Chapter 99.1

99 Part 1

Sponsorted by T.M.

Let’s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ 99

Let’s Watch Out For Those Wicked Tree Roots!

While pressing his fingers against his temples as if bearing an intense headache, Haruki directed his gaze upon Karen’s pocket.

“Well, well! Lady Rhea is shining more beautifully than ever!”

Chep emerged from Karen’s pocket, with her eyes sparkling as she looked up at Rhea.

How was she making that beautiful voice? Chep’s soprano voice echoed beautifully throughout the dungeon.

Upon hearing Chep’s voice, Rhea’s leaves slumped as if they had lost their strength.

It was as if she had heard someone singing off key.

Letting out a sigh, Haruki swiped the Skill Board’s screen once again.

Then…

“Thought so…”

Chep (0)　Gender: Female

Normally, the Skill Board can show the stats of someone who shares Haruki’s race, or if they have allied themselves with Haruki.

The Skill Board wouldn’t show the skills of wild monsters.

The fact that Chep’s skills appeared on the board meant that she had allied herself with Haruki.

— What a nuisance…

Haruki was at his wits’ end.

The only moment when a monster’s skills appeared on the Skill Board was after it had been successfully tamed by Haruki.

Did he tame Chep without realizing?

At one point, Haruki had wished for Chep’s fillets and roe.

But that alone shouldn’t have made the taming successful.

For the taming to be successful, both parties would need to agree to it.

Did Chep want to go with Haruki?

Haruki didn’t think that could be possible.

Although she seemed to worship Rhea, Chep didn’t seem to care much for Haruki.

If anything, she could only see Haruki as a brute.

A mere touch with his hand would be all she needed to yell “Nooooo !!”

— If she hates it so much, she can go off somewhere and disappear for all I care…

So, did Chep bond with Haruki through Rhea, just like Esta?

Haruki felt that could be a bit of a stretch.

The day before, when returning from Kamui Rock to the starting point, Haruki somehow felt that he could just leave Chep there.

It was a similar sensation as the one he had when he linked with Rhea and Esta.

In other words, Haruki may have already tamed Chep by the time he arrived at Kamui Rock.

— What the…

The more he thought about it, the more dark things spreaded in Haruki’s chest.

After pulling himself together, Haruki looked at Chep’s tree.

Chep (0)　Gender: Female

Skill Points: 1

Class: Cursed Fish

Safeguard: Hero God <Samaikuru>

－Vitality ＜－＞

├ Stamina 0

└ Natural Recovery 1

－Strength ＜－＞

└ Strength 0

－Shamanism ＜－＞

├ Shamanism 1

├ Shamanism Compatibility 1

└ Shamanism Manipulation 1

－Agility ＜－＞

├ Quickness 0

└ Dexterity 0

－Technology ＜－＞

└  Equipment Mastery

├ Fillet 1

└ Fish Scales 1

－Intuition ＜－＞

└ Detection 0

－Special

├ Princess 1

├ Safeguard　MAX

└ Spirit　Non

“Hmm!?”

There were many strange things all over the place.

As Haruki advanced to the middle sections of a dungeon, he obtained a “Divine Protection”.

But Chep instead had a “Safeguard”. It was the first time he had seen such a skill.

Just like Divine Protection, the name of the god it was related to appeared at the top of the tree, indicating that Divine Protection and Safeguard may be similar skills.

So what was the difference between them?

The description of Divine Protection was “The ability to use part of a god’s power as your own”.

On the other hand, the description of Safeguard was “The ability to obtain a god’s protection.”

— Their names are a bit misleading, but does this mean that Divine Protection is offensive, while Safeguard is defensive?

From the explanation, Divine Protection seemed to be a better skill than Safeguard.

— In that case, could it be that she was assigned a Safeguard instead of a Divine Protection when she entered a middle section…?)

Then Haruki had been lucky to have received a Divine Protection.

Up until that point, Haruki had been able to survive several battles by a hair’s breadth.

If he had obtained a Safeguard instead of a Divine Protection, he could have died somewhere along the way.

Leaving that aside, it was weird that someone like Chep –who appeared in the woods of Asahikawa where there was no middle section– not only had a skill similar to a Divine Protection, but she had it MAXed as well.

The (unfortunate) god who gave Chep his protection was Samaikuru.

He was the Ainu god who defeated the evil god in Kamuikotan.

He was so confident that he once said, “I can see every corner of the country, there is no genius like me.”

A wildly brutal god who had been called a fool, his achievements were comparable to those of Okikurumi.

Kamui Rock was created by Samaikuru’s attack when he defeated the evil god in Kamuikotan. He certainly was a powerful deity

While Samaikuru had the qualities of a hero, he had too much power and ended up overdoing it. From this, Haruki thought that he was a narcissist and careless god.

The first salmon of the season, which was caught in Kamuikotan, would be offered as gratitude to Samaikuru for having defeated the evil god that appeared in Kamuikotan.

In other words, that would be Chep.

Could it be that Chep got Samaikuru’s Safeguard because she had acted according to the myths?

Surprisingly, the level of a Divine Protection or a Safeguard might increase naturally as one gets closer to their patron god.

What “getting closer” to one’s patron god may differ greatly depending on each god, or possibly on each myth.

In certain myths, “getting closer” to a god is a metaphor for “death”, so one must exercise extra care when trying to get closer to such gods.

“…”

For a moment, Haruki was lost in thought about his favorite god.

Changing his focus, Haruki followed the tree with his eyes.

The next thing that caught Haruki’s eyes was Shamanism.

Looking at its tree, it looked similar to Karen’s Magic Power.

Shamanism generally refers to a “profession” that communicates with supernatural beings, but it can also refer to an “ideology” based on supernatural phenomena.

Was it an attack-type, a buff type, or a debuff-type skill?

It was hard to tell just by looking at its name.

— Let’s check it out later when I send Chep off into battle.

But would Chep obey Haruki’s command smoothly?

Haruki could imagine Chep screaming “Noooo!!” and squirming back to Karen’s pocket as soon as he tried to send her out into battle.