After our heart-to-heart in the association lobby, having finally reached a mutual understanding, Hinata-san and I were on the same page.
We changed in the locker rooms and met back up at the reconstructed Dungeon Gate. Once inside, we used the teleportation circle on Floor 1 to jump straight to Floor 7.
From there, we headed to our usual spot: the Floor 7 Monster Room.
However, we hadn't started Hinata-san’s stream yet.
The viewers would likely get bored watching the same repetitive laps every day, and I also had some skills I wanted to practice before showing them off to the public. After consulting with Hinata-san, we decided to push the start of the stream back a bit.
In the meantime, having arrived at the Monster Room, we began our laps as we always did.
I had Hinata-san cast Bless on me, then threw open the doors and dove inside. I set my backpack against the wall, activated my skills, and commenced combat.
Oh, as a side note.
The current stat boost from Hinata-san’s Bless is "+29."
The base enhancement value for Bless is normally "10," but her staff and liturgical raiment provide a 1.44x multiplier, and her Saint skill further boosts that for a total multiplier of 2.88. After rounding, it results in a "+29" boost to my Status.
When combined with Indomitable Spirit, every stat except HP and MP is increased by "+53."
That’s why I didn't need to use the Bracelet of Fleet-footedness or the Bracelet of Technique last time.
In any case, running the Monster Room with Seeker and Asceticism active was something I’d long since grown used to.
My excitement wasn't at its peak since we’d only just started, but the various status ailments weren't enough to slow my movements.
The moment the goblin army appeared, I fired off a barrage of Great Flying Blades, turning them all into Experience Points.
We continued our laps for three hours. The moment came just as we finished our forty-fifth run of the day.
"――GAAAHHHH... IT FEEEEEEELS SOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!"
I knew it!!
I struck a vigorous Inabauer pose as the realization hit me.
Leveling up in my 40s feels even better than it did in my 30s!!
The Status Points granted upon leveling up increased to 25 points starting from Level 40.
The magnitude of pleasure depends on the number of Status Points received. I’d had a vague suspicion before, but now I could say for certain.
In other words, the higher my level gets, the better it’s going to feel!!
Level up, feel good. Level up, feel even better. Level up, feel better and better and better!! I level up because it feels good, and it feels good because I level up!!
Oh man, I’ve gone and completed a perpetual motion machine!!
I rejoiced, my entire body shaking and twitching as waves of pleasure surged through me.
A little while later, once I had returned to my senses, Hinata-san—who seemed to have grown accustomed to my screaming—approached me.
"Congratulations on the level up, Takeo-kun."
"Tehehee, well, thank you. It's all thanks to you, Hinata-san."
Still... being congratulated by a beautiful woman right after experiencing such intense euphoria is a truly strange feeling. It’s a bit embarrassing.
"Um, well then... I'll go ahead and assign my points."
"Sure, take your time."
I sat down to assign my Status Points and Skill Points.
I didn't have to think twice about my stats, but the Skill Points were a struggle. Well, less of a struggle of the mind and more of the body—my finger kept trying to press Awakened One on its own.
However, future massive gains are more important than the immediate Experience Points right in front of me.
I told myself that and assigned the points with a heavy heart.
As a result, my Status looked like this:
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【Name】 Takeo Samejima
【Level】 40
Exp until next level: 102,012,022
《HP》 83/250 (10 up!)
《MP》 0/82 (5 up!)
《Strength》 130 (5 up!)
《Constitution》 120 (5 up!)
《Intelligence》 6
《Spirit》 76 (5 up!)
《Agility》 125 (5 up!)
《Dexterity》 130 (5 up!)
【STP】 0
【SP】 0
【Skills】 《Increased Damage with Bladed Weapons Lv. Max》《Berserk Lv. 1》《Goblin Genocider Lv. Max》《Fighting Spirit Lv. Max》《Blood Vengeance Lv. 1》《Sword Aura Lv. 2》《Taunt Lv. 1》《■■■■■■■ Lv. 1》《Life Magic Lv. Max》《Magic Sword Lv. 1》《Danger Sense Lv. 1》《Mighty Blade Lv. 3》《Seeker Lv. Max》《Indomitable Spirit Lv. 1》《Asceticism Lv. Max》《Awakened One Lv. 1》《Equanimity》
【Titles】 《Battle Junkie》《Goblin Genocider》《■■■■■》《Swordmaster》《Awakened One》
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And Sword Aura, which I invested my Skill Points into, now looked like this:
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【Skill】
《Sword Aura Lv. 2》—— Clothe a blade in Sword Aura to increase damage by 1.4x. Alternatively, it is possible to fire the Sword Aura as a slash, but damage is 1.0x. Consumes 2 HP every 10 seconds. Firing a slash consumes an additional 1 HP.
————————————————
The HP cost to maintain Sword Aura has doubled, but in exchange, the damage multiplier for direct attacks has increased to 1.4x. Meanwhile, the HP cost and damage for a flying slash haven't changed—however, if Mito-san’s information is correct, I should actually be able to charge a slash with up to 20 HP now.
I get the impression this happens often with titles and skills, but it seems their description fields don't list every single piece of information.
If I look for them, I might find quite a few hidden effects.
Well, regardless, I wanted to verify the usability and performance of the leveled-up Sword Aura first.
Before proceeding to Floor 8 and beyond, I had to confirm whether I could truly do what I thought I could.
"Hinata-san, sorry to keep you waiting. So... I'd like to try out a few things with Sword Aura, is that okay?"
"Yes, of course. You can keep testing until you're satisfied, Takeo-kun."
Even though we’d talked about the schedule beforehand, I double-checked.
Since she gave me the green light, I spent some time experimenting in the Floor 7 Monster Room.
I wanted to see how the feel of Sword Aura had changed with the level up, and if I could actually pump 20 HP into it.
Prioritizing the performance verification, I fought for ten laps without really using Seeker or Asceticism.
I managed to confirm several things.
Aside from what Mito-san had told me, the changes were all minor. However—
"Wow, that's... incredible, Takeo-kun...!!"
"Yeah. This is... a bit unexpected even for me."
Even if a change is minor when put into words, it can manifest as a massive difference in combat. A slight change in the feel of a tool or weapon can be the difference between life and death.
The changes that came with leveling up Sword Aura were, in a good way, that kind of difference. There was also a small discovery—a sort of new functionality.
As a result—
"Forty-nine goblins... Hinata-san, how many seconds did that take?"
"Um... about fifteen seconds, I think. Takeo-kun, how is your HP consumption?"
"It’s at 129."
For the final test, I tried fighting with Seeker and Asceticism active as well.
In that state, if I rapid-fired Great Flying Blades, I could annihilate every goblin in under ten seconds. In other words, the combat time has actually increased, but for this test, I fought without using the combo of Great Flying Blade and Mighty Blade.
That’s why my HP consumption was lower compared to my usual method. Normally, my HP would be completely gone if Hinata-san didn't weave in a Heal midway through.
Despite that, I was able to end the battle in fifteen seconds.
I wonder if that could even be called close-quarters combat... anyway, even when switching to melee halfway through, this was the result.
It goes without saying that I didn't take a single hit from the goblins.
"I feel like you suddenly got a whole lot stronger..."
"Yeah, I think so too."
I only raised Sword Aura by one level, but it felt like my strength had jumped up an entire tier.
"Does everyone get this much stronger all at once, I wonder?"
"Who knows? Mito-san didn't mention it, and I haven't heard anything like that..."
If leveling up Sword Aura once caused this much of a shift, it wouldn't be strange for that info to be on the Strategy Wiki, but there’s no such entry. I haven’t seen anything like it on ZX or DungeonTube either.
Since the actual change in the skill's performance is technically minor, perhaps the benefit is small unless your level is high enough... or maybe there’s some kind of synergy with the Swordmaster title. Or perhaps it was just the result of experimenting with how I used it.
Even so, it’s not like I did anything particularly grand; it’s the kind of thing anyone would think of... but reflecting on what Mito-san said, it’s possible "this" requires a certain threshold of Strength or Dexterity.
Either way... if I have Skill Points to spare later, I might put them into Sword Aura again.
It was a significant enough change to make even me think that.
Well, anyway, that concludes the testing.
I judged that I was sufficiently prepared for Floor 8 and beyond, and nodded.
"Hinata-san, let's take a lunch break and then finally head down to Floor 8."
"Okay! I'll start the stream once we're done with the break."
"Roger that!"
And so, we had lunch and rested inside the Monster Room. One hour later, we started the stream on Hinata-san's channel.