Well... Kanade went out of her way to lecture us on fighting in formation, but she herself was hardly around to actually fight with us.
“We shouldn’t struggle much with our current strength. I daresay, with the update boosting proficiency gain a bit, this might be just the right time.”
“I want to fight something that poses a challenge.”
“Let’s start with testing Kizuna’s skill.”
“Fine, fine. Now onward!”
And so, as our expectations for my new weapon and skill grew, we started on our way back to Mikakage.
†
“Shall we start with the mountain stream?”
“Good idea. If we go too far ahead, we won’t be able to tell how much stronger I’ve gotten.”
As we sat aboard Mikakage’s high-speed transportation system, we discussed our destination. In the end, we set a course for the mountain stream where you could fish up kappa.
The monsters there were just around the right level of difficulty.
There were other players scattered around here and there, but not so many that we’d have to fight over hunting grounds.
Soon enough, we ran into a Red Iron Bear, and I drew my weapon.
I wasn’t nearly as good as Sheryl with a harpoon. Instead, I settled on the Blue Shark’s Ice Knife [Sinner of Thieves]. This was a good chance to see just how much my attack was being boosted.
“All right, Kizuna. Let’s give it a try.”
“Got it!”
I focused on the Red Iron Bear barreling toward me, took my stance, and...
“Ngoooaaa...aaaaaaarrr.”
The charging bear seemed to be moving strangely slowly... I had to blink a few times just to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating as I watched its slow-motion approach.
What’s up with that speed...? It’s not a bug...I think. But still, it’s far too sluggish.
I glanced back to see Shouko and the others quietly watching over us. In their eyes, I could see all their glistening expectations. They wanted to see what I could do.
Aight, let’s see what I’m capable of without skills.
I dashed at the lumbering Red Iron Bear and took my first swing.
Kshk! I felt a light resistance in my hand—and then, its HP dropped to zero in an instant. The bear collapsed.
“Huh?”
I stared in disbelief, looking back and forth between the fallen bear and the knife in my hand.
“This is...”
“Wow...”
“Bro closed in unnaturally fast and took it out with one hit.”
“I daresay, was that Blood Flower or a new skill?”
“No... I literally just ran up and gave a light swing.”
My comrades were giving startled blinks with surprise written all over their faces.
“So it really is a tremendously powerful skill.”
“From what bro said, it’s a flat seventy percent boost to attack, but the math’s got to be mathing in your favor. Maybe you’re getting another boost from slotting it into your exclusive weapon and it’s like an already strong weapon is getting boosted even further.”
“Uh...huh.”
“It feels like we’re sliding into an equipment-focused meta.”
“At this point, you’re unstoppable, milord. I daresay, the next wave will be a sight to behold.”
So...what? Did I just gain attack power on a completely different scale?
While Shouko, Tsumugi, and Yamikage used their sharp combat instincts to overcome their foes, I’d just...relied on a skill and a brainless swing to one-shot a Red Iron Bear.
“F-For now, I’ll dismantle it.”
I knelt down to harvest the Red Iron Bear’s materials. The dismantling this time went without issues. I hadn’t relearned my Dismantling Mastery, but the Hunting Gear skill provided enough of a bonus on its own.
“But it’s hard to get a proper measurement if the Red Iron Bear went down in one strike. Let’s continue testing somewhere farther in.”
“Y-Yeah.”
That was pretty much all I could say.
We arrived at the farthest point we’d ever reached in Mikakage, and I swung my weapon at the first monster we met.
As expected, I one-shotted it all by myself.
“Hunting Gear is way too broken!”
After a few battles, I figured it out. The moment I entered combat, some sort of acceleration was cast on me, making everything around me—enemies and environment alike—look like they were moving in slow motion.
If I had to summarize...it was like the system was fiddling with time perception on a player-by-player basis. One second for my party members was stretched into one and a half, maybe two seconds for me. Cal Mira’s dungeon worked on a similar system, where five days inside translated to one day outside.
It was outrageous system assistance allowing even someone like me—who lacked Shouko’s athleticism—to fight on her level.
“You crossed into the realm of mastery overnight, Kizuna. You are very fast.”
“What can’t this skill do?”
“Milord...your firepower is off the charts.”
“You’re pretty much a one-man army, bro.”
Honestly, I had to wonder if it was really all right, giving out a skill this broken.
“The thought that they might have thrown in an enemy strong enough to actually make this skill necessary scares me.”
Yeah, if they designed an enemy with my current strength as the baseline...we were in for a nightmare.
Incidentally, my mount’s speed scaled with me, so he was also moving blindingly fast. The Pekkles had their own stats and so were not affected.
“A frightening thought, I daresay.”
“If the late game turns into instant-death fests, you Spirits are going to have it hard.”
Right, it was a common conundrum in games. It happened way too often whenever there was a difficulty selection system—rather than adding more complex patterns at higher difficulties, a game would just make it so you’d die in one hit.
And, since we were Spirits—Shouko, Yamikage, and I—losing all our Energy would mean throwing ourselves into the lengthy grind to recover it. I could only hope the game didn’t take it that far.
“For now, since bro’s gotten so much stronger, why don’t we pick up one of the tougher subjugation quests in town?”
“Right. That might be nice for a challenge.”
“Got it.”
“Kizuna’s grown up so splendidly... I can’t afford to fall behind.”
“It’s the system doing all the heavy lifting.”
“The stat inflation is ridiculous, I daresay. We need to track down some powerful equipment for ourselves.”
“If this is what the new skills are like, this update’s definitely added all sorts of things.”
“Uh-huh.”