Defense Specialization and Tentacles
It happened shortly before Kasumi acquired Haku. Maple had finished her test, and so she logged into the game.
That being said, as Maple already had a buddy named Syrup, she didn’t have any goal in particular.
“Where should I go first?”
Maple checked the 7th layer map and started to plan. She and Sally had talked about this already. They would focus on gathering information until the next event started or there was a new area that was implemented.
“It’s the role of the Guild Master to help the guild grow stronger!”
Maple told herself as a way of raising her motivation. If she was being honest, the thing that motivated her the most right now, was her desire to walk around and see what kind of cute monsters the other players had. But that wasn’t a bad motive, regardless.
“This kind of reminds me of the second event.”
The 7th layer was similar to the map of the 2nd event. The terrain and environments were vast and varied, and there was a large variety of monsters that inhabited it.
And so those who wanted ice-type monsters could go to the snowy mountains, and those who wanted a fire-type could go to the volcanic mountains.
“Hmm… But it will be hard to climb up the mountains…”
Maple spent some time muttering to herself and inspecting the map. Finally, she seemed to have made a decision. She nodded and closed the map.
She looked down as she rode on Syrup and flew through the sky. There were many players who seemed to have already tamed monsters, as they often had an animal next to them while they fought.
“They sure are fast! It reminds of when I first met you, Syrup.”
Maple wondered if those who tamed bird monsters would be able to fly.
“Maybe we will all be able to fly then! Oh, but if other people can fly, we won’t be able to relax up here as much, will we?”
As they flew, she thought back on what it had been like on the 3rd layer, where players were able to fly with machines. After a while, she arrived at her destination.
What spread out before Maple now, was a sandy beach and a vast sea. She could see a few islands in the far off distance. The water looked very deep.
“Wow… I think we may be able to go out farther here than any previous map!”
Maple put on her snorkel and had Syrup float on the way as they moved out to the open sea.
“It seems like it would be difficult to go by boat…but I can go anywhere easily with Syrup!”
As the propulsive force was ‘Psychokinesis,’ there needed to be obstacles in order to accelerate, but at least they could maintain a certain speed, even if the wind and waves were against them.
Furthermore, it was not physically taxing for Maple. And so it allowed her to explore in a relaxing manner.
“I wonder if there are any fish like that…”
Maple lay on top of Syrup’s shell and stuck her head into the water in order to see what was below the surface.
There appeared to be monsters in the water, and as Maple had guessed, some of them had the tamable mark on them.
“Puha! But I wonder if they can even come out of the water after you tame them…?”
She wondered. But then she told herself that they would probably surround themselves in water and swim in the air, much like Sally’s skill, ‘Ancient Sea.’
“I bet there are dolphins and whales too! But, they would probably be very rare…”
Maple decided that she would look for the rare monsters first. And so she continued to travel over the sea while keeping her head underwater.
After she had explored for quite some time, Maple decided to take a break. And so they stopped by a small island that only had a single coconut tree. Then she returned Syrup to her ring.
“Phew… No dolphins or whales yet…”
Maple put her hand on her forehead and looked at the now distant sandy beach. Then she lay down, spread-eagled and stretched comfortably.
“Hmm. What should I do now?”
As she relaxed and enjoyed the wind, she heard the sound of splashing, as if something had jumped out of the water close to her.
“Huh!? There!?”
Maple jumped up hurriedly and turned to where the sound had come from. An ominous-looking black tentacle was dripping with water as it moved towards her. Obviously, it had no expression, but Maple could still see that it was targeting her.
“What!? …Hey, w-w-w-wha!”
She immediately tried to run away, but of course, she could not make it in time. The tentacle wrapped tightly around her waist and as she was unable to resist, it raised her into the air.
“I can be a monster too…! Savagery!”
In order to avoid being dragged into the water, Maple activated Savagery as a way of fighting back against the monster. But it was then that she realized something.
She wasn’t just being dragged towards the water.
There was something like a black mist in the beautiful water. And that’s where the tentacle extended out from.
It was just as she was about to tear away from the tentacle. Time was up. And she fell into the mist and vanished completely.