The Second’s Skill, put simply, was a Skill that let other people use his Skills.
Stated accurately it was complicated, but in short: an ally within a certain range could use Skills.
The First’s Full-Over.
The Fourth’s [Speed].
Make any of them deployable on someone else at any time — that was the Second’s Skill, [All].
The mana cost was extremely low.
After all, making the Skills deployable was the function, and unless he actually used a Skill on someone, the consumption was trivial.
But the Skill’s greatest feature was its discrimination of friend and foe within a certain radius.
A space made by trees lined up like a row of pillars, forming a room.
The orc that had been supposed to be in the [Innermost Hall] had blown apart the man-sized entrance and shown up scattering wood fragments.
An orc with red skin, hairy arms, hair long enough to cover its back.
An orc that looked more like an ogre, carrying the greatsword that had been the dead adventurer’s weapon.
Held by the huge orc, the greatsword looked like a regular sword.
I’d pointed the sabre. Taking it as a threat, it roared.
Around me, my dungeon-crawl comrades — Novem, Aria, Zelphy, Rondo, Rachel — five of them flinched for an instant at the roar.
The voice was loud.
With the huge orc inside, the room — which had been spacious — felt cramped.
But I’d grasped the orc’s status to a degree.
(I get why the Second hesitated to deploy it. This is — in a sense — too strong.)
To be blunt: the Skill’s intended purpose was to let others use his Skills… but the byproduct was more important.
As though responding to the red orc’s roar, monsters that had been roaming the dungeon poured into our room.
Zelphy started to step in front of me.
No — with the shield, she was probably positioning as the party’s wall.
But against the current red orc, Zelphy’s power wasn’t going to be enough.
“The red orc, I’ll take. Can you handle the other monsters coming into the room?”
I said it to all of them. Rondo shouted back.
“What are you saying?! That thing is bad. Better we all take it down at once!”
A correct take, sure, but I didn’t have time to fuss over the enemy in front of me.
“I’d love to, but time’s short… look, here they come!”
Goblins flooded in.
They sprang past the red orc; Novem cast.
“Wind Bullet.”
A goblin blew back and slammed into the wall.
At the same moment, I drew the spare sabre too and ran for the red orc.
The red orc raised its sword and swung down.
“Yeah, that is an absurd Skill.”
I dropped low, dove in. The greatsword came down and bit into the ground without cutting me.
I’d slipped under the blade, between sword and orc.
With sabres in both hands, I cut the red orc’s knees in front of me.
“Shallow? Less than I’d—… no.”
The skin was harder than I’d expected, I tried to think — and then watched the orc’s knees heal in front of me.
I sprang left immediately. The red orc’s left fist slammed into the ground, gouged it, left a small crater.
Landing the sideways jump, I rolled and rose. A voice.
“Lyle-kun!”
Rondo. He’d seen a goblin pouncing at me from behind and warned me in a hurry.
I didn’t turn — just swung the sabre back-handed, and stood up.
Goblin blood rained on me from above.
“Can’t see.”
I muttered it. Three responses moved fast toward me.
Novem, Aria, Zelphy.
Other than them, monsters around — sensing an opening — came at me.
I swung both sabres, turning in place, moving.
Blood flew off the blades.
I wiped my eyes on my sleeve. Surroundings came back.
“You can pull this off blind, then.”
I dodged the swing, cut down every monster coming at me.
Who was where, in what state… the Second’s Skill picking up the whole perimeter — there was a decisive distinction between it and the Fifth’s and Sixth’s.
The Fifth, nostalgic.
“I got a lot of mileage out of that Skill, but yeah — the byproduct is the impressive part. My Skill sees more macro — it’s not suited to a melee like this.”
The Sixth agreed.
“Right. Plain on the surface but enormously useful. There were plenty of battles I survived only thanks to the First and Second’s Skills.”
I felt bad for the wistful Sixth, but right now I wanted advice on the enemy in front of me.
“Hits supposedly don’t land — but it heals, then. Keep attacking and eventually mana runs out… but our stamina runs out first.”
Solo, I could manage. There were comrades here.
The first to drop would be Rachel — lighting the room — or Novem, healing and supporting me with offensive magic.
Then Aria, then Zelphy.
Even Rondo as the last man couldn’t finish the red orc.
(It Grew off taking down a veteran adventurer — and gained a Skill. Even monsters Grow and gain Skills… God’s gift to humanity — that’s bullshit, maybe?)
I lowered my eyes to the sabres in both hands and stepped back. The red orc’s blade came down where I’d been.
It didn’t know how to handle a sword.
A club or something would actually have been worse.
“The sabres’ edges are wrecked. The weapons will fail first. To one-shot it — Skill-charged magic, maybe?”
I was about to settle on it — and fell a hair short.
The others were occupied with monsters in the room; calling for help would cost time.
The red orc focused on me; it wasn’t attacking the others. If I went to help someone, it might change targets.
“I hate gambling… so — how to finish it.”
Maximum offense — one-shot the enemy in front of me.
I’d identified the enemy’s Skill. The Second’s Skill let me read most of it. Stamina, mana… knowing those by feel changed how you fought.
The First.
“Your (Second’s) Skill — bit cheap, isn’t it?”
The Second snapped.
“Cheap?! It’s convenient! Convenient enough that you lean on it — that’s exactly why I didn’t let Lyle use it yet!”
Felt like I’d gained a new sense, but yeah — using it casually was going to take time.
Not so much mana-wise as mentally.
Dodging the red attack, I thought.
Then the red orc, finding me eerie, stepped back. With a roar, ordinary green-skinned orcs emerged from between the trees of the wall.
“They called friends?!”
Aria’s surprised shout. Rondo moved closer to protect Rachel.
Zelphy stepped in front of Novem and Aria.
“Lyle, how long can you hold out!”
I looked up at the ceiling for a moment, thought—
“I’ll end it now. Hold on.”
I said.
The First laughed his head off.
“Look at you, Lyle! Yes. A man postures at moments like this! Right! I’ll teach you something special—”
The Fifth wobbled at that.
“Hey — what are you thinking. Too early, by a margin.”
I temporarily activated Limit Burst and threw the two sabres in my hands at the two ordinary orcs flanking the red.
The sabres spun and lodged in their heads.
The impact tipped their chins up; they crashed to the ground.
Seeing me weaponless, the red orc roared.
“Finish it with magic? …Cutting it close, maybe.”
I figured I could take it, but it was close. There was a chance I’d come up short, so I bet everything on one strike.
(If I can’t finish it, fine — punch it bare-handed.)
For a second, my thinking matched the First. Hilariously so.
(What’s the word… not bad.)
Then the First.
“Hey. Grip the Jewel.”
“What?”
The others were occupied; my conversation with the First wasn’t audible.
“Got something fun to teach you. Good news for you right now… after all, the setup the Seventh prepared has come around to be usable.”
“The Seventh… grandfather?”
I broke off the magic prep and gripped the Jewel as told.
The Seventh shouted at the First about why are you telling him.
“Why?! Too soon! At Lyle’s mana level it’ll work for a few seconds, literally!”
The First fired back.
“A few seconds?! That’s plenty! You lot — who’s the one who told me this kid — Lyle — was amazing?! I approved it! Nobody gets to interfere! Right, let’s go, Lyle!”
The Jewel emitted blue light; the chain around my neck unraveled on its own.
The silver inlay enclosing the blue gem shifted shape in my hand.
“This—”
The others noticed something — Novem’s magic had thrown up a smoke screen.
I felt a weight in the Jewel that I’d never felt before. I gripped what had been the Jewel… no, the silver inlay I’d taken for ornamental.
Held two-handed by the hilt. The silver blade glowed faint blue. A guard with the blue gem set in it — the gem was shining.
“I don’t know fancy swordwork or anything. So I always wanted a weapon for plain cleaving.”
What I gripped was a silver greatsword.
The First shouted.
“No time! Finish it!!”
Pushed by the voice, I broke into a run and leapt. Mid-leap, twisting in the air to dodge the red orc’s swung greatsword, I rotated in the air using the weight of my own held greatsword.
Centrifugal force as ally. As I generated maximum offensive output through Skills—
“This is my final Skill — [Full Burst]!”
The First supporting it — power surged from deeper in me than usual.
I tuned the rotation and brought the greatsword down on the red orc at maximum force.
“With this—”
The First’s voice overlaid mine.
“It’s over!!”
“It’s over!!”
The red orc threw its left arm up to survive; I split arm and orc, top to bottom, in one stroke.
The silver greatsword drove deep into the ground, the earth crushing under it — the impact spoke for itself.
”…Hah, hah… that’s vicious.”
I confirmed the red orc’s bisected body slowly topple — and the silver greatsword reverted to the inlay decoration on the Jewel.
(The Seventh said he’d had it made specially… right — Zel said it was a rare metal.)
Recalling what Zel had said when I’d been kicked out of the manor, I thought — tell me sooner.
Then the abrupt mana burn drained the strength from me.
I dropped to one knee — and someone supported my body. Novem.
“Lord Lyle!”
She’d thrown her arms around me. She’d been really worried — the grip was tight.
“Aha ha ha… sorry. Pushed it a bit too far, maybe.”
Zelphy ran over.
“What did you do? That light, that weapon — wait, hey! Don’t fall over here!”
The noisy Zelphy — same as usual — was a small relief. Around us, Rondo was wounded but Rachel was treating him.
Aria was breathing hard but had been using Skills and downing monsters.
“Quiet, please! Lord Lyle, let’s get out of here right away. Can you hold consciousness until then?”
Take a rest here, or pull me out immediately — that was the question.
But if I was on someone else’s back at the end, it’d be as if I’d grown zero from start to finish.
I didn’t want that.
I wanted to show something.
“I’m fine. Rest a bit and I’ll be standing. — Thanks, Novem.”
“Of course.”
Novem looked relieved, but kept supporting me. Aria came near; I spoke.
“You beat monsters. Got a little confidence?”
Teasing. Aria looked surprised.
“You… were watching?”
She’d taken it as praise, and was unexpectedly happy about it.
(Aria might actually be easy to deceive. I should warn her… but first—)
I looked at Rondo’s group.
“Sorry for acting on my own.”
Rachel sighed. Rondo, bandaging a wound, smiled.
“That was incredible. Didn’t think you had it in you. Deadbeat Lyle doesn’t fit you.”
The smile didn’t break. A man with depth. He was smiling at a younger adventurer who’d gone solo.
Rachel was different.
“You went off too much on your own. Worked out this time, but look at you — you’re a wreck. You should be more aware that someone will cry if you die. — That’s what I want to say, but I didn’t get to do anything useful, so I’ll thank you honestly. Thank you.”
It didn’t feel quite like a sincere thanks, but it was her brand of care.
I gave a wry smile.
Zelphy chimed in too, saying it was bad form, but warning me.
“Saved by you, sure, but trust the people around you more. Tell us what you can and can’t do — we can move much more efficiently. I get wanting to keep Skills hidden, but at least hint at them.”
True, I thought, and started weighing whether to tell them about the ancestors.
(First I need to tell Novem. There’s a lot to talk about. The First, in particular…)
Barbarian style, doesn’t sweat the details, moves on emotion, stirs the pot.
But a First of House Walt you could count on.
(I’ve been accepted, maybe.)
Gripping the Jewel — Novem’s eyes went wide.
“The Gem’s shining… this—”
The others reacted with surprise too.
Same as Aria before.
The blue gem shone, announcing the birth of a Skill.
What surfaced in my head was the Skill’s name.
”…[Experience].”
Not just a word.
What did my Skill do? How was it used?
It surfaced together with the name.
From manifesting to taking proper shape, it took quite a while.
“Wait, that’s… you, more than one Skill?”
Aria was surprised — but I was more shocked by the content of the Skill.
After all, my Skill was support-type and effectively always-on.
What I’d taken as abnormal fatigue I’d been chalking up to the ancestors — but part of the cause had been my own incomplete Skill.
(A Skill that grants more Experience? …And always-on means it’s constantly burning mana.)
While incomplete, my Skill had had no effect but was still consuming mana.
And now, finally, it produced an effect—.
(My Skill is way too subtle!!)
After a rest.
We took the five adventurers out of the dungeon in three trips.
The support staffer in the driver role was feeding the five soup he’d prepared. We went to the Innermost Hall.
As long as treasure remained in the Innermost Hall, the dungeon would grow and continue to spit out monsters.
To remove the danger, recovering the treasure was mandatory.
In the Innermost Hall, Larf found shining metal in the lattice of trees.
“That’s it!”
Running over, he cut through tangled branches with his short sword and extracted the treasure.
The breathing-difficulty in the air eased rapidly.
“That’s the dungeon clear. Only one floor — easy. If this had been three or four floors, this team wouldn’t have cleared it.”
The metal was like iron.
But — special iron, having absorbed dungeon mana.
“YES! With this — turn it into a weapon and it’ll take Skills! Magic Implement material!”
Larf was elated. He confirmed it with Zelphy, who nodded with a wry smile.
“Hand half over to a Darion craftsman and they should make several. Just stick to Guild-approved artisans.”
A rare metal flowing through black-market channels wasn’t desirable, apparently.
“Larf, the reward needs to split cleanly. Seven of us — seven shares?”
Larf went at Rondo.
“Can we buy it out?! With this much, we could each have a Magic Implement. We could take on dungeons as adventurers!”
Excited Larf wanted to turn the treasure into Magic Implements. From the volume of metal, you’d get three or four.
“We don’t have that kind of money. Steady, steady.”
Rondo sighed.
How much in gold would this much be worth?
I was thinking that when Zelphy’s eyes went to a corner of the room.
I looked too.
”…He was a friend of yours, wasn’t he.”
Rondo called out softly. Zelphy murmured, “Yeah.”
“He did what he wanted. He used to say die and it’s over, and at the end he threw his life away to save rookies.”
Her expression complicated. She went to the veteran’s body and rifled through his belongings.
She gathered the valuables, took the Guild card last.
Watching, she looked like a grave-robber.
“Hey, you lot. Come here.”
The three of us — me, Novem, Aria — went over to the body.
Crushed with a club, maybe — the body was in awful shape.
Novem covered her mouth. Aria went pale, sat down where she was, and threw up.
I covered my mouth too.
“Remember this. An adventurer dying means this. At the end, valuables stripped, body discarded. Recover the Guild card and submit it to the Guild. Don’t forget.”
The money went to the adventurer who recovered it.
She quietly packed the dead veteran’s effects into a leather sack she didn’t normally use.
“Zelphy, you don’t have to—”
Aria, pale, breathless, tried to stop her. Zelphy didn’t hear.
“This is my right. Came out to a danger zone, identified the body, investigated what happened here. Something wrong with that?”
Zelphy’s glare at Aria looked different from usual.
Rondo’s group didn’t intervene.
“Right. Recovery done. Let’s go back and rest properly. — And, big guy.”
“Me?”
Larf pointed at himself. The rare metal was tucked under his arm.
“My share — give it to him. Negotiate the rest with Lyle and the others. They’re rookies, easy marks.”
Saying that, Zelphy left. Aria watched her back sadly.
“With her own house gone like that, Zelphy’s like that too…”
She looked at the adventurer’s body and looked sad.
I supported Novem, handed Aria the canteen, had her rinse out her mouth.
Die and you’re tossed aside; the surviving adventurer takes your valuables.
A vivid example shoved in our faces.
“Let’s go, you two.”
I said it; Aria looked at the body.
“At least bury him…”
Rondo explained.
“The dungeon will wither in a while. He’ll decompose into it — bury or not, same. Or — carry the body out?”
Aria looked down, frustrated.
Then Rondo.
“Hold on to that feeling, though. It might be naïve, but before we’re adventurers, we’re human.”
Rondo left too. Larf followed. At the last—
“Let’s negotiate later. Not trying to swindle you — we just can’t put much up… ah, sorry, not the time for this. Like I can give Rachel grief now.”
He’d tried to lighten the mood; realizing it wasn’t going to fly, he left the hall too.
I gave a hand to Novem and Aria, got them upright, and walked supporting both.
The Fourth—
“Casually a flower in each hand…”
A jealous mutter. The Third laughed.
“Lyle has luck. That matters.”
The Sixth.
“Right, head back. Zelphy showed you a piece of reality on purpose. Think about her feelings.”
I tilted my head at the words.
(Zelphy’s feelings?)
The Second sighed.
“Honestly… she’s seriously planning to leave this girl to Lyle, isn’t she. Even pulled that act off.”
An act, the ancestors said. I couldn’t follow.
(Seriously leaving her to me? In what sense?)
Supporting the two, I headed for the dungeon’s entrance.