Vol. 7 - Chapter 364 - Hitting the Level Limit and Testing Out New Skills!

"And, ‹Mega Flare›. ——it’s over!"

"Go...b...uu?"

Mert's spell struck the silver goblin head on, draining his HP to zero as it dissolved into effect particles.

Along with it, we had cleared, yet, another stage.

"Good job, everyone. What's your level now?"

We have been in ‹Training Hall› for three hours currently, and similarly it was our third stage. This should be enough to reach the room's limit according to my estimation.

"Ahh, I have reached ‹Wiseman LV40›, Zephyr."

"Ohh! Congrats, Mert!"

The average level gain from clearing a single stage was around LV3~LV4 and Mert managed to reach the limit in these three tries.

"Ohhh, I do too! I have reached ‹Sage LV40›"

"Likewise. I have reached ‹Master-Planner Princess LV40›!"

"Congratulations-desu, both of you!"

"You too, Misato, Rina. Congrats. This means we have completed our goal in time!"

Rina and Misato informed about their level gain following Mert.

I was expecting it might take one more stage, but everyone has managed to level up at the same time. I congratulated both of them.

"Tahaha~. Still, I can't believe we have reached LV40 in such a short time."

"You're right. I didn't expect it would just take a couple hours either."

Misato exclaimed in admiration while twisting herself in embarrassment at my praise. Rina, too, seemed similarly surprised at the leveling speed.

"Isn't it? Well, this is the magic of QP. Tower usually threw out the party when they wiped out completely, so having 2 or more members to cover others is usually the option. An indomitable tank in particular is a must.'

"Oh? You are right, Pamela's execution was perfect."

"You're embarrassing me with your praise-desu."

Mert nodded and praised Pamela. Eh, what about me?

Ahem, well whatever. He was also not wrong, Pamela’s figure fluttering around the battlefield was indeed mesmerizing.

She had become even better after unlocking multiple evasion-tank related skills from 3rd order skill tree. What made ‹Female Ninja› especially great was their attacks as they danced around the battlefield.

If I have to say anything, the thing holding them back was their lack of taunt skill to attract the target. They only have ‹Notice Me› and ‹Give Me Your Life›. Also, it would be that they could only attract the aggro of monsters by taking damage, so if ‹Female Ninja› was the only one acting as primarily tank, the one dealing high damage would end up taking the brunt.

Basically, a high-risk high-reward type job which if weren't handled correctly could lead to entire party wipeout. So, ‹Female Ninja› was a job for veterans.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Pamela appeared to have found her equilibrium in using it.

Well, Rina's instruction on hate management was just as good. She had a good grasp over the situation as she even handled other aspects like calling out Mert to keep his attack in moderation to prevent target shifting to him.

She has grown considerably.

"Hey, what about me?"

Misato raised her energetically and asserted herself to Mert. Her ears, in sync with her movement, stretched all the way up.

I really want to try touching those ears.

"You should ask this from Zephyr, Misato. He was the only one at the receiving end of your heal."

"So cold, Mert-sama! ——You say, Zephyr-kun, how was I?"

"Thanks for the healing, Misato. With your next skill tree unlocked, let's focus on the barrier type skills."

Haa~, what a heart-calming existence hoping Misato was.

Healing was all about comfort after all, so it makes sense for her to be the poster girl of soothing the weary heart. If only she could let me pet her ears as well......

My thoughts drifted in a good-for-nothing direction.

After that, the three started setting their skill tree.

Misato and Mert configured their skills in alignment with their unique training manual——the training manual they had originally come up with, subsequently modified after our heated discussion over the ideal strongest manual.

Meanwhile, Rina meticulously followed my original strongest manual.

I did suggest they can take their time in allocating SP after we return back, but,

"We don't get to try such battlefield everyday, so we would like to train out skills here,"

was the response I got from them.

Well, they are certainly not wrong.

If it hadn't been that we needed to quickly get them level up, we wouldn't have come here. A stage with 100 of monsters on the same level as them was just a perfect place for them to try out their new skills.

"I am done."

"I am also done!"

"Likewise. I am done too."

They just had to follow their respective manual, so it didn't take that long for them to be over with it. Soon after, monsters start appearing out from the gate in depth as if waiting for that.

Alright, let’s see who is our opponent this time. Oh? It’s Silver Oak.

"Bugyaaaa!"

12 Silver Oak appeared on the 4th wave and greeted us with their roar.

I glanced at others, and they, too, were brimming with eagerness to fight. I can relate with the itch to try out new skills as well, I get you guys.

"I will attract half to my side, ‹Appeal›!"

"Roger-desu! ‹Dark Art›! ‹Notice Me›!"

We started with taking their aggro and splitting them.

This would prevent Silver Oak from heading toward our three rearguards behind. This way, they would be able to try out their ‹Skill› and ‹Magic› to their heart's content. I was thinking so when Misato raised her voice.

"I am confused, Zephyr-kun! Which spell should I use first!?"

I had to control myself from not stumbling at her words.

That's a common yet fair problem when there are lots of options to try. For now, I offered her my advice.

"Whichever you feel is right. Start with figuring out the situation and ‹Magic› you can use right now."

"I see. Thanks, I will give it a shot! Err, ‹Regen-Protect-Barrier›!"

Misato started with one of the compound spells; a combination of 'Regeneration', 'Protection' and 'Barrier'. An upgraded version of ‹Protection Barrier›.

It was a versatile spell which strengthened three healing effects at once, furthermore the strengthening scales with the increase in ‹Spell LV›.

Silver Oak held up his fist and swung it down. But,

"Bugiiii!"

"Bugiiii!"

"Bugiiii!"

"Amazing, not a single damage, and whatever damage there was healed right away."

‹Barrier› neutralized the first two attacks, while I defended the third one with ‹Firmament Shield›. I barely took any damage thanks to increased defense from ‹Protect›, and whatever trivial damage there was healed right away with continuous healing from ‹Regene› till HP was back to full.

It was especially a welcoming spell for tanks.

"Next, I guess I will try attacking them. So the unique skill is, ‹Sanctuary›!"

As soon as Misato activated her unique skill, the ground lit up in circular light with me at its center.

It was an AoE magic. It resembles Lana's ‹Light Pillar›, except it provides continuous healing to all the ally within the circle while dealing continuous damage to enemies. Plus, it had an impressively long duration, and at level 10, it could last for over a minute.

One of the MVP skill during boss fights.

"Bu, Bugyaaa!"

"Bugyaaa!"

"Bugyaaa!"

"Oh, it's working. The damage is adding up slowly."

The scream of Silver Oak's head shifted from 'Bugiiii' to 'Bugyaaa', the sign of them taking damage.

Bugyaaa.

“It's my turn next!"

The next was, oh Rina? Alright, keep going guys!