Grandfather told to beco a Seeker that would never lose. Rather than pushing to aim for the top, he was likely more concerned about my future.
Simply put, what he ant was, to never fight unless I was absolutely sure to win.
I could accept Grandfather's words and go down the path of always playing it safe. However, I want to beco the strongest Seeker, one who is just as strong, no, that surpasses Grandfather. That's because I believe that that's the very path that will let repay my debt to my deceased Grandfather.
So, the question becos howstrongest is defined. If I won't lose, no matter who I fought, then I would undoubtedly be the strongest. But sothing like that is impossible. There will always be an issue of compatibility in fights. The strength to be able to handle every type of opponent doesn't exist.
While all-rounder combat type Jobs do exist, they easily beco jacks of all trades and masters of none, and are far from being the strongest. The Warrior, which is stable in both offense and defense, is the closest to being an ideal Job. But even Grandfather, who had reached the pinnacle EX Rank of this Job, had his limits.
Much less a Talker, which has the worst individual fighting abilities among all the combat type Jobs. Trying to be the strongest as an individual is absolutely impossible for .
If that's the case, what should I do? The answer is obvious.
I should create the strongest clan and beco the clan master
A clan is an organization that's ford by a gathering of several Seekers. Simply put, it's a higher tier version of a party.
In the first place, aiming to be the strongest individual is a mistake in and of itself. Mankind's greatest strength cos from the solidarity within their groups. In other words, that ans that if I'm aiming to be the strongest, I should gather talented people of all kinds and create the strongest clan.
And as the first step towards that ambition, after I beca a Seeker, I began searching for allies imdiately after arriving in the imperial capital. And quite luckily, I was able to form a party with three talented allies.
The red-haired lady's man, Lloyd, the Swordsman. The black-haired muscleman, Walter, the Warrior. The long, blonde-haired beauty, Tania, the Healer.
The three of them were novices just like , but they had graduated from their respective Seeker training schools. Because of that, all three of them were older than .
Ability is everything for a Seeker, but as there were only slight differences among novices, many of them emphasized age superiority, so I bitterly ended up being a junior to all three of them. In other words, their underling. The person who served as the leader of the party was also not , but Lloyd.
Well, it can't be helped at the start. This is the ti for to patiently gain experience as a Seeker.
A party isn't sothing that stays unchanged anyways, and I intend on eventually shaping it to the form I desired. If my allies are able to accept that, then it's all good. If they can't accept it, then I'll just have to leave the party and gather new allies.
I don't hate my allies and do trust them, but it's actually rarer for those who have worked as Seekers for a long ti to continue working with the sa mbers. Being sowhat dispassionate and being able to let go quickly is the kind of attitude necessary to be a Seeker.
In any case, I'm a mber of the party calledBlue Beyondnow. And, for the sake of fulfilling that role, I'm devoting myself to Seeker activities today as well.
An Abyss would form anywhere, irregardless of location, as long as the mana density passed a certain point. It didn't matter if it was a human habitat, a beautiful flower garden or a clear lake.
However, it was easier for the mana density to rise in confined spaces like deep forests and caves. Especially in remote places, the managent of the mana density inevitably beca slack.
This ti, the location of the Abyss that our party of four was requested to cleanse, was in a disused mine where Dwarves used to mine mithril.
The inside of the mine was wide and deep, but luckily, the expansion of the Abyss was slow, so only a portion of the mine was affected. The depth of the Abyss was four. It was a relatively shallow danger level. The kind of Beasts that would appear, as well as the strategy to deal with them, were already well-known.
Lesser Vampire, a Vampire type Beast.
Vampire types were basically humanoids, had strong physical and regeneration abilities and were troubleso Beasts that could even use strong magic Skills. But because Lesser Vampires were lower tier existences, they couldn't use magic Skills.
Even though its form was humanoid, with its four arms, pure white body and only one eye, it had quite a grotesque appearance. It only had a primitive intelligence as well.
But in exchange, it had very high reproductive abilities, and could even increase its numbers through *parthenogenesis. It was a terrifying creature that could increase its numbers from just one to several dozens in one month.
(* virgin birth)
If this Abyss was discovered late, the cave would be flooded with Lesser Vampires by now. If that happened, it would then beco a matter that could only be dealt with by either a large party numbering in the dozens or an alliance of multiple parties.
Even if it couldnt use magic skills, it was still a Vampire type. It possessed the strength to pull apart a cow with its bare hands, and the regenerative abilities capable of fully recovering from all wounds unless it was beheaded. If surrounded by a few of them, even an experienced Seeker would be bitten to death in an instant.
Our party did not have anyone with a Job with Skills that could investigate our surroundings. It would be so much more convenient if we had a Scout or Archer, which excelled at presence sensing, but as big as the imperial capital was, it was difficult find talented people with whom we could co to terms with.
It was not like any Scout or Archer would do, if they were weak, they would only be a hindrance. Eventually, we would beco allies with a talented Scout or Archer, but until we found one, we couldnt just stop our Seeker activities.
So we could only explore carefully while relying on Tanias Light Skill. The four of us each kept an eye on our surroundings and one-sidedly killed any Lesser Vampires we found.
Even after we had found the Boss that was the core of this Abyss, while taking care not to draw its attention, we continued to kill its subordinates. This was to reduce, as much as possible, the nuisances that could get in the way of the Boss fight.
If it was a party with higher fighting strength, they would probably be able to win even if they charged in and fought the Boss right away. Once the Boss that was the core of the Abyss was killed, its subordinates that had their connection to this world cut off would stop moving imdiately, so it was much more efficient that way.
But unfortunately, we currently didnt have that level of strength.
In the first place, the request originally stated that unless the entire party held B Rank and above Jobs, it would be very tough. Any yet, we were all C Rank.
The trick to making that impossibility possible, laid in my Job.
With my buffs as a Talker, not only could the fighting abilities of my party mbers be raised, stamina and magic power recovery could also be sped up. Even if powerful attack skills and healing skills were fired off continuously, my allies wont beco exhausted easily.
In other words, as long as we didnt get surrounded, we could keep on winning. Moreover, there was no need to get impatient and rush into dangerous battles for fear of running out of stamina as its consumption was suppressed. This seemingly inefficient extermination strategy was in fact a very rational fighting style for us.
Even if I had the oft-laughed at support class of Buffer that had the weakest individual fighting ability, with the training from Grandfather, rather than being a burden, my support buffs were able to be of use to the party.
Over the past year since we ford this party, we had steadily built up achievents using this way of fighting. Since we were always aiming at higher ranks, we were sotis made fun of as big-eater rookies.
Because of that, while we were all newbies, we had pulled ahead of our cohort and were already recognized as top class Seekers.
But then, that was only when talking about those with C Ranks. I, who had inherited the will of my esteed Grandfather, must aim higher
Fortunately, all the subordinates could be eliminated without the boss noticing. There were 15 of them. According to our advance investigation, there were only individuals who werent fully matured so our strategy went well.
If this was half a month later, not only would their numbers have increased, they would likely have gained the intelligence to fight in groups. Although they wouldnt have been able to use highly intelligent tactics, they would have at least gained the wisdom to fight other groups with groups of their own.
If it reached that point, then we wouldnt have been able to cope with them. The reward that we would get for subjugating the Lesser Vampires was pretty good.
Ill make sure to earn lots of money here.
An area-of-effect attack centered on the Boss is coming! The two vanguards, dodge backwards!
Following my instructions, the Swordsman Lloyd and the Warrior Walter, who were in a fierce fight with the Lesser Vampire Boss, both took a big jump backwards.
At that mont, tentacles flew out from the back of the Boss, and stabbed repeatedly at the surrounding area with their sharp tips. From the two of them, who were grazed by the attack, the sound of sothing cracking and shattering like glass could be heard. That was the sound of the Barrier Skill, which Tania, the Healer, had cast in advance, breaking.
The attack power of the Boss had the power to destroy the barrier just by grazing it. If the two vanguards had been a little slower to evade, or if there was no barrier, they would likely have received critical damage and be turned into minceat.
But we stayed patient. Sothing of this degree was within our expectations.
Tania, recast Barrier for the two of them! Lloyd and Walter, resu the attack!
Got it!Understood!Leave it to !
From the start of the battle until the present, everyone had been moving according to my instructions. Lloyd was the leader of the party, but I was the one who issued instructions as the control tower.
The reason for that was not only because it was easier for a rearguard to grasp the battle situation. It was due to the fact that all of my instructions had a buff effect.
Talk Skill: Deploy Tactics
A Skill that raised the result and effect of all actions by 25 percent by giving instructions to party mbers. In other words, the three of them were currently in a state where all of their abilities had been increased by 25 percent.
This increase was based on statistical data and was mostly accurate.
Also, that was not the only buff that had been granted.
Talk Skill: Battle Voice
A Skill that increased the stamina and magic power of party mbers by 25 percent and further increased their recovery speed. With this skill granted at the start of the battle, the three of them could keep on fighting at full power even if the battle dragged on for a long ti.
The battle was progressing advantageously for us. Lloyds longsword and Walters battle axe were gradually beginning to corner the Boss. With its trump card, the tentacle attack avoided, the Boss was only delaying its inevitable death. Even though it was a Beast without much intelligence, I could feel that it was getting anxious.
However, things would go wrong in any given situation, given the chance.
Youre kidding, an ambush!?
Tania was the first person to notice their presence. When I heard her scream and followed her gaze, I saw three Lesser Vampires peeking out from behind the stalactites on the ceiling.
Seems like they had hid in a place where we could not have checked.
The current flow of the battle was advantageous to us, but if these ambushers helped the boss, the flow would turn in their favor in a flash. Tanias screams had reached the two vanguards, and their faces grew tense with nervousness. I instantly decided whether to continue fighting or to escape.
Dont lose your cool! Continue fighting!
Again, I wasnt simply issuing instructions.
Talk Skill: Peer Support
A Skill that normalized the subjects ntal state and reinvigorated them was attached to the instructions. As a result, fear disappeared from the three of them and their fighting spirit was rekindled.
Of course, I wasnt thoughtlessly forcing them to fight. We had a chance of winning.
For combat type Jobs, rearguards typically had a higher modifier to their intelligence. Talker was a Job that had a superior intelligence modifier that was top-class among them. By utilizing its incredible processing capability and the battle knowledge that I had accumulated so far, there were any numbers of ways that I could use to get out of a predicant of this level.
about 18 seconds, I suppose
I muttered, as I went through the plan that I had put together in my head.
We wont be defeated. Victory is assured. And the ti needed to reach it, is 18 seconds.
I pressed the button for the stopwatch on my watch, raised my voice and issued new instructions to my party mbers.
Ill take care of the small fry! The three of you concentrate on the Boss! Tania, continue to refresh their barriers! Lloyd and Walter, while focusing on maintaining aggro and dodging, prepare to activate your strongest attack Skills!
Deploy Tactics granted.
And then, one more
Talk Skill: Marking
A Skill that raised the party mbers hit and dodge rates against the designated target by 50 percent. In return, their hit and dodge rates were halved against all other enemies but I would pull aggro from the ambusher and absolutely not let them go near my allies.
I turned towards the ambushers that were jumping from the ceiling.
STOP!!!
With that shout, the ambushers all missed their landing and fell to the ground.
Talk Skill: Stun Howl
A Skill that could stop the enemys movent. It would be resisted by the higher ranked Boss and have no effect, but it succeeded in stopping the movents of the ambushers.
Without a monts delay, I pulled open my black long coat and drew the Silver Fla(Magic gun) from the holster equipped on my belt, and aid it at the ambushers.
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