Avert Translations~

 Chapter 21: The First Step To Beyond Human The day after I finally sorted out the skill list that had grown bloated with Skill Integration. As always, I stepped out from the teleportation circle on Floor 16 of Hachioji Dungeon. A moment's focus was enough to reveal the distribution of every monster on this floor, as clear as if I could hold it in my hand. Master of Scouting Lv3, which had Detection Lv10 folded into it, had already proven that its detection range hadn't shrunk at all, even though the Skill's own Level had dropped. On top of that, I could now sense the positions of other Explorers, actual people, which I'd never been able to pick up before. Proof, I supposed, that Master of Scouting really was a step up. "So what happens if I level this thing up from here?" The words slipped out before I meant to say them, and Lapis, beside me, picked up on it. She's technically my partner, so I share the details of my Skills with her too. "The detecti...

 Chapter 7: Covert Machinations "Rokudou-sama, I have returned." The building stood alone deep in the forest, looking like an abandoned church. A man in his late twenties dressed in a white suit, with his silver hair cut into a neat bob, bowed his head to his master. That man sat in a chair in the front row of the chapel. He wore a black suit and had white hair and mismatched eyes. "Welcome back, Ginga. Let's hear your report." The white-haired man called Rokudou spoke without changing his posture to Ginga, who stood diagonally behind him. "Understood. But before that, there's something I must apologize for." "An apology?" "Yes. It's not that I neglected the surveillance but halfway through observing, a powerful barrier was deployed and I lost the ability to make out anything happening inside. All I was able to confirm was from the moment right after the fighting began to the point where the red-faced oni strengthened through two...

 Chapter 5: A Desire Wells Up "Man... it's just nonstop fighting around here, huh, Kanata..." "Yeah..." The day after Griare gave him a task to work on, Kanata had gone into town looking for a new sleeping bag. He'd finally made it back to town but apparently the lord's orders meant they'd be back in battle again before long. As a battlefield scavenger, that had meant good business. He had to keep at it just to survive. But even so, the fear never really left him. Roa, walking beside him with her head down, was especially sick of a war that just wouldn't end. "Make way! The lord's procession is passing through!!" Kanata and Roa turned towards the shout that was coming from the main street. They cut through a side path and came out onto the bustling main street, where a portly man on horseback rode leisurely past, surrounded by knights and dressed in clothes so lavish even the two of them could tell at a glance they were expensive. T...

 Chapter 20: A Night of Sorting Out Skills Having hit my fourth pity cap, I wrapped up that day's exploring early. I tried pressing my palms together at Shimotsuki-san over at the counter, and she gave me a disgusted look for it. I was just trying to convey my silent gratitude, that's all. Anyway, one way or another, I was home now. By taxi, of course. And I was sitting on the sofa now with my Status board pulled up. My goal, of course, was claiming the Unique Skill I'd earned as my pity-cap reward. And then actually putting that Skill to use. This time, the one I was choosing was the Unique Skill "Skill Integration." ―――――――――――――――――― 　Unique Skill: Skill Integration 　Freely select multiple ordinary Skills from among those possessed 　Restructure and consolidate them into a single upgraded Skill that incorporates and develops their functions ―――――――――――――――――― Basically, a way to clean up my ever-expanding pile of Skills. At this point, my Skills list only ever k...

 Chapter 6: Overpowering "Haah!" "GAAAAAAH!?" Shinya's attacks reached a fever pitch of ferocity. But the red-faced oni wasn't just taking the beating one-sidedly either. It tried to crush Shinya with its powerful arms. But not a single attack ever landed on him. He read every strike and dodged each one without fail. The blows unleashed by those powerful arms scattered a considerable shockwave through the surroundings from their aftershock alone but Shinya blocked every single one with his spirit talismans. "Too soft." The oni's blows really were fast and heavy. Take one straight on and a human body would burst apart like a pomegranate from that alone. But Shinya had racked up all kinds of combat experience in that other world. He'd even received tutoring from the hero party's War King and been praised for his good fundamentals. On the flip side, when it came to handling weapons in general, including swords, he'd been told he was se...

 Chapter 4: Everyone's First Step Is Slow Two days later, sooner than he'd expected, Griare summoned Kanata again. After days of being called in like this, the other battlefield scavengers had taken to giving him pitying looks but Kanata couldn't stop grinning. If it meant someone was finally going to teach him about mana, losing a little break time was nothing to complain about. On the stairs leading to Griare's room, he was so caught up daydreaming about becoming a mage that he nearly missed a step. That was how excited he was. "Alright, hold out a finger. I'm going to cut it a little." "Hiiiiiiiiii!? Whyyyy!?" The instant he stepped into the room, the quiet hiss of a blade being drawn drained the blood from Kanata's face. He'd come to learn how to control his mana and yet here was a veteran swordswoman drawing her blade, seemingly about to take off one of his fingers for reasons Kanata couldn't fathom. If he hadn't already used...

 Chapter 3: The Traditional Posture "Huh? Where's Kanata?" The next day, the Karejasu Mercenary Company returned to town alongside the lord's army they'd joined up with. They dropped their gear at the inn serving as their temporary base and free time followed... even the battlefield-scavenger children were granted a brief rest. But Kanata was nowhere to be found so Roa restlessly looked around the inn's dining area. "Kanata? He got called away a bit ago." "Bet he did something stupid again. He gets weirdly stubborn whenever it's about that hobby of his." "Ohh... come on..." Told this by the other battlefield-scavenger kids, who'd gotten a head start stuffing their faces with bread in the dining area, Roa's shoulders drooped a little. She'd been planning to invite him into town to buy a new sleeping bag since he'd mentioned last night that his had gone up in flames, but of all things, he'd been called away e...

 Chapter 19: The Fourth Pity Cap A few days after renewing my resolve. While hunting on Floor 17 of the Hachioji Dungeon, I hit my fourth pity cap without much fuss. "Guess by the fourth time, it doesn't really stir up any feelings anymore." "I'm not sure that's a good thing, honestly?" Lapis gave a wry smile at my blunt honesty. People are creatures of habit. You can get used to anything. I'd already finished pulling the gacha and was back down to Lv1. All that was left was to tap "SSR Exchange," which is now showing on my Status. My stats had gone up a bit since last time. Out of 60 pulls, I'd gotten 20 stat orbs. A bit of a low roll, I guess. More misses than usual this time. ―――――――――――――――――― [Lv] 1 [HP] 323/323 [MP] 269/269 [STR] 10+105 [VIT] 8+96 [AGI] 10+99 [DEX] 8+96 [INT] 11+120 [MND] 12+126 ―――――――――――――――――― Even so, my stats added up to a total of 701. For a normal Explorer, that was the kind of strength you'd only reac...