Currently we are inside the beginner dungeon for adventurers level 20 and below. Our goal today isnât to raise our levels but to train. Although we are at level 20, it is important not to neglect the strength that a person can obtain from training. I was capable of demonstrating power equivalent to an average adventurer despite my lower status when I was at my peak.
[mmmmmm. I wanted to participate too. The tournament. Hmph] (Til)
Til was complaining with an envious face.
[Donât say that. You have a class suited for long-range battles. If you were to enter a ring 20 metres wide you wouldnât allow be able to utilize your strengths to the fullest.] (Youya)
[But Iâve been getting better at other weapons too such as knives and other stuff.] (Til)
At the moment, Til was juggling three knives which she usually kept hidden on her body. She caught the knives between her fingers and threw them towards a tree, sticking them into the same tree. Although Spirit Archers didnât typically use knives for battles, Til was already a master at handling knives.
[Iâll admit that Til is very skilled as a fighter. And Iâve always thought it was strange that you do not seem like an amateur at all. Itâs as if you have learnt martial arts before.] (Youya)
Phil was skilled with a bow from the start, however aside from that she was average. For me, I have been scavenging and hunting in the mountains since I was young and my physical strength is higher than an average person, however it wasnât anything exceptional. However, in Tilâs case there is evidence to believe that she has been doing properly training. That wouldnât be the case if one led a normal life.
[Because the art of a bow comes naturally to all elves, everyone had learnt how to use one. In addition, I have always been dreaming about being an adventurer, so I trained under the wing of the villageâs number one warrior. However, one day he said that he had to leave the village, and apologised to me as he had only trained me for a short time. As a result, I only have the fundamentals of the fundamentals drilled into me.] (Til)
[So thatâs it.] (Youya)
Iâve met that number one warrior from her village. We fought together once as brothers in arms. If itâs him, then Iâm convinced. Just having the fundamentals seperates the novice from an amateur.
[But even if you learn how to handle a knife or have good stamina. That is different from having a job that synergize with knives. You donât have the status correction that comes from having an actual job and a class benefit. A Spirit Archer that eats a blow from a wooden blade in close quarter combat is still dangerous. I canât approve of it. If someday there is a tournament that suits Til, Iâll be sure to let you attend.] (Youya)
I put a piece of Panam fruit into my mouth.
Although Til has many complaints about the situation, she is still taking her training seriously. If she continues to work hard at her current pace, she will be able to defend herself even without needing Luna to protect her.
Now then, I wonder how Luna is doing.
[Luna. Looks like your yokonagi is able to land critical hits as well now.] (Youya)
[Uhn. This is the second one!] (Luna)
Among the nine types of slashes, Lunaâs second choice is Yokonagi. It is a good choice considering Lunaâs small stature. Yokonagi is a downward slash with a small movement and there arenât many situations where this could be used. However, one effective use of the Yokonagi slash is to utilise it after the stab where itâs short range and range of motion can be beneficial. More than anything, it is an easier for Luna to land critical hits than a stab as it was a slashing movement.
[Now then. Letâs move on to sparring practice. Iâll be using a wooden sword while you will use a dagger. For the next thirty minutes, Iâll only be defending myself and I wonât counter or attempt an attack. If you land a single hit on me within the time limit, you will win the match.] (Youya)
[The rules are too lenient towards Luna! At least counter Lunaâs attacks.] (Luna)
[Youâll understand once we start the match. Letâs see.. If you win the match, Iâll grant you one request. ] (Youya)
[!! Really!?] (Luna)
[Only if itâs within my power of course.But yeah. Any request.] (Youya)
[Alright! Luna will try her best and win!] (Luna)
Luna became motivated instantly and her fluffy fox tail swung back and forth.
Iâm suddenly afraid of what she will request of me. But I guess itâs much more fun this way now that the stakes are higher.
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.
Thirty minutes have passed.
Lunaâs body gave way and she fell onto the ground, losing her grip on her dagger. She had attacked me for the entire thirty minutes without letting up so it isnât unexpected.
[Was the match too easy? Should I revise the rules again?] (Youya)
[Youya is strong! Even though Luna is faster.] (Luna)
Based on our basic status, my stats are slightly higher than Lunaâs. However, with the class stat corrections, Lunaâs speed got a huge boost and her overall status is better. However, she wonât be able to beat me using just pure speed. I have spent decades battling monsters and people who were far stronger and faster than I was. Sheâll need more than just speed to beat me. If anything, she needs to come up with a strategy in order to land a hit.
[If you want to defeat me, you must be sure to watch my movements. Watch how I receive your blows and pace myself in battle. How I breath. My footwork. And think about how you can interrupt it. These are the skills that Luna doesnât have. Once you start noticing these things, you will begin to become more familiar with my battle style and eventually, you will be able to push through. Weâll do this spar session everyday at the inn for thirty minutes.] (Youya)
[Youya. If it isnât today, will Luna still get a reward for winning?] (Luna)
[Of course. There wonât be any tension if there isnât a prize to be won. However, I will place a deadline. The deadline is one month. If you donât win within the month, the prize wil be forfeit.] (Youya)
Without the strength to stand up, Lunaâs eyes started shining while she was laying on the ground. She opened my mouth and drank a stamina potion before proceeding to her own training.
Somehow she feels more motivated than before.
[By the way, what do you plan on asking for if you do win?] (Youya)
Luna paused for a moment before puffing up her cheeks and turning away. Glancing at her neck, it looks like sheâs red down to her neck.
[itâs a secret.] (Luna)
That was a boring answer. But Iâm sure Luna wouldnât ask for anything unreasonable. If she is able to land a single blow on me in this next month, I plan to fulfill her request to the best of my ability.
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The main reason we came to the dungeon isnât to train, but to go on a treasure hunt. Dungeons arenât just filled with monsters for adventurers to hunt. The monsters are mostly cleared out on the day they spawn so adventurers often spend the other days treasure hunting. We may not be able to raise our levels due to the tournament rules, but if itâs just a treasure hunt then we will be fine. We could also avoid raising our level by utilising Lunaâs Presence Detection.
[Youya, I smell treasure over there.] (Luna)
Lunaâs nose began to twitch as she sniffs the air. This cute movement fits really well with Lunaâs appearance and her age. The reason why Luna said that she could âsmellâ treasure is due to the her new skill, Treasure Sense. As the name implies, it allows Luna to sense any treasure chests in our vicinity similar to Presence Detection. There are many chests in dungeons that are placed in conspicuous areas, however as a veteran adventurer I am certain that there are many chests that are hidden within the dungeon walls itself. Chests that can be easily found are certain to be looted by other adventurers. Thus we are hunting for the chests that are hidden instead. By using Treasure Sense, rather than persistently searching throughout the dungeon Luna will be able to sense their locations if we get close enough.
[Weird. The treasure chest is directly ahead of us, but itâs a dead-end?] (Luna)
As Luna said, we have arrived at a dead-end. It isnât possible to return and take a different path as the previous turn is quite a distance away.
[In that case, there should be a hidden room behind the wall. Try to tap the wall and listen to the sound.] (Youya)
I knocked the wall with my knuckles and a loud noise reverberated throughout the wall.
Bingo. It seems that there was indeed a hidden room. There are several ways we could go about opening this room, but based on the sound the wall is quite thin as compared to the surroundings. For a thin wall, there is a simple way for us to pass through.
[Luna. Til. Be prepared to dodge the debris.] (Youya0
[Uhn.] (Luna)
[Roger that.] (Til)
The two of them lowered their bodies towards the ground as I grabbed my sword. One of the most commonly used skill for swords, Bash. It can be activated easily with an efficient mana cost for its attack multiplier. The wall collapses as my sword collides with it. Although it is simple to destroy walls with this method, this is only possible as the wall is abnormally thin. If this is performed against a normal wall, there is a high chance that the sword will be damaged rather than destroying the wall.
[Woah, the wall actually broke.] (Til)
[Ah! The treasure really is behind the wall!] (Luna)
Luna and Til walked past the collapsed wall and entered the hidden room.
[Luna, did you put points into Lockpick?] (Youya)
Original name was 解é which translates to âReleaseâ, but changed to Lockpick
[As you told me to, I put three points.] (Luna)
[Good. That will be enough for now.] (Youya)
We canât lower our guard just because we found the chest. There are traps that have a 50% chance of activating when opening a chest. There have been instances where a poisonous gas is released or paralysing needles are shot out from the chest so on and so forth. With Lockpick, not only is the chest easier to open, but the traps can also be deactivated depending on the personâs status. With Lunaâs current status, level 3 is sufficient to deactivate the chest.
[Youya itâs opened.] (Luna)
[Nice. Itâs a Magic Bag (Small). It can only hold up to 10 kilograms of items but itâs worth at least two million gils on the marketplace.] (Youya)
[If itâs two million, we could play around the town for three months.] (Til)
[Amazing! Today is a good day!] (Luna)
Luna and Til are grabbing each otherâs hands in celebration of our loot. However.
[We wonât be selling this bag. Til will be using it instead.] (Youya)
[You sure? Giving me this kind of item.] (Til)
[Definitely. I was actually hoping of finding another bag for you. Wouldnât it be difficult to carry a bow around in the town? If you had a magic bag you could place your bow inside rather than carry it around.] (Youya)
Bows are useful but they are quite troublesome to carry about.Their arrows are quite bulky as well. That is why Spirit Archers often carry around a magic bag. I was planning to pass her a bag from the start but I already passed my spare bag to Luna. When I asked Luna to pass her bag to Til, she looked so devastated that I couldnât bear to take her bag away from her so I held back on the thought.
[Thank you so much! Iâll treasure this.] (Til)
[Please do so. We definitely have the goddessâs blessings as we are very lucky to find such a rare item on our first chest. ] (Youya)
Til hugs the magic bag tightly in her arms. Iâm sure she will take good care of it.
[Now then. Itâs about time to head back. Weâve obtained a good souvenir for today.] (Youya)
[Letâs go! Letâs do special training when we return! I will definitely land a hit on Youya by the end of the month!] (Luna)
Luna is extremely motivated for our challenge. I will do everything in my power to stop that. After all, I wonât have the qualifications to be a teacher if I lose to my own student in just a few days.
[Me too! Iâll make big sis proud of me! I heard from her that having a magic bag is proof of being a top-tier adventurer!] (Til)
[Yeah. Thatâs right.] (Youya)
Very few adventurers actually carry around a magic bag. Even if a party do find a magic bag, they will often sell it and split the profits between the members.
As usual, the party is progressing smoothly. Letâs continue treasure hunting while training the two everyday until the day of the festival since it will be a good experience for the two of them.