Chapter 78.2

78 Part 2

It was possible that their hunting speed was slower than in Nakasatsunai because of that.

The reason for that was their fewer number of moves.

That, and Esta’s special trait.

Esta was protected by an incredibly hard carapace.

He was so tough that he didn’t take any damage even after jumping out of Haruki’s waist when attacking.

Also, his hard carapace would strike at a terrifying speed, so his attack power was high as well.

However, since Esta’s tackles would damage the enemy’s armor rather than their life, his attacks didn’t really feel like attacks at all.

That also showed on the Skill Board as “No Offensive Skills”.

So even if his attack power was high, it would take him a considerable amount of time to defeat a single monster.

He would jump out, then return to Haruki’s waist, then jump out again, rinse and repeat.

Sometimes he would miss, bouncing off the ground and fainting on the spot.

Perhaps it would be better to not let Esta attack that much?

Haruki appealed that to Rhea with just a glance.

But Rhea gently “stared” at Esta with one of her leaves as if saying “Let’s just keep looking for a little bit more.”

Offensive Skills aren’t obtained overnight.

If he continued to attack, he would eventually learn a skill or two.

So as Rhea suggested, Haruki decided to keep watching over him for a little while longer.

“Well, what kind of Divine Protection did you get?”

Haruki immediately took out his Skill Board after arriving at the 10th floor.

Protection, safeguard, or maybe fire?

Haruki swiped on his Skill Board as he tried to guess what kind of Divine Protection Esta would have received.

Esta (0)　Gender: Male

Skill Points: 2 → 4

Class: Hard Shell Bug

Divine Protection: Bug (??)

－Special

Armor Break 3

Divine Protection 1　NEW

“So that’s what it is…”

Haruki dropped his shoulders.

Was it part of the gods plan to have a bug offer its Divine Protection to Centipedes?

Or was the Centipedes’ Divine Protection some kind of “God of Bugs”?

“Hey, Esta. Do you want me to put some points on your Divine Protection?

Haruki asked him just to make sure.

Esta lifted one of his tiny feet as if saying “Yes!”

Esta (0)　Gender: Male

Skill Points: 4 → 2

Class: Hard Shell Bug

Divine Protection: Bug (??) → God of Extermination (Shinchu)

－Special

Armor Break 3

Divine Protection 1 → MAX

“Huh? Isn’t this another minor God?”

Shinchu is one of the good deities depicted in the painting “Extermination of Evil”, which is one of Japan’s national treasures.

Still, it’s considered a minor deity since there’s little to no literary reference to it.

Could it be due to it being a product of someone’s imagination rather than an object of worship?

Still, Shinchu is said to ward off disasters and epidemics.

It seemed suitable for Esta, who was a beneficial insect.

“Huh?”

Just as he was about to put the Skill Board away, Haruki noticed a new skill had appeared.

－Vitality

Stamina 0

Natural Recovery 1

Quarantine 0　NEW

“It’s like that skill that old man Takenaka had, but different.”

Takenaka, who was active in Chikaho, had the “Immunity” skill.

Quarantine and Immunity are different things… but oh well.

Quarantine 0　(Prevents abnormal status effects)　MAX: 5

The Quarantine skill had undoubtedly appeared thanks to Shinchu’s Divine Protection.

However, there were very few monsters who would make use of abnormal status effects.

Even when looking at the monsters found in the entire country, they’re but a handful.

And even then, most of those few monsters who do use abnormal status effects only use poison.

It was common knowledge that all one needed to do in order to deal with any monster that uses poison was to carry a few vials of antidote.

To Haruki, this skill wasn’t too useful at the moment.

If anything happens, he could always edit it later.

Haruki wondered whether he should edit it at that moment or later, and finally decided to leave it as it was for the time being.

While training Esta, Haruki arrived at the 14th floor 3 days after having reached the 10th floor.

During that time, Esta was repeatedly swallowed by Spoon Worms and punched by Chachas.

Still, thanks to his hard carapace, Esta didn’t receive any damage at all.

He was just like Akane in that regard.

However, though his body was unscathed, his heart seemed to be terribly hurt.

To Haruki, he seemed sad about getting himself stuck with the eels’ slime over and over whenever he tried to attack them.

The next day…

He was met by Karen and a somewhat frightened Akane in front of the dungeon’s entrance.

“We’re going to be alright, right?”

She seemed to have some leftover trauma after having been assaulted by the eels’ slime so many times.

Akane sounded terribly scared.

“Yeah, we should be alright.”

It was a floor he had already cleared before.

They should be able to clear it again as long as nothing too bad happens.

Just like Haruki anticipated, they were able to clear the 14th floor without anything too bad happening.

Still…

“Waaahahaaaah!”

Small problems were rather frequent.

Akane would fall victim to the eels’ slime, and Esta would get constantly eaten by the eels.

They really were like two peas in a pod.

Akane would struggle while crying out loud, and Esta would get constantly depressed about getting caught by the eels.

The difference between the two was whether or not they could escape from the Slimy Eels by themselves.

Akane was unable to escape, no matter how hard she struggled.

On the other hand, Esta was able to escape from them smoothly.

Even though he couldn’t believe his eyes, Haruki finished off the eels one by one.

Before, he would have a harder time fighting the Slimy Eels.

However, since his level had increased after his match with Shigure, he found himself able to handle them more easily.

Moreover, Karen’s cover was much better now.

Every single one of her lightning strikes would stun the eels without fail.

Despite being powerful enough to completely dominate them, why weren’t Karen and Akane able to break through the 14th floor by themselves?

Haruki was totally confused.

It was very important for the one at the front line to be continuously attracting the monsters’ attention.

With that thought, Haruki looked down on Akane, who was always crying whenever she  got herself stuck by the eels’ slime.

“Hey, help me out here, but don’t look! Gyaaaaahhh! There are so many eels heeeereee! Help me, Air, heeeeelp!! Aaaaahhhh!!”