Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 21
Defense Specialization and Preparation Work
It’s been a week since she and Risa both started gathering skills.
In other words, when the event was a week away, Kaede logged in alone to look for skills.
「I didn’t realize until she told me, but… I don’t have any of the skills that the great shielders in a party usually have.」
Risa told her there were plenty of great shield-specific skills that had to do with defense and defense-related things, so, basically, she was trying to get them alone because their log in times didn’t match.
By the way, she already acquired several skills that she’d wanted to get (mainly HP and MP enhancement skills) together with Risa.
Kaede was checking her current status and looking for skills that she might need.
Lv 24
HP 40/40〈＋60〉
MP 12/12 〈＋10〉
【STR 0】
【VIT 170〈＋66〉】
【AGI 0】
【DEX 0】
【INT 0】
Equipment
Head 【Blank】
Body 【Black Rose Armor】
Right hand 【New Moon: Hydra】
Left Hand 【Replica of the Dark Night: Eating Inedibles】
Legs 【Black Rose Armor】
Shoes 【Black Rose Armor】
Accessories 【Ring of the Forest Queen Bee】
【Toughness Ring】
【Blank】
Skills
【Absolute Defense】 【Giant Killing】 【Hydra Eater】 【Bomb Eater】 【Meditation】 【Provocation】 【Inhumane】 【Great Shield Mastery IV】 【Body Management】 【Attack Deflection】 【Shield Attack】
【HP Increase (Low)】 【MP Increase (Low)】
She acquired 【HP Increase (Low)】 and 【MP Increase (Low)】 skills, which increased her HP by 30 and her MP by 10.
Furthermore, thanks to the Toughness Ring that Risa gave her, her HP increased by 30 more.
It may seem like not much, but anyhow, Kaede’s HP more than doubled.
Risa said that she would hurry up and get a defense piercing skill before the event.
The reason for this was to roughly measure the damage to Kaede. It wasn’t as if they could just do it in the heat of the moment.
「She’s done so much for me, so I need to learn skills that can be useful too…」
And so, Kaede set her eyes on a particular skill.
「【Cover Move I】 and 【Cover】… the basic skills for a great shielder, huh… I didn’t take them though…」
These were the skills that protected party members and were exclusive to great shielders. They were those skills that all players equipped with a great shield in a party should have had.
Kaede, having formed a party, became interested in these skills, which she had thought unnecessary when she had seen them before.
【Cover Move I】
Allows you to move to a party member within a 5 meter radius, regardless of AGI value.
Doubles damage taken for 30 seconds after use.
Can be used up to 10 times.
Number of uses resets every hour.
Acquisition Method
Purchasing at the skill shop.
【Cover】
Protect a party member next to you from attacks.
Increases VIT value by 10% when activated.
Acquisition Method
Purchasing at the skill shop.
A skill shop was an NPC shop where basic skills for all kinds of equipment could be bought.
These included 【Cover Move I】 and 【Cover】, as well as 【Slash】 and 【Double Slash】.
Since she’d gotten a lot of gold from selling the white scales from the underground lake, she could buy at least two with plenty of money to spare.
「Let’s go buy them!」
Kaede walked towards the NPC shop.
She thought this was necessary because it could save Risa in a pinch.
Kaede came out of the store with a bag in hand, having bought the skills. Inside the bag were two scrolls with skills inscribed in them.
Taking a seat on the bench, Kaede took one out of the bag and unfolded it with rustling sounds.
After that, the writing shone, and then, as the light faded, the scroll broke into fragments, disappearing into light.
『Skill 【Cover Move I】 has been acquired』
「Oohh! So pretty!」
Kaede also took out the 【Cover】 scroll and spread it out enthusiastically.
Likewise, it emitted a light, then crumbled and disappeared, vanishing into the light.
「Ahhh… it’s over already. I wonder if there are any other skills I need still…」
There was no way there was going to be any such thing, as she had done her homework to get all the skills she currently needed.
「Well, fine… maybe they’ll add more someday… I think I’ll go do what Sally told me to, polish my player skill!」
With that, she headed off to the second layer field in high spirits.
「Uh… so slooow. I’m awfully slow. I don’t remember my walking being this slow…」
At Risa’s suggestion, she went some distance and came to a desert. She walked around for a while and then stopped. Risa told Kaede that this desert was the best place to go for now.
「Hmm… I don’t see any enemies, tho-ough… woah!?」
An impact from behind nearly knocked Kaede forward.
The damage was of course zero, so there was no risk of death whatsoever.
「Wh-what!? Ah, there!」
Kaede could see what appeared to be a pill bug type monster that had hit her in the back tumbling around.
It rolled around for a while, and then its curled up body returned to normal and it rustled down into the desert sand.
「Oh, I see… practicing to defend against that.」
Kaede swapped her great shield for the pure white one.
The great shield was as white as fresh snow, with blue gems sprinkled here and there.
The name of the great shield was 【Snow White】, and it was a great shield crafted by Iz.
【Snow White】
【VIT＋40】
Compared to the Replica of the Dark Night, it was simple and didn’t even have a skill, but its VIT modifier was currently better than the one of the Replica of the Dark Night.
This showed how good Iz’s skills were. The top-tier players were supported by the best crafters.
「Alright… let’s do this!」
Having said that, Kaede held up her great shield and a pill bug smashed into the back of her head.
「Eep! W-wait a second!」
It wasn’t like the monsters were going to wait for her. When she screamed, another one slammed into her.
「Uggh… I-I’m angry now!」
She stood up, raised her great shield, and listened carefully.
Risa said it was important to locate the enemy from the sounds they made when they moved.
「Um… here!」
Kaede turned right and held up her great shield. At the same time, a pill bug jumped out at her, crashed into the great shield, and was flung back.
「Alright… ouch!」
Another pill bug crashed into Kaede from behind as she was rejoicing about blocking the attack.
「Oh, I see. It’s not just one. That’s tough, huh.」
After that she fought for the next two hours, but in the end she was only able to stop about 40% of the attacks.
Risa said that if she could stop them all, she would be able to avoid getting hit by piercing attacks in most situations.
「40%… well, I guess I did my best; I really don’t know how Risa can dodge so well…」
Thinking of her friend who could make it seem like the enemy’s attacks were dodging her, she logged out for the day.
Let’s go back in time a bit to when Risa logged in alone.
「All right, let’s allocate status points now. I already know the direction I’m going to take. Hmmm… the more ways to attack, the better… 15 into STR, 20 into AGI, and all the rest into INT… that’s all 50!」
Sally
Lv18
HP 32/32
MP 25/25〈＋35〉
【STR 25〈＋20〉】
【VIT 0】
【AGI 75〈＋68〉】
【DEX 25〈＋20〉】
【INT 25〈＋20〉】
Equipment
Head 【Water Surface Muffler: Mirage】
Body 【Oceanic Coat: Ocean】
Right Hand 【Dagger of the Ocean Depths】
Left Hand 【Dagger of the Sea Floor】
Legs 【Oceanic Leggings】
Shoes 【Black Boots】
Accessories 【Blank】
【Blank】
【Blank】
Skills
【Status Debuff Attack III】 【Slash】 【Double Slash】 【Gale Slash】 【Muscle Strengthening (Low)】
【Consecutive Attack Strengthening (Low)】 【Double Attack】 【Power Attack】 【Switch Attack】 【Body Arts I】
【Short Sword Mastery II】 【Jack of All Trades and Master of None】 【Defense Break】
【Fire Magic I】 【Water Magic II】 【Wind Magic II】
【Earth Magic I】 【Dark Magic I】 【Light Magic II】
【Fire Ball】 【Water Ball】
【Water Wall】
【Wind Cutter】 【Wind Wall】
【Sand Cutter】
【Dark Ball】
【Refresh】 【Heal】
【MP Increase (Low)】 【MP Cut (Low)】
【MP Recovery Speed Increase (Low)】 【Magic Mastery II】
【Fishing】 【Swimming X】 【Diving X】 【Cooking I】
【Mining Speed Increase (Low)】 【Hiding Presence II】
【Sensing Presence II】 【Stealthy Feet I】 【Leap I】
【Poison Resistance (Low)】
「I’ve also raised Light Magic to II, so I can use 【Heal】… and after raising 【Status Debuff Attack III】, it’s easier to cast status debuffs… I’ve also gotten a piercing attack, so I guess I’m good at both attacking and supporting.」
With that, Risa closed her status and headed to the field. Her destination was some distance away, deep in the woods.
「I’ll get a cool skill and hide it from Maple to surprise her!」
Risa was trying to clear one of the events with an NPC that was constantly occurring in the game now.
There was a small house deep in the forest, and by completing the event there, she could get 【Super Acceleration】.
「Passing 【AGI 70】 is the condition, so I’m glad I just barely have enough!」
In her own way, Risa was also strengthening herself for her first event with Kaede.