Chapter 18
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Xrecker
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: First Friend (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Even as I approached, the Half-Moon Bear was still struggling to completely tear off the Vines of Tenacity that Pamela had cast.
If I were to thrust my spear into its forehead now, I could kill it in one blow.
But what I was trying to do now was to see how Pamela's debuff effects would manifest in a real battle.
I deliberately waited in front of the Half-Moon Bear for it to tear off all the vines.
"M-Mr. Shih-han? Why are you just standing there?"
Pamela asked in surprise from behind.
"I'm conducting a test."
"A t-test?"
"To see how effective your skills are in a real battle. Don't worry. Against an opponent like this, I can afford to be a little lenient. More importantly, keep an eye out for any enemies in the vicinity, Pamela."
"Y-yes!"
-Kroooar!
Just as I finished speaking to Pamela, the Half-Moon Bear finally tore off all the vines and swung its front paw at me.
Once, twice, three times, four times.
I dodged the Half-Moon Bear's continuous swings and first got a feel for its speed.
Spearmanship Mastery didn't just make the trajectories visible; the moment I held a spear, it enabled me to move with the same body control as a master who had reached the pinnacle of the spear.
To be precise, it was probably recreating the movements of a person who had reached the pinnacle of the spear based on my current stats.
In any case, I could easily dodge the Half-Moon Bear's attacks.
And after about 15 seconds.
The Half-Moon Bear's attack speed increased.
Since there was no way the Half-Moon Bear had received a buff, the changed speed must have been its speed before the debuff.
'The speed... the effect is still there even after it broke the vines.'
15 seconds was a very useful amount of time in battle.
"Pamela!"
"Y-yes! M-Mr. Shih-han!"
"Use Vines of Tenacity one more time!"
"V-vines of Tenacity!"
Once again, vines sprouted from under the Half-Moon Bear's feet and entangled its body.
-Kroooar!
The Half-Moon Bear, caught in the vines again, struggled and tried to break free.
Aiming for that moment, I thrust my spear at the Half-Moon Bear's left arm.
With just enough force not to pierce through.
Stab!
Remembering the feeling in my hand from the thrust, I stepped back and said to Pamela.
"I need Nail of Shattering!"
"Nail of Shattering!"
The Nail of Shattering flew and hit the Half-Moon Bear, which was still unable to break the vines.
Thud, thud, thud!
It couldn't pierce through, but several of the shattering nails embedded themselves in the Half-Moon Bear's hide.
'Now then, let's see how the defense reduction debuff feels.'
With the same force as my previous thrust, I thrust my spear at the Half-Moon Bear's right arm.
Stab!
-Kroooar!
Stabbed with a spear on top of the nails, the Half-Moon Bear roared in anger.
But I was more interested in the feeling in my hand than its roar, and a smile crept onto my lips.
'Good. It's working well.'
It should have been a thrust with the same force, but the spear pierced through the hide more smoothly and went deeper.
"Pamela! Nail of Shattering again!"
"Nail of Shattering!"
At the same time as the Nail of Shattering hit the Half-Moon Bear again, I thrust my spear at its still unwounded arm.
A sensation of piercing through skin and flesh that felt even softer than before.
'It stacks.'
In the game, the duration of Vines of Tenacity was 15 seconds.
It was the same here.
And Pamela's Nail of Shattering had a duration of 20 seconds.
She said she could use Sword of Loss six times in a row, so Nail of Shattering was probably similar.
In the game, there was a cooldown, and in the first place, the debuff of one skill did not stack.
Even if you used it within the time limit, it would only extend the effect's duration.
But in this world, it stacked, so if you used Nail of Shattering consecutively within 20 seconds, you could deal a burst of damage in a short amount of time.
'I'm looking forward to this.'
Against something like a Half-Moon Bear, there was no need to stack debuffs, but I was already excited to see how quickly I could take down a field boss monster, or a boss from the main story or an event story, if I did.
More than anything, since the target was that ridiculously difficult boss, the fact that debuffs stacked was like finding a new ray of hope that I could win.
'If debuffs stack, then buffs might stack too.'
Of course, buffs from different characters would stack, but if even the buffs from a single character's skills stacked.
With the addition of stacked debuffs and stacked buffs, I would be able to deal an enormous amount of damage.
As a user, the desire to quickly gather a party and test out the damage output was slowly creeping up.
'Pamela must be a little tired too.'
Pamela could use her magic six times in a row.
But since she had already used it four times, even if she wasn't panting, she would need a rest to use her next magic smoothly.
'Since I've finished checking what I wanted to check first.'
I had no more business with this Half-Moon Bear.
Choosing one of the countless trajectories, I thrust my spear at the Half-Moon Bear's neck.
[You have pierced the Half-Moon Bear.]
I cleanly pierced through the Half-Moon Bear's neck and pulled my spear back as I retreated.
The Half-Moon Bear fell forward and didn't move.
I turned around and approached Pamela.
"M-Mr. Shih-han. Th-that was amazing! To dodge the monster's attacks so easily... and to finish it off in an instant."
"I was able to catch it more easily thanks to your magic."
"N-no! The magic I used wasn't that great. Even without my magic, you could have caught it on your own, Mr. Shih-han. It hit several times, but my magic didn't seem to work very well on the monster... and in the end, you were the one who finished it off. As I thought, it was like casting pearls before swine for someone like me to use the magic my master taught me. I'm sorry, Master...."
Pamela had fallen into her negative thinking again.
Of course, I ignored the latter half of what Pamela was saying.
"Isn't that obvious?"
"Ah..."
Pamela's mouth fell open, and she looked down in despair.
"Th-that's right... it was too much for someone like me to use my master's magic in the first place. Ha, haha, hahaha.... You must think a mage like me is useless too, Mr. Shih-han. I'm sorry for being a useless mage. You must hate being friends with me now, right? In the end, I'm lower than a caterpillar...."
I cut off Pamela's words and said what I had to say.
"The main purpose of your magic is to weaken the enemy. It's only natural that it doesn't have that much power."
"Y-yes?"
"But when it came to weakening, it was truly outstanding. From your perspective, you probably didn't feel much of a difference. But from what I felt, your magic was truly amazing."
"A-amazing? My magic?"
"Yes."
I explained to Pamela the difference in how the spear felt when it pierced after her debuff magic was cast, and how the attack went in more easily when the debuff magic was stacked.
"Ah, th-then when you told me to keep using Nail of Shattering, you didn't mean for me to finish it off?"
"That's right. I wanted to see if the effect of your weakening magic would become stronger if you used it consecutively."
"S-so that's what it was."
"Pamela."
I placed my hand on Pamela's shoulder and said once more.
"Your magic is amazing. Depending on how you use it, it holds a potential that other mages cannot replace."
"A-a potential that other mages cannot replace?"
"Yes. Besides, as I've already said, it's a magic that has good synergy with me. You are the best witch for me, Pamela."
"Th-the best witch...! He, hehe, hehhehehe...."
Pamela's face, which had been in despair just a moment ago, melted into a grin.
"Pamela."
"Yes. Hehehe, what is it, Mr. Shih-han."
"How much of a rest do you need?"
"A r-rest?"
"You used magic consecutively, so how long do you need to rest?"
"Ah... um, um... just a little bit will be fine."
"I see. Then rest. I'll go get the magic stone."
"Ah! I'll help you!"
Pamela followed me to the Half-Moon Bear's corpse.
"First, we have to flip it over."
"I-I'll get the front paws."
"No, I'll do this alone. You rest."
"B-but...!"
"A witch who has performed sufficiently... no, a witch, has the right to rest. Leave the heavy lifting to me, the vanguard."
"A w-witch who has performed sufficiently...! He, heh, hehhehehe...."
Pamela, who was very weak to compliments because she had never been praised by anyone other than her master, once again broke into a grin, her lips melting.
In the meantime, I flipped the Half-Moon Bear over.
'It was a little heavy.'
It was easy to fight, but since it was bulky, it took a little effort to flip it over.
I would have to invest more in strength after getting a skill.
'Because I'll eventually have to take out the magic stones of monsters that are bigger and heavier than this.'
I held the spear with a short grip, plunged it into the chest area, and swirled it around from side to side.
After repeating this a few times, if I felt a hard impact while swirling, that was where the magic stone was.
This was a trick I had figured out on my own when I was getting the Stone Orc's magic stone.
Once I found the location, I immediately started stabbing in a circle around the magic stone.
After removing the area with the magic stone and separating the magic stone, I put it in my inventory separately, and then stored the remaining corpse in my inventory to give to Shasha later.
"Pamela, can you recover your magic power while walking?"
"Ah, yes! I-I can."
"Then let's move. I'm thinking of catching at least 5 more. What do you think, Pamela?"
"L-let's do that."
After getting Pamela's consent, we started wandering the mountain again to find another Half-Moon Bear.
And by the time we had caught the fifth Half-Moon Bear.
"M-Mr. Shih-han, th-there... over there...!"
"That's..."
A Half-Moon Bear with a red half-moon pattern on its belly, unlike the others.
We had found a Red Half-Moon Bear, the bandit captain equivalent of the Half-Moon Bears.
'My luck is good.'
A more profitable monster.
A monster that, if I was lucky, might even give me extra points, had appeared.