chapter 15

After defeating the Cyclops and letting out screams of joy, the firmly shut door opened.

I finally exhaled and got up, leaving the room.

“Aruto-san!”

Meryl, who had changed back from fairy form into human form, came into the room, eyes welling up in tears. Then, she ran up to me quickly, and…

“Whoa!?”

She dove in and hugged me. The force knocked me onto the ground, causing my head to hit the floor with a bonk.

Meryl, while pushing me down, called my name over and over. It seemed as though she was worried about what I was doing behind that door.

“Ah, sorry for making you worry, Meryl. I’m okay now.”

I stroked her head and kept her quiet while she continued crying. Then I calmed her down and told her everything that happened in the room.

About the Cyclops…

And about how I got a new power, Skill Copy.

“Skill Copy? I haven’t heard of that kind of skill before.”

“I heard a strange voice, and it gave me this power.”

A strange voice, Meryl pondered. But without her thoughts settled, Meryl looked back towards me.

“What kind of skill is Skill Copy?”

“Just like the name says, it allows you to copy skills from others.”

Let’s test it out.

Finding a nearby rock, I held out my hand and used Skill Copy.

Multiple lights emerged from the rock, and just like with the poisonous puddle, I absorbed them, and words were etched into my mind.

…Hm?

These special skills seemed a bit inconsistent. Why did I learn Petrifaction along with Unpetrify?

Activating Petrifaction as a test, I turned into stone.

Hm… I could still breathe, and it didn’t hurt.

“…well, this is Skill Copy.”

I undid the petrification. Then, Meryl’s eyes sparkled in front of me for some reason.

“A… amazing! Cool! Try it out on me too!”

Come to think of it, I haven’t tried it out on living things.

I then activated Skill Copy on Meryl.

However…

“Hm? Huh?

There aren’t any words appearing…?

After trying several more times, I wasn’t able to obtain any new skills.

“It’s no use…”

“Is there a limit to how many times I could use it?”

A limit…

Well, first we had to get out of the room. And just like that, a mongoose-esque monster attacked us.

“A Thunder Mongoose!”

How about against monsters?

I used Skill Copy against the Thunder Mongoose, but no words were etched into my head once again.

So, was there actually a limit, just like Meryl said?

As I was thinking, the Thunder Mongoose attacked me with lightning.

I used Petrifaction to protect against the lightning attack, then fired my revolver’s last round.

Of course, I did that with Rock Blast.

The bullet turned into a lump of iron and collided with the Thunder Mongoose, spelling out its death.

After gaining experience, I used Skill Copy again, and words were etched into my head.

…I learned things?

“I was able to obtain new skills this time.”

“W-what’s that mean?”

“Dunno. Anyway, let’s press on.”

We went through the floors of the dungeon. Of course, monsters appeared and attacked us, but with Meryl’s support, I was able to defeat them.

And so, we cleared up to the 50th floor.

The limitations of Skill Copy, as far as I was able to understand, were:

・You couldn’t use it on living things.

・There was no use limit, probably.

・If the target has similar skills to you already, you won’t get them.

…something like that.

As we cleared up to the 50th floor, the skills I was able to get were “Heal,” “Barrier,” “Haste,” and “Quick Jump.”

Haste increased your agility, while Quick Jump was a skill that let you swoop in on your opponent instantly.

In front of the stairs going to the 51st floor… was a monster wearing a cowboy hat.

Magnum Killer…

A killer gunman monster wielding two pistols.

Crossing its arms, the Magnum Killer glared at us, and fired both its pistols.

I used Barrier and blocked the shots.

From behind me, Meryl leaped over me and attacked the Magnum Killer with Fireball.

But even while dodging the fireball, it didn’t stop firing its pistols in rapid succession.

Shooting while dodging, this guy was a piece of work.

Since that’s the way you do things…

I held out my hand and formed a storm cloud above my head. Now to get ready…

But the Magnum Killer began to move in a new way.

Cloning multiple times, it began surrounding Meryl and me. The multiple Magnum Killers all fired at once.

“Barrier wouldn’t protect against all those shots,” I thought, so I used Stone Dome, summoning a rocky dome to cover Meryl and me.

The stone dome protected us from the simultaneous shots.

“Aruto-san… what do we do now?”

“Don’t worry. I’m already prepared.”

Fufu, I muttered, laughing.

“Thunder Bolt!”

From the dome, the sound of lightning falling could be heard, and the earth shook.

“E-eh!? What just happened?”

At the sound of the earth trembling, Meryl was confused, but I grinned widely.

To see what happened, I unsummoned the dome, and the clones of the Magnum Killer were gone, its charred, dead body on the ground.

“Thunder Bolt… what a powerful skill.”

While in awe of the strength of Thunder Bolt, I used Skill Copy on the Magnum Killer, and words were etched into my head.

“Snipe” with “Other Self”, …and” Endless Cartridge”, huh…

Hm…?

“Endless Cartridge!?”

Oi, oi… Isn’t this cheating?

Meryl glared daggers at my shock.

“W-what?”

“I hate cheating.”

“You’re saying this as a goddess!?”

My retort echoed throughout the dungeon…

Still continuing to argue, Meryl and I made it to the next level…