Volume 6 - CH 4.3

To her, it must’ve simply been so strong against aquatic monsters by default.

「Miria, which is the highest floor you have ever visited?」

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X?」

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X.」

「She says that when it comes to the Labyrinths, she has only ever been on the first floor, not counting the ones she entered with us.」

「In that case, I think that the eighth floor might still be a little bit too much for her, but she should probably be fine on the fifth floor of Quratar’s Labyrinth since the main monsters there are Collagen Corals, so she should be able to fight against them just fine with her Diver Job.」

Now that we all agreed that Collagen Corals are aquatic monsters that should be vulnerable to Miria’s 「Anti-Aquatic Enhancement」Skill, we decided to move down to the fifth floor where Collagen Corals were the main enemies so that Miria Could try her hand at fighting with them.

While once again being guided by Roxanne’s nose, I told Miria to move to the frontlines and give fighting the monsters of the fifth floor a try. Since we went down to the fifth floor with our current levels and equipment, the battles here were not taking that much of our time anymore. Or rather, we could be ending all of the battles in the blink of an eye, but the three of us have decided against it in order to give Miria a genuine chance at fighting on her own.

Miria was able to fight against Collagen Corals without any major difficulties, but still, she was taking a surprisingly large amount of hits from the counterattacks that they were launching towards her when sh was attacking them. Just as I expected, it doesn’t seem like Miria is able to dodge the enemy attacks with the same kind of prowess as Roxanne does, and honestly, that makes me more than a little relieved. If it turned out that every member of the Beastkin race is secretly a god of dodging like Roxanne, then I think I would’ve just broke down and started crying on the spot.

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X?」

「Yes, desu!」

「Miria says that she’s perfectly fine and that she can still keep on going.」

Roxanne asked Miria how she was doing in the middle of the battle, but if Miria’s words are to be believed, then she is still fine and can keep going. Roxanne, you’re such a kind soul, worrying about others rather than yourself even in the middle of a battle against the monsters of the Labyrinths.

But it was to be expected that no harm came to Miria at all. After all, when she was not looking, I used 「Plating」, the Skill of my Alchemist Job, to keep her out of harm’s way, and once she receives enough blows for 「Plating」to disappear, I can always heal her wounds with 「Medical Treatment」 and then apply 「Plating」onto her again.

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X?」

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X .」

Seemingly surprised by something, Miria had another short conversation with Roxanne. Girls, we are still in the middle of a battle, you know? I realize that the enemies are considerably weaker in comparison to what we are used to dealing with, but still, it doesn’t mean that we can just relax and let our guards down completely, you know? We need to stay vigilant!

Well as I was saying, Roxanne is used to dodging the attacks of the monsters from the thirteenth and twelfth floors, so it is understandable that she would be thinking nothing of the attacks of the monsters from the fifth floor, which have to be slow as shit for her right now, but stull, I would very much like it if she wasn’t lulling Miria into a false sense of security.

Oh, Miria is looking at me. Was I the topic of her conversation with Roxanne just now? Or maybe she looked so surprised by the sudden sensation of 「Medical Treatment」 being used on her when she wasn’t looking? Whatever the case might be, I am glad that she managed to survive yet another battle without getting herself into big trouble that would result in her scoring a fatal injury.

「Miria, how were the monster’s attacks just now?」

After the battle was over and the monsters defeated and their Drop Items gathered by us, I decided to check up on Miria personally.

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X.」

「She says that she’s doing okay.」

「Good. Now, can you ask her if she’d be okay with moving to the eighth floor next? The main monster of that floor in the Labyrinth of Vale is Collagen Coral as well, and if she’s managed to do so good against them here on the fifth floor, then I don’t think that the eighth floor should be too difficult for her as well.」

「X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X?」

「X X X X X X X X X X X X.」

「She says that as long as Collagen Corals are going to be the main enemies, then she’s okay with fighting them no matter which floor they might be on.」

「Are you sure? You’re not saying this just to make sure that you’re not dragging us down, right?」

「Right, desu!」

Miria replied with a confidently cheerful voice. If she’s so sure that she’s going to be able to handle stronger enemies, then it is time for us to move from the fifth floor of Quratar’s Labyrinth to the eighth floor of Vale’s Labyrinth. This is the floor where I originally wanted to begin our morning exploration routine, but the demonstration of our fighting tactics on the twelfth floor took precedence over that.

Thankfully, the Labyrinth of Vale was as empty and void of people as usual, probably because it was still a relatively early morning. Of course, we should still exercise caution in order to not let any accidental passers-by see me using my magic or swinging Durandal around, but other than that, we should be able to do pretty much whatever we want in here.

We start our trek through the eighth floor of Vale’s Labyrinth. Normally, it takes three Spells in order to defeat a single Collagen Coral Lv.8, so I performed a 「Character Reset」and increased the amount of Bonus Points added to my INT stat in order to reduce the necessary amount of Spells needed to almost kill a single Collagen Coral from three to two, but whenever we are happening upon Collagen Corals, I generally tend to leave them up to Miria to finish them off.

Across the next few battles, I had her defeat the opponents by using different weapons, including the Steel Spear, a Scimitar and with her bare hands, since hen I was going through the list of Miria’s Jobs I noticed that she didn’t have neither Swordsman nor Monk Jobs. The bonuses from their passives are pretty handy to have, so I wanted Miria to have access to them as well in order to make her that much stronger.

While she was holding the Steel Spear in her hands, she was able to defeat the enemies with ease, but whenever she was fighting them with just a sword, she was prone to getting herself caught in the monster’s counterattacks, but strangely enough, when she was fighting with bare hands, she was the one doing lots of counterattacking, and that’s why I was always there for her, with my 「Plating」 and 「Medical Treatment」at the ready to patch her up whenever she needed it. And once these battles were over, I opened up the Party Job settings again, confirming that Miria indeed managed to unlock the Swordsman Lv.1 and Monk.Lv.1 Jobs, so with them and their passive bonuses to her stats, I think she should have more than enough strength to be okay from this point onward.

「Okay Miria, are you ready to challenge some of the enemies that are not aquatic monsters?」