CH 223

Day 59 – Morning, White Weirdo Inn.



Stalker Girl’s report came in the morning.



It seems that an army led by this kingdom’s prince was assembled and departed for the frontier. Royal Girl tried to leave to stop that, so the lord’s mansion is in a huge uproar. I actually wanted to collect coins from massage chairs, but it looks like it would be better not to get near that place. Well, if she was wearing that marvelous lewd dress I’d be willing to visit them everyday to gaze at it, but regrettably, she bought ordinary clothes at the general store.



But they are sluggish. Well, they seem to be moving with a force, in addition, consisting of low level soldiers without quick movement skills, so their slowness is understandable, but it seems like it is still going to take more than 10 days. Like, it’s so slow that it makes me want to ask them to notify us 3 days before the arrival? At this pace I might forget all about them while making preparations, or rather, I actually did forget.



To begin with, the messages are moving through relay, but Stalker Girl’s clan’s information takes less than 3 days to reach, 5 days tops at worst. And yet there is still about 2 weeks until their arrival? Are they perhaps coming with a tour? Like sightseeing or something? I want to participate as well! I wonder if the bus guide-san is cute?! No, it is because there are no buses that they need more than two weeks to walk here, in other words, there is a high probability that bus guides don’t exist in this world! Alright, let’s make a uniform for Armored Pres-san and have her guide us on the trip into the world of ecstasy on the nighttime tour named lust on a bus named desire!



「Heeey? Haruka-kun. Why are you triumphantly shouting『Doing this and that in a bus tour guide uniform~.』when we are listening to a report on military movements of the kingdom’s army? Would you be inclined to give us a detailed 1-hour explanation of what sort of a military strategy that is while kneeling over there? Also, this world has no buses, so what are you trying to do by creating bus guides? Well, it’s obvious what exactly you wanted to do, that’s GUILTY, so take a seat over there.」



There is a saying from the olden times, that The enemy of my enemy is my friend, but what if the friends are enemies, and I’m surrounded and isolated on all sides, bombarded with a concentrated Flat Gaze for annihilation, where should I go to meet my allies? As I thought, if I’m looking for encounters, I need guidance from the bus guide-san! But what if the bus only makes a regular trip around the town? Isn’t there nothing to see besides the bus guide-san then? Well, I’m still going to look though.



I got scolded.



Today, pres and the others are planning on beating the boss of the 50th floor and then heading for the 59th floor. That should be alright, they were able to beat the floor master of the 60th floor yesterday, so handling middle floors should be easy. Well, the bug juice incident was the only problem yesterday, so they should be fine. As long as they don’t get splashed with anything.



We also thought about continuing where we stopped yesterday, but I’m slightly anxious to jump into real combat like this.



The problem is 『Wooden Staff?』that finally revealed it’s true form as『Staff of the World Tree』.



The wooden stick that already has『Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds (Sword of Kusanagi) – Divine Sword, Eradicates Evil, PoW SpE DeX LuK 30% Up ? ?』. I was too scared to mithrilify the divine sword, but now my worries became meaningless.



Plus『Dimension Blade – Cutting Power and Cutting Range can be changed with mana, Dimension Slash, Level 100 Required』, 『Elder Treant Cane – Magic Power 50% Up, Elemental Affinity Increase (Greater), Mana Control Increase』, and『Spatial Staff – Greatly Effective for people capable of using space magic』, are the four items that it is slotted with. Well, if I could effectively use it, then it already would’ve been more than a cheat-grade weapon.



The vine twined around『Wooden Staff?』is『Parasitic Vine – Strengthen Wooden Sticks and Staffs Magic Absorption ? ? ?』, which in fact was the Spear Mistilteinn from Norse Myths. It was hiding, deceiving me.



And when I combined that with『Entwined Tree’s Branch』, among the effects appeared『The Seven-Branched Sword』……It’s beyond being even a monstrous weapon by now, no matter how you think about it, it’s totally on the route to『The strongest weapon I came up with~』, what’s left is to slap Excalibur and Longinus on it?



And the natural problem is the control and mana cost. I almost fainted from using it just once yesterday, if I can’t control it then I’ll end up collapsing during combat right in front of monsters. If I were facing kobolds or bitches they’d gnaw on my head, I don’t want that at all.



And the biggest concern is the skill『Magic Wrap』, I was able to wing it with this ability until now, which takes skills, mana, spells, techniques, and even abilities of equipment and shrouding oneself in them forcibly converting them all into physical abilities. Wouldn’t it be dangerous if I tried to move around while wrapping myself in the abilities of 『The Stro~ngest weapon that I thought of~』, a monstrous item that I can’t even handle properly? In fact, I already took self-inflicted damage by trying to force『Kyojitsu』with my current abilities, which threatened to tear away my arms at times.



First comes practice, and before practice, testing.



Even though I have no other weapons I can use, why did it turn into『The strongest weapon I came up with~』? Or rather, who the hell was that person that came up with this weapon? The strongest damage from it is hitting me as well, so please kindly stop coming up with anything else?



And it even kept the name and itself hidden until now, just what was it trying to do?



I’m sure this is the only weapon that got tricked by a bluff and carelessly revealed itself?



Leaving the town I look for an empty area. This one will likely be very dangerous if it gets out of control.



A plain as far as the eye can see. Nothing all around, and I also had Armored Pres-san and Slime-san move away.



Begin the experiment? Or rather, doesn’t this count as human experimentation with myself as a test subject? Crap, I should’ve lent this one to the geeks? Well, it would be a problem if pres and the others got struck by this, so I’m not doing that, and I don’t think anyone else can use this. It can’t be activated with skills, full-manual operation, as inconvenient as it can possibly get.



Taking a deep breath I take 『Staff of the World Tree』into my left hand, everything is alright. And now the main part, controlling it with『Mana Mastery』, I begin pouring in mana bit by bit, everything is alright?



Although it was supposed to be supplied with only a minimal amount of mana,『Staff of the World Tree』began weakly pulsating? Nothing out of the ordinary?



I tried swinging and waving it, but there is nothing out of place or otherwise suspicious.



I gradually increase the quantity of magic I’m pouring in, but there are still no abnormalities. In this case, as long as I can keep it under control, there shouldn’t be any problems with running out of mana.



Now, the biggest issue,『Magic Wrap』.



Slowly, without rushing, I nonchalantly clad myself in it. Ah~ this might be bad? If I move carelessly I’ll probably end up wrecking my body.



Slowly, I undo 『Magic Wrap』 That was pretty bad, I’m all drenched in sweat.



I think were I to try to use『Kyojitsu』with『Staff of the World Tree』with active『Magic Wrap』I would’ve at least lost an arm in the best case scenario, and died instantly at worst.



Currently, I feel nothing from『Staff of the World Tree』, but that pulsating sensation, is it perhaps growing? I can’t control it as it is, if it grows even further it wouldn’t be a laughing matter.



For starters, I’ll move with 『Magic Wrap』, and accustom myself to the level that can be used in combat. Ah, I broke a bone!…



Looks like before turning Armored Pres-san into a bus guide, there will be a need for her to become a nurse. Yes, there is a need, so I’ll make it! Well, both outfits are going to be made anyway, I mean, there is an overflowing desire to make them?. According to my own personal testimony?



But while the damage to the body is great, the 『Regeneration』is also fast, not sure if it’s an effect of skill synergy or something else.



But it gets immediately wrecked again. Looks like my muscles snapped, and speaking of snapping, I think my bones also crumbled a bit? That’s the sort of pain I’m getting here? GUAH!



In the end, while it took me until lunch, with lots of trial and error and subsequent self-destruction, I was finally able to get it under control. Even with 『Apex Thinking』-san’s full management I still can’t prevent occasional self-inflicted damage, but there is no other choice but to keep going and cover that with 『Regeneration』.



Even with the effects suppressed, the destructive power still went up a notch, but the biggest effect has to be coming from 『MP Absorption』, MP is recovering at an outrageous speed. The mana battery that was completely drained yesterday has almost completely recharged as well. 『Regeneration』is swift too, and I think even『Apex Thinking』received a buff? Since my control also rapidly increased, I managed to somehow become able to use it, so perhaps there is some sort of synergy effect?



I tried it a bit on the gobs inside the forest, but the gobs, that drastically dropped in levels recently, can’t even serve as practice anymore, I mean, gobs in this area are all of level 5 or even lower? They disappear in one hit, first their heads or limbs are blown away, and then they vanish out of existence. A clumsy attempt at slashing could cut a wide area of the forest too, without proper control I can easily hit allies.



Armored Pres-san or Slime-san should be fine, but I don’t think I’ll be able to team up with Pres-san and the others for a while.



Armored Pres-san’s『Full Silver Armor』has a cheat skill 『Complete Immunity』, and Slime-san should’ve eaten Greater Guardian’s 『Complete Immunity』yesterday. It also ate Phoenix’s 『Self-Resurrection』so it should be alright. In the first place, I can’t land an attack on Armored Pres-san even when I try, so there is no worry about accidentally hitting her, although there is no end to worries about getting beaten myself. Yup, no end at all?



I’m not sure if I should go back to the inn and make items with bonus to ViT first or should I search through dungeons instead, but for now I guess I’ll start by checking the general store and the weapon store for ViT-related items.



「However, for a skill that was originally meant to strengthen the user’s body to become so strong that it was now breaking it, just why are all of my skills so weird? Isn’t the buff meant to prevent taking damage? Isn’t that putting the cart before the horse? Sort of?」



(Spring Spring)



I see~. That’s deep, quite a profound thought.



In the end, the only thing I could find was 『Tough Boots – ViT 10% UP』, but they were pretty cheap, so might as well slot them, even as a mere consolation. I’m quite sure that this was pawned off by one of the classmates since they didn’t need it anymore, so I can’t get rid of the feeling that this is a big waste, but it can’t be helped. There also were iron helmets, but the head being the only armored part while I’m wearing full cloth would’ve looked weird, and in any case, metal equipment requires level 30 at the very least to equip. At times like this having limited options becomes a problem.



And in an attempt to get ViT stat, I also decided to mithrilify a dubious piece of equipment that I was hesitating to upgrade previously『Black Hat – Defense + 30, Erase Presence, Stealth Up』.



「Aaah, as I thought, crappy equipment is easy to do, but it has no room for growth. But it seems there is a room to apply new effects, and it won’t take that much mithril, so it might be more convenient this way? And while I was saying that it’s already done. What’s left is to find a suitable magic stone to enchant, there is no way I can use anything good on it, so probably upper F tier should be enough? 」



Infusing a magic stone with +ViT, I apply it to 『Black Hat』. While it’s twice the hassle, but since the magic stone dust is going to infuse the material itself, the effect is also going to be high, and easy to load it with mana. Considering the effects, it’s well worth the effort. Alright, 『Black Hat – ViT 20% Up, Erase Presence, Stealth, + DEF』, with the boost to the base stats it can be considered a profit.



And now『Tough Boots』, basically a disposable stopgap item, using mithril on it would be a waste, so I’ll just slot them as it is. I can just replace them if I find something better.



The only thing left is live practice, or rather, live combat.



However, should I really be going to the 90th floor all of a sudden? Maybe it would be better to find some easy dungeon out there? Or maybe I should proceed with the mithrilification of equipment that was halted due to the raw bra panic? But as slow as it may be, the way is inching closer too, I have to get my priorities straight. As difficult as the choice may be, I guess choosing between nurse and bus guide can be left until the night. So classmates’ equipment? Or my own combat potential? Well, both are essential, but which one is more urgent? Nurse?