Shujinkou Janai! - CH 29

While I was happy to be able to boast about the equipment, Resilia seemed to be somewhat brooding after being aware of how great these equipment were.

Our moods on the way home were in contrast.

Resilia, who had been walking in silence for some time, eventually whispered.

[Are you sure this is alright? Giving them such equipment, I mean.]

[Eh? Ah, well, I did talk a lot about how great Enchanted equipment were earlier. In the end though, these are beginner’s equipment, so they’d eventually reach their limits.]

Considering the actual operation, they can’t use the armor ones because they would want to equip one with a higher grade after some level-ups, nor would they want to lower the grade of weapons too much because one’s weapon-grade is related to its annihilation power.

In the end, there would be room for only the three accessory slots for Enchanted equipment.

[Besides, the performance of a single equipment may seem outrageous, but +50 ability values are only equivalent to 2 level-ups, right?]

It can be said that three accessories can raise your stats by 6 levels, but that’s as far as it goes.

If they’re fighting against enemies of their level, they may be able to overpower them, but if they’re fighting, say, an enemy 10 or more levels apart from theirs, there’s a possibility that they may not be able to do anything about it.

[The biggest problem may be that for a while, even if they were to get new equipment, it would usually be weaker than the Enchanted equipment. It’s a dream come true after all, to have your own strong equipment……]

It was while we were talking like this that I saw the gate to the town, and there I saw familiar faces lined up.

[Oiiiii, Old man!]

As we raised our eyebrows, wondering what was going on, Radd and his party noticed us and came up running to us.

[For you all to gather up here, what’s up?]

[What’s up your face, Old man! You said you were going to the <Labyrinth of True Darkness>, so we gathered here because we were worried!]

“I see”, I nodded in understanding.

Apparently, the dangers of the <Labyrinth of True Darkness> are so widespread that even newbie adventurers are aware of this.

[Well, seeing you like this, it looks like nothing happened. Don’t make us worry like that. You’re our…… Master after all.]

Ah, Radd suddenly turned bashful.

As I had such a thought in mind……

[I- I told him not to worry since it’s Rex-san, and tried stopping him! However……]

[Doubt. Mana’s also guilty of freaking out and coming along.]

[G- Geez, Prana!]

Mana and Prana simultaneously spoke, and the front gate suddenly became boisterous.

[In any case, I’m glad that nothing happened to you two.]

The only one who could remain calm in that situation was Nuku.

I guess this unevenness in their party makes it somehow balanced.

(However……)

These guys are getting stronger.

They did well to follow my absurd instruction of no combat and adventuring for a month.

Their Status proves it more than anything.

[Tomorrow will be exactly one month since we met.]

As I muttered to myself, Rad and the others, who had been making a fuss, looked at me with puzzled faces.

Once again, I looked at all of their faces and checked their abilities with <Inspect>.

None of them had slacked off in their training, and they had grown beyond what I had expected.

“”

They have long surpassed the line that I had initially sought, and the growth of their abilities by training itself is slowing down.

The concerns they would have about their equipment have also been resolved.

If that’s the case……

[We’re a couple of days ahead of schedule, but it’s about time. The training ends today.]

[That means……]

The edge of my lips lifted up to answer the question Radd timidly asked.

[Yeah. ……I’m lifting the ban on adventuring.]

As soon as I said this, Radd and his party cheered with joy.

Even though I think they were exaggerating about everything, my lips have also naturally raised.

[You still have a lot of training left to do today, so hold your horses there. Besides, we have a big event waiting for us before your adventure.]

[What big event?]

As they tilted their heads, I smiled.

[Yeah. Tomorrow, we will meet at the <Temple> at noon. With the culmination of all the training you’ve done so far, you’re going to <Class Change>.]

※　※　※

In this world, <Classes> and <Changing Classes> are literally miracles of God.

In the Temple, where the remnants of God’s power still live on, one receives God’s Divine Protection by receiving their blessings.

However, if you look at Class Change as a game system, there’s nothing so complicated about it.

[This is the first time I’ve come here since arriving in this world.]

We met up in front of the <Temple> and entered with Radd and the others.

As soon as I stepped through the door, I was almost instantly engulfed by the <Temple>’s alien atmosphere.

A pure white room with a solemn and tranquil atmosphere.

There, statues of “Heroes” dressed up in various costumes, too numerous to count, were enshrined.

————-Each of these statues represents a <Class>.

Changing Class in B&B is simple and easy, all you had to do was “touch one of the various statues inside that correspond to the Class you wanted”.

“”

If the conditions for Class Change are met, the statue glows and the Class Change is complete.

Of course, if not, nothing happens.

Not all temples in every town and city have statues of all Classes, and the Classes available vary from each place, with some statues of rare Classes existing only in the depths of dungeons, so there will be expeditions in the future for the sake of those Classes, but that’s still a long way off.

When ordinary Adventurers start out, they are assigned to a First-Tier Class such as <Fighter> or <Mage>, depending on their aptitude.

The game is designed so that when you reach about 10 levels worth of stats of that Class, you are ready to move up to the next Class.

The higher the Class, the more powerful techniques you can learn, and more importantly, the more bonus points you receive when you level-up.

For example, a Fighter, the Warrior-line’s First-Tier Class, initially receives only a 6-point bonus, mainly in STR, but the <Swordsman>, the Second-Tier Class, receives a 9-point growth bonus, while the Third-Tier Class, <Imperial Sword>, receives a 12-point bonus.

————-This was the purpose of the “training” imposed on Radd and his party.

The “backdoor” method, so to speak, is to force a person to raise their ability value through training, and then, while they’re still at around Lv 4, fulfill the requirements for changing to a Second-Tier Class, which are originally supposed to be fulfilled when they’re around Lv 10.

This is a foolhardy way of skipping Classes, which can only be accomplished with the excellent aptitudes of Rad and his party, and their untrained state at Lv 4.

However, if they succeeded in this, they would be able to start their adventure with high ability values and higher growth rates.

For this reason, Radd and his party had spent the past month doing nothing but tasteless training from morning to night.

The eyes of those around them weren’t kind, and the path that none of the senior Adventurers had walked before must have filled them with anxiety.

Still, none of them dropped out, and everyone had earnestly and frantically weathered through their training.

The fruits of their efforts are now coming to fruition.

[…..Let’s begin.]

With my declaration, they began to move to where they wanted to be.

Except for Radd, everyone had already decided in advance what Class they were going to have.

Taking the lead in the Class Change was Nuku.

With a serious expression on his face, he stood in front of his Second-Tier Class, <Battle Mage>, and gently reached out his hand to the statue.

Thereupon, a large light then enveloped his body.

……The Change Class was successful huh.

At the same time, I looked back at the results of his training with <Inspect>.

———————————–

Nuku

STR – 25 (+7)

VIT – 37 (+1)

MGC – 72 (+9)

MND – 40 (+4)

AGI – 50 (+5)

FOC – 50 (+5)

———————————–

Even though it’s a magic user-type Class, he <Battle Mage> is a strange Class that requires a certain amount of Combat-related ability values.

Even so, he didn’t make any complaints, but instead, steadily improved his ability values. I think it was the result of his efforts that he finally reached the point where he met the requirements.

After successfully changing Classes, he looked at me with a smile that made no attempt to hide his joy, which was unusual for him, and deeply bowed.

[H- Here I go as well!]

Mana declared, touching the status of the Second-Tier Class of Healer-line, <Bishop>.

———————————–

Mana

STR – 27 (+3)

VIT – 38 (+6)

MGC – 51 (+3)

MND – 76 (+20)

AGI – 32 (+8)

FOC – 50 (+18)

———————————–

(I never thought she’d achieve the requirement while she was still Lv 3.)

She was definitely the one who improved the most in this training.

“”

Mana started one level lower than everyone else, and because of the higher hurdle of MND value required by her Second-Tier Class, we thought she would have the hardest time in the party.

However, she showed her natural talent in her “prayer” training, which increased her MND and FOC.

She completed the training with a level of concentration that set her apart from the others, with her MND and FOC values increased at a rate that was almost bizarre, finally meeting the required ability values.

I had thought that Mana might not be very suitable for a healer based on her predisposition affinities, but it seems that I was greatly mistaken.

You could say she’s something of a Genius in an aspect that isn’t shown in the data.

[……Unnn.]

Immediately after, a light danced in the corner of the room.

Without any particular warning, Prana touched the <Sniper> statue and completed her Class Change.

———————————–

Prana

STR – 50 (+5)

VIT – 30 (+3)

MGC – 30 (+3)

MND – 30 (+3)

AGI – 55 (+1)

FOC – 86 (+14)

———————————–

She originally had the ideal bow-user stats, and in contrast to Mana, she had the least difficulty in meeting the requirements for Class Change.

Nevertheless, she didn’t stop training and thoroughly increased her FOC, which is necessary for bow-users.

I had thought she was a difficult person to deal with because my first impression of her was that she lacks affability, but I may have to revise that judgment.

[……And now, it’s my turn, right?]

And now, it’s finally the last member of the party’s turn.

Radd slowly came up to me.

[So, Old man. “What” Class am I supposed to change to?]

Just as he said, Radd was the only one who I haven’t told what Class or what level of stats he should aim for.

I had only asked him two things: “Increase his STR” and “be able to handle the Brave Sword”.

———————————–

Radd

STR – 76 (+22)

VIT – 63

MGC – 27

MND – 45

AGI – 36

FOC – 27

———————————–

What I have seen through <Inspect> is a certain resolute increase in his affinities, where only his STR is increased.

It would take longer for one to raise a high ability value than to raise the low ones.

And so, Radd’s total increase in Status was the lowest among the four.

However, that’s good enough for this guy.

(76 STR huh. He really did make it just in time.)

Walking forward, leading Radd, I stopped in front of the statue of a  Hero, who held out his sword majestically in the center of the <Temple>.

That Hero’s name is……

[……Young Leo?]

I nodded at the puzzled Radd.

[Yeah. This is the Class you should choose.]

When I clearly declared this, a startled shout came from the nearby Nuku.

[P- Please wait! Isn’t <Young Leo> a useless Class with little to no effect……]

[……Nuku.]

However, mentioning Nuku’s name, Radd stopped this topic and stared me right in the eye.

[……Hey, Old man. I can trust you, right?]

I silently nodded.

No further words were needed here.

[Radd!]

[……Here I go.]

As Nuku’s voice echoed, Radd touched the <Young Leo> statue.

The light surrounded Radd and was absorbed into his body…… but it didn’t end there.

[The sword is glowing!?]

The sword that Radd had at his waist, the <Brave Sword> that I gave him, was covered with the light of <Young Leo>.

[……Unsheathe the sword.]

As if manipulated by my words, Radd pulled the <Brave Sword> out of its sheath.

The second light was unleashed after that, the light of his second Class Change.

The <Young Leo> is classified as a Zero-Tier Class, with its stat compensation being only 2 in total: 1 for STR and 1 for VIT.

The initial Class, <Young Leo>, is the weakest Class, so much so that there’s a serious discussion about how to survive the opening event and Class Change without raising your level.

However, it’s the only one of all Classes that “Class Changes depending on an item you’re equipped with”.

By equipping a certain item and meeting its equipment restrictions, the <Young Leo> evolves!

[T- That was……]

After the light subsided, I tapped Radd on the shoulder, who was stunned, not knowing what just happened.

[Congratulations on the Class Change, Radd.]

The <Brave Sword> that Rex held.

It has the flavor text that says it was once held by a Hero, the hidden treasure that can draw out the power of a young lion.

Beyond the First-Tier Class <Fighter>, beyond the Second-Tier Class <Swordsman>, and even beyond the Third-Tier Class <Imperial Sword>……

[————From today onward, you’re a <Brave Leo>.]

“”

The Fourth-Tier Class <Brave Leo>.

That was the name of the new power Radd had acquired.