Chapter 63 - Angalta, the God-Wedge Sword-King that Enshrines the Gods, The Scales of the Chant that Celebrate the World, Part Seven
◇ You have conquered the "Buried Labyrinth of Forgetfulness" ◇
◇ Title Acquired ◇
・"Duality Embodied"
◇ Skills have Evolved ◇
・Quick Change ⇒ Blink Switch
・Accel Tempo ⇒ Combo Accelerate
・Adaptive Traverse ⇒ Swallow's Traverse
・Featherfoot ⇒ Fatalace Jumper
・Boar's Heart ⇒ Rhino's Heart
・Protective Run ⇒ Guardian's Cradle
――――――――――――――――――
◇Status◇
Name：Haru Lv：65⇒81(160)
STR(Strength)：50
AGI(Agility)：430(+10)
DEX(Dexterity)：200(+10)
VIT(Vitality)：5
MID(Mind)：5
LUC(Luck)：10
◇Skill◇
・All Weapon Aptitude
[Blink Switch] Up!
[Piercing Dart]
・[Quit Counter]
・[Floating Leaf]
・Embodied Protection
・Heavy Attack Manipulator
・Combo Accelerate Up!
・Idaten
・Swallow's Traverse Up!
・Fatalace Jumper Up!
・Rhino's Heart Up!
・Guardian's Cradle Up!
――――――――――――――――――
◇Status◇
Name：Sora
Lv：42⇒67(250)
STR(Strength)：50
AGI(Agility)：100(+10)
DEX(Dexterity)：100(+10)
VIT(Vitality)：70
MID(Mind)：100
LUC(Luck)：50
◇Skill◇
・Magic Sword Aptitude
[Optimize Alert] New!
Magic Sword Telekinesis
Homing Projection New!
Magic Sword Generation Efficiency New!
・Light Magic Aptitude
[Qualia Veil]
・[Spectator's Cheer] ⇒ [Scareless] up!
・[Observer's Eye]
・Healer's Precept
・Evasion Precept New!
――――――――――――――――――
"That's insane."
On top of the long list of skill evolution announcements, a continuous stream of light effects from the chain of level-ups enveloped my avatar. When the flashes surpassed ten, I pulled up my status window and saw a number that seemed like a practical joke.
"I went up 16 levels... Sora-san?"
Sora, who had followed my lead and was checking her own status, seemed to be glitching out next to me. When I called out to her, she turned with a dazed look and made her window visible.
"Let's see, how much did you go up... Gkhh..."
Wait, Level 67...? I'm pretty sure she was around 40 before we challenged this area... Plus, unlike me, who only had skills evolve without getting anything new, she'd gained four new skills. Including [Scareless], her stats were on a whole different level from before the battle.
"...I always thought leveling up was something you were supposed to do bit by bit."
"Normally, you'd be right..."
Compared to the MMOs I was used to, Arcadia certainly made leveling up incomparably easy. Still, there had to be a limit. I'd gained a good chunk of levels after every boss fight until now, but this time, the sheer scale of the increase felt like it deviated from the game's balance.
Defeating an opponent you're not supposed to be able to defeat. In any game with the concept of experience points, the reward for such an impossible feat always goes one of two ways...
"There's the pattern where you get terrible EXP because you're fighting out of your league... but it looks like Arcadia's the type to give an insane payout."
That said, there was no way I could pull something like this off intentionally. There was no way some incomprehensible system-side favoritism would bless me so many times.
"'Conquered'... I believe it was the same in the desert, wasn't it?"
"Hm? Oh, right. It said 'conquered,' not 'defeated.'"
Since I had logged out right when we cleared the [Great Flowing Sand Cavern] last time, Sora hadn't seen the system announcement then.
"Then, does that mean... you did various other 'not normal' things again?"
"Oh, I did... No, wait, this time, something was done to me."
In any case, that seemed to wrap things up. A teleport gate should be appearing soon, or we'd be automatically sent back—
"Hm?"
As I glanced around to check for a portal, I noticed something.
The wall debris that had been shattered and scattered at the start of the battle... according to conventional game logic, it should have despawned quickly for processing reasons. Yet, even after the lengthy battle, it all remained. And mixed in among the rubble was one thing—an obvious foreign object that caught my eye.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just, that..."
Just like last time, I'd assumed there would be no item rewards since we didn't get a 'defeat' verdict... but maybe. With that thought, I led a curious Sora over to the object—
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Wh-What?"
Though just a 'fragment' mixed in with the rubble, its white-gold gleam hinted at its former majesty. On its surface were the familiar, intricate carvings—it was a piece of metal a bit too large to be called a fragment, a lump nearly a meter in diameter. I tapped it, my hopes high...
[Withered Fragment of the God-Wedge Armor]—that was the name displayed in the window that popped up.
It was, without a doubt, a piece of spoils left behind by [Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King].
Thank you for reading.
With this, we have passed a major climax, and the end of the first part is finally............ well, about twenty-five thousand characters away. It's still a long road ahead.
I will continue to update daily, so please bear with me for a little longer.