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 104
Chapter 104: Support System
The ?Eupheme? mining area, like the royal capital, was located underground, and dragonkin soldiers stood guard at the entrance to ensure that the monsters that appeared inside didn’t make their way into the city.
We showed the ring we received from the Dragon King, and with little fuss, were granted permission to enter.
Sora, leading the way through the narrow entrance, found the interior of the mine to be dimly lit. Unlike the capital’s underground, there were hardly any lights. The weak glow from scattered lanterns along the corridor cast an eerie atmosphere over the party.
Judging by the width of the space, it was large enough for three adults to walk side by side.
Although one would need to be cautious of the walls, there was still enough room for a single person to swing their sword without much trouble. However, if two people attacked simultaneously, there was a high risk of friendly fire, a situation Sora wanted to avoid.
While spreading his ?Perception? skill, limited to a five-meter radius due to a special map effect, Sora opened the window screen. Displayed in front of him was the map they had received from the kingdom’s soldiers, who had rested at the inn before their arrival.
“Hmm…”
After a quick glance, Sora felt a bit disappointed. The dungeon’s layout was quite simple.
There were a few branching paths, but all had already been mapped out by the soldiers. By following the map, they could easily reach the wide area where the ?Skeleton King? appeared without getting lost.
The reason for his disappointment was that the map lacked any treasure chest markers. The excitement of opening treasure chests—one of the best parts of any dungeon crawl—was missing. From a game perspective, that was a major letdown.
Sora’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.
Just then, a cold, mechanical voice of a girl echoed in his mind.
?Master, I can navigate for you without the need to open the map.?
The voice belonged to ?Lucifel?, the support system. It seemed unusually eager. Curious, Sora mentally asked why it had suddenly spoken up.
?Master doesn’t rely on me, so I’ve decided that if I don’t proactively step in, I’ll never get my turn,? Lucifer announced, with a tone that made Sora tilt his head, wondering, “Was the support system always this eager?”
Well, it wasn’t exactly safe to keep opening the map while walking, so if she could guide him verbally, it would be a huge help.
When Sora told her to handle it, ?Lucifel? responded with a slightly happier tone, ?Understood, Master.?
A support system that’s pleased to be given work… what an odd thing.
?Lucifel? was, at this point, a unique support system that only Sora possessed. When he asked Kuro, who also had the unique skill ?Raphael?, she confirmed that her support system hadn’t changed from its original form. This meant that, among all adventurers, Sora alone had access to this special supporter.
As Sora walked down the dimly lit path, he pondered over this AI. The name ?Lucifel? was that of the Archangel in ?Astral Online?, and it held a special significance for the inhabitants of this world.
Bearing such a name suggested that this support system might be the archangel who was defeated by the Demon Lord—or at least someone with a deep connection to that angel.
Curious, Sora asked ?Lucifel? about this in his mind, but her mechanical reply was, ?Unable to answer.? Even when he pushed for more details, she repeated the same response.
Hmm.
Suspicious as it was, it was hard to tell if his question hit the mark or completely missed it based on that reaction.
For now, Sora decided to put the mystery on hold and let ?Lucifel? guide them. Leading from the front, he navigated his party through the mine.
After walking for a while, his ?Perception II? skill picked up five skeleton warriors armed with spears.
Their levels were all at 50.
In terms of strength, they were definitely a tier above the skeletons they had encountered in the capital’s underground.
Luckily, it seemed the enemies hadn’t noticed them yet. However, if the skeletons readied their spears in this narrow corridor, it would make the fight quite troublesome. Worse still, if the enemy used skill attacks, there was a high risk that Satanas, at the back, could get caught in the crossfire.
Sora began to think about the best way to handle this situation.
After thinking for a moment, Sora reached his usual conclusion: when things get troublesome, the best solution is a solo charge and striking first.
He held up his left hand to stop the three behind him and instructed Kuro and Alice to guard Satanas.
Before the enemies could notice, Sora drew his magic sword and dashed forward. Without hesitation, he activated the newly added intermediate enhancement skill, ?Strength?, from his five slots dedicated to ?Attack Power Boost Enchantment IV?.
Along with the increase in attack power, he also selected the elemental attack skill ?Light Attribute Enchantment IV?, which he had recently acquired.
“Hah!”
As Sora sprinted forward, sword ready, he charged at the skeleton soldiers in front of him. The shining effect of his sword alerted the enemies, but by the time they reacted, it was already too late.
With mechanical precision, Sora turned himself into a sharp blade.
Moving at a speed even Kuro couldn’t follow, the silver swordsman bisected the first skeleton with ?Light Sonic Sword V?, cleaving its torso in two.
Thanks to the increased attack power and elemental boost combined with Sora’s technique, the enemy’s HP dropped to zero in a single blow.
Before the first skeleton dispersed into mist, Sora stopped his swing and immediately began ?Light Quad Slash III?, accelerating even further.
He cut down the second enemy with a diagonal slash as he ran, dodged a spear attack from the third with ?Sonic Step? to the right, then dispatched the third skeleton with a reverse diagonal slash as it thrust its spear. Changing his grip, he brought down the fourth skeleton with a left-handed slash.
The final skeleton tried to activate its skill, ?Sonic Lance III?, but Sora tilted his head just enough to narrowly dodge the attack.
Simultaneously, he canceled the remaining hits of his four-hit combo, changing the last strike to ?Light Strike Sword V?. With a sharp thrust, he drove the blade deep into the skeleton’s torso.
The ?Skeleton Warrior? dissolved into particles of light as its HP hit zero.
Silence returned to the area.
Sora gained a decent amount of experience points and El from the skeletons that turned into light particles.
“Well, let’s keep moving,” Sora said with a smile, turning around as if nothing had happened.
But for some reason, he was met by two stunned girls and a very excited Satanas, who was cheering, “Sora-sama, you’re so cool!”
What was up with the two?
Curious, Sora asked, and Kuro, nervously rubbing her index fingers together, hesitantly answered.
“S-Sora… you’ve been really intense during battles since yesterday… like, terrifyingly so…”
“To be honest, you had a really scary look on your face.”
When Kuro and Alice spoke their thoughts so bluntly and directly, I couldn’t help but let out a silly ‘Ah’ as I recognized the situation all too well.
‘Intense’ might be the right way to describe it.
In the past, when I played ?Sky Fantasy? with my old group, they used to say I turned into a demon when I was fully focused.
Right now, I’m honing my technique and movements to sharpen myself after getting a bit complacent.
My main goal is to push my abilities beyond what they’ve been before.
But from the outside, it seems like I’m coming off as tense, and it’s not surprising that some people might find my current demeanor scary.
Still, if Kuro says I was *intense*, my face must’ve been pretty bad.
“Hmm, was I really that bad?” I asked.
“Yes. In the eastern wastelands, there’s a terrifying and powerful race called the Oni that have horns different from us dragonkin. Your expression reminded me of them.”
Dragonkin horns grow backward, but from the way she describes it, the Oni’s horns must grow differently, and based on the name, I assume they’re some kind of demon race.
Being compared to an Oni? That’s pretty serious.
At least, if these two are pointing it out, I must’ve been really out of sorts.
As I was lost in thought, Alice suddenly deactivated her armor and, dressed only in her simple clothes, tightly embraced me.
The softness unique to a woman pressed against me, and my heart—still that of a young boy—started pounding wildly.
W-W-What the heck is happening?!
Surprised, I blinked rapidly in disbelief. The dragon princess, who was now hugging me, spoke gently.
“Sora-sama, you can’t carry everything on your own.”
“Alice…”
Feeling the warmth of the girl so directly, I couldn’t help but become a bit emotional.
Seeing this, Kuro couldn’t hold back and deactivated her armor as well, joining the hug from behind.
“Ugh, Alice, that’s not fair! I want to hug Sora too!”
“Satanas will too!”
Even though we were in a dungeon, an absurd scene unfolded, with three girls hugging me at once.
I thought to myself, ‘What will you do if monsters appear?!’ but fortunately, my ?Perception II? skills showed no reaction at all.
Was this because the monsters were reading the mood, or was it a game mechanic that encounters wouldn’t happen unless we progressed further?
As I struggled to figure out how to escape this situation, the support system, ?Lucifel?, chimed in with a suggestion.
?Master, let’s take a deep breath. The breathing technique ‘Hee-hee-hoo’ is supposed to be very calming.?
This support system… utterly useless advice.
I could only look up at the dungeon ceiling in exasperation.