Ugh, damn it, what should I do?
I can certainly use magic attacks, but using them and using them properly are two entirely different things. Not to mention that if I decide to go down the path of magic, I will have to put Durandal away, turning me next to useless in purely physical combat. But on the flipside, if I store Durandal away, I would be able to invest the points that would otherwise be spent on Bonus Weapons 6 into something else, like increasing the amount of EXP gained from slaying monsters.
Bonus Weapons 6, which gives you Durandal costs 63 Bonus Points in total. Usually, I tend to use it with the Skills that decrease the amount of EXP needed for a Level Up by 1/10th and increase the value of the EXP I earn x10, both of them for 16 Bonus Points, so the Points left after Durandal's removal could easily be used to double their effects, giving me x20 EXP earned and 1/20th of the EXP needed to Level Up. And since it is necessary for me to divide the EXP I earn between me and Roxanne, she would also benefit from it.
With the current "Magic Setting" that I am using, I have 1/5th of the EXP needed and x5 EXP gained, so the difference in EXP efficiency would be x8 better, and that is a really big difference, but..
But to be honest, I am scared to put Durandal away. It has the ability to kill monsters in one strike, not to mention the abilities to absorb both HP and MP from the defeated foes, which is why I could always just throw myself at the monsters before me without worrying about getting hurt or dying, which was infinitely more useful and reliable than the ability to shoot spells in rapid succession. So right now, I have to ask myself what is it that I really want: safety and stability or the increased EXP values?
If I were to stick to my rule that safety always comes first, then I should continue to use Durandal, no questions asked, and it will get me out of probably every emergency imaginable. True, maybe there will be times where the lifeline such as Durandal won't be needed anymore, but that certainly won't be happening anytime soon. What if we were to happen upon some unbelievably strong monster while I could only use magic? Yeah, things definitely wouldn't be pretty if that happened. But the thing is, Labyrinth is a battlefield, and on the battlefield there can be no such thing as absolute safety. It is a chaotic cesspool where literally anything can happen at any given moment. That is why humans invented a very convenient mechanism called risk management in the first place. I know that every time I enter the Labyrinth I should be prepared for the worst, but on the other hand, coming into the Labyrinth does not have to equal throwing myself into certain death situations all the time, even if we take the 「No risk = no gain」 rule into account.
From the efficiency standpoint, increasing the value of gained EXP would be the most reasonable thing to do. Gaining more levels quickly will help reduce a lot of risks in the long run. Also, I am no longer alone. I have Roxanne with me. So not only do I not want to die, but I also want to protect her at all costs.
I looked back at her. She is unspeakably beautiful, has wonderful, big breasts, and most importantly, I finally managed to make her mine after overcoming many hardships to do so. She is a pure, gentle soul who devoted herself completely to someone as unremarkable like me. Right now, I don't even want to imagine what would happen to me if she was not by my side.
If I want to protect her, then I should focus on getting as much EXP as soon as possible to increase our levels. Durandal can protect me, but I cannot say that having it will be enough to also keep Roxanne safe. And now that I confirmed that I can kill monsters with magic alone, Durandal is no longer an absolute necessity for keeping me afloat. Which is why….
After making up my mind and exhaling heavily, I did a Character Reset where I removed Bonus Weapons 6 from the list of my Bonus Skills.
I will put it away for now, but once I get more levels I might go back to it, because its MP Absorption Skill will be useful to me. With Durandal, I won't have to waste too much money on the MP Recovery medicine, which isn't exactly cheap. And of course, if any emergency calls for it, I will go back to it immediately.
With that, after the Character Reset was finished, I now have 1/10th Required EXP Value and x20 EXP Aquired. Next I took Second and Third Job, and set Explorer as my First Job. I could have taken up to Sixth Hob with the amount of Bonus Points I had, but in order to do that I would have to get not x20 EXP Aquired, but x10 at maximum. After all, getting EXP faster will always be more beneficial than having more Jobs, and for that the x20 option is definitely more efficient. As for the rest of the Bonus Skills, I took Chant Omission, Character Reset, Crystal Acceleration x8 and MP Recovery Speed x2. I doubt doubling it will do much, but it will always be helpful to have.
「Roxanne, from now on I will try fighting while focusing on using magic instead of physical weapons.」
「Of course, I understand.」
「Defeating monsters that way will undoubtedly be much slower in comparison to doing it with my sword, so I am sure you're going to have your part of the work more than cut out for you.」
「Please do not worry, master. I am more than fine with that.」
She might be okay with that now, but I really hope she won't come to regret those words further down the line.
「Now that I am going to stick to the magic-oriented combat, could you please continue guiding us to the places where there are no other people?」
That is one of the major risks associated with deciding to only use magic from now on: I absolutely cannot allow any other people to see me using it. Also, my Second Job and Third Job are Bonus Skills, so if someone were to see an Explorer who's capable of using magic they would undoubtedly start asking all sorts of risky questions, like how is it possible for someone to have the Skills of two or more Jobs at the same time, or why can I use both Warp and Dungeon Walker along with attack magic of the Wizard Job, because Warp, which falls under Space Magic category is not something that Wizards can use. Not to mention that if someone decides to observe me closely, they might notice that I am not using chants for my spells, and that would be the final nail to my coffin.
「Of course. Leave everything to me!」
But Roxanne assured me once more to leave everything in her capable hands. Yes, I think I will do just that. After all, now Roxanne is not just my slave, but also my reliable, amazing-looking, irreplaceable Party member.