Chapter 127

The demons we encountered in the second round were three bat demons floating in a small room whose ceiling and width were somewhat wider than the passageway.

“That’s a ‘Vampire Bat’.”

The reason I mention the name of the demons is to tell Lydina and Arcana, and of course to tell the audience.

As the name suggests, this demon is a bat that uses its sharp teeth to bite and sip blood from its prey.

It is especially threatening because of its high-speed gliding attack, which it launches while swooping down after gaining enough altitude. If you are fighting in a “Labyrinth”, it is essential that you do not let it gain altitude.

“If you fight in a room, they’ll gain altitude. Some people are afraid of gliding attacks, but if they are too high in the first place, it will be difficult to fight with close weapons. So if we attack from a distance with Arcana and my arrows and lure them to the corridor, it’ll be easier to fight.”

“I see.”

For any demon, there is a ‘Smart Way to Fight’ that reduces the difficulty of defeating it.

Sayuri makes an effort to convey this fact to the audience as clearly as possible.

By learning how to fight effectively, she hopes to show that even those who are not confident in their fighting skills can still fight well in the “Labyrinth”.

“If you pull them into the corridor, they will only be able to move by flapping their wings. Vampire bats are bigger than normal bats, so they are heavier and slower when they are flapping their wings. So―――”

Sayuri fired a well-aimed arrow from her short bow.

The arrow pierced the vampire bat’s head, just as Sayuri had aimed.

“If you lure them in, even an amateur archer like me can usually hit them.”

“Well done, Sayuri.”

“Thank you, Lydina, though I’m no match for a real archer.”

While Sayuri killed one vampire bat, Arcana, who had the vocation of〔Hunter〕 and was skilled with a short bow, killed the remaining two bats.

In the end, there is a clear difference in skill. It was inevitable.

“I hope the people watching the [Broadcast] are aware of the fact that if you have the knowledge, you can greatly reduce the risk of combat.”

“But isn’t the only way to gain that knowledge to risk it?”

“Oh my, what do you think I’m doing giving you the freedom to watch other explorers on the ‘air’? It’s important to learn from other people’s experiences, isn’t it?”

“I see… Yes, that’s true.”

“It’s entertaining to watch high-level people explore, though. You should know that the most you can learn by watching are the broadcast of explorers who are close to you in level.”

The fact that you can get lessons from the broadcast at any time without taking any risks.

I don’t have to tell you how luxurious that is.

“Sayuri Sister, there are three of them ahead.”

“Thank you, Arcana. You’re the reason we can fight so well.”

“You’re welcome! I’m glad I could be of help to you, Sayuri Sister!”

The〔Hunter〕ability to detect demons is truly dependable. Just having a hunter as a companion can make a huge difference in the danger level of exploring the “Labyrinth”.

There are many benefits to be gained from a vocation or profession, many of which cannot be made up for by knowledge alone. It is necessary to make this fact known as well.

“… What is that? It looks like a dog with a mushroom growing out of its head.”

“That’s correct. It’s a monster called a ‘Dog Mushroom’.”

“It’s more like a dog with mushrooms on its head, so shouldn’t it be called a ‘Mushroom Dog’…?

When Sayuri replied to Arcana, Lydina sighed next to her.

Well, I can understand why you would feel that way.

“No, ‘Dog Mushroom’ is the right word for this. The main body of that demon is the mushroom. It’s a parasite that lives on the carcass of a dog, and that’s what makes it move.”

“… Is it a kind of undead monster?”

“The mushrooms themselves are alive, so they don’t fall into that category. The dog’s body is also parasitized and forced to stay ‘alive’, so it’s very fresh.

By the way, the weak point is, of course, the mushroom that grows on its head. ―――In other words, it’s the body of the demon. Attacking the body of a parasitized dog won’t do much damage.”

Incidentally, this ‘Parasitic Mushroom’ type of demon has appeared many times in the game『Atros Online』, eventually appearing as the ‘Great Dragon Mushroom’, an individual that parasitizes a higher level dragon.

Regardless of what it is parasitizing, the mushroom that grows out of its head is always its weak point, making it a relatively easy monster to defeat.

So, if you just want to defeat it, it’s easy. If only to defeat it.

“I’ll aim for the one on the far left with Arcana and my bow. If one of the arrows hits the mushroom, that should be enough to kill it.”

“Ehh… Is that demon that weak?”

“It’s very weak, as long as you hit its weak point. But if you try to kill it without damaging the mushrooms, it can be quite difficult. You can slash the dog’s side with the sword more than ten times and it still won’t go down.”

“Then there’s no need to aim at anything other than its weak point, is there?”

“But that’s not how it works. In fact, those mushrooms are actually a useful ingredient for [Mana Potion], but you have to defeat it without attacking its weak point even once for it to drop the mushrooms.”

“…… Ehh? So we can’t attack it?”

“If you want the mushrooms, then yes.”

At least you can get dog fur and meat, so even if you attack their weak points and kill them, you can expect to make some profit. To get the most valuable mushrooms, it is necessary to avoid attacking their weak points.

In this world, both [Life Potion] and [Mana Potion] is very valuable elixirs. The materials used to make them are very valuable.

“The one on the far left should be taken out as soon as possible by targeting its weak point. After securing a numerical advantage, try to kill the other two without targeting their weak points.

However, if the dog mushrooms do bite you, I suggest you give up and attack their weak points. I don’t think there’s any need to put up with the pain and focus on profit.”

Dog mushrooms have two types of attacks: ‘rushing’ and ‘biting,’ the latter of which is a reasonably high damage attack for a low level.

The reason is that while it is biting, its head is exposed without defense. By attacking its weak points, you can instantly defeat it and free yourself from its bite.

There is no need to disregard the opportunity to profit, but it is also not good to be too obsessed with profit. It’s not a good idea to stick to it until it hurts unnecessarily.

“Three, two, one―――”

As Lydina counted, Arcana and Sayuri simultaneously shot arrows from their short bows. Both arrows pierced the body of the dog mushroom on the far left and turned it into the light.

Realizing that they had been attacked, the remaining two dog mushrooms rushed over.

Using the momentum of the demon’s rush, Sayuri stabbed the short spear deep into the body of one of the dog mushrooms until the tip of the spear was buried.

Kicking the spear thrust with the sole of her shoe, Sayuri thrusts another short spear deep into the body of the dog mushroom.

And instead of the short spear, she equipped a shortsword and a shield.

With the spear piercing deep into the body, the dog mushroom’s actions would be greatly restricted and slowed down.

All we had to do was to use our shields to prevent the dog mushrooms from attacking and attack them little by little with our shortswords to avoid damaging them.

After about ten minutes of fighting, Sayuri and her team took care of the two remaining dog mushrooms.

It took a while, but no matter how long the battle takes in this “Labyrinth”, other demons will not join in later. The only time it happens is when there is a difference between the number of people on the explorer side and the number of demons on the demon side at the start of the battle.

“In the future, if you see a monster with a mushroom on its head, please try to find it. If done well, you’ll be able to obtain valuable materials, and the additional income will warm your pocket.”

As the number of [Mana Potion] in the market increases, the price will decrease. If this is the case, the price of [Mana Potion] will one day be easily affordable for those who have a vocation or occupation that requires a lot of magical power, such as〔Priests〕and <Sorcerer>.

“Sayuri Sister, there’s something that looks like a treasure chest.”

“Oh, really. Well done, Arcana.”

“Ehehe, thank you very much.”

I patted her head lightly, and Arcana’s eyes narrowed in happiness.

“Sayuri can disarm the traps, can’t she?”

“I can do it, but… that’s a white treasure chest, so it doesn’t have any traps. As a rule, treasure chests that are not red do not have traps, so you can open them without danger.”

“I see…”

“By the way, white treasure chests always contain at least one piece of equipment… Unfortunately, in this case, the size of the treasure chest isn’t very large, so the weapons it contains are probably small.”

Large weapons, such as two-handed swords and two-handed spears, are naturally contained appropriately sized ‘Treasure Chests’.

So, by looking at the size of the chests, you can pretty much guess what’s inside.

“… Hmm. A dagger, perhaps?”

Lydina said as she looked at the blade she had taken out of the treasure chest.

It was a sharp, double-edged dagger with a blade no longer than thirty centimeters long.

“This is a throwing dagger. It’s a little hard to tell, but the grip is shaped like a throwing dagger, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, that’s kind of what I was thinking…”

“Do you mind if I borrow it?”

After receiving the dagger from Lydina, Sayuri throws it in an empty direction.

And then Sayuri thought to herself, ‘Return.’ The throwing dagger, which was supposed to have been thrown to a distant place just a moment ago, instantly warped to Sayuri’s right hand.

“Oh… just as I thought. It’s a throwing dagger with ‘Voluntary Return’.”

“… What is this ‘Voluntary Return’ thing?”

“It grants the weapon ability to return to your hand as many times as you want if you ask for it. Once you throw a normal dagger, you can’t retrieve it until the battle is over. With this ‘Voluntary Return’ dagger, you can throw it as many times as you want.”

However, it can only be thrown, there are no other benefits.

It does not mean that the attack power is better than normal, so do not be overconfident.

“This is good for Arcana to use. Even with a bow in one hand, it won’t interfere with just throwing a dagger, and it will save arrows.”

“Wow, I’ll like to try that!”

“Next time we stop by the weapon shop, we’ll buy a scabbard that will fit this just right.”

Throwing weapons are quite tricky to throw at the right spot. In this world, skills are acquired through training, so practicing now should not be a waste of time.

If Arcana can’t use it well, then you can sell it.

“Do weapons from the treasure chests have these special effects?”

“No, not very many. So I guess we got lucky.”

In this “Beginner I” Labyrinth, the chance of getting a weapon or armor with a special effect from a treasure chest would have been about 1 in 50.

So I guess I was lucky… Well, since three of God’s Avatar are gathered together, perhaps we are more prone to good luck than people.