Rose: “――Huh!?”

Arata: “Did you wake up?”

A potion to recover from unconsciousness is poured on Rose, who fell on her back.

The potion worked wonders. Rose, who had been stunned and dizzy, quickly got up.

Rose: “Huh? I was…”

Arata: “Is your head okay?”

Rose: “My head?… Ah!”

Arata: “You seem to be okay.”

Rose: “I lost, didn’t I?”

Rose, who was confused as soon as she woke up, seemed to quickly realize why she had been sleeping.

The direction of 『Shrink』 is forward, backward, left, and right in relation to the player’s orientation.

There is no point in using 『Shrink』 to the left or right at the beginning of a mock battle.

You could use it behind you and then apply buffs or debuffs, but there’s no way Rose would think of doing something that complicated.

It was obvious that she was going to approach.

So, all you have to do is prepare an attack that could inflict damage after the invincibility period of 『Shrink』 is over.

Arata: “You rely too much on abilities.”

Rose: “Ugh.”

Indeed, abilities are powerful.

Because they move according to pre-set motions, they are faster than normal attacks.

Moreover, attack-type abilities have a multiplier, so depending on your stats and skill level, they can have tens of times the power of normal attacks.

That’s why beginners are quick to latch on to them.

Arata: “I’m not saying don’t use abilities. Think about their range and effect, and then decide when to use them.”

Rose: “…Yes.”

If you just use abilities, you’re a beginner.

You can call yourself an intermediate player when you understand the effects and weaknesses of abilities and can use them according to the situation.

Arata: “Next, let’s talk about skill composition.”

Player skill is not something that can be acquired overnight, and there are individual differences.

In that case, the quickest way to bridge the gap is through skill composition.

Rose: “How many skill points do you have left?”

Arata: “None, I’ve poured them all into skills.”

…I didn’t expect to stumble at the first step.

Rose spoke proudly.

I’m driven by an urge to ram a 『Kick Strike』 into her face without holding back.

Arata: “You probably took advice from your listeners, but…that was a mistake.”

Rose: “…Eh?”

I don’t know what skills she’s poured her SP into, but I think she should have allocated them to her stats.

Rose is almost an intermediate level player in terms of her level, but her play skill is still a beginner.

It’s more efficient to just raise your stats and focus on stability.

Certainly, raising skill levels gives you a bonus to your stats and expands your play options.

However, many skills only start to give bonuses from level 5, and the bonus values are only around 『STR＋10』 or 『AGI＋30』.

There are skills that give multipliers as you level up, but it’s safe to say that there’s little benefit to having multiple low-level skills.

And in Rose’s case, instead of bringing multiple skill levels up to 5, she should have raised the levels of her main skills and allocated the rest to her stats.

Arata: “What are your skill levels for 【Martial Arts】 and 【Physical Enhancement】?”

Rose: “Um… 【Martial Arts】 is level 5 and 【Physical Enhancement】 is level 3.”

*Body Enhancement => Physical Enhancement

【Martial Arts】 allows you to gain abilities like 『Kick Strike』 that have quick activation time and decent power, as well as evasion abilities like 『Shrink』.

And 【Physical Enhancement】 gives you access to endurance and ability enhancing abilities, and also gives you resistance bonuses by raising skill levels.

Both are essential skills.

Arata: “Do you have the 【Smithing】 and 【Alchemy】 skills?”

Rose: “Yes. Both are level 2 though.”

Level 2.

【Smithing】 and 【Alchemy】 are skills you’ll want if you’re handling melee weapons.

By raising both skills to level 6 or higher, you can unlock the 『Equipment Repair』 ability.

『Equipment Repair』 is an ability that can reduce the decrease in equipment durability and recover durability using ST.

In this world, high-ranking equipment and items are hard to come by.

Rose’s 『Orichalcum Rapier』 a weapon that “can be obtained with a little effort,” is considered a “national treasure-level weapon” in this world.

Naturally, repairing damaged items is difficult.

Arata: “For the reasons above, you should prioritize 【Martial Arts】 and 【Physical Enhancement】, and then raise 【Smithing】 and 【Alchemy】 to unlock the 『Equipment Repair』  ability.”

Rose: “But, about the skill points…”

Arata: “You can accumulate skill points by obtaining awards.”

In addition to awards that you can get by defeating a certain number of monsters, there are many others.

For example, 『Hit the center of a target from a distance of 10 meters or more with an arrow』 and 『Unlocking the recipe for a difficult-to-make dish』.

Arata: “With such a large courtyard, you should be able to perform most actions. Plus, if you ask for the help of your servants, I think you can easily get skill-related awards.”

Rose: “I see!”

Arata: “Then, let’s start right away. As a start… let’s work on 『100 consecutive successful parries』.”

Rose: “….Heh?”

Arata: “It’s an award that lets you acquire skill points and improve your play skills at the same time. Shall we start?”

Rose: “Wait, noooo!”

For the next few hours, as we worked on getting the award, Rose’s screams echoed through the courtyard.

I think she deserves this kind of teasing for recklessly acquiring skills without thinking.