Chapter 121
The Heroes have gathered under the instructions of the Goddess .
Weâre inside a large garden adjacent to the castle .
No one could enter this place without permission from the Goddess .
The garden is filled with blooming flowers .
There was a fragrant aroma wafting around the air .
As if itâs a dream come true, this would be the place where you would want to spend your time relaxing out of the ruckus of the outside world .
However, I couldnât do that now .
The atmosphere around the gathering Heroes werenât so peaceful .
The Goddess would always call us here whenever there is something important to talk about .
Everyone understands this already .
The Heroes have been travelling around ruins all these times .
Into the ruins where the Golden-eyed monsters live .
Thereupon, weâve been continuously fighting all the time .
Of course, it was all so that we could obtain experience .
Other than that, Alion has also been capturing a large amount of Golden-eyed monesters .
Theyâve captured them so that they could be used as experience for the Heroes .
The people that were prioritized to be given these captured monsters were Kiriharaâs group .
They had the expectations of the Goddess .
The number of demons given towards them blatantly tells them so .
Thereâs hardly any monsters given towards me and the others .
(However, my level has considerably risen after defeating the monsters in these ruins...)
I also learned some tricks on fighting .
[Recently, I feel like thereâs a tense atmosphere in the castle . Donât you feel it too, Poppo?]
[Eh? I- Is that so?]
[Doofus~! Youâve sent too much nutrients into your breasts that youâve forgotten sending some into your head?]
[A- Asagi-san...]
Hiding her breasts, Kashima Kobato curls her body to a ball .
Her face was bright red .
Ikusaba Asagiâs shameless remarks .
Some righteous indignation began welling up within me .
She has always been like this even back in my previous world .
It might have been different if she complained even a little bit .
Trying to caution her, I was about to open my mouth .
However, Kobato looked straight at my eyes then shook her head .
Did she read what I have been thinking?
âIâm alright . Having a dispute here would just be troublesome . â
Kobatoâs eyes were telling me something like that .
Strong will would only appear in her eyes at times like this .
Vexed, I could only withdraw .
Thereupon, Kobato gave a small nod as if sheâs thanking me .
[.....................]
Ikusaba Asagi .
Currently, her influence within 2-C is increasing .
The greatest reason is probably because she has acquired an inherent skill .
Asagi is a B-Rank Hero .
Normally, it was said that inherent skills could only be acquired by A-Rank Heroes or higher .
However, Asagi acquired an inherent skill even when sheâs B-Rank .
The Goddess was also happy when she learned about this .
âI knew from the start that Asagi-san had something special within her . She has the ability to bring all of her friends together . â
Asagiâs inherent skill is . (T/N: Group Enhancement)
Itâs a skill that bestows to multiple targets .
Itâs a skill that not only strengthens your status after theyâve casted it to you once, it would also gradually increase your overall status up to a certain value .
When the duration expires, the status increase would turn back to its original value .
Asagiâs group now has strength in numbers .
It can be said that this is such a skill that would shine especially when youâre strong in such a way .
With this, the Asagi group could surpass the others in terms of team battles .
However, Kiriharaâs group isnât trying to drag her over to their side at all .
It doesnât look like Kirihara and the others think well about Asagi .
It seems like they think it would be dangerous if they get ahold of her .
Kirihara and the others were vigilant towards Asagi .
I could see some signs that tell me so .
She has clearly refused to join Kiriharaâs group .
Even the Goddess has given up hope pulling her over to his side .
Conversely though, the door to membership is still open for me .
Of course, I donât have any intention of joining though...
Yasu Tomohiroâs group is also getting stronger .
However, it canât be denied that this group has just turned into Yasuâs one-man group .
Only the A-Rank him have become prominent and strong .
The other Heroesâ level havenât increased compared to his level .
It feels like theyâre just gradually increasing their levels by pouncing upon Yasuâs leftovers .
On the other hand, our group is under the management that every experience points would be distributed to everyone as evenly as possible .
âWe should concentrate all the experience points to Sogou Ayaka . â
Kayako, who has now become our semi-mediator, suggested that first .
However, I rejected that .
I know the extent our strength would be if we were to put all resources just to myself .
It would be better if everyone would gather our strengths and fight together .
Thatâs why I rejected her proposal .
As a result, I improved my level and learned some skills together with my comrades .
What theyâve learned were Common Skills .
Basically, common skills were skills that any Hero could learn .
The common skills were divided into five systems .
You would be able to unlock skill as you level up .
When unlocked, the skill tree would also change accordingly .
Some parts of the uncolored tree would begin having their own colors .
It is said that the higher it is in your tree, the higher the ranking of the skill will be .
Incidentally, it was said that the skills of the Abnormal State System nowadays were useless .
Their performance was certainly just as the Goddess said .
Not just the techniques, even the skills of Heroes in the Abnormal State System were quite obscure .
And also, the inherent skills have different dispositions compared to common skills .
There were also some skills within the inherent skill that level up themselves .
It seems that its level will rise as long as you use them .
As their levels go up, their abilities would evolve .
[I wondered what would happen in the beginning, but weâre glad we could be of use to Ayaka-chan with our Defense System and Ability Enhancement skills... Itâs just as Ayaka-chan says, isnât it?]
Relieved, Minamino Moe said .
If youâre a user of Support System skills, you donât have to be the vanguard of a team .
I would only be the one in charge of being the tank and the vanguard .
The others would be supporting me from behind while they would protect themselves with defensive skills .
Then, one of our comrades would slay the monster once weâve driven the monster to its death .
Currently, this is the fighting style that the Sogou Group is using .
Everyone is doing well in their roles .
(However...)
I displayed my status .
LV 115
HP: +1390
MP: +2878
Attack: +10983
Defense: +2256
Physical Strength: +2313
Speed: +1574 (+500)
Wisdom: +1450
My level has considerably increased .
The Goddess looks like sheâs in a hurry to strengthen the Heroes .
The effect of the strengthening has been steadily appearing .
If I remember it correctly, Kirihara Takuto was about to break through Lv 200 .
However, everyoneâs level-up speed has decreased since weâve passed through Lv 100 .
The growth of our statusâ numerical values have also been visibly slowing down .
In my case, only my have strangely grown quite smoothly but...
My other status values were evidently showing poor growth .
I heard something from a boy from Yasuâs group just the other day .
âWhen you reached a certain level, your growth would suddenly slow down... Itâs kind of designed just like those MMOs huh?â
I donât really know what this âMMOâ is .
I also canât search for it on the internet because I donât have a smartphone .
However, itâs a fact that everyone feels that their growth has become slower .
It might even be possible that our level and status would reach its peak and we wonât be able to grow anymore .
(Most of allâ)
Iâm more anxious about a certain something .
I displayed the information of my skills .
Putting my hand over my mouth, I look towards the display .
My inherent skill still hasnât been unlocked yet .
Iâm the only S-Rank who hasnât unlocked my own inherent skill .
Even the Takao Sisters who stand from everyone .
Both of them have already acquired their inherent skills .
All the A-Rank Heroes have already acquired it .
Even the B-Rank Asagi have acquired it .
And yet, only I havenât acquired my inherent skill yet .
[Are you worried about your skill?]
Did she realize that Iâm anxious?
Suou Kayako called out .
Fixing my expression, I smiled at her .
[Y- Yes... A bit...]
The only person in charge of being the vanguard is only me .
(If I donât do my best...)
[However, you have that specialized skill tree, right?]
[Yes . Youâre right . ]
Specialized tree .
My skill tree is quite specialized .
There isnât a single Common Skill listed there .
Instead, I could acquire specialized combat skills .
You could even say that my tree is very specialized for combat .
The reason I could be the vanguard alone is all because of the blessings I received from my specialized tree .
(However, it canât be denied that these specialized combat skills were inferior compared to the other Heroesâ inherent skills...)
Iâve been becoming more impatient to get stronger .
Death always follows in each of our battles .
I canât afford to be leisurely .
[Thank you for the wait, everyone . ]
The Goddess finally arrives .