Novel Bin Chapter 86: Making the best of the World’s Top position.
Chapter 86: Making the best of the World’s Top position.
“For the time being, it’s interpersonal battle training. Is there any objection? ”
“Wait. I’ve nothing but objections.”
While eating breakfast we got a rally meeting.
But just as I started talking about the future policies, Silvia leaned forward and protested.
“In the first place, neither Eko nor I have enough experience points to raise Dragon King and Dragon Horse to Grade 9. Like this, we might not even be eligible to enter the Title Matches.”
“It’s alright. We still have more than a month before the winter title matches.”
“Are you aware it took me doing my best for four months to get to where I am? I admit there’s relatively not much left to raise them to Grade 9, but one month is a bit……”
“We’ll get them to Grade 9 in three days. Don’t worry about it.”
“……Second-dono. I have a very bad feeling about that.”
Even though you were drunk, have you already forgotten what you said last night?
“We’re going to burst through Isoreus.”
“I-Is that for real……?”
Silvia said while slumping and hanging her head.
“Don’t worry. I’m not saying we’re going to fight until we almost die. What you need right now is one or two interpersonal battle experiences. Even if you wanted, there’s really no time to be fighting monsters.”
“Huh……? So, what do you mean? ”
“It will be just sightseeing. It’ll also be a good opportunity for you to see what an upper-class dungeon is like. Only Anko and I will be fighting to farm experience.”
“That is imp-……Ah, I see, it is possible.”
Possible indeed.
This is one of the main reasons why I tamed Anko. If you asked that extraordinary murder weapon for it, even she alone can earn experience at an explosive rate.
Moreover, taking advantage of the unusual versatility of 《Darkness Transfer》 and 《Darkness Summon》, we can challenge and capture an upper-class dungeon in a single day’s trip. Like this, these two will get their Dragon King and Dragon Horse to Grade 9, and we’ll qualify for the Title Matches in a week.
“Hey, hey, what is a tai-tol match? ”
Suddenly, Eko raised a question.
“Ehh”……With that wondering expression, Eko also looked at Silvia and Yukari who was doing housework.
“Y-You don’t know!? ”
“I don’t, you know? ”
Silvia’s expression was one of surprise as Eko come closer to her. Saying “For realsies” Eko tilted her head.
“Eko. If you win a Title, the beastmen from your hometown will worship you like a God.”
“Amazing! ”
“That’s right, it’s amazing. That’s why we’ll join the Title Matches.”
“Yeah, I will too! ”
Nice, it seems like I convinced her.
“Wait, wait, wait! ”
“Please wait a moment, Master. I feel like you’re deceiving her.”
“Yeah. You should explain in detail.”
Silvia and Yukari both came telling me to wait. Well, I suppose they might be right.
“Alright, the explanation then……Silvia, I leave it to you.”
“Umu, leave it to me! ”
I decided to nominate Silvia, who had a face that screamed she wanted to explain it. Yukari simply nodded and went back to doing housework.
“Listen, Eko. First of all, it’s not possible to enter the Title Matches unless you have all your skill at Grade 9.”
“All of them? ”
“Ahh, no, not all skills per se, just the main skills. Since you’ll enter for Shieldmanship, then it means all those skills, from Soldier to Dragon King.”
“If so, then I’ll get a title? ”
“No. From there, you’ll have to climb in the tournament and challenge the current titleholder. If you win that fight, you’ll get the title.”
“……Sounds hard.”
“Yeah……but all you have to do is keep winning. However, just know that simply entering the Title Matches is an incredible honor.”
“Okay, got it.”
Heee, so in this world, it’s an “Incredible honor”? Back in Mobius, this was treated like a wall separating exceptional people.
“The Title Match tournament consists of “duels”. It has a mechanism where no matter what you’ll always be left with at least one HP, so even if you receive a fatal wound, it’s safe. Potions are not allowed. Also, you’ll be disqualified if you use other skills or skills from other fields. The time limit is one hour, and only the final match has unlimited time.”
‘Duel’ is a PvP system that’s not virtual, unlike with a Game Crown. However……a “leave you with 1 HP after a fatal wound” rule? Are you serious? There was such rule in Mobius too for duels, but in Title matches, the unwavering rule was “fatal wounds are fatal”. Otherwise, it wasn’t exciting.
Did the fact of this becoming a real-world caused some ethical issues because of that rule? Certainly, it would be a problem if the contestants died in the Title matches. I feel a bit disappointed about this change since I feel my tension fading out, but it might be unavoidable.
“Since you’re using Shieldmanship, you’ll participate in the Kongou matches. And since I’m an Archer, I’ll participate in the Kisenshou matches.()()
“Kongou matches? ”
“Umu. And if you win the Title, everyone will call you “Eko Leafret Kongou”.”
“Silvia Kisenshouー”
“Yeah. Silvia Virginia Kisenshou……Fufu, fufufufu.”
And here I thought Silvia was knowledgeable, I see……So that’s the reason. In other words, having the Title in her name tickled her heart.
“Hmm, by the way, which Title will you challenge, Second-dono? Will it be Swordsmanship? ”
“Yeah. Swordsmanship, but also Magic, Summoning Magic.”
“HA…………”
To be honest, I also wanted to participate in 【Archery】, but this time I’ll concede it to Silvia, I was going to list it also but after seeing her with her dropped jaw, I decided to stop. I don’t think she’ll even listen to what I say.
“So, in my case, it would be Second Issenza Eishou Reiou, a triple crown (sankan). Then, I guess people would refer to me as Second-sankan? ”
“Second-san-kan! ”
“Yeah. Sankan (triple crown).”
“……Even if two crowns are unprecedented, a triple crown will happen first? I was quite surprised, but now that I think about it, isn’t it just normal?”
While I was talking with Eko, Silvia appeared to have revived. It looks like she was shocked by my triple crown declaration. Yeah, it feels nice. The best in the world has to be shocking.
“It’ll be those three in winter. In the summer I’ll aim for a triple crown defense and get five additional ones. Eight crowns altogether.”
“Wha-……”
Ahh, she froze again.
“……E-Eko. Don’t misunderstand things. This is Second-dono we’re talking about. He’s the only one who’s weird. Just participating in a Title match is an honor. It’s a huge honor.”
“Hmm.”
In response to Silvia’s explanation, Eko replied with a vague answer, I don’t know if she understood her or not. I somehow feel that Eko has slowly been changed by my values. Well, everything is an experience. There’s a lot of things you can understand the first time you try to challenge a Title. Whether or not it’s an honor, it all starts with the challenge.
“Alright, shall we go to Isoreus now? We’ll leave in thirty minutes. Get ready.”
One month until the Winter Title Matches. First of all, let’s get enough experience for what we’re lacking.
“Ahh, that’s right. Yukari, I’d like to bring those servants in the top ranks who want to join me, are there any candidates? ”
“……Yes? ”
“We’ll be getting a stupid amount of experience. And so will the servants who come. I hope they can grow in a way they can clear an intermediate-class dungeon by themselves. ”
“O-Okay. Understood. I’ll call them and bring them in 30 minutes.”
“I leave it to you.”
_______________________________________________________________
“So, these are the five you gathered?”
30 minutes later. Silvia, Eko, and five servants were gathered in the living room.
“Cubero, Yve, and El, was it? And you are-”
“This is my first time meeting you, Master. My name is Champani.”
“Ohh. You’re just like an ojou-sama.”
“I-It’s an honor! Impressive! Wonderful.”
Placing her hands in front of her chest, Champani jumped in joy. She’s a child with a lot of emotional expressions. The soft scent of flowers drifted from her gorgeous blonde hair. I feel an extraordinary effort, not only on the fashion she wears but also in her personal taste that reaches every corner of her being. I have a great impression of her.
“I’m Cosmos. I’ll be in your care, Master.”
“Yeah, likewise. Do you use Jojutsu?”
“Yes. I’m great with a stick in my hand.”
Cosmos looked like a Japanese beauty with long black hair. Yeah, however, no matter how clean and neat she looks, she seems to be hiding something. Why do I think that? Because, as far as I’m aware, 【Jojutsu】 is a skill used by maniacs.
“Are they all? ”
“Originally, Lilly was supposed to join instead of Cosmos, but it appears there were some problems at work.”
“At work? Is it difficult?”
“I think it’s his subordinates the ones he’s having problems with…… He was in tears, regretting not being able to come.”
Cubero answered with a wry smile. After telling him “tell him to come next time”, he nodded with a happy expression.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Alongside those words, I used 《Monster Summoning》 to call Anko.
Agitation and noise soon spread across the servants. That reminds me, I haven’t explained about her.
“This is my secret weapon. A Darkness Wolf called Anko. She’s a hidden boss of the upper-class dungeon, Isoreus.”
“……Upper-class.”
“Yeah. The dungeon we’re going now is the one where Anko originated.”
The buzz immediately calmed down. But soon after, it became noisy again.
“Do you mean we’re going to an upper-class dungeon!? ”
“What? Didn’t you hear from Yukari? ”
Cubero wasn’t the only one with a shocked expression. All the servants had paled faces. Well, I don’t know if Yve’s expression is pale since she’s got that pure-white, expressionless face, but she still looks surprised.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let them lay a finger on you. Think of it as a sightseeing tour.”
The purpose this time is to “Show the servants the site”, while earning experience. This seems to be nothing at first sight, but it’s actually very important.
In an online game, what makes you take action sometimes is the longing for high-level players. If they don’t get a concrete example that makes them think “I want to be like that” they won’t get serious at all.
I want them to yearn to become like me on this visit. And then, for them to take action. I want them to find out that they can survive this simple task of clearing dungeons and earning experience.
“Be motivated. Be ambitious. And then think for yourself. I have all the information you need to become strong. I’ll tell you if you want to know. Today is just the first step.”
“My Lord.”()
“Yeah. Start the transfer and summons one after the other.”
“Certainly.”
After touching each one of them, Anko used 《Darkness Transfer》 to go to Isoreus, and then 《Darkness Summon》.
Silvia and Eko seemed determined, and together with the servants, who floated bewildered expressions, moved towards the gate of Isoreus.
“Now, join the team.”
I sent the five of them a request to join team Firstest as a guest. They all accepted instantly.
Temporarily excluding Yukari from the distribution, I set the experience value distribution method in the team to evenly. With this, even if only Anko and I fight, the experience gained will be distributed evenly among eight people.
“Follow me and don’t lag behind.”
I started walking without looking behind. Just before reaching the enemies, I called Angolmois with 《Spirit Summoning》and used 《Spirit Possession》 immediately. Again, the servants with the exception of Cubero became noisy.
“Spirit Possession is one of the Summoning Magic skills. It’s unlocked when you reach Grade 4 in Spirit Summoning. You should remember as much as possible.”
I gave them generous advice. Champani was even taking notes. That’s good. That’s how information leakage should be treated.
“About the Transform skill that I’ll use later, ask Silvia and Eko what’s its condition to learn.”
I’ll use 《Spirit Summoning》 and 《Transform》 to fight continuously without dropping buffs. That’s one of the basics for dungeon clearing.
“Anko. Dark Flame Spear.”
“As you wish.”
I’ll spare nothing. We’ll push forward with the highest power from the start.
Following Anko, I also pulled out my weapon, the mithril sword, from my waist, and started running while preparing 《Rook Swordsmanship》.
“Ufu-”
Anko’s 《Dragon King Spearmanship》 blew off the two armor knight gatekeepers in one strike.
Alongside the servants, Silvia and Eko were also shocked. She one-shotted an upper-class monster. With this, they probably understand how abnormal she is.
We broke through the castle gate. And keeping the same momentum, we plunged into the old castle that is Isoreus.
“Straight ahead, enemy at 10.”
“Yes.”
“Straight ahead, enemy at 3.”
“Yes.”
“Forward at 1, enemy at 9.”
“Yes.”
I gave out instructions with simple words. The directions were expressed by the hours of a clock. I kept it as simple and easy to understand as possible.
What kind of monsters comes out, from where, and what kind of attacks they make? I know all of it, that’s why I can easily read ahead and respond without a problem.
The safest thing to do is defeat the enemy before they have a chance to respond. A preemptive strike is the greatest defense.
“Transformation in 5 seconds, enemy at 11.”
“How should I continue?”
“Let’s go with B.”
“Yes.”
I blew away the three Black Ghosts that came from the front left with 《Transform》. Anko’s ‘continuation’ referred to what should she do afterward. My answer of B referred to Plan B. Since we’ve prepared a corresponding plan for all patterns in advance, there’s no need to give specific instructions such as “do this after I transform”.
By the way, Plan B is: Anko attacks the monsters at the rear of me while the 8 seconds of Transform’s invincibility pass, if she can’t defeat them, I’ll blow them away after 6 seconds pass, then Anko chases them down.
“Fools.”
This time, however, there was no need for me to blow them away since Anko’s 《Rook Spearmanship》 took care of them.
“Forward at 1, enemy straight ahead.”
“Yes.”
Thus, we cleared the Isoreus with tremendous speed.
It took less than an hour after entering the castle until we reached the tower where the boss is.
“Looks similar, right?”
“Yeah. After all, you’re an evolved version of this mutant species.”
The boss of Isoreus is the Dark Flame Wolf. It’s a big black-haired wolf, similar to Anko.
“F, okay?”
“Certainly.”
Plan F――A preemptive attack using Anko’s 《Darkness Magic》.
To the Dark Flame Wolf, whose HP became 1 because of the black fog, a 《Soldier Archery》 shot was all that was needed to defeat it. An instant kill.
“Alright, let’s take a break, then we’ll do another clear.”
Since one clear took less than an hour, counting the break time, that will make it one hour, which is perfect since the cooldown time for 《Darkness Magic》 is 3600 seconds. Therefore, it is possible to clear Isoreus at a high speed.
Well, this wasn’t bad at all for it being my first time in a while. My body fully remembers it. If we keep going like this, we can shorten it to 45 mins per clear. If we do so, it’ll become necessary to defeat the Dark Flame Wolf without relying on 《Darkness Magic》. What we can do is push it using the stun effect from 《Dragon King Swordsmanship》, of if we think about safety, we can use the “Gold Bishop Hamejiro strategy”. Or maybe even the “Gold Bishop Hamesaburo”. Yeah……
“……Second-dono.”
“What’s wrong? ”
While I worried about which strategy to use, Silvia spoke to me with a strange face.
“My Dragon Horse skill became Grade 7.”
“Ohh. Isn’t that great?”
“D-D-Don’t “that’s great” me! This is too insane!! ”
How noisy! My ears are ringing.
“Do you know what you’ve done!? You’ve cleared an upper-class dungeon in just an hour without even getting hit, you know!? And that’s even while protecting us! ”
“It’s not like I protected you. I just crushed the monsters before they could do anything.”
“That’s what’s insaaaaaneeeee! ”
Now she’s screaming again.
“In just one hour my Dragon Horse went from Grade 6 to 7! In other words. Just how much experience did the servants get!? Wouldn’t it be enough to get a Soldier skill all the way to a high Grade? ”
“Probably.”
“Isn’t this just too powerful!? ”
“I suppose.”
Silvia was freaking out because of too much tension.
Eko, on the other hand, was playing with her skills with a happy voice. Doing things at her own pace as usual.
“Second-sama.”
Then, Cubero called out my name with an expression filled with determination. Next to him, the other servants were also lined up.
“I now understand the meaning of why you brought us here.”
“Is that so?”
……He looks impatient, or rather, does he understand? He has the same sort of motivated face as the Court Mages when I showed them the damage the First Form of magic could do. Looks like this is the effect of them seeing it with their own eyes. It makes me really happy.
“If there’s something that you want to know, ask me. No matter if it’s a dungeon strategy or whatever. I’m ready to teach you.”
“Yes……! ”
The five servants nodded in excitement, like newbies who had their mind blown away by a senpai.
“Well, not I want to focus on a time-attack, so it’s okay for you to go back home. Ahh, Silvia, and Eko, you stay. We’ll go shopping before heading home, in the meantime, stay behind me.”
I sent back the servants thanks to Anko and returned to clearing Isoreus.
It’s finally getting there. We’ll steadily gain experience and enter the stage for the Title Matches. And finally, I’ll set foot into the land of the World’s Best. I’ll get that position once again.
……Wash your necks and wait for me, Titleholders. The day when you taste defeat is near.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Everyone, you understand, right?”
The five of them had returned to the Firstest state and were looking at each other.
In response to Cubero’s words, Cosmos raised her hand.
“What is it?”
“My panties got wet so, can I go back?”
“……Wait a bit longer.”
Despite being embarrassed by Cosmos’ shameless comment, Cubero continued to speak.
“In the last hour, I was able to raise my Soldier Martial Arts to Grade 7, and Silver Martial Arts to Grade 5.”
“Yeah. The same for my Martial Arts. (El)”
“I also raised my Soldier Swordsmanship to Grade 5 (Champani).”
“I feel like my Jojutsu reached its peak all across (Cosmos).”
“……e……oo (Yve).”
Everyone reported that they had improved their skills. Not being able to really put it into words, Yve simply nodded.
“We all……Have been doing nothing but receiving from Second-sama.”
Cubero’s mutter made everyone nod in agreement.
“Why did he allow us to have this sort of experience? We have to understand what he really means.”
“I already know. Master is expecting us to become a force (Champani).”
“I also think there’s that, but will he put that much energy into us servants just for that? (El) ”
“That’s right. For him to insert so much energy into us……” (TLN: This is the best I could come up with that still makes sense)
“……? ”
Yve tilted her head in response to Cosmos’s mutter. And after waiting for El to smack Cosmos in the head, Cubero opened his mouth.
“Let’s live up to his expectations. I was only one hour, but there were countless things than we could learn from it. The world Second-sama see and the world we see is different. Now that we know that, there’s only one thing for us to do.”
“Getting closer even if by a little to Master’s level, and devote ourselves to help him, right? ”
“Yeah. We can be taught by that great person. There’s no better place than this.”
To be taught by the world’s best. There’s nowhere else in this world where they could find such a wonderful environment.
“Let’s learn from Second-sama about dungeon clearing, and study hard so that we servants alone can clear it.”
Here, the servants of house Firstest took their first step in becoming an unparalleled group of fierce people.
_______________________________________________________________
“By the way, isn’t Master way too cool? ”
“Isn’t a little too late to be finding that out?”
“……o……ool.”
“Hey, I’ve been thinking this for some time. Yve-san is really easy to understand.”
“Ahh, that’s true. I don’t know why I was so scared of you when you’re so cute.”
“……te? ”
“Your face is all red, Yve-cchi.”
“～～～uuu……!? ”
Yve, whose skin was pure white because she’s albino, easily turned red when she was even a little embarrassed or excited.
“I saw you were as red as a tomato when you were staring at Master from behind.”
“Ahahaha, oh poor thing.”
“…………”
“Don’t get depressed, Yve-cchi. Even I have to change my underwear every time I see Master.”
“Aren’t you the poor thing then?”
“Oh ho ho ho! ”
“Pani-cchi, I won’t forgive you.”
“I only laughed! Why just me!? ”
“I just don’t like the way you laugh.”
****
[List of currently known titles]
【Swordsmanship】 Issenza (Speed Sovereign)()
【Archery】 Kisenshou (Demon Piercer)()
【Shieldmanship】 Kongou (Vajra/Indestructible)()
【Magic】 Eishou (Sage General)()
【Summoning Magic】 Reiou (Soul King)()