With the main commander and the annoying support down, all that’s left is the vanguard, the Black Knight Goblins. And they’re easy to deal with, as Aki and Maki face them one on one and take them down.
They don’t use combat skills, they just overpower them with expert handling of their weapons and strength. Their stats are lower than mine, but perhaps because of their experience, I couldn’t replicate their moves at all.
Then all the smoke gathers in one place and turns into a treasure chest.
Name: 525-4
Description: ??? placed on the fourth floor of the 525 dungeon. Offer the appropriate false image.
That must mean Enki is done too.
“Enki? What is it?”
‘Gogo…’
“Sniff sniff… Ah, I see. It took the brunt of Stench and does not want to get close. Master, pour water.”
“Yes. Big Water Ball… Uoh!?”
A larger ball than I was expecting is formed. It only became a little bigger when I got Water Engraving. Now it’s three meters in diameter, maybe more.
“It’s so big!”
“Did combining the engravings strengthen the effects of all of them?”
It’s still water, so it shouldn’t be a problem, and I burst it over Enki. A lot of water engulfs Enki, like a water balloon burst, and it looks like Enki feels good. But it looks like enough water to meditate under like under a waterfall…
Let’s hit it with two or three more.
‘Gogo~.’
As I do that, I open the treasure chest and get the key. Two left, the maligned third floor and the yet to be explored fifth.
“Is it time to go back?”
““““Yes!””””
“Enki, come here.”
‘Gogo!’
As before, we walk straight forward and reach the end of this mysterious area, and find ourselves back on the fourth floor.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
I can hear Maki and Aira’s amused voices outside the tent before dinner.
I can imagine an attack coming tonight, but as I lay here with fear and try to rest, Ayane jumps on me to be pampered.
“Darling~. Hehehe.”
“Hn? Are you out of energy?”
“Yes. Please hold me tight.”
She’s quiet at lunch time, but she always was to be pampered at dinner time. If she had a tail, it’d be shaking so hard it would almost fly off. If I could create one with magic or an item it’d fit her for sure.
She starts rolling and purring.
Okay. Ayane is going to be like this until dinner is ready, so let’s see how I can kill some time. Enki is outside with the cooking group, and Aki fell asleep next to me before I knew it. And since I can’t move from here, I start looking at skills on my smartphone again when…
“Hm…”
I have an idea while stroking Ayane.
I was too focused on not being able to use gacha anymore and that stuff about it running out of energy, but some skills powered up. Let’s have a look at them.
Assassin Heart must be like Hunter Heart, so let’s not think about that too much.
All Creation Engraving must have boosted all magic even more after the compression, based on what I just saw. I haven’t checked, but I assume Basic Elemental Magic, Forbidden Magic, and Spatial Magic were as well.
Maybe if I level up Spatial Magic I can use four transparent panels at the same time instead of two, or maybe even more spells. It’s a pretty bold name for something that hasn’t had that big of an effect so far. But maybe the effect of engraving will give it more uses.
I tried riding Enki now that I have Riding II, and it felt more stable, as well as Enki getting a small power up. It’s nice that what I ride gets stronger, but Enki is not going to fight with me on it, so it doesn’t really matter. But since Enki seemed to like it, I’ll use it from time to time.
I feel like Stack Attack is more stable when I have four at the same time. Maybe it’s also stronger, but I haven’t tested that.
Perception Strengthening has made my senses sharper, and Dual Wielding III just made my moves sharper too.
So, as for the main event, Automatic Mapping IV and Skill Compression II…
First, Automatic Mapping. There was a big change. All the monsters on the map were red dots, with rare monsters being bigger ones. But now all the monsters have their own colors, and I can set them and change them myself. I have goblins as red so it’s easy to understand, and orcs orange… And it makes it very easy to see the state of the fourth floor.
Well, I have it off now. After all, If I see white dots… Meaning people, surrounded by red or orange dots, I won’t be able to relax. I can see the whole floor, but if I rush out every time I see people in trouble, I’m always going to be on edge.
And so, I’ve decided not to use this map feature unless I’m exploring.
Finally, Skill Compression II.
I can now target new things with it, expanding its scope. But is that really all II can do?
‘Will you use Skill Compression?’
I think about Compression, and the same window as always pops up.
“No no, don’t…”
…Hn?
I was thinking about Compression and the window appeared. That’s not new.
But… What was it targeting?
It’s not my skills. I was thinking about other things.
It’s not skill orbs, because I’m not holding any. I’m holding Ayane.
Is it her?
“…Darling?”
My eyes meet her. When I look into her eyes that feel like they’re sucking me in, my doubt turns into conviction.
“Ayane…”
“You can tell me anything.”
“I haven’t even asked yet…”
“I can tell when you’re about to do something.”
“But it could be dangerous.”
Well, I actually carelessly tried that before.
“I trust your Intuition.”
She says. It might not go in a good direction, it might fail. But she’s full of confidence.
She really hasn’t changed.
“Okay. I’m going to… Use Compression you.”
‘Will you use Skill Compression?’
“Use.”
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Thanks for the treat.
Typo right at the end: Use Compression you -> Use Skill Compression on you. Thanks for the chapter!