Carp
After having received the explanation about the facility, I put the lodge off.
Henceforth, I’ll drop by the lodge shop every now and then.
The prospects of earning points look bright.
“Sherry, isn’t there a Large s.h.i.+eld that increases magic power?”
While moving to Haruba’s labyrinth, I ask tentatively.
“Uh, you can fuse a Goat Monster Card.”
Large s.h.i.+eld of Offerings, huh?
I already have an earring with 2x Intelligence skill equipped, so that’s not what I meant.
Even if I equip two, it won’t turn into 4x.
“Is that the only way?”
“I haven’t heard of any other. There’s no monster card that can only be fused with a weapon nor a monster card that can only be fused with an armor.”
“Is it possible to attach Increase in Attack Power skill to it?”
“You’ll have to attack directly with the fused s.h.i.+eld, though.”
Isn’t it useless then?
So, is attaching Increase in Intelligence skill better?
If I were a dragonkin, I could equip both the s.h.i.+eld and the stick.
Nah, Increase in Intelligence skills of the two equipment wouldn’t stack.
“It seems difficult in not just one way.”
With the admission into the Empire Liberation Society settled, we fire ourselves up and explore the labyrinth.
I sweep the Gummi Slimes and the Cyclopes with Intermediate Wind Magic.
Now that Grand Wizard has leveled up, I can take monsters out even quicker. There’s no longer any issue on this floor.
The Scissor Lizard, the weakness of which differs from the rest, is somewhat of a nuisance but I leave it to Miria.
Whenever Miria petrifies a monster, I tidy it up with Durandal.
With petrified monsters, MP can safely be recovered.
So I don’t have to attack from the front. I safely attack from the sides.
The Scissor Lizard collapses and turns into smoke.
“Yes, desu.”
It dropped leather. Miria picks it up and brings it over.
There was no need for me to pick up the item dropped by the monster that I killed with Durandal.
Roxanne and Vesta go and pick up the items dropped by the Cyclopes.
Because the Cyclopes fell before reaching the front due to getting obstructed by the Wind magic, I’m grateful that they went and picked the items up.
“Master, you did it. It dropped a monster card.”
Roxanne comes back with the monster card which she picked up.
One of the Cyclopes dropped a monster card, it seems.
I receive the card from Roxanne.
Appraisal is showing it as Cyclops Monster Card, too.
“Cyclops Monster Card?”
“If fused with a weapon or an accessory, it grants Increase in Attack Power skill. If fused together with a Kobold Monster Card, it grants 2x Attack Power skill.”
Sherry informs without a moment’s delay.
2x Attack Power?
Any increment in attack power is most welcome.
Presently, however, our attack power is sufficient for this floor.
So it’s not urgently required.
I mainly fight using magic and Durandal, so there won’t be much opportunity for it to come into play.
Should I fuse it with the Sacred Spear or the Earring of Offerings?
But I don’t particularly need it, so it’ll be a waste.
Should I keep the card?
That’ll be a waste, too.
There’s merit in fusing it with an appropriate equipment rather than keeping it.
Even if little, increment in attack power can’t be bad.
Although it’s not currently required, I can still fuse it.
There’s a possibility of selling the fused weapon in the lodge shop.
It can become fertilizer for the next equipment.
If I am to sell it, I can’t fuse it with Sherry’s Incantation Interruption spear.
Nor with Miria’s Estoc of Petrifaction.
“Should I fuse it with the Rapier or the Steel Sword?”
It comes to these two after the process of elimination.
Should I fuse it with the Rapier?
Nothing can go wrong with giving priority to Roxanne.
“I think it should rather be fused with the Steel Sword than the Rapier. It’ll be helpful in the boss battles.”
Roxanne proposes.
Indeed. In the boss battles, I hand Durandal to Vesta who takes care of one of the monsters.
Although I don’t believe that attacking simultaneously with casting spells will make much difference, enhancing the Steel Sword may be better.
If I fuse it with the Steel Sword, I can test whether it stacks with Durandal’s 5x Attack Power skill or not.
After all, it’s not yet known whether Durandal’s 5x Attack Power skill can stack with the Steel Sword or not in case of dual wielding.
Although it’s not impossible to test, it’s incredibly difficult.
“I guess. Let’s attach it to the Steel Sword then.”
If Roxanne says so, let’s go with the Steel Sword.
Since it will be sold later, we can get another one.
In the evening, I have Sherry perform the fusion after finis.h.i.+ng with the exploration.
“It’s done.”
Sherry fuses it with ease.
Because it wasn’t the case of multiple skills this time, she was composed.
Steel Sword of Fury | Two-handed Sword
Skills | 2x Attack Power | Empty | Empty
I receive the sword from Sherry and swing it lightly.
So, if you attach 2x Attack Power skill, it becomes Sword of Fury, huh?
“As expected of Sherry. It has become a good sword.”
“Thank you very much.”
“I’ll leave this sword to Vesta.”
“Okay. I didn’t think I would ever be able to use a weapon with skill.”
When I hand it to Vesta, she accepts it with grat.i.tude.
She seems thrilled.
I’m feeling bad now.
“Ah, I have decided to sell this sword later on at the shop we saw this morning. When that time comes-”
“Understood.”
Just in case, I give her a heads up.
Because I’ll buy something else when I sell it at the lodge shop, it’s not that bad.
Michio Kaga | Male | 17 Years Old
Wizard Lv50 | Hero Lv47 | Jobless Lv44 | Grand Wizard Lv37 | Priest Lv43 | Adventurer Lv38
Equipment | Sacred Spear | Hard Leather Hat | Alba | Dragon Leather Gloves | Dragon Leather Boots | Earring of Offerings
Roxanne | Female | 16 Years Old
Shrine Maiden Lv34
Equipment | Rapier | Steel s.h.i.+eld | Wind Resistant Damascus Steel Forehead Protector | Dragon Leather Jacket | Hard Leather Gloves | Hard Leather Boots of Willow | Sacrificial Misanga
Sherry | Female | 16 Years Old
Master Smith Lv38
Equipment | Steel Spear of Authority | Hard Leather Hat | Chainmail | Water Resistant Leather Mittens | Hard Leather Boots | Sacrificial Misanga
Miria | Female | 15 Years Old
a.s.sa.s.sin Lv35
Equipment | Estoc of Petrifaction | Iron s.h.i.+eld | Poison Resistant Hard Leather Hat | Chainmail | Hard Leather Gloves | Hard Leather Boots | Sacrificial Misanga
Vesta | Female | 15 Years Old
Dragon Knight Lv35
Equipment | Steel Sword of Fury | Iron Sword | Strengthened Hard Leather Hat | Platemail | Steel Gauntlets | Steel Demigreaves | Sacrificial Misanga
The next day. With the enhanced weapon, we explore the labyrinth.
There’s almost no feeling of it having been enhanced.
Because magic and Durandal are our main force of attack, it can’t be helped.
To test the dual wielding with Durandal and the Steel Sword of Fury, we decide to go to the boss room.
The next day. We finally reach the boss room.
As expected, it took more time than in case of 23rd floor.
We didn’t encounter any trouble, though, for Grand Wizard has leveled up.
In the boss room, on either sides of the boss appear a Gummi Slime and a Cyclops.
I cast a Wind spell and apply Abnormal Status Resistance Down on the Gummi Slime which Miria was confronting.
Vesta takes out the Cyclops. Miria petrifies the Gummi Slime. The boss ends up petrified, too.
The time Vesta took to finish the monster off was almost the same, huh?
Stacking Durandal’s 5x Attack Power skill with the Steel Sword of Fury’s 2x Attack Power skill doesn’t seem to result in 10x attack power.
If the overwhelming power of Durandal were doubled, the difference would be distinct.
Like when I invoke Rush to attack.
5x Attack Power skill and 2x Attack Power skill don’t seem to stack, after all.
There’s a lingering worry. Earlier, paired with the Steel Sword having no skill, Durandal’s 5x Attack Power skill was effective. Now that the Steel Sword has 2x Attack Power skill attached, there’s a likelihood that it’ll precede and be effective instead.
If the fusion resulted in actually having the skill weakened, it would really be embarra.s.sing.
I wonder how it works.
I don’t know whether 5x Attack Power skill will be effective with the Steel Sword or not. Even if 2x Attack Power skill will be effective, 5x Attack Power should still activate occasionally, shouldn’t it?
Besides, even if it turned 2x from 5x, the bodily sensation wouldn’t differ much.
Because Durandal won’t be a part of dual wielding except for during the boss battles, the loss isn’t to the extent to be called a failure.
“Although the sword has been enhanced, there didn’t seem to be any difference, did it?”
“I guess. But master’s magic was overwhelming.”
“Because it’s the attack power of the Steel Sword which has been doubled, the difference wasn’t considerable, it seems.”
“Yes, desu.”
“I think there was no difference.”
I ask others for their impression. There was indeed no difference.
I receive Durandal from Vesta and clean up the petrified monsters.
“Sherry, which monster appears on 26th floor?”
“The monster native to Haruba’s 26th floor is Cape Carp.”
“x.x.xx.x.xx.x.xx”
“It’s carp. C-a-r-p.”
Because of Miria shouting excitedly, I can take a guess. It’s a fish, huh?
Roxanne teaches her the Brahim word.
Because it’s a koi, is that why it’s called carp?
“Carp, desu.”
“Does Cape Carp drop any ingredient?”
“It doesn’t.”
I ask Sherry who denies.
If it dropped sas.h.i.+mi, how cool would that be?
Miria doesn’t seem to be aiming for the ingredient.
She’s excited merely because the enemy is a fish.
“It doesn’t?”
“The ingredient is dropped by High Carp. In this labyrinth, High Carp should appear on 59th floor. If it grows up to 59th floor, that is.”
“How do you know that?”
When a labyrinth grows up to 50th floor, it opens an entrance to invite people in.
Although the entrance of Haruba’s labyrinth had already been discovered, it’s not yet known as to how far it has grown. The labyrinth takes long to grow, so it shouldn’t have grown up to 59th floor.
The Duke’s order of knights does enter in order to kill the labyrinth.
However, how can it be known as to which monster appears on a floor which has yet to be explored?
“Umm, the bosses of the first 33 floors turn into the monsters on the next floors……Didn’t you know that?”
Sherry realizes from my complexion.
I’m sorry that I didn’t know that.
It must be a common knowledge in this world.
I see. So it’s like that, huh?
From 1st floor to 11th, 12th floor to 22nd and 23rd floor to 33rd, monsters appear randomly. However, from 34th floor onward, the order repeats.
1st floor’s boss appears on 34th floor. 2nd floor’s boss appears on 35th floor.
The boss of 26th floor should therefore appear on 59th floor.
If you know which monster appears on 26th floor, you can figure out which monster will appear on 59th floor.
There will naturally be a boss of 59th floor. That boss will drop the ingredient.
It’s a long way off.
59th floor’s boss drop will be really precious.
“The boss of Quratar’s 1st floor, Kobold Kempfer, will appear as a monster on 34th floor and 26th floor’s boss will appear as a monster on 59th floor?”
“Correct. By the way, the monster native to Quratar’s 26th floor happens to be Cape Carp.”
Same, huh?
Oh well, it may happen.
There’s a probability of 1/11.
So it shouldn’t be that rare.
“Hee, really?”
Vesta is nodding.
That the monster on Haruba’s 26th floor is same as the monster on Quratar’s 26th floor shouldn’t be that impressive, should it?
For Vesta wasn’t aware either, the fact that the bosses of the first 33 floors turn into the monsters on the next floors shouldn’t be common knowledge.
So I have won my case.
“Cape Carp is a monster that’s well versed in four attributes of magic, amongst which, it has command over Water magic. It’s resistant to Water attribute and weak against Fire attribute, so it’s weakness is Fire magic.”
It’s weakness is Fire magic?
Fire magic is effective against Gummi Slime, too, so I should change the skill of Jobless to Intermediate Fire Magic.
However, Cyclops is resistant to Fire.
And Cyclops is supposed to appear on 26th floor.
“If Cyclops appears, I’ll leave it to Miria.”
“Okay, desu.”
While moving to 26th floor, I change the skill of Jobless.
We proceed under Roxanne’s guidance and encounter three fish.
It’s Cape Carp.
It’s swimming in the air just like Black Diamond Tuna.
But It’s slightly smaller than Black Diamond Tuna.
It’s still close to 1 meter, though.
However, it’s not entirely black unlike black diamond tuna. A portion of its back is blackish brown.
Because it’s called Cape Carp, I thought there would be a cape around its neck but it doesn’t seem to be the case.
It’s a normal carp.
It’s slightly long and thin, though, just like gra.s.s carp.
More importantly, its mouth is pointed like barracuda.
By cape, does it mean the peninsula 《cape》, not the mantle one?
There’s a town in the Cape of Good Hope called Cape Town.
There’s Cape Canaveral in Florida Peninsula.
Because its mouth is pointed like a peninsula, is that why it’s called Cape Carp?