Chapter 99.2

99 Part 2

She had Fillet and Fish Scales as skills under the Technology tree, and Haruki assumed those would be some kind of racial skills.

Though Haruki wasn’t quite able to imagine exactly how one attacks with fillets…

But the biggest problem was that “Princess” skill.

The word “Princess” in the Skill Board looked like a desecration of the term.

Haruki felt like apologizing to all of the people and things called “Princess” in the world.

Frustrated, Haruki tapped on the “Princess” skill.

Princess 1 “Grants the ability to squirm away from certain death.”

“I see…”

After reading the skill’s description, Haruki understood its effect (though he really didn’t want to understand it).

When that black Fishman swooped down from the sky…

Chep had definitely been crushed underfoot by it.

Then, she ended up buried inside Kamui Rock.

But still, she ended up being alive after all that, probably because of that Princess skill.

Such a bothersome character had obtained quite a bothersome skill.

Was that Samaikuru’s doing as well?

Haruki wanted to object to whoever was responsible for giving Chep such a skill.

— How’s this thing a princess?

Was “Princess” the ability to avoid death only once per battle? Or was it the ability to avoid dying all the time?

The latter option would mean that Chep was a fish that could never die or be killed, so Haruki had hopes that it was the former option instead.

And finally, under the Special tree, there was the “Spirit” skill

No explanation came after tapping on it.

Also, the skill’s level was mysteriously labelled as “Non”.

Despite being a demihuman, which usually appeared in the middle section of a dungeon, Chep’s skill level was rather low overall.

— So, was that “Spirit” skill something that benefited from Chep’s overall low skill level?

Haruki was intrigued by that skill, but since it wasn’t a skill he could allocate points to, or have its tree enhanced, there was no more information about the Skill he could get for the time being.

There seemed to be no other choice but to see things as they were for a while.

The dungeon in Asahikawa, Kamuikotan, was 10 floors deep.

The monsters there posed an average level of threat, and it didn’t seem to be a dungeon that was very difficult to capture for a well-trained adventurer.

However, for adventurers who have never been active in this dungeon, it would seem to be more difficult than a normal dungeon.

The reason for that was the dungeon’s layout.

“Looks like there’s nothing we can do…”

“That’s true…”

After reaching the 4th floor, Haruki and others couldn’t proceed to the 5th floor even though they continued searching for a while.

Up to the 3rd floor, the inside is the same as a normal dungeon, but on the 4th floor, the roots of trees would block the adventurers’ path.

A large number of tree roots extended from the ceiling and covered the walls.

The path ahead was straight, but the tree roots were in the way.

When searching for an alternative path, it would too be covered by tree roots.

It was possible to cut through the roots in order to proceed.

However, as soon as the roots are cut, other roots would move as if they had a will of their own and take their place.

For that reason, it was better not to cut as few roots as possible in order to clear this floor.

The tree roots seemed to move on their own from time to time.

Roots that would be blocking the road would clear away, and go close off another path in front of an adventurer.

The movement of the roots seemed to be completely random.

With a little luck, they should have been able to reach the 10th floor in a single day, but Karen’s Luck skill didn’t seem to be showing its true potential.

Haruki wondered if the tree roots had a higher Luck skill stat.

Karen’s Luck skill was, so to speak, the power to draw in invisible factors.

If that power can exert its influence in all directions, it will eventually be able to twist the gods’ arms.

But it was reasonable to think that it would have some limitations.

The skill’s effect might change depending on the distance and time

Or perhaps, while the Luck skill was affecting one event, it can’t affect a different event.

It wouldn’t be strange for that skill to have such limitations.

In that case, on what event was Karen’s Luck skill currently working on?

How were they going to manage to avoid the tree roots using the power of Luck?

Haruki thought hard about these things, but couldn’t come to a conclusion. It was useless to keep thinking about it.

Haruki was grasping at straws about what to do about those tree roots.

It almost made him want to rely on unclear powers.

— Well, is there any other way we can deal with these tree roots?

As Haruki thought about it, a certain keyword emerged in his brain.

“Shamanism”

If it was the power to communicate with supernatural beings, it would be possible to use it to drive those tree roots away.

“Hey, Chep. Can you do something about these tree roots with your ability?”

“My ability?”

“That’s right. Can you use your Shamanism?”

“Shama-neesm? What’s that?”

Chep seemed confused.

And she seemed to be honest about it.

Could it be that she didn’t know about her Shamanism skill?

Or perhaps she knew it under a different name…?

“You’ve seen Karen’s attack many times, right?”

“Yes. It’s rather weird, but very powerful indeed.”

“Can you do something similar to that power? For example, can you remove tree roots with it?”

Haruki knew his question was a desperate one.

And Chep’s answer was…

“I can’t.”

… A quick denial.

“I am powerless. The most I can do about it is pray, I suppose.”

— So, you’re basically a deadbeat.

— I see, I see.

— What a worthless fish.

Haruki clicked his tongue.

“Huh!? I’m feeling some very rude vibes!”

“Must be your imagination. Come on, let’s hurry.”

Was it that she had the ability but didn’t know how to use it, or does she know her Shamanism skill under a different name?

Or was she such a good actress that she had managed to deceive Haruki…?

In the end, he couldn’t manage to get any more information regarding the Shamanism skill.

It would have been great if he could have avoided those tree roots using Chep’s ability, but there was nothing he could do about her not being able to help.

Pulling himself together, Haruki went back to exploring the dungeon.