339 Part 2

“Right. And we can use items to make up for any deficiencies. Just wait a minute, okay?”

Sally went into her inventory and started to take out the items that Izu had prepared for her.

One was an overcoat, and the other was a sphere that had red lights inside of it.

“If you wear this while using the sphere, you can greatly reduce the damage of ice attacks. It also adds ‘Ice Resistance.’”

Upon hearing this, Maple used them immediately. The overcoat was very thick, and it seemed like just the thing you would use when going to someplace cold.

“It’s not only effective, but fits the atmosphere, right?”

“Yes! I like it!”

“We’ll have to thank Izu when we get back.”

As there were multiple spheres, they didn’t need to worry about running out. There were also other items that Izu had made, but they currently just needed these two.

As they continued to walk, three balls of ice that were enveloped by a white, shining layer of cold air came flying towards them from the front.

They immediately stopped and held their weapons up. As they waited to see what the monsters would do, the blue lights in the ice turned into eyes and mouths. They moved forward with a will of their own.

Since she was within range of Maple’s ‘Dedicated Affection,’ Sally stepped forward and quickly slashed at the clump of ice. ‘Fire Child’ caused her daggers to be enveloped in flame. The fire slid into the ice and red damage effects exploded.

Seeing that it was going well, Sally moved forward in order to destroy the remaining monsters. However, she saw that great amounts of blue light were spilling out of the ice monster she had just cut through. And Sally quickly braked before using ‘Leap’ to return towards Maple.

Immediately after, there was the sound of exploding ice as the monsters shattered, sending sharp shards flying in every direction. Sally had detected this and was able to dodge the attack in the nick of time. She sighed with relief as she stood up, unscathed.

“I didn’t expect them to explode. That was close.”

“But you can fight without worrying! We have ‘Dedicated Affection’!”

“Yes, thanks. Besides, I’ll be fine now that I’ve seen it once.”

Now that Sally had moved back, the ice block with a face started to exhale a cold mist from its mouth. It moved through the passage, leaving no room to escape. It ended up hitting Maple twice, since this time Sally decided that she would leave it to Maple, instead of trying to dodge it.

“Are you okay?”

“It doesn’t seem like it did anything. I think I’m fine…?”

“Hmm. That’s a relief!”

After making sure Maple was okay, Sally quickly moved forward. This ice creature was more of a trap than a monster. In spite of having low HP, it could easily deal a lethal wound to the average player if they weren’t careful.

“Oomph!”

Sally slid between the two remaining chunks of ice and rotated quickly, using her daggers to carve the enemy up.

“And now, ‘Super Accelerate’!”

Earlier, Sally had used ‘Leap’ to move out of their range, but as she could not use it anymore, she accelerated in order to get away.

Sally seemed to slide on the ground as she returned to Maple. Behind her, the remaining blocks of ice exploded with a freezing, white cloud that spread out across the floor.

“Amazing! That was so clean!”

“Really? Thanks. I had to dodge the explosion just in case. The shards looked really sharp, so it was possible that they had piercing attacks.”

While Sally hadn’t taken any damage, this strategy required that you switch movements with precision. If there was a better way, they might as well do it. And so Maple made a suggestion to Sally.

“Then I’ll try shooting them from far away next time! That way I can slow them down even if they regenerate. And you can attack them with fire magic in the meantime.”

“Alright, let’s do that. But don’t use it too much.”

“Okay!”

In any case, they decided the ice monsters wouldn’t be too much trouble, and so they continued on their way down the frozen path.

“That’s right, Maple. Have you received the medal skill yet?”

“I did! I like the one that you had, so I decided on something that was similar.”

“…There was something similar?”

“You know, you have ‘Water Manipulation’! So I got ‘Earth Manipulation’!”

So saying, Maple smiled and thrust her hands forward while making the ‘peace sign.’

“Ahh! That’s right. There were different ones. And you chose that attribute?”

“Yes. It seemed like a good fit for Syrup.”

“That’s nice. You might gain some interesting skills if you level up.”

“What about you?”

“Well, I’ll show them to you during the next fight.”

“I’ll look forward to it!”

After walking a little farther, a bear that was made of ice appeared in front of them. It’s bluish, clear body had wisps of pale, cold air rising from it, just like the previous ice monsters.

“Ah, perfect timing. Maple, hold your shield up…yes, like that.”

“A-are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m going!”

Sally started running towards the bear, leaving Maple, who felt both worried and excited about what was about to happen. Obviously, the bear also reacted to Sally and charged towards her. As Maple watched and wondered what attack skill she would use, Sally activated it in front of her.

“‘Change of Attitude.’”

Immediately after, Maple’s vision seemed to shake. Then the ice bear’s claws were right in front of her.

“What!? Ahh…!”

For a moment, she couldn’t think. However, as she was holding up her great shield like Sally had instructed, ‘Bizarre Eater’ activated on its own, and the ice bear was turned into light and swallowed up before it even had a chance to regenerate. Maple sighed with relief as she turned around. Sally was waving to her with an expression that suggested everything had gone as planned.

“You! Sally!”

“Ahaha. Sorry, sorry.”

“I was so shocked. It reminded me of when you showed me ‘Mirage.’”

“I’m really sorry that I startled you. It’s a skill that makes you switch places with an ally. I think that it could be used very well for both attacking and defending.”

“I’m sure you’ll use it very well, Sally.”

“Alright, then you should expect it to become a game changer in the future.”

“Yes! Ah, here comes another one.”

“Woah… Is this some kind of bear nest…?”

As the two talked, another ice bear appeared in the passage. And since their objective here was not to have fun playing with the bears, they wanted to get through this area as quickly as possible.

“Let’s speed through with ‘Bizarre Eater’!”

“Agreed. And I’ll make up for it during the boss fight. Besides, I can use fire.”

“Alright, charge!”

At a glance, Maple looked rather cute as she scampered ahead. However, this did not change the fact that the thing she was holding up was a shield that erased everything.

Ultimately, every time Maple charged, the ice shattered and turned into light.