The Academy Geniuses I Raised and Dressed

I tossed the Black Pearl Ring I was holding to Meiling.

“Here. Put this on first.”

“…?”

Meiling looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“What’s with that look?”

“Do you even know how much this is worth?”

Ah. So that’s why she was looking at me like that.

“I’m just lending it to you. Don’t get any ideas—just wear it.”

“…”

She glanced between the ring and my face, clearly unable to understand why I had something like this. But she soon gave up thinking about it and slipped the ring onto her finger.

“Now, try using the Black Domain again.”

At the mention of the Black Domain, Meiling gave me a look of exasperation.

“I already told you, your Black Domain doesn’t do any damage to me, so just leave it.”

“…If you get hurt, it’s not my fault.”

Meiling raised her magic wand.

“!!”

I saw her eyes widen as she cast the Black Domain.

The black space spread out noticeably faster than before.

“Hmm. Still slow, but better than nothing.”

I glanced around the fully formed Black Domain.

“What… is this??”

Meiling looked confused.

“Because of this ring? No, wait, then why are you completely fine?”

“The problem with your fighting style is that you rely way too much on the Black Domain.”

I stepped closer to her.

“From what I’ve observed, the Black Domain is a curse-type spell. It’s excellent—it reduces all of an enemy’s abilities within range and deals continuous damage. But it’s not all-powerful. The first problem is the slow activation. It takes over five seconds to fully spread. As you learned earlier, five seconds in combat is plenty of time to get attacked.”

Just like when the wolf had rushed her before the Black Domain could fully spread, aiming straight for her head.

“T-then… can’t I just activate it as soon as I enter the dungeon?”

“That only works if the monsters are so weak they can’t resist it at all. You really don’t get that?”

“…”

She stayed quiet. Having seen the pill bug charge straight at her inside the Black Domain, she couldn’t deny it.

“The big pill bugs have slight resistance to multiple elements. Especially curses.”

It was a common trait among insect-type monsters. Even the worms and moths on the first floor had some resistance, though they were too low-level to withstand her spell.

But from the second floor onward, monsters’ levels rose, and so did all their stats.

“On top of that, pill bugs have a charge skill—they can close the distance instantly. Which brings us to the second problem with your fighting style.”

I pointed at the spot on her stomach where the pill bug had hit her earlier.

“You rely on the Black Domain so much that you completely neglect defense. Until now, it didn’t matter because the monsters died before they could reach you. But on the second floor of the Seawater cave, you’ll start facing enemies that can withstand it. Unless you plan to stay on the first floor forever, you need to break that habit.”

Meiling frowned and dismissed the Black Domain.

“Then what am I supposed to do? I can’t change the ability I was born with!”

“You’re seriously asking me that?”

I couldn’t believe her.

“Use this.”

I held out my left arm.

“What’s that?”

She really didn’t know? Strange. In the game, this was just something you had by default.

“A skill slot. No one’s taught you about it yet?”

According to the game’s lore, Meiling should have been getting personal combat lessons from a hunter Kai had hired.

“They never taught me that. They just said my ability would be fine for a while.”

“That’s just negligence.”

Even if there wouldn’t be a trip to the second floor until the midterms in April, a skill slot was something they should have covered.

I sighed, removed the skill slot from my arm, and handed it to her.

“Wear this on your arm. It’s faster than explaining.”

She wrinkled her nose.

“You got something to wipe it with?”

I actually considered smacking her.

“No.”

I tossed it to her.

Catching it, she pouted but still strapped it onto her left arm.

The next moment, her eyes widened.

“…This exists? First time I’ve heard of it.”

She turned to the wall, raised her wand, and fired a mana bolt.

The blue projectile shot out and blasted a hole in the wall.

When a hunter equips a skill gem in a skill slot, they automatically learn how to use the skill.

Right now, the slot held the school-issued basics: Mana Bolt, Mana Shield, and Burst Acceleration.

“Always keep cooldowns in mind. Mana Bolt has no cooldown, so it’s fine, but defensive and movement skills will leave you open for a while if you use them back-to-back. Space them out.”

“Got it.”

She replied half-heartedly and activated Mana Shield. A blue barrier appeared in front of her.

“Just because you have attack, defense, and movement skills now doesn’t mean you should start brawling with monsters. Keep sniping with Mana Bolt from range, defend against ranged attacks with the shield or movement skill, and only use the Black Domain when you’re certain you’ll win or absolutely need it. Remember—you can’t use other skills while channeling it.”

“What? How do you know that?”

“When the pill bug hit you earlier, the Black Domain vanished immediately. That means your ability is a channeling skill. You can move slowly while using it, but you probably can’t use other skills or sprint. If you don’t believe me, test it now.”

Meiling immediately cast the Black Domain and raised her arm—then looked surprised.

“It’s true?”

She canceled it and clicked her tongue.

“Shame. If I could fire Mana Bolts while using the Black Domain, I could shred monsters even more.”

That twisted hobby was none of my business.

“Anyway, we’re here today to practice a new fighting style—using the skill slot—and to train teamwork. Now that I’ve explained, let’s get started. Lumina.”

“Ah, okay!”

Lumina, who had been watching the surroundings the whole time, ran up to me.

“Conserve your Stealth when possible. Fight while Meiling and I cover you from behind.”

Lumina’s Physical Aptitude was D—lower even than Meiling’s—but she had the armor and accessories I made for her, and she’d reached level 15. That should let her handle the vanguard role on the second floor.

“Alright. I’ll do my best!”

Her voice was half determination, half nervousness.

“Let’s go.”

We headed deeper into the Seawater cave’s second floor.

A few minutes later, we faced a group of wolves, pill bugs, and recolored versions of the moths from the first floor.

“Ahahaha!!”

Meiling’s laughter rang out as she unleashed a barrage of Mana Bolts.

Each shot struck the giant moths flying overhead with pinpoint accuracy.

This might actually be better than in the game.

Standing back-to-back with Meiling, I threw frost mines and electric grenades to keep the pill bugs at bay.

In the game, companion characters with skill slots equipped would use their skills automatically, but they didn’t adapt like this.

In the game, three or four out of ten shots would still hit an already-dead monster. But Meiling’s wasting nothing.

Every time a monster took a Mana Bolt, it staggered. Those that could endure one shot fell after the second.

Even though Mana Bolt only had a damage multiplier of 50% of magic attack power, this was possible because the caster was Meiling—

With her high Energy and Mind aptitudes, her wand’s MP cap, MP recovery rate, and magic damage boost…

Adding the casting speed boost from the ring I had given her, Meiling had essentially become a living magic-bolt turret.

“Ahahaha! This is way more fun than killing them with the Black Domain!”

If only she didn’t laugh so ecstatically every time a monster hit by a mana bolt exploded into powder, I could have been perfectly satisfied.

For the record, Lumina was holding her own against the wolves as well.

She wasn’t using Stealth, so her damage output was a bit lacking, but she avoided any serious hits while still managing to wound them.

The wolves stabbed by her bone dagger were freezing up or bleeding, their movements noticeably slowing down.

That was thanks to the bleed effect from the Bone Dagger and the frostbite effect from the Bone Ring.

Exactly the kind of effects I’d included to help her in the front line.

I readied my explosive items and scanned the area.

Before I knew it, the moths were wiped out, and only two pill bugs remained—along with two wolves still locked in combat with Lumina.

“Lumina! Fall back over here!”

“Got it!”

She immediately withdrew at my command.

“Meiling, target the wolves.”

“Don’t order me around! I was going to anyway!”

Her tone was annoyed, but she still pointed her wand at the wolves.

I threw an electric grenade while Meiling fired mana bolts.

The grenade went off first, shocking the wolves, and right after that, Meiling’s mana bolts struck them.

The wolves collapsed, their bodies turning to ash and vanishing.

Meanwhile, Lumina, now beside us, quickly finished off the two approaching pill bugs.

That was the end of the monsters in the area.

“Phew…”

Lumina exhaled and plopped down onto the ground.

“Ah, that feels good.”

Hands on her hips, Meiling wore a refreshed expression as she looked around.

“Alright, let’s get moving to the next spot. With the way I’m feeling today, I could take down a thousand monsters!”

“A—a thousand!?” Lumina looked horrified.

“First, let’s pick up the loot.”

“You two can handle that. I don’t need any of it.”

Meiling crossed her arms.

“Huh? You really don’t need any?” Lumina asked.

“That’s right. Don’t need it.” Meiling waved dismissively.

I had no complaints—if she didn’t take a share, that meant my portion would be bigger.

But this was a trap disguised as an opportunity.

Silently, I gathered the loot and divided the materials into thirds.

Then I pointed at the pile that was Meiling’s share.

“Meiling, take your portion.”

She frowned.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said I don’t need it.”

I shook my head.

“A squad that doesn’t split loot fairly won’t last. And dividing it evenly is also a way of showing mutual respect as teammates.”

Meiling flinched slightly at that.

“We just fought with our lives in each other’s hands. That makes us comrades, no matter how we got here.”

“Y-yeah. Yein’s right!” Lumina smiled warmly at Meiling.

“Your family’s wealth has nothing to do with loot distribution. This is your share, earned because you fought alongside us. Take it.”

“…Ugh, you’re giving me goosebumps.”

Meiling turned away with a prim look, but she walked over to the pile and stored her share in her inventory.

“There, happy? Now let’s go find more monsters!”

I couldn’t help but smirk when I noticed the tips of her ears turning red as she called out over her shoulder.

Too easy.

After that, we fought several more battles.

The monsters we encountered were mostly the same, so our tactics didn’t change. Lumina drew in melee-focused monsters like wolves and worms, while Meiling and I dealt with fliers or enemies with charges or ranged attacks.

While clearing out dozens of monsters on the second floor of the Seawater cave, I spotted an item left behind by a fallen wolf.

It was nothing like the fangs, claws, or hides we’d seen so far.

A gleaming red gem.

An attack skill gem.

Once the fight ended, I quickly checked what it was.

Oh, perfect timing for something like this.

“What’s that?”

Meiling had come up beside me without me noticing.

“A skill gem.”

“What? Let me see!”

She snatched it from my hand, removed the Mana Bolt gem from the skill slot I’d lent her, and put this one in.

That’s not yours, you know.

Sure enough, her face fell in disappointment.

“What the—this is a melee skill. I don’t want it.”

When she looked ready to toss it on the ground, I quickly took it back.

“Lumina.”

“Yeah?”

“Take out your Mana Bolt and put this in.”

I tossed the red skill gem to her.

Lumina’s eyes widened the moment she slotted it in.

“Alright, let’s just take down the second floor’s boss monster and call it a day.”

“What? Already?”

“If you don’t like it, you can clear the second floor alone.”

“…”

Meiling grit her teeth, clearly annoyed, but said nothing.

Just as I intended—she was beginning to understand.

The advantages of running a dungeon as a team.

And once you learn that, you can’t go back to the old way.

(End of Chapter)