I hate being in pain, so I think I'll make a full defense build

Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 485

Defense Specialization and the Tenth Floor

The long-awaited weekend. It was the launch day of the 10^th Floor. At last, the dungeon would lead to said floor. Maple and the others showed up at the guild home one by one.

“It’s finally here!”

“Let’s conquer the dungeon right away!”

“As you may expect, we don’t have any information yet. But I think we can do it.”

“I agree. As long as you don’t let your guard down and fight, there won’t be any problems.”

Maple and her friends had just defeated a powerful boss a while ago. As a result, the [Maple Tree]’s confidence in their coordinated attacks increased.

The skills they’d accumulated, along with the levels they’d raised up to the 10^th Floor had allowed them to fight in a variety of ways.

Kasumi took advantage of her mobility to perform knockback. Sally used water and ice as a means of disruption and scaffolding, while Chrome and Kanade would apply movement speed debuffs.

Although most of the recent bosses couldn’t be paralyzed, Maple could always support them with abnormal status.

After that, with the buff applied by Iz, Mai and Yui could leap at the center of the battle with the help of Tsukimi and Yukimi.

There were many different setups for the main damage dealer(s). They decided to go with the one that had the lowest risk, yet had the highest chance of success to deal utmost damage.

“Now that we’re all set, shall we head to the dungeon right away.”

“I’ve prepared the necessary items. I’m ready to go.”

“Then let’s go ride Haku.”

“All right, let’s head out!”

The aim was to conquer the dungeon in one go. If the strategy went well, they’d be able to explore the 10^th Floor with the remaining time.

Haku transformed into a giant. Now that they were ready, they set out right away. Maple and the others moved to the field and headed for the dungeon.

Along the way, they came across no monsters, and the eight of them safely reached the dungeon.

The entrance of the dungeon was located in an area that had the characteristics of water and nature, along with fire and wasteland, as it was right on the border of both countries.

Is it once a temple? In some parts, the stone ruins were covered with water, ice, and lush vegetation. In some other parts, lava and crackling lightning had made away with the stone pavement.

Amidst such an area was a magic circle emanating a bluish glow.

This time, they had to teleport to reach their destination. Because of that, they couldn’t gauge the situation.

“I don’t know what will happen once we go inside, but…”

“I’m sorry, but can you use [Dedicated Affection]?”

They were reminded of the skill cancel and debuffs casted by the previous boss. That boss was a special case. Nevertheless, there was no saying what’d happen. As they’d become stronger, there was no doubt that the monsters had also grown stronger accordingly.

Without information, it’d be difficult to get an answer.

The presence or absence of [Dedicated Affection] greatly affected their number of options in battle. As such, it became one of the most crucial skills.

“Can you save this spot? If we got teleported into a dangerous situation, I’ll buy time with [Stout Guardian]. Use it there if necessary.”

“Understood!”

“In the worst-case scenario, I’ll also use my spell tome. I have some strong defensive spells left.”

Safety first. The eight shared that sentiment. Thus, Maple and the others stepped towards the magic circle.

With a thud, Maple and the others landed in the water. The teleport destination was inside an old white building submerged in water. The water itself reached up to Maple’s chest.

To provide lighting, there were lights installed on the walls, allowing them to see the high ceilings and spacious aisles.

“Mai, Yui, are you okay?”

“Yes, somehow…”

“Everything should be fine if you ride Yukimi!”

Since the water level was close to Maple’s chest, Mai and Yui, who were shorter than her, would have drowned if not for the fact that they were riding the tamed monsters.

“Ugh, this water decreases our [AGI]. By 30%, too. That’s pretty huge.”

“It’s similar to my [Ocean]…”

As long as their bodies were in contact with the water, their movement speed would continue to decrease. While they could use skills to travel on water, but looking at how the dungeon was set up, they thought it’d be easier to accept it rather than to resist.

If they kept their feet on the ground, their [AGI] would decrease, but at least their footing was stable. Maple and her friends decided to overcome any bad situations by offsetting them with buffs and started wading through the water.

“Hmm… It looks like a battle is about to break out, doesn’t it?”

“That, I’m sure. Otherwise, the aisle won’t be this wide.”

“—Hey, you jinxed it!”

At the back of the aisle… A person was gliding along on a shining magic circle so as not to sink into the water. He was holding a long staff with a large blue gemstone embedded on it.

Above his head was an HP bar. The eight of them readied their weapon as they watched the first monster of that dungeon.

“There’s only one.”

“It seems that he’s alone.”

There were no vanguard nor other minions. Maple and the others stared intently at the monster’s movements, feeling rather uneasy that there was only one wizard.

—Immediately after.

A magic circle spread underneath their feet.

The calm surface of water rippled, and multiple streams of water swirled violently like a fierce maelstrom.

“Maple!”

“[Dedicated Affection]!”

Sally quickly determined that merely evading the attack wouldn’t do. Almost at the same time as Maple deployed [Dedicated Affection], a tremendous force of water slammed onto them.

“…!”

She was swept away. Fully submerged in water, she couldn’t even tell which way was up or down.

[Dedicated Affection] only protected those within its area. If she was swept away, she wouldn’t be able to protect those who were left behind.

Maple was panicking, but then she hit something and was stopped in place. She managed to bring her head to the surface.

“…Haku! Thank you!”

“Good. Were you able to cover everyone somehow.”

“Nice safe, Kasumi. As expected of a 10^th Floor mob.”

“What do we do now?”

“Without Maple, we would’ve lost…”

“This is so tricky…”

Although Haku, who’d become super gigantic, had coiled around the eight and protected them from the torrent, a roaring sound echoed from beyond his body. It was as if they were surrounded by waterfalls. Naturally, [Dedicated Affection] applied to Haku as well. Haku took no damage, but the knockback applied by the torrent destroyed their formation. Maple was also cornered against Haku’s body.

“Hmm, if this knockback persists, it’s going to be difficult for us to advance.”

Their defense was shaky at best, considering that Maple risked of being thrown off whenever she tried to cover someone.

“I might be able to do something, but the opponent seems to be a mob… I want to use as few resources as possible and find the most practical way to win.”

“I can protect Haku… What do you think of this idea?”

Maple suggested something while being constantly blown away and slammed into Haku’s body.

“…It certainly looks like we’ll be able to win consistently.”

“Okay, let’s try that this time.”

“I’ll check the front.”

Iz took out a long tube-like item from her inventory and stretched it out over the coiled Haku. The item allowed her to see what was ahead from the extended tip.

“I can see it perfectly. Uh-oh, the water shows no signs of stopping…”

“Wow, you do have everything.”

“It’s nothing much. Just something I created.”

“It’d be helpful if you let me know if you notice any suspicious movements. Haku!”

When Kasumi gave instructions to Haku, his giant body moved with a rumble. Haku remained coiled around them as they slowly approached the monster, akin to a tornado moving forward.

“With this, we should be able to advance!”

“Haku!”

Kasumi gave instructions to Haku once again. While Haku stretched out his long body to protect the members of the [Maple Tree], he slid through the gaps of the stream and went straight for the wizard.

Bang.

Haku maimed the wizard’s torso. Although the wizard’s appearance surprised them, it was simply a rearguard monster that appeared all by itself. If they could get close, they could deal enough damage to defeat it.

When the wizard was defeated, the raging torrent subsided and the calm surface of the water returned.

“Fortunately, the passageway is wide. I’ll ask Haku to continue following us.”

“I see. Next time it appears, we can fight it using the same method.”

“It was a great help…”

“As expected from Kasumi!”

“Still, that monster was nasty. As if the [AGI]-decreasing water isn’t enough, it tried to knock us back using the torrent. We managed to get by thanks to Maple and Kasumi, but it’d have been a different story if we’d been swallowed by the water.”

“I’ve memorized its appearance, so be careful when it appears alongside other monsters.”

“Next time, let’s make a pre-emptive attack before we get hit!”

“Sure, that’s a great idea.”

Fortunately, the wizard’s durability was low. With Maple’s [Machine God], the tide should be in their favor.

“Keep in mind that we’re still at the entrance. Let’s aim for the back while being careful about the remaining monsters.”

“Got it!”

After defeating the first monster, Maple and her friends proceeded deeper into the dungeon.

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