You are going to try even more than that? I look forward to it in the future then.
After Vesta moved away from me, Miria came and helped her put a shirt on. With the help of Miria, she also puts on her equipment.
「Thank you for helping her, Miria. Are you done changing now, Vesta?」
「Yes, I am done, master.」
「It’s time to go, then. Vesta is coming with us, too, so make sure that you’re always going to stay closely behind us, okay?」
「Yes. As you wish, master.」
From the bedroom, I warped us to the eighteenth floor of Haruba’s Labyrinth.
This time, in addition to the other three, who are used to it already, Vesta is also here with us, so it’s going to be her first proper morning trip to the Labyrinth with us.
「It is still early in the morning. Vesta, are you fine with moving around?」
「I am okay for now, I believe.」
While we are still inside the small entrance room, I hand Vesta a Hardened Leather Helmet as well as a Wooden Shield and Magic Crystal.
I am sorry for Vesta’s equipment being only spares, but that is the best that I can do for her at the current moment. When I’m going to have a spare moment, we’re definitely going to have to go to the Armor and Weapon Shops and buy her some proper equipment.
「Also, use this Steel Sword for now.」
「B-But master will not have a sword, then. Are you sure that giving that one to me is a good idea?」
「Yes, because I will be using a different one.」
「O-Okay then. In that case I’m going to take you up on your offer.」
I take the Steel Sword off my waist and pass it to Vesta. Since Vesta is using both her hands, she’s holding the two-handed Steel Sword with her right hand and the Wooden Shield with her left hand.It indeed seems that the big Vesta can both hold and swing the two-handed sword without any issues, which is good to know. That way, we won’t have to worry about such things as her tripping or losing her balance due to the accumulated momentum carrying her with it.
「Oh that’s right, I almost forgot to ask. Sherry, can you make a Tower Shield?」
「You mean the type of large shield that the Dragonkin tribe members can use, right? I’m sorry to say that, but creating such an item is impossible for the present me. Also, if you want to even start considering making items like that, then you’re going to have to get your hands on higher-tier materials that are required for forging steel plates, like either regular steel or Damascus Steel.」
Right after Roxanne’s warning, a water shot comes flying between Vesta and me. I am glad I was not directly behind her, or else I would have taken that shot right to the face with its full force. But now that I am standing behind Vesta, I do not fear any of the monsters, because standing behind Vesta is like standing behind an impenetrable wall that gives me the maximum feeling of security.
However, I cannot allow myself to become complacent. I have to constantly monitor the flow of the battle if there ever came a need for me to use Recovery Magic or items.
The monsters in the front close in and attack us. They are two Fly Traps and one Kettle Mermaid. Roxanne dodges the Fly trap’s attack easily. While dodging its attack, she hits it with her Estoc.
The Fly Trap, that spat water earlier comes to the front as well while the Clam Shell seems to be falling back. It’s probably planning to spit water at us from behind whenour guards will be lowered.
And sure enough, while it was being attacked while moving, it spat water at us.
Roxanne dodges by a hair’s breadth. While dodging the second Fly Trap’s attack, is it even possible to dodge an attack coming from behind it at the same time? I think this is the first time when I saw her doing something so amazing while dodging. I mean, she’s as terrifying as always, but even so, that was still on yet another level of awesomeness!
I cast one more Fire Magic Spell, and burn the Fly Traps into a crisp. Miria and Roxanne take on the remaining Clam Shell and Kettle Mermaid. Sherry takes a step back, and uses her spear’s 「Chant Interruption」Skill to interrupt their Skill attacks.
Without taking a rest, I cast 「Sand Storm」in order to tidy the remaining two monsters up. Without getting exposed to the enemy attacks too much, we finish the monsters off, ending the battle swiftly.
「Amazing. Everyone is Amazing!」
Vesta is in awe of what she just witnessed with her own eyes.
「Well, it’s not always like this.」
「Monsters can be taken out quickly using magic attacks. However, the monsters we fought were weak. It actually takes more time to defeat the stronger ones.」
「I guess so.」
Which reminds me, Vesta told me that she fought monsters in the vicinity of the Labyrinth before, but she never entered one before.
「Roxanne was especially amazing. Absolutely wonderful. She will be my role model starting from now on!」
Vesta goes to Roxanne while picking up the Drop items. Uhm, Vesta? I hate to break it to you, but picking Roxanne as your role model is not going to help you grow stronger, since Roxanne is one of a kind.
「Thank you very much.」
「I wonder how you can move like that? And if I can learn to move just like you with enough training?」
「You will be good if you watch the monster’s movement closely. After that, it’s just a matter of moving your waist like this in order to dodge them effectively at the last possible second.」