Volume 1 Chapter 9 (2/2)

[Yay! Luna can finally look cool! I want to assassin!] (Luna)

Her sentence was strange for sure, but somehow I know what she means.

Being an assassin is a difficult task. It depends purely on Luna whether or not she can successfully pull it off.

[Assassinate is a powerful but difficult skill to pull off] (Youya)

[I want to learn! Teach me please.] (Luna)

Luna ears begin to perk up as she began to listen.

I started to recall the list of skills available in the game in my previous life. As a former player, I have more or less memorised every single skill in the game. Although I haven’t really memorised the explanation for every skill, I have or less grasped the mechanics and effects of the skills. Although it wasn’t very impactful in the game, it is important to understand the skill that you are learning so that you avoid learning dead skills as much as possible. Dead skills are prevalent in this world as many beginner adventurers learn skills without understanding their skill’s effects and ending up regretting their decisions.

Generally, adventurers should have a general idea of what skills do they wish to obtain, and narrow down skill tree that they wish to learn. Furthermore, the skills that are present within the skill tree should be narrowed down only to the most important skills as skill points are scarce in this world. Not a single point can be wasted.

In the game, Assassinate was a skill that has the highest damage multiplier that also has the highest power correction value when the attack lands as a critical hit. However, if the attack doesn’t land as a critical, it turns into a basic attack without any bonuses.

[Assassinate is an attack that mainly relies on landing critical hits. You have to land the attack on the opponent’s weak spot otherwise the skill will not activate.] (Youya)

The activation condition speaks for itself. That was how difficult this skill is. An adventurer who is trained to land critical hits is talented, however it was a tall order for adventurers to land a critical hit to activate their skill. Even possibly leading to their death as their attacks will drain mana even on basic attacks.

[I guess the main difficulty in adding this skill, would be being able to land critical hits consistently?] (Youya)

During the game, it was easy to raise our critical chance by increasing the speed stat. However it was still a percentage chance to land the skill. In this world, that was the most important question when obtaining this skill. Critical hits did not rely on luck, but rather on talent. Everything in this world has a weak spot, if you do not land the attack on their weak spot then it will not activate a critical hit.

[Landing critical hits is an important skill for adventurers to grasp. The weak points vary based on the monster, but generally the weak spot for each monster are soft. When you land a full-power strike onto the weak spot, the damage will be amplified and reverbrate throughout the body. It is an easy idea to understand, it isn’t easy to execute. Even with training, only people with talent are capable of performing it. There are some who are unable to execute it even after years of experience.] (Youya)

In order to land a critical hit, the skill and knowledge of the monster’s weakpoint would be required. For the skill required to land a critical hit, the person would need a sense of swordsmanship and martial arts to transfer power from their whole body into their attacks.

[Sounds incredibly difficult. Can you do it Youya?] (Luna)

[I can almost always land critical hits, especially against monsters.] (Youya)

Actually, I had zero sense on how to detect a monster’s weak point. However after continuing to hone my swordsmanship for several decades, I’ve managed to sharpen my concentration. Along with my combat experience, I became able to land a critical hit whenever and wherever I could.

[Youya, I want to try it. I won’t be able to learn just by listening.] (Luna)

[I feel the same way.] (Youya)

I took out a wooden doll from my magic bag and stabbed it into the ground. The magic doll was a magic item, the invincible Scarecrow-kun. It has incredible durability along with automatic regeneration, making it the perfect practice dummy for battles.

[First we will work on your techniques. An average adventurer often swing their sword using their arm strength. However contrary to what people think, that isn’t the most effective way to attack.] (Youya)

I swung the wooden dagger against Scarecrow-kun, producing a dull wooden sound.

[The most effective way of landing an attack, would be to utilise your whole body, releasing the power of your whole body into the swing.] (Youya)

I stepped forward while twisting my waist, bending my arms accordingly while swinging my dagger forward. The impact was a few notches higher than before, producing an explosive ringing sound.

[Wow, they are totally different.] (Luna)

[Naturally. The first blow was performed with my arm strength while the second used my entire body. Needless to say, the second blow is required for a critical hit to register.] (Youya)

Based on my experience, there isn’t even a single adventurer out of a hundred that can perform this as more emphasis was placed on a person’s status than their techniques.

[Luna. I am giving you a warning. You will give up on learning Assassinate if you aren’t able to land a critical hit on Scarecrow-kun who isn’t even moving by tomorrow morning. Simply put, you don’t have the talent if you can’t even do this. Then, you will have to choose a skill that is easier to execute.] (Youya)

[Difficult. Theres only one night…] (Luna)

Ho.. She understood that performing that attack wasn’t as easy as it looked just from that one attack. It may look simple to perform, but that was because I have been doing it for years. Asking a novice to perform the attack in one night might be too harsh.

But I cant afford to wait for Luna to grow.

[Don’t worry about failing to perform the strike. Even if you can’t perform the cirtical hit, you can still specialize on attribute anomalies. Well that is if you fail before the time limit.] (Youya)

I faced Scarecrow-kun and released nine consecutive attacks.

Each of these attacks were nine different slashes that can be performed with a blade. Diagonal. Left. Right. Up and down.

The different slashes were Karatake, Kesaki, Miginagi, Migikiue, Gyakufuu, Hidarikiue, Hidarinagi, Gyaku,Togetsuki.

TLN note: I don’t know what these terms are, but I am assuming they are names.

[Eventually you will have to learn how to perform all nine slashes. Otherwise, performing critical hits will merely be a dream. In a battle, not only do you have to understand which slash would to perform, but the opponent will be moving as well. This is how much you have to prepare in order to master Assassinate. If you can’t even land a critical hit on a stationary target, it is better to just give up entirely.] (Youya)

I am being too harsh on Luna, but if I don’t do so, it could be detrimental to her rather than beneficial if she ends up learning the skill without being prepared.

[I understand. I’ll do it!] (Luna)

Luna’s fox tail began to bounce up and down.

[Now then, try to choose one slash among the nine that you think is comfortable for you and give it your best.] (Youya)

[Uhn. Just watch me do it!] (Luna)

Luna held her dagger and swung it at Scarecrow-kun with various patterns that resemble the nine strikes. Her strikes aren’t accurate in the slightest but it looks like she is trying to find her most comfortable strike.

It’ll probably be too difficult for her to find a comfortable strike as well as learn how to perform it properly. If it was Luna.. i guess the attack would have to be a thrust.

[Luna, try to perform a thrust.] (Youya)

I took my dagger and performed a thrust onto the wooden dummy.

[Amazing.. Youya is awesome! Luna wants to do a thrust just like Youya!] (Luna)

Luna looks at me with shining eyes as she saw me perform a thrust on the wooden dummy

[If you can imitate this thrust by tomorrow morning, then you pass.] (Youya)

[Ok!] (Luna)

Luna wasted no time in performing a thrust that looks similar to my demonstration.

I could see myself in her actions. It is clear that she was trying to imitate my movements from earlier.

[Luna. Drop your waist a little lower and try not to hyperextend your arms. Stop stretching right before your arm is straight.] (Youya)

I stepped behind Luna and grabbed her waist from behind, correcting her posture.

[Let’s do the thrust slowly with my assistance. We’ll correct your posture after each try.] (Youya)

[hhnn? Uhm.. Youya.. Nevermind.] (Luna)

After listening to her weird reply, I realized that her face started to turn red.

Is she getting excited from swinging a sword?

After performing the movement multiple times, Luna’s movement became much more fluid and she could perform the thrust on her own. She continued to perform the same action after I removed my assistance, then her action started to change, becoming much more personalized for herself. As expected of Luna, she has an incredible sense when it comes to battle techniques. Thrust after thrust, her movements became cleaner and the wasted movements were being minimized.

At this rate, it looks like her attack may be perfected by tonight.

I continued to advise Luna on her actions while cheering for her in my mind. Honestly I hope Luna clears this trial as the skill she likes is a skill i would like to have in my party, but that depends on her.

Good luck Luna!