Light

Dark

At the entrance of the dungeon, we showed the permit issued by the guild to one of the four gatekeepers, and entered.

If we move carefully in the 1st Floor, we can avoid battling monsters without having to use Darkness Fog, and reach the 2nd Floor.

Of course, it is fine to fight.

For now, lets confirm our battle power. Also, how we are going to be fighting together. (Hikaru)

If this were a brute force party of 3 warriors, it might have been a different story, but it is completely different here.

-The Dark Spirit User who has trash direct combat power capabilities.

-The strong warrior that waves around a greatsword and can use Light Spirit Abilities.

-A scout that cant fight.

Thats the party composition.

In other words, in terms of damage, we will be mostly relying on Rifreya.

For now, we will have Grapefull find enemies, I will distract them, and Rifreya defeats them. Something along those lines I guess. (Hikaru)

I dont really mind that, butwhat do we do about the Spirit Abilities? (Rifreya)

What Light Spirit Abilities do you have? (Hikaru)

When I asked this, she hung her head down slightly and muttered I can only use 2.

The Light I saw before, andwhat about the other one? (Hikaru)

Cure Glow. An ability that heals wounds. (Rifreya)

Nice. (Hikaru)

Having healing abilities is a great help. We wont be able to avoid small wounds, so there would be no end if I had to buy potions with Crystals at every instance.

Now that I think about it, my abilities are dark element Is it going to be okay? (Hikaru)

Okayas in what? (Rifreya)

I heard that the people around here dont use that, you see. (Hikaru)

I dont really get what you are trying to ask me here, but theres no way there would be a problem in using the abilities which are the divine blessing of a Great Spirit-sama, you know? It is true that there arent many Dark Spirit Users, but thats only because theres no church of the Great Dark Spirit-sama here. (Rifreya)

I see. Thats fine then. (Hikaru)

I am relieved.

It is darkness, so I thought they had a bad reputation, but it seems like all Great Spirits of any element are respected.

Also, uhmcan I ask how many abilities you can use, Hikaru? Could it be that you can use all the way to the 5th one? No way thats the case, huh. (Rifreya)

I can use 8. (Hikaru)

E-Eight?! (Rifreya)

Rifreya raised a shocked voice.

Well, all elements most likely have 8.

The last special ability I learned was from the dark element.

Well, the 8th is a bit special, so I cant use it much though. (Hikaru)

W-Wait a moment please Did I hear correctly? Not 7 but 8? (Rifreya)

Was it foolish to be honest here?

No, we will be fighting with our lives on the line here, so hiding our cards is not good.

8. But there arent many offensive abilities in my Dark Spirit Abilities, so I might not be able to match your expectations. (Hikaru)

NoI saw you using a number of abilities at that time, so I knew that you were an amazing ability user, but8, huh (Rifreya)

Rifreya was practically absentminded here.

She is a light templar apprentice and even she can only use 2, so 8 might be outside the common.

Looks like this is information that I shouldnt be divulging much.

Is 8 that rare? (Hikaru)

Rather than rare.even the highest of ability users can only use 7. The Great Spirit-samas say theres an 8th, so there must be, but it is practically a legendthats the kind of perception it has. I myself thought it wasnt possible for a human to use it. (Rifreya)

I see Looks like it would be better to keep the 8th a secret. (Hikaru)

Whichever the case, the 8th one is summoning undead which gives off a pretty dangerous scent. If I were to use it, it might create unnecessary misunderstandings.

It is on a different spectrum from the normal summoning ability that is Summon Night Bug, or like, the potency is just different

Ah, I will say this beforehand to avoid any misunderstandings, but my abilities itself are low tier. I may have a lot, but they arent that big of a deal. Only Darkness Fogthe one that brings dark fog is a bit high in tier, but the others are just 1 or 2. (Hikaru)

Tiersthey are going up? The abilities? (Rifreya)

Well, yeah (Hikaru)

Eh, did I say something weird here?

It works with proficiency, so of course it would go up if you use them.

This is just for reference, but whats the Tier of that highest ability? (Rifreya)

4. (Hikaru)

F-F-F-F-F-F-Four?! (Rifreya)

Rifreya raises an even louder voice of disbelief.

It is pretty hard to raise once it reaches this level, and even though Darkness Fog is an ability I use pretty often, it hasnt reached Tier 5.

By 4, does that mean that it has become a higher ability? (Rifreya)

Eh, yeah. It turned from Dark Mist to Darkness Fog when it reached 3. When it was mist, I think you could faintly see from the outside, but fog is practically complete darkness, so it became easier to use. (Hikaru)

Haah~, thats impressive, Hikaru Is this whats called a genius? As for me, I can only use 2, and they are both still in Tier 1 (Rifreya)

It isnt really that big of a deal though. (Hikaru)

These are my honest thoughts. I even feel bad about it.

I am by no means a genius. I am simply getting the benefits of the skills I received from God. In the eyes of the natives, this would literally be a cheat.

By the way, the current status of my Dark Spirit Abilities are like this.

[Dark Spirit Ability]

Tier 1 Ability

Falsehood of Darkness [Shade Shift] Proficiency 62

Casket of Darkness [Shadow Bind] Proficiency 49

Call of Darkness [Summon: Night Bug] Proficiency 55

Tier 2 Ability

View of Darkness [Dark Vision] Proficiency 82

Transformation of Darkness [Shadow Runner] Proficiency 76

Deposition of Darkness [Shadow Bag] Proficiency 69

Tier 4 Ability

Revelation of Darkness [Darkness Fog] Proficiency 43

Special Technique

Return of Darkness [Create: Undead] Proficiency 1

My proficiency isnt going up as fast as I want it to.

I understand Darkness Fog being hard to increase because it is Tier 4, but I have been using Shadow Bind and Summon Night Bug, and yet, they are still at 1.

The proficiency of abilities you learn later are most likely harder to raise.

However, the 3 abilities that are in Tier 2 are close to Tier 3.

Just like how Dark Mist became Darkness Fog, there should be a change to a higher ability.

And so, uhmHikaru, how many can you use in a day? (Rifreya)

I have never counted it, but I think I am fine using them for around 100 times Are you okay? You look pale. (Hikaru)

Her white face grew even whiter, and her lips were trembling.

I am also aware that my number of uses is slightly weird.

Hikaru, you were a Loved One? (Rifreya)

L-Loved?! Whats that? (Hikaru)

I would say I am a hated one.

I am by no means something embarrassing like a loved one.

R-Right Theres no way you would be a Loved Onehuh. Then that means you have incredible Spirit Ability talent Wow (Rifreya)

I must have the affinity. The Spirits have been helping me out a lot. (Hikaru)

I managed to escape from that forest exactly because of this affinitythe thing called the Affection of Spirits.

Even so, I couldnt use Spirit Abilities consecutively on the day, so it was most likely a combination of it being night and the dungeon. Especially in the 2nd Floor thats darker than the 1st, darkness has quite a lot of advantages.

Now then, lets wrap up the talk here. Lets adjust our battle style in actual combat. Lets begin with goblins or orcs first. (Hikaru)

No matter how much we talk with words, it is not like we have fought together.

We wont be able to tell unless we do it.

We will secure a margin of safety, but theres the need for a certain degree of boldness.

That should be more enjoyable for the viewers.

Chapter 053: Party Exploration and the Specialty of Darkness

2 Ogres. Both with weapons. Can you do it-nya? (Grapefull)

Grapefull came back from her scouting.

Ogres are the strongest monsters of the 2nd Floor if we exclude the mantis. Moreover, having weapons makes them even stronger.

Rifreya, can you defeat them if it were one on one? (Hikaru)

I can. (Rifreya)

Alright. Then, I will lure one to you. [Darkness Fog]. (Hikaru)

I blend into the darkness, approach them, and sink one into the darkness.

The monsters that get swallowed in darkness take time to process whats happening, so you can incapacitate them for a while.

In that time, I lure the other one with Shadow Runner to Rifreya.

[Summon Night Bug]. (Hikaru)

I have been fighting while trying to use Call of Darkness as much as possible

This is the only ability I have that can deal direct damage.

It can deal a decent amount of damage even against an ogre.

The ogre was being bitten away by the bugs inside the darkness, and it was swinging around its weapon wildly.

It is not something I would want to approach directly.

I have gotten physical strength level 1, and my body can move a whole lot better as if I had become someone else. The dagger feels light now. I am sure my individual strength has increased to incomparable levels to before.

Even so, taking an attack of an ogre with a dagger. It isnt impossible, but it is an action that has barely any safety to it.

It would be better to leave the final hit to Rifreya.

Rifreya is swinging her crazy big sword and is slashing the ogre.

A big sword with the length of the blade being 120cm and width being 20cm. She was swinging that gigantic sword, that would take my all to even lift up, freely.

[Shadow Bind]. (Hikaru)

In this situation where Rifreya was in the superior position, dark tentacles create a slight opening.

The ogre had its limbs tied up and lost its balance.

With just that alone, Rifreya managed to easily cut its head off.

For the 2nd Floor monsters that are mostly humanoid, Shadow Bind is practically fatal.

Looks like Rifreya still has leeway here .

Counting on you, Rifreya! (Hikaru)

Okay! (Rifreya)

I move the Darkness Fog and bring the remaining ogre out from the darkness.

Rifreya dashed there as we previously arranged and she ended the ogre with a sweeping slash.

The ogre that came out from the darkness couldnt deal with the slash.

More so when it was being annoyed by Night Bugs.

Alright, good work. Are you injured, Rifreya? (Hikaru)

No, it was mostly one-sided after all. (Rifreya)

Then, lets go to the next one. (Hikaru)

We did several more battles after that.

Honestly speaking, with these members, hunting in the 2nd Floor is relatively easy.

We probably should be challenging the 3rd and 4th Floor, but this is our first day. We decided on adjusting our teamwork between party members in the 2nd Floor.

Thinking about the viewers, I should be living more on the edgeshow battles of life or death, but I cant just suddenly push Rifreya and Grapefull into danger.

The Viewer Count Race lasts 2 weeks.

Uhm, arent you tired, Hikaru? You have been casting abilities one after the other. (Rifreya)

Not at all. I am only using 3-4 per battle after all. (Hikaru)

Wow (Rifreya)

Also, if I dont use them, my proficiency wont increase.

When the time requires it, I will use Crystals to buy spirit energy potions.

More importantly, right now it is battling.

Gotta earn money, and the way to get viewers fast really is battling. The reality is that the viewer count is increasing more and more, and it is maintaining 300 million people.

But it is lacking when it comes to taking 1st place. My closest objective right now is a billion viewers.

Theres a group of orcs there. 8. Half half with weapons and barehanded. (Grapefull)

Alright, lets do this. (Hikaru)

I unsheathe my dagger.

When fighting groups of orcs and goblins, we managed with almost the same strategy.

Or more like, orcs and goblins are enemies that Rifreya can obviously defeat without any problems, but I as well can.

I hide myself with Darkness Fog and run.

I keep only the enemies Rifreya is fighting outside of the darkness, and we defeat them in order.

I hunt the lives of the orcs, that I dragged into the darkness and were confused, one by one with my dagger.

With the effects of physical strength doing its work too, I swung my dagger crisply and systematically.

Rifreya also has no problems dealing with something like orcs.

They are being cut down like paper with just one stroke.

We managed to wipe out a group of 8 in basically 1 minute.

It is going well. Fulls enemy detection is also meshing well. (Hikaru)

Yeah, she is pretty skilled. (Rifreya)

I havent worked together with a lynx before, but if Rifreya, who has hired many scouts before says so, then it must be true.

This is a connection I managed to make, so I want Grapefull to become a full-fledged explorer.

Theres one orc there. Want to ignore it-nya? (Grapefull)

Want to try defeating it, Full? (Hikaru)

Eh? But an orc is too much for me (Grapefull)

It is okay. I will assist you. (Hikaru)

You can take in the spirit energy of monsters you defeat in the dungeon and power yourself up, but no matter if it is in a party, this only applies to the one that defeated the monster.

In other words, a scout doesnt ever get stronger -because they dont fight after all.

Theres one orc around the corner.

Fortunately, it is a barehanded one. An orc without a weapon is a monster that is below a goblin that has a weapon.

Honestly speaking, it is a monster thats just right for training.

I will assist you here, so just go straight for the neck with that sword. [Darkness Fog]. (Hikaru)

I guide Grapefull as we advance in the darkness.

The orc couldnt understand what was going on and was crying puki puki the whole time.

We move to the back of the orc and adjust the aim to the spine of the orc with the blade of Grapefull.

Here! Stab with all your strength! (Hikaru)

Nya! (Grapefull)

The blade was stabbed into the base of the neck of the monster with one smooth motion and the orc turned into a spirit stone.

I undo Darkness Fog.

Good job. Looks like we will be able to increase your level like this too, Full. (Hikaru)

Fuuh Something is entering my body-nya Is this spirit enyergy? (Grapefull)

Thats right. Well, I dont think there will be much change with one orc, but I am sure it will be different as you stack the numbers. (Hikaru)

Honestly speaking, I myself dont feel much change in this Tier increase thing.

Notheres some slight feeling of it, but it is hard to tell whether this is because I am getting used to fighting or because of the leveling up.

According to the Status Board, it is still 1:00pm.

After eating some preserved food, we continued fighting.

The number of viewers is definitely increasing. I can do this

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