Chapter 255
Now, not just for RPGs, but for anyone who has played games with level-up elements, haven't you ever searched for something like this?
"Easy Leveling"
Leveling tends to involve monotonous repetition, often considered a grueling task for those who get bored easily or lack patience.
Such people search with these keywords on video sites or strategy sites to become stronger quickly. Among the various leveling methods, some enemies are introduced as being high-level but easy to defeat, making them great for experience.
"I took care of this one! How about over there?""Just a bit more!"
FBO has such monsters too.
Whether it's trapping Marsh Dragons or repeatedly respawning Wyverns for farming, with a little ingenuity, anything is possible.
These eerie wax dolls are one such type of monster.
Their name is Prayer.
Living up to their name, they are a rare type of monster that attacks in a praying posture.
"The back is clear!""Perfect Clean's recast time is under ten minutes."
When fighting higher-level enemies, the most important thing is to prevent them from leveraging their strengths.
That's why it's crucial to force them into a pattern.
In other words, rather than engaging in a straightforward fight, it's better to neutralize their strengths and exploit their weaknesses.
The Prayers, or Players, approach in a horror-like manner, floating a few centimeters off the ground in their praying posture. The male-type Players stand at the front, deploying barriers, while the female-type Players position themselves at the rear and attack with Light Balls.
It's a well-coordinated battle style with clear separation of roles.
Their stats are magic-oriented, and since they're Class 6, they have good efficiency, compensating for the low attack power of their spammable skills to deal critical damage to us.
Their barrier-based defense is also troublesome.
Using Amina's song to lure them, we can gather a considerable number.
When that happens, it's like a magical girl on a broomstick—a bullet hell of power is unleashed, and enough magic flies at us to wipe out an entire party in no time.
But of course, that's only if we leave them alone, so there's no need to worry about that.
While the enemies are focused on Amina, we use Hate Down to reduce their attention and launch a surprise attack from behind.
Activating Mirage Phenomenon to create four clones, we target their hearts from behind with Heart Strike, taking down four at once.
Given their magic-oriented stats, physical damage works well.
The experience from four enemies levels me up by one.
The Mark of the Weakling, which must always be equipped no matter the situation, and FBO's mechanic that prevents mass leveling are really annoying.
Quickly opening the status menu, I check my stats.
Class 5 / Level 98.
We've been in this dungeon for three days now.
The current leveling pace is about forty levels per day.
Whether it's because this is a higher-level dungeon or due to the seemingly endless experience table despite all the fighting, it's impressive that we can level this much in one dungeon run.
It just shows how much easier it was to level up until Class 4.
Confirming that the EXBP has been fully allocated, I distribute the stats.
This time, I prioritize Vitality. After securing the necessary Vitality for Class 5, I allocate the rest to Magic.
Above all, we need physical damage.
So, allocating stats to Vitality for pure physical damage is more effective against Players than boosting Magic for Magic Edge damage.
While distributing stats mid-battle, Claudia knocks away the last male-type Player, ending this battle safely.
"At first, we took them down one by one, but as we level up, we can handle multiple enemies at once.""Our takedown speed has increased, and thanks to that, leveling feels faster too.""But even so, leveling is still slow. Before, we'd gain a level after defeating about three enemies, but now it takes thirteen defeats just to level up once.""That's because the experience table is fixed at the minimum value. Stats decrease, but without this, it would be unbearable.""However, we can only equip two Marks of the Weakling, and the level-down effect caps at 200. After that, the experience table increases, right?""Exactly. In the latter half, we'll need to level with the Class 5 level 50 experience table. There's a method to fuse Marks of the Weakling into all equipment to lower it further, but we want to avoid reducing equipment capabilities for now."
We take a break to confirm our coordination.
Amina lures them, the Golems defend while Lady Esmeralda provides cover and establishes a defensive line.
Meanwhile, Claudia and Nell flank, I launch a surprise attack from behind, and Ingrid supports dangerous areas. With this battle style, we managed to take down five Players at once.
"But the enemies are increasing, right? Is this pace sustainable?"
Amina, sitting on the turtle's head, expresses concern about the pace.
Dungeons are designed to have more enemies the deeper you go.
This is especially noticeable in maze-type dungeons with stone paving.
The encounter rate increases deeper in simply because there are more enemies and alternate routes are blocked.
"Currently, groups of up to five are standard, but if we go further, it might become six or seven. Let's level here until around 150, then proceed a bit further."
Moreover, maze-type dungeons are intricate with many corners, so we must be careful when turning.
Since the enemies float, they make no sound.
It's possible to run into them the moment you turn a corner.
That's why scouting skills become essential, but I have the Assassin job.
I have to take on the scouting role, but since my skill build includes scouting skills, it's not a problem.
This time, I acquired Presence Detection. In the game era, this skill displayed a radar-like map, and at higher levels, it could detect enemies even through walls—a excellent skill.
The downside is that it's harder to detect enemies with stealth skills, but if my skill level is high enough, it takes precedence, and high stats can compensate for this weakness.
Why did I take this skill? For the future, when I get vision-obstructing skills like Smoke Screen, to keep track of ally and enemy positions.
Using Presence Detection to locate enemies in the smoke, Silent Walk to muffle footsteps, Shadow Clone for feints, and Neck Hunt for the kill—this combo is the strongest.
"Liberta-sama. At this rate, can we reach the planned level by today?""Probably not. I predict we'll only reach around 120.""I think leveling that much in two days is quite fast, but are you dissatisfied, Liberta?""I'm not dissatisfied. In fact, I think the leveling is progressing smoothly."
Since entering the dungeon and seeing the same repetitive scenery, my internal clock is still working, so I estimate it's around 3 PM.
I'd like to cleanly reach 150, but it doesn't seem efficient time-wise.
Lady Esmeralda misunderstood my tone when answering Ingrid's question as dissatisfaction, but if anything, things are going well.
So, why did I sound dissatisfied?
"I'm struggling to choose the next leveling dungeon.""Extra thoughts lead to accidents, so please postpone that.""Ah, yes."
Simply put, I'm worried about future plans.
For Class 5 leveling, I decided on the Player dungeon, but I'm struggling to choose the next location for Class 6 leveling.
Thanks to the Spirit King, we have time, but it's not infinite.
Considering future skill development and acquisition, no amount of time is enough.
So, I tend to think too far ahead, but if I neglect the present and cause an accident, it'll be disastrous. I'll heed Claudia's advice honestly.
Thus, even after resting, we continue defeating Players, and time flies by.
"Level 124. Time to stop soon."
Now, here's a problem.
In the game era, for dungeons requiring long-term strategies where time was limited, what did people do?
Well, there were commercially available items that allowed saving anywhere.
Using them in the dungeon let you quit the game and resume from there.
Higher-tier items even deployed magic circles like checkpoints, allowing you to leave the dungeon temporarily and stop the game.
But after coming to this world, those items, which should be sold in general stores, have vanished without a trace.
I was stunned at first, but now I've accepted it and decided to manage somehow.
"Alright, I'll open the dungeon.""Then, I'll take care of the boss.""I'll head to the water area and start preparing dinner.""I'll help too!!""Then, I'll come along.""I'll set up anti-monster items at the entrance."
And the substitute for logout is the Mochi Dungeon, which we've relied on since the beginning.
I take the key from the Magic Bag, create the dungeon, and the female members immediately begin preparing for lodging.
"Let's start setting up the tent."""""Yes!""""
These tasks have assigned roles, so everyone can act quickly.
We place the Golems near the entrance and set up Dark's special anti-monster items, connecting them to the Golem Core.
It's almost divine intervention that using them while not leveling is allowed during this survival leveling.
While moving, encounter avoidance items lose effectiveness, but when set up at a base, they perform at their best.
Even if defeated dungeon bosses prevent monsters from entering, we must prepare for the worst.
Lady Esmeralda diligently handles the setup, and despite being a noble lady, she does this manual labor without complaint.
A bit away from there, we set up the tent with the spirits.
The camping gear is stored not in the Magic Bag but inside the turtle's shell.
This is why large Golems are so convenient.
Amina's summons can call various such tools, which is powerful.
The trade-off is that we need to prepare Golems equipped with such gear.
Building the tent together with the spirits is an experience you can't get in the game.
In the game, with one click—or rather, one touch—the tent is set up instantly, and you log out, devoid of any atmosphere or charm.
"Alright, let's finish before Ingrid and the others finish dinner."""""Yes!""""
Working together like this in such an environment is quite enjoyable.