I use Compression II on Ayane, and her body shines like a skill orb, as the same window as always appears in front of me.
‘Searching for applicable skills.’
‘Applicable skills confirmed.’
‘Compressing applicable skills…’
‘Compression of applicable skill successful.’
‘Compressed SSR skills Destructive Wisdom II and Wisdom of Sorcery II into EXR skill Hallowed Wisdom II.’
“Ooh…!”
A new skill has been born.
I have both of those skills too, but unfortunately, my Wisdom of Sorcery is the base one. They probably can’t be combined unless they’re the same rank.
Did they just mix together, or did their effect double like the engraving series? I’ll have to mix skill orbs directly and check it out.
“What happened, darling?”
“Ah, sorry Ayane. Did it hurt?”
“No, I didn’t feel anything. There was this poof inside me and then all of a sudden it was gone.”
“I see. I’m glad.”
Good grief, I’m such a…
I should worry about Ayane before being happy that the skill worked…
“What is it?”
“Nothing…”
I’m just annoyed at myself.
“Ayane, look at your skills.”
“Yes. Wah… They evolved!”
Ayane exclaims, waking up Aki from her nap and prompting Maki and Aira to come back.
“Hn…? What are you doin’?”
“You sound happy, Ayane.”
“Listen to this! Darling’s great!”
“We knew that already… Afu…”
Aki yawns.
“Fufu, that’s right. What do you have to show us this time, Shouta?”
“Compression II. Apparently it works on other people too.”
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
The next day.
Compression II experiments, being fed a mountain of orc meat, and all the milking that came after that left me more tired than fighting rare monsters, but today we’re saying goodbye to the fourth floor. We might be back soon, or after we’re done with the third floor.
It depends on gacha’s Charging.
“Is your hand all right, Aira?”
“Thank you for the healing, Miss Maki. I am so clumsy.”
“It’s okay, everyone is like this when they suddenly get more power.”
A concerned Maki rubs Aira’s hand. It’s rare, but it looks like Aira got hurt.
I ask about it, and I’m told she misjudged her strength when using a kitchen knife and cut right through the cutting board. The impact and pieces flying caused some scratches, and Maki quickly healed her because they were cooking together, but…
I’m sure it’s because of what I did yesterday.
Yesterday’s Compression II worked on Aira too. Aki and Maki only started getting skills recently, so they don’t have that many. It makes sense that Compression II didn’t respond to them, but Aira had a lot, so three evolved. She now has Physical Super Strengthening, Sword Master, and Hunter Heart.
I have those skills, so I’m used to them, but since they’re all about boosting physical strength and using a blade, it led to that incident.
Those skills didn’t cause a lot of trouble for me when I learned them, but that’s probably because I don’t have the power and technique to use them to their fullest. Aira on the other hand has a grasp on her moves even after rapid growth. She’s a veteran at this, so she has the knowledge and experience to deal with that sudden power boost.
However, yesterday’s Compression boosted her technique and power in her knife handling without her realizing it, leading to that mistake.
“I apologize for making you see something so unsightly, master.”
Aira bows, sounding really apologetic.
“I’m not mad or disappointed. And it was my fault in the first place.”
“Master…”
“Failing like that just shows me that you’re actually human.”
I say something silly like that, and everyone smiles.
“I know what you mean. Aira’s always perfect.”
“Aira wouldn’t just leave a failure as it is, right? So don’t feel down.”
“…Yes, thank you master.”
I pat her head as she raises it, and see a confident smile.
“Normally I would easily evade the pieces, but I have no strength in my legs today. It was all I could do to shield my face…”
“…”
And here I thought she was feeling down. Well, Aira tends to hide her embarrassment with dirty jokes, so I shouldn’t take it completely seriously.
“Then we should have Ayane fix that twitching too.”
“I refuse. I need this shaking.”
“Darling, Aira is just embarrassed.”
“I know. Let’s just eat. I want to go back and rest.”
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
We’re ready to go, and I shake hands with Shuu by the entrance to the fourth floor.
“We’ll be going back first like I said before.”
“Yes, good job out there. I’m curious about the rare monster footage, but this is a good time to make money, so… I don’t want to leave at a bad time.”
“Yes. It looks like there are even more people today, so if you leave during a fever like this, you won’t have a spot at the camp when you come back.”
“That’s right… Worst case scenario, I’d have to camp near the borderline with the fifth floor like some madmen… But that doesn’t matter for you. An A rank gets precedence over everything else. That spot you used won’t be occupied no matter how busy things get, so don’t worry.”
“I see. But you shouldn’t go overboard. I know you can harvest a lot of meat, but eating orc meat three times a day would be tough in more ways than one.”
Maybe it’s Perception Strengthening or my Luck, but according to the girls, I react more strongly than others to that meat. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be poison for people that only eat that.
Honestly, the way the girls look at me is one of the reasons why I want to leave soon.
“…About that. No matter how much food we bring, if we stay here for days, that’s always going to be our main food. If we only eat that, everyone’s eyes start to turn. It’s one thing if it’s an all guy team, but when there’s girls like in ours it’s worse…”
“Sounds tough.”
Then Shuu whispers in my ear.
“Is your team okay? You weren’t here for long, but don’t you feel antsy with four girls…”
“We don’t have a problem.”
“I see. Sorry.”
It’s nothing but problems, but I don’t want to stain the girls’ honor. And I think Shuu gets that by the way I answered before he could finish.
Then Ayaka appears and kicks Shuu’s leg.
“Shuu! What are you asking him!?”
“Uu!? A-Ayaka? You heard?”
“I didn’t have to!”
“S-sorry!”
Is Shuu being pushed around by her… I’d like to think I’m not like that.
I say goodbye to them, and climb the stairs to the third floor.
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