186: Midpoint Settlement and Return
The grueling raid had continued for far too long. To maximize our gains, we took our breaks not back in Littleberry but at the camp.
After nearly a month of raiding the Hell Dungeon, although the party members including me hadn't been able to raise all our stats to 80 points, we had still managed to accumulate enough stats to be satisfied.
- Alan -
Stats: [Strength: 110(+8)][Agility: 105(+8)][Endurance: 110(+8)][Durability: 103(+10)][Wisdom: 110(+8)][Magic: 110(+13)][Luck: 102(+8)][Potential: 0]
Without the stat growth correction effects, my stats had reached the 80-point cap for all categories except Agility (75), Durability (73), and Luck (72). Among them, I had focused on raising my Wisdom stat, which had been the lowest during that period. Wisdom stat: every 10 points increased skill growth rate by 1%. Given my class, which allowed me to possess more skills than others, higher Wisdom meant greater benefits. Incidentally, we hadn't used the Temptation and Molt combo that consumed 1,000 gems each time. Because the gems required as offerings to Ouroboros had increased from 3,000 to 6,000, we couldn't use them lightly. Although we still had over 5 billion gold on hand, we had to save it to boost the party's power. Soon we would return to Littleberry, and upon arrival, we planned to promote all party members to 5-star, upgrade their equipment, and replace skills with better ones. Unlike the fixed pricing in Fairy Masters, the economy in this world fluctuated based on circumstances, so we couldn't afford to spend gold carelessly and end up unable to upgrade as desired.
Next, Kanisia.
- Kanisia Lora -
Characteristics: Fairy Master, Spear Mastery, Mana Utilization Knowledge, Shadow Destroyer
Class: Magic Lancer (Lv.35)
Stats: [Strength: 80(+2)][Agility: 80][Endurance: 80][Durability: 75][Wisdom: 60][Magic: 80(+3)][Luck: 72]
Like me, Kanisia had successfully raised all stats except Durability, Wisdom, and Luck to 80 points. Her skill levels had also risen significantly, especially with the [Mana Thrust] skill, which had allowed her to take down numerous enemies, causing her skill levels to jump.
The most exciting part was acquiring the rare-grade characteristic [Shadow Destroyer].
Shadow Destroyer: When attacking shadow-attribute enemies, damage increases by 20%, and Mana stat increases by 3 points permanently.
Due to having slain so many shadow-attribute monsters in the Hell Dungeon and previously, she had acquired this high-efficiency characteristic limited to shadow attributes.
By the way, why didn't I get a new characteristic? Damn, I feel like I'm being hated?
Anyway, although we hadn't raised Durability, Wisdom, and Luck to 80 points, since these three stats weren't particularly important for Kanisia, we decided to stop there and promote her to 5-star.
Next, Aquaril.
- Aquaril -
Characteristics: Master of Close Combat, Mana Release, Tenacity, Spirit Affinity
Class: Swordmaster (Lv.30/Master)
Stats: [Strength: 78][Agility: 80][Endurance: 78][Durability: 72][Wisdom: 58][Magic: 71(+3)][Luck: 40][Potential: 59]
Aquaril's stats hadn't grown as much.
Instead, she had acquired the characteristic [Spirit Affinity], which was enough for Aquaril to consider herself sufficiently grown.
The effects of Spirit Affinity: 1. Increased affinity with spirits, making them listen better to commands. 2. Spirit-related skill growth rate increased by 30%.
This effect was surprisingly important because spirits were capricious beings that sometimes ignored the summoner's commands.
Fortunately, the spirits Aquaril summoned listened well to her, but the difference between having this and not having it was significant. Perhaps it gave her a sense of psychological stability?
And the importance of Spirit Affinity was that to obtain the Spirit Swordmaster class, this characteristic was essential.
With just a few more battles, Aquaril would obtain the [Spirit Swordmaster] class.
Next, Oralisa.
- Oralisa -
Characteristics: Shadow Follower, Black Dragon's Blessing, Sharpshooter, Nyx's Cloak
Class: Edge of Night (Lv.30)
Stats: [Strength: 73][Agility: 80(+5)][Endurance: 72(+3)][Durability: 60][Wisdom: 67][Magic: 62][Luck: 58(+2)][Potential: 26]
Like Aquaril, Oralisa's stats hadn't grown much, but she had grown significantly in other areas.
She had acquired the [Sharpshooter (Normal)] characteristic that increased arrow accuracy by 50%, but that wasn't the important part.
The most exciting thing was that the Archer class at master level (30) had evolved into the [Edge of Night] class.
Sometimes, the boss monster Cerberus in the Hell Dungeon had broken through the front lines and attacked Oralisa in the back. Each time, Oralisa had barely dodged its attacks.
Even more impressively, she had shot arrows from close range to pierce Cerberus's vital points herself.
Thanks to that, her class had evolved during the final grind.
The rare-grade [Edge of Night] class increased damage of dark-attribute skills by 30% and generated the characteristic [Nyx's Cloak].
[Nyx's Cloak] was an extraordinary-grade characteristic that nullified fatal attacks once per battle in combat situations — an absolute survival skill.
Seeing that she had obtained a rare-grade class but an extraordinary-grade characteristic one step higher, I was shocked.
Probably, Oralisa's potential was higher than I had thought.
Next, Abraham.
- Abraham -
Characteristics: Heavy Tank, Light Warrior, Guardian Deity
Class: Warrior (Lv.30/Master)
Stats: [Strength: 80(+3)][Agility: 63][Endurance: 80(+3)][Durability: 80(+1)][Wisdom: 44][Magic: 51][Luck: 43]
Abraham, the only pure-blood tank in our party, hadn't grown as much in stats as the others.
Because before entering the Hell Dungeon, he had already maxed out the essential stats Strength, Endurance, and Durability at 80 points.
Although his class hadn't evolved, he had acquired the rare-grade characteristic [Guardian Deity].
Guardian Deity: Permanently increased Durability stat by 3 points, and depending on the number of party members excluding himself, additional 1 point per member.
In other words, upon entering battle, Abraham's Durability stat would increase by an additional 5 points.
In Fairy Masters, Durability could increase by up to 4 points. Because you could form a party of up to 5 members.
But here, it wasn't a game; it was reality. We could expand the party infinitely. The larger the party, the more the characteristic would exert effects beyond rare grade.
Last, Sonic.
- Sonic -
Name: Sonic (Lv.80/★★★★)
Race: Fairy (Female / Alan Han (Gibung-i))
Attribute: Darkness
Characteristics: Speed Star, Dark Shadow, Sword Mastery
Class: Swordmaster (Lv.25)
Stats: [Strength: 69][Agility: 80][Endurance: 66][Durability: 65][Wisdom: 36][Magic: 70][Luck: 40][Potential: 79]
Skills (0/4): 1. - 2. - 3. - 4. -
Sonic had successfully reached the maximum level of 80, the 4-star cap. That was also why I had decided to return; her level had hit 80.
There were still many stats left to raise, but we had decided to use Potential to fill in the gaps.
Because the party's main stats had reached 80 points, we wouldn't receive class level-up rewards.
Moreover, Sonic was scheduled to win the 1st prize lottery. To efficiently raise her like in her previous life, we needed to start acquiring skills and equipping full sets.
"Did everyone forget anything?"
I asked the party members after packing up the camp. Since we wouldn't return here again after this, we had to bring everything.
"Yeah."
"Yes, Master."
"Huh? Master! I can't see Tokkaeng! Where did Tokkaeng go?"
Everyone nodded, but only Oralisa whined that she couldn't see Tokkaeng.
Tokkaeng was Oralisa's dedicated toothbrush, cute in design with a rabbit carving on the handle.
By the way, did you name the toothbrush? Only Oralisa would do that.
"I took care of Tokkaeng, Oralisa. I left it by the stream."
"Ah, really? Thanks, Aquaril!"
Upon hearing that Aquaril had taken care of it, Oralisa smiled bashfully and hugged her tightly. She was always like that, fidgeting.
"Then let's head home!"
"Yaho!"
"This time, since we raided the dungeon for quite a while, we should take a long rest, right?"
Kanisia looked at me with expectant eyes.
We had been stuck in the Hell Dungeon for nearly a month. No matter how much we tried to make the camp comfortable, it couldn't compare to resting at home.
Following Kanisia, the other party members also looked at me with expectant eyes. Seeing that, I laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, I want to rest too. And let's upgrade everyone's equipment and skills. Raise their ranks too. We'll have to grind some dungeons to adapt to the new gear and abilities, but not as intensely as before."
"Okay!"
"Aang~ I love Master!"
Even though we mentioned raiding a dungeon during the rest period, the party members were happy. Seeing their excitement, I felt good too.
"Then let's really head home!"
"Yes!"
"Yeah!"
We returned to Littleberry with the party members.
And an unexpected message was waiting for us.