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“Alim…! We reached level 85!” Ruin announced during our fourth break of the day.
“Congratulations!”

Karua and Tuhl had also likely passed level 80.

There had only been three breaks until they reached this goal. As expected, they gradually had an easier time defeating the magic beasts during their rounds and during the previous one, Lilo’s magic wasn’t needed at all. They were improving… it was unmistakable.

“Incidentally, Alim, before we challenge the next group, I think now would be a good time,” he continued. “Could we consult you about our skills?”
“That’s fine! Oh, if you’d like to, we can do that while I craft new equipment. Let’s do our simulated trade first…”

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I made them new gear with plenty of B-Rank subspecies materials, and everyone’s skills had gotten stronger.

First, Ruin’s and Orgo’s Sword Auras.

Although Ruin had possessed the light aura and Orgo the earth variety from the beginning (they barely had any other attack skills, just their sword skills, a bit of magic, and stuff like Harvesting and Dismantling), those aura skills were now a lot stronger. Well, to economize on magic cores, I merely had them synthesize their Sword Auras with Swordsmanship. Those skills would soon become even stronger.

Also, Ruin was apparently going for a hybrid build¹ that let him use both attack and healing magic, plus his sword, so he had allocated most of his skill points into Light Magic in the past. For that reason, I told him to allocate his saved up STP into spellpower until it was four thirds of his attack stat and, on top of that, use his SKP, of which quite a lot had accumulated, to get his Light Magic up to the Extreme stage. We settled on putting off his Restoration Magic for another time.

Incidentally, he had apparently acquired Light Magic from a skill card the king gave him.

Orgo, on the other hand, expanded his repertoire of aura skills. We found one that seemed to be tailor-made for him. It was the “Iron” one. If you asked me, it fit his rugged appearance to a T. Thus, Orgo acquired the B-Rank version of said iron aura.

Myuri had also gotten stronger. Since she had saved up most of her SKP, she apparently first maxed out Restoration and Abnormal Dispel Magic. She told me that she’d next max out Water Magic as her offensive spell. Right now, it was already at level 1 of its extreme stage.

Next was Lilo, who didn’t limit herself to Fire Magic but also maxed out Wind and Ice Magic. When I told her that maxing out those three was enough for her to learn S-Rank magic, she jumped in joy. They were bouncing a lot. No comment on what “they” were.

Tuhl made his own decisions after observing what everyone else did. Being able to see other people’s status screens truly was convenient.

Karua, on the other hand, told me she wanted to learn magic. Healing magic like her older brother Ruin… wasn’t what she was going for. Instead, she declared her intent to acquire the strongest version of Thunder Magic. When she saw me for the first time, I was using said magic during the fighting tournament… something she’d apparently never forget.

Thus, on top of maxing out Extreme Thunder Magic, Karua used the remaining A-Rank magic cores Ruin and the others had given her, to learn the A-Rank version of the thunder aura. We also wracked our brains over her stats together so they would be in a good state.

At this point, they might already be able to clear the hidden room.

Oh, by the way, Mika and I enjoyed ourselves in another room while the others were resting. Although what we did is a secret.

“Alright… it took long enough… let’s advance to the next group!”

With Ruin taking the lead, we dove back into the dungeon. After giving us a “please let me handle this part,” Tuhl got rid of all the magic beasts on the way, except for the B-Rank subspecies. We reached the next group without anyone showing any exhaustion.

According to my prior experience, this should’ve been the last group, but… it went completely contrary to said expectations.

There was no large gate. However, there was an A-Rank magic beast… Indeed, the same old Myrmecoleon.

Why do these things show up so often²? Shuu and Kanata also told us that they had been in their dungeons. Just why are they so common in dungeons?

Well, they didn’t have any especially dangerous skills or magic, instead they were magic beasts that took a brute-force approach and prided themselves on their power and intimidating appearance, which made them easier opponents. If I were to build a dungeon, I’d probably also place them somewhere.

Still, to our surprise, that wasn’t the only enemy. There were magic beasts that looked around B-Rank on both the Myrmecoleon’s sides. If this wasn’t the end, then the next group might contain S-Rank enemies.

“Then… I’ll attack with all I have!” Lilo announced.
“Oh, uhm, I’m pretty sure you can win even if you don’t go all out,” I told her.
“Huh? You think so? In that case… I’ll use about half of my MP for attack spells!”

The magic beasts noticed her once she got into range. Just before the Myrmecoleon could react by charging at her, she assaulted it with magic… a wild dance of the strongest fire and wind magic.

It created an explosion of fiery gusts. The air pressure was incredible.

…All that remained after the dust had settled and the pressure had abated, was the corpse of the Myrmecoleon, and one A- and two B-Rank magic cores.

“Woo-hoo~~! Finally, I finally managed to defeat an A-Rank magic beast! Me, me!!”

In her delight, Lilo, once more, pulled Ruin into an embrace. Just like last time, they both blushed immediately and hurriedly let go of each other.

“…I didn’t think I’d gotten this strong,” she mused.
“Ha-ha… we didn’t do a thing…” Ruin commented with a laugh.
“In that case… how about going to the hidden room?” I proposed.
“…!”

1. The original is オールマイティなステータス (“almighty status”). I can only assume that Japanese uses this word for such builds. Otherwise, it might be an error.
2. In the original, this is worded as if Alim encountered them lots of times, but as far as I remember, it only happened once in chapter 60.

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