Chapter 399

Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 399

Defense Specialization and Fire and Poison

The two got off near a large lake. While it was surrounded by a forest, it was unmissable if you were looking down from the sky.

The trees around the lake had been brutally fractured at the trunk, and lay scattered on the ground. And so even the enlarged Ignis was able to land directly.

“Thanks, Ignis.”

“Ko-ko-kaa!”

“This one isn’t a good fit for me, so I thought I should get it out of the way while I’m still with you. Also, I wanted to beat it before I forget the trick to tackling it.”

A short while later, a monster appeared that explained what Mi meant when she said there was a trick to it. Large ripples spread in the water, and then gravity-defying spheres of water, like the ones seen all over the ninth layer, connected with several pillars in the lake, creating numerous roads that stretched out.

And inside swam fish that were about 50 centimeters long.

She had fought many monsters like this during the last, last event, as well as on the eighth layer.

And so she wanted to clear this quest while their speed, and the ways of dealing with them, were still fresh in her mind.

“Dedicated Affection!”

“Heavy Fire!”

As Maple took care of defense, Mi unleashed a powerful burst of flames from the safety zone. It continued to burn after piercing through the pillars of water, causing great damage to the fish within.

“Woah!”

“If they are fast, then you just have to defeat them with wide area attacks so they can’t escape, right? Though, the damage is reduced because they’re inside of the water...”

While they had been hit with such a heavy attack, this was still the ninth layer. And so the fish still had some HP left, and they launched a coordinated counterattack by unleashing swirls of water.

“Heavy Body!”

It had the appearance of an attack that would blow them into the air, and so Maple immediately nullified any knockback as she blocked the great swirls of water.

And while the attacks were very intimidating, they did not have a piercing effect, and so Maple was left unharmed.

“That finished more quickly than I expected.”

“Did you accept a lot of quests, Mi?”

“This is the last of the first ones that came out. Though, I’m sure there will be more. And the next ones will likely be harder, so I might not be able to clear them at the same pace.”

The quests that you were currently allowed to accept were the easiest ones in the ninth layer. But even at this stage, there were already monsters, like that dragon, which had powerful movement-binding attacks, on top of being able to attack from the sky, which was a great advantage. It was clear that the base monsters here were a lot stronger. And if the difficulty level was going to increase, that meant the enemies would also become stronger.

“So you haven’t finished them all, Maple?”

“I still have a lot left! But everyone in my guild shares information about what kind of quests there are.”

“I see. And I suppose that unless you happen to be very incompatible, members of Maple Tree will have no trouble clearing this difficulty level even when solo.”

“They said we’re gathering information so that we don’t lose to big guilds like Kingdom of the Flame Emperor.”

“I see. Gathering information is important, and Marx is good at doing that kind of thing...”

“He does look like he would be!”

“And he does especially well during events like this one, where there is a base. Though, he doesn’t seem too confident.”

Still, the results of the previous events were proof of his ability. And that was why Mi trusted him.

“I tend to form a party with Misery, Marx and Shin the most, and I think the four of us will probably be in the same camp during the event. But if we’re not, and they happen to be on your side, then you shouldn’t hesitate to rely on them.”

“Okay! I’ll do that!”

She hadn’t teamed up or fought against them that many times, but Maple was well aware of how strong they were. And if they had polished their skills since then, then they would be even more reliable.

“While it’s taken some time to reach this point, it really is the final preparation period. I’m sure that you...have something hidden up your sleeve, Maple?”

“Uh, I’m not supposed to tell you, right!”

“Hehe. Correct. While I’m scared...I’ll look forward to it and think of ways of dealing with you.”

“I’ll do my best to prepare as well!”

As Maple had always been quick to quit any games that she played, she hadn’t been able to make rivals and friends. And Mi was one player she now had that relationship with. Though, Maple wasn’t used to this. And so she just copied Sally and smiled as if she felt confident.