arc2 · 069-ch69
Chapter 69: New Possibilities
(I did it! Level 10! Wait, did I just get some insanely amazing skills just now!?)
I was so hyped about hitting Level 10—did I mishear? I swear they just announced some incredible skill names...
I nervously checked my status.
Name Soramine Sota
Job Drone Pilot
Level 10
HP 40
MP 900
Skills
Small Drone Unlocked
Drone Summon Count +1
Drone Connection
Call
Storage
Auto-Mapping
Drone Info
Hayate
Whooooa!? I didn't mishear it! Storage and Auto-Mapping—if they do what I think they do, these are super insanely useful skills, right!?
To suppress my excitement, I downed my completely lukewarm drink in one go.
"Glbl—cough, cough!"
I choked. Choked spectacularly. But funnily enough, it actually helped me calm down.
"S-SS-san, are you okay?"
I hadn't disconnected Hayate's communication, so Himehana could hear me coughing too.
"Ah, cough, I'm fine. I'm fine. Just choked a little. More importantly, I leveled up and there's something I need to check, so could you give me a moment?"
"Sure, no problem! I'll go grab the drop items! It looks like it dropped a Magic Iron Ingot! Oh, congrats on the level up!"
I asked Himehana to wait a bit so I could check my skills. Naturally, she cheerfully agreed, and was even happy for my level up. It felt kind of nice—like I'd become a real member of the explorer community.
Wait, this isn't the time for sentiment. I need to test my new skills right away. Let's start with Auto-Mapping.
I focused on Auto-Mapping. Instantly, something like a map appeared in the upper right corner of both Asahi's and Hayate's screens.
(Ohhh! Is this a map of this dungeon!?)
Right now Asahi and Hayate were both in the same place, so the same map was displayed. I could zoom in and out freely, and my own drones were shown as blue dots. Even better—thankfully—it seemed like everywhere I'd already been was already mapped out, so the 23rd floor map was complete.
And the icing on the cake: the staircase locations were marked, and I could even view maps of other floors. Just on a hunch, I thought about the outside of the dungeon, and a map centered on the Tokyo Skyscraper appeared.
What's more, Asahi and Hayate seemed to share information, because even areas Hayate had never been to were showing up on the map.
(This is seriously way too useful.)
I was moved by how amazing Auto-Mapping was, but there was still one more skill left. Storage. Now I needed to test that one too.
"S-SS-san, I've collected the drop items! A Magic Iron Ingot and a Golem Magic Stone, plus a gemstone dropped too! I think this one's Malachite. Gems rarely drop, so that's super lucky!"
Right as I was about to test Storage, Himehana conveniently came back with the drop items. An ingot, a magic stone, AND a gemstone—that's quite a haul. And gems dropping is genuinely rare, like Himehana said. Dungeon gems are known not only for their brilliance but also for the ability to imbue weapons and armor with various effects when enchanted.
That's something Enchanters—people who've awakened to the Enchanter job—can do. They can bestow attributes like fire or water, and if you're lucky, effects like increased attack power, durability, HP, or MP.
"Himehana-san, could you lay those drop items out on the ground for me?"
To test Storage's capabilities, I asked Himehana to place the drop items on the ground.
"Sure, got it. How's this?"
The drop items were placed on the ground one by one. First, I decided to try using Storage with Asahi.
"Storage!"
I didn't need to say it out loud, but with how hyped I was, the word just burst out of my mouth. I really hope nobody's in the booth next to mine.
However, nothing happened to the drop items. I thought maybe it was a distance issue, so I moved Asahi closer, but the result was the same. It seemed Storage couldn't be used through Asahi.
A little disappointed, I shook it off and tried with Hayate next. I moved Hayate close and this time murmured "Storage" in my head.
"Ehh!? The ingot just disappeared!?"
Oh! It worked! It actually went into Storage!? No way, this is seriously insane. I just obtained a god-tier ability!
Next, let me try taking the ingot back out... Is there a better word for "take out"? Extract? Remove? None of them feel quite right. Ah well, "take out" is fine.
(Alright, take out!)
As long as the image was clear, the wording didn't seem to matter. I successfully took the ingot out.
"Huh!? The ingot appeared again! SS-san, are you doing this!?"
Himehana getting surprised at every little thing is adorable. I gave her a simple "That's right" and continued testing various things.
As a result, I mostly figured out how Storage works. The storage range is about two meters centered on Hayate. Taking items out works within that range too. I tried storing everything at once, and it worked. Taking them all out at once worked too—super convenient!
By the way, I secretly tried to store Himehana's belongings, but couldn't. I wondered if it was because she was wearing them, but even her twin swords that she placed on the ground didn't work, so maybe it's judging ownership. I was able to store them with Himehana's permission, so that theory might actually be right.
Also, I couldn't store things that were moving significantly. I thought it might work as a counter against projectiles, but apparently it wasn't quite THAT versatile. Even so, there's no doubt this is a god-tier skill.
Oh, and I tried dismissing Hayate while items were in Storage, but they didn't drop to the ground. Quietly appreciated. Though I have no idea what would happen if I died in this state. Would the items disappear too, or get dumped out? That's one thing I definitely can't test.
Once things had settled down, Himehana came asking all sorts of questions, so I gave her a brief explanation, only for her to brush it off with a simple "Wow, that's amazing!" She clearly has no idea how incredible this skill actually is.
"S-SS-san. Take all these drop items! Consider it thanks for keeping me company today!"
When we'd mostly finished testing and were about to head home, Himehana said something outrageous. No no, honestly she's the one who went along with my level-up grinding, so if anything I should be thanking her.
"No no, I leveled up too, so if anything I want to thank you. I can't accept that."
I tried to decline, but—
"But hey, I was thinking—couldn't you use that ingot to strengthen SS-san's drone? And if you reinforce it with Magic Iron, you might even be able to apply an attribute enchantment using that gem! I think that's Malachite, so it should bestow a wind attribute, and if you're lucky, it might even boost attack power or durability. Then you could do a wind-attribute special attack or something!"
What kind of idea is she coming up with!? This is bad. This is extremely tempting...
"I mean, that's... certainly attractive, but... are you sure?"
Whatever resolve I'd mustered moments ago had vanished—I was about to cave to Himehana's incredibly enticing proposal.
"Yep! If SS-san powers up, then Hyakka Ryouran benefits too since we have an exclusive contract, so take it all!"
Ugh, I hit Level 10, got two super god-tier skills, AND she's giving me enhancement materials for Asahi on top of that—is Himehana actually a goddess?
"Um, thank you. At least let me treat you to lunch today as thanks."
I proposed this hoping she'd at least let me do that much.
"Hehe, alright then, I'll take you up on that."
Alright, I can save face with this. I immediately booted up the PC in front of me and started searching for a nice restaurant nearby.