Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 258
Defense Specialization and Addition 2
And so Kasumi ran toward the designated area on the 5th layer.
Her goal here was to acquire material that was in the deepest part of the dungeon.
"I haven't been here in a while… Well, let's clean this up quickly."
She kicked the ground that was made of clouds and dove into the dungeon. Inside, the walls and floor were made of clouds and were blindingly white. And in the passages, small droplets of water and ice floated in the air.
There were also bolts of lightning that flashed regularly with a deafening crash.
You would probably take quite a lot of damage if you forced your way through.
"But I won't know unless I try… 'Tenth of the Blade – Adamantine'!"
Kasumi downed a potion she got from Izu that raised Paralysis resistance and reduced lightning damage. Then she activated her skill, which in exchange for lowered AGI and DEX, raised her status effect resistance and reduced damage.
"Alright, let's do this."
Lightning flashed as Kasumi dashed through the passage, but she was able to get through without a problem. She had been especially wary of paralysis, but she was safe. And the double layers of damage reduction meant she was able to recover just fine after drinking another potion.
"…!"
As she drank her potion and continued down the passage, the waterdrops and ice in the air started to combine, and they turned into monsters that were shaped like ice crystals and water drops.
Just as Kasumi unsheathed her sword in order to defeat them, the monsters let out a high-pitched noise and then stuck together, creating a wall of ice to block her path.
"So, they're going to use the environment… I'll push through! 'Arm of the Warrior' 'Sixth of the Blade – Homura.'"
Kasumi summoned the giant arms on both sides of her, then she enveloped her own blade in fire and melted the ice wall as she cut through it.
The walls were really just monsters that had transformed and had raised durability. So she just needed to hit them with an attack that exceeded that durability, and she could break them.
After the wall crumbled, she saw that there was another one behind it.
And then behind her, lightning that was even stronger than before was closing in.
However, as Kasumi had high combat ability and defenses, she was able to break through the passage head-on, even though she did take damage.
"Alright. …Hey, I'm not so bad after all."
Other members of the guild seemed to grow in very distinct ways and were strong when they cast buffs in advance in order to mete out attacks with high attack power.
And so Kasumi was relieved to see that her attacks were still quite effective.
When she got through the passage with the lightning, she came out into a wide room that had two passages leading deeper in.
"That…"
And there was a single small bird that slept on the white cloud floor, as if it were a part of it.
The wings and white feathers were made of clouds. When Kasumi got closer, the bird didn't so much as fly, but float away down one of the passages.
"I need the feather of the parent bird. I guess I should chase it then."
There were two routes, but Kasumi took the one that the small bird had gone in.
"Maybe those kinds of monsters…can be tamed as well."
This quest had popped up on the 4th layer, and so Kasumi was reminded that she should check the other layers regularly as well. It was with such thoughts that she looked down the passage.
"It looks like a blizzard…"
After seeing this, she planned ahead with items and skills so she could break through it. Kasumi repeated this process several times until she was able to see the color of the sky far away.
"I got through then. Well, it wasn't too bad."
She was satisfied with her ability to adapt to different environments and defeat monsters. And so she climbed up the slope and went outside.
From this point, the clouds were thin and stretched out like a tree branch, and there was a bird's nest. And inside the nest, were large feathers made of clouds, and the small bird.
"I'm going to take one. This was my reason for coming here, after all."
Kasumi walked on top of the clouds and took one of the feathers. Then she quickly escaped before the parent birds returned.
"Now, the last one is the big one."
It was just the 6th layer now. What Kasumi had to do on the 6th layer was defeat a boss-level undead monster.
"Depletion is quite low. Good, I can just go like this."
Kasumi had cleared the 4th and 5th layers, and so she moved onto the 6th without losing momentum. The designated location was a large, flat field without any obstacles. It was an area that was littered with old swords and armor that were covered in blood. While many thought that something would happen here, but there had yet to be any events.
"…"
However, now that she had accepted the quest, surely something would happen. Kasumi unsheathed her sword and prepared for battle as she walked through the field.
"…Here it comes."
Purple flames that were not hers started bursting out of the ground around her. At the same time, a fog began to fill the area.
As Kasumi held her sword ready, a headless knight in bloody armor slowly emerged from the fog. It was carrying a straight sword just like her.
"At least it's not a big boss! Let's go! 'Mind's Eye,' 'Arms of the Warrior,' 'First of the Blade – Kagerou.'"
Kasumi increased the number of arms by activating Arms of the Warrior. Mind's Eye would make it easier to move into attacks. And with First of the Blade, she teleported forward.
While it was able to block Kasumi's attack, the two arms at her side cut deeply into its torso and shoulders, carving away its HP.
"'Fourth of the Blade – Senpu'!"
Without losing any speed, Kasumi unleashed a series of attacks, dealing as much damage as possible all at once.
If the enemy had to use its sword to block the attacks, Kasumi had an advantage, as she had multiple hands.
However, once the series of attacks were finished, her vision was filled with the attack prediction from Mind's Eye.
"'Leap'! 'Third of the Blade – Kogetsu'!"
Kasumi quickly jumped up and then used her skill to gain even more speed while in the air.
Immediately after, the rising purple flames disappeared. Kasumi had been able to escape them, but when she landed on the ground again, the headless knight was nowhere to be seen.
"Hah, I knew it!"
She spun around and held her sword up just as Mind's Eye displayed its prediction. Then the headless knight came out of the fog again.
Kasumi herself had a teleportation skill that allowed her to disappear. And that experience allowed her to predict how it would move in order to deal damage.
"Block and cut!"
Kasumi changed tactics and concentrated on guarding against the enemy and leaving the attacks to 'Arms of the Warrior.' And once the enemy stumbled after the arms attacked it, she would get in one attack and see how it reacted.
Carefully, one hit at a time. She kept the damage she received at a minimum as she attacked it and pushed its HP towards 0.
As the headless knight's HP decreased, its posture began to crumble.
"'Purple Phantom Blade'!"
It was ten successive attacks as she blew it away. She swung the phantom blades in both hands one at a time and racked up damage. All the while, she moved in closer.
It could not run away and it could not block her as it had lost its balance. On top of that, 'Arms of the Warrior' attacked and accelerated the damage.
When the ten successive attacks were finished, the blades that had disappeared suddenly appeared again around the headless knight. And then they all stabbed it at the same time.
Kasumi had calculated the damage perfectly, and just as the swords impaled it, the headless knight fell to the ground and joined the bloody armor that littered the field.
At the same time, the fog that covered the area faded, and the fires died down.
The only thing that remained was a much smaller Kasumi.
"Hah… This would be such a great skill if this didn't happen…"
It was because of this demerit that she could only use it as a finisher. Kasumi muttered to herself as she dragged her sword behind her and walked to the forest so that no one would see her. Then she sat down by the roots of a tree.
"I'll go and report it once I return to normal. If it is possible to tame a monster here…I will have to become a little stronger, maybe."
Kasumi thought about this buddy she couldn't see yet and waited for her body to return to normal.