Therefore, the real test here would be to allow myself to be hit directly by the monsters on the higher floors, but I wont deny that doing that carries the risk of either being inflicted with a status ailment or being hit too hard and dying because of it. So, what can I do to carry out the right experiment here that would show me proper results?
How is the helmet doing, master?
It works just fine. Now that I have a piece of gear with Physical Damage Reduction on, the attacks of the enemies certainly have less of an impact to them.
That being said, further verification against stronger enemies might be needed here, but that would mean continuously exposing ourselves to attacks just so that I could compare their damage with and without the Skill being active, so Roxanne is not going to be an ideal test subject for it, because she would never allow herself to get hit even on purpose, since that would be against her instincts.
Am I going to have to be the one to verify it after all?
Is that so? Thats good then.
Yeah, I got my hands on a really good piece of equipment, and its all thanks to you, Sherry.
No, not at all, master.
I already managed to acquire Lv.5 as a Bounty Hunter, so lets try and raise it to Lv.10 as well.
Then, we went to the first floor of Harubas Labyrinth again. However, even when the Bounty Hunter reached Lv.10, it was still difficult to activate its Skill.
Ugh, this is getting annoying. Is it really correct to think that Ignore Life and Deathis a Skill that deals a death blow to monsters?
There is a possibility that it is a different Skill after all.
But then.
Ah!
Eh?
The monster!
When I was beginning to slowly lose hope, the monster fell after being hit only once by me.
While keeping an eye on the Grass Bees that came out to the front, I cast Breeze Storm.
I dodge the charge attack of the Grass Bee which attacked from the front and then I smacked it with my Rod of Offerings. The ones in the back had their skills delayed and so they were also forced to fight in the front.
Its also necessary to take caution of the movements of the Grass Bee that Roxannes fighting with her Rapier. I glanced at it from the side and confirmed that it wasnt aiming at me. I should be fine for now.
Then, at that brief moment when I took my eyes off of them, one of the Grass Bees saw me shifting my vision and took it as a chance to attack. I twisted my body in a panic, but was still hit by its charge. In returned, I made the two of them eat one more Breeze Stormafter I made sure that the one that Roxanne is fighting is also going to be caught in its range.
Three Grass Bees fall to the ground, defeated, but at the same time my body has become incredibly hot and I started feeling as if a number of sharp needles was being forcefully driven into every single muscle in my body.
This sensation I know it all too well.
Its poison. I have been poisoned by the Grass Bees. I guess one of them must have succeeded in inflicting it on me when they performed those charged attacks earlier.
Is this some kind of punishment for me because I got too greedy and careless even though Miria was not together with us? But even if it is a punishment for me, then I feel incredibly calm. Most likely because it is actually my second time being inflicted with poison, so I more or less knew what I was supposed to be expecting.
Still, it doesnt change the fact that it physically hurts me.
My chest felt tightened as if someone was squeezing down on it with an invisible hand. But even so, my number one priority here was to defeat the monsters that were right in front of me, so I mustered up my strength and fired a Fire Ball at it.
No, wait, I shouldnt have done that.
The opponent against whom I am fighting right now is a Pig Hog, so theres no use using Fire Magic against it because it is not weak to it. At least I am still focused enough to realize that I have made a mistake, so all that I need to do right now is to correct it.
Even though it was causing me great pain, I still managed to throw a Water Balltowards the Pig Hog. Just how much more am I going to have to throw at it in order to finally kill it?
I threw yet another Water Ballat it. Good. I can still count down how many Spells I have used without my mind getting all tangled up in my own thoughts. Calm down. I have to keep calm, and as long as Ill be able to do that, then everything is going to be just fine.
And then, Sherry appeared right in front of me. Oh yeah, shes carrying an antidote, Anti-Poison Pill with her. As long as she administers it to me via mouth-to-mouth, then everything should end up just fine for me.
Until that happens, I have to make sure that my head remains as clear as possible so that I could still comprehend what is happening around me.
Giving in to my desires, I embraced Sherry tightly, almost as if I was afraid that shes going to run off somewhere far away if I wont hold her in my arms, and then I pressed myself into Sherrys lips.