CH 27

“The fact that we got two Rana’s Radiant Ornate Swords is significant…. If I can sell those for a good price, then it will come out for about 30 million gold. With items worth this much, it’s important to look around for places that hopefully offer more for them.”

With the price this high, there is a chance that someone would start sniffing after us, or that someone would find out my family name.

Even Luce might get dragged into things in that case, so I need to talk it out with her first.

“Th-thirty million….three million is a tenth of that….”

Apparently Luce wasn’t able to get her head around things yet and she keeps muttering the same words over and over again.

However, it took quite a bit of time to search for the Golden Ranas.

Finding another today would be difficult.

If we leave it alone, then the Golden Ranas might run out, or maybe someone could defeat the Dream Lord of this Dungeon, making it disappear.

Even so, we shouldn’t rush ahead without thinking.

If we lose our lives because of that, then there is no going back.

Furthermore, with our levels going up like they did, we could even look for another Dungeon with stronger monsters to hunt.

Since in this world the prices of Skill Books are high, it might be a fun way of making money if we tried for those kinds of drops and then sold them at an underground shop too.

I opened my Status and verified my current level once again.

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【Elma Edvan】

Class: Heavy Knight

Lv: 33

HP: 68/82

MP: 14/34

Attack: 22+5

【Equipment】

〈Sword of a Low Ranking Soldier〉

〈Mad Demon Shield〉

〈Iron Armor〉

【Special Skills】

〈None〉

【Normal Skills】

〈Rampart Reversal〉

〈Disarm〉

〈Parry〉

〈Vital Blow〉

〈Shadow Stomp〉

【Titles】

〈Immovable One〉

〈E Rank Adventurer〉

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My Status is getting somewhat respectable.

I was half-way pushed up to an E rank adventurer as a special exception, but by now I should be able to fight on the level of the best adventurers that Rondalm has to offer…. which would be the D rank adventurers.

And so…. there is the question of what should I do about my Skill Tree.

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【Skill Tree】

［Remaining Skill Points: 12］

〈Vow of the Heavy Armor〉[20/100]

〈Defense UP〉[0/50]

〈Beginner Swordsmanship〉[5/50]

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I would like to save some Skill points for when I’ll be able to get the [Smoldering Fang of Madness].

Well, to best be able to make use of the [Smoldering Fang of Madness] I will still need to increase [Vow of the Heavy Armor] in the end.

In that case there is no reason not to increase [Vow of the Heavy Armor] in the meantime.

…..and yet, [Beginner Swordsmanship] would not be a bad choice either.

[Vital Blow] is a useful Skill too and it’s already decided that it will be the [Defense UP] Tree that I will be discarding in favor of the [Smoldering Fang of Madness].

Because of that, putting points into [Beginner Swordsmanship] and getting 【Attack:＋5】 when I have a sword equipped might not be a bad idea.

Getting 【Attack: ＋5】 as a Heavy Knight, which has low Attack by default, would be helpful even after the early game, but would come in especially handy during the lower levels.

This choice would more or less be the compromise option, but it might be worth thinking it over, since it would provide the most stability.

“I’ll decide based on necessity, I guess… I’ll put it off until then.”

Depending on the circumstances Skills can become a serious advantage.

Getting the Attack increase from [Beginner Swordsmanship] won’t make me explosively stronger, but it will allow me to get steadily stronger.

By the time I will be able to get the [Smoldering Fang of Madness] I’ll be at a higher level anyway.

In which case I don’t need to be that worked up about saving Skill points for it now.

If I get into a situation where I need more defense right away then I could increase the [Vow of the Heavy Armor], or [Beginner Swordsmanship] if it’s a situation where more attack power is needed, or if neither happens, then I can save it for [Smoldering Fang of Madness], or something along those lines.

It would be for the best if no situation where a sudden power increase was necessary came up, but as an adventurer one can never know.

“I’m 【Lv：31】 at the moment and I have 【10】 Skill points in reserve, but…. wh-what should I do with them? Should I put them somewhere right away? Elma-san, Elma-san, can you look at my Status and Skill Tree again just for a bit? I’m incredibly afraid to decide for myself…”

“I’ve already told you this before, but you shouldn’t show your Status to just anyone….”

“I’ve already shown you before, so it doesn’t matter anyway. It’s fine! I already owe Elma-san for helping me raise my levels this much, so even if you were to exploit me to your heart’s content and toss me aside like an old rag, I wouldn’t resent you for it!”

Luce said something outrageous with a serene expression and fist clenched in front of her.

“I think if I ever went as far as that then not having you resent me at that point would be more mentally taxing….”

…well, it’s true that I know exactly how Luce’s Skill Tree is set up currently, so it’s indeed too little too late at this point.

I even interfered with her Skill point distribution already.

At this point, it’s better to make sure that she doesn’t make a mistake and give her pertinent advice.

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【Skill Tree】

［Remaining Skill points: 10］

〈The Fool’s Acrobatics [10/100]〉

〈Great Fortune [15/70]〉

〈Attack Power UP [0/50]〉

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Honestly, it’s not an easy decision.

If her eventual goal is to become strong, then putting points in [The Fool’s Acrobatics] and [Great Fortune] and keeping to an efficient leveling strategy would be the best.

However, to do that she would need to visit Dungeons suitable for her, understand the best tactics, and have teammates that would properly coordinate with her.

“It goes without saying, but it all depends on what you want to do… and what you want to be in the future, Luce. If you want to aim higher, then you should save the points for now and once you become an E rank adventurer and Skill point investment limit gets loosened a bit you should then put it all into [Great Fortune]. However, if you want to be able to fight your battles in your current level range in a more stable manner, then you should invest in [Attack UP].”

“I-I see…. when confronted with that choice directly, it’s not easy to decide…. Since I decided to become an adventurer I do want to be one of the best, but…. I honestly don’t have any confidence in myself that I would be able to…. B-but, Elma-san will be aiming for the top, right? In that case, I will do that too, since we are teammates….!”

“You shouldn’t try to match yourself to others, you need to decide that by yourself. You don’t even need to make a choice right now, we can talk about it more back in Rondalm if you want.”

By using stat increasing Skill Trees you might not become strong in the end, but it provides a sense of stability.

If Luce were to put all her current points into [Attack UP], then she might be able to counteract the Clown’s natural lack of power.

Even then its staple high Agility, tricky Skills, and high Luck remains, so she won’t have a problem with money or finding teammates in the future.

I would be more than happy if she decided to throw that away and accompany me on my journey to the higher levels, but that’s not something she should be deciding on impulse.

With the intention to wrap it up for the day we started heading towards the exit of the Angel’s Toybox, but Luce stopped on the way.

“What is it?”

“…..Elma-san, did you hear a noise like a baby crying, or something like that? Maybe I’m just imagining it.”

“A crying, baby voice……?”

I didn’t hear it, but I have an idea what it could mean.

The sound of a baby crying in the Angel’s Toybox.

That could only come from the Dream Lord.

However, ordinarily the Dream Lord does not move from its place in the furthest reaches of the Dungeon, so we shouldn’t be able to hear its voice here.

“No way, is this a Wandering Lord!?”