arc3 · 140-ch140
Chapter 140: The Minimum Fleet
Now that I'd confirmed the outrageous performance of the Storage skill, I piloted my three drones and came to the Yatsugatake Dungeon.
I've registered this one all the way down to the thirtieth floor. Last time I came, I got taken out by a Spiral Bird, but with my level up, I should be able to react to movements like that. I left Asahi waiting in the Transfer Stone room and confronted the thirty-first floor with Hayate and Shiden — the minimum fleet.
"KUEEEEE!"
Just like last time, a cry came from the sky above. A Spiral Bird.
Whirr!
(I saw it!?)
It spun its whole body around like a drill and came at Hayate aiming for a body slam — but with my level up and my physical abilities higher, I could see its movements.
I moved Hayate to the side and slipped past the super-express drill.
KAKIIIIIN!
(An opening!?)
BZZT-BZZT-BZZT!
Without a moment's delay, I gave the Spiral Bird — stuck into the ground with the force of the charge — a generous serving of the Thunder Bullet Machine Cannon.
"KUEEEEE!"
【You defeated the Spiral Bird】
Ohh, I managed to take one down on a good start. And besides, this one should be a pretty high level. I feel like I got a decent amount of experience points. Solo, forever!
But in that one attack, I burned through 200 MP. The firepower is high, but the MP consumption is absurd. Maybe I should buy Mana Potions after all. But they're expensive and hard to find...
Oh wait, I need to focus on the battle right now. I lined Hayate and Shiden up vertically and pressed forward. I've gotten a lot more used to Parallel Thinking, and I can move them exactly as I want. Going smoothly!
The next thing Hayate's camera showed was a fierce-looking bear monster. An Earth Bear, an earth-attribute monster whose whole body is covered in stone armor in place of fur. Earth attribute is strong against lightning attribute. The Thunder Bullet Machine Cannon might not work that well on it.
But I need to test how well I can fight against a bad matchup, too. I moved Hayate and Shiden in to sandwich it from both sides.
"GOAAAAAAAA!"
The first magic bullets Hayate fired successfully chipped away at the Earth Bear's stone armor little by little. There didn't seem to be any damage yet, but maybe because its beloved armor was being shaved off, the giant bear let out an angry roar.
Then, distracted by Hayate, it turned its back to Shiden, so I gave it a serving of thunder rounds from behind.
BZZT-BZZT-BZZT!
It hit its back armor dead-on, and the Earth Bear stopped moving for a moment, but it didn't seem to have taken much damage. As I thought, the reason I could deal that much damage to Terror's Symbol was because the matchup was good.
"GOOOO!"
Even so, even angrier now from the attack from behind, the Earth Bear shattered the ground and sent stones flying. That's the only attack it has that can reach Hayate and Shiden in the air.
The stones came flying with more force than I'd expected, so Shiden took a hit from one of them. Its durability dropped in one go, but not enough to destroy it. That was close, that was close — already burning MP as it is, and I almost had more drained away by resummoning.
Doshu-doshu-doshu
Having attacked Shiden, the Earth Bear now took magic bullets to its back from Hayate. Its stone armor was being peeled off one after another, and damage finally started reaching its body.
Keeping it distracted with Shiden flickering in front of it, I kept attacking with Hayate. Every now and then it threw stones, but since I kept my distance properly, they didn't hit this time. Or rather, isn't it kind of cheating to attack ground monsters from the air? If a monster has no ranged attacks, you can just attack it one-sidedly, huh.
"GOAAAA..."
Taking countless magic bullets to its body, the Earth Bear finally fell.
【You defeated the Earth Bear】
Alright, I'm taking down non-wraiths smoothly too. Though in that fight, I burned through 400 MP. 200 with the Thunder Bullet Machine Cannon, and in the end 200 with the Magic Machine Cannon too. In other words, it took 200 magic bullets just to take down a single monster.
Hmm, should I burn a huge amount of MP to take down high-level monsters, or take down lots of slightly lower-level monsters? That's the dilemma.
"GYEEEEEE!"
While I was wondering whether to keep leveling here, I heard something crying in the distance. When I turned the camera that way, I found a black spot far away.
Wait, you can hear it from that distance!? That's messed up. And that black spot is getting bigger and bigger as it comes this way. I feel like I've completely been spotted.
(That's... a Wyvern?)
A monster with a lizard-like body and wings. Inferior to dragons, but still a fine specimen of a dragon species. Its rank is also A. It might not be an opponent I should be fighting solo. But Hayate and Shiden getting taken down is no problem. This is a perfect chance to test my own strength.
I put Hayate, which costs little MP to resummon, in front, and hid Shiden behind a tree. The Wyvern must be flying at quite a speed, because it closed in on us fast.
(Alright, preemptive... uh!?)
I was about to fire the Magic Machine Cannons preemptively, but before that, Hayate got wiped out by its breath. I never thought it could reach from that distance. Terrifying, a Wyvern.
"GYOOOOOO!"
But it seems pleased with itself for taking down Hayate. It hasn't noticed Shiden hiding behind the tree.
BZZT-BZZT-BZZT!
I unleashed the Thunder Bullet Machine Cannon on the off-guard Wyvern.
"GUOOOOOOO"
The Wyvern is wind attribute. It's not a favorable matchup, but the thunder rounds seem to be working pretty well. Still, it wasn't enough to finish it off. I burned 400 MP, but I couldn't even knock it to the ground?
"GOOOO!"
With a counter-breath, Shiden got wiped out. Well, nothing for it — resummon time. I burned 200 MP to resummon Shiden and sent it straight for the Wyvern.
Doshu-doshu-doshu!
While Shiden was gone, I used Hayate — summoned again — to attack the Wyvern. Hayate is faster than Shiden, so somehow I managed to keep up with the Wyvern. But the Magic Machine Cannons barely did anything to the Wyvern. As I thought, the main damage source will have to be the Thunder Bullet Machine Cannon.
While chipping away at it with Hayate to keep its attention, I'd watch the timing and fire the Thunder Bullet Machine Cannon. It was probably a short time in reality, but it felt like an eternity — attacking and evading over and over — and in the end, I burned about 2000 MP and took about an hour to defeat the Wyvern.
【You defeated the Wyvern】
【You have leveled up】
【You obtained 10 Skill Points】
I leveled up, but I couldn't really tell whether that was an efficient way to do it or not.