The next day, Saturday.
Instead of heading to the usual intermediate dungeon, “The Hallway of Lament,” I decided to explore a lower-level dungeon that I had never entered before. This dungeon was called “The Nest.”
Among the lower-level dungeons, “The Nest” stood out for having individual monsters with weaker statistics.
In my current state, I would be able to defeat the weak creatures with a single blow along my journey. And since the amount of experience gained was also scarce, perhaps it didn’t make much sense to come here for some.
For those unfamiliar with its purpose, they would surely raise their eyebrows in disbelief upon learning about it. However, this dungeon had a unique feature: quantity.
Here, there were a greater number of individual monsters than in other lower-level dungeons. It was about quantity over quality.
In the world of <Lovely Sorcerer>, a recurring theme in the player community was the tendency of newcomers to venture into places like “The Nest” because they had heard that the monsters were weak, only to be surrounded and defeated, thus losing energy and wasting a whole day in vain.
When I read these anecdotes in the forums, they amused me. In fact, I had also died in a dungeon at the beginning of my adventure.
But now, as a level 20 Hermes, there was no problem even if I was surrounded by monsters. Although I couldn’t use area magic, I planned to increase my skill in this type of magic here.
This strategy was known even in the forums of my previous life: “In the end, isn’t it useless to venture into a dungeon with poor experience?” But players soon realized its effectiveness.
This place is ideal for increasing skill.
In the case of the protagonist (in this case, myself), to improve skill in a specific area, it is necessary to have combat experience related to that skill.
To increase sword skill, one must fight monsters using the sword, while to increase magic skill, magic must be used against the monsters.
Simply wielding the sword would increase sword skill, and as I confirmed, casting magic on myself would also increase the skill. However, for the sword itself, only combat experience was necessary to raise the skill to the intermediate level, which required a skill level of 100 and a certain number of defeated monsters.
For these reasons, the lower-level dungeon, “The Nest,” was perfect for increasing skill while gaining experience.
As I walked around looking for monsters, many insect-type creatures appeared. Despite having ridiculously low statistics due to being a lower-level dungeon, these weak creatures were generally grouped together in other dungeons. The insectoid monsters that appeared in higher-level dungeons were much more dangerous and could inflict deadly conditions on players.
In the end, I would have to face and defeat those annoying monsters, so it was vital to increase my skill in holy magic as defense.
As I unsheathed my sword, I cast a spell.
“Incineration!”
The magical energy transformed into fire engulfed the monsters rushing towards me, incinerating them.
The insectoid creatures were vulnerable to fire, so it was easy to defeat them with this method and, at the same time, increase my skill in magic.
Although the disadvantage was the short attack range, I could compensate for it by combining the use of the sword and evading.
I continued casting spells until I completely depleted my mana, then waited for it to naturally recover while wielding my sword. This was the most efficient way to increase skill without wasting time.
Mana potions?
I will wait to use them until I have maximized my sword skill. They are expensive, and if I use them too much, my allowance will be depleted.
So, for now, I fought tirelessly using this method.
Until the common event, <Grade Trials>, began.
Time seemed to pass faster than I expected. Especially when you’re having fun, time seems to fly even faster.
During the week, I focused on increasing intelligence and magic skill, while on weekends, I delved into the dungeon. I continued this routine without worries, and before I knew it, the two months leading up to the start of the event passed quickly.
As the exam date approached, my classmates also became more anxious. Thanks to that, I was able to lead a relatively calm and satisfying everyday life, without being interrupted by Lea or Victoria.
And the day of the exam arrived.
After excessively raising skill in all aspects as planned and reaching level 30, I finally faced the common event, <Grade Trials>.
Today, as planned, with all superior-level skills, I faced the event.
Starting today, I cease to be just an attractive supporting character. I will stand out above all and begin my path to glory.
I clenched my fist with determination and prepared to face the first trial, the <Written Exam>.
