After dealing with that unexpected trouble and finally putting down the Special Variant, we moved on.
Our next goal was to test Magic Shroud, so we set off in search of fresh prey. It wasn't long before we encountered a pack of five Goblins.
They were still more than thirty meters away, but they had already spotted us. Instead of charging mindlessly under the influence of bloodlust, they maintained a tight formation and approached with caution.
"Hinata-san, please stay back so you don't get caught in the crossfire!"
"O-Okay..."
I had Hinata-san retreat a safe distance, just in case.
Then, I finally began the preparations to activate Magic Shroud. There was still a gap before the fighting would start in earnest, but this particular skill took a fair amount of time to set up.
For the record, here was the description for Magic Shroud:
―――――――――――――――― [Skill] Magic Shroud Lv. 1 — Select one Magic Skill you currently possess and transform it into Support Magic to clothe your body. Only one magic may be transformed at a time. Support effects vary depending on the Magic Skill used; the potency of the effect scales with the Intelligence stat, the Skill Level of the source magic, and the Skill Level of Magic Shroud. Duration: 5 minutes. Magic Shroud consumes 20 MP, but the MP for the source magic is consumed separately. ――――――――――――――――
In short, it was a skill that converted Attack or Recovery Magic into a self-buff.
In my case, it meant I could take Silver Lightning Magic and wear it as a buff.
Notably, Life Magic was excluded from the eligible list for Magic Shroud.
As for why I hadn't used this during the fight with Oishi-san... quite simply, it was difficult to trigger if you weren't accustomed to using magic.
To use the skill, you first had to manifest the source magic. Furthermore, that MP cost was added on top of the cost for Magic Shroud itself.
It was a demanding skill in terms of both MP consumption and execution—but it was worth it.
First, I used Silver Lightning Magic to generate a spark.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! Silver Thunder Ball!!"
At the tip of my raised left hand, a sphere of lightning the size of a volleyball materialized.
However... I know I'm the one who named it, but "Silver Thunder Ball" was honestly pretty lame. If I was going to shout a technique name, maybe something simpler like "Silver Lightning Orb" would be better from now on.
Setting the naming conventions aside for a moment...
Once I had generated the orb, I focused Magic Shroud on the sphere hovering in the air.
As my MP drained, I felt a sensation like something was being drawn out from within my body. Then, the Silver Lightning Orb floating in mid-air suddenly lunged straight for the center of my chest.
"――!!"
I flinched instinctively, but there was no pain or damage.
On the contrary, I felt a surge of pure pow-err erupting through my entire being!
The Silver Lightning Orb was absorbed into my chest, and immediately afterward, my whole body—from my clothes to the very tip of the longsword in my right hand—was enveloped in crackling, dancing arcs of silver lightning.
It was exactly like becoming a Super Saiy-n 2.
I could feel it. This was incredibly strong. At least, in terms of the visual effects!
"Right, let's do this!"
My preparations complete, I locked my gaze onto the Goblin pack that had closed the distance to ten meters.
There were five in total: a Shadow, a Guarder, a Bow Knight, an Archmage, and a Berserker.
The Berserker, already wreathed in Fighting Spirit, lunged forward while the Bow Knight and Archmage in the rear prepared their ranged cover fire.
I kicked off the ground and sprinted.
The stats boosted by the Silver Lightning version of Magic Shroud were Agility and Dexterity.
(―So fast!)
My body felt lighter than usual, and my movements were incredibly sharp. It felt as though my awareness extended to every fiber of my being, allowing for exquisitely delicate control of my limbs!
I closed the distance with the Berserker. It let out a savage roar and immediately hoisted its massive greatsword—but it was already too late.
"Too slow!"
I charged straight in and leaped.
By the time the Berserker had managed to raise its greatsword into a high overhead guard, I was already at its throat.
From mid-air, at eye level with the beast, I delivered a horizontal sweep.
I severed the Berserker's head without feeling even a hint of resistance.
And this was without even activating Sword Aura.
The reason wasn't just my overwhelmingly high Strength stat. My attack power had genuinely increased. The "effective against all monsters" trait inherent to Silver Lightning Magic remained active even after being converted via Magic Shroud.
Combined with the effects of Goblin Genocider, my current attacks boasted a Damage Multiplier of at least 4.8x!
I hit the ground.
"―!?"
In the same instant, a chill ran down my spine. Following the guidance of "Sensei" Danger Sense, I immediately performed a series of rapid steps, weaving through the arrows from the Bow Knight and the Fire Arrow from the Archmage.
Immediately after, the Shadow struck. It had been closing in from behind, hidden by Silent Walk and Presence Reduction.
A black knife lunged toward me.
But thanks to Sensei Danger Sense, I had spotted it ages ago. I spun on my heel, and before the knife could reach me, my longsword swept through the air, bisecting the Shadow's torso.
As long as I wasn't caught by surprise, I could dominate them with the superior reach of my weapon. To me, a Shadow was nothing to fear.
That made two.
Three left. Facing me as I finished off the Shadow was the Guarder, hunkered down behind its shield. Behind it, the Bow Knight and Archmage were backing off and preparing their next volley.
A Guarder was a tedious opponent, difficult to kill in a single blow unless I used Magic Sword or crushed it with overwhelming destructive power.
Normally, I would risk taking a hit to kick off a wall, jump over the Guarder, and wipe out the backline first—but not today.
"I'm coming for you first!"
I chose to charge the Guarder head-on.
Using the momentum of my sprint, I slammed my sword down. Naturally, the Guarder blocked the strike with its shield, bolstered by Iron Wall.
However, after the heavy resonance of sword meeting shield—
"――!?"
Zap!
There was a sound like a violent slap against something hard.
If one looked closely, they would have seen it: from my sword touching the shield, silver lightning had arced into the metal, traveling through the armor and into the Guarder's body.
This was the other effect of the Silver Lightning version of Magic Shroud—a follow-up electrical discharge that electrocuted the target upon contact. The same thing had technically happened earlier with the long-range Silver Lightning, but at that distance, the follow-up had been meaningless.
But here, it was different. I was right in the Guarder's face.
The monster's muscles seized up, creating an opening. It was only for a fraction of a second, but for an explorer, that was an eternity.
I bypassed the shield and thrust my longsword forward.
I drove the blade into the gap in the armor at its neck. Another zap! rang out, and the Guarder's entire body convulsed. A moment later, it collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
That was three. Two left.
Left without their shield, the Bow Knight and Archmage panicked and opened fire. An arrow from a heavy bow and a magical bolt of fire streaked toward me at high speed.
But compared to an Agility stat nearing 400, that speed was far too slow. To actually hit me with a frontal attack now, they would have needed far more than a simple projectile.
I dodged their attacks with room to spare and closed the distance in a flash.
Neither of them could even begin to react.
As I passed them, a single sweep of my sword claimed both their heads.
Five Goblins. All dead. Victory.
The entire battle had lasted less than ten seconds.
"So strong...!"
Now that I had actually used Magic Shroud, I was convinced.
I had spent about 25 MP in total, but it was well worth the cost. The electrocution from the Silver Lightning buff and the extra damage against monsters were both potent. Though... technically, I didn't actually need Magic Shroud for those.
I could get the same effects by using Silver Lightning Magic with Magic Sword, and the MP cost for that was significantly lower.
The true highlight of Magic Shroud had to be the stat buffs.
I opened my Status to see exactly how much they had improved.
―――――――――――――――― Strength: 420 Constitution: 380 Intelligence: 12 Spirit: 292 Agility: 390 Dexterity: 430 ――――――――――――――――
This was my state with only Goblin Genocider active as a buff.
And after activating Magic Shroud, my Agility and Dexterity had changed to...
Behold!
―――――――――――――――― Agility: 394 (+4) Dexterity: 434 (+4) ――――――――――――――――
"................"
"...Takeo-kun?"
The battle over, Hinata-san approached and spoke to me tentatively.
I held up a hand to ask for a moment, then silently pulled out my smartphone to research the calculation method for Magic Shroud's stat bonuses. Let's see... "Magic Shroud effect calculation"... It was a world-famous skill, so even if owners were rare, the data had to be out there.
...There it was.
It wasn't on the Modern Dungeon Strategy Wiki, but on a personal site. It was presented as a hypothesis, but the numbers were there:
Intelligence × (Multiplier based on Magic Skill Level: 0.6–1.0) × (Multiplier based on Magic Shroud Level: 0.6–1.0).
Furthermore, unlike Bless or Holy Bless, the stat bonus from Magic Shroud was an "additive" value applied after other buff skills had modified the stats. In other words, it wasn't multiplied by things like Goblin Genocider, Fighting Spirit, or Blood Vengeance.
That wasn't entirely a bad thing, though. It meant the Intelligence value used in the calculation was the value after being modified by other buffs.
So, in my current case, the formula was:
12 × 0.6 × 0.6 = 4.32.
Rounding to the nearest whole number, that resulted in a grand total of plus four on my status screen.
...Deep breath in. Deep breath out.
"...Hinata-san."
"What is it?"
"How should I put this... Magic Shroud is total garbage."
Between Brave Heart and Magic Shroud, it seemed Hero Skills were designed for people who had high Spirit and Intelligence—stats that weren't usually a priority for a front-liner.
If I followed this path, my stats would likely end up completely balanced. "All-rounder" sounded nice, but I had a sinking feeling I was just going to end up with a build that had no real strengths.
Plus, between the two of them, the MP costs were too heavy for casual use.
Is it possible that the Hero class... is actually a lot weaker than I thought?