Chapter 56

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

---

Amidst the cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

If there are suddenly mysterious strings of text like "Police Station Locker CAP DCM" in the story, it's probably not a foreshadowing, so please kindly report it as a typo.

---

After defeating the Elder Lich with a brilliant tactic and escaping the dungeon in a grand manner under the watchful eye of the goddess, we immediately toured the other "Twelve Ruins of Darkness" and collected items from those dungeons.

The "Twelve Ruins of Darkness" are dungeons with the concept that the difficulty changes depending on the order in which they are cleared.

This is because the game progresses by defeating the boss of the dungeon and destroying the statue behind it, which in turn makes the monsters in the other ruins stronger...

In other words, unless the statue is destroyed and the dungeon is completely cleared, no matter how many items are collected from the ruins, the other ruins will remain in their initial state.

Currently, the level of the monsters in the "Twelve Ruins of Darkness" is the initial value of twenty-five.

With our current strength, we can easily progress through any of the ruins and collect items.

Furthermore, most of the treasure chests in the ruins have fixed contents.

Since the items obtained do not change whether you come during a period when the monsters are strong or weak, it's better to collect them as early as possible.

(I really wanted to collect the boss's drop items, too.)

Unfortunately, the boss's enhancement only occurs when the boss is defeated, so it's not possible to defeat the weakest state of the boss repeatedly to get items.

This system, which seems to have been designed to counter such tactics, might be because there was someone among the test players who thought the same way as me.

There is a possibility that this has changed due to the influence of materialization, but it's too risky to try it on the spot, so I reluctantly gave up.

Also, due to the distance, so far we have only been able to collect items from the ruins in the same area as Free Rare.

There are plans to tour the ruins in other areas, but that is on hold for now at the request of Rad and the others.

Still, we obtained numerous valuable items, including the drop items from the Elder Lich.

I was planning to show them off today, but...

"Are you two alone? Where are Prana and Mana?"

In the usual guild training ground, only Rad, who was swinging his sword with all his might, and Nuke, who was solemnly casting spells, were present. The two women were nowhere to be seen.

When I tilted my head in confusion, Nuke answered with a wry smile.

"Prana is participating in the arena tournament, so she took Mana to register."

"Ah, I see."

This was the reason why Rad and the others were hesitant to move to another area.

There is a tournament called the "World Championship" in December, and registration for it starts today.

"But, I'm surprised. I thought Rad and Nuke would be more excited about participating."

When I said this, Nuke and Rad exchanged awkward glances and timidly confessed.

"Well... we lined up at the arena at dawn and registered as soon as the registration opened."

"Ah..."

It seems they were more determined than I thought.

Probably, after hearing this, Prana said, "Me too!" and took Mana to register.

"You guys are really looking forward to the tournament, huh?"

When I said this with a sigh, Rad, with a slightly red face, shouted with determination.

"Of course! It's a chance to see how much I've grown as an adventurer! Besides... in the tournament, I don't have to wear this ugly armor if I don't grow."

Rad muttered this while looking at the armor full of springs.

It seems he was somewhat bothered by the ugliness of the equipment.

"Hey, old man! We owe you for training us this far! But if we face each other in the match, I won't hold back! You should also go all out..."

He was trying to psych himself up, but it was misplaced.

"No, I don't plan to participate in the tournament."

"...What?"

When I casually replied, Rad froze.

---

"Wait a minute! I trained hard thinking you would participate... I even came up with strategies to fight you!"

"Well, what can I say..."

I'm not particularly fond of fighting, and there's no benefit for me to participate in the tournament right now.

Rad still seemed to have something to say, but I forcibly changed the subject.

"If that's the case, the equipment I have should be useful right away."

The rules of the tournament are the same every year. In simple terms, it's "defeat when HP is halved, equipment can be brought in, no use of consumable items or inventory."

Not only the character's own abilities but also the strength and compatibility of the equipment have a significant impact.

Since no experience points are gained in the tournament, there's no need to wear equipment that boosts potential values.

Therefore, it's necessary to wear equipment that maximizes combat power on the spot, which is different from the usual focus on growth rate.

"Especially, Nuke."

"Me?"

When I called out his name, Nuke opened his eyes in surprise.

"The equipment from the Elder Lich we defeated last time. It's designed for mages. It has a strong quirk, but if you can master it, it will give you incredible power."

As I said this, I took out two items from the boss drop: the Lunatic Circlet and the Crimson Inferno Rod.

"What kind of effects do they have?"

Nuke, who seemed a bit hesitant, asked.

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【Lunatic Circlet】

A crown created by a mad magician, gathering the essence of his secret arts.

Its forbidden power is said to bestow great prosperity and cruel destruction simultaneously on the wearer.

The wearer gains unparalleled magical power, but if a mortal touches it, their mind is quickly eroded, and they fall into a state of "madness."

During "madness," the wearer's magical power doubles, but they lose all resistance to magic. There is a 50% chance of a magical power surge during spell casting, causing self-damage proportional to the spell's power.

This status effect persists indefinitely while the item is equipped and cannot be removed.

---

"Isn't this a complete landmine item?"

Rad, who had been peeking at the notebook, shouted in surprise.

"I did say it has a strong quirk."

Indeed, the increased magical power also means a higher risk of failure, putting the mage in danger of death every time they cast a spell.

However, the effect of doubling magical power is a game-changer.

If used correctly, it can lead to a significant boost in combat power.

"Also, this item has another hidden effect."

"Hidden effect?"

Intrigued, Rad asked, and I whispered the answer.

"---This is a class change item for a special class, just like the Brave Sword."

Currently, Rad's class, Brave Leo, can be obtained by equipping the Brave Sword and meeting the equipment requirements while in the initial class, Young Leo. This is the same for this item.

If equipped while in the Young Leo class, it allows the user to change to the special class, Lunatic Leo.

"This class has the highest attack-related bonuses, not just compared to Brave Leo, but among all classes. If you're focusing on attack power, it's one of the strongest classes to consider."

"Strongest!? Ah, well, I do have some interest, but..."

The word "strongest" was too much for even Rad to resist.

Smirking at the boyish Rad, I flipped through the notebook.

First, the Brave Leo's bonus values are as follows.

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Brave Leo

Strength 3

Health 3

Magic 0

Spirit 3

Agility 3

Focus 3

Total 15

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A balanced class with a +3 bonus to all abilities except magic.

However, the Lunatic Leo is the opposite.

"Here, take a look."

I found the Lunatic Leo page and showed it to Rad.

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Lunatic Leo

Strength 7

Health 0

Magic 7

Spirit 0

Agility 0

Focus 0

Total 14

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"Isn't this too extreme?"

When Rad shouted again, I chuckled.

As always, he gave the expected reaction.

"Well, not only do the other stats not increase, but it raises both strength and magic, making it difficult to use for both physical and magical builds."

"Old man..."

Rad sent a bewildered look my way.

Not just Rad, but Nuke next to him and Leesia behind him also looked at me with cold eyes.

"Wait! This one is simpler and amazing."

Seeing the bad wind, I hurriedly brought out the other equipment.

Shining in the sunlight was the Crimson Inferno Rod, a rod with a red gem at the tip, with a name that reeks of edginess.

"This is like an advanced version of the Red Flare Rod that Nuke is currently using."

"Really!?"

Nodding with a satisfied smile as Nuke showed interest, I explained.

"Like the Red Flare Rod, this rod can cast powerful spells by 'using' it, and it has a higher fixed value for magic attack power compared to variable values. Therefore, it's more effective at lower levels rather than in the later stages when the user's magic power is maxed out. The earlier you get it, the more useful it is."

However, the performance of the Crimson Inferno Rod is overwhelmingly different from the Red Flare Rod.

"The magic attack power of this rod is incomparable to the Red Flare Rod. In terms of fixed values, it's the highest among all equipment I know. The spell you can cast by 'using' it has a higher power, but it requires a lot of mana to cast. ...By the way, the price is also incredible."

I bought the Red Flare Rod for fifty million wen to prepare for the lava cave.

Nuke, who was using it cautiously...

"Since it's a unique item, you can't buy it, but if you were to sell it, the price would be..."

"How much?"

When Nuke asked hesitantly, I smiled and revealed the price.

"---One billion wen."

At that moment, Nuke's throat made a whistling sound.

Despite his growth, he is still a commoner, making him easy to tease in a different way from Rad.

"By the way, that's about it for the explanation."

I quickly wrote the explanation for the Crimson Inferno Rod in the new page of the notebook.

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【Crimson Inferno Rod】

A unique staff created from the highest quality materials and forbidden methods. The gem at the tip is said to contain the souls of dozens of magicians, allowing the release of a magical fire that rivals a dragon's breath.

It boasts the highest performance and ease of use as a catalyst for magic. With this staff, even an inexperienced user can become a powerful magician.

However, do