Hell Mode: Volume 3, page 9
Before confirming the duration, looks like I need to first figure out why the skill isn’t working again. Let’s try Creating a new Insect H card.
Allen cast Awakening on the newly Created card. It worked just fine. After steeling his heart, he called out the Awakened Insect H card and ordered it to use its new Ability. Once again, his room was covered with grasshoppers. He promptly deactivated the skill and reverted Denka to its card.
This confirms that each card can only be Awakened once. Okay, let’s sum up what I learned.
Using the Awakening skill costs 100 MP
(Seems like) each card can only use its Awakened Ability once
To be confirmed: Can the Awakened Ability be used again after some time?
If each card could only use its Awakened Ability once, that meant he would have to expend magic stones every single time he ordered one to do so. This would eat up to a lot of magic stones very quickly and would become quite taxing, especially once he obtained higher-ranked Summons. However, he recalled how some games he had played in his previous life had a “cooldown” feature—after using certain skills, he had to wait a set period of time before being able to use those skills again. The general rule was, the more powerful the spell, the longer the cooldown. For now, Allen decided to put his faith in the cooldown theory and left both Denkas alone.
Lastly, I gotta see what the Awakened Abilities are for all the cards.
Based on the name alone, it seemed highly likely that Awakened Abilities were more potent and powerful than normal Abilities. This time, Allen Created a Beast H—the mouse Summon—and Awakened it.
* * *
Status of Beast H (Mouse)
Type: Beast
Rank: H
Name: Mousey
HP: 5
MP: 0
Attack: 5
Endurance: 2
Agility: 3
Intelligence: 1
Luck: 2
Buffs: HP 1, Attack 1
Ability: Scurry
Awakened Ability: Proliferate
* * *
Okay, that name doesn’t bode well if we’re talking about mice here.
Allen Summoned the Beast H and had it use its Awakened Skill. The next moment, there were two Beast Hs, then four, then eight, then sixteen.
“This is the same effect as Denka’s! How is—”
“Do you know what time it is?!” Cecil roared as she burst into Allen’s room in her nightgown.
Hold on, you can’t just barge into a teenage boy’s room without permission!
With the door wide open, Cecil’s gaze fell upon the growing horde of mice. The blood quickly drained from her face.
“Ah, I’m sorry for being so noisy,” Allen apologized while deactivating Mousey’s Awakened Skill and Unsummoning it.
“What’s wrong, Allen?” Krena mumbled groggily, stumbling into the room wearing her pajamas.
Thumps sounded from down the hallway before Dogora also came in. All the commotion had apparently woken him up, despite the fact that he was normally a heavy sleeper.
“Wh-Wha’s goin’ o— Bffft!” The moment Dogora showed up, Cecil’s fist slammed into his face.
“HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO PUT ON SOME BLOODY CLOTHES?!” she screamed, her face scarlet.
Allen stared at the ruckus, recalling with nostalgia how Dogora had often gone around in the same scant getup during the summers back in Krena Village.
“Death these be your acquaintances, Master?”
“These are my friends and companions. Get along with them, okay, Maria?”
“Your will is my command.”
The Spirit C smiled as she joined Allen in watching the lively commotion.
Chapter 5: Sword Lord Dverg’s Arrival
A crowd had formed in a corner of Allen’s classroom.
“We’re thinking of giving the next floor a try sometime soon with our current party.”
“Uster, I think you’re pushing a bit too fast—the next floor might be tough for those in your party who haven’t overcome as many Trials yet. If I were you, I’d put off the new floor until next month. As for your formation...”
It was early in the morning before homeroom, two days after Allen obtained Summoning Lvl. 6. Uster, one of Allen’s classmates, had approached him and asked for advice on his own party’s progress through their dungeon, laying out a sheet of parchment on Allen’s desk. Allen replied as best he could in light of the strengths and weaknesses of the group. Many other students formed a circle around the two to listen in.
Ever since the announcement in early May about the summer break assignment, many students had come to consult Allen. After all, he was the leader of the only party who already had a dungeon clear under its belt. Allen had patiently dealt with all of them in turn, considering the composition and the levels of the members of each group.
Keel was not present within the crowd. Rather, he was sitting all by himself a slight distance away. Despite having received his share of the rewards from the dungeons over the past twenty days, Keel’s lunches—or the lack thereof—had remained the same.
He skipped lunch again. I really ought to have a proper talk with him soon.
As Allen was thinking about Keel, Carlova walked in.
“Go on, get to your seats. Let’s get started with announcements.”
The crowd surrounding Allen scattered, and the sound of chair legs against the floor rang out for a short while.
“As I said last week, Sword Lord Dverg is in town to give y’all lessons. He’ll be teachin’ ya this afternoon. Don’t you dare make trouble for him.”
Carlova went on to explain that Dverg had arrived in Academy City last week and that he was accompanied by not only the Hero Helmios but also another Sword Lord from Giamut. Allen wondered if the battlefield would be fine with so many key assets away, but then figured they would not have come if their absence was so crucial.
On a whim, Allen looked over at Krena, a Sword Lord herself, and almost did a spit take. I know that face! She’s plotting something!
Krena was staring at their homeroom teacher, her eyes sparkling with motivation. That sparkle gave Allen a strong sense of foreboding.
Morning classes came to an end, and Allen allowed his classmates to herd him toward the cafeteria. Because he would head to the dungeons immediately after school every day, the only times his classmates were able to pick his brain about their own dungeon-delving efforts were before homeroom and during lunch. Everyone was understandably desperate, and Allen was willing to be of service. The truth was that he wanted to check up on Keel but decided to put it off until the weekend.
After lunch came their lesson with Sword Lord Dverg. There were three thousand first-year students here at the Academy. In order to get to them all, Dverg was teaching several classes at once each time. The students were free to opt in or out, but even so, that still meant quite a lot of participants for each lesson. Today’s was to be held in the training hall, which was specifically for sparring and practice matches. Allen stood with the throng of students, together with Krena, Cecil, and Dogora. Keel was nowhere to be seen. Before long, a group of three adults arrived surrounded by the homeroom teachers of the classes present.
Oh! That’s gotta be Dverg. This is my first time seeing him. Next to him is the self-proclaimed Hero and a pretty lady.
Allen stared at the white-haired man wearing an eyepatch who bore countless scars on his face. The first time Allen had heard this man’s name was when he underwent his Appraisal Ceremony at five. The fact that his name was known even in such a remote frontier village spoke volumes about his fame in Ratash.
It was said that Sword Lord Dverg was born as a serf and was now over seventy years old. A few other Sword Lords had been born in Ratash after Dverg, but he was the only one still alive. This was a man who had dedicated every part of his life to the fight. He spent most of the year rushing from battlefield to battlefield, with these lessons at the Academy being one of the very few reasons for him to return to Ratash.
One of the teachers proceeded to go on at length about just how incredible Dverg was for the sake of the students who were not familiar enough with the stories of his feats. Because he had to gloss over details that touched on Demon Lord history, the teacher’s account ended up being rather abstract.
Eventually, the teacher moved on to introducing the Hero. Most of the students had believed that the Hero was a fictional being who only appeared within the stories they heard as children. More than a few murmured, “So, the Hero really does exist...” Helmios himself was all smiles as always, even going so far as to do a little wave to everyone who reacted with a doubtful “Is he really the Hero?”
According to Carlova’s earlier explanation during homeroom, the lesson was to be split into three main parts. The teacher-in-charge would first lecture on the three guest instructors’ feats, followed by a question-and-answer session. Then the students would do practice swings and receive pointers. The first part ended up lasting around thirty minutes. Then the floor opened up for student questions.
“Anyone have questions for Lord Helmios, Lord Dverg, or Lady Sylvia?”
“Yes! Pick me, please! I have a question for Lord Dverg!”
Allen’s head whipped around at hearing the familiar voice. The speaker was Krena, of course. The sight of the pink-haired girl boldly raising her hand high from within the crowd of students, who all cowed in the presence of the Hero and Sword Lords, prompted Dverg to raise an eyebrow.
Carlova looked over. “Ah, Krena. You have a question for Lord Dverg?”
“Krena?” Dverg repeated her name.
“She is the Sword Lord who enrolled this year, sir,” Carlova replied respectfully before turning back. “So, Krena, what is your question?”
“Thank you, sir! Sir, how can I use my skill?” Krena asked with an innocent smile.
“What?!” Carlova exclaimed.
As murmurs of “What’s a skill?” spread among the students, Dogora sighed.
“She’s gone and done it...”
Ever since they began visiting the dungeons back in April, Krena and Dogora had been puzzling over how to activate their skills. When Allen visited the classes teaching how to use the sword, the spear, the ax, and other weapons, he found all of them focused on practice swings and strength training. None of them had yet to mention skills.
“K-Krena! I told you that we aren’t teaching skills until next year!” Carlova roared with a red face.
Krena, you’ve already gone and asked our homeroom teacher?
Since she had not gotten a helpful answer from Carlova, Krena had clearly decided to ask Dverg directly. The Sword Lord returned her straightforward gaze with his single eye.
“Your name is Krena, correct? Krena, why do you want to know about skills?”
“Yes, sir! Because Allen has a big dream! And I wanna help him achieve it!”
“Allen? Who’s that?”
Helmios cut in, pointing at Allen. “He’s the black-haired boy that I told you about before.”
After looking at Allen for a brief moment, Dverg returned his gaze to Krena. “Helmios and Sylvia, I’ll be handling this girl named Krena. I’m leaving the rest to you.”
“Sure, sure,” the Hero replied, waving his hands dismissively.
“Krena, if you wish to learn how to use your skill, come with me.”
So he is going to teach Krena. Hey, he’s actually a pretty nice guy.
“Yes, sir!” With an innocent grin, Krena got up from the crowd and headed to the side of the venue that Dverg was gesturing toward. He handed her a practice sword with blunted edges as he lifted his own weapon in readiness.
“Attack me.”
“Huh?”
“Use your skill and cut me down.”
“Yes, sir!”
Contrary to Allen’s expectations, Dverg had chosen to help Krena grasp her skill through actual practice rather than verbal instruction.
Just how much can Krena with her current stats do against a Sword Lord who’s spent the past forty years on the battlefield? This might give me a good idea of just how powerful Krena can get.
Understanding that this was a valuable opportunity, Allen first checked Krena’s Status in his grimoire.
* * *
Name: Krena
Age: 12
Class: Sword Lord
Level: 30
HP: 1,240
MP: 474
Attack: 1,240
Endurance: 872
Agility: 838
Intelligence: 494
Luck: 595
Skills: Sword Lord {1}, Slash {1}, Sword Mastery {5}
Extra Skill: Limit Break
XP: 14,570/30,000
Skill Levels
Sword Lord: 1
Slash: 1
Skill Experience
Slash: 0/10
* * *
After the two months of dungeon delving, Krena’s Attack stat had reached four figures. The party prioritized reaching the end of the dungeon, so they kept engaging with monsters to a minimum. Krena reaching Lvl. 30 was largely thanks to their daily rounds of dungeon boss battles.
Upon reaching her starting position, Krena abruptly charged toward Dverg, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. She brought her sword down from above using every last ounce of strength she had. However, Dverg blocked the attack with ease as if brushing off a fly. This sent Krena hurtling.
“What’s wrong? Go on, use your skill. We’ll do this until you finally get the hang of it.”
Uh, he hasn’t explained how to use her skill at all. Is this really the right way?
Once the question and answer session ended, the students scattered throughout the spacious training hall to practice. Allen had planned on joining them to get pointers from Sword Lord Sylvia, but decided to watch Krena instead. Cecil joined him. Dogora went a ways off to learn how to better wield his ax.
Two hours passed.
“What’s wrong? You’re just doing the same thing again and again. You won’t be able to use your skill that way!” Dverg barked provocatively.
“Y-Yes, sir!” Krena replied, desperately scrambling to her feet once more.
Another two hours passed, with Dverg continuing to send Krena flying without ever giving a single word of advice.
“We can quit if you’re tired. You can dedicate the year to slowly learning how to use your skill instead.”
“N-No, I can keep going!”
So, normally people take a whole year to learn. Considering this is on the curriculum for next year, that means it’d be two years before everyone else can use their skills.
“Cecil.”
“Yes, Allen?”
“Have your magic classes already started teaching how to use your skills?”
“Of course. Many of the others are starting to get the hang of it.”
Keel also said he learned how to use Healing Magic in a couple of months. I guess that’s how long it takes on average to learn magic skills. I mean, they can’t do anything without their skills, after all. In contrast, weapon wielders all have skills they can use, but it takes around a whole year to master them. Seems to me like there’s some balancing going on here. Hard to tell if this is based on Intelligence or class.
Two more hours went by. The training hall was now illuminated by magic tools. Helmios and Sylvia had already finished their lesson and had joined Carlova and Allen’s group watching the ongoing exchange between Dverg and Krena. Allen had already dispatched a Bird G to inform Keel, who did not participate in this class, that they would not be going to the dungeon today.
“What’s wrong? The sun’s already set. Come at me seriously!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Dverg still looked just as fresh as at the start of the day, but Krena was exhausted to the point of growing faint. Once more, Krena was sent flying; Allen had lost count of the number of times. She struggled to get up as her legs gave out on her again and again.
“Is that all that your friend’s dream means to you?!” Dverg shouted at her.
“NO!”
“Look at yourself! You can’t even get up anymore! And what have you achieved? Nothing!”
“NO! Allen’s always worked hard! I’ve gotta work hard too!” Krena was finally standing, her hair and outfit an absolute mess.
“Then come! Show me your resolve with your sword!”
“Y-Yes, sir!” Krena plodded forward one step at a time.
“Come! Think only of activating your skill. Slash me with everything you have!”
Krena was so out of it she could no longer even reply. She wobbled toward Dverg slowly and, still hanging her head, lifted her sword up high.
Fwoosh!
Krena’s sword fell much faster than it ever had inside the dungeons, cutting clean through the sword Dverg lifted in defense. It finally stopped at Dverg’s skin, but the shock of the impact traveled through his body and gouged the ground at his feet.
“Well done. That is your skill. Don’t forget the sensation.”
The girl collapsed, mumbling, “I-I did it...”
“Krena? Krena!” Allen rushed to her side, Cecil and Dogora right behind him. He held her in his arms only to find her fast asleep, an expression of relief on her face.
Helmios, who had been waiting all this time, walked over. “C’mon, Dverg, why didn’t you just teach her how to use her skill? It would’ve been so much faster.”
“Helmios, don’t expect everyone to be as skillful at picking things up as you are. The way I saw it, this girl isn’t someone who understands things with her head. That said, even I’m surprised she figured it out in a day. That’s quite fast.”
Just as Dverg was looking down at the girl in Allen’s arms thoughtfully, the teacher who had lectured at the start of the lesson cried out to him, rushed over and started fussing over the shoulder where Krena’s sword had landed.
“Oh, you’re hurt?” Helmios waved a hand over the gash. “Heal.”
“It’s been a while since I was last cut by a human,” Dverg murmured. “To think that the newest Sword Lord has already grown this far...”
