I rushed to land a second hit.
The Needle Wood collapsed. Two strikes.
"Th-that’s incredible," Roxanne stammered.
"Yes. That sword seems to be an exceptional weapon."
"No, I meant your movements, Roxanne."
"Really? Thank you very much."
She didn't seem entirely convinced, but her movements truly were spectacular.
Wait. Perhaps they weren't that special for this world?
This was a world of labyrinths and monsters. It wouldn't be strange if Roxanne’s level of combat prowess was the baseline. She had mentioned the entire village mobilizes to defeat a single Gumi Slime, and based on the movements of the villagers and thieves I’d seen so far, that didn't seem to be the case. Perhaps the small group of combatants who actually braved the labyrinths were just built differently.
Regardless, there was no doubt that without my bonus weapons, Roxanne was overwhelmingly stronger than me. I decided not to dwell on it too much.
I asked Roxanne to lead the way again.
I finished off the next monster using Rush. I swung Fragarach while focusing on the skill's name, and the Needle Wood went down in a single blow.
As I suspected, Rush seemed to be a skill that delivered a powerful physical strike. I confirmed this by alternating between normal attacks and the skill on subsequent monsters. I couldn't tell exactly how much the attack power increased, though.
I swapped my job to Swordsman to test the Slash skill. That also resulted in a one-hit kill. I couldn't really tell the difference between Rush and Slash yet.
I could have performed a more detailed analysis, but there wasn't much point. Even if it was an experiment, fighting monsters always carried a degree of risk.
Besides, I had other things to test—the main event of my experiments.
With Character Reset, I could allocate bonus points to increase my parameters. I wanted to see exactly how that translated to combat.
To increase attack power with a sword, Strength was the obvious choice. I increased my Strength.
After accounting for the 31 points for Fragarach and the points needed for Character Reset and a Third Job, I dumped the remaining 75 points into Strength Increase.
I ambushed the next monster and pulverized the Needle Wood in one hit.
There was no longer any doubt: increasing Strength directly boosted attack power.
Even with 75 points allocated, it didn't feel physically different. The sword didn't feel lighter in my hand, and my swinging speed didn't noticeably increase. Or maybe it felt just a tiny bit lighter? It was hard to tell if that was real or just a placebo effect because I expected to be stronger.
It was just like leveling up or swapping jobs; there was no sudden physical sensation of change.
I equipped Required XP 1/5 and 5x XP Gain, then defeated the next monster with only 45 points in Strength Increase.
Next, I pushed it further with Required XP 1/10 and 10x XP Gain. I slashed at the next monster.
The Needle Wood survived a strike with only 13 points in Strength Increase. I’d clearly shaved off too much power.
Roxanne drove her fist into the surviving monster without a second's delay. The Needle Wood swung a branch in retaliation. Roxanne ducked, dodging the branch with a forward-leaning posture.
That was it. The exact movement a boxer uses to slip a punch. Ducking.
Roxanne delivered a brilliant body blow. I followed up with one more swing of Fragarach to finish the monster off.
"Incredible, Roxanne. Your movements are so reliable. I’m glad you’re with me."
"Yes. Please, leave it to me."
"Roxanne, are you actually... super strong?"
"I believe you are the stronger one, Master, as you can slay monsters in a single blow."
That was entirely the sword’s doing, though.
Well, whatever. I returned a few points to Strength Increase and practiced until I could consistently kill a Needle Wood Lv 1 in one hit. I tweaked the points finely, searching for the absolute minimum value needed for a one-hit kill.
Once I found that threshold, I moved to the next phase.
"Alright. We’re going to defeat this one barehanded."
"Yes, Master."
This monster was a Needle Wood that had survived an attack where I’d allocated exactly one bonus point less than the amount needed for a one-hit kill. I couldn't get any more precise than that. Its remaining HP had to be minuscule.
I leaned Fragarach against the wall before joining the fray. Roxanne was already engaged.
She punched with her right hand, then lightly pulled back to evade a swinging branch. She followed up immediately, hitting the monster in the shoulder while its attack whistled through empty air. The Needle Wood’s trunk shuddered. Roxanne easily evaded another branch from the right, stepped in, and delivered a clean one-two. She dodged the counter-attack by retreating half a step, landing another blow in the process.
She was incredible.
I found myself mesmerized. Roxanne was dodging the Needle Wood’s attacks perfectly. I didn't feel like the monster could ever touch her.
It wasn't just that she was dodging; she was doing it by a hair’s breadth. She was evading by centimeters—no, millimeters.
At a glance, it looked like she was barely getting out of the way, but it was actually the opposite. If you dodge by a large margin, you waste movement and make it harder to counter. If you can read an opponent perfectly, dodging at the last possible second is the most efficient way to fight.
Roxanne was doing exactly that.
She looked like she was performing a brilliant dance. She evaded with light steps or simply twisted her body to let the attacks pass.
Were Needle Wood attacks always this predictable? I mean, they were just branches, but still.
I joined in and threw a punch. I took a position opposite Roxanne, flanking the monster. I slammed my fist into the bark, though I had no idea if I was actually doing any damage.
A branch swung from the left. I tried to move my head like Roxanne did to dodge it. Then a branch came from the right. I panicked and leaned back. My posture broke, and a follow-up came from the left.
I arched my back violently and managed to avoid it, but the momentum sent me stumbling back two or three steps. I nearly fell on my ass.
Meanwhile, Roxanne was still elegantly weaving through the attacks.
Yeah, that was impossible for me. I couldn't dodge like she did. For one thing, fighting without a sword meant getting much closer to the monster, which made everything harder. I had no idea how she made it look so easy.
Roxanne landed several more punches in the interim.
Dammit.
At this point, I decided kicking was fair game. I delivered a kick, followed by a punch. Another branch swung toward me.
I couldn't dodge this one. I traded a hit for two quick jabs, then followed up with a full-power right straight.
The Needle Wood’s body shook violently. After a moment, it collapsed into the floor.
I had finally done it. Victory. I had survived a life-or-death struggle—well, it was only a struggle for me. Roxanne hadn't been touched once.
The monster dissolved into smoke.
I immediately checked my Job Settings. Was it there?
Wait, no. It didn't work?
Next, I checked the Party Job Settings.
Beast Fighter Lv 6, Villager Lv 8, Farmer Lv 1, Warrior Lv 1, Swordsman Lv 1, Explorer Lv 1, Monk Lv 1.
It was there for Roxanne.
"Did you get the last hit, Roxanne?"
"Yes. After you punched it, Master, it fell when I delivered a thrust."
So that was it. I’d missed it.
Apparently, dealing the finishing blow was the requirement to unlock the Monk job. Roxanne had landed the final strike and gained the job, but I hadn't, even though I’d participated. I needed to be the one to deliver the coup de grâce.
"You’re amazing. You dodged every single attack."
"Thank you. It was easy because the two of us were surrounding it."
I didn't think that was the reason.
"I suppose so."
"If you look closely, those attacks are quite avoidable."
No, they really weren't.
Roxanne was truly something else. She could even sense where the monsters were.
Regardless, I now knew that to get the Monk job, I just had to finish off a monster barehanded.
"Next time, I’ll deal the final blow. Roxanne, you just surround it. Don't attack."
I was determined to get it myself this time.
Or so I thought, but the next Needle Wood died in a single hit from Fragarach, even though the previous one hadn't.
There seemed to be some natural variance. Whether the monsters had a range of HP, or my attack power fluctuated, I wasn't sure.
Well, I could heal with HP Absorption, so it wasn't a problem. I added one more point to Strength Increase and kept hunting. Barehanded combat was just too exhausting.
Eventually, I found a Needle Wood that survived a swing of Fragarach. I challenged it.
Since most Needle Woods were dying in one hit, this one had to be on the verge of death. It was probably one punch away from collapsing.
Still, facing it alone was dangerous. Or rather, impossible for me. I had Roxanne engage it first. That cut the number of attacks coming my way by more than half.
Whoops.
Occasionally, a branch intended for Roxanne would swing wide and come toward me. I couldn't tell if a Needle Wood even had a front or back; it could swing its branches in a full 360-degree arc. Truly a wooden freak. Surrounding it didn't seem to offer much of a tactical advantage.
However, the frequency of attacks directed at me definitely dropped.
Roxanne wasn't attacking, but the Needle Wood couldn't ignore her. She clearly looked more dangerous than I did, so it couldn't afford to look away. Or perhaps, from the monster’s perspective, it thought its attacks were almost hitting her. To an outsider, it might have looked like a high-stakes struggle, but she was just reading every move perfectly.
Roxanne continued to evade every branch by a hair’s breadth. What was that movement?
She lightly pivoted to dodge, and as I’d ordered, she didn't counter, simply waiting for the next strike. She let another branch whistle past her ear.
This time, instead of leaning Fragarach against the wall, I used Character Reset to unequip it entirely. I dumped the extra points into Strength Increase. I figured that might boost my barehanded damage.
Since Roxanne was distracting the monster, I had enough leeway to do this. I lunged into close range.
The monster noticed and swung a branch.
I couldn't dodge. I’d gotten too close. Watching Roxanne had made me think it would be easy.
I took the hit, but at the same moment, I slammed my fist—boosted by maximum Strength Increase—into the Needle Wood’s trunk.
The monster collapsed.
"Th-that was incredible! A single blow!"
That was probably luck, even with the points in Strength.
Since I was the only one who had attacked, I had definitely secured the kill.
I focused on my Job Settings.
Monk: Lv 1 Effect: Spirit Increase (Small), MP Increase (Slight) Skill: First Aid
There it was.
I immediately set the job and thought of the skill: First Aid. My shoulder was throbbing from the trade-off.
"The pain is definitely receding. From now on, if you get hit, I’ll heal you with a skill, so make sure you tell me."
"You can do that, Master?"
"Yeah. Keep it a secret, though."
"U-understood. You truly are amazing, Master."
It wasn't that Roxanne couldn't use it eventually, but it was better if I handled it during combat since I had Chant Omission. Besides, using First Aid made me feel my MP drop slightly. If it consumed MP, I would need Durandal’s MP Absorption to stay fueled. It was better for me to handle the healing.
I continued my testing after that.
My next goal was to see if job bonuses stacked. I equipped the Swordsman job, which granted Strength Increase (Small), and checked if the number of bonus points required to one-hit a Needle Wood Lv 1 changed.
If the required bonus points decreased, it meant the job's bonus was stacking with my manual point allocation.
The result: It appeared that bonuses from a Fourth Job did indeed stack.
I say "appeared" because the natural variance in monster HP made it impossible to be 100% certain, but it was highly likely that stacking Third, Fourth, and Fifth jobs would be incredibly effective.
"Should we head back for a bit?"
We’d been in the labyrinth for a long time, so I decided to take a break. I put the leather hat, wooden shield, and gloves into the Item Box. Walking around town in full gear was a nuisance, and opening the Item Box without a chant in public would raise eyebrows. Chanting was also a pain. It was a bit risky to disarm inside the labyrinth, but it should be fine.
"Yes, Master."
Roxanne handed over her monster crystal.
"Yours is still black, Roxanne."
"Yes. Since I hardly defeated any myself."
"Don't worry about it. Your presence is incredibly helpful. Whether you get the kills doesn't matter."
"Thank you. I didn't get the finishing blows because you are just too powerful, Master."
I put her black crystal and my purple one into the Item Box.
"I wonder what happens if one person carries two crystals."
"I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of anyone doing that."
If both filled up at once, everyone would be doing it, so that was unlikely. Maybe the mana would be split? Or would only one fill? What would happen if I used Crystallization Acceleration?
"I’ll test that later too."
"I see. So that’s what your experiments are for. You truly think of everything."
I didn't think it was that deep, really. I had a feeling she was secretly a bit exhausted by my tinkering.
Still, it was important to know. Even if it was unlikely they would both fill at double speed, it was worth checking.
I warped us to the wall of the Adventurer Guild. Since we were in a party, Roxanne came with me. I sold our loot at the counter, took a short rest, and then we headed back in.
I tried the crystal experiment once. I kept two crystals in my rucksack, set Crystallization Acceleration to 16x, and hunted exactly one monster. It was a simple test; if it worked, it was worth knowing.
The black crystal stayed black, and the purple one stayed purple.
If 16x was working on both, the black one should have turned red. Holding two didn't double the accumulation rate.
Thinking that 64x Crystallization Acceleration might trigger a bug where multiple crystals filled at once was just a sign that I’d played too many games. There were no easy shortcuts here.
"Alright, that’s the last experiment for today. Or at least, the last one for now."
I handed a black crystal back to Roxanne.
"How did the experiment with the two crystals go? Even after just one monster."
"It means life isn't that easy."
"I thought as much."
I wanted to tell her that verifying negative results was also important, but I let it slide.
"I’ll need your help with this next one, Roxanne."
"Y-yes!"
In the Party Job Settings, I set Roxanne’s job to Monk Lv 1. Then I did the same for myself.
Neither of us had any experience as Monks. In this state, we would grind. I wanted to see if experience points were split when multiple jobs were equipped by comparing our level-up speeds.
If I leveled up faster, the XP Gain multiplier only applied to me. If we leveled up at the same time, the multiplier applied to the whole party. If Roxanne leveled up faster, it meant experience was being divided based on the number of jobs held.
I equipped 10x XP Gain but didn't use the Required XP Reduction skill. With Durandal out, I didn't have enough points for 20x XP Gain. I could have reached 20x with Fragarach, but it wasn't worth the effort. Durandal was a one-hit kill. To get a one-hit kill with Fragarach, I’d have to use up points for Strength Increase that were currently in XP Gain.
I could have used Warrior and Rush, but Fragarach didn't have MP Absorption. It was a bit clunky compared to the legendary sword. The "Strongest Weapon VI" truly lived up to its name. Safety was the priority, so Durandal it was.
"Do you feel any different?"
"No, not particularly."
Even when I equipped jobs or boosted Strength, the physical change was barely perceptible. She probably wouldn't notice anything.
"Don't push yourself during the test."
"Is it dangerous?"
"No, the experiment itself isn't dangerous."
I quickly backtracked. I’d phrased that poorly. I didn't know the difference between a Beast Fighter Lv 6 and a Monk Lv 1, so I was just being cautious. Even at level 1, she shouldn't be in danger on the first floor.
"I see."
"Right now, I’ve set your job to Monk."
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
Was that explanation also bad?
"My job is Beast Fighter. I’ve never been a Monk..."
"Well, it's... just keep it a secret."
I was using that excuse for everything now.
"You can even change my job? You're incredible, Master."
She seemed to accept it, so that was good enough for me.
With both of us as Lv 1 Monks, we started hunting. We both leveled up at the exact same time. This confirmed that the XP Gain multiplier applied to the entire party. It also meant that having a third job didn't split the experience points.
Next, I tested the Required XP Reduction skill.
My Monk job hit level 3 significantly faster than hers. Roxanne’s level didn't budge. As I suspected, Required XP Reduction only worked for the person who had it equipped, not the whole party.
"Alright, let's call it a day. It’s getting late."
"Yes, it feels like that time."
We finished our verification and left the labyrinth. Today was entirely consumed by testing, but it was a productive day. I’d gained the Monk job, after all.
I warped us directly to the Adventurer Guild and sold our branches. With Roxanne, the number of monsters we killed had doubled. Her ability to sniff them out was a game-changer. More kills meant more money.
Including the 30% bonus, we’d made about 2,000 Nahl today. I could put more than half of that into savings. That was 10,000 Nahl every ten days, or 100,000 in a hundred. Once we moved to higher floors, that would only go up. Even splitting it between two people, the income per head was solid.
Of course, Roxanne was mine. And what was hers was mine.
Yes. Mine.
With my heart racing in anticipation, we headed back to the inn.
"One night in a double, with dinner. After that, two servings of hot water and a lantern."
It was a total cliché, but I almost accidentally said "one shot" instead of "one night." Was my brain really that one-tracked?
"Aye, welcome back. Special price for you: 385 Nahl."
I paid, took the key, and we headed to our usual room on the fifth floor.
"U-um... excuse me."
I dropped my rucksack and sat on the bed. Roxanne sat right next to me. I’d told her to do that during the day, and she was already following orders.
I embraced her immediately, stroking her ears. Living with cute dog ears was truly the peak of existence.
"Good job today."
"Y-yes. Good job to you as well, Master."
She still seemed a bit stiff, her body tense. I moved my hands as gently as possible, affectionately stroking her shoulders and ears.
"How was the fighting today? Did anything feel off to you?"
"No. Your combat was magnificent, Master. I apologize for being of so little use."
"Don't be silly. You were a huge help in finding the monsters."
As we talked, I felt the tension leave her body. She finally leaned into me. I pulled her close, and as our faces neared each other, Roxanne closed her eyes.
This was it...
She was inviting me. She definitely was.
Her soft, faintly colored lips shimmered in the sunset light filtering through the window. She pressed them together tightly.
I took that as my cue. Our lips slowly met.
The next morning, I woke to the sensation of those same soft lips. Roxanne took her orders seriously.
I traced the line of her lips with my tongue before sliding it into her mouth. I wasn't sure if I should be more forceful yet, so I kept it slow and gentle, caressing her while pulling her close. Her soft, ample chest pressed against my own.
This was dangerous. If I went any further, I wouldn't be able to stop at just once a day. I’d be the one who was ruined.
I eventually released her and started the day. It was still dark outside. We’d gone to bed early, so we were up early. We headed to the labyrinth immediately. The experiments were done, so it was back to our regular routine. Roxanne guided, I killed with Durandal. It was safe and efficient.
It wouldn't stay this easy forever, but for now, it was fine.
After a few hours of hunting, we left to have breakfast back at the inn. Afterward, I went to the Explorer Guild to sell our loot. Since I wasn't affiliated with any specific guild, I could sell anywhere. The Adventurer Guild was more convenient because of the warp point, but the Explorer Guild often had news about labyrinth progress. It was worth checking once a day.
After selling our items, we went back into the labyrinth for the afternoon. Three sessions a day—early morning, morning, and afternoon—seemed like a good pace. It was important not to overexert ourselves.
By evening, we were finished. We returned to the inn for a meal and some light equipment maintenance.
Once dinner was over, it was finally "happy time."
The hot water arrived, and once the innkeeper left the room, I immediately pulled Roxanne into my arms. I’d been looking forward to the feeling of her soft, elastic body all afternoon. It was truly a perfect day.
"You're beautiful, Roxanne."
"Th-thank you."
"Really, you're stunning."
She shyly looked away, but she didn't pull back. I slowly stroked her shoulders, arms, and back before starting to undo her clothes.
"U-um..."
"It’s okay, it’s okay..."
By the third day, my hesitation had vanished. I knew she wouldn't resist. I took my time undressing her, my hands exploring her firm, smooth skin.
"But, Master..."
"Trust me."
I wrung out a towel and began to wipe her down. My palms seemed to stick to her beautiful skin. I savored every inch, moving slowly as the towel glided over her.
"I shouldn't have you doing this for me, Master."
"It's fine, really."
The me back in Japan would never have believed this was my life. I’d hoped I’d get a girlfriend eventually, but this? This soon? Someone this beautiful? This well-endowed? This submissive? And the dog ears and tail were practically cheating.
This was the joy of living. I’d never felt more alive.
Then, it was Roxanne’s turn to wipe my body, leading us toward even greater delights.
What is life? This is life.
We continued our exploration days like this. Needle Wood Lv 1 were no match for a single swing of Durandal. We collected branches and pushed forward until we hit a small room at the end of a path.
The wall slid down with a satisfying mechanical click, revealing a chamber. There were no monsters, but something felt off.
"What is this?" I asked.
The room only had one door—the one we’d just entered. Usually, these rooms had doors on all four sides.
"It’s a Waiting Room," Roxanne explained.
"A Waiting Room?"