Chapter 38

The next day, we resumed our march.

Red stood at the front, followed by Walter and Gloria with Maron. I walked at the rear.

Until yesterday, Gloria would occasionally look back at me, but this morning, she hasn’t met my eyes once.

It’s probably because of what happened last night.

I let out a sigh without anyone noticing.

I know she didn’t mean any harm.

I’m grateful to her for talking to me frequently, even when I was continuing as an adventurer without my skill manifesting.

But, I felt frustrated when I heard her say something that made it seem like she only saw me as someone to protect.

I’ve worked hard on my own. Her words felt like a dismissal, and I couldn’t help but retort.

Up ahead, Red and Walter, and Maron and Gloria, were talking.

I continued walking the path, keeping watch on my own.

“Phew, it’s been a while since I’ve been alone…”

On the third day after accepting the quest, we stayed at an inn for supplies.

Walter and the others had gone to the tavern, and I had returned to the inn alone.

“Still, it’s inconvenient to keep it a secret…”

I opened my item box and looked at the items I had prepared.

A large, sturdy tent, warm sleeping bags, and other items to make the journey more comfortable, which I had bought last week at a store that offered a discount, as recommended by Olive and the others.

However, I didn’t want to reveal the existence of the item box to Walter and the others, so I had lost the opportunity to use it.

“What would happen if I told them about this…”

They’ve always looked down on me. If they knew I could use an item box, they would definitely try to take advantage of it.

I don’t want to end up carrying their stuff and being treated like a lackey.

I was eating the meal I had prepared in the item box while looking at my status screen.

“Still, to think my Warrior level would reach 30…”

The monsters we encountered on the way to the quest location were much stronger than those in the dungeon’s fourth floor, allowing us to gain a lot of experience points.

Thanks to that, the skill caps for ‘Swordsmanship’ and ‘Bash’ were unlocked, and I immediately allocated points to ‘Swordsmanship’…

“The worst-case scenario came true.”

The 113 skill points I had were reduced to 109.

If my memory serves, it took 2 points to reach skill level 6, which means it now takes 4 points to reach the next level.

I thought it might increase by one point at a time, but it seems that higher-level skills require a lot more points.

After testing, I decided to stop leveling up ‘Bash’. Recently, I’ve been using swordsmanship mainly to parry attacks, and I don’t use it as much.

The weapon I bought with borrowed money has good performance, so my attack power is sufficient, and I don’t feel any inconvenience for now.

“I should allocate my status points soon…”

With my level increase, I now have 334 points left. If I were to allocate them, I should probably focus on Strength and Dexterity, which are close to 300?

Given that I’m currently slower than Walter and Red, increasing these stats would increase my chances of defeating monsters.

“Probably because I’m not in a party, I only get experience points for the monsters I defeat myself…”

We accepted the quest together, but I was not allowed to join the party.

If something happened to me, and I was in a party, it would be considered Walter’s fault as the leader.

This quest is officially a joint mission of two parties.

Considering this, I want to make the most of the relatively safe situation where I can fight strong monsters.

It would be best to max out ‘Strength’ and ‘Dexterity’ to 300 first, as I will need more status points as my level increases.

Since I will be fighting on the front line with Walter watching, I allocated my status points.

“Alright, next is Magic. I use it often for follow-up attacks…”

I recalled Maron’s advice. She tried to teach me arrow skills during a break. Although she asked for payment, she offered a reasonable price, making it hard to refuse.

I could pretend to learn from her, but that might make her overconfident, so I hesitated.

I increased my Magic to 300...

Name: Tim

Age: 16

Job: Warrior Level 30

Strength: 300 + 60

Dexterity: 300

Vitality: 335 + 60

Magic: 300

Spirit: 202

Agility: 246

Luck: 446

Status Points: 1

Skill Points: 109

Unique Skills: ‘Status Manipulation’

Skills: ‘Swordsmanship Level 7’, ‘Bash Level 6’, ‘Healing Level 6’, ‘Skill Point Increase Level 5’, ‘Status Point Increase Level 5’, ‘Experience Point Increase Level 5’, ‘Light’, ‘Trap Detection Level 5’, ‘Trap Disarm Level 5’, ‘Backstep Level 5’, ‘Item Appraisal Level 6’, ‘Dagger Skill Level 5’, ‘Fire Arrow Level 6’, ‘Ice Arrow Level 6’, ‘Wind Arrow Level 6’, ‘Lock Shot Level 6’, ‘Meditation Level 6’, ‘Wall Level 6’, ‘Burst Level 6’, ‘Magic Concentration Level 6’, ‘Bless Level 6’, ‘Cure Level 6’, ‘High Healing Level 6’, ‘Safety Wall Level 6’, ‘Speed Up Level 6’, ‘Stamina Up Level 6’, ‘Item Drop Rate Increase Level 5’, ‘Item Box Level 4’

“Only 1 status point left... just right.”

Now, only ‘Spirit’ and ‘Agility’ are below 300.

Since these are not necessary for ‘Mage’, ‘Scout’, or ‘Priest’, I can earn more status points in other jobs without any issues.

“What job should I take...?”

Currently, the battles on the journey are stable.

With the presence of others, I can narrow down the area I need to watch, allowing for more aggressive tactics.

“If I want to unlock the skill level caps, I should aim for level 30 in each job...”

Reaching level 30 as a Warrior unlocked the skill cap from level 6 to level 7.

Given this, I want to level up other jobs while the monsters are spread out and Walter and the others are around.

Thinking about it, the next job should be Merchant... or maybe Jester, which I stopped halfway through...?

“The problem is that, since we’re not in a dungeon, drop boxes and magic stones don’t matter.”

If I become a Jester, the only job bonus is Luck. Even if my Luck increases outside, it’s meaningless. Moreover, the decrease in Strength would be a significant drawback.

Considering this, the Merchant seems to be the best choice...

“Wait a minute...?”

As I was about to switch to Merchant and looked at the job selection screen, I had an idea.