endless path, infinite cosmos

chapter 38

After Lili had calmed down, the two began discussing her current strengths and weaknesses. At this point, they were both standing outside the entrance to the second floor, and Vahn needed a better understanding of her current abilities.

"That skill you use to disguise yourself, does it give you any other benefits? And what other skills do you possess?" This is what Vahn was most interested in. From his perspective, the ability to transform was quite powerful, and he even envied it a bit.

"My transformation comes from my magic [Cinder*Ella]. It lets me change into anything of similar size and weight, though I can push the ability to change my size for a short period of time...As for other abilities, I possess a skill called [Artel Assist] which increases my parameters based on the amount of weight I'm carrying, though the buff isn't that great and the weight itself restricts my movement..."

Vahn nodded with his hand to his chin. He was thinking about a way to use the two abilities to their greatest potential in the future...but for now, he should help her strengthen her foundation. Though he couldn't give her the manuals from the system, that didn't prevent him from using the information within his head to offer advice to aid in her growth. For now, he'd teach her the basic CQC (Close Quarters Combat) skills he developed in the forest. Even if they weren't that useful for killing monsters, it would give her the ability to protect herself in the future.

"For now we'll start strengthening your foundation. I know a series of exercises to help increase your familiarity with combat that will also help improve the mobility of your body while increasing your reaction time. We might be able to use your [Artel Assist] to help aid your stamina training, and we'll also practice actual combat. For now, we'll restrict it to the monsters on the upper levels, and then move on to sparring later in the afternoon. What weapons do you prefer?"

Seeing how seriously Vahn was treating the training, Lili began amping herself up for the coming trials. "Yes, Master Vahn! Since I'm a Pallum, I have enhanced vision which allows me to see in the dark so I use a bow to attack monsters from the backline. Though I can use my [Cinder*Ella] to adopt the traits of other races, I haven't used them in combat!"

"Ah, it just so happens that I also use a bow, but it won't be a very practical method to increase your parameters. Even if you can gain the exilia from monsters, it would mainly influence your dex. We'll have to train a method that allows you to increase all of your parameters until you find a combat style that suits you." Vahn was considering purchasing a weapon for Lili, but couldn't think of a good option...

"Master Vahn also uses a bow?" Lili gave him a questioning look since she had only ever seen him use a sword till now.

Hearing her question, Vahn swapped to the bow in his secondary slot. Lili startled seeing the sword disappear while an emerald green bow took its place. "Is that your storage magic? It seems to be very useful if you're able to swap out weapons so quickly."

Vahn nodded while leading the way into the second floor. Since he didn't have a way to explain his storage magic in detail, he wanted to avoid talking about it whenever possible. After a few minutes they came across a group of kobolds, and Vahn quickly loosed three arrows, precisely hitting the core of each monster.

"Ah, that's amazing Master Vahn! You have impeccable aim~" Lili was jumping behind him while cheering loudly.

Vahn shook his head and turned towards her. "Lili, unless we're in the corridors between floors you have to retain your focus. A small lapse in concentration is all it takes to lead to a pitiful end. And you can stop calling me Master. Just call me Vahn. Hearing you praise me while calling me Master worries me for some reason..."

"U-understood...Vahn...sama" Hearing her still address him with 'sama' Vahn let out a sigh. At least it was better than being called 'Master' over and over. Hopefully, she would be able to break the habit on her own in the future.