100. Heroes (2)
100. Heroes (2)
- 1 -
Raising a summoned creature or a Dungeon Lord's own body to Advanced level was simply a matter of boosting its attributes and granting traits to bring it to an appropriate level, but beyond that was different.
For Elite, it took 1 Elite-grade entity.
For High-rank, 4 Elite-grade and 1 High-rank entity.
To reach Monarch-grade required 16 Elite / 4 High-rank / 1 Monarch entity.
That was the number of sacrifices needed to evolve a summoned creature.
And for a Dungeon Lord, it required exactly three times that amount.
'Would've been nice if their specs were exactly three times better too.'
Considering that a Monarch-grade demon beast wasn't really inferior to a Dungeon Lord in terms of pack size or specs, the difficulty was essentially equivalent to hunting down multiple Dungeon Lords.
To evolve a single summoned creature from High-rank to Monarch-grade, it meant catching at least one High-grade Dungeon Lord or more, in effect.
'Probably got me the "goinmul" title with this too.'
'Virgoon.'
It was a nickname given by the goinmul players of 'Millden 1', and while it sounded extremely malicious on the surface, the meaning was something I took a certain pride in.
It meant I was the kind of guy who would hunt down countless external Monarch-grade beings or raise other demon beasts to Monarch-grade, just to get sacrifices to raise my first summoned creatures, mercenaries, or sometimes subordinate NPC Dungeon Lords to Monarch-grade.
"Thinking back on it, I feel a little sorry."
"What do you mean, my Lady?"
"There are a few people I inadvertently caused harm to."
"If they were able to offer something to you, my Lord husband, they would have been happy as well."
"Heh heh. You're as constant as ever."
Among the victims of that were other goinmul players too, so now I just felt somewhat apologetic.
Even if they existed in this world, I'd probably commit the same acts again anyway. At best, I could take responsibility for their livelihoods afterward.
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah..."
- Tak!
With that, the corpse of the Elite-grade demon beast, the Arachne King Tigris, landed in my hands.
There was only one thing I would do with it, and only a few things I needed to check for that purpose.
『Core Activation - 1784/1955』
First, the maintenance capacity the core could endure, naturally.
I had raised the leeway in advance through hunting. A level where I could immediately raise a few more entities upward.
『Advanced Entity Limit 4/6』
Second, the restriction on the number of Advanced-grade entities.
There was a limit on commanding summoned creatures that possessed a grade higher than the Dungeon Lord themself.
Specifically, at the level of 1/n of the Dungeon Lord's own mana.
Also, this restriction didn't loosen significantly even if the Dungeon Lord's own grade increased.
'In the first place, it meant the higher the Dungeon Lord's own grade got, the more powerful summoned creatures they'd be handling.'
It might be different in a game, but as a means of survival, leaving such powerful entities idly available was arrogance.
Because of that, I wanted to keep this entity limit completely filled if possible, so I was planning to raise Eve, Shue, and even Fortuna, who would command the Arachne Queen, up to Elite grade.
'Mercenaries and contractors still require sacrifices to raise their grades, but they don't count toward the entity limit for summoned creatures or demon beasts.'
Instead, their upkeep cost was simply far higher.
Even so, filling all the Advanced entity limit slots with only the 'officers' who would command ordinary troops wasn't right either.
So my plan had been to raise Eve to Elite first, then hunt additional demon beasts to raise Shue, the mercenary, as well...
[I object. The honor of being the first shall be mine.]
[It's only a matter of a few days, isn't it?]
[Even so.]
Shue's opposition came back.
It was a flustering matter since Millden 1 didn't assign such variables to units, but hearing her out, her objection had its own reasoning.
[I admit that Evangeline is strong and capable... But whether it's hunting demon beasts or guarding the Lady, in the two currently most crucial aspects, I believe I am superior. So I think it's right that I go up first for now...]
Since it was a reasonable argument, I decided to accept her claim.
[Fine. Then, what do you think, Eve?]
[Dalkak.]
Asking for the opinion of Eve, who was the senior no matter what anyone said.
And from Eve as well, a belligerent answer beyond what I'd imagined came back.
[Tak.]
[Good...]
Of course, I didn't settle their competition with a single sparring match.
If they had decided not to settle it at all, that would be one thing, but once a decision was made, it had to be done fairly.
Shue's argument was that even if she might be outmatched in all other fields, she had the most confidence in 'demon beast hunting' and 'target escort', so I first included 'personal combat' into those two fields as well.
And at Ran's suggestion, I added a 'spar using only mana without moving the body', and for the final field, a 'simulated small-scale battle'.
The score so far was 2:2.
- Dalgeurak.
"Ridiculous...! Fine. I lost..."
First was the escort battle.
Here, Shue failed to prove her confidence. It was Eve who succeeded in minimizing the damage to the 'escort target' dummy.
Shue showed a determination to block all damage, but Eve showed a stance of carefully watching for large attacks while accepting very minor damage.
Both showed strengths and weaknesses as escorts, but in the end, the victor in this competition was Eve.
"I lost..."
- Dalkak.
"Yes. You were more excellent..."
'It was closer than I thought, but as expected, in this area emphasizing simple technique...'
The mana sparring without moving the body, adopted at Ran's suggestion.
Here, Eve was victorious.
Though it was as I had initially expected, it was surprising to see Shue not being pushed back as much as I thought she would be.
She used a method of aggressively pushing by instinctively judging the moments to apply the output of her power, making up for her lack of technique.
Eve had faced danger several times because of it, even.
"I won... I need to train more. Evangeline..."
- Tak!
Next, in the 'small-scale tactical battle', Shue emerged victorious.
This was also a surprising result. I had thought it might be decided here.
"For that wolf to fight in such a manner, she is truly showing sincerity."
"That's how it looks to my eyes too."
The rule was that if 50% or more of the assigned forces became combat-incapacitated, the other side won.
Shue utilized this properly.
The headstrong Shue had avoided a direct confrontation with Eve and aimed for the annihilation of the unit she commanded.
It seemed she had targeted the fact that Eve's 'Genius Commander' trait deactivated when the number of soldiers fell below a certain threshold.
It was a test that revealed her cold-blooded composure.
"I said I had the most confidence..."
- Tak.
And the fourth. An order to each capture an Advanced or above large demon beast.
As a result, Shue brought back a wild drake, and Eve brought a troll. In nearly equal time.
The two were demon beasts of almost equal caliber, but here Shue achieved 'subdual' while Eve achieved 'slaying', so it was Shue's victory.
"Now there remains the last one. Are both of you prepared?"
Nod.
Thus, it came to the final field.
Personal combat.
The fighting spirit of the two facing this traditional confrontation was not lacking in either.
"I won't go easy on you."
- Dalkak.
One was a berserker, but a strength-oriented unorthodox warrior who used a style of producing output beyond normal even without using heavy weapons to crush and press down.
The other was an all-rounder who could handle not just the sword but all weapons at a high level, and whose limits I myself still didn't know.
"Begin!"
Along with Ran's command from the judge's seat, the sparring match between the two, whose superiority was difficult to gauge hastily, began.
- 2 -
Evangeline and Lin Xue.
The two knew each other extremely well.
Because it was a not-so-shallow bond that had continued from 'last time', and simultaneously, a relationship where they felt both friendship and rivalry toward each other.
However, originally, that point in time was supposed to come quite a bit later than now.
'It was unexpected. I thought she might come after at least some time had passed, no matter how fast.'
'Because I can't let you profit by yourself at the Master's side.'
Even the point when the original 'second one' had joined the dungeon last time was later than now, and that wasn't even Shue.
After all, even Yuran wasn't at Libertas's side at this period.
Setting aside that the 'second one' could no longer be met since I'd prevented it, this was a situation where both of them had joined considerably earlier than before.
'You interfered.'
Thus, for Evangeline, there was animosity toward Shue for interfering with her time with the Master.
'You greedy little...'
Lin Xue had a desperate desire to snatch as many 'firsts' as possible from that Evangeline.
Others might find it hard to empathize, but for the two of them, it was competition over the person more precious than anything else.
Keudeudeudeuk...!!
Such sentiment bloomed at the tips of the two's weapons.
"Here I come...!"
- Tak (Come on)!
Evangeline gripping not the new sword her master had recently gifted her, but the 'enduring' bastard sword, the first reward she had been granted.
Lin Xue, who had simply clenched her fist to draw blood and hardened it, donning on her hand a weapon far harder than steel and far more flexible.
Tteo-eong - !!
Kwang!!
At the spot where the mana-imbued bastard sword and the blood-formed claws clashed, a shockwave burst out along with a thunderous roar like striking a bell with an iron hammer.
'These people are going all-out from the very start...!'
As Ran, who quickly protected the surroundings, surmised, both of their opening strikes were full power.
Full power without having gathered enough mana.
A shock that shook the atmosphere through mana and strength.
Something that could be known just from a phenomenon that shouldn't appear in a mere sparring match.
"...Master?"
"It's alright."
If Libertas hadn't immediately protected them, Ran maybe, but in Sonia's case, she would have suffered quite a great embarrassment.
Kagagakak...!
Evangeline's longsword, which had collided head-on with Shue's full-power strike without evading, trembled greatly.
Seeing that, Lin Xue smiled fiercely.
With the same expression she wore when seeing an enemy's blood.
'I have the upper hand in power.'
"Is it fine if you don't retreat?"
- Dalkak (If you can make me).
"Ha...!"
Lin Xue did not tolerate Evangeline's provocation, spoken while black energy seeped from her lips.
Kwang!!
- Keureureureu...
After shaking off Evangeline's body greatly once, Shue drew blood from her wrist and clenched her fist hard.
Her hair, ears, and tail began to dye bright red from the roots, and a menacing crimson light also began to swirl in her eyes.
Chwareureuk...!
Her hands grew larger as her claws extended long and sharp, and at their tips, mana red as blood shone.
Pyusyuk! Kwadeuk!
Simultaneously, self-harm using mana occurred all over her body.
Charging 「Frenzy」.
She wouldn't go as far as completely charging it, since she'd lose her reason if she did, but she drew her power up to a borderline dangerous level for the sparring match.
Cheucheucheu...!
Of course, Evangeline didn't remain still either.
At the tip of her sword, a degree of black mana unlike anything she had shown before wreathed it.
Using mana manipulation abilities that ordinary warriors couldn't imitate, she layered mana upon mana, and upon that mana, layered mana again.
『Trait - ... Explosive Power...』
『Trait - ... Overlapping Strong Strike...』
And at this very moment, her traits had changed as if it were nothing, yet.
Even Libertas, focused on the match, couldn't notice this quickly.
Kiiiing - !!
Due to the overcharge of mana, the blade body trembled as if it were an ultrasonic knife.
This was a technique of pushing the sword to the point where it would absolutely require maintenance after the fight ended, but the sword her liege had gifted her had more than enough strength to withstand that mana to the end.
Keudeudeuk...!
Thus, the final shape created was the form of a blade edge made by tightening a net.
An imitation of a higher realm, created at a boundary where normally forming a mana blade should be impossible, achieved through traits.
Simultaneously, its destructive power was a technique of mana concentration that was by no means inferior.
Seueuk.
Like that, Lin Xue's crimson eyes, drawn to her limit, and Evangeline's blue glare met each other.
Paat!
After the two people's figures momentarily disappeared from the sight of the other three.
Kwakwakwang - !!!
A continuous shock shook the ceiling of the training ground.