Chapter 30

Once again, we descended to the 56th floor. There, we were met with a massive number of fish lizards, enough to bury the lizards we had just defeated, and a giant lizard waiting for us.

"First, a preemptive strike, Slash!"

My double-hand attack slash took down two enemies, and then I tried a trick I had been thinking about for a while.

"Petit Fire!"

In an instant, a fireball twice the normal size was created. The Petit Fire, which was far more powerful than its name suggested, engulfed five fish lizards.

"Master, that magic just now!?"

"Don't worry! Focus on the battle!"

This time, I used another method, and once again, I drew my sword from my item bag and jumped into the center of the lizards.

"Spinning Slash!"

The upgraded Spinning Slash seemed to have a wider range, cutting down twenty lizards in one go. The power had clearly increased significantly.

Good, it worked.

What I had done was switch my job to Apprentice Mage and Mage when using magic, and to Apprentice Swordsman and Swordsman when using a sword. I had practiced switching instantly, but this was the first time in a real battle, and it exceeded my expectations.

Then, I switched to a Swordsman-oriented job (Unemployed, Swordsman, Apprentice Swordsman, Pugilist, Hunter) and charged at the giant lizard. However, the lizard's tongue fought back to keep me at bay, and more lizards gathered around my feet.

But, it's about time.

"Slash!"

My sword attack—cut off the giant lizard's tail. Damn, I missed my target.

The huge tail thrashed violently and stopped moving. Then, a new tail grew back from the giant lizard.

It regenerates quickly.

The enraged giant lizard opened its mouth wide and charged at me, regardless of trampling its allies. ...What an idiot, he could have saved his life by running away.

I quickly switched my job to a Mage-oriented one (Unemployed, Commoner, Apprentice Mage, Mage, Apprentice Alchemist) and laughed.

"Petit Fire!"

A fireball far more powerful than a Petit Fire entered the giant lizard's mouth and exploded. Flying flesh—then the remaining fish lizards fled in all directions. I tried to chase them, but they scattered like spiders, so I decided to give up.

Damn, I should have killed more of the minions before taking on the boss, I regretted.

What remained was the giant lizard's scales, a large piece of meat, and three rare medals—along with a large amount of experience.

[Your level in Ichijo has increased]

[Commoner Skill: Stone Throwing has upgraded to Throwing]

[Job: Loafer has been unlocked]

[Apprentice Mage Skill: Lightning Magic has been acquired]

[Mage Skill: Staff Equipment has upgraded to Staff Equipment II]

[Mage Skill: Magic Boost has been acquired]

[Mage Skill: Fire Magic has upgraded to Fire Magic II]

[Apprentice Alchemist Skill: Alchemy has been acquired]

[Alchemy: 20 recipes have been acquired]

[Apprentice Alchemist Skill: Ore Appraisal has been acquired]

[Pugilist Skill: Speed Increase (Minor) has been acquired]

[Hunter Skill: Accuracy Correction (Minor) has been acquired]

[Merchant Skill: Food Appraisal has been acquired]

[Skill Integration: Ore Appraisal and Food Appraisal have been integrated into Food and Ore Appraisal]

Whoa, my head is about to explode.

When I check my skills in the status screen, they are quite distracting.

Just as I thought,

[Title: Skill Maniac has been acquired]

[Skill: Skill Organization has been acquired]

……………………………………………………

Skill Description: Skill Organization [Title Skill]

You can move skills from the status screen to a separate screen.

Skills on the separate screen are invisible to others.

……………………………………………………

Wow, this is convenient.

Not only can I organize them, but others can't see my skills. This could be useful for hiding my fifth job setting.

On the other hand, people like me with many skills, even if they acquire a skill to see others' skills, won't be able to see through them. If I ever get the ability to see others' skills, I need to be careful if someone's skills don't match their strength.

For now, I'll move all my skills to the separate screen and organize them later.

"Hey! Rookie! Are you okay!?"

From the stairs above, Jofre's voice was heard. He must have come to call for help, but it's not needed anymore.

Then,

"Sorry, I got lost!"

"Guide us to the teleportation array!"

Hearing their loud voices, Haru and I looked at each other and laughed.

※※※

Jofre and Elise collected the scales, while we gathered the magic stones and meat. Thanks to my luck, the magic stones from the fish lizards I killed were larger than those from the ones Haru killed. If the magic stones from the fish lizards Haru killed were the size of go stones, the ones I killed were the size of ping-pong balls. The magic stone dropped by the giant lizard was the size of a basketball. The larger the stone, the purer it is, so this will likely sell for a high price.

"Amazing, rookie... Ah, if you can hunt this many fish lizards, calling you a rookie is strange, isn't it?"

"Then, how about calling you a rookie instead of a beginner?"

"That's good! Rookie."

...No, that's weird. In many ways.

"Still, it's strange. Since the guild had a request posted, it's not unusual for other adventurers to come. In the end, were there only the adventurers who were eaten?"

No one has come even now.

"Ah, that's because I took the request notice to prevent others from taking it!"

"Jofre, you're amazing! A wise general! A genius!"

...Jofre holds up the request notice, and Elise applauds. These guys are still the same...

"By the way, you have to pay a fine if you take down a request notice without permission."

"Eh? Really?"

Hearing Haru's words, Jofre's face turned pale. He really didn't think about it at all. Of course.

"Well, we picked up this many scales. We won't be in the red. We also have the giant lizard's scales."

"Yeah, that's true!"

Seeing Jofre's expression change rapidly, like a crow that just cried and is now laughing, I feel a sense of nostalgia thinking about parting ways with these guys. Our first meeting was terrible, but...

With that, we headed back to the surface. We have one more mission left.