Chapter-11 · EP-182

Episode 182: Skill Orb

"Young lady, are you okay?!"

As I rushed over, the rock wall that had been there just moments ago was gone, and Hikaru was sitting on the ground, having fallen.

She seemed dazed from the shock. But since she didn't appear to be in pain, she probably wasn't injured.

Mei crouched down next to her and spoke worriedly.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yes…"

Hikaru was staring ahead with a surprised expression.

When I followed her gaze, I saw a faintly glowing sphere lying on the ground.

Mei noticed it too and was speechless.

"Ah…"

That's right. I had seen this only once before. It was exactly the same shape.

A memory surfaced of discovering the Skill Camouflage Skill Orb in the Arizona Dungeon.

"Young lady, can you use Analysis?"

"Y-yes…"

Hikaru used her Analysis skill on the glowing sphere.

Meanwhile, Mei muttered.

"A Skill Orb… it really exists…"

Then Hikaru, finishing the analysis, announced.

"It's a 'Fire Magic' Skill Orb…"

Mei's eyes widened as she stared at Hikaru.

I smirked.

"You did it!"

As Susa-san had said, it was true.

Skill Orbs appear before those who need them, bearing the skill that suits them.

Since Hikaru had been so desperately in need of a magic skill, I was confident she would obtain the magic skill she needed.

"The same Fire Magic as my brother…"

Hikaru's voice trembled.

The same Fire Magic skill as her brother, Kazuma-san. It was the magic she had wanted so badly, the same as the brother she admired.

"Now, take it quickly, before someone else takes it."

When I urged her, Hikaru hesitated.

"But… is this really alright? I'd feel bad for you two."

"Not at all, Hikaru-sama! We promised from the start that if a magic skill appeared, it would be yours, didn't we?"

"Y-yes, that's right… Well then, at least let me pay you each a third of its value…"

"Wait a minute! If we got a Skill Orb, we wouldn't have the money to pay you! We don't want money. This is yours."

Hearing my words, Hikaru looked at me.

"Are you really sure?"

I answered without hesitation.

"Of course! Besides, you're the one who found it."

Hikaru nodded, slowly stood up, and approached the Skill Orb.

She crouched down and reached out her hand.

In that instant, the Skill Orb emitted a soft light and was absorbed into Hikaru, vanishing.

I quickly and discreetly checked Hikaru's status.

Hikaru Kujo: LV3 ▶
Skill: Analysis (Active, Display) ▶
       Fire Magic LV1 (Active, Display) ▶
Party: Shirou Ichinose, Mei Kisaragi

She seemed to have successfully obtained Fire Magic.

And I didn't forget to discreetly copy the Fire Magic skill for myself.

I had obtained my eighth skill.

"Does this mean I can now use Fire Magic?"

Hikaru muttered, sounding uncertain.

"Probably. Why not try using it?"

"Y-yes."

Then, Hikaru, instead of creating a fireball, the basic form of Fire Magic, raised her wooden sword. And…

Poof!

Flames ran along the blade of Hikaru's wooden sword.

"Oh?!"

"I did it! …No, that's not it."

That was it. The technique of channeling magic into the sword that Murasakimura had taught her.

Hikaru must have wanted to try out the technique she'd learned from Murasakimura. And once she obtained Fire Magic, she performed it without difficulty.

But Hikaru didn't stop there.

Concentrating on her sword, the next moment, instead of flames, the blade glowed red.

"Huh? What's that?"

I was surprised.

"I did it."

"No, what is that?"

When I asked twice, Hikaru explained.

"It's the mana conduction my brother does. I believe my brother gave me this sword, 'Benikiri,' hoping that I would be able to use this technique."

"I-is that so?"

As I stood there, speechless with surprise, Mei added.

"Fufufu, surprised by Hikaru-sama's talent, Ichinose? With mana conduction, if you do it carefully without wasting excess mana, you can wrap the sword itself in mana. Compared to Murasakimura's method of manifesting the magic outside the blade, Hikaru-sama's method of imbuing the magic inside the sword is far more difficult and increases attack power."

"Huh? So in that one instant, she surpassed Murasakimura?"

When I said that, Hikaru answered, looking a bit embarrassed.

"That's not true. It's because my sword, Benikiri, is made of a material with high mana conductivity. If Murasakimura-san had the same sword, he could do the same."

"That's not true. When you let Murasakimura try Benikiri today, he wasn't able to channel mana as cleanly as Hikaru-sama."

"Either way, you're both amazing!"

I couldn't help but interject.

Hikaru smiled, looking a bit shy.

"I want to test if this technique works in actual combat right away."

"Then let's go defeat the slime in the left passage!"

As Hikaru and Mei chatted happily, I followed behind them.

I was glad. It seemed Hikaru would be able to overcome her growth limit.

With this technique, at least for the time being, she probably wouldn't have to worry about lack of attack power until she cleared the tenth floor of this academy's dungeon.

Remembering something, I called out to Hikaru as we walked.

"Young lady, aren't you going to try using a fireball?"

The mana conduction she did was an applied technique. I thought the basic method would be to materialize magic and throw it at the enemy.

At my words, Hikaru answered, looking a bit shy.

"As for that… I'd like to learn it from my brother first."

An "I love my big brother" comment. Kazuma-san would probably be delighted.

So, for now, she wanted to practice the mana conduction she learned from Murasakimura, and learn fireballs from Kazuma-san later.

"That's fine, isn't it?"

I answered with a smile.

We then reached the room with the slime.

Originally, Hikaru could already defeat slimes normally, and slimes are weak to fire. It would probably be overkill, but Hikaru seemed excited, so I decided to just watch.

Hikaru raised her wooden sword and, as she stepped forward, made the blade glow red.

Then, with a vertical slash.

With a swish, the slime vanished.

I thought it would be easy… but then I couldn't believe my eyes.

It wasn't just me; Hikaru and Mei were also stunned.

All three of us, speechless, stared at the spot where the slime had been defeated.

There was a familiar object.

An object we had just seen was lying there.

I used my Analysis skill on it.

Skill Orb: Healing Magic

Lying there was a Skill Orb, said to drop with a probability of one in a hundred million.

A Healing Magic Skill Orb, which could sometimes appear after defeating a slime.

"Wh-wh-wh-what should we do?! …What should we do?!"

Hikaru was unusually flustered. It was rare to see her like this.

"It appeared from defeating a slime, so it's a Healing Magic skill. We promised that if a magic skill orb appeared, it would be yours, Hikaru."

I told her, but Hikaru still hesitated.

"But I already received one just now, so this time Ichinose-san should…"

Unfortunately, I already had the Healing Magic skill, so I didn't need it.

I shook my head.

Seeing that, Hikaru looked at Mei and said.

"Well then, Mei, this time you…"

"No, Hikaru-sama. If a magic skill appears, it's yours. If it's a combat skill, it's Ichinose's; if it's a support skill, it's mine."

Hikaru looked back and forth between me and Mei apologetically.

No matter how many times she looked, our answer wouldn't change.

The agreement was that if a magic skill orb appeared during today's exploration, it would be Hikaru's.

Besides, it was Hikaru who found the Fire Magic Skill Orb, and it was Hikaru who caused the Healing Magic Skill Orb to drop. It's one hundred percent Hikaru's.

"Are you really sure…?"

Asked, we nodded simultaneously.

On this day, a triple skill holder was born at Tokyo Dungeon Academy.