New Game Plus

Reflection

It's been three days since I accepted the strange group's request, but they haven't spoken to me since then. They're probably too busy doing what they need to do, considering that they're going to be running in the Student Council Election. I don't know what they want from me, but I need to prepare in my own way as well.

Right now, it's the afternoon, and school just ended. I told my mother in the morning that I'd come home late. Why? That's because I was going to train. Training? What the point in that with my current stats? Well, I'm extremely powerful, yes, but 8 years of peace and love from my family really weakened my mentality and sense. So for now, I'm going to train at a nearby dungeon with a certain friend.

"Aria~! I'm here, let's get going!" Speak of the devil. Thoth arrives in front of my school by foot, clearly excited to come with me. She had a shortsword with her, which I'm not gonna ask how she got it. Along with that, I seriously don't want to ask where she got this, but she was wearing red, plated armor that was actually her size. There was even a helmet. I didn't even know they made armor that small, and I can't imagine any child besides Thoth and I to actually be able to walk around in that, let alone running. She seemed like some sort of midget knight, it's kind of funny to see her walk around in it.

Now that I think about it, two eight year olds exploring a dungeon is definitely something that shouldn't be done, right? I mean, first off, most adventurers were at around 17 or 18 before they are prepared to go on their journey, but here I am less than half the age of those people, ready to stroll in and kill monsters. I didn't even have any proper equipment on. What was I wearing? A T-shirt, some shorts, and my bandages. My weapon? My gauze covered fists..

...Nothing's wrong at all, you know? This is pretty much all I need in combat. Although I'm capable of using any weapon other than guns, I'm actually much stronger when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. What if I encountered a huge monster that I can't damage? Well, I have two powerful skills I developed after suffering a couple of losses in my previous life.
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Arcane Strike
Enchants attacks with pure mana, increasing the damage based on the amount of mana gathered in the strike

Echo Strike
Causes an attack to echo between two points continuously based on the amount of mana gathered in the strike.
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These two abilities go hand-in-hand together. It's the main reason why I was able to kill the [Demon Lord] in our final battle. I used my health to create the remaining six [Phantasms], and saved my remaining mana for the last hit on the demon lord. I believe for [Arcane Strike], the mana-to-damage ratio is [10:1]. A very powerful spell in the hands of a mage, I believe.

For [Echo Strike], the mana-to-echoes ratio is [1000:1], while the mana-to-bounces is [100:1]. That means, the first echo will bounce 10 times within my target, a feeling similar to heavy vibrations. It's a skill that can only be utilized by someone who is both a mage and a fighter, because of two conditions; a strong, melee attack and an excess of mana to use for the echoes.

Unfortunately, I can only afford to use my [Arcane Strike] because I didn't have the excess amount needed for the echoes. But I believe that's more than enough for now. We began running to the outskirts of the city, many people giving weird looks towards Thoth, but she ignores it. We talk on the way there. I say we, but it's her asking me stuff while I nod or shake my head.

"Are you seriously going to be wearing no equipment at all? Not even a weapon?" I shake my head in response.

"You're well aware that the [Forest of Fire] is a C-rank dungeon, right?" I nod my head, and she sighs to herself.

"Look, I just reached level 15, and my stats are barely enough to explore it, you know? I wouldn't be able to clear it if I didn't have any of my skills, you know? I even prepared fire resistance armor just to explore it without melting to death by the heat. That means that this dungeon is pretty~ difficult to take down." I don't understand what she's trying to get at.