Chapter 33

After the first battle, we held a strategy meeting.

"If six of them come at once, it'll be bad."

"Should we adjust to take them down one by one, treating the poison before moving on to the next?"

Roy asked, and Akatsuki responded. When these two talk, it has a hard-boiled feel. They were discussing the puffing mushrooms.

"Check this out."

I held out the 'Antidote.'

"An antidote, huh? Better than nothing, but whether it works or not is a matter of luck."

"Luck?"

I asked Roy as I handed it to Akatsuki.

"Antidotes are super rare, you know. Even with five checks, there's only a 30% chance. If it works once in five checks, you're lucky. But the effect is so subtle that no one bothers to make them."

The effectiveness of the 'Antidote' varies based on its evaluation, affecting the number of checks and the resistance percentage during the effect duration. If the poison isn't resisted, the checks continue. Sometimes, the effect runs out before the checks are used up. Conversely, if it resists once, the next poison will trigger another check during the effect duration. For something like the puffing mushrooms, which affect the group in a single battle, the number of checks and the resistance probability need to be high to be useful.

"First time seeing a 9 evaluation."

Roy answered, but Akatsuki chimed in.

"9!?"

"Yeah, 9. I thought resistance potions were fixed at 5."

That's right. I figured out that only those skilled in alchemy and with two proficient effects can get a 5 evaluation.

"With 9 checks and 90%, we're good."

"Haha, thanks."

"Is this okay? It's expensive, you know. How much?"

I distributed five to each person.

"About 250 silver?"

The serum costs 200 silver, so it's a trap.

"That's the cost price? Having connections for supplies is enviable, but you need to add a bit of color to the price to keep it going."

Akatsuki warned me. Kaede Momiji said the same when I sold food.

"Then, about 300. Also, if you like, Roy and Ochazuke, here's this. Be careful, it can't be used with the antidote."

"Whatever the relationship, you should check the fair price later."

"Are we off-topic? Did Homura make this?"

"Yeah, but?"

Ochazuke asked while paying.

"Aren't you a cook?!"

"Wha, what's this?!"

They were both surprised.

"Cooking is a hobby? Or do you just like eating?"

"Huh? Which is your main job? You made all that without a job bonus?"

When you put it that way, it's hard to make dishes after getting the 'Dexterous Gloves.' And when my level gets higher, I might not be able to do anything without the job bonus.

"The 'Life Activation Potion' becomes this powerful at evaluation 9, wow."

"The 'Magic Activation Potion' is also intense."

"Thank you for the compliment?"

We resumed the battle.

The other enemies in the cave were skeletons and kobolds. They appeared in groups of five to six, with different classes like Skeleton Soldier, Skeleton Guard, and Skeleton Mage. The kobolds were similar, using skills based on their classes, so they couldn't be underestimated.

But no matter what came, it was the same.

Ochazuke's 'Lulu' and Leo and Momiji's [Sneak Attack] were devastating. The only issue was that sometimes the charm didn't work on the priest, but taking the priest down first solved the problem. Lulu can only be summoned once per battle, but we could easily finish them off before the charm wore off. The puffing mushrooms could also be taken down without worrying about poison stacking.

Midway through, we got the [Magic Shield] skill for using magic to defeat 1,000 enemies in a row while in a party. It's a useful skill that prevents attack magic from hitting allies. ...But since I've been focusing on 'Shadow,' it's not very relevant right now.

The battles were so quick that we ran into a problem.

There was another plate, but Kikuhime's party needed to step on a plate somewhere else for this one to activate.

So, we were eating on the plate.

"In a way, our party is pretty standard. We're following the usual steps."

Roy was muttering.

"Yeah, I never thought I'd be outdamaged by Momiji."

Akatsuki responded with a sigh. The two of them looked like they were deep in thought, and they seemed to match as they nibbled on the spicy dried fish.

"[Sneak Attack] felt great."

"Right! But I'm hungry!"

Momiji and Leo, both healers, were dealing almost the same damage despite the level difference. I was surprised by Leo's performance.

"What weapon does Leo use?"

I wasn't the only one curious.

"Custom-made dagger! My master taught me!"

Another person with overpowered production skills.

"Two people specialized in production, and the combination of 'Shadow' and [Sneak Attack] is useful. But Ochazuke's 'Lulu' is the most overpowered..."

"Kaede also mentioned that Petros is using a skill no one has seen before."

"Maybe because we're taking a lot of detours in the dungeon. That's why we have unusual skills."

"By the way, Homura, it's impressive that you've caught up with the others in level."

Hahaha!

...I can't tell you what I did!

"Hey, Shira Yuki's group is here."

"Let's go!"

"Sure."

Everyone stood up, and the plate glowed white, starting the teleportation.

"It's the boss."

"It's the boss."

"Yeah."

"It's flying."

"It's flying, indeed."

"First, we need to knock it down, but Kaede is on the other side."

Kaede is an archer.

"Fire Lance!"

He aimed the magic at the wings.

"[Throw]!"

The boss, Glee, fell towards me.

It wasn't falling because it was damaged but to attack. It was a giant white-headed eagle.

"Vine!"

I cast a spell to restrain its movement. At this point, gravity-based magic would be useful, but I don't know if it exists.

"Nice!"

I was relieved it worked as Ochazuke cast a healing spell on Roy.

"[Rush]!"

Akatsuki immediately used the skill.

"[Poison Blade]!"

"[Hide in Shadow]!"

Now, how long can we keep it grounded?

Once we establish a pattern, it gets easier.

When Glee flies, Roy provokes it to take the aggro and uses his shield skill to block the attacks. While Roy is taking the hits, Ochazuke heals him, and I use 'Vine' to keep Glee on the ground.

"The 'Vine' restraint time is getting shorter, be careful."

After a few repetitions, it seems to be building resistance, and the restraint time is decreasing.

"Whoa! But this is the end!!"

Akatsuki's big move hit, and Glee roared as it fell to the ground.

"We did it?"

"Yay!"

"Huh?"

Just as we were celebrating, the air shook.

A ripple appeared next to the fallen Glee, and a giant lion emerged. At the same time, Kikuhime's group teleported behind me.

"They're merging, I see."

Petros' comment after the merge made me think it would become a griffin, and the lion would be called Fin or something.

"Is it twice as tough?"

"Yeah, it seems so."

As expected, the griffin's belly sprouted thorns that entangled its wings and legs, sealing its skills and reducing its defense.

Crow uses druid magic, not elemental magic.

Druid magic seems to be supportive, with low single-target damage but significant effects on reducing enemy capabilities and enhancing allies. Considering the total damage dealt and received by the party, it has a tremendous impact.

The magic he uses in between is [Fire] and [Time]. [Fire] is at a high level because it's limited to fire magic, and he uses spells I don't know. [Time] is entirely new to me; he obtained it by solving a puzzle for the Hermit title.

The griffin uses powerful horizontal swipes with its front legs, a gust attack with its wings, and a random target charge.

The fact that it doesn't fly much is a relief. If we take down the lion first, it becomes an aerial battle, and the griffin becomes much tougher.

"[Shadow Knife]!"

Petros slashed, and black knives followed, piercing the griffin and disappearing.

He must have completed an assassination quest. That's clearly an assassin's skill, not a spy's.

"Can't knock it down, huh?"

"Homura-sensei￥￥"

Ochazuke's eyes looked like yen signs.

"Use the spirits first! Shadow is on break!"

I can only use lance-type spells for now. I actively used the attribute I had at level 4, but even with the Shadow breaks, I could only deal about half to two-thirds of the damage Crow's spells do. My intelligence is lower than Crow's due to my choice of the swordsman class, so it's understandable.

I linked wind, metal, and wind-water, feeling a bit embarrassed to use low-damage spells in front of someone who uses them as their main.

I'll probably lose in total damage.

But.

"Stay away from the griffin! Earth Spear!"

Seeing the melee group step back a few steps, I cast the final spell.

Six giant stone cones emerged from the ground, impaling the griffin. It seemed to graze Roy, but it was probably just a trick of the eye.

The boss and the glowing letters surrounding me disappeared, and the clear announcement played.

*Announcement: The griffin in the monster cave has been defeated by Roy and five others, and Leo and five others.*

"Hey?"

"Did we overtake the Black Lily party?"

"Yay?"

"Was it your first time?"

"Well, with the Beast Slayer skill, and the way we cleared the dungeon so quickly..."

I thought it was about me for a moment, but then I realized Roy's party also had the Beast Slayer skill from their first boss clear.

Roy's party has all their names set to public, but in the alliance, only the party leader's name is announced. Our party leader is Kikuhime, but since her name is private, and mine is also private, the next public name, Leo, was announced.

*You have obtained the reward 'Gauntlets of Strength' for the first boss defeat.*

*You have obtained the title [Bird Slayer].*

*You have obtained 4 Griffin Feathers.*

*You have obtained 4 Griffin Skins.*

*You have obtained a Griffin Mantle.*

*You have obtained a Griffin Magic Stone.*

*You have obtained 10 Griffin Crests.*

"Yay, [Beast Slayer]!"

"I got [Bird Slayer]."

Which one is random, or did I get [Bird Slayer] because I already had [Beast Slayer]?

"Are the crests the down reward?"

"Homura-sensei, good job."

"I thought you were overpowered in production, but in combat too?"

"The spell you used earlier was interesting."

"Amazing!"

"Surprised!"

When we emerged from the dungeon, it was already dark.

We decided to move quickly to Fos before Black Lily's party returned. I wanted a 'Return Stone.'

We needed to rest in town to avoid forced logout.

On the way, I explained that the spells I used were from solving a temple puzzle.

"Still haven't solved it! My [Star]!"

Shin was still stuck on the puzzle.

"I took other skills, so magic is far away."

Assassin skills, right? Petros is stuck at the six-attribute stage before the puzzle.

"Thought it was only for fist fighters, but mages can do it too?"

Akatsuki has already cleared it.

"Hearing that you can get both light and dark, I plan to challenge it later."

Crow and I talked about our titles on the way, so I wasn't too surprised. We didn't discuss combat-related titles, though.

I need to boost the party's damage with support magic or increase my regular attack damage like Crow.

The inn where Roy's group stayed last night had decent food and baths. I said I needed to log out and went to bed. There's a logout warning message.

It was already past midnight in the real world. I decided to sleep, but then I remembered the sleep carriage and logged back in after twenty minutes.

When I logged in, I got a message from Leo: "Got tangled up, aah!"

What with?

Since he was logged out, I asked Ochazuke, who was about to sleep, what happened. It turned out Black Lily's group came to the inn and caused trouble, but Roy's group took the lead and kept our skills and spirits a secret. I was relieved I wasn't there.

Since Faina won't open until all cities are unlocked, I teleported to the temple and took the direct carriage to Sekan.

This time,

Good night.

□ □ □ □ □

*Increase*

Level +1

Title

[Bird Slayer]

Skill

[Magic Shield]

□ □ □ □ □

Homura Lv.28

Rank D

Class Magic Swordsman Alchemist (Assassin)

HP 863

MP 1090

STR 41

VIT 22

INT 54（+2）

MID 18

DEX 21

AGI 31

LUK 19

NPCP [Galahad][－]

Title

■General

[Communicator][Circulating Power][Puzzle Solver]

[Economic Pioneer][Lone Adventurer]

■Blessings of the Gods

[Blessing of Val][Blessing of Verna]

■Slayer Series

[Lizard Slayer][Bug Slayer]

[Beast Slayer][Gel Slayer]

[Bird Slayer]

[Dragon Slayer]

■Master Ring

[Sword King]

Skill (7SP)

■Magic and Spells

[Wood Magic Lv.5] [Fire Magic Lv.5][Earth Magic Lv.5]

[Metal Magic Lv.5] [Water Magic Lv.4][☆Wind Magic Lv.5]

[☆Lightning Magic Lv.5][Light Magic Lv.4][☆Dark Magic Lv.11]

■Swordsmanship

[Swordsmanship Lv.15][Slash]

[Sword Lv.11]

■Summoning

[White Lv.1]

■Spirit Magic

Water Spirit [Rufa Lv.3]

Dark Spirit [Kuroyao Lv.2]

■Talent

[Body Techniques][Evasion]

■Production

[Alchemy Lv.11][Alchemy Refinement Lv.2][Cooking Lv.8]

■Gathering

[Harvesting][Mining]

■Appraisal and Concealment

[Item and Potion Appraisal Lv.4][Plant and Food Appraisal Lv.5]

[Animal and Monster Appraisal Lv.5][Skill Appraisal Lv.4]

[Weapon and Armor Appraisal Lv.5][Insight]

[Aura Detection Lv.6][Aura Dilution Lv.5][Concealment Lv.5]

■Enhancement

[Strength Enhancement Lv.3][Intelligence Enhancement Lv.4][Spirit Enhancement Lv.3]

[Dexterity Enhancement Lv.3][Agility Enhancement Lv.3]

[Swordsmanship Enhancement Lv.3][Magic Enhancement Lv.3]

■Resistance

[Alcohol Resistance]

■Other

[HP Natural Recovery][MP Natural Recovery][Night Vision][Map][Telepathy]

[Equipment Change][Life Magic][☆Carry][Magic Shield]

☆ indicates first acquisition or event bonus enhancements.