3 bar menu

Chapter 188 – Part 1

---

Translation: Charlotte
Editor: Weasalopes

---

I went back to the Relay Portal several times and explored the rest of the cave.

The caves kind of looked like a giant ladder lottery.

It took a bit, but I felt like I managed to explore all of it.

But I didn’t find anything special.

Unfortunate.

Nothing happened when I got back to the Relay Portal either.

Wait a minute…

Was I missing something?

I felt like I was missing something, but I started heading back to the temple ruins anyway.

The tide was coming in.

Seawater was already starting to accumulate in the halls.

Woah.

I didn’t think the tide was going to rise in the cave.

Wait a minute…

I can’t go back now!

There were no other players around me.

I could see the other end of the hall on the other side.

It didn’t look like anything had changed.

I could get Obsidian to search the surface for me, but he wouldn’t be able to find any enemies underwater.

The moment I dipped my toes into the water…

A spirit appeared on the waters.

Along with some info screens.

《This is thy peaceful resting place.》

《Willst thou die and become and offering unto us?》

《Or shall we become brothers?》

《We shall answer the question.》

Woah.

An event battle!

Dust Feeder Anemone Lv.6

Monster　Enemy Target　Active

Battle position: Sea Floor, Ground　Water Attribute

Something came up from the sea.

It just looked like a single sea anemone.

But honestly…

It was big!

Probably slightly bigger than I was.

Quite heavy-looking too.

But its movements were slow.

Its many tentacles darted to and fro.

It looked kind of gross, honestly.

Looking closer, they were quite long tentacles.

This is bad…

I didn’t even want to imagine what could happen to Nias if she got caught in those tentacles.

「Practiced Spirit!」

I had to give my all to fight the new opponent.

I did as much as I could to prepare for the fight.

Mumyo prepared his shield and went out into the front.

I stood beside Mumyo with my spear.

It didn’t seem like the fight was going to be that complicated.

But it was a lot more difficult than I expected.

Especially for Mumyo.

The monster’s weight made it difficult for Mumyo to hold his ground.

On the upside though, the damage was Mumyo was taking from the tentacle attacks was next to zero.

Maybe that was because it was easy for Mumyo to reassemble.

Was Mumyo just a tough guy to fight against?

No, it looked like the monster had something else up its sleeve.

Loewe looked a bit strange.

A marker indicating an abnormal status condition was above Loewe’s head.

This is…

Poison!

Loewe’s HP bar started gradually decreasing.

This is bad…

Should I get rid of the poison?

Maybe use【Change Monster】?

I went for curing the poison.

I took a small vial from around my belt and gave it to Loewe.

He should be able to make it with that.

Tigris bit into its body at every opportunity, all while dodging any tentacles.

But Tigris couldn’t bite down for very long.

The tentacles would be after him in mere moments, after all.

Mumyo used his Kakkhara to swing at whatever tentacle was the closest.

It looked like Mumyo was immune to the poison, but it was still going to be a long fight.

Nias kept her distance, but stabbed the monster with her spear whenever she got the chance to do so.

At the same time, a new song resounded in the hall

It was a song in the lower alto range.

With short phrases, it had a heroic sound to it.

A sense of power started welling up from inside me.

「Pulse Laser Burst!」

I released the spell.

The monster’s HP bar suddenly dropped.

Just 20% left.

It really was a tough opponent.

Whenever I hit it with an attack spell, its tentacles sharply retracted into its body.

It was then that I could concentrate attacks on its torso.

Of course, I went all in with my spear.

Soon, the monster’s tentacles didn’t come back out.

The spearhead of my Needlefish Spear also broke into pieces within its body.

It really did do its best.

At some point, Nias had stopped singing too.

The remains of the song were still echoing in the cave though.

I managed to defeat it.

And the info screens that followed were:

《Thou hast proven thy power.》

《We shall grant you permission to cross the sea.》

《Give us peace.》

The info screens ended there.

Yep.

No complaints.

Although I was starting to wonder why none of the monsters were dropping any items.

《【Two-handed Spear】Level Up!》

《You have acquired the title【Sea Monster Vanquisher】!》

Oh, I got something else though.

An important-looking title.

The hall had turned into a small, salty lake.

Some monsters may have gotten in from outside too.

I had to check for a bit.

I tried using【Call Monster】.

Yep, they were there.

Starfish, huh…

There were Starfish Mines too.

I guess it made sense, the seawater had to come from somewhere.

There were Zombies and Gremlins deeper in the cave, but they were further away.

For the time being, I would have to deal with sea monsters.

Well, I came to the east to train【Swim】and 【Dive】anyway.

I couldn’t forget that.

Since I had to cross the salty lake, I had to change my Summon Monster team.

I recalled Mumyo, Tigris, and Loewe.

I summoned Jean, Rig and Gokame.

It would be really nice to have another aquatic Summon Monster…

But I had to make do for the time being.

I took off my armour and kept going along the beach.

I was thinking of hunting Starfish Mines this way.

But the first monster I ran into wasn’t a Starfish.

Gokame blocked the fish that was trying to ambush me.

Hmm?

It was difficult to tell what it was from above the water.

I dove in.

Battle Fish　Lv.2

Monster　Enemy Target　Active

Battle Position: Underwater　Water Attribute

Ooh.

Definitely looked stronger than a Flying Fish!

It was also clearly bigger than both a Flying Fish and a Needlefish.

About the size of a human child.

About six of them.

I still had the lingering effects of【Practiced Spirit】.

I wanted to use all my spells on my Summon Monsters as I fought the new monster.

Well, about the Battlefish…

It was definitely a strong monster.

It could gradually do damage to Gokame too.

Of course, that was when Rig couldn’t cover him.

But in any case…

Nias was unmatched underwater.

The Battlefish looked fast underwater, but Nias could easily surpass it.

Nias could also easily beat it in a one-on-one fight.

I did my best with my spear to make sure Nias only had to deal with one at a time.

But they were completely ignoring me.

Guess they didn’t see me as threatening as Gokame.

「Gravity Mail!」

I strengthened Gokame.

I hid behind Gokame and continued attacking with my spear.

Yep.

Gokame was my wall.

A makeshift wall.

I had to breathe too, so I couldn’t do it for too long.

My mobility was much lower underwater too.

But I had to give it my all.

But there was just no way I could fight properly!

I had no armour on me.

I wasn’t in a position to go for an underwater fight!

But I had an idea.

I moved Rig to my upper body.

What about Gokame?

He looked alright.

It looked like he could still take the Battlefish’s assaults.

The rate at which Gokame’s HP bar was decreasing went up by a small amount

I was glad I used the strengthening spell on Gokame.

I had no reason to hesitate.

I left defence to Rig and exposed myself to the Battlefish attacks.

It was definitely a lot harder to fight underwater.

But my main strategy was still counterattacking.

I could leave chasing down the Battlefish to Nias.

I stabbed a Battlefish and raised it over my head.

Obsidian and Jean quickly finished it off the moment it left the water.

I didn’t even have to get its body off of my spear.

It was a far more efficient method.

《【Dive】Level Up!》

Wow.

The skill was levelling up nicely.

How much would I still have to train it?

I wanted to become confident about diving.

It was an abstract goal…

I guess I had no choice but to judge it subjectively.

I just wanted to be able to fight underwater to a reasonable level.

---