded me of the time I’d gotten killed by the Superior Killer. While being outside my attack range, he’d attacked me with countless bullets against which I’d been able to do absolutely nothing. With my only defensive option having limited uses and my offense being exclusively melee, it was only natural that I’d died back then.
By now, I could move far better than before and my range was slightly greater. However, it would be hard to say that I’d stand a chance against a long-range fighter such as him.
All that said, I didn’t know what she meant with the third point.
“‘Ultimate attack’?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Just about every strong battle-oriented creature has one,” said Marie. “Masters, tians, bosses such as UBMs... They all have some trump card which they have absolute confidence in. Enough to think that the battle would be over the moment they use it.”
The term “trump card” reminded me of my and Nemesis’s Vengeance is Mine skill.
“So, it’s basically a strong skill?” I asked.
“It could be a skill, a weapon, or maybe even a tactic. The stronger the creature, the more of these they have. Embryos even have skills that are actually called ‘ultimate skills.’”
“‘Ultimate skills’?” I repeated.
“Oh?” Nemesis’ eyes lit up, and she momentarily stopped eating sandwiches to join our conversation. Apparently, the subject of ultimate skills had caught her curiosity.
“Ultimate skills are the greatest, strongest skills of an Embryo, and they’re always named after the Embryo itself,” continued Marie. “All of them — without exception — have a powerful effect that strongly expresses the Embryo’s dominant characteristic.”
Well, that sure makes them sound intriguing, I thought.
“Actually, you saw one in one of the videos I showed you — the one where Figaro fought against the leader of Mad Castle,” she added. “It was the last skill that the leader used.”
Yeah, I remember that, I thought. It had been a rush of attacks that the leader had done after momentarily binding Figaro in place. In the end, Figaro had evaded it, but the skill had left a giant crater where he’d stood.
“Hmm... So my ultimate skill would be called ‘Nemesis,’ correct?” asked Nemesis.
“Yes, that’s exactly how it would be,” nodded Marie.
“Nemesis” worked pretty nice as a skill name.
“But I feel like some Embryo names wouldn’t really work as skill names,” I said. “For example, ‘Momotaro.’”
“Oh yes, such cases definitely aren’t unheard of,” said Marie. “For example, one of Granvaloa’s Superiors, ‘The Great Seven Embryos of Granvaloa,’ has an Embryo called ‘Abura-Sumashi.’”
“A-Abura-Sumashi...” I repeated the name and, sure enough, I didn’t feel a hint of power behind it. If I recalled correctly, it was just the name of a yokai with a big head.
“Oh, the name probably makes you think it’s weak, but just so you know, Abura-Sumashi is actually among the top ten strongest Embryos I know,” said Marie.
“Are you serious?” I asked.
“Very,” she nodded. “After all, it turns any liquids it touches into explosive material. Seawater, bodily fluids — you name it and it can turn it into an explosive that makes nitroglycerin pale in comparison. There was a time when the Master used it to turn all the seawater in a radius of 500 meters into explosives and blew a horde of monsters to bits.”
That’s just freaky, I thought.
“Also, I’ve heard that back when he had a dispute with a certain pirate clan, he fought one of its members, changed the pirate’s bodily fluids into explosives, let the pirate run away, and then used him to blow the clan’s hideout to bits.”
Savage.
“Due to that, Abura-Sumashi’s Master got the nickname ‘Human Bomb’...”
Sounds like trauma material, I thought. I feel like I won’t be comfortable looking at abura-sumashi illustrations ever again.
“Well, just keep in mind that a name has no relation to strength,” concluded Marie.
Yeah, you don’t need to tell me twice.
“Anyhow, I’m really looking forward to the time I get my own ultimate skill,” said Nemesis.
“As you should,” said Marie. “However, at the earliest, you would get it after becoming high-rank, so it might take a while.”
“I imagine it will,” I nodded. “Wait. Marie, you said you’ve been playing Dendro for more than a year, right? That’s three years in this world, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“If you’ve been at it for that long, you should have your ultimate skill already, right?”
“Hm? Now that you mention it, I’ve yet to see Marie’s Embryo,” said Nemesis.
Marie’s reply to that was silence. Though she was smiling in the same way she always did, for one reason or another, a great amount of sweat was running down her face.
I guess wearing a suit in this spring-like weather made her heat up a bit, I thought.
“Uhh... I, umm... my Embryo is... it’s called uh… Arc-en-Ciel and, uh...”
“French for ‘Rainbow,’ huh?” I said. “That’s pretty cool.”
So Embryo names aren’t limited to myths and fairy tales, huh? I thought. Of course, rainbows are common in legends, so maybe it’s not actually an exception.
“As for what kind of Embryo it is, well... uh...” muttered Marie, for some reason showing hesitation about saying it.
“Hello! Sorry we took so long!” Rook cried.
“I’m sooo hungry! Let’s have some food, Rook!” Babi added. At that moment, the other people we were waiting for arrived at the café.
“Now, wheeere aaare they?” asked Babi while looking around.
“Oh!” exclaimed Marie. “If it isn’t Rookie and Babi! Good morning! Are you hungry?! You are?! Let me get you something, then! The sandwiches here are really good! I’ll go and order some right now!”
After saying all that in one breath, Marie stood up and ran to the café’s counter.
“Ah ha ha! Looks like Marie is in high spirits today,” said Rook.
“She was nowhere near like that until just a second ago...” I commented.
Well, it’s not like being in a good mood is a bad thing, I thought.
Marie, still in that weird state, came back with even more sandwiches than Nemesis had eaten, and we all had to do our part to make sure the food didn’t go to waste. However, the exchange of information continued even as we ate, and I ended up telling them about what had happened yesterday.
“Eh? Ray, you can use the Purifying Silverlight?” Marie cried.
“Well... yeah?”
Marie looked absolutely puzzled. Rook heard me, as well, but with him not being the type to eat all that much, the sandwiches he’d forced himself to consume had made him drop his head on the table and thus not take part in the conversation. Nemesis and Babi were merely too focused on eating.
Anyway, the current subject was the Purifying Silverlight. It was the skill I’d learned when I’d cremated the undead children in that underground hallway.
Purifying Silverlight was an anti-undead skill, and a ridiculously good one, at that. It had been simply invaluable in the grueling battles I’d won yesterday. After all, it had not only made my attacks do holy damage, which worked even on spirits, it had also multiplied all damage done to undead by 10.
Again — 10 times greater damage on undead.
Though it hadn’t worked with Vengeance due to its damage being fixed, it was still an insanely good buff for my standard attacks. And that wasn’t the end of it, either. If an undead was hit by Purifying Silverlight, the wound could never be healed.
Though Gouz-Maise — the affront to sanity that it was — had been able to heal by removing the entire injured part, all the other undead had vanished before they could even exhibit the toughness unique to their kind.
Yesterday’s battles wouldn’t have gone nearly as well if I hadn’t had Purifying Silverlight at my disposal. As useful as Vengeance and Purgatorial Flames were, it was doubtful if they would have been enough for me to even live long enough to face Gouz-Maise.
Marie silently stared at me. That reaction weirded me out. She looked seriously surprised about something.
“How did you become able to use Silverlight?” she asked.
“Well, I got a message saying ‘Eliminate 100 appropriate monsters...’” I answered.
“Can you show me your counter?” she asked.
“My counter?”
...Of what? I thought.
“Open your menu window, go to the battle history screen, and you’ll find the creature type kill counters among the extras.”
“Oh, this, right?” I opened it and, sure enough, there were creature types such as undead, beast, avian, dragon, devil, elemental, demon, human, etc. with appropriate numbers beside them. My greatest one was undead: 158. It was followed by beasts and demons.
“So, are these the total numbers of monsters I’ve defeated?” I asked.
“Yes,” Marie nodded. “Supposedly, the condition is ‘defeat a certain amount’... but this number seems way too small.”
As she muttered things like that, I shifted my gaze back to my kill counters. “There’s one for humans, too, huh?”
On the window, my human kill count was 0. Apparently, though originally being human, the Lich Maise had counted as undead.
“What kind of creatures does the human counter cover, anyway?” I asked.
“A human is any creature that can have a job,” answered Marie. “So if you see someone with a job, it’s a human. Or ‘humanoid,’ as they’re technically called.”
“Then why didn’t the Lich I killed count as human?”
“Oh, that’s because the job comes with the effect of turning the human that takes it into undead, so he stopped being human the very moment he became a Lich. It’s one of the very few exceptions.”
That made me assume that there were scenarios where unfortunate humans that merely happened to look like monsters got attacked for that very reason, and I didn’t know how to feel about that.
“Oh, but it’s not like a Lich is completely like your usual, monster undead,” added Marie. “You know how monsters have their names hanging above their heads? Well, with them originally being human, that doesn’t apply to Liches.”
Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that, I thought. Guess those scenarios are pretty rare, then.
“But man, it actually keeps track of the number of humans you kill,” I said.
“Just so you’re aware, it includes the kills made within the barriers of duel cities such as this one,” Marie explained. “So a high human kill count doesn’t always suggest that the person is a murderer. After all, once the duel is over, things go back to being the same way they were before.”
“Oh, I see,” I nodded.
“So many of those who frequent this city have probably killed hundreds of people,” she added.
Well, that sure is a grim way to put it, I thought.
“I have a question.” Rook raised his head and joined our conversation. “How do kill counters for tamed monsters work?”
“When they’re used under the minion capacity, their kills are counted as the owner’s kills,” answered Marie. “When they’re used as party members, however, their kills are counted as their own. You can see it for yourself by looking at their stat windows. Oh, also, kills done by autonomous Embryos such as Guardians are automatically counted as the Master’s kills.”
“Then what happens when a Charmed creature kills something?” Rook asked again.
“Umm... Those count as the Charmed creature’s kills. The kill count of the one who did the Charming stays the same. Also, in scenarios where someone Poisons the opponent, escapes the battle, and merely waits for the Poisoned enemy to die, it still counts as the poisoner’s kill.” Apparently, it was dependent on who landed the finishing blow. Tamed monsters within the minion capacity were considered to be like the limbs of the owner, so their kills went to him. While in a party, however, their kills went to their own kill counters.
With status effects such as Poison, the kill went to the one who was directly responsible for the poisoning. Indirect kills, such as the ones done by Charmed opponents, went to those who had done the killing, rather than the Charmer.
“So, if I want to, like Ray, fulfill a condition that has me defeat a certain number of something, I have to avoid using Charm or party slots and instead fight with my own strength or with those that fit in my capacity, right?”
I see why he was curious, I thought. I recalled that Guardians used 0 minion capacity, so he would have been able to use Babi to increase his kill counts even if she hadn’t been his Embryo.
“This is so strange,” muttered Marie after a while of serious pondering.
“What’s strange?” I asked.
As confusion overwhelmed my brain, the person at reception began explaining why the reward was so great.
Originally, the reward the adventurers’ guild had set for the Gouz-Maise Gang’s two leaders had been 1,000,000 each, while its normal members had gone for 10,000 each, making the total about 3,000,000 lir.
However, each and every person that had gone to eliminate the gang had gotten killed. Due to that, it had become known as a highly fearsome group that couldn’t be underestimated.
There was also the fact that each and every failure to defeat them resulted in the death of the kidnapped children, so the risks had been too great for any party to attempt it again.
Naturally, there had been many people who were unsatisfied with that state of the situation. That included the families of the kidnapped children and even Count Gideon himself — the ruler of the city.
With Gideon being so prosperous, many of the kidnapped children’s families were wealthy. A number of them had paid the ransom, but only received their children’s corpses. Driven by grief and anger, many such people had wished for revenge and added money to the adventurers’ guild’s reward.
Due to the Gouz-Maise Gang’s many crimes in his domain, Count Gideon himself had grown to hate the group with a passion and had wished to eliminate them by using the local army. However, with them having their hideout at the eastern border, he wouldn’t have been able to go through with it because using the army might have been considered an act of war against Caldina.
Thoroughly upset with the state of the situation and hoping for a strong party to defeat the scoundrels, Count Gideon had used his own riches to increase the reward. Due to such reasons, the money had reached the great amount of 80,000,000 lir.
“It’s surprising that nobody did anything until now,” I said.
A fortune such as this would’ve attracted many people to this quest. Especially Masters, since there were few risks for us in getting involved in such perilous business.
“Any failures would reduce the chances of the children returning home, so the guild decided not to show any wanted posters for the gang and instead chose to hand-pick the people that looked like they could certainly do it,” said the receptionist. “Specifically, the Superiors.”
Ah, so they kept it a secret to not make the situation worse, I thought.
I wasn’t completely sure if that decision had been a good one.
“The guild expected the great event happening in the central arena today to attract lots of powerful people from all across the land, so we were aiming to use it as a chance to find our person...”
...and have them do the quest, huh? I thought. From what I’d heard the Lich say, the gang had seen that coming and planned to leave yesterday.
“That is why we were quite confused to find out that the Gouz-Maise Gang was eliminated before we found someone to do it...” she added.
They’d been watching, waiting for an opportunity, and then Hugo and I had come out of nowhere, saying we’d already taken care of the problem. I could see why it was hard for them to believe.
In the end, the fact that I wasn’t lying was proved by my Grudge-soaked Greaves, Gouz-Maise. Anyway, that was how I’d ended up with a reward that was way too big for my pockets.
“I have to meet up with Hugo,” I said.
“Indeed,” nodded Nemesis.
Though he’d said in his letter that the money was mine for the taking, I couldn’t let myself accept these riches without consulting him. I also wanted to talk to him about the decisions I’d made back in the knight office. However, I had no means of contacting him and had neglected to put him on my friends list, so I didn’t even know if he was online.
“Whatever the case, I’ll decide where the money goes after I meet him,” I decided.
Sure, I have monetary issues, but still, I thought.
“They said that the reward for the horse undead was 1,000,000 lir,” said Nemesis. “Why not let yourself use that much, at least?”
“...You have a point.”
That was completely reasonable. 1,000,000 lir was the same amount we’d gotten for defeating Gardranda, and it was more than enough for shopping done by a newbie such as myself.
However, I wasn’t quite sure about what to buy. Due to level restrictions, it was far too early for me to get new equipment.
My only real shopping options are accessories and... weaponry, I guess, I thought.
“Are you thinking of cheating on me?” demanded Nemesis.
“No, damn it,” I answered. “Remember what Hugo said? About how Maidens can get skills after fighting in their human form?”
“That he did say, yes.”
“So yeah, I’m thinking of getting a weapon for you and for me when you’re in your human form.”
“Well, that certainly sounds like something we need,” Nemesis nodded, fully understanding my point. “All right, if you’re to wield a weapon that isn’t me, I’ll have to make sure that it’s fully worthy!”
...Well, someone’s excited, I thought. Oh right, if we’re gonna go to Alejandro’s shop, I should also—
“Surely you’re not about to think that you should pull the gacha again, are you, Ray?” demanded Nemesis.
“Ha ha ha, whatever do you mean, Nemesis? Do I look like someone who doesn’t learn from his mistakes?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Let me take a better look at you by looking you in the eye when we talk.”
“...I’m sorry.”
But come on, I know that it’s possible that I’ll draw another Permit or an item that’s worth less than I put in, but wouldn’t it be great to land something as great as Silver or Rook’s Touch of the Silencer? I mean—
“Huh?”
As I was making my way towards the shop, I saw a familiar silhouette standing in the plaza before the central arena. At first, I thought that my eyes were deceiving me, but once I got close, I became fully aware that they weren’t.
Black fur covering the whole body, a stature greater than that of the average person, a fat waist and limbs that were relatively short. It was a bear suit, surrounded by a large group of children.
“Ohh! This popularity is so great it’s almost unbearable! I feel like a star! Ursaa!”
The one wearing it, obviously, was my brother.
I said nothing.
Again, the one in the bear suit was my very own brother.
Likely due to being in the plaza, he had probably gotten mistaken for some performance artist or a mascot, causing him to be surrounded and jostled by many children.
“I don’t even have anywhere to stand! Ah! Climbing on me is fine and all, just make sure not to fall!”
“...Bro, what the hell are you doing?” I asked as he became overwhelmed by children and was about to evolve into a walking adventure playground.
“Hm? Who is it fur whom I am a brother dearest...? Oh! It’s Ray!” He greeted me by raising his arms, but his appearance made me feel like I was being menaced by a wild beast.
“Brother dearest” was quite an exaggeration. I had no recollection of ever having that much respect for him, and that included the days before his Un-kra fight.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you for a while, Brother Bear,” said Nemesis.
“A beary good afternoon to you, too, Nemesis,” my brother greeted her as he slowly waved his arm. The reason for the slowness were the children hanging on to it.
“But man, you’re as popular as always,” I said. “You were in a similar state when I met you back in the capital.”
“Costumes like these are beary rare, after all,” he said.
“They are?”
“No one wants to wear them because they’re terrible as equipment.”
“Really?”
“Wearing these things takes up all the slots except the ones fur weapons and accessories,” he explained.
Okay, the lack of popularity instantly makes sense, I thought.
“Suits that make up for that huge minus are unbearably rare,” he continued. “I don’t even know five Masters who wear them on a regular basis.”
“...So you’re saying that you know four?” I said. With my brother Shu included, that number became five.
Sounds like a wacky hero group, I thought. ...Oh yeah, he was actually a part of one once.
“What do you mean?” Nemesis asked telepathically.
It’s no big deal. He just had a role as a member of a hero group in a certain tokusatsu show.
“I can’t say that I am knowledgeable about that world, but based on the common sense I received from you, isn’t that quite impressive? Wait, wasn’t he a martial artist?” she asked.
Oh yes, he was during his middle school and high school days. In his elementary school days, however, he was a child actor and a singer. That was when he got the role as an extra — the sixth — in a certain hero group. But that ended before I could even think properly, so I don’t know the details.
“Just what is he?” she demanded.
My big brother. Currently unemployed.
“So, bro, did you come to Gideon to observe the Clash of the Superiors?” I asked.
“Bearily, yes. I came to see my buddy Figgy fight.”
Figgy? As in, Figaro? I thought. I didn’t know they were friends.
“Well, I’m planning on watching it, too, so maybe we’ll meet there?” I said.
“Eh? You bear a ticket?” he asked.
“Yeah. A friend of mine got me one,” I answered as I reached into my inventory and showed it to him.
“Oh, it’s for a box seat, too. I’m impressed you... Hm?” After glancing at it, he focused his eyes — the eye parts on the suit, anyway — on a certain part of my ticket.
“What?” I asked.
“Look here,” he said as he took out his own ticket.
I looked at it and noticed that it said “L-001.”
The L referred to the box itself, while the 001 was the number of the seat inside the box.
It was relevant because my own ticket was L-004.
“We’re in the same box?” I asked.
Different seats, obviously, but we were still next to each other.
“A pawsitively amazing coincidence,” my brother declared. “We’ll be watching it together!”
“I didn’t even think this could happen.”
“Your friend probably bought it from the same scalper as me,” he said.
That seemed entirely plausible.
“But oh, the fact that you’ve already made some friends here in Dendro makes me oh-so-beary happy,” he said as he took out a handkerchief and pretended to cry while putting it against his suit’s eye parts.
...I’m quite sure that no tears are coming out of there, I thought.
“Also, by looking at your gear, I see that you’ve already been on some big adventures,” he added while looking at my bracers and boots — the Miasmaflame Bracers and the Grudge-soaked Greaves.
“Well, things happened, all right,” I said. “I kinda want to talk about it, but this doesn’t seem like the situation for long chats.”
Shu had been surrounded and jostled by children for the entirety of our conversation so far.
“Good point,” he said. “All right, children! This bear has to go now! Here’s something to help you bear this farewell!”
He reached into his inventory, took out a huge amount of candy, and began tossing it around and at the surrounding children. Naturally, the kids were overjoyed, expressed their thanks, and went away from him, one by one.
“You did this back in the capital, too,” I commented.
“Heh, it’s a bare necessity when wearing this suit.”
I was about to suggest that he take it off, but then I remembered that he couldn’t. The face under it was his real face, after all.
“Why aren’t you wearing some sort of mask or a disguise instead?” I asked.
“I don’t want to look like a weirdo.”
...Do you really think that wearing a bear suit isn’t weird? I thought.
“Then why not do what you’re good at and use the appearance of a hero, instead?” I asked.
“There’s a clan focused entirely on that, so things could get beary annoying.”
“...There’s actually a hero group clan?”
“And a masked hero clan, too.”
“Well, Dendro sure doesn’t seem to lack freedom,” I muttered.
Soon enough, Shu finished distributing the candy, and there were no longer any children around. Indeed, the children had left, but...
“Isn’t there something on your head?” I asked.
“Well, I’ll be. There actually is,” he said.
Something was holding on to the top of his head. It definitely wasn’t a human child. Though caricaturistically distorted, it looked somewhat like a hedgehog or porcupine.
The way it clung to Shu made it look like some sort of mascot, but I was fully aware that my brother didn’t come with any such extras. It had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
There’s no name above its head, so it’s clearly not a monster. Is it an Embryo, then? I thought.
“Oh, sorry about that,” I heard someone say.
I turned to the direction of the voice and saw a woman. She looked like she was in her early twenties. Her clothing, despite fitting the fantasy setting, gave her the appearance of a secretary. The crest on the back of her left hand was proof that she was a Master.
“Apologies. My Behemot seems to have troubled you,” she said.
“Behem...? Oh, this thing,” my brother said.
“Behemot” was one way to refer to Behemoth — a creature from the Old Testament. That meant that it was an Embryo and that the lady here was its Master.
“Go on now, little lady. Big lady’s here to pick you up,” said Shu as he took the hedgehog, Behemot, and tried to remove it. But it didn’t show any signs of letting go.
“Little lady?” It’s a girl? I thought.
“xD!” Behemot emitted a strangely irritating chitter of joy and grabbed hold even harder. Apparently, she had taken a liking to Shu’s head.
“Behemot, get off the bear’s head,” said the lady. “We have to go or we won’t make it. We’re in the standing area, so we have to hurry up.”
Behemot complied, jumping off my brother’s head and into her Master’s chest.
“Now, if you’ll excuse us, we will take our leave,” the woman said and began walking away.
“Oh, wait a second,” said Shu before reaching into his inventory, taking out some candy, and giving it to them.
“I bear gifts for all!” he exclaimed. “Enjoy it to your heart’s content, you two.”
“...Thank you very much.”
“thx!”
With that, Behemot and her Master walked away from us. From the mention of a “standing area,” it was fair to assume that she was going to see the event in the central arena.
“So it’s not just children, eh? You seem to be popular with small animals, too,” I said.
My words made Shu tilt his head for some reason. Though it wasn’t too noticeable, with him not being a real bear and all.
“Well, I guess you can just say that I’m beary popular among the little ones,” he said. “Everyone loves bears!”
“Whatever you say, bro.” Though he’d said that he’d started wearing it because it was necessary, he seemed to enjoy it quite a lot.
“In fact, this bear suit is so popular that I don’t really feel up fur wearing any other suit,” he added.
“You have other ones?!”
“You don’t have enough fingers to count the number of suits I have, and that’s just for special rewards.”
“That many?!”
I didn’t know what was more surprising — the fact that he had that many special rewards or the fact that they were all suits.
Man, my brother is quite the barrel of laughs, I thought.
“Let’s go and have a nice chat somewhere,” he said.
“Sure. Let’s go, Nemes— Wait, what’s with that face?”
For some reason, she was just standing there. I suddenly noticed that she hadn’t spoken a word for a while. I didn’t know why, but she was looking at the direction where Behemot and her Master had gone.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said. “I’m probably just imagining things. She has an Embryo, after all...”
I couldn’t make out what she was so concerned about.
“Hey! Why are you just standing there?! Don’t make me wait fur you!” exclaimed Shu.
“Oh, he’s right. Let’s go, Ray.”
“Yeah.”
We caught up with my brother, and we all decided to go to a café. He let us choose the place, so — by Nemesis’s suggestion — we ended up go to the same sweet-focused café as yesterday.
I dread to imagine how much she’ll eat, I thought.
“Well then, Behemot. Are you quite satisfied?” she asked.
“lol...”
“Excellent. You did say that you found the bear cute and wished to hug him. Though I found it a bit improper, it’s good to see that you had your fill. Now, let’s hope that you can also get what you want from today’s fight, as well.”
“yeye.”
“Truly, I hope the Superiors in this nation are powerful… It would be great news indeed.”
“git hype.”
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