“We’ll Definitely Come Back to Save You!” — It’s Been Three Years Since I Was Left in the Most Difficult Dungeon, Isn’t It About Time for Help to Arrive...? - 62-63

Chapter 62: Aptitude

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“Alright everyone, this way please! We’ve prepared a magic tool to measure your ability!”

Following Myriel’s lead down the guild hallway, we entered a nearby room.

“A magic tool for measuring abilities…? That sort of thing exists?”

“Yes! …Ah, but don’t worry! When I say it measures abilities, it’s only a rough estimate! Even if your numbers are low, you can always make up for it with enough effort!”

Saying that, Myriel walked over to the pedestal in the center of the room, which held a crystal. This was the magic tool used for ability measurement—by placing your hand over it, the tool would evaluate your abilities, dividing them into categories like “Attack” and “Magic.”

The crystal directly read the person’s abilities through contact, so the information displayed had a decent level of reliability. That was why the guild required all prospective adventurers to go through an ability measurement when registering. Newbie adventurers used these results as a reference to determine their roles, positioning, and plans moving forward.

“Now then, who would like to go first?”

“—Then let me go first. I mean, I’m sure all my scores will be top-tier anyway, so the result won’t be very exciting!”

Lazuli strode confidently toward the pedestal. Her strength was certainly far above average, but…Why was it? I couldn’t help feeling a tinge of doubt and worry as I watched her back. 

Is it really going to go that smoothly?

I wondered to myself.

“Understood! We’ll also create a provisional adventurer ID, so please tell me your name! You can keep your hand over the crystal while doing so!”

Following Myriel’s instructions, Lazuli gently held her right hand over the crystal while stating her name. The crystal began to emit a soft glow, and that light then formed words in the air.

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【Lazuli】

Attack: ★★★★★★★★

Magic: ★★★★★

Mobility: ★★★★★★★★★

Defense: ★★★

Versatility: ★★★★★

Luck:

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“Hmm… So these are my abilities?”

“That’s right! The more stars, the greater the talent—wait, two categories above six stars!? Th-That’s incredible… I’ve never seen anything like this before…!”

“Eh!? H-Hmph! Of course it is! Honestly, I thought they’d be higher! …Wait, huh? Hey, why is the ‘Luck’ section still blank? No stars are showing up at all?”

“Huh? That’s strange… Normally, the display appears all at once after it finishes reading…”

“Is it broken? Look, the crystal has a bit of a crack in it—”

Just as Lazuli reached out to tap the aged crystal, her wing got caught on the picture frame hanging in the room. At first, it seemed like nothing. Myriel reached out to catch the falling painting, and everything would return to normal. Or so we thought, but….

“—Whoopsie! …Phew, that was close. If I let it fall, I’d get scolded by my senpai aga—WAAAH!?”

As Myriel extended her leg to catch the painting, she accidentally stepped into a dent in the floor, lost her balance, and fell spectacularly. The painting she was holding flew straight toward Lazuli’s forehead—and hit her squarely. Right on the corner, even. The completely unexpected blow made Lazuli clutch her face and crouch down in pain.

“Ow-w-w… That hurt! Seriously, be more careful!”

“S-S-S-Sorry!! Are you okay—wait, aaaaahhh!!!”

Myriel’s eyes widened in horror. The painting had slammed into the bookshelf behind Lazuli—specifically, the one stuffed full of her own poorly organized documents. One large volume, practically bursting out of the shelf, was now threatening to fall.

“—W-Watch out!!!”

“What now—gahhh!?”

Myriel tackled Lazuli to the ground. In the next moment, heavy tomes began raining down like an avalanche, forming a mountain of knowledge in mere seconds.

“…Looks like the crystal wasn’t broken after all.”

“…Yeah, it seems that way…”

Even those with no talent usually get at least one star… So this is what zero star is like…

Watching Lazuli’s trembling arm emerge from the pile of books, I found myself at a loss for words in the face of a power level I couldn’t begin to comprehend.

Well, for now, I need to keep my distance from Lazuli. Yeah… That sounds like a good idea.

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Chapter 63: A Glimpse of the Uproar

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“Heave-ho! Heave-ho! Hang in there, I’m coming to help you right now!!!”

Myriel pulled the tattered Lazuli out from under the pile of books. Once she had her elbow joint free, Lazuli braced her hand along the wood grain of the floor and rose up in one swift motion. She rubbed her red, swollen forehead and let out a sigh as she muttered with irritation.

“This is nothing, really. But still… Ugh, what a terrible experience…”

“It’s not so bad, is it? Thanks to that, we learned this crystal has at least some credibility.”

As she said that, the girl who had been quietly smiling behind them swept her smooth, unclouded dark hair and, without hesitation, held her hand over the crystal.

“Next is… Um, Hel-san, right? I wonder what your results will be…”

“You’d better brace yourself. If you were shocked by that pathetic luckless third-rate dragon just now, you’ll definitely faint when you see my stats.”

“Y-you little…! You’ve got some nerve…! If you’re talking that big, then by all means, knock me out with your stats!”

Still carrying a few books caught on her wings, Lazuli approached the crystal. Curious myself, I leaned forward and turned my gaze toward its glow.

To be honest, in terms of raw strength alone, I thought Hel and Lazuli were about evenly matched. Hel fought using unblockable corrosion and surprise attacks from outside the enemy’s awareness, while Lazuli used her solid body like a shield to absorb attacks and steadily leech her opponent’s vitality to gain the upper hand. Their abilities complemented and countered each other so well that, back in Niflheim, their rankings never flipped.

If she’s about the same as Lazuli, then maybe ★30 or so would make sense…? No, maybe she’ll be higher than I expected…

While I was thinking that, the crystal revealed the truth—

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【Hel】

Attack:

Magic: ★★★

Mobility: ★★

Defense: ★★

Versatility: ★★★

Luck: ★★

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“—Eh?”

In the now-silent room, Hel’s faint exhalation echoed clearly, standing out like a sore thumb. Behind her, frozen in place with a face full of despair, several books dropped one after another to the floor.

“Um… Hel-san’s magic and versatility scores are high, so she’s well-suited to learning a variety of spells and supporting her allies… U-um, is something wrong?”

“…No way… My stats… Aren’t they way too weak…?”

“Ehh!? N-no, I don’t think that at all!? ★2s and ★3s are average scores, so it’s not like they’re that low—”

“A-average…!?”

The shock rendered Hel completely speechless. Meanwhile, perhaps unable to contain herself from the same shock but for a different reason, Lazuli had a smug grin on her face and was trying hard to stifle her laughter, breath slipping out in bursts.

“P-please don’t let it get to you! This is just a general guide! With enough effort, anything’s possible!”

“Ah… Ahhh… Ahh…”

“N-no good… She’s completely crushed…! …We have no choice. Let’s just leave Hel-san aside for now and finish the aptitude test!”

Giving up on restoring Hel’s spirits without a hint of mercy, Myriel walked over to me.

“The only one left is… You. May I ask your name?”

At her gently spoken question, I found myself strangely flustered but replied TO HER. 

“Sthoa.”

“Sthoa-kun… I see. Then please place your hand on the crystal—oh, wait, you can’t quite reach. I’ll hold you up, so just stretch your hand straight out!”

“Ah, uh…”

While enduring the humiliation of being held like a child by a girl around my own age, I reached out toward the crystal. But behind the transparent sphere, I saw something quite unlike their usual bickering. For once, Hel was being assaulted by a barrage of words without being able to fight back.

“Average…? Me, a dungeon boss… Being measured by human standards… A-a-a-average…?“

“W-well… Now you can just do your best as our support, right? That’s what you’re good at, after all… Fufu…!“

It was clear to everyone that this wasn’t said out of kindness. With tears in her eyes, Hel spun her arms like windmills and charged at Lazuli, but tragically, she was stopped with just a single pinky. Utterly, powerlessly, by just one pinky.

“Just a pinky… A-ah—!?”

And right then, I caught a glimpse of what was about to unfold. A glimpse of a major uproar—a situation extremely bad for us, especially while we were in the middle of an infiltration.

I immediately tried to send the command from my brain to pull my hand back. But the moment that signal left my brain, my fingertips had already brushed the surface of the colorless sphere. The crystal flared brightly—and projected everything hidden within me.

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【Sthoa】

Attack: ★★★★★★★★★

Magic: ★★★★★★★

Mobility: ★★★★★★★

Defense: ★★★★★★★★★★

Versatility: ★★★★★★★

Luck: ★★★★★★★★

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