Chapter 34
Despite having evolved, the commander unit (tentative) Haniwa was easily defeated, causing Dent to let out a dumbfounded voice.
"Alright, a different part dropped. Let's move on to the next one.""Ooh!""My arms are itching!!""W-wait, hold on! Don't leave me, your guard, behind. Explain first! What was that thing, why did it turn out like that, and why was it doing that? I can't decide what to do unless I know it's safe."
Ignoring him, I targeted the next Haniwa. A wing-like item dropped, so I attached it to a slingshot and tried to launch it, but Dent stopped me.
"Ehh...""Don't 'ehh' me. Honestly, I can't keep up with what's going on. And Nel, don't glare at me like that."
Amina booed, asking if we should stop here, while Nel glared, telling Dent not to interfere.
"You'd understand, right?""I do, but the timing...""Sorry for not reading the room!! But as a guard, this is a normal judgment!! Monsters evolving is pretty abnormal, you know!?"
In terms of experience points, defeating the next Haniwa would level up all three of us. According to the Kagami Mochi, in this world, experience points are distributed equally based on the number of people who attack, not the damage ratio.
In short, if multiple people attack a single monster, the experience is divided by the number of attackers, not by the damage dealt.
This is just like in games.However, one thing to note is that after attacking, you need to maintain a certain distance. If the monster stops recognizing you as a target, you won't get any experience.
In other words, if you attack and then run away to safety, letting someone else finish the monster, you won't get any experience.
Using this, we've been dividing the experience from the Haniwa into three parts to meet the EXBP acquisition conditions.
"So, to summarize, you're saying that by evolving them like that and making them into separate entities, the experience points we get increase slightly? And even after evolving, they don't get that much stronger?"
Regarding EXBP, we kept it hidden on Nel's advice. Instead, I explained that using items to evolve the Haniwa increases the experience points we get from them.
"They hardly change. As long as you don't mess up the type and amount of items you give them, they don't get much stronger.""How much is 'how much'?""There are three stages in total. The Haniwa drop 14 types of items, one of which is a magic stone and another is a key, so those two don't count. The problem is the remaining 12 types. Using 4 types upgrades them to the first stage, 8 types to the second stage, and all 12 types creates a complete form. Using just one type only gives a slight boost, making you wonder if they even got stronger. Two types make you feel like they might have gotten stronger, and three types make the difference noticeable. When they stage up, they class up, so their appearance changes too."
Haniwa, or Petit Clay Golems, come with a standard skill called "Merge." However, there are conditions to activate it.
"...I get the reason. But why do you have to shoot it with a slingshot?""That's the activation condition for the Merge skill.""Merge skill?""It's a skill common to Golem-type monsters. There are several conditions to activate the Merge skill, one of which is shooting a part at the body to automatically merge."
You might think there's no need to shoot items from a distance to merge and evolve them, but the skill activation conditions are a bit special. There are three patterns: Golems mutually agreeing to merge, shooting items with a launcher to dock them, or forcibly merging with a higher-level Golem.
"What the hell is that? I mean, I've heard that Golems sometimes become larger entities, but is that how it works?"
Petit Clay Golems, or Haniwa, always drop one of the merge items. They have no sale value, can't be equipped or synthesized, and can't be used as weapons or items. They exist solely to meet the EXBP acquisition conditions.
"No problem. I fought them, and they didn't seem to get much stronger.""Is that so?"
To confirm the strength of the evolved Haniwa, Pidd followed my instructions to evolve one and fought it. He concluded that it wasn't dangerous, and Dent, roughly scratching his head, let out a big sigh.
"Next time, consult me before doing something like this. You just shortened my lifespan by a month.""Okay. Oh, by the way, a Haniwa that evolves to the third stage becomes a Class 4 boss, absorbing surrounding Haniwa to evolve further. If left alone for about a month, it becomes a Class 6 boss.""Absolutely don't do that. Summoning such a monster near the capital would be no joke."
In the end, it was judged that there was no problem, but I was scolded for not reporting it and got a painful punch to the head. It was my fault for deciding on my own that it was fine.
Dent was right; I should have communicated the parts that needed to be shared. Keeping some things secret made it hard to make proper judgments.
"Okay, I'll be more careful.""Good. Now, let's level up, right?""Yes."
Reflecting on this, I decided to do better in the future.
I bowed my head honestly, got Dent's permission, and resumed leveling up.
I set the wing-like part I picked up earlier into the slingshot.
"Alright, let's get back to it!""Ooh!""Well, alright."
Amina's cheerful response was really heartwarming. Nel was a bit annoyed but seemed fine with it as long as we could level up, and she readied her slingshot.
I launched the wing-like part, and it glowed again. This time, wings sprouted from the Haniwa's back.
Not that it could fly, though. It came at us just like before.
"I hit it!""Last one's mine!!"
Nel and Amina attacked in turn.
'Level increased by one. Class unlocked.'"Oh.""We leveled up!!""Yay!!"
The announcement echoed in my head. We finally got our level.
"Oh, you leveled up? Congrats.""Congrats.""Thank you.""Thanks!""I'm so happy!"
Our first level-up. Despite what happened earlier, Dent and Pidd congratulated us.
I had to honestly thank them.
"Alright! Let's keep going to the next level!""Huh? Aren't you going to check your status? Allocating BP to stamina would make fighting easier."
Dent tilted his head as we, without checking our status, continued leveling up.
"It's more efficient to raise the experience table a bit more before adjusting our status."
I firmly declared that we wouldn't adjust our status yet and focused on defeating Haniwa.
It was the same as before.I hit the Haniwa with a part, Nel hit it with a stone, and Amina finished it off.
We just repeated this over and over.
Occasionally, a magic stone would drop, which we carefully picked up and put in a leather bag.
Guarded by Dent and Pidd, we stayed alert to our surroundings and heard the level-up announcement a few times.
"Hey, it's about time to head back to camp. If we keep going, it'll be dark before we get back."
Time was up.We were so absorbed in leveling up that time flew by.
Lunch was just dried meat and water, which was bland, but leveling up was so fun that it didn't matter.
"Hey, hey, Liberta! We leveled up a lot today. Maybe we can level up even more tomorrow.""Yeah, we're getting the hang of it, and we have some leeway in the experience table, so maybe we can go solo soon.""Solo? Are you sure that's okay?"
On the way back, we discussed how much we leveled up today and whether we could go solo tomorrow since we were getting used to the battles.
"Don't go solo. If you move individually even within our sight, we might not be able to keep up. And overconfidence is the most dangerous. Today's teamwork worked well. Just keep going at this pace."
In terms of experience efficiency, solo is definitely better. But Dent had a point.
My safety standards are definitely lower than Dent's. And there's Amina's anxiety too.
In that case, there's no need to force a solo approach.
Dent's instructions seemed to reassure Amina, and Nel didn't seem to have any complaints.
"Understood.""Smart guys live long. I guarantee it.""When you say it, it's convincing.""Don't praise me, Pidd. Dent, the man with a reputation for survival."
If we're getting results, pushing for more might be dangerous. Unlike in games, dying here might mean game over.
It's better to be cautious.
"I'm not praising you.""Don't say that, you're making me blush."
We were a bit tired, but we'd recover after sleeping.
Back at camp, we'd also check our status and allocate points.
"Status♪ Status♪""Liberta, I want to consult with you later.""Ah, me too!""Sure."
I'd also have to check their statuses. I promised to make them strong, so I needed to allocate their status points optimally.
"You're so fresh. I was like that too when I first leveled up.""You're old.""Shut up!! You're not much better.""I'm still in my thirties.""I'm still in my twenties!!""You'll be thirty next year, no difference."
The older guys' shouting was loud. I was worried it might attract monsters, but there shouldn't be any sound-reactive monsters around here.
If a "Stray" were here, it'd be bad, but the chances of one appearing near the capital are extremely low, and sighting information is always shared with the Adventurer's Guild.
Since Dent and Pidd, who are guild members, were making noise, it should be fine.
We, the kids, were excitedly discussing our status allocations, while the two guys in their late twenties were comparing their past and present, insisting they were still young.
The status talk was just a confirmation for me, but Dent and Pidd's conversation touched on how leveling up could slow physical decline and maintain peak condition at higher levels.
But that's high-class talk.
You'd need to reach at least the latter half of Class 7 for it to matter.Even then, aging still progresses slightly.
I wonder how people would react if I told them that reaching the latter half of Class 7 could completely stop aging.
At the very least, it wouldn't lead to anything good.
"Nel should focus on stamina, and Amina on magic. Considering future skill builds, that's the best approach."
So, while listening to Dent and Pidd's conversation, I focused on thinking about Nel and Amina's status allocations.
"Is that so? Should I allocate all the points I got this time to stamina?""No, the ratio is important. Even if you focus on stamina, you need magic for skills, and even if you focus on magic, you need stamina to move. Being too unbalanced will lead to regrets."
Status allocation and future developments.It's best to start thinking about these things now.
"Is that so? How should I allocate mine?""Nel, as a merchant, should allocate 3 to stamina and 2 to magic. Or go all out with 4 stamina and 1 magic.""What about me?""Amina should go with 2 stamina and 3 magic.""Why do I have two options?""The balanced type is more stable and allows for skill usage, while the biased type is for one-hit kills. We can discuss this more at camp. Skill composition changes drastically depending on status allocation.""I see. It's a lifetime thing, so it's important to think carefully.""Then I'm doomed, huh?""Don't worry, Amina. Your skill composition is too broad, so you'll have more to think about.""That doesn't sound good either."
Adults and kids, each with their own worries, but different conversations.For now, it seemed like we could end the day happily and safely.