Chapter 127
I looked over the newly available Jobs.
The Advanced Jobs for Hunter were Veteran Hunter, Tracker, and Ranger.
The Branch Jobs were Actor, Swindler, Exterminator, and Shaman...
There sure are a lot of different Branch Jobs this time, too...
“‘Actor’ and ‘Swindler’ are probably because of my ‘Transformation Technique,’ right?”
Going by what’s happened so far, I think Branch Jobs are unlocked based on what you’ve done before leveling up.
Disguising myself as Ichinose-san and sneaking into City Hall must have made Actor and Swindler available.
Though, Swindler... Well, I guess it is a kind of swindle, since I was deceiving them.
Exterminator must be because I killed a ton of ants. I also killed that spider monster before, so I guess that counted, too.
(But why the last one, Shaman?)
A Shaman is, well, someone like a spiritual medium or someone who receives divine revelations, right?
I don’t remember doing anything like that... I’m not religious.
It can’t be because Kiki looks like a fox, can it? And if we’re talking about the Voice of Heaven rather than the voice of God, anyone with a Skill can hear it.
I haven’t seen anything strange or heard any weird voices besides that, have I...?
Huh? But I feel like something did happen. What was it? I can’t remember.
Oh, well. First, I should choose an Advanced Job.
“Now, which one should I pick...?”
Aka must have a Job in mind that it wants me to choose.
“Which one do you recommend, Aka? Veteran Hunter?”
That was a perfectly plausible option.
It seemed like a straight upgrade from Hunter, so it would probably improve my ability to search for enemies and attack from a distance.
“... (shakes its head)”
But Aka shook its body to say no.
“...Then, Ranger?”
This one seems like it might be a Hunter with improved combat ability.
But if it’s a combat-focused Hunter, wouldn’t its style overlap with Assassin?
Both are all about ambushes and dirty tricks.
“... (shakes its head)”
But Aka shook its body to say this one wasn’t right, either.
“Then... Tracker?”
“! ... (shakes vigorously) !”
Aka shook hard, as if to say yes.
Apparently, Aka was recommending Tracker.
It sounded like a Job that enhanced Hunter’s ability to search for things, but...
“Why do you recommend this one, Aka?”
“... (shakes, shakes vigorously)”
I couldn’t make out any specific words, but it felt as though Aka was saying, ‘It’ll definitely come in handy.’
Just like with Shadow Puppeteer, could Aka and Momo see something that we couldn’t?
That was far too specific to be called animal instinct.
Well, anyway, I’d trust Aka and give it a try.
This time, it takes 3 JP to advance to an Advanced Job.
I have 3 JP left.
It looks like unlocking the fourth Job slot costs 4 points, so I’ll have to hold off on that.
Something to look forward to next time.
All right, time to choose my new Job.
≪Your Hunter Job has changed to the Advanced Job ‘Tracker’.≫
≪Your Job is now Tracker. You acquired the Skills ‘Tracking,’ ‘Terrain Awareness,’ ‘Enhanced Senses,’ and ‘Wide-Area Search.’≫
≪Your duplicate Skill has been integrated into your existing ‘Enhanced Senses Lv. 5’ Skill.≫
≪Your Enhanced Senses Skill increased from Lv. 5 to Lv. 6.≫
≪Your ‘Search’ Skill has been integrated into ‘Wide-Area Search.’≫
≪Your Wide-Area Search Skill increased from Lv. 1 to Lv. 4.≫
I acquired some new Skills.
At the same time, I somehow gained an intuitive understanding of how to use them and what they did.
I’ll need to properly test them later.
“Next, I should level up my Skills.”
Including the points I just gained and the ones I had left over, I had a whopping 62 SP.
I could raise quite a few Skill levels with that.
First, I’d raise Physical Activation from Lv. 7 to Lv. 10.
≪Your Physical Activation Skill increased from Lv. 7 to Lv. 10.≫
≪Your Physical Activation Skill has reached its level cap.≫
≪You have met certain conditions.≫
≪You acquired the Skill ‘Physical Ability Enhancement.’≫
≪Your ‘Physical Strengthening’ Skill has been integrated into ‘Physical Ability Enhancement.’≫
≪Your Physical Ability Enhancement Skill increased from Lv. 1 to Lv. 3.≫
≪Your ‘Physical Activation’ Skill has been integrated into ‘Physical Ability Enhancement.’≫
≪Your Physical Ability Enhancement Skill increased from Lv. 3 to Lv. 5.≫
≪Your ‘Enhanced Senses’ Skill has been integrated into ‘Physical Ability Enhancement.’≫
≪Your Physical Ability Enhancement Skill increased from Lv. 5 to Lv. 7.≫
Oh, I got a new Skill.
Physical Ability Enhancement, huh?
Looking at my status, it seemed to give every stat, including HP and MP, a bonus equal to ten times its level.
Since it’s Lv. 7, that’s a whopping +70 to everything.
What’s more, the stats I’d gained from Physical Strengthening and Physical Activation hadn’t gone down.
And since Enhanced Senses was integrated into it, that probably meant it also strengthened things that weren’t reflected in my stats.
This Skill is incredible.
Next is Danger Sense Lv. 9.
It’s one use away from maxing out, so I should raise that, too.
≪Your Danger Sense Skill increased from Lv. 9 to Lv. 10.≫
≪Your Danger Sense Skill has reached its level cap.≫
≪You have met certain conditions.≫
≪You acquired the Skill ‘Danger Avoidance.’≫
≪Your ‘Danger Sense’ Skill has been integrated into ‘Danger Avoidance.’≫
≪Your Danger Avoidance Skill increased from Lv. 1 to Lv. 3.≫
≪Your ‘Hostility Detection’ Skill has been integrated into ‘Danger Avoidance.’≫
≪Your Danger Avoidance Skill increased from Lv. 3 to Lv. 5.≫
“Oh, so Danger Avoidance is the higher-level Skill for Danger Sense.”
Like Mental Abnormality Resistance, this one seems to incorporate other Skills, too.
Honestly, I have so many Skills now that it’s nice to have them consolidated like this.
I also raised my newly acquired Tracking and Terrain Awareness to Lv. 3, Ninjutsu to Lv. 9, and Swordsmanship to Lv. 6.
That finished allocating my points.
I checked my status.
Kudo Kazuto
Level 22
HP: 325/325
MP: 149/152
Strength: 253
Endurance: 249
Agility: 464
Dexterity: 435
Magic: 120
Magic Resistance: 120
SP: 0
JP: 3
Jobs
Ninja Lv. 7
Tracker Lv. 1
Shadow Puppeteer Lv. 5
Unique Skills
Early Bloomer
Job Enhancement
Skills
Ninjutsu Lv. 9, Throwing Lv. 5, Odorless Lv. 6, Silent Movement Lv. 6, Concealment Lv. 5, Night Vision Lv. 4, Vital Strike Lv. 5, Presence Concealment Lv. 7, Appraisal Interference Lv. 4, Tracking Lv. 3, Terrain Awareness Lv. 3, Wide-Area Search Lv. 4, Telescopic Vision Lv. 4, Agility Enhancement Lv. 8, Dexterity Enhancement Lv. 5, Observation Lv. 10, Eavesdropping Lv. 4, Shadow Manipulation Lv. 6, Physical Ability Enhancement Lv. 7, Swordsmanship Lv. 6, Poison Resistance Lv. 1, Paralysis Resistance Lv. 2, Virus Resistance Lv. 1, Heat Resistance Lv. 1, Automatic HP Recovery Lv. 1, Danger Avoidance Lv. 5, Riding Lv. 3, Negotiation Lv. 1, Escape Lv. 4, Survival Instinct Lv. 1, Item Box Lv. 10, Email Lv. 2, Concentration Lv. 3, Prediction Lv. 3, Anger Lv. 5, Mental Pain Resistance Lv. 4, Acting Lv. 3
Party Members
Momo — Assassin Dog Lv. 7
Aka — Fake Slime Lv. 5
Ichinose Natsu Lv. 25
Kiki — Lesser Carbuncle Lv. 8
At last, all my stats had reached three digits.
Agility and Dexterity were even over 400.
(I think I’ve gotten pretty strong, but I still can’t feel at ease...)
Come to think of it, Momo and Ichinose-san had leveled up, too.
They did say they were hunting monsters while keeping watch.
Damn, Ichinose-san’s still a higher level than me...
“Kiki and Aka have leveled up, too...”
Maybe it was because they’d participated in battle with Reflection and support magic (buffs)?
If they leveled up the same way Momo and Aka had, they should be able to evolve after two more levels.
If things go well, they might evolve sometime today.
And when I level up next time, I’ll unlock the fourth Job slot, too.
I need to think carefully about which one to choose.
Maybe Shaman would be a good candidate?
“...And quite a bit of time has passed already.”
When I checked the time, over an hour had already passed.
Considering the time it would take to get there, I’d be cutting it close.
“I’d like to test out my new Skills, but I guess it can’t be helped...”
Well, I could test a few of them while I was on the move.
I left the empty house and headed for City Hall.
A few minutes later, I arrived at City Hall.
(There are more people around...)
A few new people must have arrived while I was out.
As I approached the barricade, I saw someone there.
They must have been waiting for me.
Nishino-kun waved and came over.
“Hey, I’ve been waiting for you, Ichinose-san—or should I call you Kudo-san now?”
“...Nishino-kun.”
“You got back a lot sooner than expected. And Fujita-san isn’t here, either. I’ve got a lot of questions, but... you’ll ‘talk’ to us, right?”
“...Yeah.”
I nodded.
Rikka-chan and Shibata-kun were standing behind Nishino-kun, along with the others.
With them leading the way, I went inside City Hall.
Well, this was where it began.
I hoped I could explain everything properly...