Grandfather told me to become a Seeker that would never lose. Rather than pushing me to aim for the top, he was likely more concerned about my future.
Simply put, what he meant was, to never fight unless I was absolutely sure to win.
I could accept Grandfather's words and go down the path of always playing it safe. However, I want to become the strongest Seeker, one who is just as strong, no, that surpasses Grandfather. That's because I believe that that's the very path that will let me repay my debt to my deceased Grandfather.
So, the question becomes how『strongest 』is defined. If I won't lose, no matter who I fought, then I would undoubtedly be the strongest. But something like that is impossible. There will always be an issue of compatibility in fights. The strength to be able to handle every type of opponent doesn't exist.
While all-rounder combat type Jobs do exist, they easily become jacks of all trades and masters of none, and are far from being the strongest. The Warrior, which is stable in both offense and defense, is the closest to being an ideal Job. But even Grandfather, who had reached the pinnacle EX Rank of this Job, had his limits.
Much less a Talker, which has the worst individual fighting abilities among all the combat type Jobs. Trying to be the strongest as an individual is absolutely impossible for me.
If that's the case, what should I do? The answer is obvious.
「I should create the strongest clan and become the clan master」
A clan is an organization that's formed by a gathering of several Seekers. Simply put, it's a higher tier version of a party.
In the first place, aiming to be the strongest individual is a mistake in and of itself. Mankind's greatest strength comes from the solidarity within their groups. In other words, that means that if I'm aiming to be the strongest, I should gather talented people of all kinds and create the strongest clan.
And as the first step towards that ambition, after I became a Seeker, I began searching for allies immediately after arriving in the imperial capital. And quite luckily, I was able to form a party with three talented allies.
The red-haired lady's man, Lloyd, the Swordsman. The black-haired muscleman, Walter, the Warrior. The long, blonde-haired beauty, Tania, the Healer.
The three of them were novices just like me, but they had graduated from their respective Seeker training schools. Because of that, all three of them were older than me.
Ability is everything for a Seeker, but as there were only slight differences among novices, many of them emphasized age superiority, so I bitterly ended up being a junior to all three of them. In other words, their underling. The person who served as the leader of the party was also not me, but Lloyd.
Well, it can't be helped at the start. This is the time for me to patiently gain experience as a Seeker.
A party isn't something that stays unchanged anyways, and I intend on eventually shaping it to the form I desired. If my allies are able to accept that, then it's all good. If they can't accept it, then I'll just have to leave the party and gather new allies.
I don't hate my allies and do trust them, but it's actually rarer for those who have worked as Seekers for a long time to continue working with the same members. Being somewhat dispassionate and being able to let go quickly is the kind of attitude necessary to be a Seeker.
In any case, I'm a member of the party called『Blue Beyond』now. And, for the sake of fulfilling that role, I'm devoting myself to Seeker activities today as well.
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An Abyss would form anywhere, irregardless of location, as long as the mana density passed a certain point. It didn't matter if it was a human habitat, a beautiful flower garden or a clear lake.
However, it was easier for the mana density to rise in confined spaces like deep forests and caves. Especially in remote places, the management of the mana density inevitably became slack.
This time, the location of the Abyss that our party of four was requested to cleanse, was in a disused mine where Dwarves used to mine mithril.
The inside of the mine was wide and deep, but luckily, the expansion of the Abyss was slow, so only a portion of the mine was affected. The depth of the Abyss was four. It was a relatively shallow danger level. The kind of Beasts that would appear, as well as the strategy to deal with them, were already well-known.
Lesser Vampire, a Vampire type Beast.
Vampire types were basically humanoids, had strong physical and regeneration abilities and were troublesome Beasts that could even use strong magic Skills. But because Lesser Vampires were lower tier existences, they couldn't use magic Skills.
Even though its form was humanoid, with its four arms, pure white body and only one eye, it had quite a grotesque appearance. It only had a primitive intelligence as well.
But in exchange, it had very high reproductive abilities, and could even increase its numbers through *parthenogenesis. It was a terrifying creature that could increase its numbers from just one to several dozens in one month.
(* virgin birth)
If this Abyss was discovered late, the cave would be flooded with Lesser Vampires by now. If that happened, it would then become a matter that could only be dealt with by either a large party numbering in the dozens or an alliance of multiple parties.
Even if it couldn’t use magic skills, it was still a Vampire type. It possessed the strength to pull apart a cow with its bare hands, and the regenerative abilities capable of fully recovering from all wounds unless it was beheaded. If surrounded by a few of them, even an experienced Seeker would be bitten to death in an instant.
Our party did not have anyone with a Job with Skills that could investigate our surroundings. It would be so much more convenient if we had a Scout or Archer, which excelled at presence sensing, but as big as the imperial capital was, it was difficult find talented people with whom we could come to terms with.
It was not like any Scout or Archer would do, if they were weak, they would only be a hindrance. Eventually, we would become allies with a talented Scout or Archer, but until we found one, we couldn’t just stop our Seeker activities.
So we could only explore carefully while relying on Tania’s Light Skill. The four of us each kept an eye on our surroundings and one-sidedly killed any Lesser Vampires we found.
Even after we had found the Boss that was the core of this Abyss, while taking care not to draw its attention, we continued to kill its subordinates. This was to reduce, as much as possible, the nuisances that could get in the way of the Boss fight.
If it was a party with higher fighting strength, they would probably be able to win even if they charged in and fought the Boss right away. Once the Boss that was the core of the Abyss was killed, its subordinates that had their connection to this world cut off would stop moving immediately, so it was much more efficient that way.
But unfortunately, we currently didn’t have that level of strength.
In the first place, the request originally stated that unless the entire party held B Rank and above Jobs, it would be very tough. Any yet, we were all C Rank.
The trick to making that impossibility possible, laid in my Job.
With my buffs as a Talker, not only could the fighting abilities of my party members be raised, stamina and magic power recovery could also be sped up. Even if powerful attack skills and healing skills were fired off continuously, my allies won’t become exhausted easily.
In other words, as long as we didn’t get surrounded, we could keep on winning. Moreover, there was no need to get impatient and rush into dangerous battles for fear of running out of stamina as its consumption was suppressed. This seemingly inefficient extermination strategy was in fact a very rational fighting style for us.
Even if I had the oft-laughed at support class of Buffer that had the weakest individual fighting ability, with the training from Grandfather, rather than being a burden, my support buffs were able to be of use to the party.
Over the past year since we formed this party, we had steadily built up achievements using this way of fighting. Since we were always aiming at higher ranks, we were sometimes made fun of as big-eater rookies.
Because of that, while we were all newbies, we had pulled ahead of our cohort and were already recognized as top class Seekers.
But then, that was only when talking about those with C Ranks. I, who had inherited the will of my esteemed Grandfather, must aim higher–
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Fortunately, all the subordinates could be eliminated without the boss noticing. There were 15 of them. According to our advance investigation, there were only individuals who weren’t fully matured so our strategy went well.
If this was half a month later, not only would their numbers have increased, they would likely have gained the intelligence to fight in groups. Although they wouldn’t have been able to use highly intelligent tactics, they would have at least gained the wisdom to fight other groups with groups of their own.
If it reached that point, then we wouldn’t have been able to cope with them. The reward that we would get for subjugating the Lesser Vampires was pretty good.
I’ll make sure to earn lots of money here.
「An area-of-effect attack centered on the Boss is coming! The two vanguards, dodge backwards!」
Following my instructions, the Swordsman Lloyd and the Warrior Walter, who were in a fierce fight with the Lesser Vampire Boss, both took a big jump backwards.
At that moment, tentacles flew out from the back of the Boss, and stabbed repeatedly at the surrounding area with their sharp tips. From the two of them, who were grazed by the attack, the sound of something cracking and shattering like glass could be heard. That was the sound of the Barrier Skill, which Tania, the Healer, had cast in advance, breaking.
The attack power of the Boss had the power to destroy the barrier just by grazing it. If the two vanguards had been a little slower to evade, or if there was no barrier, they would likely have received critical damage and be turned into mincemeat.
But we stayed patient. Something of this degree was within our expectations.
「Tania, recast Barrier for the two of them! Lloyd and Walter, resume the attack!」
「Got it!」「Understood!」「Leave it to me!」
From the start of the battle until the present, everyone had been moving according to my instructions. Lloyd was the leader of the party, but I was the one who issued instructions as the control tower.
The reason for that was not only because it was easier for a rearguard to grasp the battle situation. It was due to the fact that all of my instructions had a buff effect.
Talk Skill: Deploy Tactics
A Skill that raised the result and effect of all actions by 25 percent by giving instructions to party members. In other words, the three of them were currently in a state where all of their abilities had been increased by 25 percent.
This increase was based on statistical data and was mostly accurate.
Also, that was not the only buff that had been granted.
Talk Skill: Battle Voice
A Skill that increased the stamina and magic power of party members by 25 percent and further increased their recovery speed. With this skill granted at the start of the battle, the three of them could keep on fighting at full power even if the battle dragged on for a long time.
The battle was progressing advantageously for us. Lloyd’s longsword and Walter’s battle axe were gradually beginning to corner the Boss. With its trump card, the tentacle attack avoided, the Boss was only delaying its inevitable death. Even though it was a Beast without much intelligence, I could feel that it was getting anxious.
However, things would go wrong in any given situation, given the chance.
「You’re kidding, an ambush!?」
Tania was the first person to notice their presence. When I heard her scream and followed her gaze, I saw three Lesser Vampires peeking out from behind the stalactites on the ceiling.
Seems like they had hid in a place where we could not have checked.
The current flow of the battle was advantageous to us, but if these ambushers helped the boss, the flow would turn in their favor in a flash. Tania’s screams had reached the two vanguards, and their faces grew tense with nervousness. I instantly decided whether to continue fighting or to escape.
「Don’t lose your cool! Continue fighting!」
Again, I wasn’t simply issuing instructions.
Talk Skill: Peer Support
A Skill that normalized the subject’s mental state and reinvigorated them was attached to the instructions. As a result, fear disappeared from the three of them and their fighting spirit was rekindled.
Of course, I wasn’t thoughtlessly forcing them to fight. We had a chance of winning.
For combat type Jobs, rearguards typically had a higher modifier to their intelligence. Talker was a Job that had a superior intelligence modifier that was top-class among them. By utilizing its incredible processing capability and the battle knowledge that I had accumulated so far, there were any numbers of ways that I could use to get out of a predicament of this level.
「… about 18 seconds, I suppose」
I muttered, as I went through the plan that I had put together in my head.
We won’t be defeated. Victory is assured. And the time needed to reach it, is 18 seconds.
I pressed the button for the stopwatch on my watch, raised my voice and issued new instructions to my party members.
「I’ll take care of the small fry! The three of you concentrate on the Boss! Tania, continue to refresh their barriers! Lloyd and Walter, while focusing on maintaining aggro and dodging, prepare to activate your strongest attack Skills!」
Deploy Tactics granted.
And then, one more–
Talk Skill: Marking
A Skill that raised the party members’ hit and dodge rates against the designated target by 50 percent. In return, their hit and dodge rates were halved against all other enemies but I would pull aggro from the ambusher and absolutely not let them go near my allies.
I turned towards the ambushers that were jumping from the ceiling.
「STOP!!!」
With that shout, the ambushers all missed their landing and fell to the ground.
Talk Skill: Stun Howl
A Skill that could stop the enemy’s movement. It would be resisted by the higher ranked Boss and have no effect, but it succeeded in stopping the movements of the ambushers.
Without a moment’s delay, I pulled open my black long coat and drew the Silver Flame(Magic gun) from the holster equipped on my belt, and aimed it at the ambushers.
Silver Flame, a gun that fired magic bullets – bullets charged with magic Skills.
It was made out of mithril, which had high magical conductivity. The grip was made from the fang of a Garm, a Beast of depth nine. In addition, incantations that amplified the power of magic bullets were also engraved using Garm’s blood onto the rifling inside the barrel.
It was a 38 caliber eight-shot rotary revolver.
It was the only weapon that I could rely on when fighting Beasts as I lacked any other means of attacking. I affectionately named it Silver-chan, as it was my indispensable partner.
However, because each bullet was extremely expensive, I couldn’t afford to get trigger happy. I had two Ice Bullets remaining. I shot one at the ambushers.
The Ice Bullet hit the ground and froze the surroundings. Although it wasn’t cold enough to cause instant death, it was able to freeze the limbs and seal the movements of two of them. The remaining ambusher that had recovered quicker from the stun, jumped over the ice to avoid it, and then rushed towards me.
Wary of Silver Flame, it advanced in a zig-zag manner, keeping me from drawing a bead on it. As I didn’t have any shooting modifier Skills, it was very difficult for me to accurately hit fast moving enemies.
Also, even if I were to use Stun Howl immediately, it would be nullified as the ambusher had already gained a resistance to it. To stun it again, at least ten minutes must have passed since the first stun. In other words, that meant that it couldn’t be used anymore in this battle.
15 seconds had passed so far. Four more seconds until the ambusher’s claws reached me.
All according to my calculations.
Without hesitation, I pointed the muzzle of Silver Flame at the Boss behind me and projected my voice.
「Now! Lloyd and Walter, activate your attack Skills against the Boss!」
I squeezed the trigger at the same time I issued the instructions. Of course, there was no way that I would hit the target, given that I was shooting backwards. But the Boss flinched when I ignored the ambusher coming towards me and attacked it instead.
Without knowing that that momentary lapse would be fatal.
The Ice Bullet flew by the Boss and hit the wall, freezing the surroundings. As the Boss’ eyes were drawn towards that, the two vanguards jumped in.
「Aura Blade!」「Deadly Drive!」
The Boss tried to block their attacks with its claws, but it was a futile resistance.
Talk Skill: Assault Command
During the 10 seconds that this buff was in effect, the power of all attack type Skills were increased tenfold. I granted the buff when I issued my instructions to activate their attack Skills.
Assault Command was the most powerful Skill among all of my Talk Skills. However, the rebound was also huge due to that, and the person granted the buff would temporarily become unable to move after the attack was over because the cost of the attack Skill had also been greatly increased.
For that reason, I had to determine the right time to use it. And, that momentary lapse that I caused, was the best time for it.
Severed by the two amazing blades of my allies, the head of the Boss flew through the air. The ambusher’s claws, which had closed until they were right in front of my eyes, suddenly stopped, and fell to the ground right away.
I stopped the stopwatch and checked the number of seconds that the needle was showing.
「…exactly 18 seconds. Silencing of target enemy confirmed」
For a party’s control tower like me, being able to put together a plan that was accurate to the second was an essential requirement. If proper judgment was delayed for even a moment, it would become the trigger for the party’s annihilation. That was why I tried to time it in times like these for the sake of checking if there were an errors in my calculations.
I smiled a little at the fact that I was able to command a perfect battle this time.
「Battle, end. –Good work, everyone」
Fight scene! Finally, we got to see the MC fight!
You might notice that Grandfather is used instead of Grandpa in this chapter as the author used Ji-chan previously, which was an informal and familiar way of speech and uses Sofu in this chapter, which is more formal.
As I was going through the battle scene, I was so extremely tempted to put: All according to Keisan (TN note: Keisan means calculations)
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