arc03 · 066-ep60
Episode 60: Fun Time
Well then—I've made it back to the safe zone between Floor 11 and Floor 12.
Looks like nobody else is using the place right now, so I can pick my skill without worrying about who's watching. Time to think this one through properly.
First up: my current SP and what I can learn.
【Name】 Kobayakawa Takeru
【Level】 30
【Status】
・HP: 680 / 680
・MP: 78 / 78
・STR: 136
・VIT: 130
・AGI: 218
・DEX: 131
・INT: 125
・LUK: 4
【Held Skills】
・Plunder+
・Martial Arts (Lv. 3)
・Movement Arts (Lv. 4)
・(Open slot)
【SP】 18
SP is 18, huh. Sadly, nothing as obviously busted as 【Movement Arts】 is on the table this time.
I tap the SP entry and bring up the list of learnable skills.
It's a ridiculous amount even looking at it again.
There were already quite a lot last time, but this time the list has more than doubled.
Most of them, though, are firmly in 'there's no way I'd ever take this' territory, so let me pick out the ones with big SP costs and the ones that catch my eye and mull those over.
SP: 18
――――――――――――――
【Throwing】 Required SP: 5
【Fighting Arts】 Required SP: 10
【Ninjutsu】 Required SP: 10
【Assassination Arts】 Required SP: 10
【Non-Elemental Magic】 Required SP: 10
――――――――――――――
Leave out the 3- and 5-SP skills, and this is pretty much the whole story.
【Throwing】 is cheap at 5 SP, and with long-range attacks on my mind it didn't seem bad, so it made the shortlist.
But odds are this one's bundled in as a skill-within-a-skill under things like 【Ninjutsu】 or 【Assassination Arts】 anyway.
Oh, and magic has finally sprouted up on the learnable list.
I am seriously moved right now. Hell yeah!
I mean, this basically means I really did have a proper talent for magic too, right?
Though the reason it sprouted is probably that 【Martial Arts】 has had me burning through mana forever. Lately 【Movement Arts】 eats mana too, with the multi-jumps and Shukuchi… which is basically spellcasting by way of a skill, when you think about it. And if that's the case, maybe it's not my talent after all… Ngh.
Anyway, that's the lay of the land for SP-acquired skills… but this time, I want to think about the skills I could take through 【Plunder】 as well.
Up to now it's always been '【Movement Arts】 is clearly the strong pick,' or back at level 10 I needed a boost, and fast, so I went with 【Martial Arts】—but this time, I have other options.
Some monsters' skills are every bit as strong as the SP-taught ones—and when you factor in that 【Plunder】 lets me stack them again and again, that route might actually come out stronger.
Plenty of skills from the monsters I've fought so far have made me go ooh.
For instance, the elemental magic of all the different slime variants. A genuine pick-your-own buffet.
Fire magic and ice magic are romantic through and through, and water magic is the handy sort with no shortage of uses.
Staying on slimes, 【Corrosion】 and 【Regeneration】 look pretty tasty too. 【Regeneration】 especially would send my survival rate through the ceiling. Though it's a tad scary that nobody knows whether a human can even use it.
Then there's the turtle's 【Barrier】. That one's appealing too. The strength of the turtle's version was nothing special… but if it scales off mana, I could probably raise it—and hell, enhance the skill itself and it'd get genuinely strong. That's another one with major survival-rate implications.
And last, 【Shadow Magic】. The shadow wolves on Floor 11 throw it around like it's going out of style, and it looks like a perfect fit for how I fight—that's the clincher.
To be honest, with the magic types, I get the feeling any of them could turn into an absolute monster depending on how you use it. Even trawling the skill threads and the wiki, I hardly ever see anyone calling magic attributes hit or miss, so the gaps probably aren't that big. That said, this too is knowledge—or intel—that only goes up to C-rank at best… The upper-rank adventurers' takes on skills barely ever make the rounds out there. If the real differences show up once skill levels climb, I want to pick the best one I possibly can.
Gwoooogh, what do I dooooo…!
Whoa, whoa, easy there, me.
Step one—forget the skills themselves and think about what I actually need right now.
What I feel the lack of, first and foremost, is a long-range attack.
A way to counter things like those poison-spraying bastards on Floor 11 is an absolute must going forward.
The other thing I need is status appraisal… but as things stand there doesn't seem to be anything skills can do about it, so that goes to Aizawa's alchemy. Setting it aside for now.
Beyond that, there's storage… and if there's any hope there, 【Non-Elemental Magic】 or 【Shadow Magic】, maybe…?
Right—down to two.
【Regeneration】 and 【Barrier】 were close calls, but ask me if I need them right now and it's a no. They'd make decent insurance, sure. But burning a skill slot to let insurance sit there gathering dust is a waste beyond words, so they're out. Final answer.
Now then—which one do I take?
Between these two… 【Shadow Magic】, I'd say.
For starters, it costs zero SP to take—and being able to 【Plunder】 it off the shadow wolves and grind its proficiency is huge. Way too huge.
Plus this saves my SP, so even if some 30-SP monster of a skill shows up when I hit level 40, there's now a chance I could grab it. Aaah, 【Plunder】-sama, I am forever in your debt!
"All right! That settles it—time to go beat down some shadow wolves!"
I bolt out of the safe zone and go charging into Floor 11.
Monsters that aren't shadow wolves get the cold shoulder, naturally.
"Ohhhh, now I'm getting hypeeeed!"
I go tearing along the ceiling, hunting shadow wolves.
Ooh—there, there they are. Spotted!
Monsters from Floor 11 on can carry different skills from one individual to the next, but as for shadow wolves, they all seem to have 【Shadow Magic】 without exception. Every last one I've ever come across has used it.
Therefore—operating on the understanding that every shadow wolf holds 【Shadow Magic】—I shall now humbly exercise 【Plunder】!
They're in a pack, as ever, so I creep up on the one at the edge and touch its back.
(Plunder!)
The instant I do, something comes flooding in. Here it comes, here it comes, here it cooomes!
『Successfully plundered the target's skill』
Heck yeah! The level gap's in my favor too, so it went off nice and smooth!
I check my status, and sure enough, 【Shadow Magic】 is sitting right there in the skill column. Skill level 1.
All righty, all righty, all righty—time to rob these guys of every last drop and send that skill level soaring!
Fwahahaha, my little black doggos, prepare to be petted silly! The petting fee is your 【Shadow Magic】!