Chapter 16: <Stillwater Underground Dungeon>, the Last Beginner Low-Tier Dungeon
Monday.
In the morning, I went into the <Stillwater Underground Dungeon> with Hanna.
It’s another cave-type dungeon, with small ponds here and there along the way.
The cave interior was brightly lit — one of those "video game" conveniences, I guess.
It had a slightly fantastical feel.
"Fuwaaa, it’s such a pretty place~"
"Yeah. There aren’t any monsters in the water, so you can actually use the 『Fishing』 skill here. You can catch fish."
"Really?! Do you have a fishing rod?"
"Nope."
"Ehh…"
"We’ll do that another time. Today we’re here to gather monster materials."
We made that promise and started hunting monsters.
I’d told Hanna, "Now that you’re an 【Alchemist Lv20】, there’s no point in you coming here," but for some reason, she insisted on tagging along anyway, so I brought her.
It’s helpful enough that she can just toss materials into her <Item Bag (Capacity: Large)>, but honestly, is it really a good use of her time doing grunt work like this? I feel like she could be using her time more productively. But she said, "It’s fine, I want to come along," so I couldn’t really say no.
…Not that I mind having her around. Plus, she makes lunch for us.
That day, we stayed at the dungeon until 2 p.m., and managed to collect the required amount of every monster material. The boss farming was lighter than usual—just 12 runs.
The boss was an <Alligator Lizard>, a lizard with an alligator-like head. Its body was small, but it moved very much like a lizard. The way it charged with its mouth wide open was honestly a little scary. Still, the oversized mouth blocked its vision, so dodging was easy.
Basically, just dodge the charge and slash from behind to win.
It also had a "tail-cut" gimmick — if you succeed in severing its tail, you get an extra boss drop. I managed to cut it all 12 times.
Man, there’s this amazing rush when you slice that tail off. I couldn’t help but shout, "Yes!" and Hanna would cheer back, "Nice one, Zephyrus-kun!" which made me even more hyped. It was a lot of fun.
This time’s loot was 8 <Wooden Chests> and 4 <Silver Chests>, which was pretty good. We got one rare equipment drop, but it was a dagger, so no one could use it. I decided to keep it for when we get a new party member.
After hitting my target of 【Hero Lv20】, I wrapped up the boss runs.
"Zephyrus-kun, congrats on hitting Job Lv20!"
"Oh! Thanks!"
Getting congratulated like that for leveling up felt surprisingly fresh—probably because <DanKatsu> was originally a single-player game.
Anyway, LV20 is a big milestone.
That’s because in this game, a job’s skill tree unlocks its second tier at Lv20.
Now I can finally use 【Hero Lv20】 skills.
Here’s my skill list:
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『Body Enhancement Lv10』 Passive – Increases all stats except HP/MP by a percentage.
『Power Boost』 Active – Temporarily increases attack power. Self-buff.
『Speed Boost』 Active – Temporarily increases speed. Self-buff.
『Danger Sense』 Passive – Detects approaching danger. In-game, it was indicated with sound and color.
『Intuition Lv5』 Passive – Reacts to dangerous things… and possibly other things as well.
『Premonition』 Passive – Reacts when a chest or monster is nearby.
『Slash』 Active – A single sword strike when equipped with a sword.
『Sonic Sword』 Active – A swift movement into a sword strike.
『Rush』 Active – Three consecutive attacks.
『Defense』 Active – Shield skill; guards for a few seconds, reducing damage.
『Lightning』 Active – Basic lightning-element magic. Linear strike.
『Shine Lightning』 Active – Intermediate lightning magic. Wide-area strike.
『Clean』 Active – Removes dirt, bindings, etc. Single-target.
『Recovery』 Active – Cures status ailments. Single-target.
『Healing』 Active – Basic healing magic. Single-target HP restore.
『Aura Heal』 Active – Intermediate healing magic. Single-target HP restore.
『Appeal Lv5』 Active – Taunt. Slightly raises hate in a wide area.
『Hate Slash』 Active – Sword taunt. Low-power strike that draws hate.
『Hero’s Sword (Brave Slash) Lv1』 Unique, Active – Extremely powerful strike that reduces defense.
──────────---
That’s 18 skills unlocked — pretty impressive to see all at once.
I’d been saving skill points since 【Hero Lv16】, so I had 4 SP to spend.
I put 1 point each into 『Sonic Sword』, 『Recovery』, 『Shine Lightning』, and 『Aura Heal』 to unlock them.
I wanted 『Defense』 and 『Hate Slash』 too, but didn’t have enough points yet, so those will wait.
The effects are:
『Sonic Sword』 – Quick movement into a slash.
『Recovery』 – Cures a single target’s status ailments.
『Shine Lightning』 – Intermediate lightning magic, wide-area, upper-tier power.
『Aura Heal』 – Intermediate healing magic, single target, mid-tier power.
Something like that.
──────────
[Name] Zephyrus
[Race (Category)] "Protagonist"
[Job] 【Hero】 LV20
[SUP (Stat Upgrade Points)] Total: 22P
[Restriction] None
[HP] 162/162 → 222/222
[MP] 170/170 → 272/272
[STR] 70 → 80 (×1.6)
[VIT] 70 (×1.6)
[INT] 10 → 70 (×1.6)
[RES] 20 → 60 (×1.6)
[AGI] 50 → 60 (×1.6)
[DEX] 14 → 20 (×1.6)
[SUP] 176P → 0P
[SP] 8P → 0P
[Skills]
『Body Strengthening LV10』 『Intuition LV5』 『Appeal LV5』 『Abnormal Status Resistance LV3』 『Sonic Sword LV1』
[Magic]
『Recovery LV1』 『Shine Lightning LV1』 『Aura Heal LV1』
[Unique Skill]
『Brave Slash LV1』
──────────
It’s a well-balanced build.
Since SP is limited, it’s a waste to pick up low-tier magic skills.
Unless your main job is something like a pure magic-user, it’s better to start from mid-tier magic instead.
Low-tier magic just doesn’t have enough power and becomes useless in the later stages.
On the other hand, high-tier magic can’t be spammed due to MP limitations, so in my opinion, focusing on mid-tier magic for growth is the most efficient approach. …Of course, I’m open to differing opinions.
Since I picked up a variety of magic skills this time, I’m going to start putting points into INT as well.
From Beginner Mid-tier dungeons onward, there are more enemies that require magical attacks.
This time, I put a lot of points into INT and RES.
RES not only improves healing magic, but from Beginner Mid-tier dungeons onward, monsters that use magic attacks start showing up, so raising it now is the right move.
At last, my stats have become truly all-around, worthy of the title 【Hero】.
With the 『Body Strengthening』 passive multiplying them by 1.6 from here, the numbers will reach a level where even specialized jobs won’t be able to beat me easily.
For example, my STR is effectively 128.
Looking good.
I had Hanna allocate her stats, too.
Right now, we don’t have the <Crystal Dragon Statue> that lets you see other people’s stats, so I couldn’t check them, which is a shame.
Hanna’s build is simple and straightforward — still fully focused on MP and DEX, with just a little into RES.
Her skill setup is 『Alchemy Lv10』, 『Mixing Lv10』, and 『Material Return Lv5』.
A pure alchemy-focused build.
Her new skill 『Material Return』 is from the third tier of the skill tree — normally learned at Lv40+, but it unlocks once your skills reach 『Alchemy Lv5』 and 『Mixing Lv8』.
Its effect is similar to 『Unravel Thread』 for 【Tailors】 or 『Melt Down』 for 【Blacksmiths】 — a standard production job skill that breaks items back down into materials.
The first time she used it, a potion reverted into an herb (just leaves again).
It was a strange sight.
"I’m going to use these materials to practice 『Alchemy』. What about you, Zephyrus-kun?"
Hanna showed me her <Item Bag (Capacity: Small)>.
The materials she wanted from today’s haul had already been transferred from my <Item Bag (Capacity: Large)> to hers.
I kept the <Item Bag (Capacity: Large)> one with me — I plan to take it to Marie-senpai.
"I’m heading to Marie-senpai’s place first, then planning to recruit new guild members."
"Ah… I see…"
The moment I mentioned recruiting guild members, Hanna’s mood dropped.
"…Don’t worry. We’re still going to be together from now on."
"Un… Thanks, Zephyrus-kun. But it’s still a little sad that it won’t just be the two of us anymore."
"Yeah… I get that. But it’s something we need to do if we want to aim higher."
"Mm. I’ll do my best too."
"…For now, I’m only planning to recruit first-years. I’m not letting in any scary types or people with bad attitudes, so you can relax about that."
"Got it. But you make sure not to overwork yourself, okay?"
"Yeah."
After cheering Hanna up, we parted ways for the day.
I went back, took a quick shower, and headed for Marie-senpai’s guild.
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