Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 103

Chapter 103: The Evolution of Enchanter

 

Sora and the others left the ?Hephaestus Kingdom? and arrived at the western town of Eupheme around noon the next day, after the date had changed.

 

The western town felt similar to Euclia City, another large hot spring town, without any significant differences.

 

If anything, the only noteworthy feature was that several simple footbaths were freely available in various locations.

 

According to the description written on the signs, soaking for just three minutes would cure all status ailments and restore about 500 HP.

 

Judging from the information, it seemed like MP wouldn’t be recovered.

 

However, it appeared that when adventurers used this town as a base, the footbaths would be quite convenient for conserving recovery items.

 

With that in mind, Sora quickly tapped the empty air, bringing up the menu screen. Switching to the message screen, he swiftly typed out a message and sent it in bulk to his friends.

 

After finishing that task, he took a moment to observe his surroundings once again.

 

The main street was bustling with people, and various stalls had been set up, adding to the lively atmosphere.

 

From what he could see, the expressions of the dragonfolk residents were bright, with no one looking gloomy.

 

At a glance, it didn’t seem like any incidents had occurred here.

 

Since the soldiers hadn’t returned, he had assumed the situation was dire, but now, seeing the peaceful daily life of the villagers, he was slightly confused.

 

Could it have been a false report?

 

While pondering such thoughts, Sora stepped down from the royal carriage they had used. After the long journey, he stretched out his arms and legs, which felt stiff from tension.

 

Of course, in the game, there’s no way the avatar’s body could actually become stiff.

 

This was a little trick commonly used by VR players to reduce the unconscious mental stress they accumulated.

 

Letting out a small sigh, Sora glanced over at Kuro, who was also stretching in a similar manner.

 

“Ah, we fought and fought, and kept fighting!”

 

“It was an intense journey,” Kuro replied.

 

“Thanks to that, our levels shot up,” Sora added cheerfully.

 

Unlike the upbeat Sora, Kuro and Alice seemed exhausted from the constant battles with monsters along the way. On the other hand, Satanas, who was clinging to Alice’s arm and hiding their skin with a red poncho, was as cheerful as ever, smiling brightly.

 

On the way here, we were attacked around ten times by two Lesser Dragons, which seemed to be targeting Satanas, and about five times by a Greater Dragon. We managed to repel all of them.

 

Thanks to the large amount of experience points we gained from the monsters, Sora’s level increased from 51 to 55, and Kuro’s from 46 to 50.

 

Normally, even with leveling up, we’d only gain about two levels, but the fact that we went up by four was due to my title, which boosts experience points.

 

As a result of this benefit, Alice also reached level 50, making the entire party quite formidable with all three of us over level 50.

 

By the way, I used all the skill points I earned from leveling up on the ?Enchanter? profession, and my skill level increased to 87.

 

Here are the “enchantment skills” that were enhanced due to the skill level increase:

 

The basic enhancement skills for ?Lightning?, ?Light?, and ?Dark? attributes, along with ?Attack Power Boost? and ?Defense Power Boost?, all went from level 3 to level 4.

 

At level 4, unlike level 3, the enchanted effects now grant various additional benefits while active.

 

According to the support system ?Lucifel?:

 

?This time, the basic status of enhancement skills, unlike the elemental ones, can be stacked on yourself, allowing you to use both attack and defense skills simultaneously.?

 

“No way,” I muttered.

 

Trusting the information provided, I tried drinking a magic potion and stacking ?Defense Power Boost Enchantment IV? on myself ten times. As a result, two new skills were added to my defense skill set.

 

Stacking it five times creates a thin shield-like barrier around the body, greatly reducing incoming damage for ten minutes, known as ?Protect Call?.

 

And by stacking it ten times, I unlocked ?Perfect Protect Call?, which nullifies damage from a single attack.

 

However, due to its powerful effect, the cooldown time is an exceptionally long two hours, making it nearly impossible to use twice, even in long-lasting battles against large raid bosses.

 

But being able to completely nullify damage, even just once, is incredibly valuable when it comes to blocking a powerful enemy attack.

 

I’m eager to try out this new defense skill.

 

Like a child excited with a new toy, Sora’s eyes sparkled as he turned to the black-haired girl beside him and made a request.

 

“Kuro, I’m sorry, but I’m going to request a ‘full settlement’?Duel?. Can you unleash your ?Strike Sword? at me with everything you’ve got?”

 

“Huh? Why?”

 

“I just unlocked a new enchantment skill and I want to test it. If you don’t want to, I can ask Alice instead.”

 

“Well… alright.”

 

Sora opened the menu and initiated a ?Duel? for a full settlement.

 

Kuro accepted, drew her ?Sword of Dawn? from her waist, and assumed a thrusting stance.

 

Sora recalled that the last time they had faced each other like this was during their first meeting, in a ?Duel? for a half-settlement.

 

Looking at her now, her strength had increased significantly since that time.

 

Kuro’s intense aura, revealing her seriousness, crackled in the air, stimulating Sora’s skin. It seemed she never held back, no matter the situation.

 

“Here I go… You probably won’t have any HP left after this,” Kuro warned.

 

“It’s fine. I won’t take any damage, so don’t hold back,” Sora reassured her.

 

“Hmm, don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

 

Kuro puffed her cheeks slightly in response to Sora’s provocation. Then, she swung her body forward and stomped the ground forcefully with her right foot.

 

She channeled all the energy generated into the sword in her right hand.

 

Her form was so perfect that Sora found himself captivated for a moment. With a graceful motion, the black-haired girl thrust her radiant lavender sword straight at him.

 

Skill activated—?Perfect Protect Call?.

 

Timing it perfectly, Sora activated his advanced defense skill. A yellow shield icon appeared below his HP gauge.

 

As a golden light enveloped his body, Kuro’s blue-glowing blade pierced toward his chest without hesitation.

 

Alice and Satanas gasped, eyes wide in shock at the full-force thrust Kuro had unleashed without holding back.

 

The villagers who witnessed it screamed in panic.

 

Normally, receiving such a refined technique to the chest would completely obliterate Sora’s HP with nothing left.

 

But that didn’t happen.

 

“…What!?”

 

The defense skill Sora activated intercepted Kuro’s powerful strike just before it could pierce his chest, sending her and her sword flying backward.

 

Kuro, who landed on her backside, was utterly shocked. “Whaaat!?”

 

With a broad smile, Sora celebrated the success of his experiment.

 

As he approached the stunned Kuro, he called for a pause in the ?Duel? and extended his hand to help her up.

 

“Wow, so by stacking the same enchantment five times, I can use intermediate skills, and by stacking it ten times, I unlock advanced skills. Enchantment skills really run deep!”

 

“Watching you makes me think ?Enchanter? is a pretty strong profession…” Kuro replied.

 

“The top-ranked adventurers are around level 45 now, right? At that point, they’d have 450 skill points, making their skill level about 22. Meanwhile, mine is 87, almost four times higher, so it might not be fair to compare me with a typical ?Enchanter?,” Sora said with a smile.

 

Yeah, Sora thought to himself. It’s crazy that thanks to the Demon Lord’s curse, my skill points are quadrupled. If someone calls me a cheater, I wouldn’t have much to say in defense.

 

Kuro, hearing about Sora’s absurd skill level, tapped the ?Duel? pause button with a somewhat bewildered expression.

 

“Well, now that I’ve confirmed what I needed, let’s get back to the quest.”

 

“Y-Yeah.”

 

Thanks to their ?Duel?, a crowd had gathered around them. Sora approached a nearby dragonkin man and asked what had happened to the soldiers sent by the kingdom. The man explained that they had gone to defeat the ?Skeleton King? in the mining area, but they had returned gravely injured.

 

The soldiers were currently recovering at an inn and were unable to move.

 

As soon as Sora finished gathering this information, the quest log updated.

 

A new task appeared in the window: the defeat of the ?Skeleton King? in the mining area.

 

“Ugh, that guy again,” Sora sighed.

 

Defeating it this time would likely reward him with the second “Dragon Jewel”. However, unlike their previous battle, there would be no soldiers to support them.

 

Leaving Satanas at the inn wasn’t an option, and with her being a potential target for monsters, they needed to be extra careful.

 

‘…In that case, it might be best for the others to focus on guarding Satanas while I take on the skeletons solo,’ Sora thought.

 

Luckily, with his enchantment skills, he could buff himself individually. Plus, having learned the ?Skeleton King?’s attack patterns from their last fight, he was confident he could handle the fight alone.

 

Sora glanced at the other three and said, “Let’s take a break. After we rest and talk to the soldiers, we’ll head to the mine.”

 

“Roger that!”

 

“Got it.”

 

“I want to try the foot bath!” The youngest member, Satanas, exclaimed with enthusiasm.

 

With her eager request as their next priority, the group set off to relax and prepare for the challenge ahead.