Chapter 271: The Sword-Wolf Faces the Thunder-Fire Beast, Part One
The upper-tier job Destroyer's unique skill, Scrap and Build, reduces an equipped weapon's durability to zero — in other words, destroys it — and grants an attack power bonus proportional to the durability consumed.
And in SLF, weapon durability is naturally proportional to rarity. If you were to consume something like the Gilta Brille, gauntlets made from Crystal Scorpion and Golden Scorpion materials with a generous amount of high-rarity minerals, you could probably obtain firepower surpassing even the highest-tier jobs.
And then there's the Master’s Gauntlets — a weapon given as the reward for the final quest when building the Monk job toward combat. Its rarity boasts an extraordinary durability value for a guaranteed reward.
A Destroyer's unique skill, branching from Monk, combined with a final quest you can take as many times as you want... it's a combination you can only assume was intentional. Strategy sites list it as the standard flow for a Destroyer build.
And above all, you can still use the Monk skills you've cultivated by fulfilling the "barehanded" condition.
Oikatzo: "Yellow, red... two-color mix: Spirit Fist: Orange!"
An orange aura that raises critical hit power dwells in his fist, mixing with Scrap and Build's red skill effect to blaze like fire.
Oikatzo: "I'll knock you out in one minute."
Rebellius: "Big talk!"
The dazzling array of skill effects is unmistakably the mark of a top-class player.
"If I can just get the Master of the Sword job... if I can use that Quintet myself, I'll surpass even Psyger-100." Whether Rebellius's self-assured boast is fact or not, a freezing magic sword swung with level-99-Extend stats could easily shave off nearly all of Oikatzo's HP if it lands.
Oikatzo: "Sorry, but... unless you break my humanoid form or something, I basically can't lose at this range."
Rebellius: "Why... I can't land a hit...?!"
He slaps the flat of the blade aside with a punch. He judges the freezing debuff's downside as a non-issue thanks to even stronger buffs, and keeps hitting.
To begin with, the distance where Brawler-type jobs exert maximum effect against Swordsman-type jobs is extreme close-range infighting. When Rebellius steps back to create distance, Oikatzo steps in one step, handling every attack from the magic sword while maintaining point-blank range.
Oikatzo: "Officially, my win rate's never dipped below eighty percent... I'd say about five or six people I know can handle me after I close in this far?"
A blow intentionally aimed away from a vital point. The instant Rebellius's attention focuses on the point of impact, the real strike from another angle slams into his chin. While the magic swordsman staggers from the flinch motion, a roundhouse kick slams into his hand, sending the freezing magic sword flying from his grip.
Oikatzo: "There's your opening."
Rebellius: "Got you!"
Oikatzo: "Ah, sorry. I know about that."
Rebellius: "Wha—"
Oikatzo presses the attack on the now-unarmed Rebellius. In that moment, Rebellius, triumphant that his hidden trump card is about to take effect, swings his other magic sword — a flaming blade meant to burn his enemies — and... Oikatzo, who'd already been tipped off by information leaked heartlessly by Rebellius's own boss, handles it with ease.
Oikatzo: "Well, how should I put it... when it comes to being specialized against other players, I don't think you'll find many better than me. You picked the wrong opponent."
Rebellius: "N-no..."
Oikatzo: "Red, blue, yellow..."
Three vivid colors of effects mix together and transform into pitch black.
It's not that Rebellius has lost all means of fighting. He still has weapons in his inventory, and recovery items too.
But on a far more fundamental level, he's already thrown his hands up. So he can't respond.
Oikatzo: "Three-color mix: Spirit Fist: Black!"
It detonates. A pitch-black impact — the same kind that once felled a mighty Tactical Mount — erupts in Rebellius's abdomen.
Precisely because he trusted in his trained-up stats... and because he'd neglected to prepare for PvP... Rebellius's armor was lightweight gear that prioritized appearance, and that fatal flaw — no armor on his midsection — was literally struck dead-on.
Rebellius: "Guh... gh...!"
Was it his body that broke, or his spirit? Blown away sideways, rolling across the ground, Rebellius slams into the arena wall.
Rebellius: "Even so... if it were our leader..."
Collapse. With no penalties for either side, victory is decided. Oikatzo stands alone in the arena.
Oikatzo: "Well, I got three straight wins..."
True enough — the Tactical Machine Beast ran out of energy, and against the third guy, he had to reveal his hidden trump card, Destroyer. He's laid almost all his cards on the table.
Oikatzo: "Still, nothing says I can't sweep all four."
One opponent remains. Schwarz Vulf's clan leader, Psyger-100.
Sunraku: "So? Why didn't you tell Katzo to sweep all four?"
At first I thought it was about saving face for the other side — like telling him to throw on purpose. But she never ordered Oikatzo to lose, and I couldn't quite read her real intent.
But surprisingly — really, genuinely surprisingly — it turned out I was the only one here who didn't get it.
Pencilgon wore a wry smile. Kyotimate had a battle-hungry grin. And Rei-shi was shrinking back apologetically.
Pencilgon: "Well, it's simple, Sunraku-kun. For example... ah, right, for example, generally speaking... if you wanted to solo a stupidly strong raid boss, what should you do?"
Sunraku: "Why'd you glance at me and stop talking for a second? Whatever. Level up, gear up, dig up strategy info — stuff like that."
I mean, I get that I'm not exactly a useful reference. "Stockpile experience in trash games and grind it down with player skill and Uniques" isn't exactly applicable to your average gamer.
At the edge of my vision, Psyger-100 lands in the arena.
Pencilgon: "Right, right. So then..."
The golden sword she carries is leveled at Oikatzo.
Pencilgon: "How strong do you think a player gets after nearly a full year of training obsessively for the sole purpose of beating Lycagon?"
Four flying swords reduce Oikatzo to ribbons, and he instantly drops and respawns. Oikatzo reappears with a dumbfounded expression and opens his mouth...
Oikatzo: "...................................Ehh."
This is just too much. I can't even trash-talk him right now... Yeah, I'll do it later.
Sunraku: "What was that?"
Pencilgon: "The highest-tier Swordsman job, Master of the Sword, has a unique magic called 【Sworvant】. You can remote-control up to four swords like that, and including the one in hand, that's five... letting you use the Fivefold Ensemble: Quintet skill. As far as anyone knows, barring Uniques, it's considered the 'strongest front-line job' in SLF."
Pencilgon: "And on top of that, Psyger-100's Quintet setup is a laughably special tune — led by the unique-among-uniques Sacred Blade Excalibur, plus the Super Cat-Teaser, Level 100 made by the Holy Hammer's owner, and other magic swords besides..."
Sunraku: "Hold up, did I just hear a ridiculously funny term slip in there?"
Pencilgon: "It's a diabolical weapon that apparently hits up to thirty times when you slash with it."
What the hell, that's terrifying.
Oikatzo: "Ahh, so that's what was grinding away at my side..."
Psyger-0: "Um... in my sister's case... she also uses, the full effects of her magic swords, so... you could say she's, effectively, 'a front-liner who also has back-line capabilities and is strong at mid-range'..."
Oikatzo: "And on top of that, she won't even let you get close, so you can't infight."
Sunraku: "What kind of desperate balance tuning is that? That's straight out of a trash game."
Yeah, that happens. Trying to make the strongest weapon stronger, messing up the balance adjustment, and the result is "grab that as fast as possible and you can win while looking the other way." Those are exactly the games where someone finds a bug that lets you get it early, the whole thing turns into a cakewalk, and the story's boring on top of it, so it becomes an unwatchable stompfest.
You know those battle-junkie characters who're starved for a fight against the strong? I get how they feel. It's like, "This is just a reskin with no real fun or challenge to the fight." It feels as mind-numbingly empty as filling a notebook with the same character over and over.
Kyo the Ultimate: "Trash game?"
Pencilgon: "Ahh, I thought he'd gotten back to normal lately with the SLF therapy, but I guess when the roots are rotten, there's no saving him. Don't worry about it, Kyogoku-chan."
Sunraku: "I'll knock your block off, you."
Pencilgon: "Too bad — the one who gets to knock my block off now is Momo-chan. I want the two of you in the main event to find her weak points, and I'll be the stepping stone for that!"
Ignoring the pretty words, it seems Pencilgon has volunteered as the next sacrifice.
She's changed into serious gear — a spear with a lot of design overlap with Psyger-100's golden sword, and lightweight armor that looks thin on defense. She strides confidently into the arena.
Pencilgon: "Alright, come at me, Momo-chan! I'd be hard-pressed to say exactly how, but I'll knock your block off!"
Sunraku: "That's a bare midriff."
Kyo the Ultimate: "I don't think I'd have the nerve to wear that."
Psyger-0: "Y-yes... indeed..."
Sunraku: "The woman who left her shame and conscience in her mother's womb — that title's no joke."
Pencilgon: "The best gear I could get ready on short notice was this! And hey, you, the half-naked one! Even I still have a sense of shame, you know?!"
And where's the conscience?