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Skill Activation
――『Yomotsu Hirasaka』, a branch realm connected to the labyrinth of Perforation Realm, 『YGGDRASILL』――
――The『third』 stratum, 『uncharted』 domain――
「Umm
. 『Location』.」
Natsumi, closing her eyes and clasping her hands in front of her chest as though praying, activates her skill.
The reason why she looks somewhat bashful is most likely due to her finding the chanting embarrassing.
I can sympathize with her, as I’ve tried out various chanting to activate my skill.
「O fires of hell, tainted with jet-black darkness, destroy the enemies that stand before me!」 I feel a little embarrassed when I shout things like that.
By the way, I have yet to use my 『Thunder God Apprentice』 skill.
No, now that I think about it, it stands to reason that its skill wasn’t activated when I imagined burst of flames despite the class having 『Thunder God』 attached to its name.
The image of splitting the ground by throwing a meteor strike was also not good.
Come to think of it, I once tried to raise my hands to the sky and shout, as I imagined the image of roaring thunder descending like rain, but as expected nothing happened.
As I recall, it was a sunny day, but suddenly a rain shower started to fall as the sky turned black, so I had no choice but to head back midway.
Thanks to this, I managed to pass through it without catching a cold, but the current state where I’ve found no clue whatsoever is disheartening.
As expected, I’m lacking in a solid image.
「The unexplored area is this way, I think
.」
I pat Natsumi, who seems to have yet to gain confidence, in the head.
『Location』 skill seems to be able to let us know our current coordinate in the dungeon.
It’s written in the skill dictionary that it can also perceive the adjacent, surrounding corridors and chambers, but as expected the range appears to be narrow.
Compared to the skills possessed by its superior class, such as 『Atlas』, which can search a wide area map, or 『Search Guide (Navigate)』, which can calculate the location of realm gates and specific monsters, its ease of use is kind of questionable.
It seems that the skill effect will expand as you level, so I think it’s a good idea to gradually let them earn EXP.
「Say, Umi-chan. By the way, can you tell me our current coordinate number, please?」
「Y, yes. This place is
 point 136°42’14.4」e of 36°06’24.2」n.」
Seiichi, opening the map of the first stratum he has taken out from his backpack, lets out a sigh.
「Looks like we’re completely in the uncharted area.」
「Around which part are we roughly at?」
He points to a point that deviates from the drawing to Mai, who is peering into the map that looks like a crossword puzzle compactly written on a graph paper.
「I guess it’s a point somewhere around a hundred grid toward this direction.」
「
 Is this dungeon actually that vast?」
Mai creases her eyebrows intoć…« character as she tilts her head, but in my memory, I have a feeling that it’s much vaster than that.
That’s why there’s no need to make such a worried look.
As I pat Natsumi, Miharu, Shizuka and Saki stand in a line next to her, but I wonder why they are lining up?
「We can’t try out Haru-chan’s 『Heal』 without somewhat getting injured, so let’s start Hime-chan’s rehabilitation, shall we?」
「If we find a realm gate, it looks like a good idea to head down right then and there. I’d like to take a look at the second stratum too.」
In the midterm examination at the end of May, it seems that the test for specialized subjects will be to reach the second stratum.
It’s not time to get flustered yet, but I think we should just try to proceed as far as we can.
「Your power and shield effect have likely fallen down, so be sure not to force yourself.」
「Yes. Ehehe.」
Saki seems to be happy as she’s getting patted, but I’d like her not to act recklessly.
◇ ◇ ◇
「Seiyaaa!」
Brandishing her katana above her head, Saki steps forward and accelerates abnormally.
The next moment, *clank clank clank*, I hear the sounds of three-consecutive strikes at the same time.
With a flash of her skirt, she bends one of her knees and steps back at once.
Or rather, *swoosh*, she glides across the floor backward, as if she has been launched from a catapult.
Closing in upon them with a super acceleration from beyond her opponents’ maai, unleashing three consecutive slashes in a row, and then stepping back until she is out their maai.
It is totally like a battle scene from a martial arts anime.
The sequence of events from the start of the attack to the breakaway is the『Flash Attack (Scud)』 skill of the『Sword Master』 class.
While holding her breath, she’s able to move in an accelerated state.
It feels like she’ll be able to even cut off bullets from guns.
It allows for maneuvers at a speed unperceivable to the eyes, but it also places a heavy burden on the flesh.
Such a state of delayed action seems to be called post-skill rigor mortis (Skill Delay).
「Gugegaaaaah!」
The Goblin Lord, receiving the slashing attacks with both hands clad in boorish gauntlets, comes rushing toward Saki’s direction.
「Cherry ball x ten, shoot!」
Raising her rod, Mai fires out marble-sized magic balls like a shotgun.
They explode here and there on its muscular, huge body, which is twice as high.
As its tough, or rather, its SP armoring seems to be thick, Mai, whose magic attacks are not too effective against it, switches to the role of creating smoke screens or hindering its movements.
「Behind you. You blockhead.」
With the trench knives wielded in both hands, Seiichi stabs the Goblin Lord’s rear from behind, as it switches its target from Saki to Mai.
Seiichi’s not moving at an overwhelming speed like that of Saki, but by making use of his seclusion skill to diminish the perception toward him, his presence is also hard to grasp.
Perhaps finding the knives that stab it in the rear painful, it shifts its hate from Mai to Seiichi and swings its tout arm.
How should I put it, it seems to be dumber than a normal goblin.
Its head seems to be not that good, but it boasts unusual toughness, and the battle has been commencing for around thirty minutes already.
In the depth of the chamber, there is a stone gate, or rather a facility that looks like a torii, which seems to be the realm gate we are looking for.
And then, the Goblin Lord is the guardian of the gate (gatekeeper), and if we don’t defeat it, we won’t be able to proceed to the next stratum.
It’s quite an RPG feeling.
I drink from the PET bottle I receive from Shizuka and wipe my sweat off with the towel handed over to me by Natsumi.
We have been exchanging blows head on, but as expected it’s getting draining for us, so we take a break to rehydrate ourselves.
It’s not that I alone am slacking off, as we’re taking it in turns in replenishing ourselves.
「『Heal』.」
A faint, weak light envelops me, and I feel my languid fatigue getting eased.
「Thanks a bunch. Just be sure not to force yourself.」
I stroke Miharu, who clasps her hands in front of her chest as if praying.
In addition to treating physical injuries, the『Heal』 used by Miharu seems to have the effect of restoring fatigue and improving physical condition.
It’s said to also be able to fix things like hangovers, so it’s a pretty versatile curing ability.
It’s just, conversely, Miharu’s SP is rapidly decreasing, so I think it’s better for her to be more prudent with it.
「No, the one who’s receiving most damage is you, after all, Touma-san.」
「It’s alright, no problem.」
I can’t move as fast as Seiichi or Saki, so it’s true that I’ve received attacks that I couldn’t evade.
However, the opponent seems to be a mix-maxed BOSS monster that throws everything into defense, so its attack is light.
Instead as a blunt weapon, the way it uses the gauntlets on its arms to smash the floor while raising a roar is a mere show.
I bet the gauntlets are most likely imbued with『Effect』 skill effect.
「
 As your metal rod clashes against its gauntlets, the way you both similarly get sent flying ten meters away with a boom is not at all light, I believe.」
I smashed it with more or less everything I had, but our attacks ended up offsetting each other.