Tutorial — The 5th Floor

Knock, knock.

"...Who is it?"

"It's me. Shin-hoo."

The door flew open before I'd even finished speaking.

"Oppa!"

"Shin-hoo? What's going on?"

Na Seoyun greeted me with unrestrained enthusiasm. Na-yeon looked a little puzzled, but she seemed every bit as glad to see me.

Come to think of it, this was the first time I'd ever gone looking for someone in their room. They always came to me first, so I'd never had a reason to.

"Ah, right. We got skill slots this time, didn't we?"

"Ah. Yeah."

"I wanted to get a handle on our combat strength."

I continued as naturally as I could.

"We just lost two people from the fighting force. It's unfortunate, but the ones who are still alive have to keep living..."

In the future, opening up this kind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of information was a fool's errand. You couldn't keep everything completely secret, but you avoided revealing slot counts or detailed skill descriptions whenever possible. If every skill and every stat got picked apart down to the last detail, even someone weaker than you could kill you.

At my words, Na-yeon and Na Seoyun's expressions darkened.

"Yeah... that's true..."

I looked at both of them.

"I've got six skill slots, for starters. My unique skill is an ability that lets me learn priest skills from two different schools. And from the random skill card, I pulled a Normal-grade Strength Enhancement. What about you two?"

That was a lie. Since I could enhance my physical strength with mana, I could fake it as much as I wanted. I hadn't even used the skill card yet. I had no intention of learning anything right now anyway — I'd already decided on every skill I would take in the future. Besides, the first skill was random in nature, but it produced the skill best suited to your potential. Hold onto it, and the odds of getting something I'd actually need later went up.

Everything else I told them was the truth. I didn't care about the others, but these two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I absolutely had to bring in, so I wanted to avoid any lie that had a high chance of being exposed later. I deliberately omitted the grade of my unique skill, though.

Unlike me, they needed to use their skill cards.

It was a chance to find out in advance which skill suited them — in other words, which class they were best matched with.

On top of that, as a mage, Na-yeon would need at least six skill slots. No — around seven. Specializing in a single school was possible with three or four, but that tended to produce a mage who came up short in every other respect. Reaching first-string level with a single-school specialization required six slots. Specializing in one school with a second as a sub required seven.

Na-yeon spoke up.

"I haven't used my skill card yet. But... I agree that we need to raise our combat strength. I'll use it right now."

"I-I'll use mine too. Right away."

The two of them started gesturing at the empty air.

I could have used the Administrator's Eye then and there, but I figured I'd listen first and use it after.

"Uh... yeah... that's..."

After using their skill cards, both of them looked somehow flustered.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"I... I got a Rare-grade skill called Spirit Contract..."

"What?"

"...What's your unique skill?"

"It's Spirit Affinity? The grade is... Super Rare."

She wasn't a mage?

According to my memories of the past, Na-yeon had thrown fireballs...

Ah!

Throwing fireballs didn't necessarily mean you were a mage.

That had just been my old perception hardening into assumption. Goblin shamans threw fireballs with shamanic magic, and spirit contractors could do it too. All you needed was a contract with a fire spirit.

Besides, back then I hadn't even unlocked my mana stat yet. So it wasn't strange that I hadn't seen a spirit's form at all on the 5th floor.

Still, it was understandable that I'd taken her for a mage. Spirit contractors were an incredibly, incredibly rare profession.

Of all things...

No. There was a way. This might even be better.

"Slots. How many skill slots do you have?"

"Seven."

Seven. That was enough. Spirit contractors were vanishingly rare, but that didn't mean it was a good class.

Spirits themselves were tremendously powerful. Even a High Spirit was more than a first-string party could handle. They might fall a bit short of a Ranker, but three High Spirits would make even a decent Ranker think twice about picking a fight. Each Supreme Spirit was stronger than most Giants.

The problem was race. Even with a Spirit Affinity skill, humans had a hard ceiling. Elves were another matter — but among humans, not a single person had ever contracted even a Mid-tier spirit, let alone a High one.

As far as I knew, the total number of spirit contractors didn't even reach a hundred. A truly rare case.

But there had been one. Just one person who, despite being a spirit contractor, had become a member of a first-string party. And from what I remembered, his stats hadn't even been that high.

Ancient Spirit.

An Ancient Spirit. A special-case spirit that didn't belong to the four primary elements. Ancient Spirits had no rank; they were growth-type spirits that evolved alongside their contractor. He had raised his until it reached Mid-tier level.

His mana stat had been insufficient to grow it any further, but if his talent had been outstanding, he might have become the only spirit contractor Ranker in existence.

I knew how to obtain that spirit.

It'll take quite a while, but...

This wasn't bad. No — it might actually be better. And she had seven skill slots.

"I see. Seoyun, what about you?"

"Well... my unique skill is Magic Affinity."

Magic Affinity. One of the basic prerequisites for a mage. And it was her unique skill? That was the equivalent of saving an entire skill slot.

A mage? If she has Supreme potential as a mage...

"What's the grade?"

"I-it's Legendary..."

Holy shit. The word Archmage flashed through my mind for a split second.

"Legendary... wow, Seoyun, you're seriously incredible. The skill — what's the skill?"

"Well... the skill is... Dual Wielding..."

"Huh?"

"Dual Wielding?"

"Yes. Dual-wielding swordsmanship. The grade is... Super Rare."

Super Rare-grade dual-wielding swordsmanship. An extremely rare skill.

But of all things — her unique skill was one that favored mages, and the tutorial random skill card had given her Dual Wielding?

As I'd said before, the tutorial random skill card gave you one of the skills best suited to you. In other words, Na Seoyun had talent for two-sword combat. And the fact that her unique skill was Magic Affinity meant...

Magic Swordsman.

Na Seoyun had the talent of a Magic Swordsman.

Of all things!

It wasn't as if hybrid classes mixing two professions didn't exist. But human potential had its limits. Your initial potential was fixed, levels got harder to raise the higher you climbed, and as far as I knew, not a single human Ranker had ever hit the maximum level of 100. On top of that, because two classes were mixed together, you had to train in both, making it an extremely demanding profession. Most people ended up as neither one thing nor the other.

Among hybrid classes like these, the number of people who'd even made it into a first-string party was vanishingly small. Damage-tanks, Magic Swordsmen, Paladins who could fill both roles — they were all failed classes. Unless you were a special case like me...

No. If I designed her skill tree as meticulously as I possibly could, it was doable. And she had Supreme-grade potential. I pressed on without missing a beat.

"Skill slots? How many slots do you have?"

"Well..."

Na Seoyun hesitated for a long time, then answered as if she were somehow apologetic.

"T-twelve..."

"...What?"

For a moment, I couldn't believe what I'd heard. What the hell did she just say? I used the Administrator's Eye at once.

Holy shit.

After confirming her status window and skill slots with the Administrator's Eye, I was certain. Landing Na Seoyun was a genuine jackpot.

After we'd finished exchanging information, I watched Na-yeon form her spirit contract. It was something she'd have to do anyway.

Sure enough, she contracted a Lowest-grade fire spirit. Being Lowest-grade, its power would be weak — but it could at least throw fireballs. Even so, it was an elemental attack. It would be an enormous help.

Na Seoyun, by comparison, still couldn't properly handle Dual Wielding. That was fair enough. She was only level 3. The fighting she'd done over the past few days was the sum total of her combat experience, and even that had never involved running around with a weapon in each hand. Her skill proficiency was overwhelmingly lacking — and Dual Wielding was an extremely demanding skill to begin with.

But the growth in her physical stats and her mana stat was insane.

Twelve slots and Supreme-grade potential. She had the makings of a Magic Swordsman Ranker the likes of which the world had never seen.

I started calculating Na Seoyun's skill tree. It wasn't as if there were no opportunities to increase skill slots, and if you added in the buffs I would learn, we might just produce a genuine Magic Swordsman — one who had truly mastered both swordsmanship and magic.

Entertaining those pleasant thoughts, I parted ways with the two of them and went to find out about everyone else's skills as well.

The rest of them had nothing special. Most had two or three skill slots and unique skills that weren't particularly noteworthy.

The one exception was Joo Ha-yeon, whose potential was Mid-High. She stood out — five skill slots, and a unique skill of Super Rare grade: Faith. Her skill was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a Normal-grade skill called Prayer. Apparently she came from a devout Christian family.

It wasn't useful for now, but once we reached the 10th floor, if she class-changed to priest and contracted a recovery-type deity, she had the makings of a decent healer. Of course, coming from a devout Christian family, the question was whether she could bring herself to convert. Surprisingly many people failed to grow as priests because they couldn't let go of their old faith.

Prayer was an excellent skill — it rapidly restored holy power and even raised the Divine Power stat. On top of that, it was a growth-type skill. Fill the proficiency and the skill grade would rise. The conditions were simple, too: just reach a certain level and Divine Power stat.

I spent some time thinking deeply about the party's overall level — and especially about the Na sisters, whom I intended to take with me all the way to the end.

Time passed while I turned it over. As our reward for the previous request, we each ordered custom-fitted weapons, and we were told they would take about three days. The next day, the moment Johann returned to the castle, he came looking for me with a request from the Castle Lord.

The instant he saw me, Johann bowed his head and launched into an apology.

"I'm sorry! I heard the insect repellent I gave you landed you in a tight spot. I didn't explain it well enough... never thought you'd burn the whole lot at once. I should've told you to burn it a little at a time. I never imagined you wouldn't even know that much common sense! I'm truly sorry."

"...Was that really insect repellent?"

"O-of course it was! What I gave you was definitely insect repellent!"

He denied it with everything he had.

If only some evidence had been left — but that idiot Park Nam-young had burned it all. Frustrating, but there was nothing to be done. Even if we brought evidence, if he dug in and called it a mistake, they'd side with Johann over outsiders like us. He might even get off with a light punishment and walk free. Since we'd distinguished ourselves, Johann's reputation had risen as well — he'd been the one who influenced the decision to hire us.

"...I hate to bring this up at a time like this, but the Lord has a request. He wants the Underground Waterway cleaned out."

"Our party members aren't in good shape. Two of them aren't even in any condition to take mercenary work."

The request I'd been waiting for had arrived, but I made a show of groaning about it. Snatching it up too eagerly wouldn't look right — our party's situation genuinely didn't look great.

"Don't you worry about that. The monsters in the Underground Waterway are just Ratmen and Slimes. The Ratmen are about goblin-level, and I'll lend you weapons that can block the Slimes' acid, so it shouldn't be difficult. You could probably handle it on your own, honestly. We're in a situation where it's hard to pull soldiers off duty, thanks to that intelligence you brought in. That's why we're asking you. I'll be honest, I feel bad about it, but the Castle Lord is in a great hurry, so there's no helping it. The pay will be generous. I'm truly sorry to come to you with news like this again."

A message window appeared at once.

"...All right."

I answered with a look that said I had no other choice.

"We haven't received our weapons yet, though. Would it be all right if we set out after we get them? I believe they'll be ready in two days."

"Of course, of course. The Castle Lord isn't so cold-hearted as to send you off right after everything you've been through."

Coming to us with a request like this at a time like this was plenty cold-hearted, if you asked me — but I swallowed the words.

When I told the others, their faces twisted with something like resentment, but they seemed to realize there was nothing we could do about it. The 5th floor trial was to clear a dungeon, after all. We were going to have to do it anyway.

Once we obtained our custom weapons, the party members — everyone except Park Nam-young and Kim Insil — stood at the entrance to the Underground Waterway. Since the trial was shared, if we cleared it, those two would still be able to advance to the next floor.

I pressed Y on behalf of the party, and we were transported into the dungeon.