Chapter 154: Demerit of a Hated One and Dwarf Blacksmith again (1/2)

I showed Jeanne a number of my battle patterns in the 2nd Floor, but I mostly mix Darkness Fog to block vision.

Jeanne is the type to fight in the standard way, and her compatibility with my fighting style might not be that good.

However, thinking about the future, it is big that Jeanne can keep a monster at bay alone.

If Jeanne gets the attention of the monster, I can move for the kill, and that should make things stable as a result. Dark Spirit Abilities are in the end most suitable for assassination than to assist in battle after all. You could say they are suitable for soloing.

With Rifreya, it could still serve that purpose, but the stability should be higher in the 4th Floors and lower with a person like Jeanne who has a pure strong defense.

However, Rifreya was far higher in terms of attack power, so it is questionable whether the both of us can defeat a Garden Panther though. If I use Create Undead or Dark Knight, we might be able to win though.

Also, there’s something I understood after fighting a number of times together with her in the 2nd Floor.

There was one big problem in the teamwork of me and Jeanne.

“It really isn’t working. It would be nice if there were some way to make it work though.” (Jeanne)

“It most likely can’t be helped.” (Hikaru)

My Spirit Ability gets erased when she approaches.

She is a Hated One and she has the constitution of nullifying the Spirit Abilities in her surroundings, but that affects my Spirit Abilities too… In other words, my pivotal teamwork ability, Shadow Bind, is weakened.

When Jeanne gets close enough to the point where her hands can reach, it would nullify it almost completely, so it really is a bad fit for Jeanne who can only do close combat.

Phantom Warrior is also slowly erased in the same way, and the Dark Knight and the Night Bugs can’t get close to Jeanne.

“That’s funny. Hated One is a fitting name.” (Jeanne)

“This is not a laughing matter… That means healing abilities don’t work either, right?” (Hikaru)

“Right. But I can recover with scrolls and potions. Well, that’s the benefit of us Chosen. The Hated Ones born in this world must have it horrible. Also, I have taken natural recovery, so I can recover from a certain degree of injuries.” (Jeanne)

“Even if you say that…” (Hikaru)

It is fine now. But if we look at it from a far perspective, this could be quite the big demerit.

Of course, she can also nullify attack abilities, so you can say the merits are equally as big…

“I think you get it too, Kuro, but what we need most right now is to increase our individual strength rather than our teamwork. With a super strong ninja and warrior, we can manage with almost anything.” (Jeanne)

“I was also thinking that. I lack the attack power after all.” (Hikaru)

“You have the critical hits.” (Jeanne)

“For truly strong monsters, those attacks in itself can’t even reach. I lack strength. It would be easier to understand if I were to say I can’t get through their defense and deal 0 damage.” (Hikaru)

The only moment I could attack the Demon Lord was when it was restrained in the Dark Coffin. I couldn’t even hit the Garden Panther.

In other words, against enemies of that level, you could say I am close to not even being able to fight at all.

Of course, I understand plenty well that the Demon Lord and the Garden Panther are monsters that are not supposed to be fought alone, but when doing dungeon exploration, there will definitely be a fatal situation where you have to fight a strong monster no matter what will appear.

At that time, there’s a big difference between doing the preparations and the predictions for it, and not doing them.

“I plan on having a bigger weapon made. I have Shadow Storage too, so it might be good to prepare a variety of weapons to match the situation.” (Hikaru)

“Yeah, changing the weapon to match the opponent is basic. I was thinking about testing out a spear or a bow.” (Jeanne)

“I can put them in my Shadow Storage, so it might be good to have spare weapons.” (Hikaru)

The talk wrapped up, and we ended up leaving the dungeon after hunting a decent amount in the 2nd Floor.

The equipment of Jeanne is great, but her weapon is a normal broadsword. I won’t say that’s bad, but with the fighting style of Jeanne, I feel like a one size bigger weapon would work better.

She is strong, and it would be a waste to have her swing a sword that even I could use.

When we exited the dungeon, it was still bright outside.

We have been diving till evening lately, so this feels fresh.

“Then, Grapefull, thanks for today too.” (Hikaru)

Once we come out of the dungeon, the job of a scout ends. I gave Grapefull 4 small silver coins.

We always explore till evening, so we eat dinner together, but we will be finishing here today.

“I barely did any work and you are giving me this much-nya?!” (Full)

“We finished early because of our own convenience, so it is natural.” (Hikaru)

So I say, but with the earnings we make lately, it really is a low amount.

When we go down to the 3rd and 4th Floor, it should be okay to raise it a little bit.

Scouts are necessary in dungeon exploration, and Full really doesn’t make mistakes. She barely does any unnecessary talks inside the dungeon, and she concentrates on her job.

She most likely has seen countless coworkers that have died without noticing the approach of monsters.

The life of Lynxes is light, and that’s exactly why there’s no compromise in living for the day.

“See ya tomorrow, Full-chan.” (Jeanne)

Jeanne gives her farewells while mofumofuing Grapefull. It seems like she is also enduring it inside the dungeon. Well, Lynxes are indeed big bipedal cats, and I also think that they feel nice to the touch.

◇◆◆◆◇

After we sold the Spirit Stones to the guild, we headed to the dwarf store where my shortsword was made.

The west side of the city is the territory of the Great Fire Spirit, and eateries and blacksmiths that use fire are normally in this area.

Or more like, the functions of the city are mostly at the west, south, and middle with the dungeon as the center, and the north and east that are outside the middle are mostly cultivation fields.

Of course, there’s stuff like houses of farmers, but it gives the image of a city suddenly turning into countryside.

The store of the dwarf is at a place slightly further away from the first class land, and the  hammering sounds were resonating nicely to the outside.

“Hello~.” (Hikaru)

“Ooh, it is you, huh. It has been a while.”

The old man soon came out.

He is small but brawny, and his long beard that’s burned slightly here and there was his trademark.

I still don’t know if there’s a race called dwarf in this world, but the viewers on Earth are definitely treating them as dwarfs.

“It was already time for maintenance, huh. Here, show it to me.”