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Chapter 26 Part 2

It’s been a few dozen minutes since I started practicing.

It was difficult to cast the magic while shifting between chanting using my mouth and chanting in my mind, but after a few times, I got the hang of it and finally succeeded in doing it.

 

I practiced by saying the “Dark” part in my mind and pronounced the rest of the chant out loud.

For example, I say only “Javelin” with my mouth and “Dark” in my head. Or say “Sphere” with my mouth and “Dark” in my head.

Then, next, I practiced the opposite, saying “Dark” with my mouth, and the rest in my head.

I practiced these patterns repeatedly until my mind could memorize them.

 

Sybilla tilted her head as she watched, but it looked like she immediately noticed something as her eyes widened and she put her hand on her chin and nodded with a serious expression.

……It’s the kind of face she’d make when she completely figured something out inside her head after watching what I’ve been doing.

If only she could have maintained that serious face all the time, I’m sure I would have thought she’s a flawless beautiful woman.

 

……Well, not being able to do that is just so Sybilla.

But again, that’s what makes it feel more comfortable around her.

 

In the end, I was now able to shoot three Dark Spheres in a row, alternating from both hands.

Not bad.

 

「Wow, that’s amazing. I know I’m the one who brought it up, but how did you manage to do that? Even I don’t think I pull it off.」

 

「I feel like I’ve heard unbelievably irresponsible remarks, but… Don’t tell me, you’ve said all of that while not believing I would really be able to do it?」

 

「Not at all. I just thought that if you come up with your own steps on how to do it, I figured that it’d be better to memorize it myself for future reference, you know? Since you’re quite clever when it comes to this kind of thing.」

 

You’re the one who’s clever when it comes to this kind of thing!

Damn it, what a calculating woman she is!

Before I knew it, she used my growth as a pretext for her own growth!

 

……I said all of that, but she convinced me when she came up with the concept to actually using it in practice.

And just from the fact she came up with it, I think she’s a truly frightening monster of imagination and knowledge.

 

Looking back, I was of no use to my childhood friends as a Healer, but if Sybilla had been among them, I’m sure I wouldn’t have left the party. I don’t know how things would play out with Vince still being the uncertainty factor, though.

But I think she can at least convince them that I’m a necessary part of our party.

Except….. the fact that Sybilla actually needs the Healer to be kicked out from the party, so I know it’s impossible from the premise, but …..

 

Even so, she was the one who helped me to get through when I was all alone.

Well, in reality, I can be seen as a Healer who hides behind a woman’s back in my previous party, so it’s not strange that I ended up getting kicked out from the Hero’s Party.

Although that was partly because Emmy didn’t want to put me in the front as a vanguard, and I’m sure it’s also because… she didn’t want to watch me get hurt.

 

However, a comrade is not someone who just helps you out all the time.

A true comrade should be someone like Sybilla, someone who would make up for the things you’re lacking.

 

I get the feeling that the me now is stronger, and will keep getting stronger with great efficiency.

And I don’t mean just my Dark Magic.

 

「……Hm? What’s up, staring at me like that? …Could it be, you’ve fallen for me for real this time, hm? Nufufufu~」

 

「It could be that I just remembered how I was laughed at and can’t help but drop another chop to your head.」

 

「My deepest apologies, I really thought I was going to die with the previous one, so please don’t do that.」

 

Seeing Sybilla’s pale face, I sigh and look up at her face.

 

「Sybilla.」

 

「To think you’d raise your hand against a girl— eh? Ah, yes?」

 

When I heard Sybilla’s surprised reply, I shifted my face in a way so that she couldn’t see it and lifted the corner of my mouth into a smile.

 

「If you have any more ideas that might make me stronger, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I don’t know if I can properly pull it off, but let’s give all of them a try.」

 

「…….! Alright, you got it! I’ve roughly estimated how strong the boss on the lower floors would be. I feel bad enough for not being able to do anything except watch from the side, so I’ll try to come up with ideas so that you can win against them easily!」

 

Since it’s her, I can expect some good ideas and they’re definitely going to be the best strategies out there.

I’m counting on you, partner.

 

After that, we ran into a group of silver armors again, black armors that came out alone, etc., which I defeated pretty easily.

I’ve lost count of how many I’ve defeated in this span of time.

 

——【Twilight Sorcerer】Level 8　——

 

「Hm? I just leveled up. But I didn’t learn anything new this time.」

 

That’s true for level 8. But I’m sure you’ll learn something big at level 10, so let’s aim for that!」

 

「I see… it was quite hard to level up to this level though.」 

 

「But thanks to that, we’ve also confirmed that you’re properly getting some experience to level up. It’s indeed quite hard to raise the 【Twilight Sorcerer】 level, but maybe because Living Armor is a slow monster, the experience points you get from it are lower than the other monsters in the lower layer.」

 

Now that she mentioned it, it’s surprisingly safe here rather than the first floor where we have to fight the goblins wielding poisonous knives.

It’ll be quite challenging to fight them in close combat though, considering the armor’s durability and the size of their weapons.

 

When I was worried about how long it took me to level up, Sybilla looked rather pleased.

So I asked her about it, and she replied with 「That’s normal」.

 

「As I’ve said before, leveling is a battle against efficiency…. but at the end of the day, there’s another important thing. Can you guess what it is?」

 

「Another important thing in leveling… what is it? Speed?」

 

「Nope, that’s not it. The other important thing is to know when to 『retreat』. There will be times when you think 『just a little more~ just a little more~』, and you will end up rushing everything just as you are getting tired. The person who does that will be the first to run into a room full of monsters, lose their escape route, and eventually lose their life.」

 

Somehow, this story felt more real than the ones before.

Perhaps there was a Twilight Sorcerer who died precisely because of this reason……

 

「……Really….. Unable to see the real limit, which sparked the overconfidence when they should’ve retreated… How regrettable…」

 

「Sybilla…」

 

「……of that time when I was playing poker in the casino in the capita— Ouuchhh!!」

 

Surprise chop!

 

She ruined it at the last minute! Is this girl for real!?

This… This part of her is just so…!

 

「I feel like an idiot for listening to your story seriously…  Let’s just continue!」

 

「W-Wait! I promise I won’t mess around anymore! Please, heal me! There’s definitely a bump there now, and it really hurts!」

 

「Good grief… what am I gonna do with you?《Extra Heal》!」

 

「Wow, the pain and my fatigue are completely gone. I’m truly glad you decided to keep your Saint Job…」

 

Even if you feel grateful to me at this timing… I don’t know how to feel about it.

 

Well, I’ll keep her advice about knowing when to retreat in mind.

In a way, I feel like it was more of a realization than anything else…

 

Besides, it’s about time a Floor Boss might show up.

Aside from the fight with the Fire Dragon, this will be the first time I’m taking on a boss by myself.

I don’t intend to lose, but I shouldn’t let my guard down.

 

My magic power… there should be still plenty to spare. I don’t think that it didn’t diminish at all, but I wonder how much I have left before it reaches the bottom.

With this kind of thought in the back of my mind, we headed off to hunt for the next Living Armor.