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Volume 9 Chapter 4 Part 1

Chapter 44: Crepe

『Miria』
Current Levels & Equipment:
Warrior Lv.5

Equipment:
Holy Spear
Hardened Leather Helmet
Chainmail
Hardened Leather Gloves
Hardened Leather Boots
Sacrificial Misanga

「Well then, let’s have Miria use the sword from now on.」

Roxanne and Miria exchange their swords with one another.

I also receive the Holy Spear from Miria. Miria has leveled up twice and is now Warrior Lv.5. Her being a Lv.5 is still a cause of concern, but it’s alright for now because of my 「Plating」.

After resetting the formation, we continue with the exploration with Miria being present in the front. It seems to be alright, doesn’t it? Well, the problem will be when she receives attacks from the enemies.

「Let’s do it, desu.」

Right after Miria’s words, a Fly Trap appears. 「Add Petrifaction」 seems to have been successfully invoked onto it, because the Fly Trap has stopped moving. It appears to have turned lime.

As expected, it’s rare for petrifaction to be successful. Miria had launched over a dozen attacks before she succeeded for the first time.

It’s so rare that you almost forget about it, really. We leave the petrified Fly Trap aside and attack the Hat Bats.

I take on one of the two Hat Bats which Roxanne was playing with. When it drop down from four monsters to three, it becomes easier for vanguards.

I take out both the Hat Bats with a 「Breeze Storm」. Roxanne and Miria surround the Rub Shrub which Vesta was keeping company.

I switch to Fire Magic and cast「Firestorm」. Sparks engulf both the Rub Shrub and the Fly Trap. The Fly Trap turns into smoke and disappears. The Fly Trap died before the Rub Shrub. It didn’t collapse; it turned into smoke while standing. Is this the way the petrified monsters die? It would be dangerous if they were to fall on us in petrified form.

If I were to die after getting hit by a falling monster which had been petrified, it would be unsightly. I didn’t think about it earlier when the Hat Bat fell after it had been petrified. I better instruct them not to petrify the aerial monsters.

I finish the remaining Rub Shrub off with a Fireball. Because both the Fly Trap and the Rub Shrub are weak against Fire Magic, they would normally have died at the same time. The Fly Trap died earlier than the Rub Shrub because it was petrified, most likely.

The petrified monsters do seem to become vulnerable to magic attacks.

「Good. Miria seems to be able to inflict petrifaction, too. Great.」

「Yes, desu.」

After I praise her, we carry on the exploration. It wasn’t until she was Warrior Lv.8 that Miria came under attack. The Hat Bat eluded her shield and crashed right into Miria.

「Are you okay?」

「Okay, desu.」

Such an answer returns to me while I was healing her. Is she really okay? While casting 「Heal」, I take two Rub Shrubs out with a Firestorm. Now that the remaining monster is one, Miria swaps places with Roxanne to confront the Hat Bat and raises her hand.

I attack the bat with a 「Breeze Ball」. Miria drifts to the side and slashes at it with her Estoc of Petrifaction. I finish the Hat Bat off with another Wind Magic Spell.

Thus far, if nasty Hat Bats were to appear, Roxanne would alone engage them in the front. Now that she has a sword with 「Add Petrifaction」 Skill, Miria will have to confront them henceforth.

Miria’s workload has now effectively increased.

Because petrifaction hardly succeeds, I wonder if we should do it like we used to, or should we really have to do it differently?
Although Hat Bat flies briskly and is therefore troublesome, Rub Shrub isn’t easy to beat either. If three Hat Bats were to appear, she would have to take on one anyway, she wouldn’t say that she can’t fight against a Hat Bat.

「It will get more difficult, so I’ll be relying on you.」

「Yes, desu.」

After a few words of encouragement, we proceed forward.

After she levels up to Warrior Lv.10 without receiving any attack, I finally remove Alchemist from my active Jobs. We can’t have 「Plating 」on forever and it’s not like we will be receiving attacks on purpose.

Now that she’s a Warrior Lv.10, it’s a good opportunity. We safely reach the noon break without Miria receiving another attack. Thief, which I selected in place of Alchemist, has also reached Lv30, so I check the list of my Jobs out.

Oh! It’s there! Gambler, that is. Like I thought, it required Thief to be at Lv.30. That means that the scribbling Sherry saw seems to be credible.

Cook needs Explorer Lv30 and Knight needs Warrior Lv30. There may be more Jobs which need other Jobs to be at Lv.30. as well, and you can acquire those Jobs if your other Jobs reach Lv.30.
Is there a derivative for my racial job, Sex Maniac, too, or not, I wonder?

Gamber Lv.1
Effects: Increase INT (Small), Increase DEX (Small)
Skills : Abnormal Status Resistance Down, Critical Outbreak

Gambler gives two small increases to Stats as Job effects. I disagree, however, with the fact that Gambler increases your dexterity. Even if a gambler is skillful, in the end, they are simply addicts.

As for the Skills, there’s nothing related to scamming people in there. One of the Skills increases the probability of inflicting abnormal statuses while the other increases the chance of a critical strike occurring.

It’s basically a Job which requires you to roll the dice at every attack, huh?

If you look at it that way, it does suit a gambler. 「Abnormal Status Resistance Down」 seems to be an Active Skill. When you invoke theSskill, it requires you to select the target whose abnormal status resistance you want decreased. It’s not a Passive Skill which reduces your abnormal status resistance. I’m glad about that.

I’m also glad that it doesn’t reduce your abnormal status resistance but is rather an offensive skill.

It does suit a gambler. If you want meat, cut the bone first, It’s the same thing.

Ah, I wonder how it works. I thought I might try to reduce my abnormal status resistance for a while, but there’s no need for me to do that.

As it appears, Gambler is a Job which drops the resistance of the monsters to abnormal statuses and furthermore, increases the rate of your critical strikes. It’s a constitution of Skills that a gambler would surely like, because their odds are all or nothing.

I try Gambler out when we move back to the Labyrinth in the afternoon. To start off, I cast 「Abnormal Status Resistance Down」 on the monster which Miria is confronting.

Gambler’s compatibility with Assassin is good, but the monster is still not petrified even after two attacks. Miria has also yet to become an Assassin. Because the probability of inflicting petrifaction is low to begin with, is that why it can’t be helped? Or does it have to be my attack for 「Abnormal Status Resistance Down」 to work?

Do I have to do it myself, after all? There’s a possibility that the extent to which it reduces the resistance depends on the Job’s level. And because I can feel that my MP is getting low, I can’t afford to attack wastefully.

Should I make the next test last?

When we continued the exploration, we encountered a group of two Hat Bats and a Fly Trap.

After I cast 「Breeze Storm」, Miria attacks the Fly Trap which I had already used 「Abnormal Status Resistance Down」 on.

The Fly Trap is still not petrified.

While ruing how useless it is, I take out two Hat Bats with「Breeze Storms」.

Three shots, four shots, five shots…

Huh? It was same as before.

On the twentieth floor, it should take nine Spells of the attribute which they are weak against to kill them. I was of the idea that I might have counted wrong, but I finish the Fly Trap off in five 「Fireballs」.

There’s no mistake about that.

「The number of Spells it took to finish off the Fly Trap is no more than on the previous floor.」

I approach Sherry. She will have an answer to that, certainly.

「Not just that, it took less number of Spells to kill the Hat Bats.」

「Really?」

I seem to have counted the spells cast on the Hat Bats wrong. I thought that I counted properly, but I guess I did not.

So it was like that. What might have been the reason? Was it the effect of 「Abnormal Status Resistance Down」?