Chapter 53

The moment the enemy came into view, I kicked off the ground.

Discovery was probably almost simultaneous. However, Resilia, who was next to me, was just a bit quicker to step forward.

This was not so much a difference in agility as it was a difference in reaction speed. In other words, it was the difference in our human specifications, Resilia and I.

(But!)

The first blow to the monster was simultaneous. This was due to the difference in weapon reach.

Compared to my <Sword of the Metallic King>, the ninja sword that Resilia wielded was only about half as long.

(I'll turn this around from here!)

And so, I recovered the slight delay and began to slaughter the monsters with a single blow, but—

"Three!"

"Four."

Indeed, I was still one step behind in the number of defeats.

(Damn! So this is the power of a base stat in the 500s and an evaluation rank of A+!)

When I couldn't help but look at Resilia, our eyes met as she turned her gaze towards me. She smiled when our eyes met, looking quite pleased.

"Still, I feel more at ease with this. I'm glad I decided to change my combat style boldly."

"A, ah. That's good, then."

"Yes. With this power, I won't fall behind even to gargoyles. I can protect my brother this time."

At my suggestion, Resilia changed her main weapon from a <Sword> to a <Ninja Sword>. This was due to her innate stats.

While she possessed unparalleled strength as a swordsman, her highest innate stat was not "Strength," which is most crucial for a swordsman, but "Agility."

For a swordsman, the value of "Agility" becomes almost meaningless once it exceeds 200. Personally, I would even call it a "useless stat."

However, this is only the case if she were to be raised as a swordsman. Therefore, Resilia made a choice.

—To abandon the "Strength" specialized swordsman and to master an assassin-type class that specializes in "Agility."

Generally, weapon attacks receive a damage bonus from "Strength," but upon closer inspection, the ability values that are referenced vary depending on the type of weapon.

For example, in the case of a bow, "Strength" only affects about 30% of the total damage, with the remaining 70% determined by dexterity, or "Concentration." The most popular equipment, the <Sword>, has a "Strength" bonus of about 80% of the total, with the rest influenced by "Concentration" and "Agility." It's not as simple as just increasing "Strength" for melee classes.

This tendency is proportional to the weight of the weapon. Heavy weapons like axes and greatswords are judged solely by "Strength," but with daggers, the bonuses are completely reversed, with "Concentration" and "Agility" each contributing 40% for a total of 80%, and "Strength" only 20%.

The <Ninja Sword> is quite unique, receiving an 80% bonus from "Agility" and a 20% bonus from "Strength." Therefore, the "Agility" stat, which had been considered a useless stat due to its early leveling cap, can be utilized with the <Ninja Sword>.

I glanced at Resilia's attire next to me.

"Is something wrong, brother?"

"No."

Now, Resilia had discarded her old armor full of springs and was dressed in a ninja outfit. This was proof that she had switched her stat-boosting equipment from "Strength" to "Agility."

Despite being called a useless stat, "Agility" has a surprisingly large number of stat-boosting items. After deciding to change her style, Resilia reviewed her strength-boosting equipment and changed all four pieces of armor to agility-boosting items. Additionally, by changing her class to the agility-specialized <Ninja>, her combat power skyrocketed.

The <Ninja> is one of the most easily obtainable "Unique Classes" in the game.

Classes after the fourth job are called "Unique Classes" and are not bound by previous class lines. To change to these classes, it's not enough to just raise your stats; you must also meet special conditions. These conditions are often quite strict, but the <Ninja> is relatively easy to achieve among them.

The conditions for becoming a <Ninja> are to change to the fourth job class <Swordmaster> and the fourth job class <Master Thief> and to learn all their skills. Since <Swordmaster> specializes in strength and agility, and <Master Thief> specializes in agility and concentration, if you are raising a character in one of these lines, you can easily meet the other class change conditions. Furthermore, if you find the hidden ninja statue in the temple, you can complete the class change.

Of course, these conditions are initially hidden, making it quite difficult to change classes on your first playthrough, but that's where game knowledge comes in. The <Ninja> has a low class change difficulty, so its ability growth value of 18 is considered weak among unique classes. However, by training this class, you can learn a skill that is crucial for melee combat and is often referred to as a broken ability.

—That skill is <Ambidexterity>.

<Ambidexterity> is a seemingly mundane skill that allows you to use your non-dominant hand as effectively as your dominant hand when equipped with the same weapon in both hands. However, this skill is actually the most important component that enables dual-wielding.

※ ※ ※

Melee combat styles using one-handed weapons can be roughly divided into three categories.

One is the balanced type, where you hold a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other. This is the most balanced type of offense and defense, and in this category, Rad, who serves as a tank, fits this style.

The other two are attack-specialized styles. One is "two-handed," where you hold a single weapon with both hands, and the other is "dual-wielding," where you hold a weapon in each hand.

In Bleble, two-handed weapons reduce equipment restrictions while increasing attack power by 30%, while dual-wielding doubles the number of attacks by holding the same weapon in each hand. It might seem that 1.3 times and 2 times would make dual-wielding stronger, but it's not that simple.

For example, if your base attack power is 100 and the enemy's defense is 0, the damage would be 130 for two-handed and 200 for dual-wielding, making dual-wielding stronger. However, if the enemy's defense is 100, dual-wielding would deal 0 damage no matter how many times you attack, so two-handed would be stronger.

There's also the issue of arts. When you hold a weapon in your non-dominant hand, pressing the art button results in a guard or parry, not an art. If you can only use arts with your dominant hand, even if you have weapons in both hands, the attack power is not much different from having a weapon and a shield.

For these reasons, at least when specializing NPCs in attack, the game theory was to "avoid dual-wielding and go for two-handed."

However...

Even so, if the conditions are met, dual-wielding is absolutely stronger than two-handed.

The reason is very simple. Two-handed can fight with one Dynamic Motion Z (7,980 yen tax excluded), but to utilize dual-wielding, you need to buy two Dynamic Motion Z (7,980 yen tax excluded)! And the developers of this game are weak to real money!

—Therefore, under the condition of having purchased two Dynamic Motion Z (15,960 yen tax excluded), dual-wielding overwhelmingly surpasses two-handed!

What is necessary for this is the <Ambidexterity> skill of the Ninja. The seemingly meaningless effect of "using your non-dominant hand as effectively as your dominant hand" essentially means "being able to use arts with your left hand."

By learning this skill and using two Dynamic Motion Z (total 15,960 yen tax excluded), you can activate different arts with both hands.

Furthermore, if you reach the <Sword Saint>, one of the strongest melee classes, and learn the skill <Twin Arts>, the power of dual-wielding will increase dramatically. At that point, the attack power is not something that two-handed can match.

Even without reaching that level, the advantage of dual-wielding is undeniable once you can use arts with both hands. This is proven by what is actually happening in front of me.

"<Tri-Edge> <One Flash>!"

"Ugh! <Tri-Edge>!"

I struggle to keep up with Resilia as she unleashes two arts with the weapons in her hands, but the difference in attack power and destruction power is insurmountable with the difference in the number of attacks.

(Damn! This is just a cheat!)

Incidentally, Resilia, though not a <Sword Saint>, learned the <Over Arts> skill during the process of changing to <Ninja>. This allowed her to finally stack arts, which was my specialty and greatest advantage.

With two weapons, she can unleash arts with double the power, so the damage is 2x2, roughly four times the normal arts. There's no way to win a damage race against something like that.

(I've also changed to <Ninja>...)

I didn't adopt dual-wielding. No, I couldn't.

My main weapon is the <Sword of the Metallic King>, but I only have one. To use arts with dual-wielding, you need to equip the same weapon in both hands, which would require lowering the weapon's grade. With my stats, if I dual-wield a weaker weapon, the power of a single attack would drop too much, and I wouldn't be able to deal enough damage.

I can't help but feel the abnormality of Resilia, who deals tremendous damage with a mass-produced ninja sword that has no special effects.

(You monster with those stats!)

I curse Resilia in my heart, but she is completely unfazed. On the contrary, she approaches me with a smile and says, "Actually, it's not so bad to do something together with my brother like this," with an innocent look on her face.

"Y-Yeah."

I answered, but my smile was forced. As I watched Resilia's unusually cheerful back as she headed deeper into the dungeon, I clenched my fist.

To protect my pride as the strongest in the early game and my brother's dignity, I can't afford to lose here. I secretly resolved and continued deeper into the dungeon, searching for the next prey.

※ ※ ※

"Here they come!"

At Prana's voice, Resilia and I move simultaneously. If we get into close combat, the same scenario as before will play out.

So,

—<Throw>!

I temporarily switch to one-handed sword and throw the orichalcum knife <Goblin Slayer> with my left hand.

This <Goblin Slayer> has excellent stats but is almost useless due to its special effect of tripling damage to goblins and reducing damage to other races by one-third, and the fatal flaw that it cannot be unequipped once equipped.

However, it has been discovered that this special effect can be avoided by throwing it with the <Throw> skill without equipping it. This way, it can deal stable damage to non-goblins and avoid the tragedy of not being able to change equipment. Additionally, the goblin weakening effect applies to throwing, making it safe for goblin extermination parties.

"<Three Inches Dash>!"

I switch back to two-handed and use my usual skill while throwing. The opening blow accurately slays the zombie, and I can see the zombie in the back, hit by the <Goblin Slayer>, fall as well. From there, I couldn't find time to throw again, but I managed to maintain the initial advantage,

"Four!"

"Three. You're doing well."

For the first time in this dungeon, I managed to surpass Resilia in the number of defeats.

(This is the strength of two-handed, which dual-wielding lacks!)

Dual-wielding, which equips weapons in both hands, is not suitable for changing equipment or using items. In contrast, two-handed, while the hands are occupied, can quickly change equipment or use items by briefly releasing the left hand, providing more flexibility.

I managed to win the first advantage, but Resilia wasn't that easy to beat.

You can only defeat one enemy with a throw. When the number of enemies is small, you can push through with this advantage, but as the number increases, the advantage goes to Resilia, and the battle continues with alternating advances and retreats.

I couldn't close the gap in the number of defeats I had accumulated at the beginning, but I steadily progressed deeper, and the goal was near when the moment I had been waiting for arrived.

"<Tri-Edge> <One Flash>... Huh?"

The momentum of Resilia, who had been defeating monsters at a high pace, suddenly stopped.

(Here it is!)

This is the biggest weakness of dual-wielding.

—MP depletion!

Resilia's MP consumption is already quite high for a melee class. <Over Arts> consumes twice the MP, and using powerful techniques that are normally not possible with manual arts further depletes her MP.

Moreover, dual-wielding uses both hands and deals twice the number of arts, naturally doubling the MP consumption.

Furthermore, the cooldown of arts is shared, so you have to use different techniques with each hand. This makes it impossible to use only efficient techniques, further increasing MP consumption.

Until now, Resilia's low "Magic" stat hadn't been noticeable due to her sporadic participation, but if she continues to fight at full strength, this outcome was inevitable.

"Ugh!"

Still, Resilia's abilities are very high even without arts. She calmly gives up on art attacks and continues to defeat monsters with regular attacks.

If I fight normally, I won't be able to make up for the difference in the number of defeats. So,

(I'll bet everything on this!)

I held the <Goblin Slayer> in my left hand, raised it high above my head, and shouted.

"—<Final Break>!!"

At the same time, a bright white light overflowed from the knife raised above my head and spread throughout the area.

This <Final Break> is a skill that deals massive damage to the surrounding area based on the fixed attack power of the weapon in exchange for destroying the weapon.

In exchange for a five million wen orichalcum knife, a torrent of magic that only targets enemies struck the monsters, erasing them from existence.

"..."

When the <Goblin Slayer> in my hand lost all its power and crumbled, all the monsters in the area had disappeared. I turned to Resilia with a triumphant smile.

"Fourteen defeated. We're even now."

"I let my guard down. But not next time."

Resilia also smiled and took a magic recovery potion from her inventory, drinking it without hesitation.

—From the atmosphere of the dungeon, the next group will be the last.

The decisive battle will be there.

※ ※ ※

We couldn't stop anymore. We sped up our pace, driven by impulse, and searched for the final prey.

And finally, the moment arrived.

"!"

We noticed almost simultaneously.

The number of the group was seven. The one who defeats more will be the winner of this battle!

We kicked off the ground in perfect synchronization, raised our weapons, and—

"—<Turn Undead>!!”

Everything ended with Mana's voice from behind.

"..."

In front of us, the seven zombies writhed and eventually disappeared in a flash of light.

"..."

By the time we realized, the prey we were supposed to defeat was already gone.

<Turn Undead> is a magic that eliminates undead. It has the drawback of not working on higher-level or boss enemies and not granting experience points, but it is highly effective against undead monsters.

While this magic is indeed effective against the undead here, this ending is a bit too harsh, isn't it? We turned to protest to Mana,

"What are you—"

"What are you two doing!"

Mana's tone was more intense than ever. Her unusually tense shoulders spoke volumes as she continued in one breath.

"That knife and the magic recovery potion are valuable, right? Why are you using them here!"

"A, ah, well, um..."

There was no answer to that. I glanced sideways, and even Resilia, who is usually composed, looked embarrassed and looked down.

"Ugh! And you two, you just keep going deeper and deeper, leaving us behind, and acting all lovey-dovey! This isn't a date spot!"

"Ah, no, we weren't, um, playing around..."

My feeble defense was met with no sign of Mana's momentum waning.

(...This is going to be a long one.)

I glanced at Resilia, and—

"Are you listening, Rex? That's the problem!"

Caught by Mana, I hurriedly straightened up.

Thus, my long and fruitless battle with Resilia came to an end. The title of "strongest in the party," which we had fought to the death to claim, shone brilliantly on Mana's head.

No matter how I think about it, this is way too long for a single chapter, but I forced it in because I had already announced the title in the previous chapter!

The next chapter's title is undecided!