Chapter 130
Draco sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in mild annoyance as he watched the boys' antics.
"These boys..." he muttered under his breath.
Vasiliki doubled over, howling with laughter as she pointed at Michalis, who was still sprawled on the floor.
"Pfff, hahaha!" she cackled, her sides heaving.
Michalis, already in a foul mood, scowled darkly as Vasiliki's uproarious laughter only served to exacerbate his irritation.
Dimitra eyed Michalis contemplatively, but ultimately decided against saying anything, choosing to remain silent.
Nikolaos, on the other hand, felt a twinge of stupidity for having concerned himself with Vasileios' earlier antics.
He had no intention of wasting his time on Michalis, who had pulled the same stunt as Vasileios, nearly succeeding in his endeavour.
Dimitra hadn't initially planned to steal Vasileios' spot, but when she witnessed the tussle between Michalis, Nikolaos, and Vasileios, the idea took root in her mind.
It was supposed to be a fleeting, mildly amusing thought, but before she could fully process it, her body had already moved, and she found herself standing within Bahamut's room.
'Sigh, to think I couldn't resist the temptation,' Dimitra briefly lamented, but quickly pushed the thought aside, her expression resolute.
She strode past Michalis, approaching Draco and handing over her status sheet.
"I only had three options, but I believe I've chosen the best one," Dimitra said, her voice filled with confidence.
When Bahamut had updated her status board, she had been presented with three development ability choices: Hunter, Abnormal Resistance, and Steady Hands.
The first two were certainly enticing, but the last one had an intriguing effect that she found herself unable to resist.
Steady Hands was a skill that allowed the user to ignore all negative physical conditions and boost their focus by a certain amount for 30 seconds when wielding a bow.
Dimitra had initially hoped for some kind of damage-boosting skill for her arrows, as her strength heavily relied on the durability and potency of her projectiles, as well as her strength and dexterity stats.
While those physical attributes could be improved through training and farming excelia, if her arrows couldn't withstand her own strength or effectively pierce the defences of her targets, it would all be for naught.
Upgrading her arrows with more durable materials was an option, but that meant spending money, which would become increasingly problematic the deeper she ventured into the dungeon, where the monsters grew ever stronger, necessitating even more powerful and costly arrows.
Considering the long-term implications, Dimitra realized that she would eventually reach a point where she would have to spend as much as she earned from the dungeon just to maintain her arrow arsenal.
This realization had plunged her into a difficult dilemma when presented with her limited options.
Through the process of elimination, Dimitra had settled on the Steady Hands skill.
She could immediately see the utility it would provide, especially in sticky situations where her focus and precision would be paramount.
For now, she would manage with her other damage-dealing abilities, but she hoped to eventually acquire the skill she truly desired.
As Draco inspected Dimitra's status sheet, he was satisfied with her stats.
Like the others, they were not maxed out, but they were at admirably high levels.
Her choice of skill was also a sound one, and she was one of the few whose decision Draco did not feel the need to question further.
Dimitra was a sensible young girl, one of the few in the familia who didn't cause Draco much trouble.
As he reviewed her status sheet for a second time, he nodded in approval.
"Hmm, a very good choice," he remarked.
Dimitra responded with a small, grateful smile.
"Thank you," she said, her voice composed as she turned to take a seat, waiting patiently for the others to finish updating their own status boards.
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Meanwhile, Vasileios, who was in Bahamut's room, was feeling rather weird.
'Damn Michalis, he almost tricked me. I was kind of worried because he was next to the door, but good thing I acted first. However, did I hit him too hard? The sound of his fall seemed quite loud,' he thought in concern, as he placed an ear against the door to hear the others' reaction.
Thump!
Bahamut, seeing Vasileios eavesdropping on the conversation between the other familia members outside the room, threw a pillow at his face.
"Stop doing such a silly thing and come lay down now," she said.
"Oh, sorry," Vasileios apologized, a bit embarrassed by his actions.
He had almost forgotten the reason he had rushed into the room.
Following Bahamut's instructions, Vasileios took off his shirt and laid down on the bed.
Bahamut immediately began the process of his level up.
Vasileios really wanted an offensive-type skill for his development ability, as all his skills were either utility-based or defensive in nature.
He wanted at least one skill that was completely offensive.
After Bahamut gave him his status sheet, Vasileios was presented with four choices for his development ability: Hunter, Abnormal Resistance, Revenge Counter, and Deep Reserves.
Vasileios immediately eliminated the Hunter skill because it only boosted abilities against monsters he had faced before, and he didn't currently have any offensive skills to boost.
The skill could also boost his defensive and utility skills, but he found a skill that seemed a bit better.
Revenge Counter, according to its description, was a skill that reflected back a small portion of the damage dealt to him while blocking a frontal attack with a shield.
It was the only skill among the options that offered some form of damage.
Vasileios didn't mind that it only worked with frontal attacks, but he was a bit worried about what "small portion" meant in the skill description – that part was a bit too vague for him.
Vasileios didn't consider choosing Abnormal Resistance yet because Draco had told them that it wasn't useful to them until the 19th floor and beyond.
Additionally, they knew the conditions required to acquire the skill again during their next level up.
The last option, Deep Reserves, enabled the user to regenerate stamina faster when it was very low.
It was also a tempting option, but he felt as though he could replicate the conditions to reacquire this skill.
After considering his options for a bit, Vasileios ended up choosing Revenge Counter as his ability.
It was simply the only skill whose conditions to acquire he didn't know how to replicate.
His thought process for choosing a skill was simple - First, was the skill currently useful?, Could its requirements to acquire be easily replicated?, Lastly, what was it potential for growth?.
With Revenge Counter chosen, Bahamut completed his level up, and now Vasileios was a level 2 adventurer.