Evil Avalon

Chapter 170 Narumi Kano looks up at the sky, reminiscing ②

(TL:By Rafael,valhallatls.blogspot.com)

The memo Kano showed us contained the following:

---

<Name> Narumi Kano
<Level> Lv 27
<Job & Job Level> [Machinist] Job Level 10
<Adventurer Rank> — Unregistered —

<Status> (*1)
Max HP: 121
Max MP: 98
STR: 102
INT: 74
VIT: 67
AGI: 133
MND: 68

<Skills 10/10>
• Dual Wielding
• Simple Appraisal
• Shadow Step
• Back Step
• Samidare Slash (*2)
• Stealth (*3)
• Handmade Golem
• Rocket Punch
• Golem Castle
• Full Drive (*4)
• HP Barrier (*5)

---

"Parameters over 100, this many!? Just having one of them reach 100 is enough to get VIP recruitment offers from top clans… Kano-chan, you’re a bundle of talent!"

"Eh? R-Really…? You think so!?"

My little sister stuck out her tongue shyly and squirmed in delight as Satsuki praised her. Watching that, I couldn’t help being exasperated—but honestly, these stats are way too high.

In DunEx, having even one parameter reach 100 around level 30 was considered excellent. Over 120 meant “innate genius.” But since DunEx assumes constant character remakes, in reality even 60 was already “good.”

Yet Kano, at just level 27, already has 102 STR. Her HP and AGI are above 120—absurd talent for a front-line fighter. Even her MP and INT, suited for rear-line jobs, aren’t bad. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she could become anything.

Even among DunEx heroines, I don’t recall anyone with such high stats. She might rival Akagi-kun or Pink-chan, the main characters. Perhaps hidden geniuses like Kano are more common in this world than we thought…

Shifting my eyes to the Skills section—Shadow Step for speed, Back Step for emergency evasion, other mobility-focused skills. And five skills learned from the Machinist job. With this skillset, instead of using her golem purely as a tank, the optimal strategy is to move herself and the golem simultaneously to gain numerical advantage.

But Kano seems dissatisfied with this setup.

"If the enemy is around my level, the golem is strong. But against strong people like the White Robe, it gets destroyed instantly. It’s useless."

"If you’re fighting someone far above you, self-buffing skills are the most important… but upper-tier jobs don’t have powerful buffs. That’s the issue."

She puffed her cheeks, irritated that her carefully summoned golem—using lots of MP and rare materials—was useless against the White Robe. Well, of course. Summons are roughly your strength or lower. They beat weaker foes easily but get instantly crushed by overwhelming opponents.

Against higher-level enemies, the problem isn’t skills—it’s the stat difference. That gap affects not only power and magic but also reaction speed and movement. That’s why skills like my Overdrive or Lisa’s Darkness—which drastically boost your own stats—are the best way to compensate when facing someone stronger.

But upper-tier jobs don’t have anything that extreme. At least, I’ve never heard of such a thing. So even if Kano changes jobs now, she can’t fight evenly against someone far stronger like Lisa or me. Realistically, it’s impossible.

"Then what should I do if we meet someone like that White Robe again?"

"What matters when facing a stronger opponent isn't winning—it’s surviving."

She pouted, wanting some convenient solution. But fighting a stronger foe is always a last resort. The priority is running away. And with her current skills, she can use “golem as decoy + speed specialization” to escape. That’s a perfectly valid tactic.

If she adds another skill, it should improve escaping—even better if it can also be used offensively and defensively. But is there such a perfect skill…?

(—Actually, there is.)

While fighting Mikhail, I noticed something: "Not being able to fly is a far bigger disadvantage than expected." Even powerful fighters like Mamiya Subaru or Rorokigi Shigure couldn’t fly; depending on the situation, they could’ve been attacked from above and killed without recourse. Conversely, if the opponent can’t fly and you can, you can control the entire battlefield.

In DunEx everyone had flight skills, so flying gave no real advantage. But in this world, only a fraction—even among the Holy Empire—can fly. That means a flight skill is an extremely powerful weapon.

After explaining this briefly, Satsuki nodded strongly and moved her chair closer to join in.

"But flying comes in many forms, right? Like Arthur-kun’s floating type, or Lisa’s teleporting type… and Souta’s bouncing type. Which kind would Kano-chan—"

"I want to try onii’s Aerial!"

There are many flight skills. The standard is Fly, used by Arthur and Mikhail—gentle floating, easy acceleration/deceleration, smooth control but predictable movements.

Lisa’s teleport-hopping midair style is powerful, but has lag and constant risk of falling. Only a few DunEx players could use such high-level techniques—and it requires the Dark Knight job, available only after level 50. Kano is only 27, so out of the question.

Then there’s my technique, Aerial—creating footholds in midair. When Satsuki mentioned it, Kano leaned forward excitedly saying she wanted to try it.

Heh. My time to shine.

"In terms of instantaneous midair mobility, Aerial is the best. Simple skill design, barely any drawbacks—"

"—It does have drawbacks."

Just as I was about to sing its praises, someone chopped the back of my head. Turning around, I saw Lisa in her loose robe.

She smiled faintly and thanked me for carrying and healing her. Kano immediately leapt into her arms, Satsuki’s eyes also welled with tears. Until Obaba treated her, Lisa’s face was pale and pained, but she now looked much healthier.

A major worry relieved—we could finally relax a bit.

I set up a new outdoor chair for her from my magic bag. She plopped down cross-legged and sighed dramatically.

"Haaah… I’m sick of all this. Why did things get so messy…"

"No kidding. We need to discuss the cause, and what it means for the future."

It truly was a close battle. Many moments we should’ve died. Lisa, Satsuki, and I all sighed again. But one person remained full of energy.

"Lisa-nee! About earlier—what did you mean? Tell me!"

"Mmm, okay~. But all I can say is—"

At Kano’s urging, Lisa began her explanation of the Aerial technique.

She first explained the basics: using countless midair footholds to constantly slip into the opponent’s blind spots and overwhelm them.

Its strengths included overwhelming mages who use Fly, effective monster combat, viable even in tight spaces—truly a versatile and powerful style.

Thinking back, I couldn’t recall anyone ever shutting down Aerial cleanly. But Lisa said it had a fatal flaw I’d never noticed.

Waiting anxiously, I finally heard it:

"Souta’s technique… many people tried to master it in the past. But not a single one ever elevated it to the level of a true tactic."

She then began telling a story…

That person was utterly arrogant and self-centered beyond belief. Hot-tempered by nature, they would pick fights with anyone they disliked or who merely caught their eye, no matter the place, cutting them down one after another and making petty money like a low-level scoundrel.

Their infamy piled up and spread far and wide. Adventurers and organizations driven by a sense of justice stood in their way time and again, but the results were disastrous. They were beaten back instead, corpses piled up everywhere, or they were humiliated and made examples of.

“Could it be that person?!”

“Yes. That person was a user of the Aerial tactic.”

Leaning forward and urging her to continue, Kano listened intently while Lisa nodded with an amused smile. Well… it was true that during my DunEx days I picked fights indiscriminately, but that was simply because player-versus-player combat was so much fun that I was always looking for an excuse. To me, DunEx wasn’t about adventuring—it was about PvP.

As I reminisced about memories that now felt like something from the distant past, Lisa resumed her tale as if telling a story.

“And then—”

That person’s notoriety showed no sign of stopping. Eventually, even multiple top-tier clans mobilized to hunt them down, and everyone sneered, saying, “That villain’s finished now.”
But instead of ending, the conflict only intensified. Clan bases were burned to the ground one after another, and even adventurers once hailed as the strongest were defeated. The damage spread without limit.

Before long, the villain came to be known as a “Calamity,” a legendary existence feared by many adventurers, yet also admired with a sense of awe. At the same time, the Aerial tactic—the very source of the Calamity’s power—was thoroughly researched, and it was only natural that countless people tried to master it.

However, once they actually attempted it, the constantly shifting view as one moved frantically in all directions proved extremely difficult to control. Even if that hurdle was cleared, instantly constructing footholds at the optimal positions while dodging enemy attacks at point-blank range was unbelievably difficult.

What became clear was that the Aerial tactic required overwhelmingly sharp dynamic vision, keen insight to read an opponent’s movements, and an exceptional combat sense capable of fully utilizing those abilities—all at a level bordering on the absurd.

“I’ve crossed blades several times with people who bragged that they could use the Aerial tactic… but every single one of them was a letdown. I think Souta handles it so naturally that he doesn’t even realize how hard it really is.”

Every Aerial tactic user other than me was a fake. Their judgment was sloppy, their speed insufficient, and above all, their movements lacked any sharpness. With something that half-baked, Lisa laughed, it would be several times stronger to just fight normally using Fly.

But it’s not like I mastered Aerial from the start either. I lost countless times from missing my footing, getting hurt again and again, and trained so hard it nearly killed me. I endured it only because I sensed limitless potential in a skill that simply created footholds in midair.

Generally speaking, skills used for flying—such as Arthur’s Fly, or the magic Lisa uses to teleport through the air—can be made faster and more efficient by pouring in more mana, but they cannot fully bring out the benefits of physical enhancement.

Aerial, on the other hand, lets you move by kicking directly off footholds with an enhanced body, allowing you to reap the full benefits of physical reinforcement. As your level rises, speed and sharpness become increasingly pronounced, and you gain a degree of freedom that even surpasses Fly. What lay beyond that—during my DunEx days, I relentlessly yearned for it and chased it without end.

Of course, I don’t know whether Kano can truly master Aerial. I know full well that many players have tried it and found it unusable, so it’s probably very difficult. That said—and let me be clear, this isn’t some opinion born from sister complex nonsense—I genuinely believe Kano possesses talent and aptitude that rival any player I’ve ever seen. That goes for the stats she showed us earlier as well. It makes me want to see what would happen if we actually let her try.

Lisa, who had been watching me out of the corner of her eye, let out a small laugh, then put on a mischievous expression.

“……Hehe, but if Souta teaches you directly, you might be able to reach the same level, you know~”

“I can do it! I just feel like I can!”

Kano thrust her fist into the air, brimming with determination, vowing that she would absolutely master it. Well, trying doesn’t cost anything. I can teach her the basics at least, and even if the Aerial tactic doesn’t suit her, she can always learn another skill instead—so, let’s see.

“We can talk things over later—how about we call it a night around here?”

　　 There were so many things we needed to discuss that it made my head hurt. Still, there was no longer any immediate, life-threatening danger. More than anything, my brain just wasn’t working properly. We could always gather again another day and think it through then. I made the suggestion, but Kano clearly wanted to hear more, puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction. You really are full of energy.

“……I’ll listen to your concerns again sometime, Kano-chan.”

“Really!? Then—”

Having gotten Lisa to compromise, Kano rubbed up against her like a cat, begging her to tell her more and more about how amazing the “Calamity” was, and what kind of person they had been. I’d appreciate it if she didn’t get too detailed—I might start slipping up if she did. Meanwhile, it seemed the incoming notifications on my arm terminal had caught her attention, and Satsuki asked if everything was okay.

“It looks like you’re getting a lot of messages—are you sure it’s fine?”

“They’re from Kuga-san. She wants to ask about what happened in Tokyo…”

The incident at the clan party had apparently become a major topic on television and elsewhere. For the past several minutes, emails had been arriving every few minutes, asking if I knew anything. I’d like to ignore them, but if I do, I’ll probably keep getting messages until morning—and honestly, I’m scared of what’ll happen when I see her at school.

Worrying over this new problem, we ultimately abandoned all thought and decided to head home.

(Note 1) Ability Value Status
These are ability values enhanced by magic power. It’s said that the average adult outside a magic field has values of about 3–8 in each category. In other words, Kano’s STR (Strength) value of “102” means she possesses dozens of times the power of a normal adult, making it possible for her to lift and move objects weighing several hundred kilograms if she gets serious.

(Note 2) Slash
A high-speed, five-hit skill exclusive to daggers and knives. Its attack power varies depending on the AGI stat.

(Note 3) Stealth
Suppresses one’s presence, making it harder for nearby people and monsters to notice them.

(Note 4) Complete Drive
Allows golems to operate in fire, underwater, extreme cold, and even oxygenless environments, while also increasing their resistance to magic attacks.

(Note 5) HP Barrier
When a golem is summoned, a portion of the damage the user would take is instead absorbed by the golem.

TL Note- Cliffhanger....or no cliffhanger but rather my mistake...

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