Chapter 30
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Translator: Xrecker
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Men Become Friends Through Fighting (1)
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"That guy annihilated the Belken Gang?"
"Really?"
"Isn't he just bluffing?"
"No, he's too confident for it to be a bluff."
After listening to the murmurs for a moment, I asked Arsvald.
"But why are you asking about that?"
"The academy has been buzzing about it since this morning, so I looked into it. Who was the guy who annihilated a bandit gang by himself? I even went to the Lucadia Academy's adventurer branch. And they said his name was Ishihan."
"I see."
To think he would go all the way to the Adventurer's Guild in the morning just because he was curious.
As expected, Arsvald was a character with excellent initiative, just as I had anticipated.
"What were you thinking, annihilating a bandit gang? Huh?"
"Would something bad have happened if the bandit gang had been annihilated?"
"No! Not at all! It's a good thing! A very good thing! But... I just don't understand why you did such a thing by yourself. What were you thinking?"
At Arsvald's question, the classroom fell silent again.
Everyone was waiting for my answer.
Really.
Arsvald was providing a very good lead-in for my promotion.
"For practice."
"Practice? You annihilated a bandit gang for practice?"
"Yes. It was a necessary practice for me."
"What kind of practice would you...?! Huh?"
Arsvald, who had stopped talking for a moment, stroked his chin in thought and then opened his mouth.
"Don't tell me you... you practiced against the bandits in preparation for our duel tomorrow...!"
It was for skill practice, but I neither confirmed nor denied it, and just.
"Hmph."
I let out a light snort.
"Ha, haha, so... that's what it is, huh?"
The corners of Arsvald's lips twitched and went up.
"So you think of me as an opponent who requires you to practice by taking on a whole bandit gang?"
Arsvald Zenedict.
If I were to describe this character's personality, it would be that he had a strong desire for self-display.
Behold! This is my power!!! He was the type of character who loved to be acknowledged by others and to show off his own strength, to the point of saying such lines.
A slightly hot-blooded side was also reflected in that, so in Lu-Fan, he was established as a character who was strong and liked to show off, but was a bit lacking in the brains department.
For Arsvald Zenedict, being acknowledged by others.
Having his skills be well-regarded was the most pleasant thing.
As proof of that.
Arsvald Zenedict, who had been in a bad mood until just a moment ago, was now making a useless effort to somehow hide the ecstatic expression on his face, his lips twitching and going up.
If I had to pick a reason why Arsvald had shown a hostile attitude towards me at first.
I had received attention for defeating the summoned golem the fastest in the entrance exam.
I had stated that I was more talented and stronger than him.
But these two reasons had now been turned into a factor for Arsvald's good mood.
Because for the sake of our promised duel.
He had practiced to the point of annihilating a bandit gang against them. -> He saw me as an opponent who required that much practice. -> He was strong and amazing enough to require practice that involved annihilating a bandit gang by himself.
A chain of thought like that was probably going through Arsvald's mind right now.
He was in a good mood now, but he was trying to somehow suppress the twitching of his lips for the reason that it wouldn't be cool to show it openly.
Even though it was all visible.
"M-Mr. Shih-han... th-that person was suddenly angry and now he's smiling, why is he like that?"
Pamela, who didn't know Arsvald well, asked me, unable to understand his behavior.
"Wh-who's smiling!"
"Eek! I-I'm sorry!"
Arsvald covered his mouth and, after rubbing his lips a few times so that the corners wouldn't go up, he pointed a finger at me.
"Hmph! You'll certainly need that much to face me! But don't think you can beat me just by defeating a mere bandit gang! You got that...!"
"Everyone, please be seated."
"Ugh!"
Before Arsvald could finish his sentence, Roderick entered the classroom.
"Arsvald Zenedict. What are you doing? Go to your seat."
"...Understood."
On his way to his seat, I heard Arsvald's very disappointed mutter.
"I just needed to say a little more...."
After confirming that all the students were seated, Roderick began the class.
"Last time, we talked about the seven attributes and the sacred beasts. So this time, we will talk about special attributes."
Special attributes.
It referred to attributes that existed individually, other than the basic water, fire, wind, electricity, earth, light, and darkness.
The ice attribute and the grass attribute were examples of this.
These two attributes were new attributes that had appeared quite late in Lu-Fan.
A patch that felt more like it was inserted to sell characters of that attribute rather than to change the game's balance.
Of course, as new attributes were added, new fields were also created to match the concept.
Like the great forest, or the snowy mountain region of a certain country that was revealed later on.
In Lu-Fan, there was no particular interaction between attributes.
Instead, there was a setting where the monsters of a certain region would take more damage from a certain attribute.
And Lu-Fan was vicious enough to make the enemies in a newly opened field or the mobs in an ongoing event story have a weakness to a certain attribute.
And they used the method of having a gacha pickup for a character of that weak attribute really, really often.
Of course, even characters who had already been raised could deal sufficient damage even if their attribute didn't match, but...
When a post was uploaded with a video showing overwhelming damage beyond sufficiency by pulling the pickup character, it would ignite the competitive spirit of whale users like me.
As I was reminiscing about my fond past, Roderick's explanation of the special attributes was coming to an end.
"That is all for the explanation of special attributes. Next, I will explain about regeneration."
'Regeneration?'
A word I didn't know at all came out.
A word that I, who had played Lu-Fan for over 10 years, was hearing for the first time.
'I have to listen to this carefully!'
I focused on Roderick's words and listened intently.
"Many of you probably already know. But I hope you will listen as a review. Goblins, orcs, heavy snakes, etc., monsters that live near villages or cities, are relatively easy to catch. Just like ordinary people, they lose their lives immediately if you shoot them with an arrow, pierce their heart, or cut off their head.
But strong monsters, as well as those who have reached a certain level, will have their serious injuries immediately healed. This is called regeneration. You all have probably not obtained regeneration yet, so I will show you a demonstration."
Roderick took out a dagger from his pocket and rolled up his sleeve.
"Like this."
And without hesitation, he cut his own forearm with the dagger.
A straight wound appeared on Roderick's arm, and blood began to flow.
But before long, the wound healed as if it were being played in reverse, and only the blood that had flowed out was staining Roderick's arm.
Roderick then took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood, and his remaining forearm was clean, as if there had been no wound in the first place.
"I have also reached a certain level, so I have regeneration. An ordinary cut will heal on its own. Of course, a wound where a part of the body is severed requires a priest's healing for complete recovery.
And regeneration is a stronger force in monsters than in people. For example, the ogres that appear near the Lucadia Academy are a representative example of a monster with strong regeneration."
Hearing Roderick's explanation, I seemed to understand what regeneration meant.
"In the case of an ogre, even if you pierce its heart or sever its arm, unless you inflict a certain amount of damage, the pierced wound will immediately heal and the arm will regenerate. This is why it is said that when facing a powerful monster, you should not let your guard down even if you attack a vital spot, but continue to attack.
There are adventurers who lose their lives every year because they let their guard down, thinking they had won just by piercing the heart. I hope you all will be careful not to make such a mistake."
Regeneration was, in a manner of speaking, a health pool.
When I thought about it, no matter how much of a health tank the in-game monsters became.
I had also thought, "Since I have the Penetration skill, wouldn't it be enough to just pierce the heart once?"
But in a corner of my mind, I felt that I couldn't let my guard down.
It would be nice if everything flowed smoothly, but things didn't always go so easily.
If I could easily kill everyone with Penetration, then when facing the Demon King of Chaos, I wouldn't have to think about a fixed party and could just apply the Penetration skill to Severing Spear and use it, and it would be over quickly.
But the quest notification window that had appeared after I had enrolled had told me to gather 6 group members.
6 people, not the 4-person party that was the fixed play party in the game.
As if to say that at least that many people were needed.
And as if my ominous feeling had hit the mark, the concept of regeneration had appeared right in front of me.
"Then, to continue, to face a monster with strong regeneration...."
Along with Roderick's continuing explanation, a notification window appeared.
[You have met the conditions for acquiring regeneration.]
[Regeneration has been added to the list of acquirable skills.]
'A skill has been added?'
To think I could get a skill just by listening to an explanation.
I hurriedly opened the skill window.
Regeneration was in the skill list, slightly darkened like the other unacquired skills.
[Regeneration: Heals wounds in proportion to the stamina stat. If you are in a state where you can use regeneration and receive an attack that exceeds your stamina stat in one blow, the damage will be reduced. 5 points required to learn.]
The same acquisition points as Severing Spear.
However.
'I have to get this.'
Regeneration was a passive skill that was, in a manner of speaking, a spare health pool.
It wasn't like I was doing a challenge run, so there was no reason not to get it.
I immediately used my points to learn regeneration.
Then, just like the other skills, the dark display became clear, and the mark changed to Regeneration (F).
As I was learning regeneration, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
'Wait. With the Penetration skill... can't I pierce through a monster's regeneration?'
If the Penetration skill could pierce through things I had never imagined, like praise resistance, refusal, and doubt, then couldn't it also work on an ambiguous concept like this?
It was when I was thinking that.
[Warning: A possibility that threatens the providence of the world has been detected.]
'What?'
[Warning: A possibility that threatens the providence of the world has been detected.]
[The result of the providence of the world: regeneration being damaged.]
[World collapse.]
[Do you wish to execute the possibility?]
A warning came, saying that if I tried to use a loophole, everyone would die, so don't do anything foolish.