And so, after spending several hours on the trek, we finally made it back to Floor 11.
We were finally back.
Just you wait, you orcs! I’m going to turn every last one of you into experience points right now!
With our spirits high, we pushed forward in search of an orc pack. It didn't take long before we encountered a group of five normal orcs.
『They’re here!!』 『It’s the orcs!』 『Get ’em, Leveling Junkie Bro!!』
"All right! First, I’ll try fighting without Asceticism or Blue Sky Beyond the Clouds! Hinata-san, Gobu-taro, stay back!"
"Right, got it! Wait—Gobu-taro...?"
"Come at me, you damn pigs!"
Bellowing with a Taunt, I leapt forward. They had already spotted us. The orcs simultaneously activated Fighting Spirit and Impact Aura, raising their massive, log-like clubs before swinging them in unison.
Shockwaves imbued with the light of a pale blue aura fused together, expanding as they rushed toward me.
With my current stats, I could evade this. If I jumped high enough, the shockwaves wouldn't touch me. However, if I did that, the attack would fly straight toward Hinata-san and the others behind me.
On the other hand, while a Flying Blade could slice through shockwaves, it was difficult to completely negate them. As long as Hinata-san and the others stayed directly behind me, they would likely be fine, but there was still a risk of them being hit if I wasn't careful.
Was it okay? Could I do this?
I pushed the doubts aside and swung my sword, releasing a Flying Blade.
It had a 2x damage multiplier. Though it was a relatively low-power slash, its attack range was much narrower than the wide-reaching shockwaves, meaning the Flying Blade actually packed more punch.
Last time, my strength stat was only about half that of an orc, so I had been overpowered. But now, thanks to Goblin Genocider, my strength stat was equal to theirs even without using Fighting Spirit.
There was no way I’d lose in a contest of power now.
The Flying Blade sliced through the shockwaves, carving a hole in the center. I dove through that opening, passing through the shockwaves as I closed the distance.
As if they had anticipated my approach, the orcs also rushed forward to close the gap.
In response, I funneled exactly "3" HP into my Sword Aura. My Great Blade—well, it was a bit small to truly be called that—swelled as the aura grew with the injected HP. The blade manifested by my Sword Aura extended by more than a meter.
This compensated for my disadvantage in reach.
Furthermore, with a direct attack rather than a Flying Blade, the damage multiplier from Sword Aura would also apply. That said, the same was true for the orcs. To make matters worse, while the orcs' Impact Aura was level 5, my Sword Aura was only level 3. If our weapons clashed directly, I would likely lose in terms of pure power.
Therefore, evasion was my only option.
I concentrated my consciousness on the level 3 Danger Sense-sensei.
The omen of an attack, which manifested as a chill, was clearer and more distinct than ever before. Previously, I had only felt it on my skin, but now I vaguely sensed "something" propagating through the very space around me.
When that "something" touched the surface of my body, it manifested as a physical chill.
Though it wasn't as concrete as the chill itself, I had become able to anticipate danger even further in advance.
The orcs semi-surrounded me, swinging their clubs down or across in a coordinated assault.
I followed the warnings of Danger Sense-sensei, sticking to minimal movements. In short, if I moved to a spot where I didn't feel the chill—or moved to avoid that "something" propagating through the air—I could evade their attacks entirely.
Five massive clubs tore through the air with violent force, but they struck nothing but wind.
And since I had evaded with minimal movement, I naturally had the opening to strike back at the orcs while they were off-balance.
"Hyahhaa! Now it's my turn!"
I counterattacked, swiftly sweeping my sword. I sliced through their torsos, but I couldn't quite cleave them in two. The resistance was heavy! It seemed that even with my increased strength stat, a 3.2x multiplier wasn't enough to finish them in one blow unless I specifically targeted their vitals.
Even so, the damage I dealt was significant.
While fluidly evading the counterattacks of the orcs, who let out roars of pain and anger, I swung my sword again, this time aiming for their weak points.
I decapitated one orc and pierced the heart of another with my extended aura blade. At these vital spots, it seemed I could finish them in one hit even with my current attack power.
Besides, even if I couldn't kill them in one blow, the stats provided by Goblin Genocider made it easy to time my evasions according to Danger Sense-sensei's warnings.
In other words, if I took my time, I could win regardless of where I hit them. Well, Goblin Genocider also boosted my dexterity stat, and my perceived stats felt higher than when I used Fighting Spirit, so I could generally aim for their vitals without much trouble anyway.
There was no longer any way for me to lose.
"—Shaa!"
『He won!!』 『He looks way more composed than last time!』 『He didn't even use Fighting Spirit, let alone Blue Sky Beyond the Clouds, right!?』 『Seriously, being able to use Goblin Genocider regardless of whether there are actual goblins around is a total cheat!』
In the end, the battle was over in less than ten seconds.
I had consumed only 7 HP for the Flying Blade, the Great Blade, and maintaining my Sword Aura. The cost-performance was excellent.
After that, I tested battles while activating Fighting Spirit, as well as battles using Asceticism and Blue Sky Beyond the Clouds. Using Fighting Spirit only shortened the combat time by a small margin.
As expected, using Blue Sky Beyond the Clouds visibly reduced the combat time, and adding Flying Blade ended the fights almost instantly, but the HP consumption was much higher.
While using Asceticism increased my experience points, I didn't use it for every trash monster along the way. I only saved it for serious fights or when I was grinding in a monster room.
Thus, finding a way to defeat the common monsters along the path with as little consumption as possible was vital. Especially now that I had the directive from Headshot Yakuza to reach Floor 30 within two months.
Now then.
The experience points obtained from the five level 31 normal orcs came out to "23,250" each for Hinata-san and me.
If the only effective experience multiplier was the 2x from my Awakened One title, that would be "46,500." If I used Asceticism as well to make it a 6x multiplier, it would be around "139,500."
Since Goblin Genocider’s experience multiplier wasn't active, it didn't feel like the experience points were that high... but in reality, compared to goblins, the experience from orcs was incredibly generous.
A goblin's species value was 10, but an orc's species value was 300. These were normal orcs without a class value, which is why the experience was at this level, but from Floor 12 onward, class-holding variants would appear, causing the experience gains to skyrocket.
By the time we progressed a bit further, the orcs would likely yield more experience points than goblins even without the Goblin Genocider multiplier.
Feeling reasonably satisfied with the gains, I closed my status screen and turned toward Hinata-san.
"Hinata-san, how is Gobu-taro doing?"
"Oh, yeah... Wait, you named him?"
"Yeah, I thought calling him 'Goblin Knight' every time was a bit too formal."
『That naming sense, lolol』 『What a lazy name, lol』 『I mean, if someone's gonna name him, it should be Hinata-chan!! Don't just give him a name on your own!』
Hm, when they put it like that, they might be right. He was a monster Hinata-san was controlling, after all.
I turned back to her.
"Hinata-san, do you have any other names you'd rather call him?"
"No, I don't really have any ideas, so Gobu-taro is fine."
『She didn't even hesitate, lol』 『Hinata-chan really couldn't care less, lolol』
And so, the Goblin Knight’s name officially became Gobu-taro. I wanted to think Gobu-taro was happy about it... but no, he wasn't. It was a bit depressing to see him still glaring at me from under the visor of his helmet.
"Oh, right, we were talking about how Gobu-taro was doing."
Hinata-san steered the conversation back on track.
"Right. Do you think we can keep taking him further?"
"Yeah, I think it'll be okay. He looked like he could take a few hits from a Floor 11 orc. Plus, he blocked the shockwaves from their Impact Aura with plenty of room to spare."
"Oh, that's great!"
That was the thing. The reason I had been able to fight without worrying too much about what was behind me was Gobu-taro's presence.
Gobu-taro wasn't just a trigger for Goblin Genocider; he was also acting as a shield to protect Hinata-san from stray attacks and shockwaves!
Since a Goblin Knight specialized in physical defense, it could withstand several hits from an orc despite being lower level. Against the shockwaves from Impact Aura, it could probably endure quite a lot.
As long as he could survive even one hit, Hinata-san could heal him, making him a shield we could use indefinitely.
It had made fighting much easier for me as well.
To top it off...
『If she uses Holy Bless on Gobu-taro, they could probably use him as a tank until around Floor 20.』 『Actually, once she can tame a Goblin Guarder, she could probably use him past Floor 20 depending on her support magic, right?』 『A healing support mage and a tamed monster are a terrifyingly good match, lol』 『Being able to both heal and buff a tamed monster... she's basically a professional monster tamer!!』
Hinata-san's abilities and the Charm skill that allowed her to control monsters were perfectly compatible.
At her current level, she couldn't charm a Guarder yet, but if her level rose and she became able to control even stronger monsters, things would truly become incredible.
My only concern was whether Hinata-san would choose to increase her skill level for Charm.
One monster was plenty for now, so there was no need to raise the skill level of Charm, right, Hinata-san?
"...Hm? Is something wrong, Takeo-kun?"
"Oh, no, it's nothing. Well then, shall we start pushing forward in earnest?"
"Yeah, let's go."
Thanks to Hinata-san and Gobu-taro, I could keep Goblin Genocider active at all times, removing any obstacles to our progress through Floor 11 and beyond.
All that was left was to keep moving forward.