Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

Volume 4 - Ch 2.13

Yes, I have. Is there some sort of problem?

Nah, I was simply curious, that is all.

However, she just affirmed that this lead was not the right one, but it was worth a shot anyway. I thought that maybe one of the conditions needed to obtain the Blacksmith Job would be to start a fire by yourself, but apparently I was mistaken.

In that case, maybe she should try melting some metal by placing it in a really hot flame? Yeah, that would definitely be more Master Smithy. . . Huh? Uhm, Roxanne, why are you looking at me with that incredibly disappointed expression on your face? Could. . . could it be that you are angry and jealous that I asked Sherry if she could light up a fire, but did not do the same with you? No, Roxanne, it is not what you are thinking! I am not playing favorites! This is all just a big misunderstanding, you hear me?! A misunderstanding!!! Hurry, water! I have to pour a crapton of water on that fire before it gets out of control!

If Roxanne needs fire, I will always be happy to light one for you whenever you will need me to do it.

Taking the split tree branch that Roxanne was holding in her hand, I lit it up and handed it over to her without a second of delay.

Yes, of course, my master.

Roxanne nodded with a smile that clearly had something malicious behind its usual sweet appearance.

I do not know if that follow-up was an okay one or not, but as long as she understands that I will always be there for her whenever she needs me, then I guess that is all fine and good.

Also, I not know why, but somehow I am starting to feel really tired now, even though I have not been continuing my work of filling the bathtub for that long.

Wow, you can really use Attack Magic, and without a chant at that!

Ah, that was a nice reaction. Keep it up, Sherry. Your cute surprised face is going to be a nice healing agent after that little bit of yandere shenanigans from Roxanne.

After that, we went to the Labyrinth several times in order to fill the bathtub with enough water so that all three of us could take a bath. And by weI mean Roxanne and Ibecause this time Sherry volunteered to stay behind so that she could watch the fire in the kitchen for us while the food was being cooked, which actually worked to our advantage, because with just the two of us, we could safely go to the seventh floor of the Labyrinth in Quratar without worrying about her getting hurt by accident.

Why are you going to the Labyrinth so many times when you are preparing a bath?

Sherry asked us that question at some point.

Because the process of preparing a bath can be tiring and mentally draining, so this is a kind of a stress relief.

But Roxanne gave a strange answer. Stress relief? Really? Just how hard does that girl think that preparing a bath is? Because I can definitely agree that it is tiring and takes a lot of time, but personally I would never have called it mentally draining to the point where I would feel that the only way for me to do something with the accumulated stress would be to go to the Labyrinth and kill the monsters in there. That would sim0ly be counterproductive and needlessly risky. But. . . does that mean that Roxanne thought of it like that? Well, in that case, maybe I should have a talk with her about it sometime soon? But for the time being, let me correct what she just said to Sherry so as to avoid creating an even deeper misunderstanding.

Actually, I have to go to the Labyrinths at regular intervals to recover MP if I want to avoid completely running out of it while filling the bathtub with water. Without it, I would not be able to fill even half of the bathtub.

Recover MP, you say? Does your sword have a MP Recovery Skill?

Not exactly. It has MP Absorption.

MP Absorption. . . . . . . . . . .

Sherry muttered to herself as she continued to stare at Durandal as if she wanted to pierce through it with her eyes.

Do you know something about MP Absorption Skill? And if so, could you tell me more about it?

Certainly. MP Absorption Skill is created by infusing a weapon with the Skill Crystals from two different monsters: Kobold Skill Crystal and Scissoresque Carnivorous Plant Skill Crystal. It is a very rare and valuable Skill to have.

As expected of a Dwarf. It would seem that Sherry knows a lot about how Master Smiths Skills and the things that are related to it work, even though she is not a Master Smith herself. Yet.

Do you know what kind of Skill does the Slow Rabbits Skill Crystal have?

If memory serves me correctly, then Rabbit Skill Crystals that come from Slow Rabbits should give you the Skill Chant Delay.

Well now, what do you know? That might actually be a pretty handy Skill to have. Thank you for the information, Sherry.

All the info Sherry is giving us about Skills is great, especially since neither I nor Roxanne knew about something so specific, but there is a small problem with it: all that knowledge will be useless if we will not get more Skill Crystals. We know that technically they are classified as a rare drop, but I wonder if there is some way of increasing the drop odds of Skill Crystals specifically, and not rare items in general, or if there is some of checking what can be dropped from the enemy you are about to face, because that would certainly save us a lot of trouble if we could determine if it would even be profitable for us to engage in a particular battle or not.

Please, do not think anything of it, master. It is my duty as your slave to serve you with advice to the best of my ability.

Yeah, I know, but I would feel bad if I did not thank you for it properly. Incidentally, since we are still on the topic of Skill Crystals and what they do, could you tell me in what way does the Skill Chant Delay differs from the other similar Skill, Chant Interruption? Because, to be honest, they do not sound all that different to me, not going just by their names, at least.TY

Chant Interruptionis another Skill that is attached to Durandal, and I am pretty sure that it is not the same as Chant Delay. So the question is: how are these two Skills differ from one another, and which one is the better one of the two?

Chant Interruptionis a Skill that causes the casting of any given Skill to be stopped midway, meaning that the caster has no choice but to start chanting from the beginning if they want to cast the Skill they wanted to use properly, while Chant Delaysimply causes the Skills chant to take longer than usual to complete.

So the Chant Delaymeans that the Skill is only delayed, and the Chant Interruption is basically a forced cancellation of it?

I asked, still not really understanding the difference, even after Sherry explained it to me in so much detail.

Then in that case, is Chant Interruption not a better option between the two?

Roxanne cuts in, voicing one of my most crucial concerns in this matter. Looks like she still does not understand what the deal with those two is as well.

Generally, that would have been the case, but that is not always the best solution. For instance, suppose that all six members of the Party would surround a monster that was about to use its Skill. In such a scenario, if all Party members were to continue hitting the monster with the weapons that have the effect of Chant Delay added onto them, it would have been possible for them to continue hitting the monster and delaying the activation of its Skill, delaying it so much that the monster would have been defeated before it could fully recite the chant for its Skill. Also, while they are in the middle of reciting the chants for their Skills, monsters are forced to stay completely still, causing them to be vulnerable to attacks without any way of defending themselves.