Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 72

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TL: ALT

Chapter 72 – I’m Not Good At It

I see three monsters presences in my path.

I hide with Covert and Stealth, peeking across the arc of the corridor while using Presence Detection.

I see three life-sized Karakuri robots with exposed skeletons and gears.

Appraisal.

Status──────────────────

Karakuri Soldier

Level 214

HP 3194/3194

MP 1284/1284

Attack Power 4462

Defense 3820

Magic Power 2026

Mental Strength 1926

Agility 2768

Luck 1598

・Acquired Skills

Spearmanship 3, Shield Technique 3, One-Handed 1, Electric Shock 1, Alarm

2140 Experience gained from defeat

46 SP gained upon defeat

70672 mana coins (converted to yen) gained upon defeat

Drop Items: Small Gear, Karakuri Lance, Electric Discharge Shield

────────────────────

Skill──────────────────

One-Handed 1

Allows the user to use two-handed weapons with one hand. However, you cannot equip the same type of weapon in two or more hands at the same time.

While using this skill, the attack power and effect of the skill to handle the target weapon is reduced by (40-S.Lv x 8) %.

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Skill──────────────────

Alarm

Sends out an alarm that warns of an imminent battle with the enemy and summons nearby allies. Some monsters will not respond to this skill.

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All Karakuri Soldiers carry a spear and a shield.

They use the One-Handed skill to wield their spears with one hand and their shields with the other.

They also have a less powerful but nasty Electric Shock skill that causes an abnormal condition called Electrocution.

They can also use Alarm to summon their companions.

“No wonder people hate this dungeon.”

The arched corridor is so narrow that only three people can stand side by side.

A lone fighter like me would have no problem with this, but for a full party (six people), it would be difficult to fight in this space.

If I were to attack them with magic by surprise, I would undoubtedly be able to defeat them.

However, considering the future, I would rather forbid such a move.

I will also not use Summon Secret Monster for now.

So what am I going to do?

I sneak up on the Karakuri Soldier with my broadsword in my hand.

Even though I’m approaching from the front, the effects of Covert and Stealth keep me from being noticed.

After all, the Karakuri Soldiers are humanoid.

I moved behind the Karakuri Soldier who was close by and slammed my sword into its neck.

With a dull thud, I severed the Karakuri Soldier’s neck.

The Sword Technique, which included Assassination, Backstab, Surprise Attack, Preemptive Strike, First Move, Heaven’s Punishment, and All-Out Strike, finished off the Karakuri Soldier with a single, brilliant strike.

With their comrade defeated, the remaining two Karakuri Soldiers braced themselves.

I dodged the spear of one of them and slashed at its empty back with my sword.

A loud and unpleasant metallic sound echoed through the air.

This time, it will not be decided by a single blow.

Right now, I only have Assassination, Backstab, and Heaven’s Punishment in my Sword Technique.

With my current Attack Power of 5528, it’s hard to kill a Karakuri Soldier with a Defense of 3820.

Rather, I did not increase my Attack Power so that I would not be able to kill at once.

If I just wanted to increase my Attack Power, all I would have to do is increase the Attack Power Enhancement skill to 5.

The amount of SP required to acquire and level up the skill that increases the skill’s value is 100-400-1600-6400-25600.

Even if I increase it to 5, the SP required is only 34100.

The SP I have now is more than enough.

If I wanted, I could have also increased Agility and Luck to 5, fulfilled the special condition of having two or more ability value-enhancing skills at 5, and gone for powerful skills.

Why didn’t I do that?

One is to save up to Gain SP Up.

The other was to intentionally keep my skill stats low to gain experience in melee combat.

Up to now, my fighting style has been a powerful one, killing the enemy with a single blow, with vicious damage added by adding skill synergy to my extraordinary Magic Power.

Of course, if that were possible, there would be no safer way to fight.

But from now on, when I go into A- or S-rank dungeons, there will be more and more difficult fights.

Because the fight against the Hobbit Sumo Wrestler during the Double Flood was also pretty tough.

If I keep having fights like that with no safety margin, I’ll be dead in no time.

So, as far as that Kururi Castle dungeon is concerned, I deliberately left my weaknesses as they were and wanted to somehow gain experience fighting in a way I was not good at.

…Even though I am not good at attacking, I am much better than the Karakuri Soldiers.

I think “5528 Attack Power against 3820 Defense” isn’t much. It’s just that my senses are numb.

And if the need arises, I have magic.

If I use Advanced Lightning Magic, which has been strengthened by the Trump Card, the Karakuri Soldiers will probably be dealt a devastating blow.

The disadvantage in numbers? As long as I summoned Hobijinkai and Hotei, the situation would be reversed in an instant.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to ask you to accompany me in my training.”

As Haruka-san said, it’s not just about acquiring skills; I also have to be able to use them properly.

Anyway, it will still be mostly magic, so I want to focus on weapon skill in the end.

Unlike magic, weapon skills also require the acquisition of weapons.

Right now, I’m using an ordinary weapon I picked up in a B-rank dungeon or yesterday’s A-rank dungeon, but once I have a specific skill, I want to find a weapon that matches it.

I use Parry to block the Karakuri Soldier’s spear.

But at the same time, another spear hit my shoulder.

“Ouch…!”

I said unintentionally, but my Defense is over 20,000.

The Karakuri Soldier’s Attack Power could hardly damage me, and even if it did, the damage would be quickly restored by Self Regeneration.

In short, no matter how difficult it was, there was no way I could lose.

I deflected the spear of the Karakuri Soldier I had just cut down with my sword, and in return, I aimed my sword at its arm.

However, my sword strike was deflected by the Karakuri Soldier’s spear.

While my Sword Technique was at level 1, the Karakuri Soldier’s Spearmanship was at level 3.

Although I was at a disadvantage due to the distance between the sword and the spear, I was also inferior in skill level.

Besides, there were two of them on my side.

Although I could not lose, I could not win either.

Thanks to my extraordinary Agility, I have some time to spare.

However, if they attack me while I’m in the gap, my Agility Evasion won’t work.

Luck Evasion will work, but after Luck Evasion, it is easy for me to lose my position, and the Karakuri Soldiers will chase after me.

It is like a kendo beginner trying to hit an expert’s face and getting hit by a nuki-do.

“Well… should I increase the level of my Sword Techniques? No, I just started…”

I realized something when Haruka-san told me this.

It is true that as long as you raise your skill level, you can fight monsters.

But what if your opponent is a human?

For example, what if I and my opponent both have Sword Technique 5?

It is true that I have a wealth of skills that my opponent does not have.

It would be unrealistic to assume that my opponent has more skills than me.

But you don’t have to use all your skills to kill someone.

If they can catch me in a sword fight and put me in a situation where I am fighting with Sword Technique 5, then it becomes a game of how well I use my skills and how many times I have used those skills.

What will come into play are elements that can only be acquired through experience, such as negotiation and reading each other.

…Well, I have Survive, Revive, Astral Survival, Demonization, Demon God Incarnation, Summon Secret Monsters, Summon Phantom Beasts, Short Teleportation, Magic Runaway, Pseudo-Invincible Barrier, and Solid Barrier, so even if it becomes a close battle, there are many ways to hold on.

But all the skills are too powerful to use in public.

“Well, at least I want to be able to fight in close quarters.”

I use Parry to flip the spear and slash the body of the Karakuri Soldier who has less HP.

It was too shallow.

After that, while being stabbed repeatedly with the spear, I finally slaughtered one of the Karakuri Soldiers after a few rounds.

The last one looked at me while I was still gasping for breath,

“Alarm?”

As expected, it would be inconvenient if it called for its companions now.

It’s not a problem, but it’s a hassle to deal with.

“Thunder Strike!”

I unleashed Advanced Lightning Magic with Knockout on the last one.

With the Karakuri soldiers safely incapacitated and only 1 HP left, I jogged 20 meters, digesting my 20-second escape gauge, and safely escaped from the battlefield.

‘You have successfully escaped.’

‘No experience gained.’

‘Earned 2631 SP.’

“Gained 141240 yen.’

‘You have obtained the Small Gear!’

‘Dropped 32485 yen!’