chapter4 · 075-ep75

Episode 75: The First Achievement of Training Camp

First, I'm sorry.

As for Unique Jobs, I've decided that, according to the setting, they really are one-of-a-kind Jobs!

Sorry for the confusion!

I've revised the text of Episode 73 accordingly, so if you haven't checked it yet, please take another look 🙇

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When I passed through the Gate, the same rocky dungeon as yesterday stretched out before me.

"There we go..."

I took off my backpack and set the bags in my hands down beside it.

With a week's worth of food and water inside, even carrying them this far had been pretty heavy.

"..."

I looked at the bags on the floor, then at my hands.

"Oh. I could've used battle armor."

Maybe not when I'd left the house, but I could've used it after getting back to my room, before entering the Gate.

Why had I carried all of that under my own power until the very end?

"Oh well..."

No point worrying about it now that I'd finished.

I piled my supplies by the Gate I'd use to return home and looked toward the depths of the dungeon again.

Starting today, I'd be here for a week.

Of the Achievements I'd checked yesterday, I particularly wanted two S-rank ones.

【S: Defeat 1000 monsters during a single dungeon clear without using a combat Skill even once】

【S: Defeat every type of monster appearing during a single dungeon clear】

Achievement Inquiry had shown both as uncompleted.

I didn't even know how many types there were for the second one, so I'd just have to kill every monster I found.

A week might be enough to aim for a thousand too, but first there was something I needed to check.

"First, I need to see if Observer Skills and my own enchantment Skills count as attacks."

More precisely, whether they counted as combat Skills.

If Ability Grant and Battle Armor Form were classified that way, I couldn't use them while going for a thousand.

The same went for Observer Skills.

If I killed hundreds of monsters before finding out I wasn't meeting the condition, I'd honestly cry.

"Gotta check that."

One monster first.

I'd kill it using all sorts of things. If the thousand-monster Achievement still progressed, I should be fine.

I closed the Achievement display and started applying enchants to myself.

【Enter Battle Armor Form?】

【Ability Grants to be fixed】

【Strength enchant】

【Agility enchant: Enchant Echo】

【Endurance enchant: Enchant Echo】

【Execute】

I selected execute.

【Battle Armor Form entered】

"Okay."

Now I was ready.

I planned to keep this battle armor on for most of the trip.

The fixed Ability Grants cost no MP to maintain, so unless I wanted to change the setup, there was no need to cancel the form.

Besides, plenty of the Battle-Armored Enchanter Achievements I'd found yesterday were still available.

There were quite a few D- and C-rank ones I could probably get right away.

"Let's start with the easy ones."

Walking a certain distance backward. Keeping the same posture for a while in battle armor.

They weren't things I'd unlock by fighting normally, but the conditions themselves weren't hard.

I could work through them while going for a thousand monsters.

Others would take longer.

【B: Maintain Battle Armor Form for 6 or more hours inside a dungeon】

【Uncompleted】

If I didn't cancel it now, that one would happen on its own eventually.

"Right. First—"

I started walking, only for something to slither into view from behind a rock ahead of me.

"..."

Gray skin.

Huge eyes and a face I could never quite bring myself to like.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Haven't seen you in ages!"

Greyfish.

The monster I'd fought on my first trip into a dungeon.

Except this one had rugged armor on its body.

It even held a sword in its right hand.

"You're armed and everything."

Back then, I'd punched it over and over and it still wouldn't go down. I'd been desperate myself.

By the time I'd finally beaten it to death, my arm and the rest of my body had been in terrible shape.

Seeing one again after so long, though, felt strangely nostalgic.

"How've you been?"

Of course, it didn't answer.

I was almost tempted to go in for a hug, but that armor looked painfully lumpy, and I wasn't keen on getting carved up with its sword.

Best leave the reunion greeting at that.

The armored Greyfish had no idea what I was feeling. It raised its sword in front of itself.

"Hm?"

There was still some distance between us.

A slash from where it stood shouldn't have reached me, but it swung anyway.

The next instant, a flying slash came off the tip of its sword.

"Oh!"

I dodged to the side. The slash flew past me and struck the rock behind me.

It gouged a big chunk out of the surface, sending little stones to the ground.

"You can attack from a distance too?"

It was clearly stronger than the first Greyfish I'd met.

Apparently dungeons changed depending on the levels of the people entering and such. That must've been why.

But for me, that was actually convenient.

I opened my Personal Achievement.

【Personal Achievements】

【Defeat 10 monsters using an Observer Skill】

If I wanted to kill it with an Observer Skill, that last slash was perfect.

I could use 【Stagnation: Recoil】 to send it back without throwing a punch myself.

The armored Greyfish raised its sword again.

"Come on."

I wasn't going to dodge this time.

I watched its sword using Interference Eye.

It swung.

The slash came flying at me.

I reached toward it as it approached head-on and used the Skill as soon as it came within reach.

"Stagnation: Recoil!"

The slash's momentum stopped in front of me, then rebounded the way it had come.

"Whoa!"

The returning slash struck the armored Greyfish square on.

It sent the monster and its heavy armor flying into the rock wall behind it.

The armored Greyfish dropped to the ground and lay still.

"..."

Did I get it?

A message appeared in my vision.

【Achievement Unlocked】

【A: Defeat a monster while in Battle Armor Form with Strength, Agility, and Endurance fixed simultaneously】

【World-First Reward will be granted】

"Yes!"

I'd gotten the battle armor Achievement I was aiming for in one go.

Then the world-first reward appeared.

【Battle Armor Enhancement】

Increases the effects of Ability Grants fixed during Battle Armor Form.

"Oh, that's great!"

This one was easy to understand.

Until now, entering battle armor hadn't increased the effects of the enchants themselves.

Stopping maintenance MP costs and preventing them from fading had already been plenty strong. Now the fixed Ability Grants would grow stronger too.

"That's a great start for the first monster of training camp."

Things were looking up.

Just as I was about to check how much my stats had risen, another message appeared.

【Achievement Unlocked】

【A: Defeat a monster using that monster's own attack】

"...Hm?"

There was another one.

I read the condition and looked toward where the armored Greyfish had fallen.

"Oh, right."

The slash I'd sent back was the one it had launched at me in the first place.

It had been killed by its own attack returned to it. That did meet the condition.

"That counts as an Achievement?"

An A-rank one, at that.

Without even aiming for it, I'd gotten two A-rank Achievements from the first monster.

【World-First Reward will be granted】

【Hardiness】

Increases the body's resistance to damage, including the skin, muscles, and bones.

"Oh... I like this one too."

Unlike battle armor, it didn't only work while I was using something else.

If the description was right, my body itself was harder to injure now.

When I got cut.

When I got punched.

Even when an attack struck deep enough to hurt my bones.

"That's seriously useful."

I did wonder how strong the effect was, but I had no intention of taking a hit on purpose to find out.

I'd probably find out whether I wanted to or not soon enough.

The first monster of training camp.

Two A-rank Achievements.

Battle Armor Enhancement and Hardiness.

"Isn't this start a little too good?"

I felt pretty pleased with myself.

...No.

It was fine to be happy, but there was something I had to check first.

"What happened with the thousand-monster one?"

In that fight, I'd used Ability Grant and entered Battle Armor Form, then killed a monster with 【Stagnation: Recoil】.

Did any of that count as a combat Skill?

Depending on the answer, I might have to leave the dungeon and change how I fought from now on.

I immediately opened the S-rank Achievement.

【S: Defeat 1000 monsters during a single dungeon clear without using a combat Skill even once】

【In progress: 1/1000】

"Yes!"

The number had gone up.

Ability Grant and battle armor were both fine.

At least, it looked like 【Stagnation: Recoil】 wasn't counted as a combat Skill either.

"I should be able to do this, then."

Nine hundred ninety-nine monsters to go was a long way, but this was far better than having my options severely limited.

Next I checked my Personal Achievement.

【Personal Achievements】

【Defeat 10 monsters using an Observer Skill】

【In progress: 1/10】

"That one's good too."

Nine left.

If I killed them one by one with 【Stagnation: Recoil】, it shouldn't take too long.

I closed the display and looked at where the armored Greyfish had fallen.

The first time I'd entered a dungeon, I'd struggled to kill even an ordinary Greyfish.

I'd punched it again and again, but it just wouldn't go down, and I'd had no breathing room right to the end.

Now I'd beaten a stronger, armored version in one hit without even touching it.

And killing just one had earned me two A-rank Achievements.

"Man... To put it mildly, I've gotten stronger."

Saying it myself felt kind of good.

...No, no.

Getting full of myself was a bad idea.

I'd been nowhere near Kujō-san, and there were plenty of monsters in human form above me.

"Let's not get cocky."

Still, I was definitely stronger than when I'd first come to a dungeon.

I could let myself be happy about that much.

I headed farther inside.

Nine hundred ninety-nine monsters until I reached a thousand.

Nine until my Personal Achievement.

And the six-hour battle armor clock was already running.

"All right, on to the next one."

I walked deeper into the dungeon.