arc03 · 071-ep65
Episode 65: Thinking Through the Specs
First up.
I close in behind it without a sound and lay a hand against its back. This one's plenty tall too, so I drop down from the ceiling, firing 【Plunder】 in midair.
(Plunder)
Tch. A fail, then.
No success response, and the Minotaur's spotted me—so I break away on the spot with a multi-jump.
A battle axe comes swinging down with monstrous force right where I'd been standing a second ago.
It doesn't pull the Statue Knight's flat-out unreasonable movements, so that's a mercy—but its reactions are quite a bit faster than anything before it. If I stop moving even for a second, I get the feeling that'd be bad news for me.
Hold on, though?
What if I 『Shadow Dive』 into the Mino's shadow, stick just my hand out, and touch the sole of its foot? Why wouldn't that work?
Worth a shot.
While keeping the Minotaur scrambled, the instant I slip out of its sight I 『Shukuchi』 over to the Mino's shadow and 『Shadow Dive』 straight in.
From inside the shadow, I poke my palm out just far enough to touch the bottom of the Mino's foot. If someone pulled that on me, I'd break out in goosebumps—but who knows how a monster feels about it. Eh, whatever.
(Plunder)
Hmm. A fail, I'd say.
Strangely enough, the Mino doesn't notice either—so one more try.
(Plunder)
No good after all. Could be 【Plunder】 just plain can't be used from inside a shadow in the first place. Can't be helped. Time to pop out.
I burst out without a sound and, while I'm at it, slash at its leg with 『Shadow Sword』.
"Bmoohhhhh!"
The Minotaur lets out a roar—pain or irritation, take your pick. My bad. I'm not exactly planning to fight this one head-on.
I circle around behind it once more and set my hand on its back.
(Plunder!)
Hm? Whoa!?
Here it comes, here it comes, here it cooomes!
『Successfully plundered the target's weapon』
The Mino's gigantic-ass battle axe materializes in my left hand—wait, it's shrunk down all tiny!?
Huh? What is this!?
An ability of the weapon itself? Or a spec of 【Plunder】?
Either way, huge win! At this size I can carry it home, no problem! I'd figured even if I stole a weapon, I'd have no choice but to ditch it.
All righty, all righty, all righty!
So 【Plunder】 CAN work on higher-level opponents—it's probability-based after all! Turns out it was never down to level alone!
With this, going forward I can push ever deeper and fight opponents sitting a comfortable notch above me.
Heh heh heh. How do you like the sight of your shrunken little battle axe, Minotaur-kun? This is mine now, you know. Not that it's anything but dead weight in a fight, so I'll just leave it over there.
"Let's settle this with our fists!"
I said I wasn't planning to fight it head-on—but I'm properly fired up now, so it's a fair-and-square match!
That muscle of yours isn't just for show, is it?
"Here I come!"
Dead ahead, I 『Shukuchi』 straight into the Mino's guard.
It obviously can't keep pace with that speed, but it's still reacting.
Maybe it catches me charging mana into my fist—the Mino instantly breaks into evasive action.
"Too slow."
But my fist reached the Mino's abs first.
One hit, two, three—!
I hammer punches in, alternating left and right, and the Mino's body folds into a sharp V.
As expected, this alone doesn't put it down.
Wreathing my fists in 『Shadow Sword』 too, I drive the rush in even deeper—!
"Bmoohhhhh————!"
It flails its fists around in pure desperation, but I dodge every last one. Way too slow. Its resistance comes to nothing, and the Minotaur breaks apart into motes of light.
"Completely pulverized!"
Man, that was an easier win than I expected!
Honestly, the Statue Knight really is stronger, though.
For now, I've learned that 【Plunder】 still seems to work even at a level gap of three or more, so I'll count that as a win.
I pick up the magic stone and the weapon, then set off exploring again in search of fresh prey.
"Come to think of it, what should I do with these weapons? I got all excited about being able to carry them home, but would selling them even be OK? No wait—maybe I'll hand the whole lot over to Mio and have Haga-san and the others pick what they want. Got a feeling I'm about to stockpile weapons for no reason, though……"
This floor.
It seems to have a fair number of bipedal weapon-carriers, so weakening them off with 【Plunder】 means the weapons just keep piling up. Grrr. Yeah, storage is exactly what I need…… I'm counting on you, 【Shadow Magic】.
◇
After that, too, I kept using 【Plunder】 on Floor 14 to snatch up weapons while fighting enemies of decent caliber, exploring right up until it was time to head home.
Not on the Statue Knight's level, granted—but they've got some real fight in them. I get the sense I'm actually building combat experience, so I'd like to set high hopes on the stats at my next level-up.
And right on cue, the level-up arrives.
『Experience points gained』
『Kobayakawa Takeru's level has risen to 31』
【Name】 Kobayakawa Takeru
【Level】 31
【Status】
・HP: 700 / 700
・MP: 80 / 80
・STR: 142
・VIT: 137
・AGI: 228
・DEX: 138
・INT: 132
・LUK: 4
【Held Skills】
・Plunder+
・Martial Arts (Lv. 3)
・Movement Arts (Lv. 4)
・Shadow Magic (Lv. 4)
【SP】 21
Ohhhhh!
Yeah, they shot way up, just like I figured……!
This much is a sure thing, then. At minimum, it's locked in: keep grinding against weaker opponents, and you simply won't grow.
Beyond that, my guess would be: solo makes them grow easier, fighting strong enemies makes them grow easier, plus some other evaluation factor stacked on top—something like that.
No clue why my DEX and INT have kept climbing this whole time, but there's gotta be some logic to it. Anyway, I know at least that for levels alone, fighting above my weight class looks better, so from here on out I'll make "slightly above the recommended floor" my main leveling grounds.
In my case, my big advantage is being able to blow right past enemies with 【Movement Arts】.
This blazing-speed clearing is only possible because I'm solo AND carry 【Movement Arts】. At this rate, even B-rank looks reachable within the year.
My one worry: enemy durability keeps climbing, and 【Iron Demon】 is going to gradually stop cutting it. I myself can keep getting stronger with every level, but the weapon itself never grows. Considering it was C-rank equipment to start with, this might be about its proper ceiling…… but come B-rank promotion, I should probably start thinking about new weapons. Money's piling up by the boatload, so I figure I'd manage…… trouble is, hardly anywhere sells knuckle dusters to begin with. Might have no choice but to put in a custom order straight with the master who forged 【Iron Demon】, huh?
Next time we spar, I could run it by Kujo-san, too.
Well, for now, the future can wait. Today I'll head back just like this and get ready for tomorrow.
Tomorrow brings the meal with 『Braver』 and a new set of armor (?).
I'll ask them plenty about how an ordinary party runs, and get a fresh, objective read on where I stand and how strong I actually am. Word has it they're the upper crust of the student crowd, so they should make an easy benchmark.
As for armor…… eh, anything'll do.