Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 27
Defense Specialization and Mountaineering
The ground started to slope.
Finally, they were approaching the mountainous area.
「I’m sure other players are going for this mountain too, so we have to make sure they don’t get ahead of us.」
「That’s right, let’s hurry as much as we can.」
The two were quickly climbing up the mountain. The mountain they were climbing now was the highest one. At the moment, there were no other players around.
However, it was possible that they were climbing from a different direction.
「Maple! Monsters are coming!」
「Got it!」
She switched her great shield to Snow White.
In preparation for the boss monsters to be out there, she planned to save 【Eating Inedibles】.
In contrast to the sea of trees, there were many monsters, so the number of battles increased.
「Oh, my level has gone up. Now it’s 19! As for the stats… let’s put everything into AGI.」
Large boulders were everywhere, and monsters would suddenly jump out at them, so they couldn’t let their guard down.
With one of them watching their surroundings, they advanced, reacting to surprise attacks.
With bird-type monsters occasionally attacking from the sky, they had no choice but to deal with them with magic, which took their MP.
The monsters on the ground were wolf-type and they attacked with swift movements.
「Hey, I can’t get a good footing here, so it’s tough.」
「Let’s just hurry up and get up there!」
It took two and a half hours to advance while defeating the monsters.
The ground started to be covered with snow. They proceeded further with crunching sounds.
「We’ve made quite a bit of progress.」
「Yeah, another hour or so till we get to the top, I guess?」
Risa looked up to the summit.
Thanks to that, she was able to notice the monster up ahead.
About 20 meters away was a monkey whose entire body was covered in pure white fur.
That monkey came running down, scattering the snow.
「It’s coming!」
「Yup!」
The two braced themselves.
Two bluish white magic circles emerged around the monkey.
There was one thing that made the monkey different from the previous creatures.
That’s right, it could use magic.
「【Cover】!」
Kaede immediately defended Risa.
Kaede felt a series of blows from her great shield.
It was a continuous attack of ice shards like a machine gun.
As the monkey approached just like that, it made its magic circle disappear, enveloped its fist in a white glow, and struck at them.
This time, a heavy shock was sent through the great shield.
「Sally!」
「【Double Slash】!」
While the monkey’s attention was focused on Kaede, Risa slipped right past it and slashed at its back.
The monkey screamed but didn’t fall over, turning to Risa with anger in its eyes and swinging its fist at her.
Although the snow underfoot made it difficult to move, Risa dodged it with no issues.
「【Power Attack】!」
Two counter blows cut deep into its stomach, but the monkey still wouldn’t fall.
A single white shining magic circle appeared in its gaping mouth.
「【Super Acceleration】!」
Risa made a spur-of-the-moment decision and drew one of her trump cards.
A lot of sharp ice stabbed into the place where Risa was a moment ago.
「【Slash】!」
The counter used after dodging the ice breath finally took down the monkey.
The monkey’s body turned into light and disappeared.
「Whew… I used 【Super Acceleration】, huh…」
「After all, maybe I should participate too…」
「No, you should just prepare for the boss, Maple. I will be able to use 【Super Acceleration】 again… and leave the road to me!」
「Mhm… all right. But if it looks bad, I’ll use 【Cover】 or something, okay?」
「Thanks! It would be a big help.」
The two continued on up the snowy mountain again. The monkey may have been a mid-boss, and they didn’t encounter it again.
Instead, the monsters that appeared were moles that zigzagged their way through the snow, sending up snow clouds, and pure white armadillos that rolled around in the snow.
「We have to be careful with the moles… but the armadillos are easier to dodge and then they just roll along.」
「I say an armadillo hit means instant death… well, maybe Maple could hold up just fine.」
They talked about such things as they climbed.
Finally, they arrived at the summit of the mountain.
The summit of the mountain was a beautiful circle, and there was a shrine made of stone in the center.
In front of the shrine, there was a white shining magic circle, luring the two into it.
It was a transfer magic circle that they had seen many times.
Just when the two were about to get close to that magic circle.
Four players climbed up from the opposite side from the one the two had climbed from.
They were a party composed of a great sword user, a great shielder and two wizards.
The other side also seemed to notice Kaede and Risa and looked at the two of them.
Risa was prepared for PvP, but it wasn’t to be.
「Ah!… Chrome-san!」
「Oh? …Maple, huh… I didn’t expect to see you here… Yeah, we have no intention of fighting. And I don’t think we can win anyway.」
With that, Chrome and his companions put away their weapons and raised their arms.
「I don’t want to fight either. …it’s fine, right, Sally?」
「Well, I guess so. We don’t want to waste our energy, and… we should be vigilant, but… maybe it’s okay… I think?」
Since the situation couldn’t be said to be absolutely safe, Risa continued to talk without letting her guard down.
「So… what do we do about this shrine? Only one of us will get the reward, right?」
Risa had a point: either Chrome or Kaede would enter first, and if they succeeded in clearing the dungeon, the dungeon rewards might be gone.
Kaede pondered for a while and spoke up.
「Mmm… Sally. Can we give it to Chrome-san and them?」
Risa was surprised by Kaede, who broke the ice with an apologetic look on her face, and replied with a smile.
「…if Maple is good with it, then whatever, okay? But don’t you regret it! Promise me this, okay?」
「Right… I got it! …Well then, please go ahead!」
Kaede said to Chrome and his companions.
「A-are you sure? It’s usually “first come, first served” when it comes to these things…」
「It’s fine! You’d better go before I change my mind, okay?」
Kaede said so, and Chrome thanked her, then stepped onto the magic circle and disappeared.
The two were left behind at the summit of the mountain.
「Are you sure it’s okay?」
「Yup… if I got into a battle here and used my skills, it would have been bad if we ended up in a battle after the transfer… and more importantly, I didn’t want to fight my friends.」
「Right! If you aren’t regretting it then it’s fine, I guess… do you think they are in a battle over there by now?」
Risa said as she looked at the magic circle whose glow had faded.
「Maybe, eh.」
「What should we do? Do you want to go down? Or, if they’re fighting, they might lose… and we’ve saved our skills, so maybe you want to wait?」
At the moment Risa suggested that.
The magic circle began to shine again.
It was a sign that it could be entered again.
「「Eh!?」」
The two were surprised.
It had not been more than about a minute since Chrome and his companions entered.
That was unexpectedly early.
「W-what does that mean!?」
Risa quietly started speaking her thoughts to the confused Kaede.
「For the time being, there are two things that come to mind. The first is that they only collected equipment and medals after the transfer, hence it was over quickly. The other is…」
Risa stopped speaking at that point and whispered the rest of her words in a terribly discomforted manner, as if she didn’t want it to be real.
「Maybe they were utterly crushed by a powerful monster.」
「It’s…」
「If I had to guess, it’s the latter… I guess. I think the fact that the magic circle is still shining means that we can challenge it. Then… what was in there wasn’t equipment… probably.」
Fortunately, other players didn’t seem to be climbing up. They decided to check each other’s statuses and make a strategy before taking on the challenge.
「Because of 【Destruction Growth】, my armor has 【VIT +40】, and my HP has increased, too. I’ve saved my skills completely.」
「I haven’t changed much either. 【Super Acceleration】 has recovered, and I still have 【Mirage】.」
Maple
Lv24
HP 40/40〈＋160〉
MP 12/12 〈＋10〉
【STR 0】
【VIT 170〈＋81〉】
【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】
【Ring of Life】
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)】
【Cover Move I】 【Cover】
Sally
Lv19
HP 32/32
MP 25/25〈＋35〉
【STR 25〈＋20〉】
【VIT 0】
【AGI 80〈＋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】 【Super Acceleration】
【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)】
「First of all, as soon as we get in, I’ll hold up the great shield so you can hide behind it.」
「Got it. And then, after that…」
The two continued discussing for the next twenty minutes, and then stood up and walked over to the magic circle.
「Alright! Let’s go.」
「Yup!」
Then, with the transfer, the two disappeared, turning into light.