A Gamer Into Trails

I did a little oops from Tio's original display to her equipped weapon. I effectively applied the weapon twice. The stats you readers see here in this chapter will be used going forward.

The Researcher staff was tweaked to align back to what was originally displayed when Tio, Lechter and Naoto displayed their stats together.

As always, Giliath demands your power stones!

*****

Tio's updated information soon came into view. I turned silent, and started to read it over. She sure is a tiny little monster, isn't she?

[Tio Plato]

 Age: 9

 Level: 7 (0/700)

[Without Equipment]

HP: 380/380 EP: 30/50

STR: 35 DEF: 40 ATS: 80

ADF: 50 SPD: 25 DEX: 35

[Researcher - (Growth - LV7 (0/700))(Upgradable)]

 (HP: +125 EP: +200 STR: +30 DEF: +35 ATS: +110 ADF: +40 DEX: +20)

[With Equipment]

HP: 505/505 EP: 230/250

STR: 65 DEF: 75 ATS: 210 (+10%)

ADF: 90 SPD: 25 DEX: 55

Due to Tio's Researcher Staff, Tio's ATS is showing a big improvement already. That was how dominant growth type weapons are compared to your typical weapon. Typical weapons can provide flat bonuses, but it's just that. They can't improve as you grow. Her ATS is far above what it should be in the games around her level. 

And in the games, Tio's weapons scaled off of STR, which made her even worse. I don't know why the game developers treated Tio's weapons like that. Her staves should have applied to her ATS from the get-go. It looks like the Gamer System changed it up and it is correctly applying ATS to her stats. It is also applying STR too as an added bonus. That may come in handy down the road, but we'll see.

I double checked Tio's stats after she reached Level 7, and it really was a good improvement. I couldn't help but smile. Compared to the games, she's four times as strong! It made sense that she could one shot these spiders. 

It was enough to be shocked. Tio's ATS is already a fifth of the way to the thousand mark. You wouldn't see that until much later!

"You've brought me a surprise yourself, Tio. Don't be surprised if you kill the rest of the monsters in one shot while we're in the Instance Dungeon. You better watch out for yourself too, Lechter. Tio might become stronger than you~ .", I said, teasing Lechter again. Lechter only raised his eyes at me, not expecting me to say that.

"The kiddo's that strong?", Lechter replied with a frown.

"You might be giving me too much praise. I feel stronger, but you're overestimating me.", Tio said with a shake of her head.

"Don't sell yourself short, Tio. Trying it out is the best way to experience it. I see three more Mottled Killers further inside the tunnel. You have a Craft, right?", I said, taking a moment to gaze outward toward the rest of the tunnel. It twisted around so the entire thing couldn't be seen, and there were some split pathways. I recalled the tunnel had an upper floor and a lower floor to it. The upper floor housed more fierce monsters and that was likely where the red spiders were located. 

Further downward to the left was where the exit to the Moon Temple was. Seeing as we were in the Instance Dungeon, we likely can't leave through this way. Not until we cleared it. We'll have to kill those worms after.

For now, my attention remained on the three Mottled Killers in the near distance. Even without Vermillion Eyes active, I could still see them, despite the tunnel being dark. There was barely any light to go around, making it more dangerous to maneuver. It wasn't like the normal tunnel, where it was much more lit up.

"Are you suggesting we take those three spiders by surprise?", Tio responded, asking me.

"You up for it? They haven't taken notice of us yet. We'll see how much more damage you do now.", I asked Tio.

"Mmm.", Tio nodded. She brandished her orbal staff out.

"You got this, kiddo!", Lechter said, encouraging her.

Brandishing her staff, Tio did her magic and the mechanisms her orbal staff had begun to unlock. It literally became a beam sword, lighting up the nearby area. It was very reminiscent of a lightsaber from Star Wars, but not that extravagant. The entire blade didn't convert into light energy, just the tip of the staff did. A bluish spearhead of light formed out of it, making it look fierce.

Tio was ready to attack now that her Craft was readied. It wasn't unlike the games where Crafts were immediately used the moment they tried using one. Tio could hold her Beam Zander for a brief amount of time. 

It didn't take long for the three Mottled Killers to notice the faint source of light Tio's staff was now emanating.

Tio bent her legs downward, and entered a dash. The skirt she was wearing fluttered as Lechter and I saw Tio leave our side. This time, she took the initiative!

"Beam Zanber!", Tio shouted. Her shout was loud enough to attract the three Mottled Killers. Two of them were Level 5 but one was Level 6 this time. The Level 6 had slightly higher parameters than the Level 5 ones did. They were quick to notice Tio rushing at them and started to make the same 'shashasha' noises, scattering around. Or at least they tried to move about.

Tio was still small so her orbal staff swaying about had a funny look to it. Tio acted as if it was a little too heavy for her, but she was familiar with the motions of using her Craft. The tip of the staff was well above her head.

A bluish glow also appeared over her body again, signaling that she was buffed up. The previous battle ended, but a new one began. Her weapon triggered her start of battle buff, further increasing her ATS. With a single swing, Tio lunged outward. The spiders were still in close proximity to each other. Going right to left, Tio swung her orbal staff at the Mottled Killers. Blood splattered about the other way as their skin was ignited into flames thanks to the orbal energy striking against their bodies.

Tio's Craft, Beam Zanber, had the same skill power as Aqua bleed did, being 100%. It even dealt Arts damage to a target! In a way it was just like casting Aqua Bleed.

But there was a difference. Tio's swing is able to attack foe's in a small radius around her. That meant all three Mottled Killers were attacked in succession. Banggg!

Loud bangs struck our ears as Tio's swing of her orbal staff landed blows on the spiders. Three big damage numbers appeared!

[1380!] (Lv5)

[1405!] (Lv5)

[1500!] (Lv6)

The three Mottled Spiders couldn't even attack Tio before Tio's attack successfully landed three blows. The fierce swipe splattered more blood backwards, painting the tunnel red. The previous two died to Arts, which were basically spells. Blood didn't splatter then, but this time it did. It's not like they only go poof. 

This was definitely something to take note of. These battles behave in a hybrid manner, it seems. They vanish upon being killed, but they still behave like normal monsters on the outside, not like in the games. It's a weird feeling, but we went through the motions again. The three Mottled Killers vanished into thin air. This time each one left behind phantom images of a treasure chest being opened. 

Various amounts of refined Sepith appeared shortly after, only to vanish in the next moment. I heard a notification sound off inside my head of the result, while Tio was blasted with notifications again.

"These spiders really did die in one hit...", Tio mused to herself. Unlike previously, these damage numbers were much higher. She gazed at Naoto again with an amazed look.

"Good job, kiddo. You approached that well. You made it so those spiders never even stood a chance. That orbal staff sure is something.", Lechter said, praising Tio. Both Lechter and I took this time to run toward Tio. She had made quite the distance in that short moment, but we were able to regroup shortly after.

"Tio is just strong to begin with. Some monsters are really weak to Arts, and your staff targets that specific parameter. It'd be a different story if you relied on your strength.", I said, also praising Tio.

"And likewise, there are monsters out there who have much higher defenses against Arts. Would this be considered, "being lucky"?", Tio wondered to herself.

"That is one good way to look at this. You haven't tested your skills out on monsters on the outside, though. So don't get too complacent, alright?", I said, warning Tio.

"Mmm. Tio knows not to get too smug about what she can do.", Tio nodded her head.

"Good. We don't know if this power will remain once we clear this Instance Dungeon. I did have a glance at the Party Quest from earlier. We now killed five Mottled Killers. Looks like we need to kill ten more Mottled Killers. And two Mottled Murders. There's a single Grand Mole we need to take care of too, which I'm assuming is the boss monster. How are you holding up so far, Tio?", I decided to ask.

All five Mottled Killers were killed by Tio. It was a lot already to deal with, despite only it lasting a few moments. The two of us saw Tio nod her head.

"I feel power surging through me. It's giving me an energy boost that I didn't think I'd feel. I think I can manage to kill the rest. I might want assistance in hunting the Grand Mole, though.", Tio explained after she examined herself.

"We'll see when the time comes. Hopefully we can come out unscathed for the rest of it, just like how these two battles went.", I responded with a nod.

"A Grand Mole, huh? They can dig underground and strike at our vitals. They can be pretty tricky.", Lechter explained.

"And can dodge Arts by doing so too. It might be a tough opponent.", Tio also explained.

"Hahaha!", I laughed, seeing these two respond in such a manner. "Look at you, you're already getting the hang of this. Why don't we see what we reaped from this second battle before engaging more spiders?", I suggested.

"Alright.", Tio nodded.

I did see Tio receive several notifications as the battle ended. I also wanted to go over what I received as well. I could likely guess what Lechter received again. And the frown on his lips gave me the confirmation I needed, haha!

*

[Beam Zanber]

Attack Radius: Small-Medium

Skill Power: 100%

Damage Type: ATS

EP Cost: 30

(Crafts will cost EP going forward, considering CP doesn't exist)

Beam Zanber Calculation:

Base Damage: 655 - 25 or 30Modified Damage: 1415 or 1410Random Damage: (-94/+94)Final Damage x3 = 1380, 1405, 1500