◇[Ayaka Sogou]◇
The heroes had gathered at the goddess's command.
A large garden adjacent to the castle.
Entry was forbidden without the goddess's permission.
Flowers bloomed vibrantly throughout the garden.
A sweet fragrance drifted in the air.
It was the kind of place where one would want to spend a leisurely moment if possible.
But that was not an option here.
The atmosphere among the gathered heroes was far from relaxed.
The goddess only summoned them here when there was something important to discuss.
Everyone already understood that.
Lately the heroes had been continuously exploring ruins.
Ruins infested with golden-eyed monsters.
They had been fighting there the entire time.
Of course, it was to earn experience points.
Additionally, Alion had captured a large number of golden-eyed monsters.
They had been captured specifically for the heroes' experience points.
The captured monsters had been given priority to the Kirihara group.
The goddess's expectations were blatantly obvious from the number of monsters allocated.
The number given to Ayaka's group had been small.
(But we raised our levels quite a bit by defeating the monsters in the ruins…)
They had also learned the tricks of combat.
"Recently the whole castle feels kinda tense, doesn't it? Poppo, don't you feel it?"
"Eh? I-is that so?"
"Nibbu~! All the nutrition went to your boobs and none to your head, huh?"
"A-Asagi-san…!"
Kashima Kobato shrank back, hiding her chest.
Her face turned bright red.
Asagi Ikuse's insensitive remark.
A faint sense of righteous anger rose inside Ayaka.
It had been like this back in their original world too.
She should probably give her a mild scolding.
Ayaka opened her mouth to speak.
But at that moment, Kobato looked at Ayaka and shook her head.
Had she read Ayaka's thoughts?
"I'm fine. It'll just cause trouble if we fight."
Kobato's eyes conveyed that message.
There was strong will in her eyes at times like this.
Feeling frustrated, Ayaka backed down.
Kobato gave a small nod as if thanking her.
"..."
Asagi Ikuse.
Her influence within 2-C had recently increased.
The main reason was probably that she had acquired a unique skill.
Asagi was a B-class hero.
Normally, unique skills were supposed to be obtained only by A-class heroes and above.
Yet Asagi, despite being B-class, had acquired one.
The goddess had been delighted.
"I knew from the beginning that Asagi-san had something special. She also has the ability to unite her comrades."
Asagi's unique skill was [Group Enhancement – Queen Bee].
It was a skill that granted [Ability Enhancement] to multiple targets.
After a sudden boost to their status, their overall stats would continue to rise gradually up to a certain point.
Once the effect time ended, the increased values would return to normal.
Asagi's group excelled in numbers.
This skill made perfect use of that strength.
Thanks to it, Asagi's group now stood one step above the others in group battles.
However, the Kirihara group showed no signs of trying to recruit her.
It seemed the Kirihara group did not think highly of Asagi.
They had apparently judged it dangerous to take her in.
The Kirihara side was wary of her.
There was that kind of atmosphere.
The Kirihara group had refused to let her join.
Even the goddess seemed to have given up on that.
On the other hand, the door to joining was still open for Ayaka.
Of course, Ayaka had no intention of joining…
Yasuhiro Yasu's group had also grown stronger.
However, it was hard to deny the one-man-show feel centered on Yasu.
Only he, an A-class hero, had grown conspicuously strong.
The other heroes' levels had not risen as much.
It felt like they were slowly leveling up on his leftovers.
In contrast, Ayaka's group distributed experience points and finishing blows as evenly as possible.
"Experience points should be concentrated on Ayaka Sogou."
At first, Kayako Suou, who had become the de facto sub-leader, had proposed that.
But Ayaka had refused.
One person's power was limited.
They should combine their strength.
With those words, Ayaka had rejected the proposal.
As a result, her comrades had also leveled up and learned skills.
What they had learned were common skills.
Common skills were basically skills that any hero could acquire.
They were mainly divided into five categories.
[Attack Type]
[Defense Type]
[Healing Type]
[Ability Enhancement Type]
[Status Abnormality Type]
Skills were unlocked through leveling up.
When unlocked, changes occurred in the skill tree.
Parts of the previously colorless tree gained color.
The higher layers of the tree contained higher-tier skills.
Incidentally, at present, status abnormality-type skills were unusable.
They performed exactly as the goddess had described.
Not only in formulaic skills but apparently even in hero skills, status abnormality types were disadvantaged.
Unique skills, on the other hand, were different in nature from common skills.
Unique skills had their own levels.
They leveled up through use.
As the level rose, their abilities evolved.
"At first I was worried about how things would turn out, but it looks like we can help Ayaka-chan with defense and ability enhancement skills too… You were right, Ayaka-chan."
Minamo Nanno said with relief.
If their role was to use support skills, they did not have to go to the front line.
Ayaka handled the front line alone.
The others protected themselves with defense skills and provided support from the rear.
The rear comrades delivered the finishing blows to monsters driven to the brink of death.
That was currently the Ten River group's combat style.
Everyone was doing well.
(But…)
Ayaka displayed her status.
[Ayaka Sogou]
LV 115
HP: +1390
MP: +2878
Attack: +10983
Defense: +2256
Stamina: +2313
Speed: +1574[+500]
Wisdom: +1450
[Title: S-Class Hero]
Her level had risen quite a bit.
The goddess had adopted a policy of rapidly strengthening the heroes.
The effects were steadily showing.
She had heard that Takuto Kirihara was on the verge of breaking through LV 200.
However, after LV 100, everyone's leveling speed had slowed.
The growth in status numbers had also clearly dulled.
In Ayaka's case, only her [Attack] continued to rise dramatically…
The other stats were clearly growing much more slowly.
One of the boys in Yasu's group had said this the other day:
"Reaching a certain level and then suddenly slowing down feels kinda like MMO level design, doesn't it~"
Ayaka did not know what "MMO" meant.
She did not have a smartphone, so she could not search it.
But the fact that growth had slowed was something everyone felt.
Levels and stats might hit a ceiling somewhere.
(Above all—)
What worried Ayaka more was this.
She displayed the skill information.
She placed a hand over her mouth and stared at it.
Her unique skill still had not been unlocked.
Ayaka was the only S-class hero who had not acquired a unique skill.
The Takao sisters stood apart from the group.
They too had already acquired their unique skills.
All A-class heroes had acquired theirs.
Even Asagi, a B-class hero, had one.
Yet only Ayaka still had no unique skill.
"Are you worried about your skill?"
Perhaps sensing Ayaka's unease.
Kayako Suou spoke to her.
Ayaka forced a smile.
"Y-yes… a little…"
The only front-line fighter in this group was Ayaka Sogou.
(I have to do my best…)
"But you have special tree skills."
"Yeah. That's true, but…"
Special tree.
Ayaka's skill tree was apparently special.
She had no common skills at all.
Instead, she could learn special combat-type skills.
In other words, a tree hyper-specialized in combat.
The fact that she could handle the front line alone was probably thanks to this special tree.
(But compared to the other heroes' unique skills, these special combat skills are undeniably inferior…)
Her anxiety grew.
Death always accompanied battle.
She could not afford to take it easy.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone."
The goddess had arrived.