CH 20

【〈Angel’s Toybox 〉:《Recommended Level: 50》】

As soon as we entered, a message sounded out in my head.

The floor and the walls looked like they were plastered by colorful wallpapers, giving off a whimsical and colorful vibe.

An about four meters wide passage kept going into the distance, branching off from time to time.

“Leave it to me, Elma-san! I don’t know if I will be able to repay you, but I will do my very best to do just that! With this Iron Piercer I will protect Elma-san!”

Luce kept swinging the Iron Piercer vigorously.

“Um, protecting people is my job, you know….?”

….won’t she tire herself out before we even start?

Well, at least she got her head in the game now.

I opened my Status and adjusted my Skill Tree.

Well then, I guess I’ll pick up that Skill.

In general, to better be ready for unexpected situations I hold off on distributing my Skill points right until I actually need them.

If I have Skill points in reserve, then I can get some Skills based on the actual situation, or I can even shove all of it into [Defense UP] to forcefully raise my stats a lot.

Doing that could save my life one day.

I also need to adjust the way I put Skill points in my Skill Tree depending on my teammate’s stats and what we plan to do in the near future.

Ultimately, it would be ideal if I could attain the most powerful character build, which would mean keeping [Beginner Swordsmanship] to a minimum and if possible not even touch [Defense UP], which is slated to be replaced, at all. However, things might not work out that well depending on the situation.

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【Skill Tree】

［Remaining Skill points: 7］

〈Vow of the Heavy Armor〉[15/100]

Thanks to the Mad Head, I leveled up seven times, which left me with the same number of Skill points.

Becoming an E rank adventurer means that the Skill point allocation limit was a bit loosened.

Thanks to that, I can get the amazingly useful Skill that comes with 【20】 points in [Vow of the Heavy Armor], the [Shadow Stomp].

For the time being, let’s put 【5】 in and leave 【2】 in reserve.

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【Skill Tree】

［Remaining Skill point: 2］

〈Vow of the Heavy Armor〉[20/100]【＋5】

〈Defense UP〉[0/50]

〈Beginner Swordsmanship〉[5/50]

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【With [Vow of the Heavy Armor] reaching [20/50], you have gained the Normal Skill [Shadow Stomp].】

[Shadow Stomp] is a Skill that is frequently used by tank Classes to attract the enemy’s attacks onto themselves.

In this case, it’s an important part of today’s money making strategy.

If I couldn’t get this Skill right now, then I wouldn’t have chosen this Angel’s Toybox as our hunting ground.

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〈Shadow Stomp〉【Normal Skill】

By stepping on the target’s shadow, the target won’t be able to escape.

However, if the foot is even slightly raised, the effect gets cancelled.

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First things first, we should raise Luce’s level with the help of this Skill.

Tank Classes are well suited for power-leveling others.

After advancing forward a bit, a bear-looking stuffed animal with visible patchwork done on it appeared.

It was roughly one and a half meter tall and its eyes looked like buttons.

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Monster: Patchwork Bear

Lv: 20

HP: 41/41

MP: 17/17

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“…..although it has a cute appearance, its level is certainly not cute.”

Luce muttered with narrowed eyes.

“That one has an 【Attack Power: 22】, so for Luce that would mean 【18】 damage, which means that even if you were to get hit once, you would still have some HP left over.”

That being said, its movements are sluggish and it doesn’t even have any notable Skills, so I won’t mess up by letting an attack through to her.

Of course if it managed to get a critical hit in, then Luce’s HP might decrease to zero, but if I deliver a jab right after it starts its attacking motion and successfully throw it off balance, then I can prevent the Patchwork Bear from launching critical hits.

“Why do you know something like that out of hand….? Elma-san, do you perhaps like Patchwork Bears?”

It’s not like I like Patchwork Bears or anything….

I’m aware of most numbers and formulae that come up in [Magic World].

“I will deal with its attacks. Luce, you should attack from its blind spot and take it down. Watch out for its claws and fangs.”

“Y-yes!”

I stood in front of the Patchwork Bear and stepped on its shadow.

“[Shadow Stomp]!”

With that, the Patchwork Bear will now be unable to escape me.

“I should attack now, right!?”

Luce circled around to the Patchwork Bear’s blind spot and attacked with the Iron Piercer.

The cotton from the doll scattered.

The Patchwork Bear has a somewhat high Defense, but thanks to the Iron Piercer’s special effect the damage will properly go through.

If she attacks it enough times, then she will be able to take it down easily.

“I’m holding its attention, but its shadow is surprisingly malleable, so watch out for that.”

It would be nice if I could entirely seal the opponent’s movements with [Shadow Stomp], but its shadow can stretch about two meters.

When it gets stretched to its limit, a tension force starts taking effect which greatly hinders the opponent’s movements.

In cramped Dungeons like this, even if I considered the enemy properly restrained by [Shadow Stomp], it could still be able to attack the back lines.

“Now that I think about it, I was warned to watch out for its claws and fangs, but the Patchwork Bear doesn’t seem to have any….”

The moment Luce said that, the tip of the Patchwork Bear’s arms tore open and long talons appeared.

I used [Parry] to deflect those claws with my sword.

The Patchwork Bear quickly regained its balance and lunged at me.

The stitching on its stomach tore open and a giant fang-filled maw opened.

I smashed my shield into the Patchwork Bear’s head and stopped its attack cold.

“It’s good that I have this shield. With only [Parry] it would be a bit too troublesome to manage all these attacks without lifting my foot. Good, Luce, keep those attacks coming.”

“Same as its level, not even its appearance is cute….”

Seeing the huge maw of the Patchwork Bear, Luce said this without thinking.

While I was defending against the Patchwork Bear’s attacks, Luce attacked from its blind spot with Iron Piercer about ten times, until finally the Patchwork Bear’s body burst open.

“Haah, haaah…..i-it takes quite a few attacks…. But, we managed to defeat it without problems….!”

The Patchwork Bear’s cloth body ripped open, the cotton scattering every which way and dissolving into thin air.

Finally a light brown colored magic stone rolled out.

【You have gained 36 experience points.】

It was three levels below me, so the amount of xp I got went down a lot.

However, Luce should’ve got it all no problem.

“Luce, how much did your level increa-”

Luce was pale as a sheet as she ran to the Patchwork Bear’s remains and started hugging the disappearing worn out fabric and cotton to herself.

“Patchwork Bear-san, pleeease drop some kind of item! If I can’t prove my usefulness after getting so much help, then I will lose my place agaaain!”

“Nah, this guy’s only for leveling, so using up all your luck with this would be detrimental instead….. So please try to save it up for now.”

By the way, Luce went from 【Lv：13】 to 【Lv：16】 in one go.

Good good, it’s going well.

If we take down another two suitable monsters, then we will reach our target level.

To properly earn money, we first need Luce at an appropriate level.

Luce needs to further develop her Skill Tree, [The Fool’s Acrobatics] and obtain a certain Skill.

That will finally conclude our preparations.