The Earth-san Has Leveled Up!

2-16. Defense Power Verification

I wake up and, just like last night, borrow the kitchen to roast some rabbit meat.

Leaving that to Sasara and Lulu, Meiko goes shopping.

Before shopping, it’s time to sell.

The items to sell are the various weapons and armor that have served us well up to now.

We sell two of the Pestle Swords, keeping only Sasara’s. These are sub-weapons, but since they’re about a meter long, they’re quite cumbersome.

After some discussion, we also decided to sell the clothes Meiko and the others were originally wearing. The jerseys and overalls fetch a decent price, but they take up a lot of space in the backpack. Since life is more important, we decided to sell them.

Each Pestle Sword sells for 200 Guineas, so two fetch 400 Guineas.

Meiko’s clothes sell for a total of 1000 Guineas.

These items sold for a good price because they were maxed out in synthesis enhancement.

With 1400 Guineas in hand, we buy some antidotes and paralysis cures, a few items that might come in handy, and finally some rice balls and the famous cherry blossom dumplings.

By the way, since salt is also sold here, we bought some of that as well.

We have rice balls and rabbit meat skewers for breakfast. For dessert, cherry blossom dumplings.

Even though we’re in a dungeon, it’s quite a satisfying breakfast.

It’s rare for Meiko and the others to have a sleepover with friends and eat a breakfast they made themselves, so they had a lot of fun.

Especially since those friends are also comrades-in-arms.

“Well then, see you later, Cat-san.”

“Take care.”

“Bye-bye!”

“Nya! Good luck, you three!”

Finally, after receiving a pep talk from the cat fairy, Meiko and the others leave the inn.

However, just in case, they left about 30 minutes of usage time, so they might come back for more shopping or something.

After leaving the shop, at a spot a little away, Meiko says to the two:

“Both of you, I want to verify a few things, is that okay?”

Each person’s equipment should be quite strong since Meiko spent the night synthesizing like crazy, but she wanted specific numbers.

With the consent of the two, Meiko starts appraising with 50/50 Appraisal Orbs.

Sasara writes down the current values next to the initial equipment stats she recorded in her notebook last night.

Meanwhile, Lulu stays on guard.

Since they used two Appraisal Orbs last night and two today, they have five left.

※Refer to the end of the previous chapter for the equipment values.

Meiko groans as she looks at the numbers in the notebook.

The max enhancement of the jersey was a defense power of 12.

In contrast, the new body armor has a defense power of 46, about four times that.

As the cat fairy said, the performance of above-ground and dungeon-produced weapons and armor is worlds apart.

It’s clear at a glance that the party has been greatly strengthened, but the issue is this defense power.

We don’t know if it’s strong or not.

Meiko decides to verify.

It’s probably something that should have been done earlier, but it’s dangerous, so she avoided it.

However, after seeing the Hyakki Yagou last night, she realized that she has to check properly.

That said, she doesn’t want to take attacks from enemies, so Meiko suggests:

“Everyone, I want to verify our defense power. It’s dangerous to take attacks from enemies, so how about we attack each other?”

“Then I shall receive the attacks.”

“No, let’s decide by rock-paper-scissors. I don’t think anyone wants to hit their friends, so the winner hits the loser. How about that?”

At Meiko’s suggestion, Sasara, who was about to volunteer to be the test subject, has no choice but to nod.

This is an experiment that hurts both the hitter and the hittee.

“Understood.”

“Nya… let’s do it…”

In the ensuing rock-paper-scissors, Meiko loses and Lulu wins.

Meaning, Meiko will hit Lulu.

Sasara is dejected at being just a spectator.

Lulu makes a face.

Then, she clenches her fists at her sides and exposes her stomach.

“Battikoi!”

“O-oh, the stomach? Wouldn’t the butt or something be…”

A girl’s stomach is important.

Of course, the butt is important too, but when it comes to hitting, the stomach is more challenging.

“It’s rare to have your butt attacked while facing an enemy! The stomach and face are the best for verification!”

That’s certainly true.

The torso and face are the worst places to take a hit.

“Guh, well, here I go!?”

“Such a rubber tire!”

“Huh?”

“?”

Meiko considers that Lulu sometimes misremembers Japanese phrases and thinks hard.

Such a rubber tire?

…………

……

Such an unreasonable thing?

The usage is completely different, so even though it’s just one character off, it takes time.

Because even though she’s saying “such an unreasonable thing,” she’s making a determined face.

But, nevertheless!

That spirit is good!

Gulp, Meiko prepares to hit her friend!

Meiko throws a punch.

Meiko’s wrist twists! 3 damage!

Lulu reflexively makes a (>_<) face, but no damage.

“Hi, hiiiiiii…!”

“Ah, wah wah wah wah! Meeko, are you okay!?”

“That outfit has a damage reflection effect…!”

“Seriously!?”

“No, just kidding… guh.”

Meiko wriggles her hand, checking the pain.

It doesn’t seem like a sprain. As she wriggles it, the pain gradually subsides.

At least we know that Meiko’s punch does no damage.

It was a meaningless verification.

“Meeko. Next is this!”

Next, Sasara’s sub-weapon, the Pestle Sword, is brought out.

Lulu, handing the Pestle Sword to Meiko, once again exposes her stomach with a determined face.

Ah wah wah wah…

Meiko, despite proposing this verification, hesitates.

“Wait a moment. I don’t think it’s fair for Meiko-san to keep having bad experiences. I’ll do it.”

“Eh, no, but, we decided by rock-paper-scissors…”

“Next, Lulu-san and Meiko-san can hit me. Finally, I and Lulu-san will hit Meiko-san. How about that?”

“Nya. That’s fine. Everyone gets a fair share.”

At Lulu’s words, Meiko thinks that’s right.

This party, a community of shared fate, shares everything equally.

“Okay. That’s a better proposal than rock-paper-scissors. As expected of Sasara.”

This way, everyone can share the pain and unpleasantness.

“Here I go!”

“Such a rubber tire!”

Why did she remember to use this phrase in this situation?

With Lulu exposing her stomach as if to say “hit here,” Sasara attacks with the Pestle Sword.

Sasara, who just said something nice, is now scared!

Weak attack!

“Eh, eih!”

“Doesn’t hurt! You must be holding back, aren’t you!? More!”

Weak attacks don’t seem to hurt.

“Eh, eih!”

Weak attack!

The Pestle Sword hits Lulu’s stomach!

Meiko is just flustered!

“Not at all! One more time!”

“Eiyah! And with this, it’s over!”

Medium attack!

Finally, Sasara delivers a relatively strong hit and forces an end.

Sasara hurriedly rushes to Lulu and rubs her stomach.

“Are you okay?”

“Nya! It didn’t hurt at all!”

Meanwhile, Meiko, hearing Lulu’s statement, snaps back to reality and nods importantly.

“At least, the cloth parts seem quite reliable, right?”

“Hah!? That’s certainly true. Meeko, hit my arm!”

“Nu, nuu…!”

Reluctantly, Meiko picks up the Pestle Sword.

Then, she hits Lulu’s outstretched arm with a thwack.

But, weak attack!

“Doesn’t hurt! Still not enough!”

“Ya, yah!”

“Not at all! Such a rubber tire!”

“Ha, wah wah wah…”

Before she knows it, Meiko is the one making a (>_<) face and hitting Lulu’s arm.

But, since verification is important, she finally delivers a strong attack.

Result.

Even the exposed skin parts somehow had increased defense power.

However, Meiko’s strong attack seemed to hurt a little.

“Haah-haah. Lulu, Lulu. Sorry for hitting you?”

Meiko pats Lulu’s back.

Sasara, who was on guard, also comes over, and the two apologize to Lulu.

“It’s okay! The parts without cloth are the most on me. So it’s necessary!”

That’s certainly true, but the feeling of hitting a friend is the worst.

Next is Sasara’s turn.

“Come on, bring it on!”

Sasara exposes her stomach with a determined face.

Meiko has dead eyes, and Lulu, who had been provoking until now, has scared eyes.

Result.

Thanks to her skills, Sasara’s defense power is particularly high, so even Lulu’s full-power attack did no damage.

They also tested the wire on her head, and even the parts without the wire didn’t hurt when hit.

After hitting Sasara, the two again half-cry while patting her.

Finally, Meiko.

“Come on, hit me!”

These girls are a mysterious group that gets motivated when it’s their turn to be hit.

Sasara and Lulu hesitate greatly.

Even with thick-soled sandals, Meiko is only 150 cm tall, much smaller than them, and swinging a wooden stick at her is met with tremendous resistance.

“What’s wrong, what’s wrong!?”

“Is that all!?”

“That’s right, you’re sharp!”

Meiko provokes them, drawing out Sasara and Lulu’s potential.

Both Sasara and Lulu, with teary eyes, swing down the Pestle Sword.

Result, Sasara’s strong attack hurt a little.

When it comes to slashing attacks, Sasara, who has [Small Strength Up], is the strongest.

From this experiment, we learned that even the head, which has no equipment, has some defense power.

However, it’s overwhelmingly inferior to the body parts.

“Defense power seems to affect not just the equipped parts, but also the surrounding areas.”

There’s also the matter of Lulu’s exposed skin.

Lulu’s kimono is sleeveless, so the exposed parts should have zero defense power.

Yet, they had normal high defense power.

On the other hand, it’s unlikely that the total defense power of equipped armor directly translates to the body’s overall defense power, like in games.

This doesn’t explain why some parts occasionally hurt.

While Meiko is seriously pondering this, the other two are wiping their tears at her feet.

After it’s over, the three drink low-grade recovery potions.

Since the damage wasn’t significant, everyone’s magic power only decreased by 2, and it recovered quickly.

However, this was also a very meaningful experiment.

The magic power consumption when drinking recovery potions might be surprisingly high.

Even though the damage didn’t hinder movement, it still decreased by 2. If we were to heal a fracture, it might consume around 40.

The three judged that using this as a trump card in battle is dangerous.

Of course, if it’s a matter of life and death, there’s no hesitation in drinking it, but for someone like Meiko who uses magic frequently, it might be better to wait until the battle is over even if she has a fracture.

Leaving aside the recovery potion analysis, let’s return to the defense power analysis.

“With our attacks using the Pestle Sword, it’s almost no damage. Probably, normal weapons would deal damage.”

“That’s right, guzuu!”

“Nya, zuzuu!”

Meiko, who made the other two cry by having them hit her, continues her analysis.

“The Checkered Doll couldn’t cut through Sasara’s jersey with a suicidal charge.”

Meiko recalls the incident from the day before yesterday.

The first Checkered Doll that appeared, even while falling apart, made a suicidal charge.

The Checkered Doll swung itstana sideways at Sasara’s ankle. Sasara’s jersey and socks were torn, but Sasara’s ankle itself wasn’t badly damaged.

“In other words, since our defense power has quadrupled, I think it’s safe to assume their attacks aren’t scary anymore.”

“Guzuu! But we mustn’t let our guard down.”

“Sorry, you’re right. Not all checkered dolls might be the same strength.”

In elaborate RPGs, the same enemies get stronger as you go deeper.

Since the dungeon has game-like elements, it’s quite possible that this rule is in effect.

Also, we’re probably heading to the 4th floor soon.

It’s quite possible that new enemies will appear.

Meiko scolds herself for saying something naive.