CH 227

I then decided to try again to find and fight ghouls.

While making sure there were no other adventurers around, I searched for a place where the ghouls were alone and approached them carefully so as not to be noticed by the ghouls. I am able to do this all thanks to [Magi Location]-san, of course.

I then set my sights on one of the ghouls I found and fired magic at it from a distance.

I know that I’m still at a bit of a disadvantage in a physical battle, so this time I start from the beginning to see if I can make it work by using [Turn Undead].

“O sacred Light, bring the wandering souls to God, [Turn Undead]!” (Rook)

I grabbed the tip of the Mithril Alloy Cudgel with both hands, pointed it toward the ghoul, and activated the magic. But–

“Hmm?” (Rook)

I have the sensation that the magic power in my body is normally drained away. But nothing happens.

It’s as if I had ordered and paid for a product at a suspicious mail-order store, but the product never arrived. I want to report this to the Consumer Affairs Agency.

But aside from that, what is the meaning of this?

Just to be sure, I tried using [Turn Undead] again.

“O sacred Light, bring the wandering souls to God, [Turn Undead]!” (Rook)

With the activation of the magic, the magic power drained away, and this time a circle of light formed around the ghoul, and the ghoul ascended to heaven.

“What is the meaning of this?” (Rook)

It’s so strange that I can’t help but say it out loud.

I think about it as I approach the ghoul’s corpse and fishing out its valuables.

There should have been no difference between the first and second turn undead. However, the first time had no effect. In other words–

“So the activation rate isn’t 100%?” (Rook)

Is it reasonable to hypothesize so?

No, I have tried it several times against zombies and skeletons so far, and it should have been 100 percent activated there. Does that mean that the activation rate changes depending on the opponent?

“Rather, it might be more appropriate to say that it changes depending on the caster and the target.” (Rook)

It could simply depend on the difference in power between the caster and the opponent. The most likely difference is the difference in parameters. It maybe the difference between the magic attack power of the caster and the magic defense power of the target. I don’t know if such a game-like parameter exists in this world…

I think it might be related to the PIE parameter.

I take out a bunch of notes from my backpack, flip through them, and find the one I was looking for.

Let’s see… PIE is an aptitude related to Piety and affects resistance, magic success rate, support magic, etc., right? I guess this is related after all. I remember that Quarter Angels themselves were a race with a high PIE value to begin with, and I have a feeling that Sacred Magic is a kind of magic that is greatly affected by PIE. I think so.

In any case, the success rate should increase as the number of Goddess’ Blessing increases.

And maybe if there is a way to increase the PIE value, the success rate might increase.

…I have a more important thing to think about right now,

“Could it be that this magic, if it fails to activate, has no attack power?” (Rook)

No, to be precise, if the magic doesn’t succeed, it won’t trigger, I guess.

Anyway, when the first [Turn Undead] failed, the ghoul did not react. In other words, an attack was not triggered.

That means that if you keep using magic without being noticed by your opponent… You can theoretically defeat them at some point.

At that moment, an idea flashed over my head and I thought of a great plan.

“This… it might be an outrageous possibility.” (Rook)

Then, after testing the [Turn Undead] for a while, I returned to the encampment on the third floor.

I can’t say for sure yet because I haven’t tried it many times, but I’d say the probability of success at this point is roughly 30% to 45%. The probability is not that low, but it is not up to 50%.

The sun began to set and the sky turned red. There are more people in the campground than before, and the smoke from cooking and the sound of people’s voices are increasing.

I will stay at this campsite tonight.

I thought about it a lot, but if I wanted to go to the fifth floor, I needed to spend the night somewhere, and it would be suicide to camp on the fourth floor where ghouls roamed. Then I have no choice but to spend the night here.

The other option is to try to form a party… but I’m not in a condition to easily form a party right now. The situation is different from when I joined Dan and the Wind Troupe, and there are so many things I can’t answer and that would seem strange.

It is truly a department store of suspicion. Sooner or later, I will rank up to the mall of suspicion.

Anyway, [Purification] and Shion’s holy water are absolutely essential in this dungeon, so the disadvantages of forming a party are getting bigger than the advantages. Also, I learned the effectiveness of [Turn Undead] today.

I walked around the campsite and found a vacant space by the wall, greeted the surrounding adventurers lightly, spread my overcoat there and sat down. Then, Shion took a breather.

From the surroundings, a little bit of probing eyes fly a little, but nothing more than that.

“Would you like some food?” (Rook)

“Kyu.” (Shion)

From my backpack, I took out dried meat, two bowls, and a canteen of wine.

I’ve been drinking a lot more water since I learned the magic of the drop of water.  And even though it can be purified, fresh water tends to spoil easily, so I don’t think I’d want to carry it around in a canteen. Especially now, when it’s still hot.

Come to think of it, I heard that some adventurers here mix holy water with water from wells and dungeon streams to make drinking water. I might give it a try.

While I was thinking about this, one human and one animal were gorging themselves on dried meat, the sun was setting, and the area was getting darker.

The magic light came from [Light Source] put out by several parties and the light from the bonfire illuminated the surroundings.

I put on my cloak I had laid out on the ground, and rested my back against the wall, crossing my legs, and placed Shion on top.

I’ll stay here overnight today, but I don’t intend to sleep here. In short, even if this is a place I should avoid solo, I can deal with it if I don’t sleep here. My body is still young, and it doesn’t matter if I don’t sleep for a day or so.

After a few hours.

“…After all, I have free time.” (Rook)

I muttered while stroking Shion who was already sound asleep.

It’s good that you don’t sleep, but it’s hard to have free time. Come to think of it, it feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve been alone killing time like this without doing anything. There were many things I can do in this world. But it might be a good idea to think about ways to kill time for the future. I can also try making board games or card games.

…No, playing board games or card games alone in your spare time is a pretty bad idea. Let’s stop…

I close my eyes while thinking about this. Then I concentrate my consciousness on my Tanden.

This is what is called “meditation”.

When I was learning martial arts, I used to do it all the time before and after practice, but I rarely do it these days.

I did it because I had too much free time on my hands, but it might not be a bad idea to do it once in a while. Besides, on earth, I was only aware of the effect of the practice as a way to concentrate and calm myself down, but in this world Tanden actually has magical power, and I can feel it and move it. So, I think it makes more sense to do it here.

I draw and move the magic power in the Tanden to rotate and circulate my body. Then I try to collect it in my left hand, where I usually don’t use magic, or channel it into my feet.

Meditating on Earth can be a battle against sleepiness depending on the timing, but meditating in this world is a bit more interesting because you can feel the magic inside your body, and moving it around is like playing a game.