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 176

Chapter 176: ?Black Princess? is Growing

 

That night, unable to sleep, I went down to the living room and encountered a black-haired woman in a suit, Shino.

 

The clock on the wall showed it was right around midnight.

 

When I asked what brought her out at such a late hour, she explained that she had come to check on Kurono, who had been staying here recently.

 

“…This month has been pretty hectic, and I’m often away for work. I’m grateful that you’re here with Kurono in my place, Sora.”

 

“It’s no problem. Master has work to do. Just leave Kurono’s care to me.”

 

“You’re a real help.”

 

Shino said this with a slight smile.

 

“By the way, Sora, you’re with Arisa right now, aren’t you?”

 

“Yeah, but what about it?”

 

I’ve been updating Shino on the current state of things in ?Astral Online?, including Kurono’s activities. Naturally, this includes information about Arisa, and when Shino first heard about her, she looked somewhat relieved.

 

I don’t know the exact nature of their relationship, but I gathered they’re at least acquaintances.

 

Then she turned her gaze toward me with a look that was somehow nostalgic.

 

“Arisa is strong, isn’t she?”

 

“Yeah, in terms of skill, she’s on par with you, Master. Including her avatar’s strength, she might be the strongest in ?Astral Online? right now.”

 

“I’d expect nothing less. After all, she was both my best friend and my rival.”

 

“Best friend and rival…?”

 

“In middle school, I met her at a small tournament when she was a pro gamer. We played a lot of VR games together after that. Though, more often than not, they were fantasy games because that was her preference rather than competitive ones.”

 

Together, they’d go on adventures, fight monsters, and sometimes even quarrel.

 

Shino mentioned that when they fought in various games, their win-loss record ended up being about fifty-fifty.

 

“When we entered high school, she retired from pro gaming and married Hart or I would say Haruto-san, whom she was dating at the time. Meanwhile, I began training to become a professional in competitive gaming, and we didn’t play together much after that, except for the occasional invitation.”

 

“So you’re saying Master lost her partner to a gu—gah!”

 

A swift chop to the head dropped Sora to her knees.

 

Shino looked slightly irritated.

 

“Well, I did feel a little lonely, but it couldn’t be helped. It would’ve been awkward to invite myself along to play games with her and Haruto.”

 

That would definitely be awkward.

 

And if I had to watch them being all lovey-dovey, it would definitely make me feel out of place.

 

As I sipped my barley tea, Shino let out a sigh and suddenly said,

 

“…Sora, take good care of Kurono.”

 

“Wha—what’s with that all of a sudden?!”

 

I almost choked on my tea but managed to keep it down and asked, but she just muttered, “Clueless disciple,” and walked out of the living room.

 

………………………

 

Currently leading in total damage dealt, Sora’s journey entered its fourth day.

 

Thanks to hunting large monsters over the past few days, my level has reached 85, Kuro’s is 80, Inori’s is 77, and Laura’s is 75. Looking at it now, that’s pretty impressive.

 

We’ve taken down several Level 100 ?King Sharks?, as well as a Level 120 ?Scylla?—a monster with a black upper half of a woman and tentacles for legs.

 

Then, there was a Level 150 ?Charybdis?, a giant sea anemone-like monster with a large mouth.

 

Unlike regular monsters, these are categorized as large bosses, and the experience points earned from defeating them are far greater.

 

Normally, you’d hunt these targets with a full six-member team, but we’re doing it with only five, so the experience per person is higher, and thanks to my “Hero” title, that experience is further boosted.

 

As a result, everyone’s level has increased by 15 in just three days, a record-breaking power-leveling session.

 

Sora thought about how she’d never focused so intensely on hunting monsters before, basking in the virtual sunlight and enjoying a bit of fishing.

 

Why not dive into the sea and fight?

 

The answer was simple: there wasn’t a single enemy in sight today.

 

Maybe we over-hunted.

 

Whenever my ?perception? skill, set to its maximum range, picks up something, the target seems to flee out of range as if escaping this ship.

 

Well, if there’s something like a monster community, we’re definitely on their blacklist.

 

I can just imagine a notice being circulated: ?If you see this ship, run for your lives!?

 

“Ah, it’s a peaceful day.”

 

With such an absurd thought in mind, I reel in another fish, destined to be prepared in the kitchen later, bait the line, and cast it back into the sea.

 

As I relax, I start hearing the sound of metal clashing from behind.

 

Casting a sideways glance while pulling in a fish that looks like a sea bream, I spot the ones making that noise.

 

It seems that fire’s been ignited since that time…

 

Engaged in a duel where the match is decided when HP is halved, are a mother and daughter using black-haired female avatars.

 

That training session began two days ago.

 

They clash repeatedly, wielding spears and one-handed swords.

 

“Hmm, nice sword technique. While Shino’s coaching is excellent, Kuro’s natural talent is also quite obvious.”

 

“Sei!”

 

With a flash of green skill effects, Kuro unleashes a two-hit horizontal strike called ?Dual Nail? with intense focus.

 

Arisa skillfully blocks the swift strikes with her spear.

 

“This isn’t working—then how about this!”

 

With a shout, the girl’s body glows crimson.

 

That’s the ?Martial Artist? profession’s unique skill, ?Battle Spirit Boost?, which enhances stats.

 

She follows up with a combination of the ?Sonic Sword? dash technique and the four-hit combo ?Quad Slash?, unleashing the united skill ?Quad Sonic Sword?.

 

Wielding a sword emitting golden skill effects, Kuro’s movements display astonishing speed.

 

The initial sharp downward slash is dodged, but as Kuro kicks off the ground to accelerate further, she aims an upward slash at Arisa.

 

“Nice!”

 

Though Arisa quickly blocks with her spear, the girl’s momentum, bolstered by ?Battle Spirit Boost? and double acceleration, remains unstoppable.

 

“Haa!”

 

With a shout, Kuro’s energy threw Arisa, who had been blocking, backward.

 

Then, accelerating for a third time, the girl did something unexpected—she threw her sword.

 

“!?”

 

Arisa, surprised, quickly swung her spear and deflected the sword away in a random direction.

 

—Wait, it’s coming right at me!

 

The ?Sword of Dawn? came flying directly toward Sora, who quickly reached out and caught it with both hands, using a blade-catch technique. Sweating profusely, she turned her attention back to the two fighters.

 

Now, what would Kuro do without a weapon?

 

With Sora’s eyes on her, Kuro activated the martial artist’s skill ?Flash Step? to accelerate. She combined her kicking skill ?Dragon Kick? with ?Strike Sword?, creating a united skill, ?Dragon Fang?.

 

Her sharp, steel-booted kick, glowing with a blue effect, struck Arisa’s abdomen with a brilliant flash.

 

Despite having high defense, protective clothing has a major flaw. It offers almost no resistance against blunt attacks.

 

So even with an A rating, its defensive capabilities are almost worthless against impact-based attacks.

 

“Excellent, absolutely perfect!”

 

Arisa grinned fearlessly and activated ?Sonic Step?, a move she’d been holding in reserve. Narrowly dodging Kuro’s kick, she countered with a swift slash of her spear.

 

“Ouch!?”

 

Kuro took the full force of the merciless strike and was thrown onto the deck, with her HP halved.

 

With the match decided, applause and cheers erupted from the sailors and Lucas.

 

“Ugh, I lost again…”

 

“No, without ?Sonic Step?, Arisa-san would’ve lost. That was a really close fight.”

 

Sora approached her partner, who was sitting in frustration, and offered her hand, giving her honest feedback.

 

“Kuro, you’re way stronger than when we fought before. If we fought now, I might lose.”

 

“Really? I’m getting stronger?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Kuro took her hand, stood up, and retrieved the ?Sword of Dawn? that Sora held.

 

“Then, let’s duel, Sora! And if I win, we share the same bed!”

 

Oh, so that’s where this is heading today.

 

Though it wouldn’t yield experience points, it would be good training to practice ?Skill United?.

 

Agreeing, Sora took the bucket full of fish and headed over to Lucas to complete the quest.