Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu

Defense Specialization and After the Conquest

After they stepped on the magic circle and left the tower, a message appeared from management. It congratulated them on finishing the tower and talked about the reward.

They were given 5 silver medals for completing the tower.

"So that’s 10 including the medals from the guild fight."

"I think I’ll choose now."

"Yes. Maybe there are different skills this time."

"Well, I’ll return to the guild when I’m finished choosing."

"Okay... The 5th layer, right?"

"...Yes."

They used their 10 medals and were teleported to the skill selection space.

After some time, Sally returned to the guild home. Maple had already finished and was sitting on the sofa.

"Hm, so you finished quickly, Maple."

"I wasn’t sure which to pick at first, so I just went with the obvious one."

"Well, I already have a fixed direction as well."

"Ehehe. This is mine!"

Maple said as she showed her skill to Sally.

’Unbreakable Shield.’

Halves damage for 30 seconds.

3 minute cool down.

"I see. You did receive quite a lot of damage during this last fight."

"It would have been nice if it blocked all damage..."

"I’ll let you know if I ever find one like that. Mine is ’Water Manipulation.’ It’s a skill that lets you control water."

"Is it different from...water magic?"

"It’s the type where the skill level can be raised, so I thought it might be interesting. Also, I can freeze it to make platforms to stand on."

"I look forward to seeing what it’s like."

As they talked the other six guild members came in.

While they were tired, they looked quite happy. Maple and Sally could understand why.

"Oh! Maple and Sally! We beat the 10th floor!"

Chrome said happily.

"Hehe. So did we."

"We somehow beat it in one try!"

"Woah! That’s amazing. It was pretty strong, wasn’t it?"

"It burned us so much!"

"So you beat us to it. But we were so close."

"Did you already decide on your skills?"

And so the two of them told the others about their skills. As for the other 6, they said that since the 7th layer would be released soon, they would decide after clearing it.

"Then next time, we’ll all fight together on the 7th layer!"

"...Ma-Maple. I’d like to do it like during the tower..."

She didn’t need to think to know what the 6th layer boss would be like.

It was not an enemy that Sally could fight.

"Yes. We can explore again when we reach the 7th floor, okay?"

"All of us fighting together, huh? That will make things a lot easier."

"We’ll do our best!"

"...So will I!"

As everyone had accomplished their goal, they would all continue on to the 7th layer next.

After some time had passed, the day came for maintenance and the implementation of the 7th layer.

Maple and the others planned to gather together as soon as possible and start work on the dungeon.

And so the 8 of them gathered in the 6th layer guild home and reviewed the boss’s abilities before heading off to the dungeon.

"...Uh, is Sally really alright?"

Kasumi asked as she looked towards Sally, who had collapsed on the sofa with a scarf wrapped around her head. From between the cracks, she looked at them with an expression that suggested she was dying.

"She’s usually so strong."

"We’ll just have to finish this quickly."

And then they went out into the field.

Maple immediately activated Savagery.

"Uh, Sally?"

"Yes. Thank you..."

The other members saw Maple open her mouth as Sally went inside. The other members couldn’t help but protest.

But Sally’s resolve was strong.

"This is still better..."

She said as she settled inside of Maple’s mouth.

In that case, they should kill the boss as soon as possible, they thought. And so the other 7 rode on Maple’s back as she ran through the field and the dungeon.

Once they were in front of the boss room, the rest was quite easy.

"Attacks without attributes don’t work on it, so use these."

"I got a good buff skill today."

"We should use items too."

As was their custom before a fight, Mai and Yui were stacked with buffs. Then they would paralyze the enemy under the protection of Maple’s Dedicated Affection.

"This will be so easy compared to the tower!"

"We have to finish it quickly for Sally!"

When they opened the doors to the boss room, a giant ghost was there to greet them.

Its appearance was most frightening and it was indeed a powerful boss compared to what was out on the ordinary field.

However, for these eight, or now seven, who had beaten the tower, it was no threat at all.

"It’s paralyzed!"

Kasumi’s slashes paralyzed it. Then Maple ran towards it with Mai and Yui on her back. Then she put them down.

"Here we go!"

"Here we go!"

Now that it couldn’t move, powerful attacks slammed into it one after another.

Of course, there was no boss in this area that could withstand such attacks, and after only a minute had passed since they entered the room, the giant ghost exploded.

"I collected the dropped materials."

"Then let’s go up... Is Sally really okay?"

While everyone was worried, Maple stopped right in front of the next layer and then let Sally out of her mouth and deactivated Savagery.

"Are you okay?"

"I’m never coming back here..."

Sally stood up and looked ahead towards the 7th layer with a worried expression.

"I’m sure it will be different?"

"Yes...alright! Let’s go! Let’s go...!"

Sally made up her mind and they all entered the 7th layer.

The scene that spread out before them was of a vast, natural landscape. And a variety of monsters running around.

This was a layer where monsters lived.

Some of them were friendly. In other words, the 7th layer was a place where monsters could join you.