This time, we won’t be using the increased resistance to abnormal statuses given by the Assassin job, and since I expect the battles to be drawn out, I also equipped myself with the Alchemist Job so that I could cast 「Plating」on the girls in case if it was ever needed.
Supposedly, you can get the Assassin Job by attacking enemies with poison, but that strategy might not work with poisoned weapons alone. Since the probability of proccing abnormal statuses is low, then we might also need to use 「Abnormal Status Chance Up」. It cannot be helped, since I have expected that much.
「All right then, I think we have gathered enough Poison Stingers, so we can probably go ahead and have this experiment started. Since Roxanne already has the Assassin Job, then this time I will be the one throwing the Poison Stingers at the enemies. While I will be doing that, the three of you won’t be attacking the enemies at all, okay?」
I have collected about twenty Poison Stingers, so hopefully having that many of them is going to be enough to fulfill the purpose of the experiment quite nicely. Of course, I have to anticipate that shooting a Poison Stinger is not necessarily going to end with inflicting the poison upon the enemy, but with that many of them at once, I want to believe that it will not be too much of a problem.
「What are we to do if any of the NT Ants starts showing signs of wanting to use a Skill?」
「If it ever comes to that, then I want you to thrust it with your spear, Sherry.」
I answer Sherry’s question. Since she has the spear with 「Chant Interruption」, thrusting it into enemies who are about to unleash their Skills or magic is her exclusive job now.
「Alternatively, you can always try to dodge the NT Ant’s skill attack. If you execute the dodge correctly, you won’t get poisoned at all.」
Yeah, that might be true, but only for someone like you who is a god at dodging, Roxanne. I look towards Sherry and nod at her. She acknowledges it.
When a group of three NT Ants enters my line of sight, I cast 「Water Storm」towards them. Two of them drop down immediately while the other one is still standing. I wait for an opportunity to shoot a Poison Stinger at the surviving NT Ant, but it was easier said than done since it was constantly moving around and refused to stay put in a single spot.
Back when Roxanne was a kid throwing Poison stingers at Rock Golems, she probably managed to kill them not because she was inflicting them with poison during the finishing blow, but by inflicting them with poison at the start of the battle, allowing the status ailment to slowly chip away at their HP until they eventually dropped dead.
If I take a monster out by poisoning it only at the end, it’s likely that I won’t acquire the Assassin Job. Still, there’s no harm in trying it just in case. After all, if you finish a monster off with bare hands, you acquire a Monk Job, so there’s a possibility that it’s same in case of Assassin, too.
However, no matter how you look at it, taking a monster out by poisoning it at the start of the battle is difficult. I thought that it might be relatively easy, but I’m afraid that I was mistaken.
Roxanne holds her shield and stands in front of the NT Ant. All right, if Roxanne can keep it occupied the entire time, there won’t be any need for Sherry to cancel its Skill attack.
I look at Sherry and signal her to not use the spear and she acknowledges it. However, if Roxanne keeps sticking close to it, there’s a possibility that it won’t be considered as ‘taking a monster out by poisoning it at the start’ of the battle anymore.
「Now that I think about it, how do I know that the poison has been Inflicted onto an enemy successfully?」
「When a monster gets poisoned, its color pales a bit.」
I ask Sherry while throwing a Poison Stinger at a monster. Meanwhile, Roxanne dodges an attack of the NT Ant. It’s color pales a bit? Is it even possible to notice such a change in color of a monster in this dark, dimly-lit Labyrinth? And if it doesn’t pale, does that mean that the application of poison has failed?
「Poison, desu!」
When I throw another Poison Stinger, Miria suddenly shouts. At the same time, the NT Ant collapses.
「Did its color change?」
「Yes, desu.」
「I was of the idea that its Skill attack can’t be dodged. How did you manage to do it?」
「To me, it was more of a feat than an evasive manuever.」
I say as I return the spear back to Sherry.
Constructing a magic circle always requires time, and during the time it takes to form it, you can have more than enough time to get out of the range of its attack. Is that what she means by what she just said?
It surely can’t be called an evasive maneuver. Not to mention that it will be difficult to accomplish for anyone other than Roxanne who is special when it comes to dodging and evading. I was able to escape successfully because I was in the back to begin with, so I definitely couldn’t pull something like that off even if my life depended on it.
「As expected of Big Sister, desu. Well done, desu.」
For Roxanne to not give up, this positivity of Miria may be needed.
「Err... its Skill attack can be avoided. Sherry and Miria can do it, too.」
They can do that? Oh really? You don’t say? I wonder if it’s really like that, or is it just that there is no such word as 「impossible」in Roxanne’s Dictionary of Evasion? I unintentionally look toward Sherry, but she avoids my gaze and turns away.
「A-Anyway, M-Miria is next.」
「Yes, desu.」
Because there still are more than ten Poison Stingers left in our possession plus the two more that have just been recovered, I decide to carry on with the experiment.
The next group comprises four NT Ants, but unfortunately for them, only one of them will be spared. I cast 「Water Storm」. Two of them collapse immediately. I launch 「Water Ball」 at one of the remaining two while Roxanne steps forward and blocks the last one.
Miria then shoots a Poison Stinger at the NT Ant that Roxanne was fighting from behind her. I’m positioned behind Miria, holding the additional Poison Stingers at the ready to pass them onto her.
「Here.」
Miria turns the upper half of her body and receives another Poison Stinger from me. That way, both of us will be able to hightail it out of there if the need for doing so ever arises. In the meantime, Roxanne easily sidesteps the charge of the NT Ant, leaving it open for a potential attack.
「Poison, desu.」
I try to hand her one more Poison Stinger, but as soon as I stretched my hand with it to her, she stops me. Could it be that the NT Ants actually become succeptable to being afflicted with poison after then enter the state where they prepare to use their Skill and the magic circle forms beneath them? It would be great if that was actually the case, since that would make fighting them a whole lot easier.
The NT Ant charged straight at Roxanne, but she received its charge with her shield and completely blocked it from being able to inflict the hurt upon anyone. I wonder if there are any visual indicators pointing to the NT Ant being poisoned? Maybe its color is going to be changed slightly?
Roxanne lightly dodges the next attack of the NT Ant, and then the ant collapsed onto the ground where it turned into smoke and disappeared shortly. It would seem that we have managed to poison it indeed.
With that taken care of, all members of my current Party should be able to acquire the Job of an Assassin for themselves. Aside from Miria, that it, but that’s understandable since she hasn’t hit Lv.30 as a Warrior, so she does not meet the requirements needed to unlock it.
Nevertheless, this Job should become especially useful to Miria, since she is always staying in the vanguard, where the probability of getting inflicted with a negative status effect is that much greater. Once her own set of equipment is complete, I’m going to have her become an Assassin to see how she’s going to perform with it.