Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 252
Defense Specialization and Searching for a Buddy
That being said, the 7th layer had only just been implemented. Maple and the others were in the newest area, and so they had to gather all of the information by themselves.
"So? Have you decided which monsters you want to befriend?"
Maple asked Mai and Yui, who were currently looking for information on the message board.
"Maple! Uh, not yet. We were thinking about looking together."
"I see. Then I'll help you two! You know, I can protect you wherever you go!"
"Thank you. That would be a great help."
Mai bowed politely. And then Yui bowed as well. Maple would be able to carry them with Savagery or with Syrup, and she could also protect them with Dedicated Affection.
"Alright, let's go then! You won't be able to choose unless you see them for yourself!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
And so the three of them headed out to explore. There were lots of monsters on the 7th layer, and some of them could join you if you fulfilled the requirements.
You could tell if a monster could be befriended by a mark that appeared next to their HP bar.
Maple activated Dedicated Affection and then went around with Mai and Yui and checked different monsters.
"Even if you know which one you want, it's hard if you don't know how to do it."
"That's true…and sometimes you're not allowed to defeat them."
Mai and Yui were good at destroying monsters, but they had difficulty when they had special requirements thrust upon them. As they specialized in dealing damage, there was a lot of things they couldn't do.
"Why don't we go to the forest over there first? I'm sure there will be animals in there!"
"Yes! Let's do that!"
And so Maple changed directions in accordance with Yui's suggestion, and they entered the vast forest that was near the town.
Only a little light leaked through the trees here. It was quite dark and there were a lot of bushes.
Occasionally, a monster would jump out and try to attack Maple, but they ignored them. They were searching for monsters to befriend.
"Ah! There's one!"
"Huh!? Where!? Where!?"
Maple looked to where Yui was pointing and saw that a small bird monster was perched on a tree branch. There was a mark that shone next to its HP bar, which showed that you could befriend it.
However, before they were able to do anything, the little bird flew off.
"Ah…it's gone now…"
"Hmm… That's too bad… Next time, we should have an item prepared!"
Maple said as she took out an item. The item's description said that it was bird food that bird monsters were especially fond of. And so they would be prepared next time.
"Ah, but you are only able to befriend one monster…what will you do?"
"Hmmm. I'd like to decide after seeing more of them!"
"Me too… It would feel bad to have to let them go after befriending them…"
"Alright, then let's continue to search!"
They continued to go deeper and deeper into the forest, in order to find other kinds of monsters. On the way, they saw more birds like the one that flew away, along with wolf-like animals and butterflies, frogs, and lizards.
"All of them seem to be animals here? I wonder if there are more monster-like creatures."
"There are different areas, I think… But I think I would prefer a cute animal-type."
"Me too!"
"Then maybe this is the best area. Though, we've already seen a lot of it…"
Maple was about to ask them if there were any that they particularly liked, when a bear cub rushed past them. There was a trail of light behind it, and there was something about it that was different from the birds and other monsters.
"Maple!"
"Yes! Let's chase after it!"
The three of them followed the trail of light and moved around through the forest. But as they advanced through the forest without a clear path, the glowing pawprints disappeared, and they lost it completely.
"Ohhh…no. It seemed like a rare one too."
"That's too bad… I hope we can find it again."
"Maple! Could you please help us search for it a little while longer!"
It seemed that they had decided who they wanted, and so Maple readily agreed.
"Of course! And not just one, but we'll find two of them!"
Upon hearing Maple say this, Mai and Yui smiled happily.
"Maybe we should go deeper into the forest? That's where we first spotted it."
However, while Maple was very enthusiastic about starting the search, Mai seemed to be thinking about something.
"Ah…but, maybe we're too slow to be able to catch it…"
"Oh… Yes, it was very fast when running away…"
As the forest was thick with trees and bushes, Maple could not move very fast even when she had Savagery activated. Even though she could mow down players and monsters, it was difficult to navigate through the trees and chase something.
"Maybe it would be better to go back once and ask Izu. It will just be sad if it runs away again."
"Yes, it can't be helped. But I hope it's not a first-come, first-served situation."
"I'm sure it will be fine! Also, we can have Sally help us next time! Sally is a lot faster!"
Maple said to them. And so they returned to the town.