Chapter 25

"Alright, Sylvia. Aren't you ready to learn the magic archery technique now?"

The day after Eko learned the *Horned Shield Technique*.

I visited Sylvia and Eko's room early in the morning and asked them this.

"Of course. I want to learn it if I can."

"You can. Alright, let's start learning the magic archery technique today."

Sylvia said, "Really?" with a delighted look and began preparing enthusiastically.

"What about me? What about me?"

Eko has been in high spirits lately. She asks what we'll do today and tomorrow, and when I answer, she jumps up and down with a "Kyaa!" She's a cat beast person, but she acts like a dog.

"Today, Eko will test the *Horned Shield Technique* in the dungeon while aiming to defeat rock turtles and get the *Rock Armor Shield*."

"Kyaa!"

In short, it's the usual routine... but Eko is predictably happy. I think she'd be happy with anything.

"Alright, let's go."

We bought breakfast from a street vendor and headed towards the Limptfart Dungeon, a place we've become quite familiar with.

"First, let's meet the conditions to combine archery and magic."

"Understood."

The condition is to "reduce the HP of a monster to 75% or less with *Archery* and then defeat 1000 of them with *Magic*." Since Sylvia had already done this to some extent while grinding in the Slime Forest, it should be easy to complete in a few rounds.

"Eko, try the *Horned Shield Technique*. You'll be surprised."

"Okay!"

I gave Eko the instruction, and she faced the first monster.

"Hey!"

When Eko activated the *Horned Shield Technique* against the approaching Armor Lizard...

There was a hard-sounding "Clank," and the Armor Lizard's attack was deflected. Eko didn't budge at all. The damage she took was a shocking 4 points.

"What!?"

Sylvia was surprised.

Eko also exclaimed, "Ohh!"

The effect of the *Horned Shield Technique* is "Enhanced Defense." It temporarily doubles the user's VIT while defending. At level 9, it can defend with 600% VIT. For a high-VIT character, it's a powerful skill that can even deflect a boss's attack as if it were a mosquito.

"It's a very strong skill, but it consumes a lot of SP, so use it only when necessary. Aim to reach level 5 for now. This is essential. After that, stopping at level 1 or level 6 is better."

At level 5, the cooldown time decreases and the activation time shortens. At level 1, the cooldown time further decreases. At level 6, it becomes possible to defend with 500% VIT, which is sufficient.

Incidentally, this skill also enhances MGR (Magic Guard Rate) by the same multiplier. As you become more advanced, there will be more situations where you need to defend against magic, making this a very useful skill.

...While I was thinking about this, Eko suddenly burst into tears.

Huh?

"What, what's wrong!?"

When I asked her in a panic, Eko said, "It's amazing~" and "It's so useful~" with tears in her eyes. The extreme usefulness of the *Horned Shield Technique* must have touched some unknown chord in Eko. It's a bit of a mystery, but I patted her on the back to comfort her and waited for her to calm down before we continued.

"I've learned it!"

Near the end of the dungeon, Sylvia reported excitedly.

"Great, let's try it out."

"Okay!"

Sylvia drew an arrow on her Flame Wolf Bow and combined *Infantry Archery* with *Fire Attribute - First Form*.

"Let's go!"

With a roar of flame, the First Form was shot and hit the monster's abdomen. The flames quickly spread and burned the entire body of the monster.

Sylvia's *Infantry Archery* is at level 5, and *Fire Attribute - First Form* is at level 3. It wasn't a critical hit, but the damage dealt to the monster was 581. For a beginner magic archer, this is pretty good.

"Next, try the Third Form."

"Okay!"

Sylvia nodded obediently and prepared the skill in the same way.

A ball of fire swirled and condensed at the center of the bow, forming a small sun that pulsed with a dark red glow.

"......"

Her expression seemed to ask, "Is this okay?" I simply said, "Go ahead."

Sylvia shot. Immediately—

"Whoa!?"

With a loud boom like a cannon, the Third Form hit the monster. In an instant, the small fireball expanded to three times the size of the monster's body and exploded.

*Fire Attribute - Third Form* is at level 9. It wasn't a critical hit, but the damage was 1612. It's just within the practical range. If she changes *Infantry Archery* to *Silver General Archery* or *Rook Archery* and raises the level of the Third Form, it will become a main skill for the backline. I hope she works hard on it.

Incidentally, against the current monster, my *Rook Archery* at level 9 deals about 6200 damage without a critical hit. *Rook Swordsmanship* at level 6 deals around 5000. In the Limptfart Dungeon, this level of firepower is more than enough.

"Sylvia, that's amazing!"

"......Ah, yeah. Amazing."

Sylvia was in a daze, still in shock from using the magic archery technique for the first time.

And so, Sylvia took her first step as a magic archer.

"......I want to."

That night.

I couldn't hold back and approached Sylvia to tell her this.

"Huh... Huh!?"

Sylvia's face turned bright red as she asked in return.

"I want to, Sylvia... I can't hold it anymore... I..."

"Eh!? Wait, isn't it too early!? We should deepen our relationship more before...!"

"I want to... strengthen it so badly!"

"Wha...? ...!!"

Ouch! She hit me.

"Since we finally got this Ring of Pursuit, we can't afford not to strengthen it."

"Ah, yes, that's true, yes, yes."

She's being really dismissive... I went too far with the joke.

"Sorry, sorry. But, this is also related to your Flame Wolf Bow."

"......Hmm."

Oh, she's interested.

"Eko, it's also related to the Rock Armor Shield you'll eventually get."

"zzz"

She's asleep...

"Well, that's fine. Listen carefully, equipment strengthening is incredibly important. How much damage are you dealing with *Rook Archery* now?"

"Mm, about 3000."

"If you fully strengthen your Flame Wolf Bow, it will deal 12000 damage on its own."

"Wha!?"

Sylvia made a strange sound in surprise. She seems to understand how important equipment strengthening is.

"3000 plus strengthening equals 12000. That's four times the damage."

"Ah, I see. Strengthening is that significant. Indeed, it's important."

Sylvia nodded in agreement.

"Hmm... But, about strengthening..."

Oh, she's catching on.

"Right. We need a blacksmith."

"What should we do?"

"I have four ideas."

I explained each of the plans I had in mind.

"1. We form a team of the three of us and register with the Adventurer's Guild. We can recruit there."

It's easier to gather people by recruiting team members than by calling out individually. However, it's uncertain how long it will take to find a good blacksmith, and there's no guarantee that a trustworthy one will come.

"......That seems quite difficult."

Additionally, I was once advised to join the Adventurer's Guild by a high-ranking official of the Third Knight Regiment, but I declined. It's awkward to join now, so this isn't a good plan.

"2. We can search for people with blacksmithing potential and recruit them."

"......That sounds exhausting."

If we're lucky, we can find someone and train them from scratch, but the chances of finding someone are less than one in ten thousand. Asking people on the street to show their stats will likely get us reported to the Third Knight Regiment. These days, even saying "It's a nice day, isn't it?" can get you reported. No matter how good our appearance is, we can't be careless.

"3. We can recruit a current blacksmith."

"This seems the most realistic. But..."

"Yes, the chances are slim."

Blacksmiths are valuable. Asking someone to leave their job to join an unknown team is a tough sell. On the other hand, a blacksmith without a job might be easier to recruit, but they likely have some flaw. They're not the kind of person we're looking for.

"Alright, 4. This is the main plan."

"Mm, do you have a good idea?"

I gave off a vibe of "There's no other way," "We have no choice," and "So don't be angry," and said:

"Let's buy a slave."

Thank you for reading.