“Eh? W-Were you even listening to me…??”
“”I listened loud and clear! Even so, please join a party with us!”
“You know…. I’ve already told you right? I’m not a person who should be in a party. If the swordsman is hesitant to kill because of my trait, you would be in danger too you know? I wouldn’t want my vanguard to become useless either.”
“That doesn’t…. No! Why don’t we just try it for now! Won’t you try and form a party with us at least for a while? Just for now, as a test run!”
“Hmm… ok then I guess. Only for a while though”
The Mage Melina, partied with us.
I looked at the status changes before and after registration and I was wholly surprised to see all the stats be raised by 10%.
If that was all there is to it, then it’s a very powerful skill… sadly, things weren’t that convenient.
WIth that out of the way, we exit the save point and walk around, searching monsters.
“……So, what are we gonna do now?”
To Melina’s question, Kokoru restlessly looks all around as she answers.
“I want to try defeating a monster with this party. Anyone can kill it, so I’ll have to ask you to help too Sir Alvin”
I can take a guess as to what Kokoru is planning, so I meekly nod.
“…Ahhh. Did you want to raise your level? With my skill, the priest can also get the kill bonus as well. But…. Even with a party of three, efficiency would be cut in half. It would be better if you dive into a slightly deeper level and kill it yourself with some assistance though.”
“No, that’s not my intention.”
“I don’t need the levels. And… I might not be able to get the kill bonus.”
While saying so, a monster appears on our pathway. A plant type monster that controls its vines like tentacles with a flower for a head.
“Fine then. Let me handle it.”
Melina stopped me as I was about to go after it–
It was a faster, smoother chant than Kokoru’s.
Because the role of a priest is different so it’s not simple to make a one to one comparison but as casters of the rear guard, they appear to have the same abilities.
With the chant done, a fireball was conjured up from the staff she was carrying and it flew away.
It hits the Tentacle Plant, and immediately causes its body to burst out.
“In one blow? Impressive.”
“That’s what happens when you strike it with its weak attribute. And even without that, I’m Level 38~”
While in terms of levels, I’m not even scratching near the range of Kokoru’s levels, but I could still imagine that a Mage, someone who isn’t suited to soloing, having a fairly rough time reaching that level.
Kokoru calls out from behind.
“How many attributes can you use?”
“I mainly use 5 attributes. I’ve memorized all the spells that a level 38 mage can cast and a few other useful things I guess.”
“Y-yes…. Mages have a wider array of spells to use compared to priests……to the point that not that much can be remembered. So it’s normally narrowed down the attributes to be used as the level increases based on the casting medium, the skills that are possessed, and personal likes and dislikes so……”
Oh yeah, disregarding his much lower level, the mage who kicked me out as the party leader had only been using three attributes.
With a bitter smile, Melina starts talking.
“Whether it could be seen as a boon or not, I have skills that enhance 5 of the attributes. I didn’t want to make the skills go to waste so I frantically memorized the spells. And other than that, it would be best for a mage to go about exploiting a monster’s weakness to have a shot at soloing.”
She went about it jokingly but she must have been downplaying how hard it was.
Magic based classes like priests and mages use spells that are different set of things from skills in a sense that the number of techniques you can use increases as your level rises. It’s similar to “Sword” and “Spear” skills that vanguards tend to have. The crucial difference however is that you won’t be able to use magic off the bat like skills are. You need to learn the spells on your own.
The incantation itself has no meaning. It’s just no more than a series of sounds.
Memorizing, pronunciation, and chanting them as fast as possible is a difficult thing to do without repeated practice.
While looking at Magic based classes may look easy and have barely any movement while being protected by vanguards, I knew that in practice, it’s a difficult class.
And in Melina’s case, five attributes were under her belt.
“Ah. M-more importantly….”
Kokoru suddenly changed gears.
“Uhmm… Miss Melina, is your skills’ debuff, this? The “Jealous God’s Curse””
“Yeah, that’s right. Did you see the status? It has the Melted Heart icon to signify it. My Vit, STR and the like should have been reduced by 3% too.”
You can check simple status information like the levels and skills of party members, status condition through buffs and debuffs, and remaining HP from your own status window. It’s one of the advantages of forming a party.
Melina might have thought that Kokoru looked at that, but it was probably not the case.
After a few seconds, Melina tilts her head in puzzlement.
“Huh? It looks like it didn’t grant the effect……”
“…..Let’s go for another battle just in case. I-It should m-make it clear then.”
–Kokoru announced, in a voice that seemed like she was shaking in excitement.