The next morning.
“Skills judged by the System are divided into Grades according to their level. But just because two Skills are the same Grade does not mean they are truly equal in quality.”
Listening with my entire body still aching, I found Jerik’s words a little out of nowhere.
“Yes. Well. I know that.”
For example, my ‘Thrust’ was a Common-grade Skill, but ordinary spear arts were also Common-grade Skills.
Obviously, my Thrust, which was merely one part of spear arts, was the inferior version.
“But why are you telling me that now......?”
“You wanted to improve quickly, so I had you master simple movements first and turn them into Skills you could use in actual combat. Those were Thrust and Advance-Retreat Step.”
“......Yes. I know. I agreed to it too.”
“But you have already raised both of those Skills to their maximum Level.”
“......That’s true?”
“If you are going to evolve a Skill, it would be better to evolve a better Skill, would it not?”
“Well, obviously......?”
I wondered where he was going with this.
“Those two Skills were originally parts of my spear arts that I separated out to teach you. That means they can become a single Skill.”
“Ah......?”
“You probably used them together almost every time you fought as well. Now that both have reached their maximum Level, you should be able to combine them into spear arts through practice alone. That is what I wanted to tell you.”
“Ah!”
Only then did I understand.
“Stay out of the Labyrinth for a while. Focus on combining those two Skills into one.”
“Whoa......”
“You already said you would sell Ruler’s Majesty, use the money to replace your equipment, and only then return to the Labyrinth. It is not something that sells immediately, so train while you wait to hear from the Merchant Guild.”
“......Yes. Thank you for the advice, Master.”
“It is nothing worth thanking me for.”
Jerik patted me on the shoulder and left.
From that moment on, I began training to combine the two Skills while recalling my experiences in the Labyrinth.
And it was easier than I expected.
On the second day,
FWOOM.
BANG!
I stepped backward, then took one large step forward and thrust.
The spear cut through the air with an unusually loud crack.
It was only a tiny fragment of the spear arts Kirk had shown me in the Labyrinth.
In truth, it was such a simple chain of movements—evasion, advance, and thrust—that calling it spear arts almost felt excessive.
But it was undeniably effective.
‘It isn’t perfect, but if I have someone holding the front, it’s perfect for attacking openings beside them.’
It suited someone inexperienced like me.
The moment footwork and thrust fully merged into a single concept inside my mind,
[Thrust (Common-Lv.10) and Advance-Retreat Step (Common-Lv.10) are merging into a single Skill.]
[Pendulum Spear Art (Common-Lv.10) has been created.]
“Oh!”
FWOOM.
My concentration broke at that moment, but I still smiled.
It was a little disappointing that the Grade had not increased, but I had expected that anyway.
What mattered more was that the two basic Skills I had thought of as one attack Skill and one evasion Skill had become one.
-It is best for Summoners to focus on developing a small number of Skills.
-I recommend three. An attack Skill. A Mana Cultivation Method. And a defensive or evasion Skill.
Following Master Jerik’s advice, I had designed a three-Skill spearman build.
Now I had room for one more Skill.
‘Since Pendulum Spear Art is basically just thrusting anyway...... maybe something specialized in evasion. Footwork. Is there anywhere I could learn something like that?’
While I was enjoying the thought,
“Char! The Merchant Guild sent word!”
Kirk arrived with good news at exactly the right time.
***
“To tell you the truth, there were quite a few interested buyers, so I spent another two days pushing the price higher. Hobgoblins have been becoming increasingly rare, so I would have liked to raise it even further, but...... as you know, the people interested in purchasing this particular Ability Stone tend to be of rather high status. Hahaha. So dragging things out too long would be a little......”
“I understand.”
At Pederson’s words, Jerik nodded in front of us.
Pederson was the manager of the Goldman Merchant Guild’s Area 9 branch.
“Still, we managed to secure a fairly good price. It has been quite some time since a Ruler’s Majesty Ability Stone appeared, so I narrowed it down to two offers.”
Everyone listened closely.
“First, pure gold. The House of Count Deckard has offered 1,200 gold.”
“Gasp!?”
“Wow!”
Jerik kept his expression under control, but Kirk and I could not suppress our exclamations.
The price we knew was around five or six hundred gold.
This was more than double.
“That is how long it has been since Ruler’s Majesty appeared on the market. As for the second offer, I personally find it a little ambiguous......”
“Ambiguous?”
“......It fulfills a condition Sir Jerik requested.”
Master Jerik had set a condition?
Our gazes turned toward him.
“The House of Viscount Volante has offered 900 gold, along with instruction in the fundamentals of their secret footwork.”
“Good. We will take that.”
Jerik nodded before either of us could say anything.
“Master?”
“Master?”
“Kirk can take 600 gold. Char can take 300 gold and receive the footwork instruction. You understand what I mean, do you not?”
I tilted my head for a moment.
Then my eyes widened.
This offer was entirely for my sake.
“Thank you, Master!”
“That is enough.”
No matter how famous the noble house was, if it was only a foundational technique, it did not hold that much value for a native.
To put it bluntly, Kirk was going to inherit the essence of Jerik, a former adventurer from the fiftieth floors.
There was no particular reason for him to learn it.
But I was different.
‘I’m a Summoner. If I can learn it properly, I can evolve it with Skill Points.’
And the timing could not have been better.
I had just created Pendulum Spear Art and opened up a space in the Skill build I had planned.
Now an offer like this had appeared.
It was all thanks to Jerik’s consideration.
“Thank you, Master. I think you should just keep the 300 gold.”
“Me too! Me too, Master!”
“Enough. I have plenty of money, you brats!”
Once again, I realized how lucky I had been to meet Jerik.
‘I’ll repay you someday. I swear.’
Just as I was overcome with emotion,
“Um, my commission is ten percent......”
Merchant Pederson’s perfectly legitimate claim dampened the mood somewhat.
***
“Even if it is only the basics, it is still a prestigious noble family’s technique. You should expect it to take a month. I will have Kirk find a separate Labyrinth party in the meantime.”
“Yes. That makes sense.”
Kirk was already stronger than the Level displayed for him.
‘Generally, floor number and Level tend to correspond fairly closely.’
Even without a Class, he was already at a level where traveling with me was strange.
No matter how quickly I was growing right now, there was still a large gap between our actual combat abilities.
More importantly, there was no reason for Kirk to wait an entire month for me.
“First, go to the House of Viscount Volante after you finish combining those two Skills and create spear arts......”
“I succeeded.”
“......Hm? Already?”
“Yes.”
“......Hah.”
Jerik silently looked me up and down, then gave a hollow laugh and nodded.
“Fine. The House of Viscount Volante is in Area 4. Send word first, then go there. And mind your manners.”
“Of course.”
And so, the Labyrinth expeditions I had expected to continue without interruption were put on hold.
For a very good reason.
There was just one thing I needed to do first.
“Could you recommend somewhere good to buy equipment?”
“You received money and immediately want to spend it on equipment?”
“Yes. If I go to a noble house dressed like this, they might turn me away at the gate.”
“......Fair enough. And if you are going to focus on close combat, ordinary leather armor is dangerous. Even on the lower floors.”
“Yes. This time I’m planning to get something sturdy. Especially the boots. I want something reliable.”
Jerik smirked.
“Right. You have always complained about your shoes. A smithy I can recommend would be......”
Before Jerik could finish,
“Excuse me. If you are looking for good footwear, would you perhaps be interested in Artifact boots?”
Merchant Pederson had somehow approached without me noticing and added something astonishing.
“Artifact boots? Here? In Area 9?”
“Yes. We recently handled a request here for a high-grade adventurer, and would you believe he paid us with an Artifact? It left us in a rather difficult position. I could hardly refuse it.”
“A high-grade adventurer came here?”
I asked suspiciously.
“Well, Guild rules prevent me from revealing another client’s identity, but...... there is a guild that has been rising rather quickly lately. The Drake Guild......”
The instant I heard that, someone came to mind.
“Gix?”
“Mr. Gix?”
“Oh!? You know him?”
Pederson’s face lit up at our reactions.
For now, I decided to look at the item.
The instant I saw it, I could not help admiring it.
“Oh.”
The boots were made from blue and yellow leather, and the faint glow radiating from them made them look quite impressive.
Pederson broke into a wide smile.
“As you can see, they look excellent. They are made from the hide of a Thunder Bison found in the thirtieth floors, so despite being leather, they are tougher than steel boots and extremely comfortable. They also have automatic fitting and self-repair functions. As long as you periodically supply them with mana, they are a luxury item that can be used practically forever.”
“Oh......”
“Try them on.”
“Oh, can I?”
Drawn in by his words, I slipped on the pair.
Jerik immediately interrupted.
“So. What functions does it have that help in combat?”
“Well, as I said, despite being leather, it has greater durability than steel boots, so it provides excellent protection all the way up the shins......”
“It is an Artifact. That much is obvious. What other effects?”
Pederson’s smiling face stiffened awkwardly.
“......As far as I know, it has an ability that relieves fatigue in the feet.”
“That is all?”
“......As I said, it also has automatic fitting and self-repair.”
“So they were nobleman’s boots, not combat boots.”
“......Ahem. The quality is unquestionable.”
Pederson’s expression gradually stiffened under Jerik’s relentless criticism.
“Char, there is no need to look any further. This is a waste of money.”
Even after Jerik said that, I could not bring myself to listen.
‘H-How can this be?’
Soft.
Plush.
The kind of cushioning and comfort I had thought I would never feel again in this savage world had completely captivated my feet.
Just moving around for a moment made it obvious that the boots wrapped perfectly around my feet and reduced fatigue.
Compared to the rough leather shoes I had been wearing, it felt as though I were floating on clouds.
‘If I had a pair of performance sneakers custom-made perfectly for my feet back in the modern world, would they have felt like this?’
Even accounting for how much my senses had deteriorated over the past year and a half, that was genuinely what I thought.
“Char, I said let’s go.”
“Ah, well......”
The instant I removed the Artifact boots and put my old leather shoes back on, I felt as though I had plummeted back to reality.
Forget cushioning.
I could feel every pebble on the road through the soles.
The contrast was so awful that walking barefoot almost seemed preferable.
‘No. I can’t. I absolutely can’t go back.’
The moment I experienced comfort that seemed to surpass even modern civilization,
I no longer had a choice.
If I let these boots go, would I not genuinely be better off walking around barefoot?
My reason immediately began searching for excuses.
“You said they’re tougher than steel, right?”
“Yes! Of course! And since they will not break either, they should absorb blunt impacts even better than steel boots.”
“Char.”
“Master, you can’t wear that many Artifacts that affect physical abilities or Mana anyway, right? I can get something better later.”
“Does that justify buying an expensive luxury item now? You nearly died because your equipment was terrible.”
“That’s exactly why I’m buying much better equipment. With these, at least nothing’s going to pierce the soles of my feet or my shins, right?”
“You do not even know how much an Artifact like that costs......”
“100 gold! I will take exactly 100 gold.”
Jerik froze.
The instant I saw his reaction, I knew.
For an Artifact, that was extremely cheap.
“Master, I’d still have plenty left to buy the rest of my equipment......”
“Even so......”
“90 gold. I cannot go any lower. I am already taking a loss!”
“......”
Jerik’s expression wavered even more.
“Deal! I’ll take them.”
Before he could say anything else,
I immediately handed over the coin pouch.