Evil Avalon - Volume 2 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Narumi Family Conference

The four of us held a family conference in the living room, where we sat at the low table that we used as a kotatsu in the winter.

I would tell them about my knowledge of the game next, but I explained how we’d gotten here first. So, I started with us power leveling Kano and how we got to the tenth floor.

“So you really changed jobs...” said my mother.

“For the millionth time, yes!” shot back Kano with frustration, her cheeks puffing like a hamster with a mouth full of seeds.

My father placed his newspaper on the desk and looked up, surprised. He asked, “But how did you level up so fast?”

Since my mother temped at the Adventurers’ Guild and dealt with their statistics and data, she knew that even the best adventurers took at least three years to reach level 19. That time frame sounded reasonable for those with no game knowledge or access to the gates who would have to share their experience points with a large party of others. They would even have to fight monsters with no chance of getting defeated. Adventurers needed enough money, time, and trustworthy comrades to achieve that. Knowledge of the game would enable them to make the same progress in months, but Kano had reached level 19 in days. That rate was next to impossible in the game, let alone the real world.

I explained this seemingly impossible feat to my parents, including everything else we’d done. Kano had gotten up to level 7 through power leveling, and we’d hoped to reach level 9 or 10 by hunting golems on the seventh floor. A group of thugs had assaulted Kano, only for us to fight against a powerful enemy. After a tough battle, we reached level 19, and I’d lost a lot of weight.

“How dare they lay their hands on Kano!” roared my father. “I’ll make them pay for that!”

I hoped my father would calm down and not try to make good on his threat. The thugs that attacked Kano belonged to an Assault Clan, and he’d stand no chance against them as a level 4.

“So that’s why you’re thinner,” remarked my mother.

Enduring a tough fight was a bizarre explanation for sudden weight loss, although I still had plenty to lose. Still, my parents couldn’t doubt what I’d said because the proof was sitting in the living room with them. I felt my mother was just happy that I’d come back in one piece, however strange the reason. She even tried to fatten me again with a high-calorie meal, which I wished she’d stop doing.

“And they were from Soleil...” said my mother. “I’ve heard of them.”

She’d learned at her job at the guild that Soleil was a new clan founded less than a year ago. Its leader was widely known as a troublemaker who did whatever he liked. The clan was constantly on the guild’s radar for picking fights with other clans.

Many reasons existed for two clans to come into conflict: fighting over promising recruits; secrets put at risk when members switched clans; or the right to raid the juiciest spots with the best monsters. The last one was especially the case when acquiring or stealing rare items, out of ordinary competitiveness or simply pride to show they were the best clan. And the biggest reason of all was the huge sums of money at stake.

Years ago, conflict between clans would only manifest as brief skirmishes inside the dungeon. In recent days, clans had made use of artificial magic fields to take their feuds outside the dungeon, sometimes resulting in damage to life and property on a devastating scale.

Regular police officers could not intervene in battles between clans, so the Adventurers’ Guild had taken on the role of conflict mediator. That was how my mother knew so much about various clans and why she knew the name of Soleil.

“My friends in the Adventurer Offenses Bureau are at their wit’s end trying to deal with the rise in clan violence,” she told us. “They don’t have the staff to handle it.”

It was difficult enough to intervene in feuds between ordinary clans, but mediating Assault Clans required a particular skill set that was scarce even for the Adventurers’ Guild. Whenever big clans started fighting, the few people at the guild qualified to handle it would remain working day and night.

I want to get revenge on Soleil, I thought. But I’ll need to know how far their backers will go to defend them.

The Golden Orchid Clan supported Soleil, and above them was Colors. I’d get my revenge on Soleil, but I had to be patient about it. To do that, I had to level up, grow stronger, and wait until I could take them out in a definite and safe way that did not risk me getting discovered. I didn’t want Colors coming after me.

My revenge on the Class D students would come first anyway, and I’d need to get the Fake skill before taking action at school so that my true strength remained a secret. For the next few months, I’d focus on laying the groundwork and improving my equipment and skills. Leveling up was important, but I’d gone too far too fast.

“Taking revenge on Soleil will put you both in danger,” I said to my parents, “so we’ll put a pin on that for the time being until everyone in this family is at a high enough level.”

My mother held a hand to her cheek with a worried look and sided with me. “We should stay well away from anything dangerous.”

I fully agreed with her. The lives of the people in this family came first, and nothing else truly mattered as long as we were okay. Kano was fine; the potion I’d given her had healed the wound on her leg and left no scar. There was no sense in risking ourselves here.

“So anyway,” said Kano, “I’m gonna power level you up, mom. Don’t forget, bro says leveling has an anti-aging effect.”

“Y-Yes... I suppose I’ll take you up on that,” responded my mother.

“C-Can I come too?” my father asked hesitantly.

Kano was eager to take our parents bridge-dropping, but they were nervous about fighting the orc lord. It was a monster so fearsome that the Adventurers’ Guild had published warnings about it. They had nothing to worry about, though. Kano was now strong enough to battle the orc lord and several orc soldiers head-on and walk away unscathed.

The most efficient way to level in the game was to power level on the deepest floor you could. Yet I’d discovered that leveling up in this world put more strain on your body than I expected. Since I didn’t want to risk our parents’ lives, the safest and surest way to level up would be the bridge-dropping trick I’d used with Kano.

I also told my parents about my plan to make money reselling HP potions and ores from the hidden store on the tenth floor. Of everything I’d told them, this was the thing I most wanted them to keep a secret, or else we couldn’t profit from it.

“Sell a few of them to me for our shop,” suggested my father. “Any other shop you sell it to will take a big cut.”

“He’s right. You’ll make more money at your dad’s shop,” agreed my mother. “The stores at the guild will pay you less than half what they sell it for.”

My father was self-employed at a little shop he’d opened called Narumi’s General Goods, where he sold adventuring items and merchandise. Recently, he’d set up a website for the store and started shipping his products nationwide.

According to him, HP potions flew off the shelves if they came with a guild certificate guaranteeing their authenticity, even when sold at a nonguild affiliated store. He’d avoided HP potions so far because the guild charged too much per vial to make a profit, and few adventurers would risk buying uncertified potions.

Hence, my father’s plan was perfect. I’d make more money, and so would my family. We’d be able to splurge a little, so I decided to sell all the HP potions through him.

Once I’d stuffed enough food in my stomach to quiet its incessant growling when the family conference finished, I headed to my room and collapsed on my bed. I slept like a log, weary from the day’s troubles but satisfied.

***

“Here it comes!” yelled Kano. “Dad, get ready to cut the rope!”

“S-Sure thing... But... God, there’s a lot of them...”

Kano came into sight, along with the orc lord and a huge train of orc soldiers behind her. At least fifty of them followed her, charging at the rope bridge like a herd of buffalo, kicking dust clouds into the air.

We were on the fifth floor of the dungeon.

After discussing our options at length at our family conference the night before, we’d decided to prioritize the family’s safety.

Soleil knew what Kano and I looked like, so we could get in trouble if they discovered we were still alive. It would be even worse if they used Basic Appraisal on us and saw how mysteriously high we’d leveled up to since their parent clans might use violent means to find out how we did that.

Although Kano and I could defend ourselves from this threat, our parents were too low-level to fight them off. One drastic solution to this problem would be for me to make the first move and eradicate Soleil on a lone crusade. However, my level might not be high enough to keep me safe if their backer clans intervened.

We concluded our safest course of action was to learn the Fake skill and level up our family up as soon as possible. Perhaps I was worrying too much, but caution was common sense in this crazed, violent world.

Acquiring the Fake skill would let me disguise my level, job, and stats with fake information. This measure would greatly reduce the risk of anyone discovering that I possessed secret knowledge. We’d be in deep trouble if anyone used Basic Appraisal on us now, and my family would be in danger the longer this situation lasted. I needed to get the skill quickly.

I also wanted to level up everyone in my family as a matter of urgency. If I could get everyone to level 30, they could fend off most adventurers who might attack us for said knowledge. Then, we could fight fire with fire. Of course, the leveling plan I would devise would be safe because I would not let them take any risks.

For that reason, I’d skipped school today and told my father to close the shop for the morning so we could come to the dungeon to power level and learn the Fake skill. As Kano was a Caster, I had her change her job to Thief at Granny’s Goods.

Since we’d registered our magic at the gates on the fifth floor and outside Granny’s Goods, we could jump back and forth between the two as we liked. My parents were shocked when I told them about the gates, but they’d have to get used to reacting like that because there was plenty more where that came from.

The rumbling the orcs made as they stampeded interrupted my thinking. Oops. Now’s not the time to be distracted!

“Here are the orcs I promised!” shouted Kano at us.

“Mom, dad,” I called out. “Even when Kano makes it over, don’t cut the rope. Wait until the orc lord crosses the midpoint!”

“Okay!” replied my mother.

“Leave it to us!” added my father.

Kano skipped across the rope bridge like a mountain goat. Her leg strength had increased so much that the bridge swaying violently beneath her didn’t seem to slow her down. In the game, your character’s speed would increase along with your level, but your running style remained the same... This was another difference that showed up when the game became reality.

Soon, the orc lord reached the midpoint of the bridge. Its bloodthirsty eyes appeared angrier than usual... Had Kano annoyed it? I signaled my parents, and they cut the ropes on their side of the bridge. The orcs screamed their characteristic cry as they plummeted, then we received their experience points after ten seconds.

“Oh wow!” exclaimed my father. “I’ve leveled up! It feels amazing!”

“Oh... I felt tight chested for a second, but now I just feel...refreshed,” commented my mother. “So did it work? Do I look younger?”

Single-digit increases in level wouldn’t have much cosmetic effect, though my father rushed in to compliment her on how good she looked.

Now that we’d confirmed that our power-leveling plan was promising, we collected the loot and decided to hunt down monsters normally during our downtime before the orc lord respawned.

As an aside, Kano explained the reason for the orc lord’s rage. She’d tested whether she could dodge its attacks before she lured it into the train. Orcs loved asserting dominance and playing with their prey, so they hated looking like fools.

While we walked down the road, picking off any stray monsters we encountered, I told my parents many helpful tips about the dungeon. I talked about traps, the map, the traits and tricks of monsters, and how to defeat them. I also explained my ideas for future raids, like how I wanted us to learn magic to raid the eleventh floor and beyond. Plus, I mentioned that I wanted to acquire the Machinist job.

“Where did you...” my father began to ask. “Well, never mind. I should focus on getting to level 7.”

“That’s right,” I said. “And some proper combat experience would be good. Have a go at fighting the golem to get comfortable with your body.”

Increasing your level would let you use your body in new ways. For example, a higher strength stat would let you swing heavy swords one-handed, when it would have required both hands before. You could sometimes even perform feats that inertia should make impossible. The only way to overcome a lifetime of habits and become accustomed to your new limits was to experience actual combat.

I explained that once they’d reached level 8 and gotten used to their physical enhancements, their Newbie job level should have reached level 10, unlocking Plus Three Skill Slots. Then we could take a trip to Granny’s Goods, switch their jobs to the Thief, and learn the Fake skill.

My father nodded gravely, but I wasn’t sure he had understood what I’d told him. Well, Kano and I were here to help out so he wouldn’t have to learn everything all at once.

Kano, who’d been running around slaying goblins, bounded to us with good news and said, “I’ve done it! I’ve learned Fake!”

I used Basic Appraisal on her to see what it would show.

Name: Kano Narumi

Job: Fighter

Strength: Pathetically Weak

Available skills: 0

“A pathetically weak Fighter, okay...” I remarked. “You’ll look odd having zero skills as a Fighter.”

“Okay, I’ll make it say three instead.”

Fake was a passive skill used for deception that spoofed your stats when an adventurer cast Basic Appraisal on you. You could set what you wanted your parameters, such as job and strength, to show up as. But an adventurer could uncover you were hiding your real stats if your choices appeared unrealistic. It was a cheap trick to fool the appraiser and nothing more.

The other drawback was that it wouldn’t work against higher-level appraisal skills, even if few students at the school were strong enough to possess them. Those who did wouldn’t need to use them unless we got into a fight, so we wouldn’t have to worry.

Players had considered the Fake skill useless in the game because there wasn’t any good reason to hide your strength. Most people in this world seemed to hold the same opinion. Only spies and covert agents would fill a valuable skill slot with Fake.

“I’ll hunt some monsters alone to get the skill once we’ve done another bridge-drop,” I said.

“Sounds good!” stated Kano. “Speaking of which, it’s about time for the orc lord to respawn, so I’ll fetch it.”

“Be careful, Kano,” said my mother.

We slew the orc lord several more times that day. My father reached level 6 by the end, my mother level 5, and I picked up Fake. I set my parameters to show my job as Newbie and my level as 5.

Though I’d planned to go to school the next day, I wanted to research more about Soleil and the world. I needed a new school uniform to fit my thinner body, so I’d take another couple days off. All this had made me quite a busy man.