Chapter 40: Past Appraisal
Translator: “Pink Tea” Editor: ”Ryunakama”
_______________________________________________________________
Walking through the first floor to relax, we exchange our observations on the previous floor.
「The numbers are too much. Good grief, can’t guardians be more considerate towards adventurers?」
Marius is right.
That spawn rate is indeed a pain. It’s probably about 30 seconds. So if we can’t kill an enemy in 30 seconds, then we are in trouble.
Fighting them one on one is one thing, but if they attack in a group as they did right now…… And with ghosts added to the mix, handling them in time becomes quite a task.
It requires an attacker capable of instantly defeating an enemy.
Marius fills that role. Now, we only need to make sure that his attack won’t be blocked.
Others will have to support him, so his attack will surely hit.
「Poison mist, huh. Is it because of Rude that we took no damage from it?」
「……Probably.」
Poison and toxin both count as abnormal statuses.
This should eat up a lot of the outer shell over time.
『Sacrificial Shield』protected Marius and Luna from taking damage, while 『Healthy Body』blocked any damage from befalling me.
As a result, we have no problem with the mist.
The mist probably makes getting stuck with the skeletons a lot more dangerous.
「It’s lucky that we don’t have to bother with countermeasures for that.」
Yes, the problem is those monsters after all.
How are we going to handle ghosts? That is the question.
「For now, let’s search for what might be effective versus ghosts.」
「Yes.」
Coming and going between floors 1 and 48 we continued our investigation.
Fighting until the evening, we then left Karde’s northern labyrinth.
Getting outside, we were welcomed with smiles by the adventurers that guided us inside.
「You guys, so you were alive.」
「Well, yeah.」
「That’s great. So, how was the 48th floor?」
「Well. A tough one.」
「Ha ha ha, putting on airs. It’s far from just tough. Pretty much the only adventurers who can effectively fight on that floor are『Black Dragon Fangs』and 『White Tiger Claws』leaders. If only there were other strong adventurers around, the new floor could have been reached. But no one shows up. Our leader mentioned how troublesome that poison mist is.」
I see. So that was their main problem.
「You are right.」
「Which reminds me, I haven’t heard much about him lately, but wasn’t there an adventurer, who was given the title of a hero? We thought that he was just as strong as clan leaders, but what is going on with him those days?」
「……Which reminds me, the two leaders of the biggest clans also were granted titles of heroes, right?」
「Yup. It seems there are a few others as well, but I don’t know the details. Well, I’m glad that you guys were fine.」
After replying with a nod to the adventurers, we head to Karde.
「We might be able to handle the 48th floor somehow, but what monsters are awaiting us on the 49th floor?」
Marius asked as we walked.
A good question indeed.
Our info is limited to the 48th floor.
「If it’s the same irresponsible guardian as I, then they might have the same monsters on the next floor. But I’m not sure.」
「If the 49th floor has the same monsters and structure as the previous one, then we might be able to reach the 50th floor without much trouble.」
The real question here is what kind of guardian this labyrinth has.
If it’s a non-sentient one, then the labyrinth could be self-managing.
In such cases, similar floors become more numerous.
On the other hand, labyrinths with regularly changing positions of monsters and layout have a good chance of having at least a somewhat sentient guardian.
Well, at least this is what Marius thinks. He actually has little idea of what is going on in other labyrinths.
「Master, we are going to meet up with Sinanis-sama’s group and have them help in the subjugation? 」
「Yes. ……But Sinanis is a rational person. If we don’t convince him that there is a sound chance of conquering these floors, he might not agree.」
「I see……」
From Sinanis’ point of view, it will mean challenging a high ranking labyrinth.
It should be a scary prospect.
「Well, it’s fine then. I already explained to you about the training. Now, if we only had a person with Appraisal skill.」
「……What about Appraisal?」
Speaking of which, I didn’t tell him that Luna has Appraisal.
Marius laughed.
「Appraisal can reveal a skill that a person is closest to attaining. Though it seems that there is some kind of trick to it. If we use that, we will know which skills will be the easiest for them to get. Looking back on the previous actions it may also hint on possible actions that can unlock a skill. Repeating those actions should unlock the skill. Well, in short, it will make things a lot easier. It’s a very valuable skill, so there is probably no one around with it.」
Luna keeps glancing at me.
It’s your chance to surprise someone.
I replied to her with a short nod, after which Luna raised a hand.
「I have it.」
「……Whot?!」
Marius was taken aback a lot more than I expected.
Then he looked at me.
After I confirmed it with a nod, his eyes sparked.
「……Oh my. This is wonderful! Then, then, acquiring new skills will be a lot easier.」
「But…… Luna, can you see it? I don’t think you mentioned anything like that when you checked my skills?」
「Isn’t that because you have no talent? Young adventurers probably will have an easier time acquiring new skills than those of advanced age.」
「Hey, who is of advanced age here? I’m still twenty.」
「What?!」
Isn’t he even more surprised than earlier?
I tend to look older than my age, but it’s no reason to act so surprised.
As I kept staring at him, Marius laughed loudly.
「Then the problem probably was in the way the girl yearning for life looked at your skills. As I said, it seems that there is a certain trick to it. No idea what is it though.」
……Skills have various applications.
For example『Heal』, in some cases it can restore more than just the outer shell.
Depending on a person, it can be used to repair objects.
Searching for such uses is one of the true charms that skills have.
We heard a very important thing from Marius.
Appraisal should allow us as a clan to cultivate novices more effectively than others.
「Luna, can you look for skills that I might acquire?」
「……Let me try.」
She tightly grasped my hand.
Then, she had a very serious expression for a while.
She might be unable to do it right away.
「If you can’t do it immediately, then it’s fine, you can practice and try again later……」
「No, let me try for a bit more. I feel like I see something different from usual……」
A frown appeared on her face.
It’s a bit embarrassing. We just keep walking while holding hands. We are getting near the city. I would prefer it if she let go of me before we enter it.
「Oh, are you embarrassed?」
「No, I’m not.」
I glare at Marius, who is looking at me somewhat mockingly.
Luna kept her dead-serious expression, humming.
「……This might be it. I see a number of skills that you are yet to acquire, Master.」
「……Re-really?」
I’m nervous and excited to the level where it’s unbecoming of my age.
If I have a chance to gain new skills, then, of course, I would like to get them.
At the moment I have only one offensive skill. And if I can get recovery skills, like many other tanks, then I’d like that as well.
「I see a few, but all of them are quite far……」
「Is that so……」
「The important point here is to have dissatisfaction with the current situation and desire to overcome it. But you, Rude, are perfectly fine with being a tank, aren’t you?」
「……Well, that’s true.」
Of course, I have some desire to change something, but it wasn’t a huge point of concern to me.
Currently, I have no problems with raiding labyrinths, so I’m not that troubled.
On the other hand, it’s very disappointing if it’s holding me back from improving.
「Well, you still have the future? After all, you supposedly aren’t that old.」
As Marius made a smug smile, I poke him in the forehead.
And we finally arrived in the city.
Flickering lighting provided by magic stones.
So it’s this late already.
「First, let’s meet Sinanis and others. ……I told him that we will meet up at the guild.」
Entering the city, I look at the clock on the nearest building.
Seven hours after noon.
「In that case, let me guide you to Sinanis.」
「……You know where they are?」
「I have this one after all.」
Marius showed a small slime on the palm of his hand. ……He attached another one.
「You know, this is called stalking.」
「Do not fret. I only attached this to you and Sinanis.」
As he said that, something flew off from my shoulder.
As I grabbed it in the air, it turned out to be a smile. The small thing was striking poses on the palm of my hand, looking pretty happy.
It’s as small as a bug. Yeah, this is hard to notice.