Fortuitous Encounter in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 23
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Fortuitous Encounter in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 23
7. End of War (3)
I took out a supporter resurrection scroll from my inventory, one I had never used even once until now.
Having two supporters tagging along stands out too much, so I decided to resurrect Black Eagle later outside the town and revived Arcia first.
"I am sorry, Lord Adrian."
Arcia apologized to me the moment she was resurrected.
She seems to think we were wiped because she failed to stop the Death Knight.
But this is not her fault.
It is my fault for blindly believing that she would endure this time as well, because she had held out so well until now.
I shook my head and offered her the seat next to me.
"Are you okay? Did it hurt?"
Arcia may be a homunculus, but she tastes, smells, and feels touch just like a human.
There is no way someone like her would be unable to feel pain.
"It does hurt, but the pain sensitivity in the game is not set as high as yours, Lord Adrian, so it is bearable."
That is a relief.
At first, I recruited her as a tank with good stats without thinking much, but as time passed and we grew close, there were many times I felt guilty hiding behind her small frame.
If she were shouldering pain in my stead, I would have tried to change our current battle style.
'No. In the end, changing it is the right thing to do anyway.'
Facing the Death Knight this time made the limits of our battle style clearly apparent.
The gap was so great that it felt like it would be nearly impossible to win using the same method.
Our combat was very simple.
Arcia would raise her shield to block the enemy's approach, and Black Eagle would support her by blocking the enemy's line of sight or harassing them through surprise attacks.
And I would stand in the back and use magic to deal powerful damage.
Honestly, it was so simple that you could hardly even call it a tactic.
Still, perhaps thanks to our gear, this approach had worked up until now, but I realized that against enemies like the Death Knight whom Arcia had trouble tying down, it had clear limits.
'We have too many gaps between our attacks.'
The reason there are so many gaps during battle is because I, the main damage dealer, am a mage who needs casting time.
In other words, while I am casting, the only means of harassing the enemy is Black Eagle's body slam.
However, against a named Death Knight, Black Eagle's harassment is bound to have limits, and because of that, the enemy in a free state happily pounded away at Arcia's shield.
No matter how amazing Arcia is, how could she keep enduring sword aura endlessly?
The collapse of the defensive line was an inevitable result.
'To be honest, you could say Arcia's defense works even against the Death Knight. At the very least, she can block a single hit no matter what.'
If we had even one more harassing damage dealer to lighten Arcia's burden while I am casting, our current combat style might have been enough.
But I cannot drag other people into a Fortuitous Encounter quest, so hoping for new companions is out of the question.
In the end, it means we have to change things up with this current party.
'There are about three approaches I can consider here.'
They are not particularly complex methods.
It is just about changing the styles of the members.
The first is for me to mainly use low-circle magic to reduce casting time and increase my rate of fire.
The second is to actively use Black Eagle as a proper combatant, not just for simple harassment.
And the third and last is for Arcia to not only swing her shield, but also use her sword to directly contribute damage.
Each has clear pros and cons, but the first method is practically the same as nerfing myself, so changing Black Eagle and Arcia would be the most efficient.
Of course, it will not be easy.
"Still, let's at least try."
"Understood."
After spending a long time with Arcia reviewing the possibilities and agonizing over them, that was the decision I reached.
For now, I will restore the lost experience while practicing and fine-tuning the details.
* * *
Second bout with Death Knight Pascal.
It took over an hour just to restore the experience lost from dying.
Thanks to that, I managed to roughly polish the new combat style.
But I soon realized that this level was nowhere near enough.
[You have died. Please restore your experience and try again.]
Instead, I ended up dying even faster than in the first attempt.
Did the fear pile up because I was sliced all over and died?
Or was it because of the pain of my limbs being severed and my entrails burning?
After resurrecting, my hands and feet trembled and my body wouldn't obey me.
Clinging to the railing of the village square fountain for a long while, gritting my teeth, I finally spewed a curse like venting my rage.
"Fuck! Is this thing even killable?"
This time, the plan was for Arcia and Black Eagle to actively participate in the battle.
But, as expected, it was too much for Black Eagle to face the Death Knight; a catastrophe struck and he was out in just one minute.
Because of that, Arcia, who had changed her gear from greatshield + dagger to medium shield + one-handed longsword, didn't even get to swing her sword properly before allowing the Death Knight to break through again and again.
Thanks to that, I died three minutes after the battle began, and Arcia followed me a minute later.
"Hoo! Hoo… Calm down. Calm."
After a short while, once the pain had subsided to some extent, I steadied my breathing and clenched my trembling fist tight.
"I'm sorry."
"No. You don't need to apologize. This is a problem with my ability."
When I resummoned Arcia, she repeatedly apologized.
I told her it was fine, patted her on the shoulder, and quietly organized my thoughts.
What was the biggest problem in this battle?
'It would be Blackie going out too quickly.'
Even if the direct damage he deals to the enemy isn't much, Black Eagle's role in keeping them in check has been a huge help to us.
Simply put, to maintain our current combat style, Black Eagle's long-term survival is essential.
'Should I try making armor and putting it on him?'
Since Arcia and I are already wearing the best gear available at our level, upgrading our equipment is difficult, but Black Eagle still had plenty of room for improvement.
Besides, this isn't reality, it's inside a game.
There was any amount of metal that was both light enough not to burden an eagle and sturdy at the same time.
"All right, we might as well try anything."
"Yes."
Now that the plan was set, all that was left was to act.
'I mustn't get impatient. Otherwise, even what could work won't.'
I have a goal I must achieve even if I experience death a hundred or a thousand times.
I steeled myself, thinking of this situation as nothing more than a trial on the way to the 7th Circle.
* * *
Third bout with Death Knight Pascal.
"Graaah! Damn it!"
[You have died. Please restore your experience and try again.]
I did my best to equip him, but there isn't much gear you can put on a flying eagle that isn't even human.
All I could give him was a breastplate protecting his belly and back, a helmet covering his beak and head, and shoes with blades attached.
I couldn't touch his wings at all and left them alone, but in the end, that unarmored part got cut, Black Eagle crashed, and once again he was the first to be out.
'Still, it wasn't bad.'
Even though the gear was slapped together in a hurry, the armored areas at least did their minimum share.
Because of that, Black Eagle's survival time increased, and the battle lasted nearly twice as long compared to before.
And as the fight with Death Knight Pascal dragged on, being able to clearly see his combat patterns was an encouraging achievement.
* * *
Fifth bout with Death Knight Pascal.
As Black Eagle and Arcia began to get used to the new combat style, proper exchanges of attack and defense gradually became possible.
Compared to the first fight where my neck was cut with no resistance, and the second which was an even worse showing, our performance had improved dramatically…
Unfortunately, the gap was not easily closed.
[This is…]
So, thinking that it couldn't go on like this, I brought an unusual tactic to the fifth bout.
Arcia focusing on defense, Blackie checking the enemy and helping her aren't all of that to keep the defensive line from breaking so that the Death Knight's attacks don't reach me?
So I tried a change in perspective with the idea, 'Then wouldn't it be fine if I just made it so the enemy can't attack me at all?'
[Absurd. Was my opponent a circus troupe?]
The Death Knight stared into the air and let out a hollow laugh.
"Quite flustered, are you?"
I jeered at him as I watched, but the monster, of all things, put both hands on his waist and shook his head.
[I consider making a body like this undead one laugh to be quite an impressive talent. How about changing careers altogether this time?]
The reason he reacted like this was simple.
Because I was flying through the air.
Double casting is only possible from the 7th Circle onward.
Since I'm still only 6th Circle, if I use Fly magic I can't use any other spells, so this wasn't me flying by my own power.
Then how am I flying through the sky?
-Flutter! Flutter!
It's simple.
I just have to hang from Black Eagle, the giant eagle.
The wingbeats of a guy who can fly at the speed of sound were more than enough to keep flying while carrying me.
So I tied a rope around my waist, and Black Eagle lifted it, flying with me pressed right up against the ceiling of the Magic Tower.
"Ever heard of it? A human bomber?"
That's how I became one with Black Eagle and challenged the Death Knight.
'Not bad.'
I looked ridiculous, but as far as the start of the battle went, it wasn't half bad.
For him to fight us in the air, the Death Knight had to leap up with a jump, and jumping by nature was an action full of openings.
On top of that, there was a limit to how long he could stay airborne off a jump, so it was hard for him to chain attacks, and as long as I dodged his single strike, Arcia would automatically buy us time with hit-and-run attacks.
"Haha! Die! Die!"
As if taking revenge for everything up to now, I got carried away and spammed spells like I'd become a real human bomber.
However...
About ten minutes after the battle started, a problem cropped up in our strategy.
-Screech! Screech!
"Huh? Uh-oh."
Apparently Black Eagle has something like stamina too, because his flight speed started slowing down little by little.
-Thump.
And what's more, later on our altitude started quietly dropping as well.
In the end Black Eagle reached a point where he couldn't fly anymore and gently set me down on the ground.
[Seeing you from down here is a pleasant change.]
"Ah, hello."
And what greeted me as I landed sprawled on my belly was a baptism of sword aura from the Death Knight.
"Gyaah!"
Through this battle, I came to realize one thing.
Straightforward methods are better than clever tricks.
* * *
Seventh match against Death Knight Pascal.
Forty-minute battle, Death Knight HP damage: 55%.
Up until now, almost 100% of the total damage dealt to the enemy during our battles had come from my magic, but this time, for the first time, Arcia contributed damage in the 20% range.
It meant that even while defending, she had become able to consistently inflict damage on the enemy.
[You have died. Please attempt again after restoring your experience.]
"Kugh!"
I had a good feeling this time.
Just from each other's eyes we could tell what the other wanted and back each other up, and I even managed to dodge the Death Knight's attacks about ten times with this hopelessly clumsy mage body of mine.
As I kept up a duel of repeated death and resurrection against a strong opponent, my combat capability rapidly increased in proportion.
"Not bad."
Plus, I was slowly getting used to the pain, and I no longer curled up from fear.
I could even keep casting with one arm severed.
Of course, that doesn't mean I can't feel pain.
You could say my killing intent has risen so sharply that I've become good at enduring it.
* * *
Ninth match against Death Knight Pascal.
Twenty-five-minute battle, Death Knight HP damage: 45%.
This time, I tried changing our battle formation.
Originally Arcia always had to stand in front of me, but for the first time we stood side by side and fought.
I judged that Black Eagle alone wasn't enough to draw the Death Knight's gaze away from Arcia.
For a mage to step forward like this, if I were in a party with other users it would be such a violation of Chronicle Online common sense that I'd be kicked out on the spot.
But if you look only at the result, it led to a not-bad outcome.
'The battle time got shorter again, but the damage per minute was overwhelmingly higher.'
The biggest problem was that with this slow body I had to dodge the enemy's attacks while casting spells, but lasting twenty-five minutes means I've seen more than enough potential.
At this point I could completely read the Death Knight's movements.
It was an encouraging result born of the combat experience I'd accumulated so far.
However, it was still a major problem that my body couldn't keep up with my eyes even after being buffed with Haste, Strength, and the like.
'Let's change my item setup from focusing on casting to focusing on reflexes.'
So I decided to try something I would normally never do: the trash-tier build of an evasion mage.
* * *
Eleventh match against Death Knight Pascal.
Sixty-two-minute battle, Death Knight HP damage: 84%.
As a result of attempting the eccentric build of an evasion mage, my survivability greatly increased and the burden on the whole party lightened, but our damage per hour dropped.
I may have lost, but...
Through this battle, I gained certainty.
If I keep challenging him like this, I'm certain I'll be able to take him down.
"I thought everything would be over once I hit level 200, but I ended up getting tripped up by something I never expected."
Taking off my gaming headgear, I stood up and stretched.
With that eleventh attempt, I'd finally hit my connection time limit.
But the next time I log in, I'll definitely be able to clear stage 7 of the Fortuitous Encounter quest.
"What's this? It feels like the world is moving slowly."
"You're repeatedly going through death and resurrection in a way no one else experiences. I think it's only natural that your perception changes."
"You too?"
"I'm not really sure. It's just...."
I waited for Arcia's next words as she examined her own palm.
"I've grown stronger. My physical abilities are the same as yesterday, but I have the feeling I've become much stronger. So this is the strength that experience brings."
It struck me again, but there was no way her answer could be seen as coming from an artificial being like a homunculus.
If time continues to pass like this and she experiences many things, she will surely become no different from a human.
"Hm?"
Was it because I was staring at her too intently without saying anything?
She quietly blinked her eyes, then suddenly spat out a random line.
"Are you in heat? Then...."
"Shut it."
To change the subject so she couldn't say anything more outlandish, I tossed her the cookie tin that was sitting on the shelf.
As Arcia's gaze fixed on the food, I decided to grab a quick nap to manage my condition.
"You relax and get some proper rest too, don't worry about keeping watch."
"Yes, understood."
* * *
Time passed, and the next day came.
Once my login restriction was lifted, I connected to the game with a solemn heart and resumed yesterday's routine.
Twelfth match, Death Knight HP damage: 75%.
Thirteenth match, Death Knight HP damage: 85%.
Fourteenth match, Death Knight HP damage: 91%.
Fifteenth match, Death Knight HP damage: 89%.
Sixteenth match, Death Knight HP damage: 93%.
Seventeenth match, Death Knight HP damage: 98%.
The first round was time spent on getting used to things, and everything after that was time spent accumulating combat experience.
I didn't feel bored.
After all, I could feel myself growing stronger step by step.
"Let's put an end to this now."
And then, the eighteenth match against Death Knight Pascal.
Perhaps because I was more cautious than ever, the battle lasted 102 minutes, a whole 15 minutes longer than the seventeenth match.
[Not bad.]
Death Knight HP damage was...
In the end, it reached 100%.
[You have cleared stage 7 of the Fortuitous Encounter quest.]
I had finally succeeded in subjugating the named monster, Death Knight Pascal.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
In my battered state, I looked up at the ceiling of the first floor of the Magic Tower, the battleground, and cheered, clenching both fists tight.
That's right.
With this, I become a 7-circle Archmage, and Arcia becomes an Aura Master.