ch201-ch220 · 206-ch206

Chapter 206: Level 32 and Floor 40 Speculation

"Ah, looks like my level went up. 【Status】"

Name: Kasugano Haruki

Job: 【Charge Shielder】【Charge Spearman】【Scout】

Lv: 32

HP: 2325/2400

MP: 596/640

Strength: 128

Endurance: 160

Agility: 112

Magic: 64

Skills: 【Gate】【Charge・Shield・High】【Charge・Shield・Armor Enhancement・Shield・High】【Charge・Shield・Strength Up・High】【Charge・Shield・Endurance Up・High】【Charge・Shield・Agility Up・High】【Charge・Spear】【Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear】【Charge・Spear・Strength Up】【Charge・Spear・Endurance Up】【Charge・Spear・Agility Up】【Charge・Spear・Magic Up】【Charge・Spear・Aiming】【Presence Concealment】【Presence Detection】【Scouting】【Night Vision】

Skill Points: 1

Level 32 now.

With the incoming skill point, I'm taking 【Charge・Shield・Magic Up・High】 right away.

Now the shield-side super mode isn't scary to use either.

When my next point comes in, I'd like to take at least one proper shield skill—should it be 【Charge・Shield・Shield Parry】 or 【Charge・Shield・Shield Bash】...

'With just 【Shield Parry】 and 【Aiming】, you can make it to Floor 40.'

The words of Joseph, the Englishman called the world's greatest adventurer.

He mains a shield job with a spear job as sub—or so he says.

I think what he meant was: basic skills matter.

【Shield Parry】 is the shield job's must-have skill—it deflects any attack.

Must-have or not, right now I'm not struggling on defense at all.

I've got the 'Left Eye Gate'—an absolute defense—after all.

If anything, I'm at the point of entertaining contradictory thoughts like "I want attack skills for my shield."

So far, when I use super mode, the MP charged into the shield never actually gets used...

When I cancel it, that MP has just vanished somewhere—I've been wanting to find some way to put it to use.

But with Parry, there's a chance it wouldn't consume anything.

Hence I've had my eye on the shield's attack skills, starting with Bash.

Speaking of shield attack skills, besides 【Shield Bash】, I suppose 【Shield Spike】 and 【Shield Shock】 are the flagship ones?

Bash is a counter with the shield's face, while Spike, if I remember right, is a skill that strikes with the spike?

Use 【Shield Spike】 and the shield apparently impales things.

【Shield Shock】 is a different animal entirely—it numbs whoever touches the shield.

Does electricity flow through it?

That's a fun one.

Huh? 【Shield Boomerang】?

Throw your SHIELD?

A skill of 【Shield Thrower】, a rather odd job...

If I used it with the Shield Gauntlet, would that be a rocket punch?

"Mmm-mmm-mmm. So you're 32 now, were you... You'll be catching up to me."

Not a "Sasa-Haru—," this time...

Huh?

She usually showers me with praise—what's gotten into her?

Kasumi-san's Level was 33, right?

One more and I'll have caught up, but I think Kasumi-san will be leveling up soon herself.

"Ah, the summit. The 'Gate to Floor 32' is here too."

And so we made it to the summit.

Since then we took down a couple of 【Mimicry】-ing Sand Golems along the way, but that was the extent of the fighting.

At this pace we could push on and on, but Kasumi-san seems to want to level up too, so on the next floor, the Flirting Strategy, and...

"Let's move on."

Kasumi-san goes ahead, and I follow her into the 'Gate to Floor 32'.

One floor deeper, and the area looks no different.

Flatland at the start, climb the mountain, aim for the 'Gate to the Next Floor' at the summit.

This should hold through Floor 39.

The golems' levels should keep rising, so they may move somewhat faster, but ours will rise too, so no need to worry about that, probably?

The Floor 40 boss area isn't a mountain—it's more like the bottom of a valley.

The Chiba Dungeon's boss is the same as the HQ dungeon's: a Manticore.

A lion's body, bat wings, a scorpion's tail—and an old man's face. Quite the... indescribable monster.

One boss monster: that.

And as entourage, countless golems covering the valley floor.

You don't even need to beat the golems—kill the boss Manticore and the high-rank sub-job selection screen appears, and the 'Gate to Floor 41' opens the way to the next floor.

That Floor 40 spawns rare golems more readily than other floors is according to Ao-san, leader of 'Blue Ocean'.

(No other adventurers have come back from Floor 40, so who knows how it really is...)

Going by the clear videos, I don't think it's all that special.

One or two per clear.

With easily 100-plus golems around, one or two per run—Floor 31 feels way more generous to me.

Incidentally, killing the Manticore does NOT send the golems into a frenzy.

Ao-san's theory: different species.

About that Manticore—it stays airborne and never comes down.

It spams magic attacks from above, and without any anti-air means, you can't do a thing.

The ground is carpeted with golems too, so you have to handle them WHILE bringing down the Manticore overhead—pretty steep difficulty.

'Blue Ocean' has the anti-air specialist 'Queen of the Sky,' Uehara Asuka, and Sword Saint-chan's finisher 【Dimension Slash】, so for them it's no problem at all, but...

I have my doubts about 'Sword Saint-chan' charging up sheer cliffs.

Against the Floor 40 boss, the SDF breaks through by firing rocket launchers—or rather, weapons that qualify as outright missiles.

The Manticore is just one, but the Osaka Dungeon's Wyvern, apparently, spawns five at once.

When there are many bosses, they break through by firing about ten rounds of something with an outrageous price per shot—no way to turn a profit, or so the story goes...

There was even talk of Japan, a dungeon backwater, withdrawing from the 40s floors entirely—so I totally get why they'd jump at the US military's railgun technology offer.

"No need for a break, right?"

"Huh? Well, no..."

Flirting...

"Leave the first Sand Golems to me. Even with 【Mimicry】 up, the 'Left Eye Gate' won't be necessary. Now then, let's go."

Huh?

Something IS off with Kasumi-san today, isn't there...