Chapter 20 – Critical Strike

Thanks tо rереаtedly fighting strong еnеmies through triаl and errоr, his соmbаt-rеlаted prоficienсу had inсrеаsеd signifiсantlу.

At this rаte, evеn if just оnсе, he cоuld reаch the pоwеr he desired.

Hе сlosed his Status and heаdеd deeper into thе dungеon.

While аdvanсing thrоugh thе Dungеon, he fought Lizardmеn.

At first, it was diffiсult tо еven get сlоsе to the Lizаrdmen.

This wаs because Каnzaki’s Buff hаd wоrn off.

With his Рhysicаl Ability reduсed, hе сouldn’t fight the way he hаd befоrе.

Еven sо, Asuto skillfullу орtimized his movеments аnd сlоsеd in оn the Lizаrdmеn.

Нis attасks, perhaps due to his dulled Agility, couldn’t find their way into the gaps properly.

Still, through persistent trial and error, Asuto continued to aim for the gaps in their scales.

After dozens of attacks, Asuto finally defeated a Lizardman.

Basic Dagger Arts Lv3→4 (89%→0%)

“Hah… hah…”

Looking back, he sensed a new presence approaching.

The individual he had defeated earlier had respawned.

There was no time to catch his breath.

He fought the newcomer, struggling but skillfully wielding his dagger to defeat it.

Basic Dagger Arts Lv4 (0%→11%)

He entered combat with respawned enemies, defeated them, then fought more respawned enemies.

Gradually, he found time to catch his breath.

His speed at defeating Lizardmen had increased.

Basic Dagger Arts Lv4 (11%→35%)

When enemies stopped respawning even after taking short breaks following combat, Asuto began advancing deeper.

He fought the enemies he encountered, dodged attacks, and struck at gaps in their scales.

Right now, the only thing in Asuto’s mind was efficiently defeating enemies.

Kanzaki’s death, the Dreamdrop, the Hound Dogs—not a fragment of these thoughts surfaced.

(More, more!)

Asuto wanted to become stronger without limit.

So that never again would someone’s life be lost because of him.

He would become stronger without limit and completely deny his former weak yet arrogant self.

The Weapon Asuto carried was overwhelmingly insufficient in Performance for facing D-Rank Monsters.

Light attacks couldn’t deal damage.

To defeat opponents, One-Hit Kills were required.

If he had a good weapon, Asuto wouldn’t have struggled this much.

But ironically, this situation brought out his Aptitude.

You have achieved a new Feat

・A possessor of Assassin Aptitude defeats one hundred higher-ranked Monsters with one hit (100/100 bodies)

Reward 1: Critical Strike

Reward 2: Perception +10

Seeing that popup, Asuto stopped in his tracks.

Checking his Inventory, a new Skill Scroll had appeared.

“Critical Strike?”

“What, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, ah. I got a Skill called Critical Strike from achieving a Feat.”

“That’s amazing. Critical Strike isn’t even sold in the Shop, so it’s an incredibly rare Skill!”

“Is that so?”

“What were the conditions?”

“An Assassin defeats one hundred higher-ranked Monsters with one hit.”

“…Is there anyone other than you who could achieve that?”

“I don’t know.”

He immediately used it and checked the Effect.

○Critical Strike (SR)

Description: Delivers a life-reaping strike. Critical hits occur more easily. If performing a surprise attack, critical hit rate doubles. ※Assassin exclusive

This was his first time obtaining an exclusive Skill.

Unlike common Skills, exclusive Skills could only be used by those with specified Aptitudes, but their Performance was said to be dramatically better.

This Skill was befitting of an Assassin exclusive, true to its nature.

He wouldn’t have been able to obtain it without dedicating himself to defeating enemies in one hit.

While acquiring the Skill, he checked his Status.

○Name: Yuki Asuto (23)

Level: 25→33 Aptitude: Assassin

Rank: E→D SP: 5→45

Held G: 7→145

○Physical Ability

Strength: 33 Stamina: 25 Magic Power: 4

Spirit: 4 Agility: 60 Perception: 32→42

○Skills

・Basic Dagger Arts Lv4→Intermediate Dagger Arts Lv1 (35%→1%)

・Critical Strike Lv1 (0%) NEW

・Evasion Lv3 to 4 (64% to 74%)

Leap Lv3 (31% to 94%)

・Memory Playback Lv2 (42%→87%)

・Eye of Insight Lv1 (60% to 98%)

・Level 1 (31%)

Finally, he had stepped into D-Rank, called an Intermediate Hunter.

Moreover, the accumulated Feat achievement bonuses amounted to 39 SP points—equivalent to about 8 Level ups.

Taking that into account, his Status was effectively equivalent to C-Rank.

With this, he would never again be laughed at as the weakest Hunter.

His proficiency had also increased considerably.

His Dagger Arts had even upgraded to an Intermediate Skill upon reaching Level 5.

“Intermediate is… I think it was one hundred thousand Gold in the Shop.”

While not absolutely impossible to obtain, since training was overwhelmingly cheaper, no one bothered purchasing Intermediate Skills.

If anyone did, it would be Hunters whose insides had become hollow from Power Leveling. Even then, most couldn’t afford it due to insufficient Gold.

○Name: Yuki Asuto (23)

Level: 33 Aptitude: Assassin

Rank: D SP: 45→0

Held G: 145

○Physical Ability

Strength: 33→48 Stamina: 25→35 Magic Power: 4

Spirit: 4 Agility: 60→80 Perception: 42

○Skills

・Intermediate Dagger Arts Lv1 (1%)

・Critical Strike Lv1 (0%)

Evasion Lv3→4 (74%)

・Leap Lv3 (94%)

・Memory Playback Lv2 (87%)

・Eye of Insight Level 1 (98%)

・Level 1 (31%)

Having finished allocating his Status points, Asuto sensed a presence approaching from below.