ch21-ch40 · 033-ch33
Chapter 33: Individual Differences in Skills
So yeah, I just used the 'Left Gate' to return two floors from my current position in front of the '20th Floor Gate.'
It's 4 PM now.
That was faster than I expected.
The target-switching strategy worked smoothly, taking less than an hour to get past six hills.
And that's with taking 5-minute breaks each time.
But, I guess you could say the price of that speed was that I didn't pick up any magic stones.
The number of orcs I defeated probably doesn't even reach twenty.
"[Status]. Yeah, no change as expected."
Name: Kasugano Haruki Job: [Charge Spearman] Lv: 20
HP: 550/600 MP: 212/300
Strength: 50 Endurance: 50 Agility: 40 Magic: 30
Skill: [Gate] [Charge・Spear] [Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear] [Charge・Spear・Strength Up] [Charge・Spear・Endurance Up] [Charge・Spear・Agility Up] [Charge・Spear・Aiming]
Skill Points: 10
Current level is 20.
Not that it's a level where I can't challenge the 20th floor.
But I'll hold off for today.
Partly because I want to get home early, but honestly, I have almost no information about the 20th floor's Orc General.
I did watch a video of the 20th floor from headquarters a long time ago, but I don't really remember it.
I think all the surrounding orcs were wearing armor, and I think magic was flying around too?
Asking at the counter would be risky.
Besides, according to official records, I defeated a Minotaur yesterday... wait, if I defeated a Minotaur, wouldn't it be normal to gather information about the Orc General next?
Maybe I'll try asking, playing the part of someone who's getting a bit ahead of themselves.
Alright, I'll stay here on the 2nd floor and practice my [Charge・Spear] super mode until I run out of MP, then gather information on my way back.
︙ ︙
MP: 1→0
The moment MP reaches 0, the effects of [Charge・Spear] and other skills wear off.
It seems there's no ill effect from MP reaching 0.
After trying various things, I'd say I'm satisfied with the results.
When something touches the spear during an attack—or rather, whenever anything touches the spear, [Charge・Spear] gets canceled.
I was testing it on a tree in front of me, but even lightly touching it was enough to break the skill.
However, when I activated only [Charge・Spear] itself, the skill's effect remained active even when I struck the tree with the spear's butt.
And I concluded that the culprit is [Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear].
When this skill is active, the moment anything touches any part of the spear, [Charge・Spear]'s effect is canceled.
Conversely, if I don't activate [Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear], [Charge・Spear]'s effect doesn't get canceled even when something touches parts other than the spearhead.
This wasn't written on the spear wiki or forums, so this is probably a phenomenon that only happens to me.
There's such a thing as 'individual differences in skills.'
Even with the same skill, the effects you get can be different.
I hear you can bridge that gap to some extent with practice, but apparently, that also depends on individual aptitude.
A famous example is those with the [Sword Star] job.
The [Swordsman] job has a skill called [Flying Slash] that sends a slash flying through the air, but [Flying Slash]'s range is at most 5 meters for most people.
Those who were able to become [Sword Stars]—there were three in Japan in the past, and all of them could [Flying Slash] targets over 10 meters away the moment they became [Swordsmen].
When talented people use skills, the effects change.
Watanabe-san must be the same way.
Probably, what Watanabe-san was using was [Weapon Enhancement・Spear].
You normally can't enhance a mop.
Many adventurers can't even enhance a sword with [Weapon Enhancement・Sword].
But those who can, can.
In other words, it's 'individual differences in skills.'
As for me specifically, it's the rather niche lack of talent where I can't maintain [Charge・Spear] when using [Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear] during [Charge・Spear].
Of course, I might be able to do it with practice, so from now on, I'll use up all my remaining MP without wasting it on practice.
Regarding [Charge・Spear], if I don't use [Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear], I can attack with the spear butt or shaft.
Attacks boosted by the stat-up effect from super mode should have plenty of power even without using the spearhead.
The problem is that the spear becomes more prone to breaking, but when I'm making MP-charged attacks, I'll try to use [Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear] right before.
I'll have to make sure the spear I plan to buy has high durability.
︙ ︙
It's almost 5, but I've returned to the Association facility on the 1st floor.
Oh? Four people are here.
"Huh~? You're back, aren't you? You're just not honest, are you? Did you miss me?"
"I'd like to check in my weapon."
"Why do you go straight to that~?"
"Ah-ha-ha. So you've become friends with Sato too, huh? That's good. Getting along with Association staff."
That's Hiramatsu-san.
The Sato person he mentioned must be the quiet handsome guy.
That Sato guy silently went to the back to put away the weapon.
"They might even heal you for free, you know."
"Oh, my. I'm not that cheap of a woman, you know~."
Shiraishi strikes a mysterious ojou-sama pose with the back of her hand against her face.
Is this girl a healer?
Grr, now I have a reason why I can't just brush her off.
"Oh, we've already met the newbie yesterday, right?"
The other person is the serious-looking guy from yesterday.
"Yeah, long time no see. I'm the newbie. Everyone calls me newbie-chan. Nice to meet you."
From his serious appearance, I didn't expect his speech to end with -ssu.
But this way of speaking feels familiar... I can't remember -ssu.
He's taking notes again today -ssu.
Was anything in our conversation so far important enough to take notes about -ssuka?
"I rushed in before 5 wanting to see Shiraishi-san. That's my report. Also, I'm friends with that Sato guy now. Requires reporting."
"O-ho-ho-ho. Newbie-chan, let this big sister borrow that notebook of yours for a moment."
"Hey, what did you write about me? You were writing yesterday too, right? That."
"...."
I received my license back from Sato-san who had returned, and decided to ask about the Orc General.
"Sato-san, the 20th floor boss is the Orc General, right? Does the Association disclose information about its characteristics or strategies?"
"...The 20th floor boss consists of 11 in total. You can't leave the floor until you defeat all 11. Besides the Orc General, there are 10 armored orcs called Orc Knights. Two each of sword and shield users, hammer users, spear users, bow users, and magic casters. The floor has one hill. The difference from Tokyo is just the hill's height. Chiba's is higher, so it's steeper. The General is at the top. One bow user and one magic caster on each side. These guys don't come forward right away, so it's best to defeat the front-line orcs from outside their attack range. An area that five level 20 combat classes can clear without issue.... You should stop if you're alone.... Anything else?"
The final "anything else?" was directed at Hiramatsu-san.
Hiramatsu-san takes over.
"Yeah. The Orc General is overwhelmingly strong. Tough. Its weapon and armor are better than the other orcs'. Its weapon is a halberd. The buy price here is 5,000 yen, but it sells for 50,000 in shops. As for the armor, it's popular, and if you bring back a full set, it's worth 30,000. A shop one with maintenance and size adjustment costs 300,000. Well, it's too early for you yet. Gather some companions. And get some armor too."
"There he goes talking about money again -ssu. Hiramatsu-san talks about nothing but money -ssu. This goes in the report too -ssu."
Come to think of it, yesterday it was about taxes, and just now it was about free healing...
"That's right~. You can go alone up to the 15th floor, you know. But not from the 16th floor onward. I'm telling you, injuries won't just be minor injuries, you know. I can only heal minor injuries, so don't push yourself. Get your equipment settled by the 14th floor, okay?"
"That's right -ssu. I had a bad experience on the 16th floor too -ssu. It was a magic caster -ssu. Fireball -ssu. I was surprised, rolled down, and got healed -ssu."
And I'm already on the 20th floor...
"Armor, huh. Thank you. That was helpful."
A full armor set for 300,000 yen, huh.
First I need to get a spear, right.
Ah, I want to cash these in. Can't I do it until tomorrow afternoon? Yes. I see.
Time to change clothes in the changing room.
But I've gotten to the point where I can casually chat with Association staff, really feeling like an adventurer now.
Ah, it was valuables → changing room → counter in that order... I need to make sure I don't forget my wallet.