n

nCHAPTER 28: DEFENSE SPECIALIZED AND MIDNIGHT EXPLORATION

nThe two’s appearance emerged from the magic circle.

nEven though she had no【Akujiki】, Maple was making a stance with her large shield for surprise attacks.

n「It looks okay……huh?」

nThe two confirmed the surroundings.

nSurrounding them were ruins that had spread. There was plenty of marks of buildings being destroyed.

nGuessing from the mountainous area’s position, it looks like their location is on the opposite location of their starting point.

n「For the mean time, we got to a good direction huh?」

n「But, somebody might’ve already explored it」

n「It’s only the second day… the hidden ones shouldn’t be found yet… here, there’s probably nothing. It’s right in front of the magic circle after all」

nNevertheless, there’s no way that the management would place a medal right in front of the destination point.

nWhile searching for a safe place, the two walked around the ruins, they decided to at least search too.

n「… there’s three players. What do think?」

n「If possible, I don’t want to fight……there’s no【Akujiki】too… it’s bad if we lost」

n「I got it. The, let’s go here」

nThe two passed through the ruins, and entered inside the forest quietly.

nThe monsters that were coming out were spiders and owls.

nIf you look at them after the monster bird, whatever monster it is, it looks like a small fry.

nTheir movements are slow, they also have no attack powers, and their HP is low too.

n「Easy win, easy win」

nThey moved forward inside the forest. What they are searching for is a place that they can spend the night. They took plenty of time climbing, so the sun is already setting.

nThe two continued to explore the forest while defeating monsters.

n「Muu……there’s nothing〜…」

nAs Maple had said, surrounding them was only a forest that was spreading, and there seems to be no special buildings or caves.

n「For the meantime, let’s climb on top of a higher tree. I think it’s better than being on the ground」

nSally chose a tree that only had branches in high places and jumped using【Leap】.

n「【Cover Move】!」

nMaple followed her and reached the top of the tree.

nThere would probably no players that would prefer climbing one without branches on the lower places appearing.

nThe two rested their backs on the trunk of the tree and took a breath.

nAfter doing that, the fatigue from the battle against the monster birds suddenly came.

n「Sally… after 12, 【Akujiki】would recover though. What do you think?」

nIt means, what Maple wants to say is, after taking a break for a while until 12, if she would like to explore in the middle of the night or not.

nThere was also the thing with the jungle in the other day, so there should be and event that is set to appear by during time periods.

nThe two’s goal is 20 medals.

nFor that, they need to test many things, and there is a need for them to explore the places that they can explore.

nOn top of that, they need to find it before other players.

nRushing to explore during the last stage of the event is not good.

n「If it’s good with Maple」

n「Un, then… let’s continue exploring after 12 had passed!」

nThe two decided to use the status point that they gained from leveling up.

n「Let me see〜… AGI and STR huh?」

n「One vote for VIT!」

nMaple

nHP 40

/40〈＋160〉

nMP 12

/12 〈＋10〉

n【STR 0】

n【VIT 175〈＋141〉】

n【AGI 0】

n【DEX 0】

n【INT 0】

nEquipments

nHead【ーーー】

nBody【Armor of Black Roses】

nRight hand【Shingetsu : Hydra(Poison Dragon)】

nLeft Hand【Mirror of the Dark Night : Bizarre Eater(Akujiki)】

nLegs【Armor of Black Roses】

nShoes【Armor of Black Roses】

nAccessories【Ring of the Forest Queen Bee】

n【Toughness Ring】

n【Ring of Life】

nSkill

n【Absolute Defense】【Giant Killing (OomonoKurai)】【Hydra Eater (DokuryuuKurai)】【Bomb Eater (BakudanKurai)】【Meditation】【Provoke】【Abominable (Gokuaku Hidō】【Knowledge of Large Shield IV】【Body Manipulation】【Attack Diversion】 【Shield Attack】

n【HP Strengthening (Small)】【MP Strengthening (Small)】

n【Cover Move I】【Cover】

n【Unyielding Guardian】

nSally

nLv21

nHP 32

/32

nMP 25

/25〈＋35〉

n【STR 30〈＋20〉】

n【VIT 0】

n【AGI 85〈＋68〉】

n【DEX 25〈＋20〉】

n【INT 25〈＋20〉】

nEquipments

nHead【Muffler of the Surface Water (Minamo no Mafura) : Mirage(Shinkirō)】

nBody【Coat of the Ocean (Taikai no Kōto) : Ocean(Taikai)】

nRight Hand【Dagger of the Deep Sea (Shinkai no Dagā)】

nLeft Hand【Dagger of the Bottom of the Water (Minasoko no Dagā)】

nLegs【Leggings of the Ocean】

nShoes【Black Boots】

nAccessories【ーーー】

nSkill

n【Status Debuff Attack III】【Slash】【Double Slash】【Gale Slash (HayateGiri)】【Muscle Strengthening (Small)】

n【Consecutive Attack Strengthening (Small)】【Double Attack】【Powered Attack】【Switch Attack】【Body Arts I】

n【Knowledge of Short Swords II】【Jack of All Trades】【Divine Break】【Super Acceleration】

n【Fire Magic I】【Water Magic II】【Wind Magic II】

n【Earth Magic I】【Dark Magic I】【Light Magic II】

n【Fire Ball】【Water Ball】

n【Water Wall】

n【Wind Cutter】【Wind Wall】

n【Sand Cutter】

n【Dark Ball】

n【Refresh】【Heal】

n【MP Strengthening (Small)】【MP Cut (Small)】

n【MP Recovery Speed Strengthening (Small)】【Knowledge of Magic II】

n【Fishing】【Swimming X】【Diving X】【Cooking I】

n【Mining Speed Strengthening (Small)】【Sensory Blocking II】

n【Sensory Awareness II】【Stealth Move I】【Leap I】

n【Poison Resistance (Small)】

nIn Maple’s status【VIT 5】and【Destruction Growth】, with both of those it’s 【VIT 60】.

n【Unyielding Guardian】 is added in her skills.

nIn Sally’s status its 【AGI 5】and【STR 5】

nMaple ate the food that she received from Sally.

nThey needed to rest their body before 12.

nIn the middle of the night where even the sounds of the monsters moving got quiet, the to climbed down from the tree.

nSince【Akujiki】had also recovered, their battle preparations are perfect.

nAnd with that, Maple changed her shield to Snow White. It’s to avoid wasting them.

n「The forest, or the ruins. Which one?」

n「U〜n… the forest! There were also players in the ruins earlier so it probably got explored」

n「Un. The forest then」

nThe two advanced deeper and deeper into the forest.

nFrom time to time, owls were charging without sounds, but Sally easily dodged with her own dodging skills, and Maple was ignoring them since there would be no damage after all.

nAnd, after an hour and a half walking around the forest.

n「Ne〜, Sally? There… isn’t it shining?」

nBeing told by Maple, Sally looked at it carefully.

nAs Maple had said, far ahead of them, she saw a faint light.

n「It might be a player, so… cautiously」

n「I got it」

nThe two hold their breaths and approached.

nIn Sally’s case, she even made sure and used【Sensory Blocking】.

n「This is……」

n「……bamboo?」

nWhat was there, was a bamboo forest.

nAnd one part of one of them was shining faintly.

n「W-What do you think…? Should we split it into two」

nMaple asked Sally.

n「If there was a person inside, it would be very troublesome though……」

nBamboo that shines in the middle.

nWhoever it is, they should imagine Kaguya-Hime. In fact, Sally was also like that.

n「But… there might be a medal… there is also medals that can be gained from exploring right?」

nAfter the two talked for a while, in the end, they decided to split it into two.

nSally swung her dagger.

n*Supa*, the bamboo got cut and increased its shine.

nNothing that they feared of had happened.

nWhat’s inside, was one medal that was shining with a silver color

n「Yay! Nothing troublesome happened, and we also get a medal!」

n「Yosh! With this, only 12 pieces left!」

nThe two got happy, but it was wrong that there wasn’t a troublesome thing.

n*GasaGasa*, after the bushes around sounded, rabbits that had long horns jumped out one next to the other.

n「Is it the moon’s Usagi-san?」

n「Maybe……that horn, it might be piercing damage. Be careful」

n「Understood!」

nThe two prepared for battle.

nMaple, compared to the time when she just started the game, she really became like a normal player.

nEven that is said, it is only about the things other than her status.

nComparing something like a rabbit to the monster bird, it’s only very cute.

nThe two started the battle against the rabbits that had jumped towards them.

nAfter a while when the battle had finished, the place where the bamboo forest was changed to a sea of poison, and the bamboos that grew straight upwards were cut in the middle, it was that kind of a terrible situation.

nEach one of the rabbits wasn’t that much, but their numbers were tremendous.

n「T-There’s too many…」

n「A hundred?… two hundred? I’m tired…」

nDefeating all the rabbits that were jumping within the bamboo forest as if it was their own garden took them plenty of difficulties.

n「Let’s rest on the top of some tree……」

n「Un… I agree」

nIn exchange for one medal, they got really exhausted.

nThe third day of the event, it had just started

n