Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 542

Divine Spear 3

No.7, Milayel’s Divine Spear.

A graduation weapon from the spear series, offering a well-balanced mix of damage and tanking abilities.

Its high survivability was one of the main reasons I started researching spear barbarians in the first place.

But it ended up becoming something of a Berserker build.

Not that the Berserker class is bad.

If there’s a main tank of similar rank in the party, a Spear Barbarian can perform quite well. And it can even fill in as an off-tank in an emergency.

However…

“Hmm…”

No matter how I think about it, it’s still kind of sketchy.

“Everyone, start cleaning up.”

“Huh?”

“We’ll be leaving soon!”

“Ah, ah… Got it!”

Everyone seemed curious about who would be the owner of this weapon, but I decided to think about it after we left the island.

It’s not a decision to be made lightly.

“Set sail!”

Soon, the ship carrying everyone began to cut through the silver waves.

And after some time had passed.

“Mister! Look over there!”

From the shrinking center of the giant island, a massive Titanus rose to its feet and unleashed a ferocious roar in our direction.

[UOOOOOOOOOOOH——!]

…Why does it always do this only when we’re leaving?

***

Until we reached our destination, Library Island, I remained deep in thought.

Who should I entrust this weapon to?”

Ah, we made eye contact again.

As I glanced around, hoping for some kind of answer, my eyes met with a man.

A spearman from the Hex clan.

He was the only spear user among all the people here. Though he didn’t say it out loud, I could tell he was secretly hoping to be chosen.

So…

Swoosh.

I quickly turned my head away.

Come on, be realistic with what you covet.

This weapon belongs to the Anabada Clan.

That was already decided. So my only task was to choose who in my clan would get it.

‘First off, no need to even consider Erwin or Versil.’

The same goes for Amelia and Misha.

Misha has already committed to the dual-wielding ice build, and Amelia is not suited for spears because she uses aura.

Auyen isn’t even a combat class to begin with.

By process of elimination, the only one left is Aynar, but……

“Huh? You want some too?”

When our eyes met, Aynar grinned and handed me a piece of jerky she’d been holding preciously.

I accepted it and chewed while continuing my train of thought.

‘……But she’s probably the one who can bring out the spear’s potential the most’

[Natural regeneration increases proportionally to combat duration.]

[All recovery effects are tripled.]

These two abilities synergize well with the ‘Slayer’ Imprint’s Combat Learning’ and ‘Devour.’

And with [Wings of Greed] and [Crouch], combined with the spear she’ll have monstrous recovery rates.

In fact, my Spear Barbarian build used the ‘Slayer’ imprint similarly and was loaded with recovery-type skills.

However, the problem here is……

‘The moment I give her the spear, she’ll have to discard several skills.’

First, the Level 4 skill [Repeated Strikes].

It’s not impossible to use the skill with a spear, but the piercing damage bonus won’t apply.

The bonus effect that Wild Control converts into “Cutting Power” is useless in the same way.

If you don’t use [Repeated Strikes], [Scars of Explosion] loses its meaning, and without that, [Mandel Oil] and [Residual Heat] also become useless skills.’

Essentially, the moment she picks up the spear, she’ll have to overhaul her entire skill set.

But……

‘Wait, aside from Hippramagent’s Cower, all her skills are Level 4 or lower, right?’

I suddenly realized.

‘If that’s the case, maybe it’s fine to just change them all?’

[Dungeon & Stone] is a game centered around growth.

While assembling the perfect final build is important, designing a path to reach that build is several times more critical.

Without preparing multiple alternative items and essences for each stage, it’s impossible to grow a character to their final build.

So it’s crucial to gradually increase their stats without losing the character’s core concept.

Chew, Chew, Chew.

The reason I made [Repeated Strikes] Aynar’s core skill was also for this purpose.

It was a level 4 skill that we happened to get our hands on early on. And after she got the most out of it, I was planning to change it to a similar high-level skill later.

…But revising the plan isn’t necessarily a bad idea.

I’ve already grown a lot.

Erwin after consuming the floor lord’s essence is now in a league of her own, and Misha has also grown tremendously after travelling with Baek-ho.

Amelia was always strong to begin with.

Frankly, even if Aynar weren’t here right now, we could hunt just fine.

Cold as it sounds, we can cut her from the team if necessary

‘And, in fact, using a spear won’t drastically reduce her combat power anyway.’

It’s a single-digit “Numbers” item.

Moreover, it’s a graduation-level weapon with no substitutes.

Its effects alone are powerful enough to compensate for the loss of some skills.

Especially since they’re all Level 4 or lower essences.

Piercing damage: 1,200%.

All spear-based damage is tripled.

The ability to pierce any material.

These three effects alone could make her deal more damage than when using a sword, and the improved regeneration effects will make her far more invincible than she already was.

So now the real question is:

‘Will she accept it…?’

Well, no harm in asking.

Like a true barbarian—

“Aynar.”

I walked over and casually dropped the question as if it were no big deal.

“Ever thought about using a spear instead of a sword?”

“……A spear?”

Aynar stopped chewing her jerky and looked at me with a strange expression.

Sigh, I guess it’s a no?

Barbarians often look down on such weapons, viewing them as cowardly, so—

“Oh! If you mean that spear, sure! Give it to me!”

…Huh?

What’s with this reaction?

“Just to be clear, I’m saying you’d have to use the spear for the rest of your life. You’d have to change all your essences too.”

“If I have to change… does that include Semura’s essence?”

Semura’s essence is [Repeated Strikes].

The skill was passed down to Aynar through ‘Soul Succession’ by the elder she revered as a mentor before his death.

“Yeah, that essence too.”

“I see……”

Aynar’s gaze grew distant for a moment.

But it didn’t take long for her to respond.

“If you want, you can take your time to think about it—”

“It’s fine. I’ll switch to the spear.”

“…Huh?”

I am telling her to overhaul her entire build, and she decides in less than a minute?

‘Is this what a true barbarian is……?’

For me, it was a level I couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

However, it wasn’t as if Aynar had made the decision without any thought.

“Why are you so surprised? Weren’t you the one who recommended all my current Essences anyway?”

“Uh… yeah, I suppose I did.”

“Thanks to that, I’ve earned far more recognition than I deserve. I’ve gained the power to fight enemies I couldn’t even have imagined before, and I used that power to protect my comrades.”

Then she locked eyes with me and continued in a calm tone:

“That’s why I trust you.”

“…….”

“There’s no way you’d do anything to harm me, right?”

I see.

It wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment decision—she trusted me completely, which is why she could move forward without any doubts.

‘Could I ever do the same?’

Just as I was overwhelmed by the immense trust…

“And most importantly……”

Aynar looked away.

No, more accurately, she looked away from me and stared at something else.

With an incredibly greedy expression.

“…That, that spear is amazing! It’s huge, isn’t it!”

“Ah……”

“It’s at least 1.5 times bigger than my greatsword!”

I was speechless.

Like crows instinctively drawn to shiny objects,

barbarians had a natural fondness for big things.

“And it sparkles so beautifully too!”

The fact that it glowed was just the cherry on top.

“Plus, all the winged guys seem to use spears!”

So… you had your own reasons too.
***

After changing her class to spearman, Aynar immediately began familiarizing himself with the spear.

She practiced swinging it in the air, thrusting forward,
keeping her distance, etc.

At first, she seemed awkward, as if she didn’t even know how to hold it properly, but her stance stabilized at an unbelievable speed.

“Haha, now my old form is coming back!”

“Old form?”

“Don’t you remember? When we were kids, we used to train with all kinds of weapons!”

“Ah, that… yeah……”

Ugh, why bring up old memories all of a sudden?

As usual, I gave short answers to end the nostalgic topic, but unfortunately, Aynar was already lost in reminiscing.

“Now that I think about it, it’s quite interesting. My mother used a spear, and I heard my older sister used one too.”

Luckily, it was something I could respond to naturally.

While I’d never heard of her mother using a spear, we had talked about her older sister before.
Ainar—second daughter of Fnelin.

He had an older sister.

Or rather… had.

“You had a sister?”

Erwin, who also had an older sister, showed interest and asked.

Aynar shrugged.

“Ah, haven’t I mentioned it to you? She was four years older than me. She became an explorer first and used to teach me techniques while telling me all sorts of stories. Hahaha……”

“……Huh?”

Erwin looked puzzled by Aynar’s seemingly happy recollection, but it was simply a cultural difference between races.

“So what about your sister? Is she famous?”

“She’s dead. Two years before I had my coming-of-age ceremony.”

“Oh… I—I’m sorry…”

Erwin turned pale, as if she’d touched a nerve.

But Aynar didn’t seem bothered.

“Huh? Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault she died.”

“But… it must be a painful memory…”

“Painful? What does that mean? All my memories of her are good. Sure, I can’t see her anymore, but thinking about her always makes me happy.”

Erwin was momentarily speechless.

“How… how can you feel that way? When I think of my sister… my chest feels like it’s being crushed.”

She sounded agitated—almost blaming her—but Aynar didn’t seem to care.

She just tilted her head in confusion.

“Why? I don’t really have an answer.”

“…”

“But smiling feels better than crying, doesn’t it? I’m sure my sister would want that too!”

A typical barbarian answer.

Hearing that, Erwin couldn’t say another word. She simply stared at Aynar for a moment, then quietly turned and made her way to the lookout deck.

‘Phew… finally, I can breathe.’

As I let out a long-held sigh, Aynar gave me a confused look.

“……Did I do something wrong?”

“Nothing. Get back to training. Once we reach the island, we’ll be jumping straight into action.”

“Oh! Got it!”

After setting Aynar back to training mode, I headed to the ship’s helm.

I confirmed the estimated arrival time with Auyen, then leaned against a pillar, closed my eyes, and drifted off.”

‘They’ll handle the trash mobs on their own, and if anything strong shows up, they’ll wake me up.’

And after some time had passed.

When I woke up, I took out my water bottle and looked for Aynar. I was curious about her progress so far, but……

‘Huh?’

For some reason, Aynar had stopped training and was resting on the deck.

With Erwin.

‘What’s going on?’

Just as I was wondering, Amelia approached me.

“Don’t interfere and just leave them be.”

“……I wasn’t planning to.”

I am just curious about their conversation.

I pricked up my ears and focused, and their conversation reached me.

Despite my initial concerns, an utterly ordinary conversation was taking place between them.

“Haha, so you have a younger sister too? What’s she like? Is she an explorer?”

“No, not yet. She’ll have her coming-of-age ceremony next year, but I’m a bit worried.”

“If you’re worried, why not teach her everything you know?”

“That’s… not easy.”

“Huh? Oh, because you’re stuck here?”

“No, it’s not that… It’s just… after my sister died, and Mister disappeared, things haven’t been great between me and my little sister.”

“Ah, you were out fighting for revenge every day, so it’s all your fault!”

I was shocked by Aynar’s accusation, but surprisingly, Erwin accepted it submissively.

“Yeah… you’re right. It is my fault.”

“Haha, as long as you know. Then you can make it up to her when you get back, right?”

“But… I think it’s already too late. I think my little sister hates and resents me.”

“Did she say that herself?”

“No, not exactly, but—”

“Then stop overthinking about it so much. She hates you? I bet she wants to go back to the way things were, just as much as you do.”

“…Really?”

It was a bizarre scene—an elf seriously receiving life advice from a barbarian, who were practically natural enemies.

But at the same time, it made sense.

“Haha, I’m sure of it! You can trust me on this!”

Now I understand how Aynar can befriend anyone so easily.

Day 76 of entering the Labyrinth.

After leaving the Giant Island, we finally arrived at the Library Island.

Our task here was to farm for as long as possible.

Sure, I want Bellarios – but I really hope we get some essences that Aynar can use, too.

With that thought in mind, we stepped into the building and made our way down a long flight of stairs

And then……

“Jandel, there’s someone down there.”

“Only one person. No one else.”

“They’re crouching, looks like they’re sleeping……”

“What should we do?”

Amelia and Erwin gave me some unexpected news.

A guest had arrived ahead of us.

“Who could it be?

There was one candidate that came to mind immediately.

The clan that came down to the first basement floor with Armin’s exploration team a few weeks ago

Their name was……

“……Could it be someone from the Inferial Clan?”

Ah, right, that was it.

“But the numbers are odd. Only one person. Where is the rest……?”

Myul frowned and fell into thought, but I wasn’t particularly curious.

No, to be precise, I didn’t have time.

“Asking directly will be faster.”

No amount of speculation could be more accurate than hearing the truth from their own mouth.

I hurried down the stairs.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Perhaps due to the noise, the guest who had been sleeping was already half-awake by the time we arrived.

“Uh……! Baron?!”

The guest was startled when they saw me.

To be honest, so was I.

Because……

“…Maderkin Rillgriams.”

The leader of the Silver Lion Clan — missing since our last meeting on the Village Chief’s Island.

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