I hate being in pain, so I think I’ll make a full defense build - Chapter 358

358

Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 358

Defense Specialization and Flame Thunder 2

The place that Velvet took them to after that, was a dungeon that looked just like any other. And while Maple had never gone in herself, she had known of its existence. The entrance was a cave on the surface of the mountain. And it wasn’t a hidden dungeon that had only recently been discovered.

“Here?”

“Oh, I’ve been through here with the other members of Flame Emperors. I don’t remember there being anything unusual…”

“Well, you’ll find out when we get there. However, I did here that there is a little luck involved.”

“If that’s the case, we shouldn’t have any trouble, especially with Maple here.”

“What!? Yo-you think so? Still, I’ll pray!”

And so Maple prayed that things would go well as they entered the dungeon. In general, dungeons that were easy to find or to reach had a tendency to have weak monsters. It could be due to low HP or the amount of skills that they had. In other words, this dungeon shouldn’t have any strong monsters.

“‘Dedicated Affection’!”

Once Maple used ‘Dedicated Affection’ to protect the two attackers, even slimes and golems, which were strengthened and came in different colors than the ones on other layers, were suppressed without being able to do anything. And when that happened, the only thing left was for the other two to kill them.

“I’ll do the ones on the road. There’s no need for us to kill one each. ‘Blue Flame’!”

The blue flames that Mi unleashed rushed through the rough, stone walls and ceiling, and burned everything in their path. The cave was filled with a blinding light. But once it faded away, there wasn’t even a trace of the monsters that had been there.

“Woah! Good one, Mi!”

“That was awe….that was impressive. I would very much like to fight you and the Kingdom of the Flame Emperors.”

“I hope you do. We are a good guild. Of course, we will not lose to you.”

‘The Kingdom of the Flame Emperors’ had become famous before ‘thunder storm,’ and so they had many stand out members that Velvet wanted to fight. Had Velvet been in their guild, she would have fought duels with those players every day.

“…I am also sometimes jealous of you, Velvet.”

“Huh!? Why would you…be jealous?”

“…It’s a secret. I can’t tell you even if you ask me.”

Mi glanced at Velvet’s expression for a second, and then returned to burning the next wave of monsters that arrived.

“Hmm. Is it related to PvP or guilds…”

As Velvet made guesses that were completely off base, the three continued to go farther into the dungeon.

As they advanced, Mi suddenly noticed something and stopped.

“…Was there always so much water in this dungeon?”

“Huh? Really?”

Maple didn’t know, as it was her first time down here. But Mi realized that it didn’t match her own memories. The more they walked, the wetter the walls became. And there were puddles on the ground. The event exclusive monsters had all been burned by Mi before they had a chance to create any water, so they were not the cause of all this.

“I guess we are lucky. It must be because Maple prayed.”

“It’s just a coincidence! But I’m glad things are going well.”

“This moisture… No, something is making this water. So that’s what it is.”

“You’re very quick to notice. I wanted to keep it a secret until the last minute… But I guess your instincts are too sharp.”

And then as if she was a magician who was revealing a trick, Velvet explained to them what she had come to see. One of the differences that occurred once they entered the second half of the event, was the raid bosses.

“A hidden element… Well, I don’t really know if it is. But apparently, dungeon bosses are occasionally changed.”

“You mean they turn into something like an event exclusive monster?”

“Oh, yeah! …Yes. However, as for which dungeons, the probability, and materials… No one knows any of that yet.”

She only knew that the boss in this dungeon changed because one of the members from her guild had encountered it by accident. According to Velvet, it had only been tested a few times, but it seemed that the chances of it happening were quite low.

“The event will be ending soon. And it’s impossible to check all of the dungeons.”

“There are so many dungeons, and it’s not like it’s guaranteed to happen in all of them.”

So in a way, Maple’s prayer really had worked. They were incredibly lucky to be able to encounter it on their first try.

“But if stuff like this can happen, it might be good to go to dungeons whenever we have time!”

“That’s true. There might be more to gain in dungeons than there is running around the field and killing monsters.”

“Yes. It would be very strange for it to be hidden away like this, and for nothing to happen.”

They talked while Mi annihilated the monsters with one hand. By the time they reached the far back, the puddles of water had grown so large that they covered the entire ground and splashed loudly under their feet.

“I wonder what it will look like?”

“It’s probably something based on water or the sea… Maybe a larger version of the event monsters?”

“Well then. Let’s open the door to the boss room.”

“Yes. I’m ready.”

“So am I!”

Mi had finished replenishing her MP, and so Velvet opened the door that led to the boss room.

What awaited them on the other side of the door, was a huge, floating jellyfish. It was clear that this was not the original boss in this room, and Maple’s eyes shone at the sight of the creature that swam gracefully in the air.

“It’s flying like it’s floating! And it’s kind of cute too.”

“Yes, but it’s supposed to be pretty strong in spite of its appearance.”

“In that case, I won’t have to hold back… ‘Flame Emperor’!”

“Me too. ‘Second Coming of the Thunder God’!”

Fire and thunder surged out from both sides of Maple. Their attack power was more than enough. In that case, it was important for Maple to prepare to be able to react towards her opponent at a moment’s notice. It would be very troublesome if it had a way to break through ‘Dedicated Affection,’ and so she didn’t summon anything or create any weapons. Instead, she focused her attention on defending.

“‘Flare Accel’!”

“‘Electromagnetic Jump’!”

“‘Cover Move’!”

They activated their skills and accelerated all at once as they closed in on the jellyfish. In reply, the jellyfish extended its tentacles towards them, but all this meant was that it was moving into dangerous territory on its own accord.

“‘Center of the Storm,’ ‘Field of Thunder,’ ‘Rain of Thunder’!”

“‘Hellfire,’ ‘Burning Heat’!”

Velvet sent out an overwhelming amount of thunder, while Mi unleashed fire that burned everything. And like that, the tentacles were burned up. Both of them were good at area attacks, and so the tentacles that tried to surround them were a good target.

Maple followed them so that they would stay within range of ‘Dedicated Affection,’ and then she supported them by using ‘Oozing Chaos’ to deal extra damage.

Like this, the tentacles failed to stop them, and the jellyfish ended up allowing the two to get close. This meant that it’s body was within range of Velvet’s unending rain of thunder, and Mi was able to slam her fireballs into it.

As its HP decreased dramatically, the jellyfish extended its tentacles downward, and pierced the flooded ground. Velvet and Mi immediately thought to take advantage of the fact that it could no longer move, and their attacks intensified. However, it was then that the water suddenly increased until it was up to their knees. On top of that. The water itself moved freely and started to take the shape of tentacles. These water tentacles blocked the lightning and fire attacks, absorbing the damage.

“Now our area attacks are meaningless…!”

“Then it’s time to go in with fists!”

Velvet was back to her normal self by this time. There was a flash of light as she leapt into the air. However, now that the tentacles weren’t being burned up, they were able to reach Velvet, and she was captured. As expected from a jellyfish, its poison caused paralysis. She would have been susceptible to its attacks at this point, but Maple didn’t allow it.

“Don’t worry! There’s no damage. And the poison shouldn’t work!”

“Thanks! In that case, ‘Purple Lightning’! ‘Heavy Twin Attack’!”

Velvet’s lightning attack burned away the tentacles. And then she jumped into the air and slammed two heavy attacks into the jellyfish. The attacks were boosted by lightning, which took away even more HP. As for Mi, she continued to keep her distance and use ‘Flame Emperor’ to launch fireballs at it. Wide area attacks had proven to be effective. And while it hurt to have them blocked, she still had other skills that could be used to take down the jellyfish.

On the other hand, the jellyfish also had an attack that could be blocked, much to its detriment. And that was its tentacle attacks. It had been designed to attack with numerous tentacles, and use status effects to ensure that its prey could no longer move.

However, Maple had destroyed all of that.

“You can do it, Mi! Velvet!”

Of course, she had no idea about that. And while Maple hardened her defenses, she held her shield up, and intended to activate damage reduction skills.

She was already sealing the enemy’s attacks at that point, so they would be able to win without her using anything.

As could be seen, the only way to stop the in-fighter was the tentacles’s status effects. But as they were not effective because of Maple, they just needed to keep hitting it until it was dead.

Ultimately, the boss’s HP hit 0, and the water tentacles disappeared as the boss turned into light and faded away. The only thing that remained were a few materials and three jellyfish.

“It was easier than I thought… Ah, oh… It was really because you two were so strong, Maple and Mi.”

“Yeah. This is what happens to bosses who can’t deal with ‘Dedicated Affection’ I’ve teamed up with Maple a few times, so I know that all too well.”

“I’m glad I was able to protect you! Uh, so we defeated the boss…”

Maple was puzzled over the fact that there were still monsters there, and she started to poke the small jellyfish.

“Those aren’t monsters. I heard that you can bring them back to your room and display them.”

You were able to place them in your guild home or in your room. So they were close to furniture items.

“Oh. So you can put them in a tank.”

“According to the report from a guild member, they can fly in the air.”

“They fly! Well, the boss was also floating. And so do the event monsters, now that I think about it.”

While they weren’t tamed monsters, it seemed that being able to take home a miniature version of a boss was one of the hidden secrets of the second half of the event.

“Alright, so it’s one for each of us?”

They all agreed and decided to take the flying jellyfish home with them.

“One of our guild members is trying to complete the dungeon multiple times in order to collect them.”

“I see. That’s understandable.”

“Yes! It would be so atmospheric if you had a lot of them!”

Now that they had succeeded in defeating the special boss, the three left the dungeon behind them. Velvet seemed like she hadn’t had enough yet, and was excited to face the raid boss, while Mi was thinking about what kind of creature she would want to put in her room. Maple also decided that since these miniature monsters were likely exclusive to this event, she would have to use her spare time to go around to different dungeons.

A few days after they went to the dungeon. All of the raid bosses that had encountered so far were thoroughly beaten to a pulp.

“It just reminds you of how strong a lot of players really are.”

“Yeah. At first I thought it had too much HP, but now it seems like they are barely even a challenge…”

Management looked at the abilities of the raid bosses and watched footage of them being destroyed. As players had not been prepared for the giant squid that signaled the start of the second half of the event, it had been a difficult battle. But the same could not be said for every battle that came after that. After all, they knew the time and place where the boss would appear. And so a great number of players would surround the area and simultaneously attack the boss as soon as it appeared.

The reason that the giant squid had been able to withstand the attacks, was because the fight hadn’t started with it being surrounded and becoming the target of concentrated fire.

“I hope the last boss in the event will put up a better fight.”

“Yes… If they are killed too easily, they won’t really feel like raid bosses.”

That being said, they could think of a few players who also played a big part in why the bosses were being defeated so easily. They were able to move in a way that changed the tide of battle. And even if that weren’t the case, the players were finding more skills as they went up each layer, and even though they may not be that amazing when alone, it was quite different when many of them came together in a group.

“Perhaps we should adjust its HP and defense ability.”

“Yes… Well…the bosses were already set up so that they gradually become stronger. So I guess it won’t be strange.”

As the players were cooperating to overwhelm these monsters with a lot of HP, they had to maintain a certain standard for the bosses.

“I actually thought we were going too far with this last one. But now I’m not sure.”

“Well, let’s wait and see.”

“Yes, I’m sure it will put up a good fight…”

But they thought about all of the times they had had similar hopes for monsters, and how many times those hopes were dashed. And so it was with both hope and anxiety that management went over the data.