I took the seed that appeared.

　-- Maximum HP has been raised by 1.

　It's been a long time since I've heard an ability increase announcement.
　It was also heard for a number of minutes, exactly ten times.

　The feeling of a little strength in my body is the same as before.
　The only difference was that the drop was 10 at once.

　I don't know what that means.

Let's get one down.

　He walked carefully through the dungeon, looking for the skeleton.
　Then the ceiling of the dungeon popped open and a skeleton emerged from it.

　A surprise attack.
　The occasional monster attack.

　I tried to deal with it, but--.

"--Okay!　My body can't keep up!

　With the ability down to all F, your body can't keep up with your senses and it's hard to intercept.
　Fortunately, I was able to notice the surprise attack early, then I'll have to guard well and then fight back.

　My HP has gone up by 10, if it's a blow, I'll be fine if I guard it well.

　With that in mind, I crossed my arms and guarded against the skeleton's sharp bone attack.

　--The maximum HP has been raised by 1.

''----!

　It took my breath away, I was surprised as hard as I could be.
　The only reason I didn't panic was because somewhere in my head I knew this might happen.

　Nifonium had declared that he was going to make me suffer, then he might as well raise it and then drop it.
　That's what I thought, so I didn't panic.

　I'm inching down with my guard up.
　It dropped in speed, so it dropped at a normal speed.

　And humans are far slower to go down than they are to go forward.
　The skeleton caught up with me and took another hit.

　--My maximum HP has been raised by one.

　You can't keep going like this, take three steps forward, two steps back.
　I take a deep breath and focus.
　I used my increased concentration to assess the skeletons that were chasing me, and countered with a dodge.

　I hit him, but the skeleton didn't fall.

''d*mn!''

　Swearing, I held the skeleton in my arms as it was and twisted it, putting all my weight on its neck.
　There was a loud thud, and I managed to knock the skeleton over.

I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this. So the number isn't fixed separately?''

　It's a lot, though.

　Raise your max HP by another 7 and proceed through the dungeon.
　Every time you kill a monster, more seeds drop, but they drop when you get attacked.

　I went back to the beginning.
　Don't take any damage so that your yield will be greater.

　Instead of going around the dungeon looking for them, I'd hide and look for them, and then take the skeletons down by surprise.

　In that way, little by little, I gradually increase my maximum HP.

'Six this time--gaha!

　As I was trying to pick up a dropped seed, I was hit in the head as hard as I could from the side.

　The impact was enough to blow my whole body off, and my eyes flickered in front of me.

　Still, I desperately regained my position.

　Letting go of consciousness in this situation of lowered ability would mean death.

　I roll with the momentum and get up and brace myself, rolling with a colossal roll to get some distance between us.

'That's ...... different.'

　What I could see was a monster that was completely different from the one I had seen before.

　It was a skeleton, a monster with only bones, a skeleton. It is the same.
　The clothes that it wears, though tattered, are different for each individual. It is also the same.

　The difference is the size.
　The skeleton was only about half the size of a normal skeleton.

"It's not a dungeon master. Rare?

　I considered fleeing after being hit in the head as hard as I could, but the idea that it might be rare eliminated the option to escape.

　As I braced myself, I measured the distance between me and the miniature skeleton.

　Jittery, jittery .......

　When I got close to a certain point, the mini-skeleton pounced on me.

''I can do it!''

　Its speed was about half that of a normal skeleton.
　After dodging with difficulty, the mini skeleton's attack split the ground.

　I caught the Emily-like skeleton as it was and slammed it to the ground with my weight on it.

　Bones shattered into pieces and the mini-skeleton fell down.
　And.

'Oh, different one dropped.

　There were two large seeds that came out, which I had never seen before.
　They were about the size of a bulb.

　I picked them up excitedly, wondering what would come out of them.

　.......
　.............
　...................

　Scene, and so on. Hee-oh-oh, and so on.

　There was nothing like hearing those sound effects.

'Isn't that a seed for increased ability? What are you going to use it for?

　The moment I said I was going to use it, one of the seeds, which hadn't happened before, soooo melted in the palm of my hand.

　-- Level has been raised by one.

　I hear the announcement again. A level lowered?

　I furrow my brow and move carefully to find the Nowboard.
　I come back to the first Nowboard I found and check my abilities.

---1/2---
Level: 1/1
HP D
MP F
Power F
Strength F
Intelligence F
Spirit F
Speed F
Dexterous F
Luck F
--------- ...

　His HP had gone up with the money he had earned so far.
　On the other hand, the level of announcements hadn't gone down.

　Well, it couldn't go down, at 1.

　I thought I was probably okay, and yet I was relieved to find out that I was okay, properly.
　When I felt relieved, my whole body became weak.

　It seems that the battle with my abilities down was more draining than I thought.
　Let's call it a day, I thought as I left Nihonium.

　The sun was still hot outside.
　It's time to leave the office on time, or at least go home early.

　I was about to return to the mansion where my friends were waiting for me, thinking that it would be a good idea to do that once in a while.

The seed ......?

　I noticed another seed left in my hand.
　A seed as big as a bulb, one that goes down a level.

　I had it, and I could bring it out without it melting in my palm.

'...... no way,'

　　　　　★

　I rushed back to the house.

　When I walked in the front door, I was greeted by Nifornium with Mieke in tow.

'Have you suffered? You didn't go down a level, so I did, but if I wanted to--
Bad Niftonium-- No, come here.
What?

　Nifongnium gets caught up in my swordplay.
　She followed me without knowing why.

　I came to the sub-branch with her in tow, repaying Tsubame's kindness.

"Welcome home, Lyota.
You're early. What's going on?

　The swallow-grateful duo of Erza and Ena, who are handling the drops that their friends are transferring to them.

　I walked up to the girls and handed Elsa the seeds.

''Is this ......?''
Touch, or rather, hand it over.
What's going on, Mr. Lyota?
I want you to buy this for me.
Is it a drop?
I've never seen this before. What is it?
Every time I use it, it lowers my level by one.
"...... huh?

　Elsa and Ena are scowling at my words.

"How could I sell such a thing--

　Nihonium muttered, half gasping, half mocking himself.

'Well, wait a minute!
Elsa, I'm gonna take a run to the head office and ask around.
Please.

　Elsa and Ena begin to move in a hurry, and Nihonium looks at them and scowls.

　After a while, Ena came back.

'He's going to buy you out for five million piro.

　Nihonium became more and more puzzled by these figures, and was stunned, not knowing what had happened.