Chapter 59
The morning after reaching A-Rank.
Felicia and I were at the Adventurers' Guild in the royal capital.
"What would you like to do today?"
"Since we came all the way to the royal capital, I’d like to look around the area a little more."
"Are you thinking of taking a quest?"
"That’s one option, but..."
I looked at the quest board.
Until yesterday, all I’d thought about was reaching A-Rank.
But things were different now.
We could go places we hadn’t been allowed before, and there were more quests we could take.
As I looked over the board, an information sheet caught my eye.
【Royal Capital Western Dungeon】
"There’s a dungeon in the royal capital, too?"
"There is."
A receptionist nearby explained.
"It’s about an hour away by carriage from the royal capital’s western gate. It’s quite popular with adventurers."
"How many floors does it have?"
"Twenty."
"Twenty?"
It was shallower than I’d expected.
"Does it end there?"
"Yes. The twentieth floor is the deepest."
The Belgant Western Dungeon continued beyond the twentieth floor.
We’d only been unable to enter the lower floors because we were B-Rank.
"Are the monsters strong?"
"You came from Belgant, right?"
"Yes."
"Then I think you’ll find them weaker than the monsters there.
"However, the Royal Capital Western Dungeon is famous for having a lot of monsters."
"A lot?"
"It’s not unusual for several to appear at once."
That was a little intriguing.
And besides...
My total P acquired so far was 99,145.
I was 855 P short.
"Felicia-san."
"Yes?"
"Would you mind letting me take down the monsters today, if possible?"
"For the P?"
"Yes. I’m only 855 away from 100,000."
"I see."
Felicia smiled.
"Then I’ll focus on supporting you today. Since we’re here, let’s get you to 100,000."
"Thank you."
◇
The entrance to the Royal Capital Western Dungeon was busier than the one in Belgant.
And it wasn’t just adventurers.
There were merchants buying materials, food stalls, and even several carts lined up.
"There are a lot of people."
"It’s close to the royal capital, after all."
I showed them my A-Rank Adventurer Card and went straight inside.
First floor.
After we’d gone a little way, we heard voices up ahead.
"Gya!"
"Gyagya!"
Goblins.
There wasn’t just one.
"There are eight."
Felicia readied her staff.
"I’ll handle them."
I drew the Flame Fang Sword.
The goblins charged at us all at once.
They were slow.
I dodged the first one’s club and cut it down.
Then the second.
I turned and struck the one coming from behind.
"Gya!"
"Gih—!"
The rest of the goblins were no different.
I moved before they could surround me, cutting them down one at a time.
The last one fell.
【You acquired 80P】
"Eighty, huh?"
"For eight of them?"
"Ten P each."
"That’s not much..."
"No, it isn’t."
There was a time when I’d been happy to get those ten P.
Now, I found myself thinking, Eighty P for taking down eight of them?
I’d come a long way.
"All right, I’ll collect them."
I touched them one by one and put them into Storage.
"Are you taking all of them back?"
"I’ll sell anything that’s worth something."
"All eight of them?"
"I have Storage, after all."
I didn’t have to worry about how much I could carry.
There had been monsters I’d only taken the magic stones and valuable parts from before, but now I could take back their entire bodies.
"That’ll be a lot of work for whoever has to dismantle them."
"But I can sell them all together."
"That’s so like you, Allen-san."
We moved on to the second floor.
This time, we encountered a pack of cave rats.
Ten of them.
"They’re coming!"
Five Magic Bullets appeared in the air in front of Felicia.
"Magic Bullet!"
Pale blue lights shot forward.
But she wasn’t aiming for vital spots.
Their front legs.
The ground.
The direction they were moving.
The cave rats’ movements were disrupted one after another.
"Now!"
"Right!"
I leaped into the fray.
I cut down the monsters one after another while they were off balance.
I took down the tenth one.
【You acquired 50P】
"Those Magic Bullets were amazing."
"If you kill them, Allen-san won’t get any P, right?"
"That’s right."
"Then I’ll hit them without killing them today."
"You can control them that precisely?"
"I have Mana Control."
She said it like it was easy, but Felicia wouldn’t have been able to do that before.
It wasn’t just about increasing the power.
Now she could finely adjust both where she aimed and how much mana she put into each shot.
We put all the cave rats into Storage, too.
Third floor.
Ten Gray Wolves.
"Allen-san, four on the left!"
"Got it!"
"Magic Bullet!"
A Magic Bullet struck one of them in the leg.
Another hit a different wolf on the snout, changing the direction of its charge.
I slipped through the opening.
I cut it down.
Next.
Then the next.
Felicia threw them off balance, and I finished them off.
It didn’t take long to bring down all ten.
【You acquired 150P】
【Your Total P Acquired: 99,425P】
"We’ve taken down quite a few, haven’t we?"
"Twenty-eight."
"And that only came to 280 P..."
"There were monsters in Belgant worth that much each."
An Iron Wolf was worth 200.
A Shadow Panther was worth 600.
Once you reached the deeper floors, it wasn’t unusual to find monsters worth over 1,000.
"If you want to earn P, Belgant seems more efficient."
"But..."
Felicia looked ahead.
More monsters appeared.
"There really are a lot of them here."
"We don’t have time to talk."
I drew my sword.
After storing the monsters we’d defeated, we continued farther in.
◇
Fourth floor.
Three Blood Boars appeared.
"Bwooo!"
The three of them charged in a line.
"I’ll stop the one on the right!"
"Please do!"
Felicia pointed her staff.
"Magic Bullet!"
The Magic Bullet struck the right Blood Boar in its front leg.
Its huge body lurched to the side.
I moved between the other two.
I dodged the first one’s charge and swung the Flame Fang Sword at its neck.
The blade bit deep.
I turned and went straight for the second.
Against these opponents, I didn’t even need to use the flames.
I swung my sword through.
The second one fell, too.
"Allen-san!"
The last one, which Felicia had held back, was getting up.
"Got it!"
I let the Blood Boar charge straight at me, then dodged at the last moment.
As it passed, I cut its neck.
Its huge body fell to the ground.
【You acquired 540P】
【Your Total P Acquired: 99,965P】
"...Oh."
"What is it?"
"I’m 35 P short."
"Until 100,000?"
"Yes."
Felicia’s eyes widened.
"You’re already almost at 100,000."
"I’m still 35 short, though."
"Gold was 10,000, right?"
"That’s right."
"So you’ve earned another 90,000 since then..."
Even I was surprised when she put it that way.
The war.
The dungeons.
The Mithril Golem.
The King Ogre.
The Phantom Moth.
I’d taken down a lot.
I put the three Blood Boars into Storage, too.
"It looks like the next monster could do it."
"Even four goblins worth 10 P each would be enough."
"I wonder what we’ll run into."
"Maybe something weak would be just right."
"Would you be okay with a goblin being the last monster before 100,000 P?"
"P is P."
"That’s so like you, Allen-san."
We descended to the fifth floor.
We walked for a while.
Felicia stopped.
"They’re coming."
Ahead of us,
three Gray Wolves appeared.
"That’s exactly 45 P."
"Oh."
Felicia had noticed, too.
The three wolves ran toward us.
"I’ll watch this one."
"Okay."
The first one.
I dodged to the side and struck its neck with my sword.
【You acquired 15P】
【Your Total P Acquired: 99,980P】
The second one.
I swung the Flame Fang Sword as it leaped at me.
【You acquired 15P】
【Your Total P Acquired: 99,995P】
"Five more!"
"It’s finally happening!"
The last one growled low.
"Grrr!"
It leaped straight at me.
I stepped forward.
One slash.
The Gray Wolf fell to the ground.
【You acquired 15P】
【Your Total P Acquired: 100,010P】
I’d passed it.
A new display immediately appeared.
【Your total P acquired has exceeded 100,000P】
【You have met the requirements for a Membership Rank increase】
"It’s here..."
"Allen-san?"
【Your Membership Rank will increase】
【Gold → Platinum】
"Platinum..."
"Did your rank go up?"
"Yes. It’s the rank after Gold."
"What changed?"
"I’ll check."
First, I put the three Gray Wolves into Storage.
I checked the area with Mana Detection.
There were no monsters nearby, for now.
Then I opened Membership.
【Membership Rank: Platinum】
【P Held: 47,800P】
【Platinum Member Benefits Unlocked】
【Ability Enhancement Benefit Updated】
【Recovery Benefit Updated】
【Sharing Expanded】
【Purchase Unique Skills Expanded】
"A lot has changed."
"What changed?"
Felicia couldn’t see the display.
I read through the items one by one.
First, Ability Enhancement.
【Strength Enhancement (Extreme) 5,000P】
【Endurance Enhancement (Extreme) 5,000P】
【Agility Enhancement (Extreme) 5,000P】
【Magic Enhancement (Extreme) 5,000P】
【Base stats increase by 400 per purchase】
"Five thousand..."
"Is that expensive?"
"At Gold, 1,000 P increased a stat by 180."
"So it costs five times as much for 400?"
"That’s right."
"Isn’t that less efficient?"
"I think so, too."
Next was Recovery.
【Half Recovery 250P】
【Full Recovery 500P】
"Recovery costs more, too."
"How much?"
"Half Recovery is 250. Full Recovery is 500."
"Five times as much as before..."
"Yeah."
At first glance, it looked like becoming Platinum had only made things worse.
But when I opened the next item, I realized that wasn’t the case.
"...Huh?"
"What is it this time?"
【Sharing Expanded】
【Number of people you can share with: 2 → 3】
【Share rate: 10% → 20%】
【Your share of the cost: 10% → 5%】
【Each member you share with receives the equivalent of 20% of your base stats】
【Your base stats decrease by 5% for each member you share with】
"This..."
I read it again.
"What is it?"
"I can share with three people now."
"It increased again."
"That’s not all. The share rate, which used to be 10%, is now 20%."
"Twice as much?"
"Yes. And yet my stats only decrease by 5%."
"...Huh?"
Felicia froze.
The next moment, she looked at her hands.
"Allen-san."
"What is it?"
"My body suddenly feels lighter."
She clenched a fist and moved her arm.
"I feel stronger, too. A lot stronger."
It seemed the effect on Felicia, who was already sharing with me, had switched over automatically.
"You should be getting about twice as much as before."
"And your stats haven’t gone down more?"
"My share of the cost is actually half what it was."
"Isn’t that kind of absurd?"
"I think so, too."
It was a completely different impression from the Ability Enhancement and Recovery benefits I’d just seen.
And finally...
Purchase Unique Skills.
I opened the list.
【50,000P】
Appraisal
Sword Saint
Magic Saint
Bow Saint
Axe Saint
Spear Saint
Fist Saint
There were even more unique skills I’d never seen listed beneath them.
"...Sword Saint."
"What?"
Felicia looked at me.
"I can buy Sword Saint for 50,000 P now."
"Sword Saint..."
"It’s Kyle’s Skill."
"You can buy that?"
"It looks like it."
The day of the Ceremony of Bestowal.
The power Kyle had obtained.
The power Father had been delighted by.
It was also what had led to my leaving home.
Now Sword Saint was listed right in front of me as something I could buy.
"How much P do you have right now?"
"47,800."
"You’re almost there."
"I’m still 2,200 short, though."
I looked farther down the list.
This time, the number was on another level.
【100,000P】
Eye of Weakness
Sword God
Magic God
Bow God
Axe God
Spear God
Fist God
There were several more unique skills listed here, too.
"100,000..."
"There are more?"
"There are."
"What is it this time?"
"Sword God."
"...Sword God?"
"It’s above Sword Saint."
Swordsman.
Swordmaster.
Sword Saint.
And then Sword God.
The pinnacle of unique Skills for wielding a sword.
Even that was something I could buy.
"And... Eye of Weakness?"
"What is that?"
"I don’t know. I’ve never seen that name before."
It was in the 100,000 P section.
It couldn’t be an ordinary Skill.
"Platinum is amazing..."
"When I saw the first two benefits, I thought things had gotten worse."
"They really hadn’t."
"No."
Finally, I checked the next rank.
【Next Rank: Orichalcum】
【Requirements for Rank Increase】
【Your Total P Acquired: 1,000,000P】
"...A million."
"A million this time?"
"Yes."
"That’s ten times as much again."
"That’s a long way off..."
I’d made it to 100,000.
But the next rank required a million.
It didn’t look like I’d reach it anytime soon.
I closed the display.
That was when it happened.
Thud.
"...Huh?"
The ground shook slightly beneath our feet.
Again.
Thud.
Something was approaching from deeper in the passage.
"Allen-san."
"Yes."
Felicia readied her Silverwood Staff.
I reached for the Flame Fang Sword, too.
At the far end of the dark passage,
a large shadow slowly came into view.
It was unlike any monster we’d seen on the floors so far.
"...What is that?"
"I don’t know."
Two red eyes turned toward us.
【Your Total P Acquired: 100,010P】