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 491

Defense Specialization and Poison

Maple and Sally undertook the quest and headed for the field.

Along the way, they saw an armored dragon leaving the town, carrying a player on its back.

“...Tamed Monster?”

“...I don’t think so. Want to take a look?”

“Uh-huh!”

Before heading out onto the field, the two headed towards the area where the dragon took off.

Then, they saw several kinds of animals and monsters including armored dragon and a horse that they previously rode.

“...It seems that we’ll have to rent them. The dragons are a little expensive, though.”

“Are there any prerequisites to ride them?”

“Unfortunately, some stats are a bit necessary. Although, since we’ve reached the 10th Floor, the numbers should be doable...”

Due to the extreme allocation of skills or stats that Maple had, that demand wasn’t just difficult but outright impossible to meet.

“Hehe, but it can accommodate two people.”

“Oh!”

“If you want to ride, I’ll be in front. Your status won’t be a problem, so you can go with either.”

“I guess Syrup is on hiatus.”

Syrup, who was flying in the sky with [Telekinesis], had a fairly slow movement speed. That speed wasn’t sufficient for exploring the 10th Floor.

“It’s just to speed up the exploration outside of combat. So let’s have Syrup does his best when fighting monsters.”

“Okay! Well, I rode the horse before, so let’s use the dragon!”

“Alright! The dragon should make it easier to fly and explore. Besides, I’ve always been looking forward to this.”

“That’s right!”

Although the dragon wasn’t cheap by any means, the two of them had been able to save up enough money after exploring so far.

The two climbed onto the back of a small dragon, and at Sally’s prompt, it flew into the sky.

“It’s fast!”

“This isn’t even the fastest it can go! Be careful not to fall, okay? I’ll increase speed!”

“Okay!”

It wouldn’t be a problem for Maple if she did fall. It’d be a problem if there was someone underneath her.

As Maple held on tightly, Sally led the dragon towards their destination.

After flying for a while, the two arrived at their destination, lowered their altitude, and slowly landed.

“The dragon will fly to your place at your behest! So let’s just park him somewhere safe.”

“Then we don’t have to worry about combat.”

After leaving the dragon somewhere safe, the two headed to the destination specified in the quest.

A goblin den that had been conquered several times. Monsters waited beyond the unfurling darkness. The objective was to defeat a certain number of monsters. In other words, it was a basic quest that involved subjugating the supposed minions of Demon King to maintain peace.Rêạd new chapters at wuxiahere.com

“Looks like we’ll have no choice but to delve in.”

“I’ll take the lead!”

The only way to defeat monsters was to enter the enemy’s base. Maple raised her tower shield and began walking in front of Sally as if to protect her.

Immediately, they saw several goblins in the back.

“Alright...”

“Maple—!”

“Huh!?”

Sally suddenly grabbed Maple and pulled her back. In the next moment, a sharp spear jutted out from the wall, crossing right in front of her. It lightly grazed Maple, scattering damage effects.

When the goblin saw that, it laughed and disappeared to the other side of the cave, as if that was its intention all along.

“Apparently, it’s a trap.”

“Ouch... Thank you, Sally.”

“Although the damage isn’t high, it’s a piercing attack.”

As difficult as it was to believe, Maple’s defense had been breached by a mere trap. Most likely, the trap was designed to kill all players in one hit.

“Even if you get hit, I think you’ll be fine as long as you can heal. However, I can’t predict how long the trap will continue to activate.”

There was no saying that defense-pierce arrows wouldn’t come flying at them from all directions. If they failed to react in time, they might get wiped out.

Since they had no choice but to proceed with caution, Sally told Maple to check the floor and walls. After pondering for a while, Maple came up with an alternative strategy.

“What if we do this instead?”

“Hmm? Do you have any plans?”

Maple told Sally the strategy she came up with, and Sally nodded several times as she thought about what she’d just heard.

“I don’t think it’s bad. There’s no risk, either. So, let’s try it out!”

“Hooray!”

“Then, let’s get ready right away.”

“Okay!”

Encroaching them were four snakes with scales bearing the same color as the mist. The snake itself wasn’t as gigantic as Haku, but its several-meter body was as thick as Maple and Sally’s bodies. The snake could probably wrap around them.

Once they got entangled, it’d be difficult to break free. The two understood that right away. Wordlessly, they quickly stood back to eliminate any blind spots.

The purple snake suddenly pounced on the two, who quickly braced for battle using the movements that had been ingrained in them from the many battles they had accumulated over the years.

Even if she got hit, Maple would protect her. Knowing that, Sally accurately saw through the snake’s attack.

“[Icicle]!”

She wouldn’t allow Maple to get in a risky situation just because of her.

She launched one snake with a pillar of ice, then transformed her weapon into a sledgehammer, slamming it onto the head of another snake, knocking it back.

Behind Sally, who effectively dealt with two snakes, Maple swung her large shield and instantly wiped out the snake in front of her.

It was a completely different attack from Sally’s. It was a swift attack using [Evil Eater].

There was no need for thorough planning or complicated movements. Once they saw through the enemy’s movement, it was over.

However, Maple couldn’t handle all the enemy as precise as Sally. Despite having slayed one snake instantly, the remaining snake jumped from her side and bit Maple’s torso.

“...Ey—!”

To bite meant to come close. [Evil Eater] still had some uses left. Therefore, attack equals death. It took less than a few seconds for the tower shield that was pressed tightly to swallow the snake thanks to [Evil Eater].

“Phew...”

No damage. If they fought at equal distance, Maple would be superior.

“I’ll take care of the rest. Save the rest for the boss.”

“Okay!”

As long as the two were together, Sally could handle them. Maple was relieved and tried to use [Machine God] to provide support.

—At that moment, a chunk of Maple’s HP was shaved off.

“Eh?”

“[Water Path]!”

When Sally grasped the situation, she wrapped Maple with her thread, before swimming right above her, taking Maple with her.

“[Leap]!”

Sally created a foothold in the air and used it as a starting point to jump and fly higher into the sky. She broke through the purple haze, and when she could no longer see the snake, she pulled the string that connected Maple to her and carried Maple in her arms as she leaped up.

“[Heal]!”

“Syrup [Awakening] [Super Enlarge] [Telekinesis]!”

Maple’s response was also good timing. Understanding Sally’s intentions, she summoned Syrup, and immediately enlarged him. They eventually landed on top of his shell.

Although safety landing was ensured in this way, Maple was confused as to why her HP had decreased.

“W-where did the damage come from...?”

“Calm down. I’ll heal you right away, so let’s check your status.”

Sally took out the potion and asked Maple to confirm the situation in detail.

“Uhm... Huh? Poison...?”

Maple realized that she was poisoned. But she hadn’t been afflicted with poison for a long time! Her eyes widened when she saw that status ailment for the first time in a while.

“Poison, right? Then, it’s a status ailment.”

Sally took out a certain potion and used it on Maple. The poison was gone almost instantly.

“—Ah, this might be it! My poison resistance is decreasing!”

It was like a decline in status, which was different from status ailment. Maple’s [Poison Resistance] seemed to be weakening for the next few minutes.

“I see, I guess the snake’s attack from earlier has a resistance-lowering effect. As a result, you took damage from the poison mist.”

“If so, I mustn’t get hit by the snake again.”

“Right. Either block or dodge it. The monsters are becoming more powerful.”

“In that case, even if I’m resistant to it, I may not be completely safe.”

“You can amplify your resistance with Iz’s items and some buffs.”

Like Maple, many players had resistance to poison. These days, poison could be dealt with to some extent. In that case, it wouldn’t be surprising if a monster that specialized in status ailments and techniques that couldn’t be blocked to appear.

“Maybe it’s better to keep that in mind. That way, you won’t have to worry about it when the time comes.”

“Understood!”

“I don’t think it’s all bad, either.”

“...?”

“If the enemy can use it, I won’t be surprised if there’s a resistance lowering skill somewhere. Maybe Maple can acquire that skill...”

If so, the poison attacks that she’d been using exclusively to grant instant death through [Poisonous Curse, as well as the paralyzing attacks that had powerful binding abilities, would likely regain their original brilliance.

“That makes sense!”

“Of course, it wouldn’t be strange if other players use it, so be careful.”

“Yeah! Ah, then let’s try and catch that snake!”

“...?”

“If I eat it, I might obtain a skill!”

“Ah—well, it’s a snake. Okay, let’s leave one alive and try to catch it.”

Is it okay to eat a snake?

Although Sally narrowed her eyes somewhat skeptically, she agreed and decided to wait for Maple’s [Poison Resistance] to revert to normal before heading out to capture the snake.