kscans

Chapter 71 - The Trial Spheres of Partition

Beginner fields, newbie areas, tutorial maps, etc.—among veteran players, these areas are so ultimately unmemorable that there isn't even a consensus on what to call them. But, as it turns out, this collection of maps does have an official name given by the developers.

It’s called the [Trial Spheres of Partition]. I mean, come on, the phrasing, the style. How are you even supposed to pronounce that last part? At least give us some phonetic guides.

I can see why people just call them whatever, but I have to object to the absurd assessment that these areas are “unmemorable.”

Insanely vast fields, thrilling monsters that feel truly alive as they attack, and then there are the 'Irregulars' who sit in remote regions, a cut above even the bosses.

As someone who once, out of ignorance, dropped a massive flame war bomb on the official forums, I’m trying to hold myself back, but I was once again thinking, “What are you seniors even talking about, haha.”

—The practice pasture... I mean, the boar paradise, Area 1: [Plains of the Horizon].

—The labyrinth of rock faces, Area 2: [Rocky Wasteland].

—The celestial bridge where the 'White' one lurks, Area 3: [Cliff Road of the Sky Bridge].

—And the lair of my nemesis, Area 4: [Great Flowing Sand Cavern].

Even setting aside the bona fide secret area that followed, the [Buried Labyrinth of Forgetfulness], both Sora and I shared the understanding that we'd had a very... rich adventure up to this point, in more ways than one.

Naturally, with each new stage, the malevolent—er, the tasteless... um, the mean-spirited? game design leveled up, and we tackled it with a mix of anticipation and worry, doused in a sauce of curiosity.

What's that? Did I sound like I was speaking in the past tense?

Well, just wait. I’m about to reveal the glorious 'next chapter' that follows the clichéd “after overcoming a battle to the death, our adventure has just begun!”—in three words.

Area 5: [Bioluminescent Underground Lake]—Insta-killed.

Area 6: [Inverted Fire-Plug Canopy]—Insta-killed.

Area 7: [Spiral of Ordeal]—Insta-killed.

I'm sure you have no idea what I'm talking about, but we understood perfectly well what had happened.

In other words, it was one of those, uh, “Whoops, we overleveled, tee-hee” situations.

"Huh..."

Before a bewildered Sora, whose reaction was uncharacteristically subdued, the thing that was the boss monster crumbled into pieces, as if to say, “My duty is done,” and made a swift exit as ash.

Right before that, it let out some kind of grandiose death cry, went through the classic dying-monster-boss-last-throes-convulsions motion, was engulfed in a torrent of dazzling energy-like light that erupted from within its body, and now this enigmatic slime-ish amorphous boss (providing a variety of combat experiences by changing into different forms!) has met its end.

"Man, that was an epic boss battle worthy of concluding the beginner fields."

"That was some textbook monotone delivery..."

I'm doing it on purpose. Three-minute cooking? Don't make me laugh. If you exclude the ridiculously ominous and dramatic entrance, the whole thing was over in less than half that time.

By the way, this area, which was apparently the finale of the beginner fields, was a single-boss-only type with no mobs along the way, so the time spent fighting it equaled the clear time.

This was my first time here, you know. I had no intention of doing a speedrun, okay???

To make matters worse, this entire battle was fought by Sora alone. The moment her first attack completely obliterated the boss’s first health bar, I had an “Ah” moment, wisely sheathed my weapon, and have been observing ever since.

Could you please make your health bars less like puff pastry and more like a solid block, maybe? A single, dense one instead of ten flimsy layers?

Because the situation was so ridiculous, Sora felt bad and activated her “I won't attack while you're transforming” spirit, which led to me witnessing a gruesome execution video of new-form-unveiling-and-posing-time followed by one-hit-kill, repeated nine times.

It perfectly established the dynamic of a mob bravely challenging a completely overpowered player. I swear I saw something shining in the corner of that enigmatic slime's eye... and as a mere spectator, I couldn't help but be moved to tears. Where even is the corner of a slime's eye?

If I were to defend it on one point, I think its sixth form's fish-like, all-range simultaneous scale-explosion attack would have instantly killed me if I were alone and at close range. Nice guts!

Well, thanks to a certain broken skill, Sora is now flawless in both offense and defense, so she finished the whole thing without taking a single point of damage.

"Well, that was... anticlimactic, wasn't it?"

Her combat style, solidified during the [Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King] fight, hadn't changed, so Sora, still in her light armor with just a single ring, turned to me with a troubled expression.

Anticlimactic, I guess, but honestly, I pretty much saw this outcome coming from a mile away.

"That’s because you've become a total balance-breaker, Sora-san."

"That one skill is pretty bad, isn't it..."

It’s so bad that even Sora, who has always called my playstyle unconventional, is now feeling self-conscious about it. To put it simply, in terms of direct utility and threat level, “that skill” would easily surpass even the infamous [Scareless].

I know you're wondering what kind of skill could possibly be more broken than a 30-level boost, but it really does have some insane specs, so there's nothing to be done about it.

Specifically, it’s powerful enough to take down the final boss of the early game (the final boss of the early game???) in under two minutes.

Said skill's name is Optimize Alert. The name gives absolutely no clue as to what it does, but its effect is simple and easy to understand, both visually and in terms of performance—

◇Confirmation of all [Trial Spheres of Partition] processes completed◇

"Oh, the usual... wait, no it's not?"

A familiar bell-like sound chimed as a system log window appeared in my vision. I thought it was the usual boss-slain announcement, but it seemed to be something different.

◇Calculating comprehensive evaluation of progress through all stages—Evaluation value calculation complete◇

"Um, what is this...?"

"Uh, well..."

Alongside the unknown announcement, the field—which looked like a celestial arena left behind after the boss’s remains completely vanished—also began to change.

I say celestial, but was it space? It was a disc-shaped platform floating in a starry void... but the countless stars floating around it began to dart about frantically in mechanical-looking orbits.

Well, it was probably, no, definitely some kind of “Congratulations on graduating from the tutorial!” event progression. The reason we were both standing here with our jaws agape was... well, simply because we had powered up our avatars too much and cleared what should have been an epic battle to the death without any trouble at all.

Since I'm well aware that we've messed up plenty of times on our way here, I have a feeling that this calculated evaluation score might be something to look forward to.

◇Evaluation Score [S] Acquired◇

See? I knew it, this has to be the highest evaluation—

◇Executing level cap maximization as per evaluation regulations◇

"Huh?"

"Say what?"

Ignoring our confused voices at the sudden declaration, the light of a level-up, a sight I had seen countless times, enveloped my body.

It was a golden light effect, deeper and richer than the gold I remembered. As if cued by its radiance—the familiar mountain of system logs finally began to pile up after the boss fight.

◇[Spiral of Ordeal] has been cleared◇

◇[Trial Spheres of Partition] has been cleared◇

◇Titles Acquired◇
・'Achiever'
・'Two as One'
・'Guide'
・'World Opener'

◇Skill Acquired◇
・Telepathy

――――――――――――――――――
◇Status◇
Name: Haru
Lv: 85 → 100(150)
STR (Strength): 140
AGI (Agility): 500 (+10)
DEX (Dexterity): 200 (+10)
VIT (Vitality): 5
MID (Mind): 5
LUC (Luck): 50

◇Skills◇
・All-Weapon Aptitude
《Blink Switch》
《Piercing Dart》

・《Quit Counter》
・《Floating Leaf》

・Embodied Protection
・Heavy Attack Manipulator
・Combo Accelerate
・Idaten
・Flying Swallow Dash
・Fateless Jumper
・Rhino's Heart
・Guardian's Cradle

・Telepathy New!
――――――――――――――――――

◇Level cap reached◇
・Status Remake System unlocked.
・Skill Delete System unlocked.

◇Affinity value conditions met◇
・Partner System unlocked.