Chapter 70 - A Meeting for Two
Not long after parting with Ane-san, or rather, Kagura-san, I made my way to the world of sand I had once declared I would “never visit again.”
My status, my skills, and the [An-ri Galta] I had just received—thinking back, it’s only been a few days, but I have to admit, I’ve made some remarkable progress.
By the way, I had completely forgotten about this, but there was that pile of materials I had previously tossed at Kagura-san, telling her to “make something interesting.” Those ended up being shelved, with the sentiment being, “You got a monster of a weapon like that, you really need some half-assed stuff now?”
Trying to make armor out of them was a no-go since there was a lack of materials suitable for light armor. The best option was something like a cloak woven from Glowbird feathers.
When she showed me a rough sketch of that cloak, all I could see was a future where it would get in the way of my movements as I bounced around like an idiot, so that idea was scrapped.
Besides, there’s the matter of [An-ri Galta]’s weight… The moment I tossed that one item into my inventory, the gauge for my maximum carry capacity shot up, so, yeah…
Thanks to these unavoidable circumstances, the now-departed materials were reborn as pocket change and found their way into my wallet. May they rest in peace—now then.
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◇Status◇
Name：Haru
Lv：81
STR(Strength)：50⇒100
AGI(Agility)：430⇒500(+10)
DEX(Dexterity)：200(+10)
VIT(Vitality)：5
MID(Mental)：5
LUC(Luck)：10⇒50
◇Skill◇
・All-Weapon Aptitude
《Blink Switch》
《Piercing Dart》
・《Quit Counter》
・《Floating Leaf》
・Embodied Protection
・Heavy Attack Manipulator
・Combo Accelerate
・Fleet-Footed
・Swallow's Flight
・Fataless Jumper
・Rhino's Heart
・Guardian's Cradle
――――――――――――――――――
"—Yeah, something like this… I guess I'll have to stop pumping AGI here."
I finished deliberating on my stat allocation and muttered to myself as I gazed at my agility value, which had reached the nice round number of 500. Honestly, it's already excessive. For example, if I were to add Sora's 《Scareless》 on top of this, I'd completely surpass the speed I can handle.
Actually, to be honest, I'm already past my limit even during normal times. Controlling my avatar at top gear currently relies entirely on unconscious movements beyond my own comprehension and one hundred percent pure instinct.
It'll be a while yet, but I'm planning to graduate from this runaway express state once I get the chance to reset my stats.
…If only I could get a thought acceleration skill. Apparently, the condition for acquiring it is a certain amount of real combat time with a light warrior build that has AGI above a certain threshold, but I heard it was first confirmed only a year ago.
In other words, it's something that even a seasoned veteran who has fought for two years since the service started finally obtained, so it's highly unlikely that a newcomer like me will get it anytime soon.
I'm already pretty attached to my current style, but I have no intention of dragging my feet while wishing for something I don't have—if I do, I feel like Sora will leave me behind.
"—Haru-saaan!"
"Whoops, there she is."
Just as I swiped away the windows I had open, my waiting partner came running towards me, kicking up sand. It was none other than my dear partner, whom I had kept waiting for three long days.
Her attire was unchanged: a simple battle cloth with minimal leather armor. Kicking up the sand with the eel-skin gloves and boots that matched mine, Sora waved her hand without hiding her friendly aura as she showed up at our meeting spot in the [Great Flowing Sand Cavern].
"It's been a while… or maybe not that long, huh?"
It felt like an eternity of impatience, so that was the first thing that came out of my mouth, but in real time, it had only been about three days. I raised my hand in return and then scratched my cheek to play it off—
"No, it has been a while! Are you done with your business?"
To my delight, it seemed she, too, had been eagerly awaiting today's promise. Her dazzlingly beautiful smile seeped into my mentally exhausted state, worn down by the big city.
"Yeah. It'll take some getting used to, but for the most part, I'm settled."
"I see. …Then, finally!"
"Yep—you ready and prepared?"
Seeing her expression, which was shining so brightly it went beyond lively to being almost radiant, the answer I was about to get was as clear as day—
Our meeting after three days. What we were going to do today was something we had promised each other when I told her I'd be away for a bit.
In short, it was a promise to re-conquer the [Great Flowing Sand Cavern].
"Of course! I'll show you that I'm a completely different person now!"
"Ah, yeah, looking forward to it…?"
While I was a bit bewildered by her higher-than-expected tension, Sora was excitedly clenching her right hand, which wore the [Cradle of Sword-Craft], without a care for my reaction.
Speaking of breaking away from her past self, I had already witnessed that firsthand during the battle with [Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King]—but then I remembered the numerous skills that had been added to her status screen after that.
We had made today's promise right after that and then parted ways, so I wasn't aware of Sora's new combat capabilities—now, seeing her like this… oh man, I'm starting to tremble.
"Come on, Haru-san, let's go!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming—whoa…!?"
Leaving my trembling heart behind, I was pulled along by the cheerful Sora and started to run.
While swooning over the smile of the girl (heroine) who had, at some point, become much more of a ‘protagonist’ than I was—I once again dashed off into an adventure filled to the brim with excitement.
Part one is almost over. I want to write the continuation so badly, or rather, I've already written a lot of it, so I can't contain my desire to show it to you all, which is why I'm updating with multiple chapters.
I have enough of a backlog, but not enough self-control.