“Christina, I think it’s about time we go and name you as the dungeon master.” I told Christina while we were having tea.
“Oh, are we in a rush now?” Christina responded.
“Well I was planning on leaving town soon-ish.” I told her.
“NO!” Alice yelled out. “You can’t leave!”
“Alice.” Christina turned towards her daughter. “You can’t hold Brian here forever because of your own selfish desires.”
“Then I’ll just go with him!” Alice said. “I’m an adult. I can choose for myself.”
“You know your father will never let you.” Christina said. “And if you leave, you will have to fend for yourself. Earning money is not as easy as you think.”
… yeah. I definitely can’t do it with a spell card. No I cannot. Okay I totally can, but Christina doesn’t need to know that.
“I can use magic now. I’ll just hunt monsters.” Alice said.
“Alice.” Christina said in a calming manner. “You shouldn’t make these decisions with haste. Take your time and think about it.”
“But there won’t be time if Brian leaves.” Alice argued. “Brian, I can come with you, can’t I?”
“I don’t mind.” I told her and Alice’s eyes lit up as I said that. “But I would prefer if you leave on good terms with your parents. I don’t want Brandon putting a bounty on my head for kidnapping or something.”
“But how am I supposed to get Father’s permission? He would never agree to something like that.” Alice complained.
“... sorry, but I have no idea.” I told Alice.
“I can try talking to him about it. That’s if you really want to leave.” Christina offered.
“Brian… you will take me with you, won’t you?” Alice asked me with her eyes fluttering after Christina left the room. I think she was trying to look innocent and cute. Well she is cute, but.
“Alice, please don’t do that. It won’t work on me.” I told her. Laura would sometimes do that so I was used to it. Somewhat.
“It always works in the books.” She commented.
… what kind of books are you reading? Where do you even get these romance novels from? Does Brandon buy them for you? Or do you borrow them from the maids?
“What books are you reading?” I asked Alice.
“... oh just some books I have.” She avoided the question.
“Just don’t steal them from Jenna. She wants her romance novels back.” I teased.
“I didn’t steal them! I got permission to borrow them!” Alice complained.
“Sure you did. And you definitely didn’t get permission because you are the daughter of their lord or something.”
“Sorry, sorry. I know you wouldn’t do it. Not like you go around dressed as a maid or something.” I kept teasing her.
“... I blame Father for that…” She shifted the blame. “He never lets me do anything but magic, so I have to try something like that so I can actually do something fun.”
“Your father really causes too many problems for you.” I told Alice. “If he really wanted you to fulfill the prophecy, he would have you going around as an adventurer or something similar gaining levels so you can be stronger.”
“But the stats you get per level are not that much. You gain a lot more from skills.” Alice argued. “And training is the best way of gaining skills.”
“Perhaps, but gaining stats from just skills leaves you unbalanced. It leaves you with large amounts of some stats while you have very little of others.” I told her.
“If I were to guess, I think you have only skills based on magic, right?” I asked.
“Yes.” Alice confirmed.
“And I would also guess that you have low defense and HP stats.”
“...yes.” Alice admitted.
“And that would be bad in actual combat. Any attack that comes your way could potentially be lethal.” I told her.
“Does that mean I should try to gain a defensive skill?” Alice asked.
“Possibly, but I really don’t know the skills well enough to tell you. And having overwhelming power is not a bad idea either. You just need to have a team that can keep you safe.” I told her.
Glass cannons might be brittle, but they are powerful.
“You could also buy some high defense armor, but it might be too heavy.”
After a little thought, Alice asked me: “Brian, what kind of stat do you have? Can you show me?”
“Sure. I can show you mine if you show me yours.” I told Alice.
“Yes. Let’s do it. Status open.” Alice got excited and went first.
“Status open.” I repeated after her.
Holy. Alice has a higher magic stat than I do. It’s almost as high as my defense. And I’m 20 levels higher than her. Even her mana is almost as high as mine. But her defense and HP are very low, just as I thought.
“Your skills are so weird. You only have extra skills.” Alice commented. “You even have a blessing. How did you get that?”
“I’ll tell you one day, but I just got it.” I avoided the question. I can trust Alice, I think, but I just don’t want anyone to overhear it.
“Can I get one?” Alice asked.
“I don’t know. Probably, if you get lucky.” I told her. “But that is not what I wanted to point out. You have very high magic and mana stats, even higher than I have in magic. And I’m twenty levels higher. But because of your low level, you have bad stats in everything else. My stats are more balanced. Other than my higher defense.”
“I see. So I should learn other skills then. I’ll do my best.” Alice concluded.
“Just don’t be too hasty. You should consider what skills you really want and what you don’t want.” I reminded her.
“Then, could you recommend some skills for me?” Alice asked.
“Well you should think about what you want to do in the future. If you really want to wield a sword or something like that, a sword skill would be necessary. Also if you want to be a frontline fighter, something that helps with defense would be good. But I’m not an expert on skills.” I told her. “I think in terms of magic, you have a good base.”
“I see, sword skill and defensive skill.” Alice was writing down on a notepad that she pulled out from somewhere.
(Laura, I’m not talking completely out of my ass right?) I confirmed with my information broker.
(No. Your suggestion is not bad if Alice wants to be able to wield a sword alongside the magic. But it is going to be difficult for her to learn the sword skill at the moment.) Laura told me.
(Why? What makes it so difficult?)
(Alice has a lot of skills compared to her level. Skills get more difficult to gain and level up as you have more of them, but they get easier to gain as you increase your level.) Laura told me.
So min-maxing is still something that should be done. But then again, being versatile might be better than being min-maxed in real life. And if we are going to make a party with Lua, she is already a backline mage. And I’m a commander style character with my summoning, so if all of us rely on my summons for the frontline, that could lead to problems if we are ever ambushed. I guess I could try making myself into a tank character that can also summon, as I already have high defense. Get some Millennium Shield action in here.
(Laura, can I get Millennium Shield from any set I’ve unlocked?) I asked.
(Master, I can’t find a ‘Millennium Shield’.) Laura answered.
… Well that sucks. Wonder where it is? I think it should’ve been released at this point. It was used kind of early on in the anime.
[It was printed as a MCDonalds promo] [Neither Brian or Laura know this at the moment]
(Also, if Alice really wants to be able to wield a sword, a movement skill of some kind would be extremely useful. I would also recommend that you learn one, Master.) Laura told me.
(Movement, huh. So something like quick step.)
(Flicker Step, actually. Also, Alice might benefit from learning the Combat Dance skill. With that she could avoid and parry enemy attacks instead of having to block them. It might help her more in the long run.) Laura told me.
“Alice, Laura recommended skills called Flicker Step and Combat Dance for you. They should help with movement and avoiding attacks.” I told her.
“I see, so Flicker Step and Combat Dance.” Alice was writing down. “Wait, a dance? How will that help?” Find the newest release on novel-fire.net
“I think it helps you be more nimble to avoid attacks.” I told her. “It’s better to never take a hit than it is to tank hits.”
“Oh. I guess that would be good. Then I’ll make sure to practice.” Alice said. “But how do I practice these skills?”
(Laura, want to elaborate on that?)
(We should move to a different area. We can’t practice these skills without some space and I think Master will understand better if I tell as we try it out.) Laura told me.
“Let’s head to the yard. Laura said she’ll instruct us there.” I told Alice.
“Sure. Give me a second. I’ll go change.” Alice said as she took off towards her room.
I guess she was wearing just a simple short sleeved dress. It might be a little cold. Or perhaps she is afraid of showing her underwear. Well, I did see it a few days ago.
I also got up from the table and put my hoodie back on. Then I just waited for Alice to come back.