NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24
Guidance Begins
“Fuwa~ sleepy…”
The meeting with the party of the red-haired girl, Rin Akagi, the blonde-haired girl, Rina Kanasaki, and the brown-haired girl, Anju Takanashi, was set for 9:00 AM today.
I left my house at about 8:30 a.m. and waited in front of the E-rank dungeon, Rock Cave Dungeon.
I bought more potions, including MP potions, so recovery shouldn’t be a problem.
“Status.”
——
Level 605
HP: 6070/6070 MP: 4045/4045
Attack Strength: 677(+52)
Defense: 627(+12)
Agility: 1867(+1247)
Dexterity: 782(+152)
Mental Strength: 2022(+1412)
Luck: 50
BP: 0
SP: 15
Skills: [Magic Arrow Lv.20] [Archery Lv.10] [Hawk Eye Lv.10] [Item Box Lv.7] [Lock-On Lv.10] [Appraisal Lv.5] [MP Up Lv.10] [MP Recovery Speed Up Lv.10] [Dagger Art Lv.7] [Search Enemy Lv.9] [Stealth Lv.5]
——
——
Dragon Tree Bow Lv.278
Bow made from the body of a dragon tree; attack power +777
Attack power +777
Grows with the user as the user grows according to the dragon’s characteristics.
——
“And I’ve raised my skills and status as much as I can. I’ve also maintained my weapons. Woohoo! Now I’m ready to go anytime!”
I allocate BP to agility and mental strength.
I got skill level 10 for [Hawk Eye], [MP Up], and [MP Recovery Speed Up]. I also level up [Search Enemy] to skill level 9.
And I acquired a new [Stealth] skill.
This new [Stealth] skill effect makes one’s presence thin and transparent, blending in with the surrounding scenery, making it harder for opponents to detect one’s presence.
“With this, the girls won’t have to rely on me, and it’s a skill that won’t go bad for me, as I’ll be diving dungeons solo from now on.”
And finally, I had a lot of SP, so I raised the level of [Magic Arrow] to 20.
The attack power multiplier is now 1.0, and the MP consumption is reduced to 15, but the skill level is 20.
Thanks to the skill level being now a multiple of 10, I got a new effect.
This time it’s not a new skill or anything, but a new effect.
That effect is–
“Ah! There it is! Amamiya-san!”
While I was thinking about this, the appointed time came, and Rin and her friends seemed to have arrived.
I turned toward the direction where I heard their voices, and there, unlike the other day, I saw them, well-armed.
Rin has a breastplate and a one-handed sword.
Rina has a mace.
Anju has a dagger.
“Good morning. Rin, Rina, Anju.”
“Yeah! Good morning!”
“Good morning!”
“Good morning, Amami-!”
When I greeted her, Rin responded in high spirits.
Rina was nervous but managed to say hello.
And then there was Anju, who was going at her own pace.
Incidentally, it was Anju who called me Amami-.
At first, it was Amamiya-san, but she suddenly changed how she called me.
“Nice to meet you today.”
“It’s nice to meet you too!”
“Nice to meet you, too!
“Nice to meet you.”
“Okay, then, let’s get going.”
We greeted each other and discussed our battle plans yesterday.
Rin would use a one-handed sword for melee combat, Rina would have a mace as a countermeasure in case she was approached but would use recovery magic, and Anju would use a dagger for ranged combat.
I’m worried that none of the party members can use long-range attacks, but we’ll have to be flexible there.
“Yeah! Well then, let’s go~!”
Rin starts walking in the lead, followed by Rina, Anju, and me in the tail end, and we enter the dungeon in that order.
Rock Cave Dungeon has Orcs with high attack and defense, but they are not that fast, so if you are careful, even explorers who just came to an E-rank dungeon can defeat them.
That’s why–
“Well then, I’ll be nearby, but I won’t help you unless you’re in a dangerous situation, so good luck. See you!”
Saying that I use my [Covert] skill to hide from Rin and the others.
“Eh! Where did Amamiya-san go!”
“I don’t know~”
“Maybe, but the Stealth skill. I don’t even feel his presence anymore.”
It seems that the [Stealth] skill is functioning properly.
But even so, it is indeed a [Stealth] skill.
The first thing the country did after the status manifested in mankind was to use the [Magic Tool Creation] skill to create a countermeasure sensor for [Stealth] that could be made people invisible.
“I see~ Well then, it looks like they are nearby, so for now, let’s go!”
With that said, the three of them proceeded with Rin in the lead.
The three people, with Rin in the lead, proceeded on their way to the dungeon boss room.
Hmmm, have they gathered all the information in advance?
……Oh? That is. Well, the information-gathering ability is good.
Now it’s time to see if they can fight.
“Hmm? Stop, both of you. It’s coming.”
I noticed, and a few moments later, Anju alerted Rin and the others.
Then, an orc walks up from the front.
As soon as the orc notices us, it immediately gets into a battle stance.
“Prepare for battle!”
Rin and others also responded to Rin’s voice and readied their weapons.
“Bumoaaaah!”
It was the orcs who took the lead.
It raises its club and attacks Rin.
Rin barely avoids the cudgel and slashes at him with her one-handed sword.
“Sei!”
I heard she has a [Swordsmanship] skill, but that is an E-rank monster, an Orc with high defense and HP.
It seems that a single blow couldn’t deal a fatal blow, and it counterattacks with its cudgel in a sideways cleave.
However, perhaps this was to be expected, as it bent down to avoid the attack, and Rin attacked again, in rapid succession.
“Be on your guard!”
Anju approaches from behind the orc with a dagger at the ready. The orc had been focusing its attention on Rin.
She then aims at the neck and stabs the dagger.
“Guggya!!!!”
“I’m still going!”
A surprise attack from behind.
Surprised by this, the orc rushes to turn around, but it is already too late.
It had already been knocked out of its stance by Rin’s attack, and Anju had successfully attacked and had a dagger thrust into its neck.
“Eeeeeei!”
Then, this time, Rina approaches Rin and the others while holding her mace, and she swings the mace down as hard as she can.
It was a forceful swing with no skill, but it worked, and the mace hit the orc directly in the head, successfully scaring him.
“Nice Rina! Anju! I’m going to finish it off!”
“Got it!”
Rin shouts, and once again, Anju swiftly moves behind the orc and swings her dagger, aiming for the tendon in its leg.
“Bumo!”
And soon after Anju finishes her attack, Rin runs toward the orc, which is once again unable to move.
“This is the finish!”
Rin switched her one-handed sword to two hands and swung it up, cracking the orc’s head open.
“Buu……oo……”
“Yes! I beat it!”
The orc let a final scream, fell, and stopped moving.
Well, that was a good battle.
Rin didn’t catch the orc’s cudgel but was trying to evade it while attacking, and Rina took advantage of the gap and used her mace to deliver a powerful blow.
And lastly, Anju, I would like to point out that she moved as if she was taking the back and severed the tendon in her leg with a quick attack with a dagger at the end of the fight to stop the orc in its tracks.
Each fighter knows what he has to do.
They also work well together.
That is why a party is more efficient at leveling up than solo because you can fight against slightly stronger monsters.
And if you can’t beat a higher-status opponent like me, a party is a safer way to fight.
But this would be fine as long as it’s not too bad.
“You did it! Rina! Anju!”
“Ya, I did it~ even I could fight!”
“Yeah, I won. Rina did her best too.”
The three of them are high-fiving each other and basking in the joy of victory.
It’s a smiling sight to see them like this. If it weren’t for the orc carcass behind them.
What a thought, but my naughty mind got the better of me. I sneak up on the three. So they don’t notice me, then deactivate my [Stealth] skill.
“Good work. That was pretty good for a first fight.”
When I showed up, the three looked at me all at once after making a startled faces.
Well, if you show up out of nowhere, of course, they’ll be surprised. That’s what I was aiming for.
“Ah, Amamiya-san! Why are you here?”
“No, I explained to you at the beginning. I told you that I was close by.”
“That’s right, Rin-chan. Anju-chan also said it was [Stealth] skill.”
Yes, I did. I told you so, didn’t I?
“Oh? Is it?”
“Now, I don’t have anything to say about the combat. The individual judgment was good, and there was no problem with the cooperation. Keep up the good work the next time.”
“Yes, sir!
“I’ll do my best!”
“Yeee~s”
Each of the three responds.
We then resumed our dungeon dive, and although we encountered a few more monsters after that, the battle went well, and we made good progress to the boss room.