Evans’ Dungeon looks like an ordinary medium-sized dungeon on the outside.

 

However, what’s inside is different.

 

If you enter the hidden passage there, you will find a place of trial left by Ruel, one of the old heroes of the Soul Academy world.

 

After entering there and passing several tests, you can obtain one high performance passive skill and one of the final items, Ruel’s Mace.

 

Ruel’s Mace has many effects, but three of them are worth noting.

 

Increased experience gain.

 

Correction to mace-related skills.

 

Most importantly, there are no level or ability restrictions for wearing this weapon.

 

Like other games, the weapons in Soul Academy differ depending on the level.

 

Weapons that can be used at low levels are usually poor, and weapons that can be used at high levels are good.

 

However, Ruel’s Mace is free from these restrictions.

 

Ruel’s Mace, which grows with the user’s level, is always an excellent weapon with above-average performance.

 

Even at max level, there aren’t many blunt weapons better than Ruel’s Mace.

 

Of course, there is a final weapon in the mace series, but it is so difficult to obtain that it is usually not used unless you are going for a specific build.

 

Ruel’s Mace is enough to play the game.

 

If you level up a mace character, you will usually only use Ruel’s Mace until the end of the game.

 

After hearing the knight’s words, I was only wondering if I could pass Ruel’s Trial, but soon I came to the conclusion that it was definitely possible.

 

I felt greedy.

 

I was planning to visit Evans’ Dungeon anyway.

 

Ruel’s Mace was an item that I absolutely had to obtain if I decided to wield a mace.

 

That moment just came a little sooner.

 

Alright.

 

Let’s follow the knights and enter Evans’ Dungeon.

 

I came to Benedict around dusk to ask for permission to follow the knights’ training.

 

“Lucy, what’s going on?”

 

He showed a happy expression when he saw me, but he didn’t come too close to me as if he remembered what happened this morning.

 

Is he still bothered by the fact that I’m annoyed?

 

This guy looks like a troll, but why is he so soft-hearted?

 

Is it the cliché that a strong person on the outside is actually soft-hearted?

 

It was fun to watch from afar, but now that it’s real, it really annoys me.

 

‘I came to apologize for what happened this morning.’

 

“Stupid father, I spoke too harshly this morning.”

 

“Are you forgiving me?”

 

“Yes, this is just this once.”

 

“Lucy!”

 

Benedict ran over as if he had been waiting for me, hugged me, and rubbed his beard against me.

 

I was annoyed by that, but I stopped because I thought he’d really cry if I said another word.

 

This guy is annoying.

 

Do all fathers love their daughters this much? I’ve never had parents, so I don’t know.

 

I held it in for a long time to let Benedict feel better, but I thought I’d have to stay up all night, so I pushed him away.

 

Then Benedict stepped back with an embarrassed expression.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m so happy.”

 

‘That’s okay, there’s something I want to ask you.’

 

“Fine, Idiot father but, there’s something I want to ask you.”

 

“What?”

 

“I want to go with you to the knight training.”

 

Benedict, who had been giggling and laughing unpleasantly just a moment ago, froze in an instant.

 

He asked me back as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

 

“What?”

 

“I’m going into the dungeon.”

 

“No! Absolutely not!”

 

What do you mean no?

 

Benedict desperately tried to dissuade me, but there was no way that a person who was usually weak to his daughter could overcome my stubbornness.

 

Finding no way to oppose my justification for wanting to experience the dungeon before taking the academy entrance exam, he could only nod in the end.

 

Since I was given permission to enter the dungeon, I should prepare to pass Ruel’s ordeal.

 

Ruel’s trials are largely divided into three stages.

 

The first is the trial of the guardian.

 

This is a trial where you have to protect the stone statue in the middle from monsters that appear in the trial place.

 

The monsters that appear in the trial are adjusted according to the level of the character undergoing the trial.

 

If you enter at level 1, goblins will appear, but if you enter at max level, the boss of some A-class dungeon will come out with his subordinates.

 

Right now, I am at level 0 and haven’t even started the game.

 

The enemies that appear in the trial will be really weak.

 

The second trial is the trial of divinity.

 

To put it simply, this is a quiz using the contents of the Bible that exist in this world.

 

Several out of hundreds of pre-determined questions are submitted, and if you answer them within the time limit, you can move on to the next step.

 

There is no need to prepare for this.

 

I have memorized all the questions and answers in the trial of divinity.

 

I have probably passed Ruel’s trial thousands of times, so there is no way I would make a mistake here.

 

The last is the trial of patience.

 

According to the game, it shows something that traumatizes the character in order to test their mental strength.

 

What I see on the monitor is usually something grotesque or terrifying.

 

There is no strategy for this, and the only answer is to endure with mental power and mental skills, but I have the skills for this right now.

 

Overcoming fear and an unbreakable will.

 

If I have the overcoming of fear that allows me to find my composure even when I feel extreme fear, and the unbreakable will that prevents me from dying once, I can easily overcome the third trial.

 

At least that was the case when I was playing the game.

 

So, what I have to prepare for now is only one thing: combat training to overcome the first trial.

 

Even if a weak monster appears, a battle is a battle.

 

There is no way I, who has never learned how to move my body, can fight well in a real fight.

 

If I am thrown into the middle of a battlefield without any preparation, I will definitely freeze up, so I have to train in advance.

 

Mace in one hand and shield in the other, I stand in front of a wooden training doll.

 

I have confirmed before that the game’s system is applied here as well.

 

If that is the case, my proficiency in handling the mace while running with a weapon must have increased a lot.

 

I don’t know how the concept of proficiency will be applied in reality, but it will definitely work in some way.

 

Just like the Mesugaki skill in Lucy’s body activated.

 

To check that.

 

I’ll have to swing the mace.

 

Bang! I had been swinging the mace blindly to hit the wooden doll, but somehow, I felt like I could swing it better than this.

 

The way I held it.

 

The way I moved my arms.

 

How I could add more power to it when I swung the mace.

 

I swung the mace again, following the conviction in my head.

 

Boom! The moment I saw the wooden shards flying as the mace sank, I realized that my conviction had brought about better results.

 

It was clear.

 

The concept of proficiency exists in this world.

 

And if you increase your proficiency like you do in the game, you will be able to handle the weapon with proficiency better.

 

Haha.

 

This way, things will be easy.

 

I worked really hard on proficiency in the game.

 

I never thought that staying up all night to enjoy the game’s content and thinking about how to grow your character faster and stronger would help.

 

It was good that I lived in the game.

 

No.

 

No.

 

If I hadn’t played Soul Academy in the first place, I wouldn’t have become this fucking Mesugaki.

 

I should have lived a little longer in the present.

 

I shouldn’t have downloaded unverified and weird mods just to find content.

 

As I cursed at myself a week ago for being stupid, anger welled up inside me.

 

Damn it.

 

You, the wooden doll, should bear the brunt of this anger

 

I’ll take out all the anger I’ve accumulated since becoming Mesugaki on you!

 

There’s a set technique that increases mace proficiency the best in the early stages of Soul Academy.

 

Slamming the mace down from above.

 

This technique, which has the barbaric name of Head Smash, is an excellent technique that shows what simple is best.

 

It’s a short movement, good damage for an early skill, and it increases proficiency well, so there’s no room to waste on this skill.

 

Today, let’s aim to break this wooden doll’s pot with Head Smash.

 

As I continued to train, I became a master of the mace, but on the third day of training, I felt something strange.

 

Even though I had been swinging the mace for an hour, I was not sure that I could swing it any better.

 

In fact, I had felt this omen before.

 

At first, I saw improvement every time I swung it, but as time passed, the number of times increased to ten swings, then to dozens, then to hundreds.

 

I guess I was about to reach the level limit.

 

The Soul Academy’s proficiency system limits the increase in proficiency based on level.

 

The higher your proficiency is relative to your level, the harder it is to raise your proficiency.

 

Therefore, in order to properly raise your proficiency, you need to level up at the same time.

 

However, right now, I can’t go outside the mansion.

 

If I go into Evans’ dungeon later, I can level up then, but not now.

 

So, I had to stop here for now.

 

It’s inefficient.

 

Now that I’ve raised my proficiency with the mace, it’s time to raise my shield proficiency, but in order to raise my shield proficiency, I need someone to fight me.

 

In Soul Academy, shields are considered a type of defensive equipment, so your proficiency increases every time you block an attack.

 

In the case of shields, there are tricks to increase your proficiency quickly and easily, but you can only use them after entering the academy, so for now, you have to raise your proficiency honestly.

 

Hmm.

 

Should I ask Benedict to save someone for me?

 

I made the excuse that I wanted. to get some combat experience before entering the dungeon.

 

It wouldn’t be bad

 

Strictly speaking, it’s not just an excuse.

 

I’m confident that I can swing a mace pretty well now but swinging a weapon against a still doll is completely different from swinging a weapon against a real, living enemy.

 

If you enter Ruel’s Trial without any combat experience, you might run into some problems.

 

So, in order to prepare for combat in advance, you need someone to spar with.

 

“Miss, are you resting?”

 

While I was pondering, a knight who was harassing me approached me

 

His face was so handsome that I found it a little creepy, but this time, I felt happy to see him

 

“Miss?”

 

‘Knight, are you busy?’

 

“Sloppy knight, are you busy?”

 

“No, I’m not that busy, what’s wrong?”

 

“Then spar with me.”

 

“Yes?”

 

I’ll also level up my shield proficiency.

 

And while I’m at it, I’ll check out how good my head-smashing skills are.