Dungeon Survival Chapter 4

 Chapter 4: Skill Acquisition

「Anyway, let's check the results of that fight.」

Back at the terminal, I finally let out a breath of relief.

This probably wasn't a safe zone exactly. But being able to duck back into my apartment whenever I wanted was good for my peace of mind.

At least, there hadn't been a single case of a monster following someone through the gate into the real world.

My hands had finally stopped shaking. I touched the terminal and checked my Status first.

Not that I'd leveled up or anything. What I actually wanted to see was my current EP.

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EP Owned: 2

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「Ha, it went up.」

The number had been zero just moments ago. Confirming it had really gone up, even if it was only by two, I felt a grin at my mouth without meaning to.

Only two points. But two points all the same.

By my math, killing five Goblins would be enough to level up.

「...Four more to go, then.」

The thought alone was enough to weigh on me a little.

Maybe it wouldn't feel this way once I got used to it. But that last fight had worn me out mentally.

More than anything, the numbers on my Status screen only made it heavier.

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HP: 24/32

CP: 29/29

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That one hit to my left arm had taken a full quarter of my HP.

By simple math, if I took a hit like that every fight, I'd be seriously hurt by the fifth.

Remembering the Goblin's murderous intent and that rusted knife, I felt a shiver run down my spine.

「Still, unless I kill at least five in a single dive, I won't be able to level up.」

I already knew that much from what I'd been told about how EP worked.

I closed my Status for the moment and decided to check the other tabs.

As if to be helpful, a little 『!』 mark sat on both the 【Skill Acquisition】 and 【Item Purchase】 tabs, letting me know something had updated.

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【Skill Acquisition】

EP Owned: 2

[Passive Skills]

Ambush: 2EP

Silent Step: 10EP

Staff Arts: 10EP

Auto-Mapping: 2000EP

[Active Skills]

Power Strike: 5EP

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Auto-Mapping costs way too much!

That was my first reaction.

Well, I didn't even need to stop and think it through. Even if there was a skill that could automatically map things, I don't know how it works but there was no way it'd come cheap.

Setting aside that outrageous new listing, I looked over what each Skill actually offered.

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Ambush: Applies a 1.2x damage boost to the first strike, as long as the target hasn't noticed you. Cost: CP 2.

Silent Step: Reduces footstep sound. Cost: CP 2.

Staff Arts: Applies a 1.1x boost to Strength, Vitality and Speed for actions performed with a staff. Cost: CP 3.

Auto-Mapping: Automatically maps any area you've moved through. You'll need to provide your own mapping tool. The map can also be viewed on the terminal. Cost: CP 15.

Power Strike: After use, applies a 1.2x damage boost to your next attack. Cost: CP 5.

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Let's set aside how absurdly overpowered Auto-Mapping was for now.

Honestly, it looked incredibly useful. But there was no way 2000 EP was a Skill you could grab this early. The cost was brutal too. Even if I got it, I wouldn't be able to equip it.

What caught my attention were the other Passive Skills and Power Strike.

From what I could tell, these Skills seemed to have appeared because of what happened in that last fight.

I'd moved in using quiet footwork, then landed a surprise opening hit with the bat. Skills that reinforced exactly that sequence of actions had become available to learn.

If that was the case, maybe this system worked by watching what I actually did first, then offering up Skills that reinforced it.

「Wait, hold on. Then what the hell is Magic supposed to be?」

Thinking that far, the Magic stat on my Status started to bug me.

By that logic, I'd have to actually cast magic before any magic-related Skill would ever show up.

Obviously, I couldn't use magic at all. And I doubted anyone else on Earth could either.

「Would lighting something with a lighter count? Or dumping water from a plastic bottle on something?」

Either way, I just didn't have enough information yet.

And I definitely didn't have the spare nerve, not after that fight with the Goblin, to go testing it out for myself.

「...Should I prioritize getting stronger right now? Or hold out until I level up?」

As things stood, I had two choices: spend my 2 EP on the only Skill I could afford, 『Ambush』, or hold off on Skills entirely and go for a level up instead.

「Actually, let me check Item Purchase too, just in case.」

That reminded me: the Item Purchase tab had that 『!』 notification mark on it too.

I closed the Skill Acquisition tab and opened Item Purchase.

Healing Potion I: 5EP.

Effect: Restores 15 current HP.

For now, it was a useless extravagance I didn't need.

I'd probably want one eventually, just in case. But right now it didn't tempt me much.

I'd think about it again once I was actually pushing deeper into the Dungeon.

「So, back to the question. Do I take Ambush or not.」

I was right back where I started.

Learning this Skill would mean earning back an entire Goblin's worth of EP from scratch.

But the effect was straightforwardly appealing. And that last fight had left me with something to think about.

Even my hardest swing hadn't been enough to finish the Goblin in one hit.

Despite how solid the hit had felt, the Goblin barely seemed to take damage. Probably because my attack hadn't managed to chip away enough of its HP.

But if I had that 1.2x damage boost, maybe a surprise opening hit to the head could get through from the start.

If that worked, I could shut down its counterattack before it even had a chance. Winning without taking a single hit might actually become easy.

「Nothing but hypotheticals so far.」

I knew perfectly well this was just wishful thinking.

But right now, the possibility of a no-damage win felt incredibly sweet.

That's just how frightening the Goblin's counterattack had been.

There wasn't a scratch on my left arm. But the slashed layers of my tracksuit still carried the raw feel of that thing's murderous intent.

The idea of gracefully dodging or blocking my way to a no-damage win just didn't appeal to me much.

I was always better at proper, old-school turn-based battle RPGs anyway.

「...Alright, I'm taking it!」

In the end, I decided to pick up Ambush.

If things went the way I hoped, great. And even if they didn't, the Skill wouldn't go to waste.

If I couldn't take these things down without getting hit, I probably wasn't going to scrape together enough EP to level up on today's dungeon run anyway.

I worked the terminal and went ahead with learning Ambush.

『Acquire Ambush? EP Owned: 2 → 0』

「Yes」

I tapped the "Yes" on the terminal's display while saying it out loud too.

The instant my intent was confirmed, the same particles from before came pouring out of me and were pulled into the terminal.

A moment later, the particles that had gone in white came back out of the terminal green and returned to my body.

After a beat, a display appeared, letting me know I'd learned the Skill.

『Ambush acquired. Set Skill? Max CP: 29 → 27』

「Yes」

『Skill set. You can freely customize your Skills from the Status screen at any time.』

With that, the terminal with its job done, went back to being a silent panel.

There was no surge of power, nothing like that.

I pulled up my Status screen to check.

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Uesugi Shima

Novice (Jobless)

Level 1

EP Owned: 0

HP: 24/32

CP: 27/27 (In Use: 2/29)

(Omitted)

【Skills Owned】

None

【Equipped Skills】

[Passive Skills]

Ambush

[Active Skills]

None

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Ambush was properly set, it seemed.

I couldn't tell if the empty 【Skills Owned】 field was because Ambush was already equipped or if that field was just meant for Active Skills.

I tried swiping on Ambush to test it, moving it from Equipped Skills over to Skills Owned. This is what came up:

『Unequip Ambush? Release Cost: CP 2』

「Yes」

『Ambush unequipped.』

After testing it out and unequipping it, my CP and 【Skills Owned】 fields ended up looking like this:

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CP: 27/29

【Skills Owned】

[Passive Skills]

Ambush

[Active Skills]

None

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It looked like freeing up max CP didn't restore my current CP.

I swiped on Ambush again, this time trying to move it back to Equipped Skills.

『Set Ambush? Set Cost: CP 2』

「Yes」

『Ambush set. Max CP: 29 → 27』

Just like the message said, I was able to reset it without any problem.

I checked the CP field. It was back to 27/27.

「Wait, does this mean if my current CP drops from using an Active Skill mid-dive, it'd actually be a good deal to slot in a Passive Skill afterward?」

It felt like something I could maybe abuse. But there was no way to test it right now. So I'd just file it away for later.

「...Alright, let's head back down.」

I'd checked everything I needed to.

The shaking in my hands and legs had stopped somewhere along the way, without me even noticing it.

My nerve had started to crumble a little. But tinkering with my Status patched it right back up. I decided to head back down into the depths of the Dungeon once more.