Hell Mode: Volume 3, page 8
It cost one gold to enroll at the Academy, plus a yearly tuition of ten gold. This cost covered things such as the uniform, learning materials, and equipment for practicals.
If I remember correctly, students are exempt from the head tax while enrolled.
In many fiefdoms, students would receive financial aid based on their entrance exam grade: a half scholarship for B and a full scholarship for A or S. Any more financial support was forbidden by the Five Continent Alliance, as their policy was for students to earn their living costs by frequenting the dungeons.
If he’s this poor, then he’s probably not a noble.
The ideal party member would be another noble who would have to go to the battlefield either way because of their duty. However, Allen was perfectly accepting of both commoners and serfs as well.
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Two weeks later, on the third day that Keel was accompanying the No-life Gamers, the group finally found themselves on the deepest floor of the dungeon they were exploring.
“So, that’s the boss?” Keel asked.
Allen nodded. “That’s right.”
Ten goblins surrounded one orc, all standing stock-still inside a magic circle.
“Okay. Everyone, ready?”
It was up to Krena, Cecil, and Dogora to defeat this boss. After all, this was an opportunity for them to get some practice fighting as a team; having Allen take care of everything by himself would be a waste. These monsters made for good targets against which Krena and Dogora could attempt to use their skills, and Cecil could always do with earning more Skill XP. To sum it up, there was a lot more to gain having these three do the fighting.
Krena and Dogora charged toward the monsters together as Cecil blasted off spells from a distance. The orc and goblins finally started moving, triggered by the incoming projectiles. Allen Summoned some Brons to protect Cecil and Keel.
The orc thrust its spear with all its strength, but Dogora blocked it with his ax. Krena took advantage of the opening to close in with her greatsword.
Looks like they can handle a lone Rank C monster without issue. Yep, it really is time to get to a Rank B dungeon. We’re too overleveled for Rank C dungeons now.
Thanks to the past one and a half months of dungeon delving, a Rank C monster no longer posed a challenge for Krena, Dogora, and Cecil. Once all the enemies were cleared away, Allen, Keel, and Cecil hurried forward to regroup with the vanguard.
Spotting a wound Dogora had received from the orc, Keel asked, “Are you okay?” and held out his hands. “Heal.”
So, that’s how Healing Magic looks in action.
This was Allen’s first time seeing Keel use his Talent. After all, no one in the party had gotten hurt over the past two weeks.
When Keel was finished, the group turned their attention to the treasure chest that had appeared when the boss fell. This time, the box appeared to be made of silver, not wood.
“Looks like we’re in luck today,” Allen commented.
“WHOAAAA! IT’S TREASURE!” Keel, who over the past two weeks had mainly just followed the group without speaking much, could not help but whoop out loud. “Wait, we’re in luck?”
The dungeon sure plays up the “Hey, this is a rare drop!” feel.
According to the GDOS, dungeon bosses could drop three kinds of treasure chests: wooden, silver, and gold. It could not divulge the exact drop rates of each, but because the party was getting around one silver chest for every nine wooden ones—they had yet to see a gold chest—Allen estimated the probability of each to be ninety percent for wooden, over nine percent for silver, and under one percent for gold.
Allen opened the chest, revealing a piece of mithril equipment inside. “I guess you’d call this a buckler, right? At this size, and with it being mithril, it’d probably go for over ten gold.”
“TEN GOLD?! WHOAAAAA!” Keel cheered again. He then suddenly looked anxious. “Uh, we’re splitting that evenly, right?”
“Of course.” Allen nodded emphatically.
The group headed back out, enveloped in a cheery air of success. The armor store was still open, so they brought the buckler in to sell. The merchant gave them fifteen gold for it, working out to three gold for each of them. Because Allen had not mentioned keeping all the magic stones himself, he also handed Keel a fifth of what they had picked up that day.
With a simple “Th-Thank you!” Keel dashed off into the night, headed for the magic train station.
＊ ＊ ＊
The next day, Keel said he wanted to formally join the No-life Gamers. The three gold had been the clincher. Allen immediately brought him to the Adventurer’s Guild to have him registered.
Now Allen could also see Keel’s Status in his grimoire. According to this, Keel did not have a family name, confirming that he was not a noble after all. This meant he would not be conscripted to the battlefield. There was no telling whether he would be interested in coming with the group in three years, but being able to recruit a Cleric a little over a month into the school year was a huge deal. Allen intended to slowly introduce him to everything that made the No-life Gamers a great party.
It was honestly quite convenient that Keel’s motivator was money. If he had only been looking to clear the summer break assignment, he might not have had a reason to stay with the group past his first dungeon clear.
Since he was now part of the party, Allen asked Keel two things: whether he wanted to live in the base with the rest of them, and if he was interested in joining the party to revisit previously cleared dungeons every morning to kill the bosses again. The former, Keel turned down, only saying that he was unable to accept; the latter, he was more than happy to say yes to.
When Allen checked with the Guild, he learned that in order to enter a Rank B dungeon, everyone in the group had to be a Rank C adventurer. The party leader alone being Rank C was not enough. Keel was the only member who did not have enough Rank C dungeons under his belt. The group agreed to bring him through the dungeons they had already cleared to help him rank up as well.
＊ ＊ ＊
It was now late one early June night, right before the start of a new school week. They were more than two months into the school year, and something Allen had been waiting a long time for had finally come true. He was alone in his room—he and Dogora were on the second floor while the girls were on the third—and grinning at his grimoire all by himself.
Two years and eleven months later, Summoning’s finally leveled up again!
Allen updated his progress record based on the golden lines in the log on the cover. Of the many goals he had for his three years at the Academy, one was to reach Summoning Lvl. 7 and gain access to Rank B Summons. According to the magic tutor, many of the monsters under the Demon Lord Army’s control were Rank A. From his own experience, Allen knew that his Summons could handily defeat monsters one rank higher than themselves. They could also manage to take down monsters two ranks higher, but only with substantial casualties, incurring a significant cost in magic stones.
I’ve spent pretty much all my money and Rank C magic stones just for the sake of this level up. I hope I can register another request with the Guild next month.
At the moment, Allen only had a few dozen gold and a thousand Rank C magic stones left. This was the cushion he was keeping for emergencies, meaning he had pretty much emptied out his coffers.
He studied the page in his grimoire that detailed his skills and Summons.
* * *
Skill Levels
Summoning: 6
Creation: 6
Synthesis: 6
Strengthening: 6
Awakening: 1
Skill Experience
Creation: 1,004/100,000,000
Synthesis: 0/100,000,000
Strengthening: 3,180/100,000,000
Awakening: 0/1,000
Creatable Summons
Insect: C, D, E, F, G, H
Beast: C, D, E, F, G, H
Bird: C, D, E, F, G
Grass: C, D, E, F
Stone: C, D, E
Fish: C, D
???: C
Holder
Insect:
Beast: D x 9
Bird: G x 3, E x 3
Grass:
Stone:
Fish: D x 30
???:
* * *
Looks like Summoning Lvl. 6 has given me a new type of card, another level in Expansion, and a new skill.
Allen checked over each new update one by one. He started by turning to the card holder pages. Sure enough, there were now sixty slots, meaning he could now store sixty cards at any given time. This number always went up by ten each time Summoning leveled up, so there was no surprise there.
That leaves the Rank C Summons and the new Awakening skill. Finally, another skill that can be developed!
None of the skills that Allen had obtained after Strengthening could be leveled up. Although Storage and Sharing were both extremely useful, these skills only offered one benefit each that could not be further expanded upon. This time, however, the new skill had its own Skill XP counter.
Allen decided to check out his new Summons first. He still had a stock of a thousand Rank C magic stones, which would be more than enough to create one copy of everything. So he did just that, repeatedly using Creation and Synthesis as necessary. When each new Summon was done, he assigned it a name based on the impression he got from the card.
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
Status of Insect C (Scorpion)
Type: Insect
Rank: C
Name: Pion
HP: 320
MP: 0
Attack: 214
Endurance: 500
Agility: 500
Intelligence: 310
Luck: 120
Buffs: Endurance 50, Agility 50
Ability: Paralyze NeedleStatus of Beast C (Boar)
Type: Beast
Rank: C
Name: Bacon
HP: 500
MP: 0
Attack: 500
Endurance: 360
Agility: 220
Intelligence: 320
Luck: 200
Buffs: HP 50, Attack 50
Ability: ChargeStatus of Bird C (Cassowary)
Type: Bird
Rank: C
Name: Fran
HP: 76
MP: 0
Attack: 125
Endurance: 240
Agility: 500
Intelligence: 500
Luck: 340
Buffs: Agility 50, Intelligence 50
Ability: BreakthroughStatus of Grass C (Eggplant)
Type: Grass
Rank: C
Name: Mapo
HP: 78
MP: 500
Attack: 42
Endurance: 45
Agility: 67
Intelligence: 82
Luck: 500
Buffs: MP 50, Luck 50
Ability: GarnishStatus of Stone C (Suit of Steel Armor)
Type: Stone
Rank: C
Name: Steely
HP: 500
MP: 0
Attack: 455
Endurance: 500
Agility: 280
Intelligence: 390
Luck: 123
Buffs: HP 50, Endurance 50
Ability: SubstituteStatus of Fish C (Shark)
Type: Fish
Rank: C
Name: Finny
HP: 200
MP: 500
Attack: 420
Endurance: 127
Agility: 160
Intelligence: 500
Luck: 360
Buffs: MP 50, Intelligence 50
Ability: Shark Oil
* * *
This should do it for their names, right? But wow, the stats sure have gotten high.
The highest stat went all the way up to 500, which would become 1,000 when Strengthened. And Allen could now theoretically call out sixty such Summons at once. Furthermore, the cards could now theoretically buff him by 3,000 max in two stats at the same time.
Now I just have to figure out what this new “???” type is.
Without further ado, Allen proceeded to go through every possible combination of the existent card types. When he Synthesized Bird C and Fish C, the grimoire lit up with a dazzling glow, signifying that the process had succeeded.
“OHHHH! It’s a Spirit type!”
The Spirit C card bore an illustration of what looked like a porcelain doll in an elaborate dress with plenty of frills and lace.
Hold on, this card gives me three buffs. And this Summon has MP of its own.
At the bottom right corner of the card were the words, “Endurance +50,” “Intelligence +50,” and “Physical Damage Resistance.” In other words, it was not simply providing Allen with stat buffs. He took a closer look at his grimoire to study the Status of this new Summon.
* * *
Status of Spirit C (Porcelain Doll)
Type: Spirit
Rank: C
Name: Maria
HP: 200
MP: 300
Attack: 290
Endurance: 500
Agility: 350
Intelligence: 500
Luck: 210
Buffs: Endurance 50, Intelligence 50, Physical Damage Resistance
Ability: Psychokinesis
* * *
Yep, this is a porcelain doll no matter which way I look at it. She looks like she’s around five, I’d say? Her face is cute, not scary. Judging by the description, she’s probably not all that large, so let’s try Summoning her. Maria, come out.
All of a sudden, a little girl around thirty centimeters tall wearing a poofy, old-fashioned dress appeared.
“It is my pleasure to meet you, Master. I’m deathly grateful to you for Summoning me.” The girl lowered her head in greeting while floating in midair. Due to being a spirit, she was semitranslucent.
“OHHHH! You spoke!”
This was Allen’s first Summon that could talk. He wondered if this was due to its Intelligence stat; he could not wait to check out the other Rank C Summons as well.
“Hee hee, I did indead.” Maria placed her hands on her hips and thrust out her chest proudly. She was basking in the sense of achievement of having taken Allen by surprise.
“Your name is Maria going forward. Welcome to the family.”
“Thank you for my name and for the warm welcome, Master.”
Hmm, her stats are high across the board, plus she’s intelligent, she can communicate, and she’s small enough to keep out of the way. Seems like she’d be helpful in protecting the home base. Now that I have sixty card slots, I can afford to keep two or three copies of her here permanently. Also...is it because she’s a spirit that she keeps adding death-related puns to whatever she says?
Seeing Allen fall deep into thought as he stared at her, Maria floated up close to peer into his face. “What is the matter, Master?”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing. Maria, are you able to pass through walls and doors?”
“Passing on through the walls, was it?”
The Spirit C immediately flew straight toward the door and disappeared into it. Clearly, she could indeed phase through matter.
“Awesome, thanks.” Seems like she’ll come in handy in the dungeons too.
In addition to fish that could swim through the ground, Allen now had access to spirits that could fly through walls. Sharing with Belly was not especially helpful, as his field of vision would be all dark when it was underground. With Maria, however, he would be able to see through barriers, which ought to prove helpful when dungeon delving.
Since she’s self-aware, I should take the time to communicate with her properly and get to know her personality.
The next thing for Allen to do was to examine the Awakening skill. He Created one Insect H—this card was fast becoming his go-to when experimenting with skills. During this time, Maria continued floating about the room, watching what he was doing.
Okay, Awaken!
The edges of the card abruptly turned into rainbow-colored foil.
“WHOOAAA! That looks awakened all right. All right, come on out, Denka!”
The card disappeared and was replaced by a faintly glowing Insect H. Allen looked at his grimoire to confirm exactly what Awakening had done.
* * *
Status of Insect H (Grasshopper)
Type: Insect
Rank: H
Name: Denka
HP: 3
MP: 0
Attack: 2
Endurance: 5
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 1
Luck: 2
Buffs: Endurance 1, Agility 1
Ability: Hop
Awakened Ability: Swarm
* * *
Oh? There’s a new field. So Denka gets a second Ability? Does the same happen for all the other cards?
Allen double-checked the Statuses of the other cards, but they did not have this extra field, indicating that it had indeed been added due to the Awakening skill.
“Swarm” sounds kind of interesting. Let’s try it out. Denka, use Swarm.
The Insect H looked at Allen, then glowed.
“HOLD ON, WHAT?!”
In the blink of an eye, Allen’s room was filled with what looked like a hundred large grasshoppers. It was a living nightmare.
“Hold on, no, time out! Revert! Go back!”
In response to his command, all but one of the Insect Hs disappeared.
“Phew, that was... That was something all right. Wait, I still need to confirm how long it can last.” Allen inhaled and exhaled a few times to calm back down, then used Awakening once more. However, nothing happened. Uh oh, I can only use the skill once on each card?
He tried Summoning and Unsummoning Denka a few times, but the Awakened Ability just would not activate.
