Chapter 36
"The world is unfair, isn't it?"
"What are you saying to a child?"
"Even you, Dent, could get married if you put in some effort, right?"
We managed to return to the campsite before sunset and had dinner right away. After a full day of physical activity, even the rowdiest kids can devour a meal that would put adults to shame.
Back in Japan, the quality of food was naturally higher, but you get used to it after living here for a while. However, the meals during camping trips are even worse than what you'd get in town.
Once again, I found myself appreciating the convenience, taste, and nutrition of the instant foods from my previous life. The fantasy-style camp meals are quite modest in comparison.
Tonight's dinner was a simple soup made by tossing in some ingredients and seasoning it with just salt, paired with hard black bread. But in a way, this might have been for the best.
Dent had stopped eating and was glaring at me with a rather intimidating look. If it weren't for that, I might have felt nostalgic for cup noodles or instant foods, but right now, I couldn't even enjoy the meal properly.
"Hey, let's allocate the points soon!"
"Hmm, how should we distribute them?"
I knew the reason for Dent's behavior. It was because Nel and Amina were sitting on either side of me, happily eating their meals.
If I had been sitting at the end, with Nel and Amina next to each other, Dent probably wouldn't have acted so childish.
"Damn, when I was a kid, nothing like this ever happened."
"Don't be jealous, it's unbecoming."
"Isn't it because of your attitude that this is happening?"
Naturally, Nel sat to my left, and Amina to my right. As we ate, we reflected on today's leveling, discussing what we could have done better and what we should improve. Eventually, the conversation turned to how we should allocate our status points after the meal.
The content of the conversation was perfectly normal, but both Nel and Amina were unusually close. There's a saying about sitting knee-to-knee while talking, and that's how close they were.
In fact, they were practically touching.
"Well, both Nel and Amina are beastfolk, so it can't be helped."
"That's true. Beastfolk women instinctively recognize a good man. That's all there is to it."
"Hey, I earn more than most adventurers out there!"
"While strength and earnings are certainly factors, beastfolk women tend to rely more on intuition."
"It's unbecoming to compete with a child, but even from my perspective, the kid has a lot going for him. That's probably what attracted them."
Hearing their conversation and seeing the closeness between Nel and Amina, I was utterly confused.
Well, I could understand, but they're just kids, right?
Unfortunately, my experience with romance is far from extensive. I spent what should have been my youthful years playing games, and the ratio of men to women among my acquaintances was about 95% to 5%.
Even the women I knew were mostly work-related. Outside of family, I had zero close female friends in my private life.
So, being suddenly told that someone has feelings for me...
"...Let's finish eating first. After that, we'll have plenty of time to think before bed."
They're just kids, so even with my limited experience with women, my head stays cool rather than getting flustered.
What Dent and the others are saying about their feelings for me is probably just them seeing me as a reliable older brother. You know, like how kids look up to the older kids in the neighborhood.
"Yeah."
"Okay!"
To finish the meal quickly, I quietly sipped the soup. The slight saltiness and the natural flavor of the ingredients spread across my tongue, giving me a sense of relief.
Eventually, I'd like to improve the food situation here, but for that, I'd need a party member with the right job.
We can't expand the party economically right now, but once we level up a bit more, the training environment will improve, and we can start recruiting then.
With that decided, I continued eating, ignoring Dent's gaze, and managed to finish the meal. Nel and Amina seemed eager to help with the cleanup, probably because they wanted to discuss their status points soon.
Every time they did, Dent would occasionally shoot me a jealous look.
"Alright! It's finally time!"
As we entered the tent set up in the wagon, Nel raised her hand to take charge of the proceedings.
Normally, when adventuring, we'd take turns keeping watch at night, but since it's unsafe to have kids on watch, the adults had decided to handle it among themselves.
I decided to ignore the muttered comment Dent made as we entered the tent.
"Okay? On the count of three."
"Got it!"
"Ready!"
We opened our status screens, which we had been holding back on until now.
"One, two, three!"
"Status Open!!"
As we all shouted in unison, the familiar windows appeared before our eyes.
**Nel - Class 1 / Level 9**
- Base Stats:- HP: 0- MP: 0- BP: 9- EXBP: 9- Skills: 1 / Skill Slots: 3- Spear Mastery - Class 2 / Level 84
**Amina - Class 1 / Level 9**
- Base Stats:- HP: 0- MP: 0- BP: 9- EXBP: 9- Skills: 1 / Skill Slots: 3- Staff Mastery - Class 2 / Level 83
**Liberta - Class 1 / Level 9**
- Base Stats:- HP: 0- MP: 0- BP: 9- EXBP: 9- Skills: 1 / Skill Slots: 3- Spear Mastery - Class 2 / Level 94
We lined up our status screens, leaning in close to compare them.
"They've gone up!"
"Wow, they've increased so much."
"Well, it would be a problem if they hadn't."
I should have checked when we first leveled up, but I was relieved to see that the EXBP had been properly allocated. If it hadn't, we would have had to look for other conditions, or even consider lowering our levels.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Right, let's start with Nel first."
Since Nel was the first to ask, I decided to explain her build first.
"First, I recommend Nel go for the Battle Merchant style. As the name suggests, it's a merchant who can both fight and trade."
"Huh? Most merchants can fight a little, but they usually hire guards, right?"
"My dad can fight too, but he says he's no match for professionals."
The Battle Merchant.
In FBO, it's the class that has produced the most Attack Holders. It's a versatile class that excels in both combat and commerce, making it a highly desirable party member.
Both of them seem to have the impression that merchants are primarily traders with only basic combat skills for self-defense.
"That's not entirely wrong. The Battle Merchant requires a lot of skill slots and EXBP to fully develop, and the skill setup is quite demanding. But once it's complete, it can surpass pure combat classes in firepower while maintaining comparable combat ability. Being able to fight means you can solo dungeons and bring back monster drops and dungeon treasures."
I can understand their impression, but that's more from a general perspective. As an FBO player, the Battle Merchant is known for its overwhelming firepower and the phrase "Merchants on the battlefield" comes to mind first.
"So, you can make a lot of money!"
In my memory, there's something about the Battle Merchant that appeals to Nel. If you can fight on your own, you save on hiring guards.
Plus, you can secure rare goods on your own.
At first glance, it might seem similar to a Treasure Hunter, but it's a legitimate merchant class.
Nel clenched her fists, dreaming of the future.
"That's right. To achieve that, we need to allocate your stats. Remember what we talked about earlier? Do you want to go for the 4:1 HP to MP ratio for single-target destruction, or the 3:2 ratio for a balanced build?"
There are choices in that dream.
"Hmm, I'm not really sure. What do you recommend, Liberta?"
"Definitely the single-target destruction build. Merchant skills don't consume much MP, so you don't need high MP."
There are three choices in total. Two of them are my ideas, which I feel a bit guilty about. The third is for Nel to come up with her own idea and grow on her own.
But it seems she was already considering my two ideas.
"The downside is that managing skill usage is harder than with the balanced build, and the expenses are higher. But in return, your single-hit damage is so high that you can take down most enemies."
"Expenses?"
"Battle Merchants mainly use halberds, a combination of an axe and a spear. This ensures high single-hit damage. When you reach Class 3 and get the Merchant job, you'll unlock a combat skill called Gold Smash."
I explained the pros and cons. There's no need to hide them.
The Battle Merchant's strengths lie in its money-making potential and its devastating single-hit damage. The key to this damage is the Gold Smash skill, which you unlock at Class 3. However, this skill is also the source of the class's high expenses.
Nel seemed more concerned about the expenses than the difficulty of managing skills.
"This skill consumes very little MP but uses coins to increase its power. Additionally, the skill's proficiency increases based on the amount of money spent, not the number of uses or the strength of the monsters defeated."
The more you use the skill, the more damage it deals. It's a skill that equates money with power.
"By the way, how much does it cost to max out the skill?"
"About 100 million zeni."
"100 million zeni?"
That's equivalent to 10 billion yen. It's an absurd amount of money.
"Also, as your class and level increase, the maximum amount you can spend increases. At Class 10 / Level 100, the maximum amount for Gold Smash is 1 billion zeni."
"1 billion?"
"Nel!?"
To achieve maximum damage, you'd need to spend 100 billion yen. It's an astronomical sum.
Nel's face turned pale as she imagined mountains of gold disappearing in an instant. I quickly supported her back to keep her from fainting.
"Don't worry! If you use other skills effectively, you can earn enough to fire this skill hundreds of times!"
"Huh? Really?"
"Yeah! You can one-shot high-rank bosses and sell the drops for a profit! Of course, if you miss, you'll be in the red..."
"Ah, a deficit..."
"Liberta! Nel's face is turning pale!"
But in reality, among hardcore players, there were those who could one-shot hidden bosses or event bosses with this skill.
If you have the money, you can undoubtedly become the ultimate Attack Holder.
Some players went bankrupt trying to achieve this, but it's not like you need to spend that much right away. As long as you have self-control, it's manageable.
However, some players became addicted to the thrill of spending vast amounts of money for insane damage, to the point where normal skills felt underwhelming. I hope Nel doesn't fall into that trap.
"...Liberta."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
After turning pale at the mention of deficits and unrealistic expenses, Nel took a few seconds to think carefully.
I wondered if she would choose the balanced build or if I should suggest another option.
"Can you really make that much money?"
"Absolutely. If you don't use Gold Smash, the class isn't that expensive. Besides, only a few people would actually spend 1 billion zeni on it."
As long as you set limits, it's fine.
"Then I'll do it!"
But on the other hand, she seemed drawn to the idea of becoming the world's strongest Attack Holder.
A determined fire lit up in Nel's eyes.
"I'll become the strongest merchant!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"Then let's allocate your stats."
If she's decided, I won't stop her. In fact, if you plan your expenses carefully, the profits outweigh the costs. Most people don't spend 1 billion zeni on it anyway.
As long as you set a limit, it's fine.
"Allocate 4 points to HP and 1 to MP. Use all your EXBP on HP."
"Is there a reason?"
"It's more convenient for leveling."
I also gave her instructions on how to allocate her BP for the future.
"I see."
Knowing there was a reason, she obediently allocated her stats. Only she could control her stats.
"Done!"
Her slender fingers moved quickly, and she showed me her final stats.
**Nel - Class 1 / Level 9**
- Base Stats:- HP: 15- MP: 3- BP: 0- EXBP: 0- Skills: 1 / Skill Slots: 3- Spear Mastery - Class 2 / Level 84
"Okay, as you level up, you'll fill the remaining skill slots with four more skills."
Once I confirmed there were no issues...
"Next is Amina."
"I've been waiting!"
I turned to Amina, who had been waiting with a smile.