Chapter 28 (1/2)

“Ow… are you kidding me?! 5,000 points of damage with a single hit?!”

Even though I was in light armor, Cerberus. .h.i.t me way too hard considering that I was in a defensive stance.

I didn’t actually feel any pain, but that much damage was enough to make me wince.

5,000.

Raid bosses in other games have a lot of attack too, but it’s almost as if Dimension Wave’s objective was to kill off players.

In any case, I couldn’t resp.a.w.n, so I had better make sure this was the last time I get hit.

I turned to face Cerberus again.

It would be dangerous if I stayed in this position. Cerberus looked like it was about to attack again.

“Tsugumi! If you’re out of MP, then fall back for now!”

“O-Okay!”

“Sorry, Shouko, but we’ll have to tough it out for the next little while!”

“I understand! Tsugumi…”

“What is it?”

“You were very cool.”

“… shut up.”

Tsugumi muttered out as she withdrew from the frontline.

Well, I’m sure she’s proud of herself too, but I bet she’s embarra.s.sed to be complimented like that by another girl.

“Big bro…”

“Hmm?”

She moved behind a tank with a s.h.i.+eld before calling out to me.

Her scythe may be bulky, but her medium armor allowed her to evade and it seems like she didn’t take damage.

“Why did you come save me?”

“Because we need you to deal damage later… or at least that’s my excuse.”

“I thought so.”

“It’s because I’m your older brother, I think.”

I don’t think I’d risk life and limb if it were anyone else—save for the three girls in my party.

It’s not like I’m n.o.ble enough to try to save everyone.

“But Spirits are…”

“Why are you worrying about it? 5,000 is but a bee sting… well, not really, but… I mean, umm, it’s not a lot either?”

I wanted to play it cool, but now that I do some mental math, it really was quite a big blow.

It’s a game. This much is expected.

Grinding isn’t everything and I love just hanging out and chatting with my friends, so that’s not a waste of a time.

But still, especially because I’m a Spirit, I don’t want to throw my life away.

“That’s right! Spirts don’t let their friends die on their watch!”

I know exactly how much it sucks to lose Energy, so that’s why I really don’t want anyone to sacrifice their lives.

We’ve got to aim for the best and beat the status quo.

That’s what it means to be a Spirit!

I blurted that out loud, but surely, that’s a good response.

“Miss Kizuna…”

“Agh.”

As soon as I made my excuses, Yamikage popped out from nowhere.

I bet she witnessed everything. And I mean everything…

Oh, G.o.d. That’s so embarra.s.sing.

“Miss Kizuna… how wonderfully moving art thy words!”

“Huh? Huh…”

I questioned her a second time before I fully comprehended what she had said.

“I wish to offer myself to the party.”

“… okay?”

“Perhaps we could have thy sister join our party.”

What, are you going to use a support skill or something?

There’s lots of different targets for support skills, including self, all, party only, and so on. For example, my Speed Gutting is a self-buff.

“Can we do that, Tsugumi?”

“Yep. Should be possible.”

“Then I’ll send a message over group leader chat to let Roz know.”

There were countless people dedicated to fighting one monster.

There’s no way I could pick Roz out from the crowd, but I can use leader chat to contact him.

‘Roz, I know you’re here! Just wanted to let you know I’m borrowing Tsugumi!’

I shouted out loud and someone shouted back. That’s gotta be him.

Then, I opened up the party menu to invite my little sister.

—You have sent Sheryl an invitation to your party.

“She’s in the party now, Yamikage.”

“Aye, then I shall use my recently acquired skill.”

Yamikage then casted a skill as she tends to do.

It took but a second; much quicker than Drain.

“Energy Converter!”

Greenish white orbs began to flow from Yamikage to Tsugumi once she exclaimed her skill.

Honestly, I was a little weird out seeing her use a skill other than Drain. Tsugumi looked in astonishment at her as well.

“MP recovery?”

“‘tis a skill for all Spirits for transferring Energy to another party member.”

“What, does it heal HP and MP for non-Spirits, then?”

“Aye, verily.”

That’s a pretty handy skill.

But why does only Yamikage have it’s for all Spirits?

From the discussions on skills with Shouko, she’s never mentioned this one. Maybe it’s really hard to unlock.

“So that skill, what are the unlock requirements for it?”

“‘tis to gain more than 1,000,000 Energy.”