Seeker 8

Test

Chapter 8. First Party Action (1)

After lunch, we returned to the front of the dungeon. Kodachi-san was with us.

It seems that she was also planning to explore the dungeon from now on.

In other words, there was nothing to worry about.

I could explore the dungeon this afternoon with Kodachi-san in a party, without being in a hurry.

So, Kodachi-san and 1 decided to form a party temporarily.

However, being only level 3 and inexperienced, I thought it might be dangerous to venture into the third level, so we decided to explore the second level together to get accustomed to it.

We collected our equipment at the general information desk, and each of us put it on.

I was wearing only a spear, while Kodachi-san was equipped with leather armor and two daggers, a somewhat higher spec.

However, there is room for me to strengthen my equipment as well.

I refused and went to the armory first.

"Oh, what's this, nii-san? Did you know Kodachi-chan?"

When I entered the armory with Kodachi-san, an old man with a skinhead as a clerk called out to me.

Before I could answer him, Kodachi answered.

"No, we've never met before! We ran into each other earlier, and I approached him. I was wondering if he would be interested in forming a party with me, so I'm going to go to the second level to try it out."

"Hmm. Nii-san can indeed use [Earth Heal]. He's a promising party member."

"Yes, sir. I'm not sure if I'm more useful than him, but I'll let Rikusou-san see if I'm more useful in today's dive."

"Well, simply having more heads makes a difference. ─ ─ So, didn't you come here to buy something?"

"Oh, that's me. The wood shield was 4,000 yen, so I thought I'd buy it now that I have some money."

So I paid 4,000 yen out of my meager budget, which had increased to 4,880 yen, and bought the wood shield.

My remaining money was now 880 yen.

Incidentally, I decided to keep living expenses such as ramen noodles in a separate account from the dungeon budget for the time being.

I was willing to put in 10,000 yen for the initial investment, but if I put in more than that, my daily life would be in trouble.

Anyway, I now have a short spear in my right hand and a wooden shield in my left.

I feel like a barbarian without armor, a weapon, and a shield. I'm biased.

I left the armory after I finished shopping.

And this time, we headed for the dungeon.

Kodachi-san and I rode on a magic circle and moved into the dungeon.

After entering the dungeon, I remembered one more thing I had not done.

"Yes, I didn't take the skill. Kodachi-san, can you give me a moment?"

"Sure~. Take your time."

I had not yet used the skill points I had gained when I reached the third level.

I open the status board and move to the skill acquisition screen.

I look at the list of skills I can acquire and ponder.

There were a couple of strong candidates in my mind.

One was [Spear Attack Power Up (+2)], which I had not acquired even though I had bought a spear.

The old man at the armory told me that Seeker with this skill could be a great weapon fighter, so I guessed it would be a strong skill.

One is the magic of [Rock Bullet] as a means of remote attack.

In most encounters, there is a pause of about one move before the encounter turns into melee combat, so being able to attack remotely increases the number of attacks and should give a significant advantage.

The only drawback is that it consumes MP, so it will reduce the number of times I can use [Earth Hea].

One is [HP Up (Endurance x 4)].

Since its HP without skill is "Endurance x 3," it is expected to increase its HP by more than 30% at once.

In other words, it is purely strong.

The first is [Presence Detection].

It is a skill to detect the presence of monsters and other animals as soon as possible.

I don't know how effective this skill is, but if I think of it as a skill that can avoid surprise attacks, or create opportunities to launch surprise attacks. There is a high possibility that it is a strong skill.

So, what should I do?

Let's ask the opinion of a senior dungeon explorer.

I asked Kodachi-san about the skills to acquire.

When I asked her about the four options I was unsure about, she gave me a thoughtful look and replied.

"First of all, as a basic premise, you should decide which skills to acquire because it is your own thing. One thing I can say is that I have [Presence Detection], so when you are with me, I will cover that side. If you're assuming that you're going to party with me, I think the priority will be lower."

"I see."

"But it's a good skill if you're going to explore solo, and I'd like you to use that as a reference as well."

Yeah, it's getting even more difficult.

Oh well.

Even if I'm worried, I can't seem to find the perfect answer, so let's decide arbitrarily.

I went with my gut and acquire [HP Increase (Endurance x4)].

Since I was about to dive into an untested danger zone with a high-leveled seeker, I decided it would be wise to have a large margin of safety.

With this, my HP went up from (27/27) to (36/36).

It is nice that its current value is also increased to the same as its maximum value when the maximum value increases, as is the case when the level increases.

"Thank you for your patience. It's done."

"Understood... Let's go. The stairs to the second floor are this way~."

Kodachi-san proceeded from the first hall toward the path on the left side of the room.

I followed the senior seeker who was leading the way.