We have to defeat the Clam Shell first and then move on to the Gumi Slime Later, slowly whittling it down with our attacks to evaluate its combat power on this floor...
No, that is not what I really want to be doing. The truth is... I wanted to try fighting the Gumi Slime alone.
If it’s just one Gumi Slime, then everyone is going to surround it. Miria and Sherry are also going to stick to the Gumi Slime. This time we only have one extra Clam Shell along with it, but precisely because that is just a single extra Clam Shell, there is no need to be assigning anymore than one person to take care of it, which is the bare minimum.
I see. This one is correct, I definitely feel connected. In other words, the decision to go and defeat the Clam Shell first was a mistake on my part.
Nevertheless, the Clam Shell fell first.
「Did it, desu.」
At the same time as Miria shouted that, The Gumi Slime got petrified. Once that happened to it, its elastic, springy body got frozen in place in a really strange way. Yup, it definitely is petrified.
Right now, it doesn’t matter which one of them has fallen first, because right now I learned a much more valuable information: that petrification was effective against the Gumi Slime, a monster from the twenty-third floor.
Even if it was just a single time right now, it’s still a good sign.
Even when I was fighting against Mabreams on the twenty-second floor while using Earth Magic, which was their weakness, we were sometimes able to petrify them before I could defeat them and sometimes we could not do it, so it was such a fifty-fifty situation.
「Yes, when I was attacking it with my spear just now, it definitely felt like my attacks did not do all that much against it.」
「Since Vesta and I didn’t attack the Gumi Slime that much anyway, I think it might be better for us to focus on defense and evasion instead.」
「Yes, I think that should work out fine for us.」
While I was cleaning out all of the petrified monsters, the girls were having a strategy meeting. Vesta nodded vigorously at Roxanne’s suggestion. She seems to be able to dodge enemy attacks even if she doesn’t fully devote herself to the act of dodging.
Out of all the members of the vanguard, Vesta and Roxanne were the only ones who did not attack the Gumi Slime at all. Miria wields the Estoc of Petrification, so it’s better to have her attack the monsters now, since wit has already been proven the even if its’ not all the time, petrification also works against the monsters on this floor.
As I was listening to the girls’ strategy meeting, Gumi Slime disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. The only thing that was left after him was a single piece of Slime Starch.
「Starch, desu.」
Miria goes to immediately pick it up. I guess she managed to remember its name because I used it a lot when I was cooking tempura and karaage. Her memory really is the strongest when the fish is involved.
「Certainly, the combination of the enemies is not an ideal one. Gumi Slime has a lot of weaknesses, but Earth Magic is not one of them, but Clam Shells and Kettle Mermaids, the two enemies that are most likely to pop up here are weak against Earth Magic.」
I want to tell Sherry that I understand it even if she doesn’t explain that to me. The question with which I am struggling right now is whether on not we should go and fight the Floor Boss, because combining that with the battles against the small fries might actually be difficult to do.
No, no.
「You might be right about that.」
「Yeah. That’s why I don’t want to go straight to the Floor Boss battle. Instead, I think it might be better for us to fight here a little more to make sure that we won’t have any problems.」
「That sounds reasonable.」
As expected of Sherry. Her judgement is as reasonable as always. Hers is not the same as the cold-hearted one of a warrior such as Roxanne.
「Of course, master. There should be a group of monsters that has a lot of Gumi Slimes nearby, so let’s go and see it.」
Roxanne advanced forward.
Huh? I feel like she accepted that change of plans surprisingly well. Maybe we should start slowly increasing the number of monsters we’re going to be fighting against?
No. Up until now, we have done nothing that would guarantee the safety of increasing the number of enemies.
Am I overthinking things too much? However, it is said that the monsters from the twenty-third floor are a cut above the ones from the floors below and they can use area of effect magic... but maybe increasing the number of enemies gradually should still be okay?
Well, there’s no way that we would be able to find a group of monsters that convenient, so what we’re doing right now should be good enough.
As I was following Roxanne while worrying about various such things, a group of Gumi Slimes appeared before us. Five of them. It was a group made out entirely of Gumi Slimes. We’re going to be fighting against a group of five monsters on the twenty-third floor?! Are you a demon, Roxanne? Or a devil?!
Isn’t something like tha too hard for us right now? No, maybe that is just a coincidence? It has to be a coincidence, right? But if it’s not, then I feel that I need to remind Roxanne later that the monsters from the twenty-third floor are stronger than the ones we faced before.
The four girls start running towards the monsters, and I launch a 「Fire Storm」towards them, followed by yet another shot of magic.
The reason for why it is called Fire Magic is because the end effect of that magic is easy to understand.
When 「Fire Storm」is activated, sparks always flicker in the air, so you can always tell when the effect of the Spell is going to end.