342 Part 1

Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 342

Defense Specialization and the 9th Event 2

During that time, Chrome, Kasumi, and Izu were riding on the enlarged Haku’s head as they moved around and hunted the event monsters.

“Oh? Looks like Maple and Sally are coming this way. They seem to have already acquired some material drops.”

“Woah, that’s amazing. We’ve been doing nothing but running over tropical fish.”

While they were letting Haku’s giant body do everything as they circled the area and turned fish into roadkill, they had not been rewarded with any dropped materials. Neither had they encountered any other types of monsters. While Izu was able to fight now, she was the type who needed to prepare in advance, and so she had decided that she would be safe with the others for now, as long as they only hunted tropical fish.

“It’s not like ordinary monsters don’t come out now, so I’m still anxious about being alone.”

“But I bet you’d have no trouble now. You can make cannons, right? As long as you can take them out quickly, you should be able to manage it even when solo.”

“Hey, you do realize that items aren’t cheap? They’re not like skills where there is just a short cool-down time.”

Izu answered. But it was true that fighting solo wasn’t impossible for her now. It was clear, since she had challenged the highest difficulty in the previous event.

“While I was able to rack up a lot of kills, I still feel like it’s not enough.”

“Well…right now we’re just running them over. But gathering materials should be easy. And if we really want to meet strong monsters or players, we won’t have much trouble finding them.”

“Hmm…I suppose.”

If they could take the easy way, they should do just that. And so Kasumi ordered Haku to continue crushing and tearing the fish to death, and their kill count went up.

Haku slithered in a corner of the field for a while until Maple and Sally finally arrived.

“Hey!”

“There you are. Haku, stop.”

Kasumi made Haku stop and lower its head to the ground.

“Are things going well for you two?”

“Yes! We killed a lot of monsters on our way here as we rode on the horse!”

“Things seem to be going well here too.”

“Yeah. It’s hard to mess up when they’re this weak.”

“So, Maple?”

“Yes, yes! Here you go, Izu.”

Maple gave Izu the clump of water. Acquiring the new item meant that crafting instructions were immediately unlocked for Izu.

“Uhh…I can make an item that allows you to stay underwater longer. It’s a lot stronger than similar items I’ve made before, so I guess it will be easier to explore in the water?”

“I see. There are a lot of lakes and seas…”

Maple nodded in agreement. Sally had guessed that the material would make something related to water, so she wasn’t surprised.

“And like I said, we don’t know when we’ll be able to gather these materials again. So maybe we should switch to finding monsters outside of tropical fish.”

“Yes. That would really help. Besides, our total kill count has risen steadily.”

As they also had players that could increase their kill count at a rapid rate, it was no surprise that they were moving steadily towards their goal. And so there would be no problem in making the search for materials their second priority.

“Besides, Haku can kill monsters even without trying. So we’ll be able to get a decent amount on the way.”

“I’ll tell the other three then…there. As for us, we’ll continue to go around and search for more sharks.”

“Yes, you can leave this area to us. We have yet to encounter anything that we can’t handle.”

And so Maple and Sally told them to call if they needed help, and then they dashed off on their horse. Kasumi then gave the order to Haku, and they started their search for this shark that Maple had talked about.

“If this is the difficulty we can expect, we won’t have to use any new skills.”

“Yeah. I haven’t used mine yet.”

As the medal skills that Chrome and Kasumi acquired were useful during combat, there would be no need for them as long as they didn’t find themselves in a vicious battle.

“I got a skill that sometimes gives me a bonus in the number of items that are crafted, so it’s not related to combat.”

“Oh, but it will increase our efficiency.”

“Yes. What skills did you two get?”

“Indeed… I hope a good monster will come out so I can show you.”

“…? Hehe. It seems like Maple has finally shared some of her luck. Something has come out.”

Kasumi said. A manta ray was flying gracefully up ahead. The three were immediately sure that it was similar to the shark that Maple had talked about. And they would not allow it to get away.

“Kasumi, head towards it!”

“Got it!”

Kasumi raised Haku’s speed as they made a beeline towards the manta ray. That’s when the manta ray noticed their approach, and a blurry magic circle appeared in front of its mouth. And then a torrent of water, much like the one that had thrown Maple into the air, was unleashed from it.

“It’s time to use the thing I was talking about! Leave it to me, ‘Guardian’!”

Chrome shouted as he raised his shield. And like that, he was able to block all of the water that would have swallowed all three of them up.

“It protects those around me and reduces damage for a short while after being activated. It even has the bonus of being immune to status effects! Well, I guess you can call it a casual version of ‘Dedicated Affection’!”

Unlike ‘Dedicated Affection,’ it reduced the damage that you took, which was why it was possible for Chrome to use it, even with his defense ability.

“Then I better show mine as well. ‘Arms of the Warrior,’ ‘Third of the Blade – Kogetsu.’”

Kasumi used her skill to jump into the air over the manta ray. And then she unleashed a chain of attacks down onto it. At the same time, the two arms at her sides also slashed at it, and the manta ray lurched to the side. However, its HP did not drop to 0.

As Kasumi fell back to the ground, she regained her posture and held her swords up.

“‘First of the Blade – Kagerou’!”

Even as she fell, the skill’s effects allowed her to move in ways that should have been impossible. Kasumi used her skill to teleport right in front of the manta ray’s eyes, and then she slashed at it, dealing damage. It was as she started falling again that she activated the newly acquired askill.

“‘Battlefield of Carnage.’”

As the skill activated, Kasumi’s body started to glow red. Chrome watched this, all the while using ‘Provoke’ to lure in the manta ray’s attacks.

“‘Third of the Blade – Kogetsu’!”

Kasumi reactivated the skill she had just used, causing her to rise into the air and accelerate in a way that ignored the laws of physics. She slashed at the manta ray while shooting up into the sky. Of course, that meant she would plummet once again. But the manta ray’s HP was very low now, and Kasumi was confident that she could deal the final blow.