Martial art master Shadyna has finally taken in students!

_ Fensen: *Pouts* is really the worst!!! How could he abandon his cute little cousin like this!!!

I have a nagging feeling that cute little girls don't call themselves that…

_ Poltea: P…please calm down, F…. He can't look after us all the time…

_ Fensen: But still…!

_ Shadyna: There there, his party is high level. Once you have leveled up a bit…

Ah, the mischievous smirk of a person planning something bad. This crossbow girl has it in her huh.

_ Fensen: , please teach us secret techniques! We will become stronger than and make him regret his decision!

The typical revenge plan of a kid?!

_ Poltea: Sorry about her behavior. is not the type to think before acting…

That sounds about right. is probably the type that has to do the thinking in her stead.

…Aren't their roles reversed in that case? Shouldn't the swordgirl be the thoughtless one?!

_ Shadyna: Don't mind~ But I need to know your capabilities first. Let's see…

Giant rat spotted~ It has been a while, not-first-encounter!

_ Shadyna: Defeat that rat in whatever way you see fit~

_ Fensen: Roger~ Let's go~

_ Poltea: W-wait for me!

The ranged attacker ran ahead. Welp.

…

I have a vague idea why could not keep these girls in his party. Or rather, why would be against it, knowing his obsession with optimal plays…

First, these girls' movements are sluggish. They are not slow (for their current SPD) thanks to Sateri's processing, but they have a hard time reacting to the environment.

Second, they aren't really coordinating with each other apart from basic communication to avoid friendly fire.

And worst of all, they panic if HP gets a bit low.

…Aren't these girls more suitable for peaceful playstyles? Crafting skills say hello~?

_ Shadyna: , , are you elementary students?

_ Fensen: Eh? How did you know? Are you a psychic?!

No, just deducting from your behaviors. I'll take that as a yes.

In that case, they won't be able to do complex tactics. They are too young and inexperienced. However, they are more than capable of gaining combat experience.

Once they are more battle-hardened, most problems will go away. But until then, it's best to let them be a one-trick pony that does one good thing first, so they can at least take care of themselves when both and I are not around.

If possible, I'll entrust them to Hessy when I'm offline. is a bad guy for abandoning these cute girls!

_ Shadyna: Okay, I'll teach you a secret technique.

_ Fensen: She's back~

_ Poltea: Welcome back, .

Eh, was I daydreaming that long? That can't be, right?

_ Fensen: What technique are we learning? Will it destroy the city in one strike?!

Who the heck has been teaching you those things?!

_ Shadyna: No, not at this level.

_ Poltea: *Mumbles* She's not denying it…

Little details!

_ Shadyna: Because you started together, it's obviously going to be a combined attack!

_ Fensen: Oh~

_ Shadyna: So, let's do some math.

_ Fensen: GYA!!! I have been tricked!!!

Begin evil laugh~! Just kidding. I'll be the one doing math. They need to provide me the variables though. It seems that math was, is and always will be the bane of students.

_ Poltea: I-I'll do my best!

_ Shadyna: [Creation]! , after firing your crossbow, switch to this one and shoot again as fast as you can manage. , hold these. Run as fast as possible and throw them one at a time. Do not stop.

I gave another crossbow, and a bunch of throwing knives. Technically it's fine for to use the same one, but reloading time is so variable it's better to just switch weapons.

_ Fensen: Here I go~!

_ Poltea: W-wait!!!

is really having it rough huh. What are the chances that she was dragged here by in real life?

…

After getting their reaction time, I can calculate the timings for what's next to come.

_ Fensen: Like this?

_ Shadyna: Yes. You need to fire at this exact angle.

_ Fensen: This is hard…

_ Shadyna: Well, please practice for a bit. Your muscles will remember it for you.

I teach her to shoot at different angles so the bolts land at the same time. It is to minimize the evasion chance of creatures as long as it's not aggressive.

As for , she's practicing throwing a dagger in an arc while running. For now I'll have her throw just one then engage in melee. The objective is the same, to have the dagger land as she does the first hit on the enemy.

If successful, they'll be able to double their damage output in the alpha strike, assuming the creature is passive. It's a one-time trick, really.

_ Shadyna: Please stand at this line as you practice. If it goes right both of you should hit the target at the same time.

_ Fensen: An attack powered by friendship!

More like powered by mathematics, but I won't ruin her mood so let's keep silent.

_ Poltea: That sounds a bit embarrassing…

Drawing an X on the ground where the target is supposedly, I let the girls practice. Knowing children, I think they will work hard for about 15 minutes before something weird happens.

Meanwhile, let's check my new toys. I got a few titles yesterday after defeating the mask, but didn't have time to check them out.

Quite a few, in fact.

---

[Character information]

[Name]: Shadyna

[Race]: Halfblood (Elf - Treant)

[Gender]: Female

[Age]: 13

[Level]: 10

[Profession]: Particle lolider

[Status]:

- HP: ========== (13262/13262) (8462+4800)

- MP: ========== (12651/12651) (12651+0)

- PAT: 4196 (4196+0)

- PSP: 296 (168+128)

- PDF: 9060 (5060+4000)

- MAT: 5863 (5863+0)

- MSP: 251 (168+83)

- MDF: 11541 (6741+4800)

- SPD: 714 (429+285)

[Attributes]:

- STR: 835 (6+829)

- DEX: 842 (7+835)

- CON: 842 (4+838)

- LDR: 838 (6+832)

- FOC: 828 (5+823)

- WIT: 833 (4+829)

- MEN: 845 (7+838)

- LCK: 843 (5+838)

[Equipment]:

- Head:

+ Flower of Eternal Blossom (Masterwork)

+ Midae Blossom Haipin (Excellent)

+ Necklace of Azure Star (Excellent)

+ Light of Azure Star (Excellent)

- Body:

+ Draconic Scaled Vest (Excellent)

+ Silk Camisole of Feather (Excellent)

+ Protective Rune of Blood Steel (Excellent)

+ Offensive Rune of Lightning Strikes (Excellent)

+ Draconic Scaled Hotpants (Excellent)

+ Windy Wings (Excellent)

- Arms:

+ Draconic Scaled Gloves (Excellent)

+ Light Gauntlet of Material (Left) (Excellent)

+ Light Gauntlet of Elemental (Right) (Excellent)

+ Vallen Ring of Blood Moon (Cosmetic)

- Legs:

+ Draconic Scaled Boots (Excellent)

+ Absolute Socks of Blitz (Left) (Excellent)

+ Trails of Afterimages (Excellent)

[Skills - Active]:

- Inspect

- Cheer

- Shared Fate

- Refinery

- Mass Refinery

- Creation

- Field Creation

- Leap

- Elemental Bolt

- Piercing Arrow

- Recall

- Teleport

- Silent Cast

- Minor Heal

- Resurrect

[Skills - Passive]:

- Accelerate Power

- Cell Revitalization

- Elemental Resistance

- Detect Presence

[Titles]:

- Unstopping Hero

- Absolute Zero (760)

- Pacifist (2): Walk the path of non-violence. Removed on harming others. Strengthen blessings of the Goddess.

- Beast Tamer Origin

- At-will Beast User (1)

- Against All Odds (43)

- Ancient Rune Artist Origin

- Arcane Maestro Origin

- Mancannon

- Tenri Yassel Subduer: The one who proved capability of mortals to . Effects depend on 's judgement. Effect: Grant divine power to all attacks and increase beneficial magic effects on others.

- Celestial Trickster: The one who deceived divine beings. Nullify all divine surveillance. Increase damage against unaware targets. was blissfully ignorant.

- Purity of Innocence: The one who received judgement from . Reduce damage received from divine attacks. Friend to all but the most aggressive creatures.

- Goddess Lover: The weirdo who loves the Goddess too literally. Even the Goddess has no idea what to do with this individual. Grant bonuses depending on tributes to the Goddess.

- Goddess Corrupter: The one who committed treacherous acts against the Goddess. Grant effects depending on heresy against the Goddess.

- Halfblood (Racial)

---

My attributes increased ten folds again… The snowball cannot be stopped. Powerful, aren't you, [Absolute Zero]…

[Against All Odds] ramped up significantly. Since I was level 7 when I fought the weird mask, doesn't this mean it was around level 50? Why is that thing even allowed when the level cap is 20, Sateri?!

[Inspect Resistance] and [Beast Empathy] are gone. Did they get merged into a title or something? The merged effect is probably better as there's no skill to improve further.

I am not going to bother with [Field Creation].

[Field] crafting skills do not get penalty when there's no furniture, but they do not get furniture bonus either. It is simply useless for me who has portable furniture as equipment.

If only there's a way to feed useless skills to [Absolute Zero]~

Now, to the titles.

[Aspiring Pacifist] has evolved into [Pacifist]. Looks like it is giving me 2 attribute points per category as well. It may not be much, but certainly counts when it comes to [Absolute Zero]. Nice~

[Tenri Yassel Subduer]… Divine power? I can deal with corruption now! Not sure how that will help, but why didn't you give me divine attacks BEFORE the fight against the eyes, Sateri?! Are you a fan of vicious cycles?!

The magic effects part probably refers to buffs. I am currently not much of a support apart from LDR bonus and [Cheer]. Let's look into buff skills later, un.

What is with the [Celestial Trickster]? I didn't do anything that "tricked" the boss, did I? The mask was even referred, so I must have done something to it unknowingly. Sneak attack is alright. What is "Divine surveillance" anyway? [Inspect] and such? Is that why [Inspect Resistance] is gone?

Now this is a title befitting a cute young innocent girl like me~: [Purity of Innocence]. First it's divine attack, now it's defense. Should I be hoping not to get more weakness to darkness…? Because overly specialization into divinity more often than not has that problem.

[Beast Empathy] probably got merged with this one. Pretty sure of it.

…Wait a minute, combined with [Celestial Trickster], doesn't this imply something really nasty?! Damn it, Sateri, you totally planned for this didn't you?!

Which part of my totally pure innocence was tricking the mask though…?

[Goddess Lover]… Who are you calling a weirdo, Sateri?! Did you have a sanity slippage while making this title?! For now, I'll just accept your mutual love and assume the unaccounted attributes in [Absolute Zero] are from this one.

She really knows how to screw me over huh. There's no way I can ask because of this title's description!!!

The last one, [Goddess Corrupter]. Un, Sateri is holding a grudge, confirmed. She wasn't amused when I made her receive the ring as compensation for nerfing [Accelerate Power], I would wager. What are its effects though?

As I scroll and flip through the menus, I see it.

A glowing dim light with the same corruption texture on the mask on my wedding (?) ring. It wasn't there when I crafted the item. In the first place, its main category is [Armor], so it shouldn't have the glow from the runes.

…She's the one doing the corrupting, not me!!!

For now I don't see anything weird (apart from my attributes), and just like the other title, I cannot ask someone with high [Inspect] without giving away my dignity. Oh well…

_ Poltea: She's back.

_ Fensen: Hiyo, ~

Did I daydream for too long again?!

_ Shadyna: Sorry, I was checking my status a bit~

_ Fensen: said you were good, but how good, exactly?

Un, they probably do not have [Inspect] to peep on my status like . Otherwise may be screaming in excitement already.

_ Poltea: is glowing, so… very good? doesn't glow as much…

Is that how you gauge others' strength?!

_ Shadyna: The glow is from my runes. If you fill all the slots you will glow like me.

_ Fensen: Runes, so cool~!

_ Shadyna: Did you finish training?

Looking at the clock, it's been 15 minutes indeed.

_ Fensen: Un! We hit at the same time… mostly.

I can notice that stutter you know~ Is that genetic in the family?

_ Shadyna: Very well~ Let's see~

Another giant rat, spotted~

Drawing a line using it as the target, I have the girls get ready.

_ Shadyna: Now unleash your new power against that one!

And hope it doesn't move before you can hit it, but I will keep silent to avoid pressuring them!

_ Fensen: Roger~! Ready, ?

_ Poltea: U-un! On my mark…

Oh, they even formed their own cooperative tactics!

_ Poltea: Now!

_ Fensen: Fire~

Since is the main point of failure, as she needs to close in on the enemies, having her giving the signal is a good idea.

That and is seemingly bad at math too.

*WHACK*

A perfect attack on the first (real) try! The bolts, dagger, and hit the rat at the same time. Oh, it dies immediately, since I made the crossbow with decent materials. Muahahahaha!

…Didn't even check the crossbow's stats, whoops.

[A player has successfully discovered multi-weapon wielding technique. Rewards have been sent. Congratulations.]

…What?

Why is that a thing? Hessy was using dual swords right? Why is that message appearing now?

_ Fensen: ~, do you know what [Weapon Slinger Origin] means?

_ Poltea: Ah, I got it as well, and [Time on Target].

…It was you two?!

[Multi-weapon Wield: Wield multiple weapons at the same time. Reserve mana per weapon.]

[Weapon Slinger Origin: The pioneer of multi-weapon wielding. Increase maximum weapon count. Grant damage bonus depending on number of equipped weapons.]

[Time on Target: The one who destroys enemies with carefully calculated tactics. Grant .]

[Alpha Strike Power: Devastating first strike against enemies. Increase damage based on skill level, number of attacks and participating attackers.]

…Multi-weapon thingy aside, what the heck is that [Alpha Strike Power]!?

I know, [Time on Target] was exactly what they were doing: Timing shots so they land at the same time. Still, what the heck is that OP-like skill, Sateri!!!

It may even be on par with my [Accelerate Power], and there are two of them!!!

Why was it triggered? In a big boss fight an alpha strike is almost inevitable. Is timing those attacks part of the condition? And you need more than one player participating? Otherwise, Gelly would have triggered it with its attack and [Alchemy] combined assault!

This… isn't my fault, right?

_ Fensen: I don't really get it, but these titles and skills sound cool!

_ Poltea: Does that mean if we do this combined attack all the time, our damage is higher…?

' teahouse. We will gladly buy that information at premium price. Actually, what the hell did you do this time, Illusive Sprout?!>

_ Hessy (PM): Should I even bother asking, ?

_ Shadyna (PM): It's not me this time!

_ Hessy (PM): Oh?

_ Shadyna (PM): Sorry, I am kind of related to it. But I did not get that one!!!

_ Hessy (PM): It's totally your fault isn't it?!

My reputation is all ruined~

_ Fensen: , should we go to the teahouse? Someone called for us.

_ Shadyna: Uhm, you don't have to.

Besides, I would rather not let these girls go near as long as I can help it.

_ Poltea: They mentioned "Illusive Sprout", not us… I think…

_ Shadyna: They called for you, really. That is my nickname among the players I think?

_ Poltea: Earning a nickname…

Why are your eyes sparkling?! Do you want to be called a Particle Lolider that much?!

_ Shadyna: Usually they just want to ask how you unlock the skills and titles. Should we try those out first?

_ Fensen: Sure~!

_ Poltea: More skills and titles means getting a nickname…

Again, girl, are you sure you want that?

_ Shadyna: [Creation]!!!

…

_ Fensen: It replaced the first one.

_ Shadyna: I see, so it's 7 in total.

…Sateri, there's definitely something wrong with a player being able to equip 7 weapons at the same time, no matter how you look at it. Did you not learn your lesson after [Accelerate Power]?

We gave multi-weapon wielding a try. When you wield multiple weapons, they do not appear in your hand but float around you like ghosts. was turning a bit blue when she first saw it.

The image of having a squadron's worth of crossbows around her is somewhat… off. I will make her a different weapon later.

In contrast, 's sword spam is beautiful. She seems to be against having so many sharp edges around her though, so I'll have to do something about that as well.

As for its mechanics, each weapon uses its own damage and attack speed. All the bonus attributes and status are only applied when it is used. Otherwise the bonus of the first weapon is applied when idle. Individual attack speed is roughly half that of a single weapon, I think.

In addition, each additional weapon equipped takes away 50% of their MP. Not 5%, but 50%. The two are already at 0 MP after the third weapon!

There's already an abuse though. Using their tactics, it turns out the applied bonuses are not exclusive. If they use all weapons at the same time, all the bonuses are added.

7 times the PAT and STR of weapon is no joke. The trigger condition is just as annoying as my [Accelerate Power] still. It's not like you can hit at the same time all the time in the middle of combat, and slow weapons' speed might hinder your defense.

In other words, these two are specialized first hitters and giant killers as that's how they can get perfect alpha strikes.

_ Fensen: I feel like we can take on everything!

_ Poltea: , please don't be reckless…

One day, I'll have to break it to them that rather than "take on", they probably will "one-shot" everything in their range. They have to do that without using MP however…

But today is not that day. I want to make them even stronger first.

_ Shadyna: Should we go back to town?

_ Fensen: Fueh?

_ Shadyna: You still need more skills to survive, and supplies too. After that we will go on a hunt to grind crafting materials. That way I can make stronger weapons for you.

To be honest, I'm terrified just thinking about the coming crafting session. 7 weapons and 16 armor pieces for each girl. Without a good hunt there's no way my material storage can last.

…Actually, my storage will last, but the dent will be painful to look at!

____________

_ Torenis: Is this mutiny?

_ Inerin: I was recruited to tend the tavern, not to fight bosses. Please ask someone else.

_ Inerin (Party): Mera, is it done yet? is harassing me.

_ Mera (Party): Oh my~ Did he develop sixth sense? Ju~st a bit more time, please~ Only a little furnishing left.

_ Inerin (Party): Hurry up will you?

_ Sulien (Party): Really sorry about that. All because of stupid …

The atmosphere in the tavern is tense. Everyone holds virtual breath to witness an internal quarrel between the guildmaster and the well-respected waitress. Most are rooting for the waitress, but saying that out loud will ruin the mood so everyone is keeping their mouths shut.

_ Torenis: Listen here. You are a member. You are obliged to help the guild prosper. Did I make myself clear?

For a moment, the patrons think they saw blue veins popping on the waitress's head, despite them being in a virtual world.

_ Inerin: Sure, keeping your treasury afloat is somehow not doing my job. I am not interested. You have many capable players, ask them. Or find that multi-weapon wielder and recruit them to your cause.

_ Mera (Party): And~ done~

_ Hessy (Party): I feel sorry for and , but they chose this themselves.

_ Sulien (Party): Let us begin then! Service workers, rise!!!

_ Torenis: You… Are you intentionally picking a fight with me?

Despite valiant efforts to keep up the calm and composed appearance, it was obvious to everyone that the guildmaster is losing his cool.

_ Inerin: Honestly speaking? I was tending to the store, then you showed up and tried to force me out. Shouldn't I be the angry one in this case?

_ Torenis: …Fine. You are relieved of all duties. Pack up your items and leave in 10 minutes.

_ Warrior: What the heck, dude?! First , how you are kicking too?!

The crowd no longer stands idle as they realize is removing from the guild. leaving was a big loss. They are not going to lose another beautiful waitress without a fight!

_ Torenis: Silence. This is my guild's property. I can remove all of you from the premise if I want to.

_ Mage: We are not coming back anyway! You treat your best members like they are expendables!

_ Inerin: Everyone… This is indeed 's property, so has a point.

Pulling out a small wooden sign, the waitress smiles, as if waiting for this moment all along.

_ Inerin: Therefore, the waitress corps will officially move to a new home. I am looking forward to your support once more.

The sign is the address to the new place. Of course it will be hard to put it around the area, considering this place is under control of . However, is giving extra pettiness as last service for her ungrateful guildmaster.

_ Everyone: Eh? OOOHHHH!!!

For these patrons, it is simple. They are where the corps is. Too simple in fact, but there's nothing the waitresses can do about it.

Outside, and are having a good laugh at 's dumbfounded face. They came here just for it after all!

_ Maximus: After what did, he still couldn't realize he had no leverage against the waitresses! Oh the arrogance…

_ Olkan: Now my bar finally has a chance! Hold on, I have a mail…

Reading the incoming mail, loses all color on his face before letting out a sky-piercing scream.

_ Maximus: What the heck, dude?

_ Olkan: My bar!!!

And it looks like something has also happened to .