Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri s.h.i.+tai to Omoimasu 262
Defense Specialization and the Three
When Kasumi arrived at the guild with her white snake, she saw that the others were already there. They were currently gathered around Mai and Yui.
"Ah, Kasumi!"
"Hmm? Ah, are these your buddies?"
Mai and Yui walked towards her with their bear cubs. As if it were reacting to this, the white snake started to move around her neck.
"Oh, so you decided on one too!"
"Yeah. I named it Haku(white)… Do you think that"s a little too obvious?"
Kasumi scratched her cheek with a look of embarra.s.sment. She wasn"t good at giving names. But Haku was moving around as if it were very happy.
"I think it"s great!"
"Yes…it"s perfect!"
Mai and Yui said. Kasumi looked even more embarra.s.sed now. At the same time, the three who had not tamed any monsters yet, wondered what they should do.
"Oh. So now it"s just me, Kanade and Izu."
"That"s true. I"ve finished making a lot of items now, so it might be time for me to leave the workshop."
"I have to find one soon as well. It"s the whole point of this layer, after all."
"I gathered a lot of information…I just hope there is something that interests you."
Sally petted Tsukimi and Yukimi as she shared what information she had been able to gather.
What monsters were in what area, terrain that looked promising, rare monsters that you could only encounter if the time was right or if you had the right skills. Some of the information had taken her a lot of legwork to gain.
"Since Maple and I already finished the goal of this layer, we"re just here to help."
"Now that I think about it… Maple isn"t here."
Kasumi looked around the guild home, but Maple was nowhere to be seen.
"The test is already finished, and she"s apparently logged in…"
Speak of the devil, the saying goes. Just then, the door of the guild home opened and Maple came in.
As soon as she entered, Tsukimi, Yukimi and Haku"s eyes seemed to s.h.i.+ne and they approached her.
"They"re so cute! You three got monsters?"
Maple petted all of them affectionately and smiled happily.
"The guild home is becoming more and more lively!"
"Yes, you"re allowed to bring the monsters out when in the guild home now."
Sally said. Oboro was at her feet and Syrup was at Maple"s feet. Even though their guild only had eight members, just having monsters running around made the place much more lively, as Maple said.
"Oh, that"s right. Since we"re all together now, we were sharing information. Do you have anything, Maple?"
"Hmm. It"s a little awkward to say… But I can make tentacles now!"
"You what?"
The words were so unexpected that Sally asked her to repeat it. And so Maple did so honestly.
How had this happened? This was a layer where you tamed monsters. Not a layer where you became a monster yourself. Such thoughts were in the minds of everyone present. However, they swallowed their words and decided that it would be quicker to just watch.
And so they went to the training grounds and the seven of them waited for Maple to show them this new skill.
"Alright, "Invitation to the Ocean Floor"!"
Just as Maple activated the skill, the arm that carried a great s.h.i.+eld transformed into what looked like numerous great tentacles that were bluish-black. The white of her left eye turned black, and the pupil turned yellow.
Maple asked them how it looked as she moved her left hand. The tentacles seemed to melt as they separated into what looked like five fingers and then came together as if they were holding something.
The seven looked at each other and began to whisper.
"That wouldn"t happen."
"Yes, you"re right."
"If I encountered her on the field without knowing, I would have unsheathed my sword."
It had been a while since the adults in the group had seen someone escape the realm of humans like this, and they forgot to react. Instead, they began to talk to one another. Maple must have realized what they were saying because she started to wave her tentacles and explain.
"There"s a complicated story behind this… No, it"s not really complicated… But I didn"t have a choice!"
Of course, there was a reason that one of Maple"s arms had become so grotesque.
It had happened a short while ago.