Ch 116
In the days following his party's confrontation about wasting his potential, Matt dedicated himself to exploring his essence skills. Fortunately, this task was made easier with Emily's focused attention on him, while the rest of the party concentrated on assisting Kal in leveling up and training to face level 17 monsters, just as they had done. Emily, with her keen ability to analyze his status, swiftly identified when Matt successfully replicated one of his previous skills, at least as well as they could deduce without having precise details on all of them. Despite this, the true revelation Matt had been overlooking was the ease with which he could use enhanced and diluted versions of all his former skills. This newfound understanding would allow him to strategically manage whatever resources controlled the use of any abilities enabled by his skills. However, that didn’t ensure that he would be able to utilize them wisely.
This was the primary topic of constant debate among the group. They had discovered that skills they could initially use only once a day could, in fact, be utilized several times consecutively. The primary issue was that if they overused one of their essence skills, they would find themselves unable to use any abilities that relied on it. Both Emily and Greg were convinced that there was a concealed essence pool, but even with Emily’s advanced analysis abilities, she was unable to uncover its existence. Despite this, she couldn’t discern Matt’s or anyone else’s luck stat, even though they all knew it existed, which made it a strong possibility that an essence pool was hidden from view as well.
Regardless of whether that was the case or not, the fact remained that the only thing any of them could determine was that, unlike HP and a mana pool, once their essence was exhausted, it could only be restored through sleeping. This was a notable difference from before they reached D rank, as their skills would refresh even without sleep. It was only when Yumiko volunteered to deplete her peace essence and stay awake that they confirmed this phenomenon. However, they also discovered that sleeping immediately after exhausting an essence didn’t restore it; instead, it would rejuvenate after a seemingly random amount of time. From Greg and Emily's perspective, it seemed as if the system was intentionally preventing people from finding ways to circumvent its rules. They also acknowledged that understanding the mechanics at play would be much easier if they could actually read the rules themselves.
However, none of that was helping Matt as he tried and failed to manifest a new ability by manipulating his essence skills. Even when Greg suggested using luck to control all his movements, all Matt accomplished was burning through his luck essence in just 30 seconds of fighting. It hadn't even been a difficult fight, and while he could see a watered-down version that focused solely on avoiding missteps, even that wasn't worth much to Matt when it would consume his luck essence in just under three fights.
These results only added to Matt's frustration as day after day passed with no success. Part of Matt wanted to abandon his efforts and return to focusing on the skill set he was perfecting with his adaptable body and injury transfer abilities. However, no one else would let him get away with that. Even Rose and Apricity encouraged him, insisting that he needed to keep trying and that eventually, they would discover something useful.
It wasn’t until Greg mentioned an anime he had watched, where the main character’s favorite spell was called "Slip," that Matt got a simple idea. All the spell did was make the target lose traction, and Greg had been trying to replicate it with ice, though it wasn’t working as well as he hoped. Inspired by this, Matt thought, rather than focusing on ensuring his own footing, why not try to cause an opponent to lose theirs?
Sure enough, with that single thought, Matt discovered a remarkably simple ability that he could exploit. All it required was tossing something to trip up his foe. It took several attempts to figure out the logistics, but when Matt succeeded, the results exceeded his initial expectations. Not only did it create an easy opening for his attack, but it also acted as a signal for his team to launch a coordinated assault, thanks to the necessity of throwing something out. Thus, whenever Matt tossed a stone, Emily or Greg would call out, and everyone would synchronize their attacks seamlessly.
Even when they faced enemies that posed no real threat, the practice in coordination they gained was invaluable. At least, that was how Greg, Emily, and Eleanor perceived it. However, all good things must come to an end, and after five solid days of practice, Kal was ready for her showdown with level 17 opponents, as she was nearing level 17 herself. Meanwhile, level 18 was finally within reach for the rest of them, thanks to at least gaining a single point of experience from battling pairs of level 16 monsters and three points from level 17 ones. Kal, on the other hand, would gain 12 points from level 17 encounters at her current level and three points for pairs of level 16 opponents, although there had only been a few such fights given their strategic goals.
It was just enough that Kal felt comfortable exchanging a few blows with level 17 monsters while she was at level 15, as she continued to train and enhance her stats. By the time she reached level 16, she was locked in and capable of sparring with anything that wasn't significantly faster than her for a full minute. Now, as she prepared to face off against a level 17 monster—a slug covered in and capable of spitting acid, yet lacking maneuverability and possessing low durability when cut—her face was painted with determination. Matt knew that the key to her winning the fight was simply to dodge the slug's attacks and ensure that only the metal knife he had equipped her with made contact with the creature. Nevertheless, a single mistake could require Matt to intervene to save her, while the others finished off the monster.
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"Are you sure this is the opponent you want to face for your final fight before leveling up?" Greg asked, genuinely concerned. "If it hits you with its acid, there might be nothing we can do to save you."
"I'm glad you care," Kal replied with a smile. "When I win, will you give me a kiss?"
"Will you be tall enough for me not to feel like you're a child?" Greg teased back.
"Perhaps. I know moving up a rank is a great opportunity to grow, but I've never known a D-rank goblin of any kind," Kal mused, her eyes twinkling with anticipation.
"You should just give her a kiss for luck," Emily suggested, her tone playful. "Not doing so is practically jinxing her, in my mind. It's like how two lovers promise to be together when one returns from war in a book."
"Stop trying to get Greg to violate his morals," Rose admonished with a chuckle. "Even if we all enjoy it when Kal flirts with him, it's only because he reacts in such dramatic ways."
"So, what I'm hearing is that you just don't want a source of entertainment to vanish," Matt stated with a frown. "I understand that we're rather limited in options compared to what all of you were once used to, but that doesn't mean we should start enjoying making others uncomfortable."
"Oh, come on, it's harmless," Zara commented, her tone lighthearted. "Just a bit of—"
"No, Matt has a point," interjected Emily with a deep frown etched across her face. "People can be awful, and there are plenty of examples showing how even a typical group of college students can spiral out of control rather quickly when given the opportunity. Today, it might just be teasing Greg, but tomorrow, we might find ourselves returning to Earth, discovering we're the most powerful ones around, and turning into tyrants."
"I think that's a bit extreme," retorted Zara, her lips curling slightly into a reluctant smile. "But I get what you're saying. Still, I can't help it if I enjoy watching it unfold."
"Just don't encourage it," stated Matt firmly. "We need to be able to work together without issues, and that means not creating problems where they don't exist."
"Says the one who gave her permission to kiss me—"
"Greg, I only did that to get you to stop talking about having a harem," interrupted Matt, cutting him off. "The way I see it, I added one problem to solve two, if not more. First, there's your self-control—because even if you want to be yourself, there's still a need to adapt to your environment. Second, there's party morale, as you tend to get on too many nerves when you start talking about what you want in a harem. Besides, can you honestly say that if Kal gains the size you're hoping for and can control her reproduction rate, you wouldn't be thrilled to flaunt your happiness in all our faces?"
"More like I'll start worrying about how I'm going to ensure she stays alive long enough so I can rescue her from here when the time comes," stated Greg, his brow furrowed in thought. "I can't really—"
"We aim for reaching B rank before we leave," offered Matt with a determined nod. "It's something I've been warned against doing, but perhaps I should just not care and go for it anyway."
"We would need to gain 48 levels in the same amount of time it has taken us to get here," Eleanor commented thoughtfully. "If we really want to rush forward and attempt to conquer the top levels from each rank the moment we reach them, it might be possible."
"It is very possible," Greg affirmed confidently. "It should only take us around 44 days to progress from level 18 to 32 that way. Assuming we start battling C-ranked monsters at that point and make the same leap all the way to level 64, we could reach level 64 in under 100 days from now. That would leave us plenty of time to grind to level 65, even if—"
"No, if there are no level 65 monsters, we need to stop at 62," Matt interjected firmly. "The last thing we want is an easy fight to reach B rank. I think that's why I was warned against reaching that point here."
"Then I think we have a plan," Eleanor concluded with a nod. "Though I suggest we spend at least a day fighting in each level between 17 and 32, just to get a feel for our abilities along the way."
"We'll need to pass through them regardless," Greg remarked. "So that will likely happen naturally, turning my 100 days into around 140 or so days at the very least. Now, I propose we let Kal finish her fight and then focus on finding our way to the level 32 area."
Kal appeared visibly annoyed at being largely ignored throughout most of the conversation, as she still struggled to find the right moments to interject with her thoughts. Nevertheless, she kept her frustrations to herself. As Matt charged forward, initiating the fight by swiftly eliminating one of the slugs in just 30 seconds with an all-out assault, the stage was set for Kal to face the other slug alone. She adeptly dodged around, attacking only when she managed to evade the slug’s notice long enough to both strike and retreat before it could swivel its head to counterattack. Emily observed and called out that, at the current pace, the fight would last ten minutes, given that 30 seconds had already elapsed.
This was concerning for Matt and the others, as they had never seen Kal engage in combat for such an extended period. Nonetheless, she showed no hesitation or pause, continuing her pattern of attack and evasion. Thirty seconds turned into a minute, then five minutes, and eventually nine minutes, with Kal maintaining her relentless pace. Finally, after 11 minutes of continuous movement, the slug succumbed, and Kal emerged victorious. Sensing what they were all thinking, she confidently declared, "I'm a female goblin; we have enough stamina to fight and be fucked for days, so a little fight like this is nothing."
As soon as she uttered those words, she collapsed to the ground, revealing that just as Matt had undergone a significant transformation upon reaching D rank, she was experiencing one too.
