Chapter 48
The boulder monster, Smile.
It was indeed the same 【Lv: 45】 as Maris, but monsters and humans were completely different.
Depending on the monster, humans had more Skills, higher intelligence, and could use weapons and items.
Smiles in particular only made simple movements, so just because it was the same level didn't mean it was on par with Malice, a Sword Saint.
I stepped boldly forward and closed in on the Smile.
When the Smile spotted me, it rolled forward at full speed, accelerating.
Smiles generally used 〈Acceleration〉 to increase the damage of their 〈Charge〉.
They sometimes attacked with earth magic, but it wasn't especially powerful.
"First, I need to close in and weather it with my shield before the Smile can build up too much power with 〈Acceleration〉!"
I blocked the Smile's charge with my shield and jumped backward to let the impact pass through.
I quickly closed in again on the slowed Smile, taking a position toward the center of the passage to corner it against the wall.
I used 〈Shadow Treading〉 to restrict its range of movement.
"If I limit its range of movement like this, it can't build up the power of its 〈Charge〉 with 〈Acceleration〉."
As I spoke, I landed a 〈Disarm〉 strike on the Smile.
Both the Smile and I were defensive types, with low attack power.
If I took away its 〈Acceleration〉, all it could do was drag the fight out.
Then, with a single 〈Disarm〉 strike's attack-power-reduction effect, all I had to do was block with my shield and use good body movement to let the impact pass through, bringing the damage I took almost to zero.
There was a knack to deflecting the impact with a shield and minimizing the damage you took.
The timing was strict, and varied depending on the attack pattern.
But I'd practiced this movement to death in my previous life.
It's not like I was a top contender for strongest player in 〈Magic World〉 for nothing.
"It'd be easier if I boosted my attack power with 〈Death's Edge Rampage〉, but I don't want to throw away my HP right at the start of exploring a 〈Dungeon〉."
Especially now, I had few Skills to support 〈Death's Edge Rampage〉, and my armor wasn't exactly good either.
Besides, what was at stake here wasn't a death penalty, but my life.
It was better to be a little cautious.
When the Smile tried to roll past me and gain some distance, I struck its initial movement with 〈Shield Bash〉 and stopped it.
Even while caught in 〈Shadow Treading〉, it could still move about two meters.
It was best to keep it pinned against the wall.
"Then all I have to do is wear it down little by little!"
Ruche ran along the wall with 〈Acrobatic Footwork〉 and attacked the Smile with 〈Ironstone Piercer〉.
The blade sliced across the Smile's surface.
Ruche quickly leapt in from the opposite side and slashed at the Smile as it regained its balance.
As the Smile desperately thrashed about, trying somehow to escape this situation, I deflected its movements with my shield and completely shut it down.
Ruche's fourth slash cut into the Smile.
At last, the Smile's expression changed, and the boulder broke apart.
【You acquired 689 experience points.】
【Your level increased from 41 to 43.】
【You acquired 2 Skill Points.】
Good... That was easy.
At this rate, if things went smoothly, we might even be able to take on the 〈Dream Lord〉.
The 〈Dream Lord〉 in the 〈Centipede Tunnel〉 dropped good items, too.
"Whew... It was better not to use 〈Dice Thrust〉, right?"
"Yeah, it comes down to our stats. Even if you rolled a six with 〈Dice Thrust〉, you still wouldn't quite kill it in one hit. In that case, normal attacks are more reliable. It should take about four of your normal attacks to kill a Smile."
If it would take two hits even with a successful 〈Dice Thrust〉, it was better to just use normal attacks for all of them.
"Right... 〈Dice Thrust〉 misses a six about half the time, too..."
What happened to one in six...?
I didn't think the odds would change that drastically, so the chance of rolling a six was probably around 【40%】 at the moment.
No, even that was plenty ridiculous.
"An earth-element magicstone, and... Ah! It's here, all right! Right here! I'm glad I raised 〈Great Luck〉 and got 〈Angel of Happiness〉 before we came!"
Ruche exclaimed excitedly, pulling a knife from the Smile's remains.
It had a black sheen.
A drop already... and a knife, no less.
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〈Blacksteel Knife〉 (Recommended Equipment Lv: 45)
【Attack: +13】
【Market Value: 4.3 million Gordo】
A knife made of Blacksteel.
Its performance was plain, but it was relatively easy to obtain, so many adventurers used Blacksteel equipment.
Whether equipment was made of Blacksteel or a better or worse material was one way to gauge its quality.
――――――――――――――――――――
"Four million?! I-I need to handle it carefully...! I grabbed it carelessly!"
Ruche gingerly took hold of the blade and tried to hand it to me.
"To think we got a four-million-Gordo knife this easily..."
"No, you should equip it, Ruche. You should be able to use it at that recommended level, and it ought to deal much more damage than 〈Ironstone Piercer〉."
The monsters here had fairly high defense, so 〈Ironstone Piercer〉 was effective, but they weren't nearly as absurdly defensive as the Gilded Rana.
The equipment quality was on a completely different level.
It'd be better to switch to it.
With a 〈Blacksteel Knife〉, three hits should be more than enough to defeat a Smile.
"I-Is it really okay...? For me to use such an expensive item...!"
Ruche excitedly swung the knife around.
In terms of item value, we'd earned around sixty million Gordo in 〈Angel's Toy Box〉.
Even if it was only a temporary weapon, I almost felt bad making her use a weapon worth just four million Gordo.
...Still, Ruche's 〈Great Luck〉 really was powerful.
Since Blacksteel equipment dropped fairly often, I'd figured Ruche's luck would probably get us one on the first try.
But I hadn't expected to get a knife specifically right away.
This made exploring the 〈Centipede Tunnel〉 much easier.
Which class's equipment dropped from a Smile shouldn't have had anything to do with Luck, but perhaps the range of things Luck affected had expanded in the process of the game turning into the real world.