Chapter 777: Strengthening Period
Chapter 777: Strengthening Period
Training in the dungeon was going better than I could have ever imagined.
Perhaps the combat know-how I’d learned from Alicia, however briefly, was finally starting to pay off.
More than anything, though, the fact that it was just the two of us made a huge difference in our travel speed.
With fewer people, our pace was bound to increase, but my partner was Sara, who boasted the highest agility in our entire party.
On top of that, Sara would use her rapid, long-range attacks to lure monsters to us, and our hunting speed skyrocketed to an unbelievable degree.
So much so that I worried we might hunt the monsters around the town to extinction.
In fact, from the halfway point, our monster encounter rate dropped so sharply that we had to travel farther and farther from town just to find things to hunt.
And if you’re wondering if we ran into any crises while hunting at such a frantic pace, the answer is no.
Neither Sara nor I were weak enough to be taken down by monsters from the 4th floor, and more importantly, I was currently hunting with my Saint skills.
Even when using Saint skills, if you hunt monsters using skills from other jobs concurrently, the experience points go entirely to those other jobs instead of the Saint class, which doesn't level up through combat.
I had noticed that system a long time ago.
When I first discovered it, I thought it was just some kind of loophole, but thinking about it now, that probably wasn’t the case.
Considering what Diana had said before—that the dungeon’s structure was designed not only to prevent something below from escaping but also to foster my growth—it was clear that the Goddess had intentionally included this experience system for the Saint.
And right now, I was using this system to rapidly raise the job level of my Moon Shadow Warrior.
Of course, just raising my job level wouldn't change the fact that my low skill levels would make it impossible to fight effectively on the lower floors. I would eventually have to grind my skill levels separately.
Because of that, I did hesitate for a moment, wondering whether I should hunt using my Saint skills or purely with combat skills. But in the end, I decided to stick with this method.
My calculation was that if I raised my job level first, it would speed up my combat, which in turn would speed up the process of leveling my skills later.
Besides, since the Goddess went out of her way to create this system, I figured this was probably the better way to go.
If I were still descending with the rest of the girls like before, I would have sealed my Saint skills to maintain a balance between my job and skill levels, but that wasn't the case now.
From this point on, it was time to focus solely on my own growth until my combat power reached a sufficient level.
So, even if my growth was imbalanced like this, it wouldn't do any real harm.
Though it would have been perfect if I could have used a similar system loophole to raise my skill levels, too.
I did experiment with skill proficiency, but it didn't work.
Unlike the Saint job level, the Saint skills themselves gain proficiency with each use. So, it was probably natural that using them alongside other job skills didn't cause all the proficiency to be funneled into the other skills.
Well, just being able to raise my job level this quickly was already a huge advantage. I suppose I shouldn't get too greedy.
In any case, I was hunting at an incredible pace, using my Saint skills freely for the first time in a while, but there was one problem.
I was running out of mana.
The Saint skills seemed to have been designed with Healing Sex in mind, as they had a high mana cost to begin with. Using them so liberally at this speed, even I couldn't keep up with the mana consumption.
And that was after I’d adjusted their power to minimize the mana drain.
“Ngh?!”
“Pant, pant. Let’s take a break.”
To save even the mana needed to create air bubbles, I grabbed the back of Sara’s neck, pressed my mask against hers, and spoke.
Sara, who had been fighting fiercely, tensed up for a split second when I suddenly brought my face close. It was cute.
But I was too dizzy from the severe mana shortage to tease her, and I let my body go limp.
Being underwater, my body just floated aimlessly when I relaxed, which was one nice thing about this place.
Of course, doing this inside a dungeon would normally be suicide, but we had wiped out every monster in the vicinity. And if another one approached, Sara, with her naturally sharp senses, would handle it.
“Are you that tired?”
As I floated with my eyes closed, I felt something lightly touch my mask as Sara’s voice reached me.
“I feel like I’m going to die.”
“You’re so dramatic… If you can say that, you must be fine.”
Her voice, initially tinged with concern, immediately brightened upon hearing my reply.
Hey, Sara. Saying I feel like I’m going to die is a bit much, don’t you think?
Well, she was right. I was being dramatic.
“But this is a little surprising.”
“Hm? What is?”
“That you’re actually just focused on hunting, Guwon. I thought you would…”
As she spoke, Sara trailed off, her thoughts wandering.
Hey, for your information, my motivation to conquer the dungeon has been rekindled for the first time in a while, and I’m fired up.
And maybe because I’m so motivated, I’m even getting a taste of that old feeling from when I used to play games while hunting.
And you look at me and say, “I thought you would…”? What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t tell me you mean that.
“You’re unbelievable, you know that? What do you take me for?”
“A pervert who only thinks lewd thoughts every day.”
Sara answered my question without a second of hesitation.
But that immediate reply gave me the perfect opening for a counterattack.
“You’re the pervert here. Getting all excited, thinking I’d use this chance while we’re alone to do something lewd, Miss Sara.”
“Idiot! I wasn’t excited!”
“Right, right. So, for a quick mana recovery, how about you and your oppa go over to that shady spot and activate Healing Sex?”
“See, you were thinking about it?! And when did you even spot a shady place?”
After checking where I was pointing, Sara shot me a look of utter exasperation.
Hmph. Don’t praise me so much, you’ll make me blush.
It’s the mark of a gentleman to always be aware of shady spots.
“Sara.”
“Wh-what.”
I grabbed her shoulders with both hands and looked at her with a serious expression.
Since we were already speaking mask-to-mask, our faces were so close we could have kissed if not for the masks. My serious expression must have been more than effective enough.
As proof, Sara looked slightly flustered when I said her name so seriously.
No matter how you slice it, this girl’s problem is that she likes me too much.
“I’m not joking. I’m serious. Healing Sex…”
“Hey, Guwon. Do you really think every woman will listen to you just because you make a serious face like that?”
But at my next words, Sara’s expression immediately turned cold as she shot back at me.
Dammit. So it’s not working. I had a tiny bit of hope that it might!
“Honestly, just because you’ve been doing well lately.”
I couldn’t hide my disappointment, but Sara’s subsequent mumble made that feeling vanish in an instant.
“Huh? I’m doing that well? I guess a guy like me deserves it. Hmm.”
Heh heh. Well, actually, I’d noticed ever since that commotion with Rachel at the guild.
I mean, I really am doing that well.
“Guwon.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re insufferable.”
But right as I was feeling good about myself, Miss Sara, our party’s main attacker, landed a critical hit right in my gut.
Insufferable… In-suffer…
“Keuk! Hey! Even so, there are things you can and can’t say!”
“Then who told you to act like an idiot?”
“That’s it! Sara, you need to be taught a lesson again! Lately, you keep forgetting your promise to call me ‘oppa’ whenever you’re being rude!”
I put on my most furious expression and yelled at Sara.
But my bold Sara didn’t even flinch. She looked at me and spoke calmly.
“Oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa, oppa. Oh my, did I say it a few too many times? Then I’ll just save the ones I said in advance for later…”
“Don’t say it like you’re building up stacks! And in the first place, don’t even think about being rude!”
“I can’t help it. There’s no way you won’t say something stupid, Guwon.”
“Still!”
“…You’re not denying it.”
Hey, don’t give me that dumbfounded look.
I just know myself too well.
Like you said, there’s no way I won’t say something stupid, right?
“Anyway, Sara, you need to be taught a lesson. Let’s go to that shady spot right now and…”
“You pervert. In the end, that’s all you wanted to do.”
Ah, no wonder. She didn’t even bat an eye when I pretended to be angry.
She saw it coming.
See, it’s a problem when she knows me too well.
“I won’t deny it.”
Now that I’m caught, I might as well be bold about it.
“Idiot oppa. You’re not supposed to admit that.”
Hey, calling me oppa is nice, but are you just going to attach ‘idiot’ to it now?
“As the party leader, I have the right to boldly demand that you help me recover my mana in that shady spot for the sake of efficient hunting…”
“No, you don’t. And I’m absolutely not doing it.”
“Tch.”
“Besides, you’ve probably recovered a fair bit by now, right? Your recovery rate is amazing, after all.”
Ah, now that she mentions it.
While we were chatting, I had recovered enough to move around.
I wasn’t fully recovered, so if I started using my skills freely in battle, I’d be exhausted again in no time.
So, I decided to kill some more time by chatting with Sara.
“Is my recovery rate the only amazing thing about me?”
“You idiot. There you go again.”
Hah. Gotcha.
“No, I was talking about my face or my personality. You pervert, Sara.”
“I don’t know about your face… but your personality?”
I threw out a devastating counter, but Sara countered my counter.
“Hey, when you make that doubtful face, it really hurts, you know?! You fell for me because of my personality, didn’t you?!”
You were so wary of me when we first met!
That means you fell for my personality, not my face, right?!
“……”
“Hey, say something. Even if I know you’re joking, it actually hurts, you know? I’m gonna cry. Believe it or not, I have a heart as delicate as glass.”
“Alright, alright. My oppa might be an idiot, but he is kind.”
Just as I was about to pretend to start sobbing, Sara replied as if she had no other choice.
“Hey, that sounds a little weird too, doesn’t it?”
Am I that kind? No, wait, that’s not it.
Did you really have to add the ‘idiot’ part at the beginning?
“What if I said that’s the part of you I fell for?”
“Hmph. This charm of mine, I swear.”
“This idiot oppa. Honestly, just a little praise and you get so full of yourself.”
The moment I started acting smug, Sara sighed deeply and shook her head.
Sara, we’re mask-to-mask right now. When you shake your head like that, it feels like you’re nuzzling my face, you know?
Well, not that I mind.
“For the record.”
“Hm?”
“I fell for your face…”
“Hey, Guwon. You wanna die?”
“My apologies. I’ve come to realize that your personality is even better than your face, which is why I fell for you.”
Th-this girl… that killing intent just now was real.
“Yes. I know.”
Only after I changed my words did Sara give me a bright smile.
All things considered, the fact that we can joke around like this must mean our relationship has grown that much closer.
Though it probably also helps that out of all my women, Sara’s personality is the most like a friend.
Anyway, while I was trading silly jokes with Sara, my mana finally recovered completely.
“Well, I’m all recovered, so let’s get back to hunting.”
With that, I checked the map.
Because we had been wiping out all the monsters around us so quickly, we had ended up quite far from the town.
“What should we do? We’ve come pretty far. Should we start hunting on our way back to town?”
“Sounds good. The timing should be perfect by the time we get back.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
“Okay.”