Chapter 10: Validation

Translator: Soafp

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Approximately the 340th time I tried.

In front of the treasure chest, I select [Physical Enhancement].

“Guoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”

This is the cry I always hear as soon as Bugbear and its friends appear.

　I’ve heard it so many times that it’s stuck in my brain.

　First, Bugbear A and Bugbear B charge at me from the left and right as if to pinch me.

At first, this attack is a given.

　This is the best timing, and I can dodge the attack if I crouch down.

　I roll forward and kick the ground hard at the same time.

Thanks to this skill “Body Strengthening,” I can jump a little higher than normal people.

Then, with Bugbear C in front of me, I use my hands to do a backflip onto the head of Bugbear C. As I do so, the momentum of my fall is enough to send Bugbear C flying.

With the momentum of the fall, I throw a leaping kick to Bugbear D.

“Gau!”

　Bugbear D grunts as it was kicked, but it is not enough to do any serious damage.

Once landed on the ground, I rotate my right foot around the axis of my left foot.

　Then, Armor Bear Bugbear D falls over.

I want to chase after the fallen Bugbear D, but Bugbear C and Bugbear E are coming for an attack, so I run in the direction of Bugbear E and slide down to a low position.

This allows me to slip through the crotch of the slightly jumped bugbear E.

All right, I survived for 20 seconds.

I said to myself.

　It must be because I had fought many times. To some extent, I had learned to read the demons’ movements and was able to move accordingly.

　Next, Bugbear A, Bugbear B, and Bugbear F attacked me as if they were surrounding me.

　In response, I kick the ground and jump.

　Okay, my timing is perfect.

　I land on the outstretched arm of Bugbear B.

　I put all my strength into my fist and slam it into the face of Bugbear B.

　Boom! I could fell a shock.

　This must have been a heavy blow.

“Ah!”

　As soon as I landed, Bugbear F caught me.

　I was thrown against the wall.

　I heard the sound of my skull cracking.

　I was already out of breath.

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After a few fights, I learned something.

The difference between [body art] and [Physical Enhancement].

　First of all, here is how the explanation of [body art] is explained.

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　Skill: Body Art Lv1

　Effect is activated if you are unarmed or have a weapon with a short reach.

　Gains the talent of body art.　

　Partial enhancement of physical abilities.

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Next, the description of [Physical Enhancement] is laid out.

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Skill: Physical Enhancement Lv1

　Overall enhancement of physical abilities.

　△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△

　Both of these skills say that they enhance physical abilities, but if you put them side by side like this, you can see that there is a subtle difference.

　The difference is that the description of [Body art] says it strengthens “part” of the physical abilities, while “physical enhancement” does not say so.

　In other words, the “physical enhancement” can enhance all of one’s physical abilities, while the “body art” only enhances a part of one’s physical abilities.

　So, what exactly is strengthened in [Body art]?　I was able to get some idea by fighting a few battles.

While [physical enhancement] strengthens muscle strength, endurance, agility, and stamina, [body art] only strengthens muscle strength and agility.

In other words, [body art] does not enhance endurance and strength.

Thanks to this, when I tried to fight with [physical enhancement], I often stayed conscious for a few seconds after being attacked with [physical enhancement], whereas with [body art], my consciousness would go dark as soon as I was attacked.

　Well, it didn’t change the fact that I would die from a single blow.

　Now, what should I focus on in order to defeat 10 bugbears?

　First of all, durability is not what I need.

　Even if my durability is increased a little, I will still die from a single blow.

　As for strength and agility, I’m not so sure.

　The more physical strength I have, the longer I can fight. I, with my low attack power, take a long time to defeat them, so I have to be prepared for a long fight no matter what.

　Agility also increases the chance of evasion, so there should be no harm in having it.

　However, it is obvious that what I need the most right now is muscle power.

When I fought with the [Acceleration] option, the weakness that was exposed the most was my low offensive ability. No matter how much I attacked, if my attack power was low to begin with, I would never be able to defeat the Bugbears.

So, which would increase my muscular strength, [body art] or [physical enhancement]?

　It is clear that the one that increases muscle strength should be chosen.

　However, after a few fights, I felt that there was not much difference between the two in terms of muscle strength.

　So, there seems to be no big difference between the two.

　After thinking about it, I realize that I have another choice.

“There is also the [Strengthen Muscle], right?”

　I muttered to myself as I looked at the list of skills in front of the treasure chest.

[Muscle Strength] is a D rank.

　To be honest, I had not considered it because of its rank, but if this skill has a greater range of muscle strength enhancement compared to body art and body strengthening, then it may be worth a try.

That is why I decided to choose [Strengthen Muscle].

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