23 - Sophia Garcia's Potential

Running as quietly as possible, I made my way to the entrance of the Orc Lord's room. Peeking inside, I saw blood everywhere. Only two bodies were visible, but I could see three survivors standing amidst the chaos.

More than ten Orc Soldiers had already been summoned, surrounding the survivors along with the Orc Lord. Among the three adventurers still alive, the tank had a broken left arm and was barely holding a battered shield with his right hand. The two behind him were paralyzed with fear. The orcs seemed to be toying with them rather than finishing them off quickly.

'Hmmm. What should I do?'

Even though I'm now level 8, it's still risky to jump into that group of orcs. But abandoning them isn't an option either. I don't have time to hesitate; my sister is also in danger.

'Kill as many as I can, and if I can save them, save them. If it looks impossible, run away. Let's do this.'

The orc soldiers were too focused on tormenting the adventurers to notice me. Judging by the state of the surviving adventurers, they wouldn't be able to defeat the orcs on their own. I decided to try and reduce the orc numbers by two or three.

Sneaking up on them, muffling my footsteps, I stabbed the Orc Soldier in front of me in the back of the neck. First one down. When the next orc turned around, I struck it with a reverse kesa attack from the left flank to the right. It screamed in pain and collapsed but wasn't dead yet.

That's when all the orcs noticed me at once. I dodged the swing of the Orc Soldier next to me on the left, then put the tip of my blade to its neck and pulled. A large amount of blood spurted out—second one down. I immediately struck the orc that had just fallen, taking down the third.

"Gruuoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Due to the Orc Lord's |Yell|, four new Orc Soldiers emerged from the black mist and were born and fell into formation. Additionally, the surrounding Orc Soldiers were enveloped in a red aura, their attack power boosted by two levels because of the Scream's effect.

The Orc Lord, enraged by the interruption to his fun, swung the log in his hand at me. He missed and hit a nearby Orc Soldier instead, sending him flying into the wall. That's a lot of power.

Two Orc Soldiers rushed towards me, trying to bring down their rusty iron swords with all their might. I ran away, realizing I couldn't confront them head-on.

"I'll draw them away! Use the opportunity to run!"

The Orcs hesitated momentarily as I fled, but after throwing three firecrackers at them, they snapped back to attention and started dashing towards me one after another.

"""Gruooooooo!"""

'I'm still no match for those numbers, but I caught them well!'

The Orc Lord kept activating his |Yell| as he chased after me, and Orc Soldiers were mass-produced like never before. The escape route to the suspension bridge was something I was familiar with by now. I adjusted my speed so the pursuing orcs wouldn't fall too far behind, throwing in a few more firecrackers for good measure. We were almost at the bridge drop point.

"Brother, this way!"

"Get ready to cut the rope!"

The sight was intimidating; there must have been over 50 of them. That's a new record.

The bridge was swaying, but I had learned to lower my center of gravity and use my lower body to minimize the sway. My bridge-crossing skills had vastly improved since the first time.

"Cut it right after I do! Understand?"

"Okay, okay!"

I finally made it across and took out my pruning shears. Cutting the wire took a bit longer than expected.

"Steady..."

The orc horde was closing in, only about 20 meters away. I could see the bloodshot eyes of the Orc Lord and hear his heavy breathing. The suspension bridge shook, causing a few orcs to fall, but the rest pressed on, rushing forward with murderous intent aimed squarely at me.

"Steady..."

At the back of the group, the rear row finally stepped onto the bridge.

"Sophia, NOW!"

"Jump Slash!"

Whether it was a special technique or not, she managed to cut the wire with one strike, sending the orcs plummeting with screams.

"There were more than I imagined... Ah, what..? It hurts..."

"It's a symptom of leveling up."

"Ugh... Hmm? It's a symptom of leveling up?"

As she leveled up rapidly, her body began to strengthen. When it was over, my sister was filled with a sense of omnipotence and waved her arms around. If you are level 1, but keep defeating the Orc Lord and his group, you'll probably jump to level 3 or 4 at once.

"You still haven't learned the |Simple Appraisal| job skill, right?"

"|Simple Appraisal|? I don't know, it's kind of fuzzy. I can set this, can't I?"

"You can. Also do not change jobs until your [Novice] job level is 10."

"Okay."

So, she reached level 5 and job level 7 with just one train.

"And by the way, brother, you're bleeding all over the place. What happened?"

"Another adventurer got tangled up with the orcs and was attacked."

In the past, it was simple to irritate the orc lords and escape with the train, but this time, they were already engaged in battle. While defeating several orc soldiers, they ended up catching them all together.

"I think they probably got away, but I'll have to go back and check."

"Oh, I see, but why..."

"Do you know that after we defeat a boss-type or unique monster, we might get some item drops? If we leave those drops alone, the items will disappear. If we don't pick them up, it would be a waste of resources, don't you think?"

My sister grinned, probably out of greed thinkig about how much we could make from those drop.

'This little devil!' I smirked seeing her grin, she is truly Theodore Garcia's little sister.

As far as I could see, all the Orcs in the Orc Lord's room had been caught. If the rescue team had been called, there was nothing more we could do, but we should check it out just in case.

First, we had to descend about 80 meters to the bottom of the valley. My sister, slowly making her way down, was amazed at her newfound physical strength.

"I feel so much lighter!"

"Don't get carried away. You may stand tall, but you can still fall."

We carefully made our way down to the valley floor, where rocks were scattered. Looking up, I saw the remnants of the broken bridge hanging over the cliff.

"Wow! How much is this? Oh, look at these sparkling coins! There's an item down here!"

"Calm down. I'll sell the magic stones and other stuff to pay for your equipment."

This is... a unique item. It's a badge with a pig's mark that increases attack damage by 10% and decreases damage taken by 10% against subhumans. Since there are many types of subhumans, even in the deepest levels, items effective against them can be useful for a long time. This badge is one reason why hunting Orc Lords was so popular and highly contested in the game.

Incidentally, unique items are rare and can only be obtained by dropping from certain floor bosses or treasure chests. In the game, they were often fought over and sold at high prices.

"I'll give this item to you. Let's take a look at it with |Simple Appraisal|."

"I'll give it a try... oh, is it strong?"

"Keep it for protection. Also it's pretty valuable, so don't lose it."

Seeing my sister happily jumping around and singing some parody after receiving her first unique item drop from the dungeon was a joy. I'll need to ensure she made it into family legacy and doesn't sell it.

In addition to the badge, there were dozens of demon stones and three dungeon currencies, which meant you could earn tens of thousands of dollars per trip. That's enough to make a decent living, right? I was almost lost in the thought of it.

"I'll go check out the Orc Lord's room then. What about you, Sophia?"

"I'll go with you. I can't just wait around!"

The quickest way to the Orc Lord's room was the route we originally took, but with the bridge destroyed, we had to take a slightly longer, more circuitous path. After gathering all the items and rehydrating, we set off.

Along the way, we encountered a goblin soldier. I knocked away its metal weapon and let my sister experience a fight. The machete I gave her swung wildly, causing minor injuries and making a mess without doing any real damage. She ended up in tears.

"It's better to aim for vital points like the neck or the arms and legs to disable their ability to fight."

I had no choice but to decapitate the goblin with a single blow. It was wearing leather armor, so random attacks had little effect. Taking too long could attract other monsters, turning it into a many-against-one battle. In dungeons where monsters can appear at any time, it's best to finish fights quickly. If you can't handle the gore, you have to get used to it.

After about 10 minutes, we reached the entrance of the Orc Lord's room. It was empty, and the surviving adventurers seemed to have escaped safely. On the fifth floor, besides the rescue team, there were also guild employees carrying bodies. They must have contacted them and called for backup.

"There's an Orc Lord here, right? Can you lure them to the suspension bridge and drop them?"

"The Orc Lord will appear in an hour, and the bridge will automatically repair itself at that time. If you kill them with a bridge drop, you can determine which one will allow you to drop the next bridge."

I also explained about traps, clearing monsters along the path, and the presence of other adventurers. I emphasized that she shouldn't attempt this until she's at least level 7, as her current stamina might not suffice.

"I'm going to keep the dungeon information confidential. It's best to keep it to yourself. Some dangerous people might try to use that information against you."

"All right."

"Let's try a few more times today. By the way, do you remember what your initial skills are?"

In my case, I had learned the |Fist Break| skill from the beginning. It's generally rare for someone to remember their initial skills, so I doubted my sister would, but when I asked her...

"Well, besides |Simple Appraisal|, there's a skill called |Dual Wield|."

"...Seriously?"

"Yes."

|Dual Wield| is an extra skill typically learned by [Samurai]. It's an advanced skill that significantly boosts attack power and accuracy when wielding weapons in both hands, and it increases the number of attacks when a weapon skill is activated. For instance, a skill that normally allows for two attacks with a single sword would allow for four attacks with dual swords, with a reduced chance of missing.

Extra skills are usually obtained by completing special quests available only to jobs higher than Advanced. Learning such a skill early on provides a huge advantage because, typically, the quest for this extra skill is located on the 40th floor of a dungeon. In the game, a high-level player could assist you in reaching the 40th floor, but in this world, where the current record is only 32 floors, that isn't an option. I would have to earn it myself.

Daiki, the leader of the Focus, is also a [Samurai], but likely hasn't learned |Dual Wield| due to the special quest requirement. His main weapon in the strategy shows was always a single sword, indicating that Daiki remains an incomplete [Samurai].

There are several styles of |Dual Wield|. Among The Conquest players, two main styles emerged: a high firepower style, where you focus on raising your STR and wielding a two-handed weapon in each hand, and a multi-stage attack style, where you specialize in AGI and use a series of skills for multiple attacks.

I asked my sister which style she preferred. She replied, "Hmm, if I get a good weapon, I might want to try that one."

"Let's practice on some goblins using this machete and these pruning shears," I suggested.

"Do you think I can use |Dual Wield|? Now I'm curious... this hatchet is quite heavy, but I can swing it with one hand," she said, easily swinging the hatchet with one hand. "Oh, it looks like I can."

Even middle-school girls can match or exceed the strength of adult men once they reach level 5, so there shouldn't be a problem. When she fought the Goblin Soldier, she used ambidextrous movements, saying, "I was originally ambidextrous. I can write with either hand."

I felt a bit overshadowed by my younger sister, who displayed an impressive sense of combat.

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During our power leveling session, we took a lunch break after about three trains. Since today was my sister's first day in the dungeon, she was having fun, but I knew she must have been nervous and tired even if she didn't show it. I wanted to avoid pushing her too hard.

The round trip took almost no time because we managed to exit through the gate room on the way back. Like in the original world, where reducing commute time is a huge advantage, being able to save time traveling back was very effective.

When I checked the time, it was only 2:00 PM. It was too early to call it a day, so I decided to stop by the Adventurer's Guild's armor store to look for armor for my sister.

"Welcome! Hmm? Aren't you the one who bought the wolf's armor?"

"Yup, that's me alright."

It was the old man in the apron who had sold me the wolf jacket during my last visit. I explained what we had been doing today and asked if he had any light armor for my sister. If he still had wolf skin in stock, I wondered if he could make a wolf breastplate.

"Wait a minute! I hope it's cute!"

"Cute... but the fluttering kind is leather, so it's heavy, right?"

Leather armor, designed to protect against physical attacks, is heavy because it uses thick leather. While I was thinking about how to persuade her, I mentioned using cloth for the fluttering part. My sister wanted armor like a cute dress based on an anime character.

First and foremost, I wanted her to consider my budget before focusing on cuteness and fluttering.

"Well, leather armor is more like a pitch, but if you're still at level 1, you have to reduce the weight considerably…"

"I'm already level 6!"

"What?!"

My sister is less than 150 cm tall and the smallest of the middle three. She has a pretty baby face but is already level 6. The old man with the apron was surprised, his eyes wide open as he leaned back. Perfect example of you can't judge the books by it's cover...

"Well, there should be no problem with armor weighing about 5 kg."

"Sophia, please be satisfied with the breastplate and small hands for now."

"Well, boots! I want boots too! The cute ones!"

For some reason, in addition to the wolf's breastplate and small hands, we ended up buying wolf knee-high boots as well. Today's earnings, along with yesterday's, were spent. My sister walked with a smile on her face, humming happily.

Well, this is an initial investment. We'll make a lot of money from now on. For weapons, should I rent two smaller swords from the school? It doesn't matter if it's in my name.

Now, the day of the duel between Kazami and Renji is approaching. I wonder if Kazami has raised his level properly. Depending on the result, the atmosphere in Class E might further decline, so I hope he does his best.

I'm glad that Theodore Garcia won't be affected by this event. Though I'd love to improve the class atmosphere, it's not my responsibility.

'Meh, not my problem!'

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Link¹

Neighboring monsters participating in battles or calling for reinforcements. In this case, the player has to deal with a large number of monsters.