Defense Specialization and The Blast

  “Oh, it looks like Maple’s team got some medals . ”


  “There must have been a dungeon in the marshlands . I guess we really should be using Sally’s map . ”


  The four of them had headed towards the forest . And for the most part, they continued to move by riding on the head of the enlarged Haku .

  And when they encountered any monsters, Izu would throw items and Kanade would scatter debuffs . After that, Haku would strangle them to death .

  Chrome and Kasumi were not particularly good with ranged attacks, so they were in charge of getting any monsters that slipped through .

  “While it’s just three days, I’m glad that we took time to prepare . ”


  All of Izu’s strengths were born through her variety of items . Of course, it meant that every time she ran out of a certain type, there was less that she was able to do .

  Unlike normal crafting jobs, she was able to make items from gold . Furthermore, Izu was able to use the workshop no matter her location, which meant that she could restock on items as long as she had gold .

  And since she had enough gold to build several guild homes, Izu had no weaknesses .

  “Ah, aren’t we about to reach the spot that Sally marked?”


  “Alright . Let’s do this!”


  As the snake slithered on, they found a tree that had a mark on it that looked like a magic circle .

  “This must be it . But there is nothing else around here……”


  “Should I touch it? It seems like a magic circle, after all . ”


  They all agreed, and so Kasumi had Haku move its head forward so she could touch it . And then just as they expected, the pattern began to shine and they were all teleported away .

  The place that they found themselves in was also surrounded by trees . The only difference was a wall on the other side that was made of larger trees and vines .

  It was quite large too . And though they all prepared to fight, there didn’t seem to be anything else there .

  “Surely it’s not actually empty?”


  “Yes . ”


  As they waited cautiously, they suddenly heard the sound of something cutting through the air . Chrome was the first to react .

  “‘Cover’!”


  There was a high-pitched ring as he blocked the projectile that then bounced in the air . Chrome quickly checked to see what it was .

  There were three kunais that were attached to bombs with lit fuses .

  “Tsk . Kanade, do it!”


  “Sou, ‘Target Increase,’ ‘Light of the Spirit’!”


  After mimicking Kanade, Sou took out the magic books and activated the defense skills . After that, there was a thunderous roar as they were ravaged by explosive wind and flames .

  When it died down, their HP was reduced, but they had all survived .

  “When Sou uses them, the damage immunity effect becomes a damage reduction effect . But it’s still enough, right?”


  “Yeah . You saved us . ”


  “I’ll heal you now . ”


  “So, where did the attack come from……”


  “Since they were attached to kunais, maybe it was a ninja? But with that force, it would be a bad idea to split up and search……”


  It was hard to imagine that kunais were its only method of attack . And since Kanade and Izu had such low HP, it was possible that they could be one-shotted .

  “Should we keep searching for a while? We should be able to survive if Sou is around to use powerful skills that would usually have a use limit . ”


  “Let’s do that then . Now, considering that we can’t see it……”


  The four decided they had to find it first . However, no matter how much they walked around and searched the forest, they could not find anything . However, they continued to be attacked by projectiles .

  “Hmm…… We’re managing to survive because of Kanade’s stock of books…… But we still can’t find it . ”


  “What should we do? If only I could get close to it . ”


  They pondered on this for a while, and then Izu hesitantly opened her mouth .

  “Yes…… It’s a bit rough, but I have an idea . ”


  “Oh? What is it?”


  “This place seems to have a fixed size……so, while it will take a little time to prepare, I could explode everything . ”


  “I see…… Interesting . Well, uh, it’s certainly worth a try . Yes . ”


  Chrome looked like he had been bracing himself for these very words to come out of Izu’s mouth . However, he was also certain that there was no point in continuing what they were doing .

  “Just like you did during the preliminary?”


  “Yes . However, I was able to make some new items in time . So it will cover the sky as well . ”


  Izu said as she took out the item . It was a box with a propeller, that had a string coming out from the bottom . Izu attached a few bombs to it and sent it up into the air . It climbed steadily up until it reached a certain height .

  “It cost a lot to make……but I can’t be stingy now . ”


  “You sure make some brutal things…… How do you activate it?”


  “I have an item for that . This will take care of everything above the trees . Now, let’s add the others to the ground and the tree trunks . ”


  “Return bombs with bombs, eh? What about us?”


  “I’ll leave the center as a safety zone . The item will do equal damage to everything, so make sure that you don’t step out of the safety zone . ”


  It would be a rain of attacks, immense debuffs, and status effects . There was no insurance that even someone like Chrome could survive it .

  Sou’s magic and Haku’s huge body protected them as she went around and set the items all over the forest .

  “Alright . I’m finished . It will be very bright and very loud . So be careful . ”


  Just like during the preliminary, electricity was sent through the strings of water, and then the blast echoed around the forest .

  The explosives on the enemy’s kunais seemed very small now . Everything but the safety zone was burned to the ground .

  “It should still be alive!”


  “Hmm . It’s according to the plan . ‘Eye of the Assassin’!”


  It was a skill that Kanade could only use today through ‘Akashic Records . ’ It increased the damage against monsters and players that had status effects and let you know their position .

  “There it is!”


  “Let’s go, Kasumi!”


  “Yes!”


  Chrome equipped Necro in order to enhance his reach . Kasumi called out the arms of the warrior on both sides of her, and they moved in all at once . What they saw was a poisoned, paralyzed, frozen, yet burning shinobi .

  “‘Last of the Blades – Oborozuki’!”


  “‘Ghost Mud’! Necro, ‘Fire of Death’!”


  It was easy once they could see it . And after taking damage from both of their attacks, the shinobi’s HP dropped down to 0, and it disappeared .

  “Phew…… Good . It wasn’t so bad after all . ”


  “Is it really finished?”


  “Yeah . Well……maybe it wasn’t dead . But it’s basically the same thing . ”


  “That’s a relief . I’m starting to run out of damage reduction skills . ”


  It was here that they got the same notification that Maple’s team had, saying that they had acquired some medals .

  “Yes . This is a great result for our first day!”


  “We got through several forests, and while this took quite a long time . It seemed really quick . ”


  “I guess we can search one or two more before reuniting with the others . Judging by the timer, the strong monsters come out at night . ”


  “That’s right . Haku has made traveling easy, but we have actually traveled quite a distance . ”


  They contacted Maple in order to make sure that they didn’t get too far apart . And then the four of them searched for their next dungeon, while also looking for a place to camp for the night .