Chapter 6: Steal—!!!
Why did it turn out like this?
They were advanced classes, and they each had strengths far exceeding ordinary people. But when you put the two of them together, why did it turn into this?!
Double the joy had turned into double the trouble. Satou Kazuma was in complete despair.
He cried with a long face, "Kobayashi-senpai, what are we going to do..."
"Stop crying and try to look on the bright side."
Kobayashi channeled some extreme mental gymnastics.
"Although Megumin's Explosion magic can't be used in dungeons or labyrinths, its destructive power is in a league of its own in open areas like plains. And while Darkness can't hit an enemy, her defense is comparable to the hardest ore. She's a flexible and useful meat shield, isn't she?"
"But using a girl as a meat shield... isn't that a bit too much...?"
Satou Kazuma couldn't bring himself to do something so scummy, at least not for now.
Darkness, on the contrary, flushed with excitement. "It's fine! I don't mind! Please, feel free to use me as a meat shield! In fact, please use me in every sense of the word!"
Kobayashi gave a thumbs up. "Rest assured, I will make good use of you. In every sense of the word."
"What sense of the word are we talking about?!" Satou Kazuma retorted loudly.
This guy is definitely thinking about lewd things.
"A calm and steady adventurer shouldn't be so noisy, Kazuma-kun."
Kobayashi extended his hands towards Megumin and Darkness. "These two, I am willing to call them Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix!"
"Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix... are you serious?"
Satou Kazuma knew of this elegant title. After all, the history of the Three Kingdoms was extremely popular in the island country of Japan; almost every citizen had read Romance of the Three Kingdoms. With the addition of secondary adaptations into TV shows, novels, and anime, the titles of Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix were deeply engraved in their minds.
However, he had a feeling that Kobayashi's use of the term was not meant as a compliment.
"Wait, what does Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix mean?"
"Are you mocking us? You're mocking us, aren't you!"
Darkness and Megumin also felt that there was something strange about Kobayashi's words, as if he were being deliberately sarcastic and passive-aggressive.
"No, that's not it."
Aqua kindly explained to them the importance of Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix in the history of the Three Kingdoms.
"Is that so, is that so? Fledgling Phoenix, you say... Hmm, that is indeed a wonderful title. I like it very much! It's decided, from now on, my title is Fledgling Phoenix!"
Megumin was thoroughly satisfied with this new title, and she looked at Kobayashi with admiration.
As expected of Kobayashi, he has such a way with words!
Darkness, however, was a bit shy and hesitant. "Crouching Dragon... I'm not suited for such a nice title. You think too highly of me."
"How could that be? Believe in yourself, Darkness, you deserve it," Aqua cheered her on.
Kobayashi encouraged her, "Just think of it as motivation to move forward. Treat it as a goal to strive for!"
"That's right! The only one who can be my partner is you, Darkness!" Megumin chimed in.
"Is that so? Hehehe..." Darkness scratched her cheek and giggled foolishly.
Watching the cheerful and laughing atmosphere return, Satou Kazuma felt like he didn't fit in with the party at all. Two problem children, whose personalities and performances were unbearable, had undergone a magnificent transformation under Kobayashi-senpai's superb packaging. If he didn't know their true situation, he would have really thought the two idiots were super-reliable teammates.
Speaking of which... could it be that Kobayashi-senpai is actually just like them, with no merits other than being a smooth talker?
No, no, no, how can I doubt the person who helped me?
But Kobayashi-senpai did say before that we need to understand each other's strengths...
What should I do? Should I test him?
Satou Kazuma thought for a moment and said, "Kobayashi-senpai, we already know the strengths of these two. I was wondering if you could also show us your strength?"
"...Oh my, it seems I'm being underestimated."
Kobayashi wasn't an idiot. He could tell from Kazuma's expression that he was starting to distrust him.
"Alright then, I'll give you a little demonstration."
With that, he raised the longbow in his hand.
—[Snipe]!
Swish!
A black shadow flashed past, and the arrow embedded itself firmly in the trunk of a tree 20 meters away.
"Oooohhhhhh!!!" x4
The group clapped and exclaimed in amazement.
...Wait a minute, that's not a big deal at all. It's just drawing a bow and using a skill. Compared to what Megumin and Darkness did, there's nothing impressive about it.
Just as they were feeling puzzled, Kobayashi drew his bow again.
—[Snipe]!
The arrow stuck firmly in the tree trunk. The difference was, this arrow hit the tail feathers of the previous one, its powerful momentum piercing through the shaft and driving the new arrowhead into the wood.
—[Snipe]! [Snipe]! [Snipe]!
It was just drawing the bow, shooting, drawing again, and shooting again—a simple, repetitive action. But the jaws of the party members slowly dropped open.
Because every single arrow hit the back end of the previous one without the slightest deviation. After 10 arrows, the tree trunk was completely pierced through, and they could see the scenery behind it through the small hole that remained.
"That's just ridiculous!"
Satou Kazuma and the others were shocked.
"Is that all it takes to impress you?"
Kobayashi smiled confidently. His performance wasn't over yet.
"Watch closely. The main event is next."
He began to explain under their confused gazes.
"Did you know? The power of basic magic is very weak, so most mages choose to skip it and learn intermediate magic directly. But in fact, with the right application, even basic magic can produce considerable power. For example..."
—[Fire Arrow]!
A flame suddenly ignited on the iron arrowhead. After it hit the tree trunk, the tree was instantly set ablaze.
"This is the method I came up with to increase the power of my arrows—Magic Arrows. And it's not just fire; other elements are perfectly compatible as well."
After that, Kobayashi drew his bow again, successively using wind, water, ice, earth, lightning, and even explosion-attribute arrows. Among them, the basic explosion-type magic was the best match for the arrows, providing the biggest power boost of all the attributes—a full 3x damage increase.
This was the source of Kobayashi's confidence to adventure alone. After all, as a transmigrator, how could he not have a few tricks up his sleeve?
"Oooohhhhhh!!!" x4
The group was completely won over.
Satou Kazuma was incredibly excited. "It's decided! I'm going to walk this path too!"
"No." Kobayashi poured cold water on him.
"Why?"
"Because our roles will overlap!"
Kobayashi's pupils contracted sharply, his voice tinged with a bit of fear. "Don't you get it, Kazuma-kun? In your typical novel, manga, or anime, the biggest taboo is character role overlap! It makes the characters indistinct and lacking in unique features, which confuses the audience!"
"Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about..."
Satou Kazuma couldn't follow Kobayashi's train of thought. He just wanted to use his senior's combat style as a reference. Why did it turn into a discussion about role overlap?
"But I'm just an Adventurer. The paths I can choose are very limited..."
"In that case, I'll have to be the one to change."
"Really?!"
Satou Kazuma was deeply moved. To change one's own build for the sake of the party was equivalent to abandoning one's existing strength and the results of all their previous efforts.
He really... I could just cry.
But he was also puzzled. "Kobayashi-senpai, isn't your class also Adventurer? How exactly are you going to change?"
Kobayashi said, "Kazuma-kun, we've defeated quite a few monsters these past few days. What level are you now? How many skill points do you have?"
"Level 4, 3 skill points," he answered truthfully.
Newbies leveled up quickly, but only getting one skill point per level was a limitation of the Adventurer (Beginner) class. The lowest-tier Adventurer class could learn skills from multiple professions, allowing them to fill multiple roles in a party. However, due to the class's special nature, spending a high number of skill points would only yield eighty percent of the original skill's power. Therefore, the most suitable skills for a beginner were those from the Thief or Archer classes, as the return on investment for other classes was very low and, apart from a few specific skills, not worth the cost.
"But I'm different."
Kobayashi took out his own adventurer card.
"Although my class is Adventurer, I don't know if it's because of my stats or some other reason, but the number of skill points I gain per level is 5!—the same stat bonus as an advanced class."
"Are you serious?!"
"I've never heard of such a thing."
"Can an Adventurer like that even exist?"
"Even if the power of other skills is reduced, just getting the same skill point bonus as an advanced class is enough to make anyone envious."
Satou Kazuma's eyes widened in disbelief, and the rest of the party was also astonished.
You can't judge everyone by the same standard!
Compared to Kobayashi, Satou Kazuma, a shut-in with no cheat ability, was truly unworthy of the title of "Hero." Even among isekai heroes, there were disparities.
Kobayashi said to the four of them solemnly, "This is my secret. I hope you can all keep it for me."
"Rest assured, we'll keep it a secret!" the four of them promised.
He didn't need to worry on this front. While everyone in the party loved to boast, they only boasted about themselves. They wouldn't go around proclaiming a secret that Kobayashi wanted to hide.
Kobayashi said to Satou Kazuma, "While we're at it, let me teach you a few useful skills."
"Ooh! I've been looking forward to this!" Kazuma was eager to try.
"One is the [Snipe] from before, and the other..." Kobayashi turned and used a skill on Aqua.
"—[Steal]!"
A bright light flashed, and a light purple hagoromo appeared in his hand.
As expected, she really is NoPants...
He shook his head, clearing out some dirty thoughts.
He said to Kazuma, "This is the most practical skill for a thief—[Steal]! It steals based on the user's luck stat, with a chance to steal the most valuable item from the target."
"Ooooh, that's amazing!"
Although Kazuma's other stats were pathetically low, his luck was terrifyingly high. The [Steal] skill was probably the most suitable skill for him.
"The corresponding skills will now appear on your adventurer card. Just tap to learn them."
"Okay, I'll learn them right now!"
In a flash, Satou Kazuma had learned two practical skills.
Kobayashi returned the hagoromo to Aqua and said to Kazuma, "Alright, now try the skill you just learned on me. Let's see what you can steal."
"You got it! Here I come!"
Full of confidence, Satou Kazuma extended his right hand toward Kobayashi.
"—Steal!"
A blinding light flashed, and a longbow appeared in his hand. It was the very same longbow Kobayashi had just used.
"Ooh, I stole it!!!"
Successful on his first try, Satou Kazuma shouted with excitement.
Kobayashi clapped and congratulated him. "Congratulations. As a reward, this vine bow, worth 80,000 Eris, is yours."
"Really? Thank you, Kobayashi-senpai!"
Kazuma's face was beaming, but the whole process had gone so smoothly that he felt something was a little strange.
"Wait a minute, this wasn't all calculated by you, was it, Kobayashi-senpai?"
"...What are you talking about? How could that be?"
"Why did you hesitate?"
Kazuma felt more and more that something was off. He suddenly remembered that Aqua had already activated Kobayashi-senpai's ring, which meant he had probably planned to stop being an archer from the very beginning.
"Then what was all that just now? Was it deliberately done to make me feel grateful? That's too cunning, Kobayashi-senpai!"
"I'm not, I don't have it, don't talk nonsense."
Kobayashi delivered the denial trifecta.
But Kazuma no longer believed him.
Having no other choice, Kobayashi had to admit it.
"I'm an Adventurer who can learn a skill just by seeing it once. How could I be tied down by a mere bow? With the same growth stats as an advanced class, I will one day become an invincible man!"
Even though the last man who called himself invincible had eventually stopped thinking, no one could refuse the temptation of invincibility.
"Besides... Kazuma-kun, you're an Adventurer just like me. Any skills I learn, I can also teach to you. What do you think?"
"I think that's great! I'm counting on you, Kobayashi-senpai!"
Satou Kazuma was successfully bought.
(End of Chapter)