BXBX NOVEL Chapter 10: Defense Specialized and Event Results
Dressed in jet-black gear, Kaede sat on the edge of the fountain, concerned.
She was having trouble raising her level.
At the moment, Kaede’s level was 18, and apparently, the current highest level was 48. Kaede had no interest in this game at first, so she was late to join. At this rate, the level gap would only widen.
The reason why Kaede couldn’t level up was because she didn’t have enough AGI to go to places where there were enemies powerful enough to raise her level.
「Hmmm…」
She was looking over the information forum to try and figure out if she could get some useful skills.
The reason she was thinking about it as seriously as ever was because of the event announcement the developers had made yesterday.
That’s right, in a week an event would start. The event would be a point-based battle royale. All participants would compete against each other based on how many other players they killed and how many times they died.
Also, apparently points would be awarded for damage taken and damage done.
The top ten players would be awarded special limited commemorative items.
「“Limited edition” makes me want to get it… yup!」
Kaede was the type of person who would buy something she knew to be a landmine if it had “limited edition” written on it.
This was why she was thinking of a way to overcome the difference in levels.
「Uuh… let’s go with this for now!」
Kaede pried her eyes off the forum and started walking north.
Right, Kaede had no idea…
how crazy her defense was.
「Tomorrow is a holiday… I’ll stay overnight and dig for skills!」
There was a sleeping bag in Kaede’s inventory. She was finally able to buy it with the money she had saved up from selling materials.
Her equipment was gorgeous, but she was broke.
And so she came to the northern forest.
One of the prey she was after was an Explosion Ladybug, a kind of ladybug that attacked by exploding itself.
Another monster she was looking for was one familiar to us from various games, the goblin.
「Alright… 【Provocation】!」
Light radiated from Kaede’s body in a circular pattern, and monsters came closer. Kaede took on only the goblins among them. There were five goblins. The other monsters attacked but did no damage, so she left them alone.
A goblin slashed at Kaede with its shoddy sword. However, even though Kaede had 【AGI 0】, it wasn’t like she couldn’t block a head-on slash with a shield larger than her.
She firmly blocked and parried it. It was simple, but it had to be done over and over again. There were five goblins. Thus, efficiency was five times higher.
『Skill 【Great Shield Mastery I】 has been acquired』
This was a basic skill that was written about on the forum; Kaede had already done her homework on it.
It cut damage from enemies by 1% when you had a great shield equipped. Instead of just increasing VIT, she was going to improve her defense by getting every damage reduction skill she could find.
「【Provocation】!」
She got more goblins to hit her, ten in all, making things even more efficient.
In a few hours, 【Great Shield Mastery I】 grew to 【Great Shield Mastery IV】, which cut damage by 4%.
In addition, she also acquired 【Body Management】 and 【Attack Deflection】 skills. Both of these effects cut damage by 1%.
TL note: 【Body Management】 = Tai sabaki
「I guess that’s about it, then.」
Then, using 【Shield Attack】 she crushed the goblins, still trying their best.
『Skill 【Inhumane】 has been acquired』
This time, Kaede got a skill that she hadn’t expected.
Kaede’s play style was completely different from that of other players: she spent a lot of time enduring, and so she got all kinds of skills that other players wouldn’t be able to so easily obtain.
【Inhumane】
Every time you take an attack from an opponent you gain 【VIT +1】.
However, the effect lasts only for one day after the skill is activated.
The upper limit on VIT gain is 【VIT +25】.
Acquisition Conditions
Intentionally take attacks from an opponent you can defeat for longer than a set amount of time.
In addition, you must not have received a penalty for death before then.
「What a great miscalculation!」
Holding back the urge to prance about, Kaede went deeper into the forest.
Yes, for the first time since Kaede started playing this game…
she was going to find undiscovered skills.
As the name suggested, the Explosion Ladybug was a ladybug that exploded; its size was about twice that of a normal ladybug. It didn’t give you much XP, it was deep in the forest, so you had to put in a lot of effort to get to it, it was hard to evade because of its small size, and it did a lot of damage. Therefore, Kaede was able to monopolize this hunting ground since it was unused.
When Kaede arrived in its habitat, she used 【Provocation】 to lure the ladybugs. Because they were barely ever hunted, the ladybugs were flying in large numbers. To deal with them, Kaede pulled her New Moon out of its sheath just a little.
「【Paralyze Shout】」
It was too quiet to be called a shout, but a distinct shinnk resounded through the air.
The skills that were infused into New Moon were originally those of the Poison Dragon, so most of the techniques were named after what the dragon had done.
In short, making a resounding sound was all that was needed, so Kaede used the high pitched shinnk sheathing sound as the trigger.
Why? Because it was cool.
Kaede watched with satisfaction as the ladybugs bumped into the ground one after another.
Then Kaede crouched down and closed her eyes.
And started eating the ladybugs, one by one.
「Ah!… It’s like that crackling candy! It doesn’t seem too bad if you close your eyes. I mean, I’ve already eaten the Poison Dragon, so I think this much is fine…」
It wasn’t like Kaede was doing this for no reason at all.
Kaede’s idea was proved correct when she ate about 50 ladybugs.
『Skill 【Eating Inedibles】 has been acquired.』
TL note: 【悪食】 is the name, which literally means “eating things that one generally avoids eating”.
『Skill 【Bomb Eater】 has been acquired.』
「Right… it should be fine to stop eating here.」
Kaede checked her newly acquired skills.
【Eating Inedibles】
The power to consume any living thing and turn it into nourishment.
Can eat up even magic and convert it into your MP. If the magic power goes over your capacity, it will be stored in your body as magic crystals.
Acquisition Conditions
Ingest a certain amount of a lethal deleterious substance orally.
【Bomb Eater】
Reduces explosion damage by 50%.
Acquisition Conditions
Defeat an Explosion Ladybug with HP Drain.
「Great skills! Phew… Eating them was worth all the effort!」
Kaede infused 『Replica of the Dark Night』 with 【Eating Inedibles】.
【Eating Inedibles】 was constantly active, so there was no limit to the number of times it could be used. Furthermore, it could be used to eat magic attacks and the weapons of those who attacked directly and have been blocked, completely neutralizing them.
「Now I can turn things into magic crystals and use 『New Moon』 to cast a huge spell! Hehehe… cool…」
*Fwip* She pulled out New Moon, thrust it forward and struck a pose. The image training was beyond perfect.
「I actually came here to look for explosion type magic… but I guess this is alright too!」
All that was left was to raise her level until the very last minute.
What will Kaede’s first event really be like?