Vol. 14 - Ch. 765 - First Advanced Dungeon Battle - vs. «Tree-gers»!

"Ahem. If you have calmed down, you may start with the information, Karua."

"Hn."

Even now, Ester and Lana were coddling the black cats in their arms, meanwhile, and enviably enough, Karua was snuggling against Sierra. It was obvious someone had to give the push, or else today's exploration would go nowhere, thus I decided to start with Karua, keeping the status-quo.

"I think, I have got the terrain details. Just keep walking until that wall... I guess?"

"Correct. Though it's less of a wall, but more of a giant precipice."

Karua passed the detail, pointing at the wall in the far north. It wasn't a wall, but a wall-like-mountain with a very huge cliff. And, indeed, the entrance to the next floor was on top of that cliff's summit. 

"Karua, you're in charge of pointing the direction. But make sure to keep your detection up, and look out for any surprise attack."

"Hn, will do."

"Well, I have my «Intution», so I think it should be fine to some extent, but we can't be cautious enough."

"Hn."

While I did know the entire layout of the map like the back of my hand, the monsters weren't restrained, so it was impossible for me to pinpoint their location. There was no static safe route, so a scout's help was absolute here. 

The monsters here just loved the surprised attack, so against them, it was all hands on the table. If I had to put it in turn-based game lingo, it was like you saw the monster, but instead of you taking the initiative, the monster jumped you first, and that would mean they'd the priority on attack. Here, the question wasn't seeing the monster, but detecting them. 

Monsters having the first turn? Now that would be dangerous if you're not overpowered, which was the case for us. And even then, how many surprised attacks one could tank before they whittle your HP down? So a scout was an absolute must here. And that basically summed up another aspect of advanced dungeons. 

Anyway, since an objective had been established, we just had to follow Karua on this.

"Alright, let's begin, everyone!"

"Okay!" 

Making use of her experience and ability she'd obtained in her journey up to this point, Karua cautiously led the way. We followed after her, leaving the safety area, aka entrance, behind us. 

We avoided the area with tall grass, and walked on the untrodden grass. The ground offered no clue to us as expected. Sometimes we passed from under the roots of a giant tree, while other times we walked over the roots like they're bridges.

"The roots can be used as simple routes. Since the scaffolding is flat, this provides a solid platform for footwork during battle as well."

"It seems we may need to acclimate ourselves with the terrain here to fight. It will be awful if anyone falls from here. But, true, these roots surprisingly have a good foothold."

Sierra expressed her impression while keenly experiencing the feedback from her footsteps. 

The roots here were as wide as three metres, so even if monsters ambushed us, we're not going to suddenly lose our steps. I was sure the party members would come to prefer the convenience of roots as battle arena instead of ground once they'd adapted to the new dungeon here. 

Besides, they're roots, so they're also buried in the ground from the middle. With our present STR and AGI stats, It was the matter of one jump to return back to top of the root and join the battle even if we dropped. Well, putting aside Lana. 

While I went through multiple scenarios inside my mind, Karua's ears suddenly perked up, twitching restlessly. So adorable.

"Hn. Monster presence in the north and south. Maybe they'll notice us once we cross that gap?"

"That means fighting is the only option here, isn't it? Which side appears to be weaker?"

"South has 4 monsters. I recommend that. North has 6 of them. Also, it doesn't seem like there are any other monsters lurking in the south."

"So we've our winner. Time for our first advanced dungeon battle. Karua, take us there."

"Hn."

Karua was using two of her skills together—with her right eye, she was using «Peeping» to look around, sometimes commanding the black cats to scout the area. Meanwhile, she'd put her left hand behind her left ear to notice any movement with «Meow-nar». 

An unconventional tactic, but that was a must. You could never go wrong with excessive vigilance in the first exploration. —"It's just another dungeon." "It's just another level, but tougher." I've heard these over and again in the game, and then how those parties got wiped out.

I'd wanted perpetual vigilance to be second nature to our party members. Of course, I also had my eyes peeled out for any potential attack.

Soon, following Karua's lead, we came into contact with four monsters. The latter must've noticed our presence as well as they turned around. 

"Karua, are there any other monsters around?"

"Hn... doesn't seem, so."

I inquired Karua to make sure of it. We'd not want a sudden jump on us right after fighting the first monster group. At worst, the double encounters might force us to fight consecutively. 

Since the monster's movements were unpredictable, it wasn't unusual for monsters to stumble on the scene while we're fighting. It would be exhausting if we kept having such encounters.

"So, we just have to push through the opponents before us."

"Sierra, they're strong. We may not have a hard time against them, but be careful."

"Mhm, leave it to me."

Sierra calmly paced herself ahead, though she'd taken a moment to look back at me, seemingly for confirmation, and receiving a firm node from me, she slipped out a faint smile and resumed her action. Lana had an odd face at that scene.

"It's as if Sierra is all in your eyes. Now I'm feeling jealous."

"What are you saying, Lana? You're the pillar of our party, you know, right? Tank is important, but there's no way we would've dared to come without you with us. You're just as important."

"......I, I see. Fine, I understand. Yeah, alright. Leave it to me!"

It appeared I had managed to encourage the sulky Lana. She assumed her usual cheery expression, so I guess all's well that ends well.

"It's coming, Zephyr. It's... tiger? No, a tree?"

"It’s an animal-shaped tree and is running in our direction."

"It's called «Tree-ger» because of that appearance. Also, it's only using its branches to run on four, but it will rise to its two feet when attacking."

"Huh? Isn't that strange?"

Don't ask me. This was the logic of «Dungeon Activity»'s plants. 

Plants taking the shape of an animal to move and attack were already beyond common sense. Truly living up to its name, «Deranged Trees in the Mountain Range». 

Slamming their roots on the ground, the four «Tree-ger» leaped, landing a couple meter ahead of us on the root's scaffolding. I was waiting for that!

"«Shine Lightning»!"

"Gaaah!?"

"Did that tree just groan?!"

"It did."

"Oh, it fell."

"It did."

I slammed my skill on the «Tree-ger» just as they'd jumped, causing them to fall off the root. Nice move, me!

Anyway, they're trees, but they're also monsters. That's why they groaned. "Why the hell are they even trees" had often been comments of players, but regardless of whatever logic that worked on, the anthropomorphised plants were the common monster of this dungeon. 

"Target them with ranged attacks. Lana, blast them out!"

"Leave it to me! «Shining Sacred Saber»!"

The four giant swords of light appeared in the mid-air, just the perfect number against our opponents. Promptly, the sword's tip tilted to target «Tree-ger» and shot forth. 

It might appear overkill to use the fourth order skill from the get go, but this was the correct way to deal with them. Holding back would only force you to exhaust yourself more. The firepower of the regular monsters was high, so you'd not want to fall prey to them.

Albeit, «Tree-ger» wasn't about to go down without putting up any struggle. Just before the swords struck them, they're suddenly covered in a skill effect.

"Gaaah!"

"Gaah!" x3

"W-wait, whaaat?!"

The instant their growl echoed, the four «Tree-ger» spread themselves, an unusual movement from common monsters. Since we'd only faced mindless monsters who'd continue to charge forward no matter what, Lana flustered at the sudden scenery. 

It's not like monsters didn't dodge in earlier dungeons, but that sort of pattern was set for boss monsters only. To put it short, the strength of monsters wasn't the only upgrade here, it extended even to their AI algorithm.

Regardless, there was nothing to fret about it. Because—

"Ah..."

"Gyaaah?!" x4

Lana's jaw dropped at the next scene. 

The giant swords had each adjusted their trajectory following «Tree-ger»'s movement, and splendidly nailed them. 

It was because «Sacred Shining Saber» wasn’t a set spot attack. Instead, the targets were the monsters themselves, hence even if one tried to dodge, the swords would adjust their trajectory and follow up after the target. Well, it wasn't entirely lock-on feature though, since it was possible to dodge them by evading just when they're about to make contact. 

Thus, despite trying to dodge, the «Tree-ger» took a direct hit.

"«Lightning Burst»!"

I promptly coordinated my attack after that, and sent forth a streak of lightning toward two of the «Tree-ger». Unfortunately, the lightning attribute was barely effective against plant-type monsters. 

" "Gaaah!" "

My intention wasn't to damage them in the first place, but to halt their advance. And sure enough, the attacked «Tree-gers» flinched, and lagged behind the other two «Tree-ger», the latter jumping back on the root to face us. 

"«Aura Point»!"

Sierra stepped forward and invoked her taunt skill, switching the two «Tree-ger» attention from us to her. Eyeing that opportunity, Karua suddenly sneaked up to them, and unleashed her attack.

"Star Burst Tornado»!"

"Gaaah?!" x2

She'd appeared just in the middle of the two «Tree-ger» and spun rapidly, the daggers gripping in her hand. 

Bracing the damage, the «Tree-gers» rose to their two feets, turning bipedal. They'd held a wooden sword in their hand as they swung it down at Karua.

"Gah!"

"...Ng?! Woah—«Mega Ice Slash»!"

It was their counterattack skill. There's no fixed target, they'd just attack anyone nearby. 

Karua used her nimbleness to dodge the attack, and struck back with another of her weapon skills, further dealing the damage.

"Hn, tough!"

"«Attribute Shift - Fire»!"

I followed Karua to coordinate attacks. Meanwhile, Ester faced the other two «Tree-ger» I'd stopped with my «Lightning Burst». They must've jumped up while our attention was on the two «Tree-ger» before us.

We kept our momentum, and before long, the «Tree-ger»'s HP was almost all chipped out. And that's when they played out their trump card—the rookie killer move.

"Gaaah!"

"!! Watch out for vine whiplash!"

"Gaah—"

"!!? Its head is gone?!"

Karua screamed suddenly. 

Well, yeah. They're not actual animals but plants, so they also had vine attacks, and could just launch their heads like rockets. Not that I really understood what the latter was supposed to do. In the game, we'd deduced it was set up to shock the players, and catch them by surprise for immediate attack. And honestly, it was indeed a shocking display.

"Agh!"

"Are you alright, Karua?! «Healing Prayer»!"

And sure enough, Karua was so shocked at «Tree-ger» losing its head that she gave her opponent an opportunity to strike her. Momentarily, a slash from a wooden sword fell on her. In a way, I guess that was inevitable.

At the end, «Tree-gers» were plant-type monsters, so their head was merely decoration to mimic animals. And that's why, this move—«Rocket Head»—was called rookie killer. Well, the head didn't grow back after flying off somewhere, so it was a one-time move. 

"Aah."

"Even Ester got caught off-guard. «Healing Prayer»! Get a grip on yourself, both of you!"

The scream had erupted from Ester. She'd been shocked by the headless «Tree-ger», much like Karua, and took a direct attack. Truly a piece of work, no? This was another element of surprise by the monsters here.

Fortunately for them, Lana was keeping a keen eye on the situation and promptly healed Ester and Karua. The two still had bewildered expressions, however they put those doubts aside and firmly countered, eventually exhausting «Tree-gers» HP, forcing them to dissolve into particles of light.

We'd won our first ever advanced-dungeon monster fight.