Hell Mode: Volume 6, page 8
As Allen had predicted, Strengthening Lvl. 8 boosted two stats by 2,000 points apiece for each Summon. Yet even with an additional 1,000 Attack points over what they had had at Strengthening Lvl. 7, his Summons were still unable to make a dent in Scarlet’s huge pool of HP. The Gamers spent another three hours locked in vicious combat with Scarlet, but had to give up once more to try another day.
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November came to a close, and it was now December. During their time spent leveling up, Sophie underwent a class promotion and was now a Grand Spirit User. Other than Meruru and Sophie, the rest of the party members who had already undergone a class promotion had gotten their skill levels to 6 and further increased their stats. With all that done, Allen planned on taking a fourth shot at defeating Scarlet.
“We’re going to fight Scarlet today.”
“I’m always impressed each time you guys take it on.”
“Well, we’ll never be able to make it to Floor 5 if we don’t finish it off. By the way, how long do you plan on staying here at the Rank S dungeon, Helmios?”
“Hmm, the emperor still hasn’t summoned me back. I figure I’ll probably be here until I see you guys clear the dungeon.”
Whenever Allen was doing something out of the ordinary, he would swap notes with Helmios.
It did not seem like Helmios or his party had any plans of clearing the Rank S dungeon. On the other hand, they had already acquired quite a stockpile of both equipment and money, and yet here they remained despite the fact that they usually only spent around two to three months at the dungeon. Several months back, Helmios reported back to Giamut that Freyja’s divine vessel had been stolen, which Allen figured might be the reason behind why they continued to stay.
Cecil joined in the conversation. “So I guess you’re sticking around until Allen’s skill level increases, then.”
At this rate, Allen’s skill level would reach 8 next month, thanks largely to all the magic stones he bought from the capital of Baukis.
Rosetta spoke up next. “Hmm, I gotta admit, I’d be interested in seeing Allen’s new skill.”
All eyes fell on Allen. Apparently everyone was quite interested in what kinds of skills his unique Summoner class had.
“That’s true, I suppose. Anyway, if we can’t beat Scarlet today, then I’ll probably wait until I reach my next Summoning level before trying again.”
Meruru crossed her arms and chuckled as she made her prediction. “That’s not gonna happen. Me and my superpowered golem are gonna beat Scarlet to a pulp.”
Krena crossed her arms as well and belted out a triumphant laugh. Allen could hear Admiral Garara clicking his tongue as the party left to make their way to the temple.
The Gamers went straight to Floor 3—a desert—and headed to the location where a Bird E had spotted their target. Scarlet was a massive worm that crawled its way through the desert sands, making it all but impossible to spot with the naked eye. Bird E was able to find it using its Farsight Ability, however. As they arrived high up in the air above where Scarlet was located, Cecil called out to Allen from behind.
“I’m joining the fight today!”
Of course, that was no problem as far as Allen was concerned, but first he wanted to review the battle plan with everyone.
“Keel, I know I’ve mentioned this before, but you’re a bit slow on healing. Try to keep up on that.”
“Right, I understand.”
“I’m counting on you. If you don’t keep up, Krena and Dogora might not be able to hold the line. We’re really going to need to work together going forward as we take on these floor bosses.”
“Right.”
Keel seemed annoyed at being told the same thing over and over again, but Allen continued to press the point all the same.
“All right, Cecil, let’s go.”
Once the Gamers were ready, Allen sent a Fish B Summon, Archelon, to circle Scarlet’s head. Scarlet noticed the Fish B’s presence and, upon spotting its prey, began churning the nearby sand.
“All right, we’ve got it!”
Scarlet’s head breached the sand and shot several dozen meters up into the air. This was the moment Cecil had been waiting for.
“Petit Meteor!”
A large, flaming rock smashed straight into Scarlet’s upturned head as it rose high up into the air, perpendicular to the ground.
Cecil’s Extra Skill, Petit Meteor, was tremendously more powerful than it had been back during the war in Rohzenheim. Now, she had Intelligence- and Magic-boosting rings that added 3,000 points each on top of having maxed out her stats after two class promotions. The attack obliterated the worm’s head and crushed its body.
The force of the Petit Meteor strike left a massive crater in the ground, at the center of which lay Scarlet’s toppled mass. Krena and Dogora rushed down the wall of the crater and immediately went about attacking Scarlet’s smashed head. After their multiple prior battles, they were well aware that it was far from dead.
Scarlet’s headless body rose up, its wounds already beginning to regenerate as the two pressed their attack on the monster’s body.
Since it doesn’t have any weak points of its own, it doesn’t really matter where we attack. In that case, we might as well make a weak point ourselves.
While Scarlet was not particularly strong against any particular type of attack, it also did not have any decisive weaknesses, leaving them little choice but to focus on attacking places they had already damaged. They were not able to damage it faster than it could recover, though. That was why they were going to try out a new strategy today.
Meruru summoned her mithril golem. “Tam-Tam, come forth!”
* * *
Name: Tam-Tam
Pilot: Meruru
Rank: Mithril
HP: 15,000 + 1,800
MP: 15,000 + 1,800
Attack: 15,000 + 1,800
Endurance: 15,000 + 1,800
Agility: 15,000
Intelligence: 15,000
Luck: 15,000
* * *
Now that they had acquired a Gigantify slate and put it together with their Supergigantify slate, Tam-Tam had achieved its superpowered form. The golem that had once stood a mere ten meters tall now boasted a height of a hundred meters and had stats five times their original values. This made Tam-Tam the biggest and most powerful member of the party, even outclassing Allen’s Summons.
Okay, that’s pretty impressive. The only downside I can see is that neither Keel’s nor my Summons’ buffs work on it.
“Beam Sword!” Meruru shouted out the name Allen had given her special attack.
A beam of light shot out of Tam-Tam’s wrist before forming up and solidifying in the shape of a sword. Then, Tam-Tam stomped into the crater, sinking down to its ankles in the sand before swinging its blade into Scarlet’s side the moment it got close. Bodily fluids gushed out of the wound as Scarlet’s body was cleaved in two.
“Whoa! One half is no longer moving!”
This is quite different from when we did it with only the Supergigantify slate. Did we stumble across a new strategy?
The tail end of Scarlet’s body was no longer moving, so Tam-Tam thrust its blade into the still-writhing front end, once again chopping it in two. The worm continued to grow smaller and smaller, giving the party a chance to focus their attacks on just one small area.
Allen originally worried that, once severed into multiple parts, Scarlet’s regenerative abilities would cause it to turn into two monsters, but that did not seem to be the case.
“Hey, it’s trying to escape into the ground.”
Meruru noticed that the wriggling part of its body was trying to crawl back into the sand. Allen also noticed this and issued a command.
“Sophie, call one of your grand spirits.”
“Certainly! Grand spirit Gnome, please lend me your strength.”
Upon using her Extra Skill, Grand Spirit Manifestation, Gnome appeared. Clinging to the desert sand, the spirit began to harden it into rock. With Scarlet incapable of escaping into the ground, Meruru once again used Tam-Tam’s sword of light to chop it into pieces.
Once Scarlet was reduced to a sixteenth of its original size, Krena used her own Extra Skill to chop it down further. Allen then used Dragon B’s Awakened Ability, Hellfire of Fury, to engulf it in flames. Scarlet, now unable to escape or even fight back, continued to endure the one-sided assault for another twenty minutes or so before a message appeared in Allen’s grimoire.
Scarlet’s body disappeared, leaving a Rank S magic stone and an iron coin with a worm embossed on it in its place.
Meruru let out a whoop of excitement. “Oh yeaaah, we did it!”
After taking on the boss over and over again, they had finally won. The whole party was thrilled, and even the usually stoic Volmaar was smiling.
That’s right, we did it!
Allen recalled his past life, thinking back on the joy of refining his strategy over and over until he found a way to take down a boss that could not be defeated with attacks alone. Those were some of the funnest times he had ever had.
“That leaves just Crimson.”
“That’s right.”
Allen nodded in response to Dogora’s comment, though he was already thinking about what they would be doing after beating Crimson.
Admiral Garara’s party was made up of twenty members, all of whom could summon forth superpowered mithril golems, and yet they still could not beat the final floor boss. Allen figured that getting his skill levels to 8 might be the bare minimum to put together a winning strategy.
Chapter 7: Rank A Summons Unlocked
After beating Scarlet, the Gamers took on Crimson Kaiser Sea Serpent twice, only to meet with failure on both occasions. Crimson could Summon up to a hundred kaiser sea serpents, each of which was as strong as a white dragon. This made it impossible for the party to beat the boss while also abiding by their policy of preserving their Extra Skills. Though Allen felt that they could probably beat it if they were to push themselves just a little further beyond their limits, he decided it was best to hold off for now.
On the first of the year, members of the Elmea Church received a divine message. Just as the Spirit God had already revealed to Allen, this message conveyed to the people that the Fire Goddess’s flame was weakening and that a class promotion system would be introduced in April. Upon hearing that the details of the class promotions would come in a later divine message, Allen could not help but wonder if this meant that the gods had yet to iron out the specifics.
The day after returning from a three-day stint in the dungeon, the Gamers had finished up their business at the Adventurer’s Guild and were hurrying off to the temple. Under normal circumstances, the party would typically rest for two days after returning from the dungeon, but considering that his grimoire showed that his skill level had increased just the day before, Allen decided to change up his plans. When he shared this change with Cecil and the others, they had all agreed to go with him. So, they finished breakfast and then, instead of the usual two or three members, the whole party had followed Allen to the Adventurer’s Guild.
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“Looks like we’re a little late.”
Allen could barely conceal his excitement as he hurried to the temple.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve been this hyped.
Near the temple’s entrance, Allen and his friends met up with Helmios and his party, Sacred.
Helmios smiled softly. “We’ve been waiting for you. Mind if we tag along?”
After Allen had shared his plans before departing the base earlier that morning, Helmios asked if it would be okay for his party to join them, seemingly interested in what he and the Gamers had planned.
Wow, they’re all here?
“Feel free, but you should be warned that it’ll probably take some time for me to evaluate everything.”
The No-life Gamers, now joined by Helmios and Sacred, waited in line for their turn to enter Floor 2 of the dungeon. During that time, Allen repeatedly checked the note he had copied over from the grimoire’s log into the memo section. His heart fluttered just a little bit more each time he read the text.
Allen had finally reached Summoning Lvl. 8 the night before.
Heh heh, now I can finally Summon Rank As. I can’t believe I was able to reach this level at fifteen.
Up until this very day, Allen had focused solely on raising his skill level, and now all that effort had finally paid off, thus granting him the ability to Summon Rank A Summons. He was so happy, he was practically drooling with excitement.
Record of Level-Ups
1 year & 0 months old: Obtained grimoire, Summoning Lvl. 1, gained access to Rank H Summons
1 year & 10 months old: Summoning Lvl. 2, obtained Synthesis
3 years & 0 months old: Gained access to Rank G Summons
5 years & 11 months old: Summoning Lvl. 3, obtained Strengthening, gained access to Rank F Summons
7 years & 9 months old: Summoning Lvl. 4, obtained Storage, gained access to Rank E Summons
9 years & 10 months old: Summoning Lvl. 5, obtained Sharing, gained access to Rank D Summons
12 years & 9 months old: Summoning Lvl. 6, obtained Awakening, gained access to Rank C Summons
13 years & 11 months old: Summoning Lvl. 7, obtained Quick Summoning, obtained Deputize, gained access to Rank B Summons
15 years & 3 months old: Summoning Lvl. 8, obtained Equivalency, obtained King Me, gained access to Rank A Summons
Watching the dopey grin spread across Allen’s lips as he looked over the record in his grimoire, Cecil felt a mixture of exasperation and concern for her friend.
Fire Goddess Freyja’s divine vessel had been stolen by the Demon Lord Army, and they still had no idea where it was or why it was even stolen in the first place. This was clearly a perilous situation, but Allen’s skills leveling up granted them hope, if only a little. This would not be just a matter of satisfying mere curiosity; they needed to know exactly what this level up brought with it.
However, this was Cecil and the rest of the Gamers’ first time joining Allen’s testing his new skills. He planned to check out the Summons available to him, though he was worried that it could raise quite a fuss if he Summoned a huge beast in the front lawn of their base. To prevent that, he had told his friends that it would be best to do it in the dungeon.
Everyone knew that Allen tended to get stuck in his own head, blissfully unaware of the world around him whenever testing out any new skill—even inside a dungeon filled with monsters, where danger lurked around every corner. When Cecil mentioned that to the others, Krena, Sophie, and even Dogora and Keel had agreed to come along.
After a short wait, the group finally entered the temple. From there, they teleported to Floor 2, mounted some Bird B Summons, and took off toward a place free of any other adventurers.
All right, I’ll have to test these one by one as I try to sort this all out.
The night before, Allen had created cards of all of his Summons. He had more than enough Rank A magic stones for this, thanks to his time fighting back in Rohzenheim as well as his battles here in the Rank S dungeon.
Just as I’d predicted, my grimoire holder gained ten more slots, increasing my maximum number of held cards to eighty.
Each time his skill level went up, the maximum number of Summon cards he could carry went up by ten. The limit had increased this time too, meaning that he could receive stat buffs from ten more Summons.
I’ll start with the new skills I obtained, Equivalency and King Me. First up, Equivalency.
Allen repeatedly called forth various Summons of differing ranks as he used Equivalency. As he used it, he noticed that the number of magic stones used also changed.
Up until now, whenever he Summoned anything, it would only use the same rank of magic stone as the Summon itself. For example, a Rank C Summon could only be called forth using Rank C magic stones. However, when using the Equivalency skill, he could use magic stones from a variety of ranks to call forth the Summon. Specifically, using one magic stone, he could call forth ten Summons from one rank below that of the magic stone. Furthermore, he could use ten magic stones to call forth a single Summon that was one rank higher.
There was another benefit to calling forth Summons of a lower rank using just one magic stone as well. If the number of Summoned creatures was lower than the total number the magic stone could Summon, the surplus power would be converted into magic stones and spawn along with the Summons.
Looks like Equivalency will be pretty useful. Now I don’t need to worry about running out of any types of magic stones, and I’ll also be able to use this to boost my Skill XP to boot.
The Equivalency skill seemed to convert magic stones into MP. This was the same calculation used for the number of magic stones required to utilize a magic tool. A magic tool operated by a single Rank D magic stone could also work with ten Rank E magic stones. Thus the sale price of magic stones was also determined in a similar manner. In other words, the price of one Rank D magic stone was ten times that of a Rank E magic stone.
Allen was in his own world, unaware of his colleagues around him, as he recorded his observations in his grimoire.
Equivalency Effects
1 Rank D magic stone can Summon 10 Bug E Summons
10 Rank D magic stones can Summon 1 Bug C Summon
1 Rank D magic stone can Summon 1 Bug E Summon and create 9 Rank E magic stones
