Chapter 80

Defense Specialization and Apprentice Training
Author: It’s the 80th chapter.
After thoroughly beating up the Hydra and returning to the guild home on the third layer, Yui and Mai found themselves with Sally the next day in a certain facility.
It was a very large room that was called the ‘Training Room.’ This facility was open to people who reached the third layer and could be accessed through a magic circle.
Here you could use skills without your HP draining to 0, but you would not be able to acquire any new ones.
First of all, Izu still hadn’t been able to make satisfactory equipment for the two sisters, so they had to use two spare giant hammers for now. Each of them was now waiting with the hammers in their hands.

In this ‘Training Room,’ you will be able to train without anyone seeing you.


What are we going to do?


You want to be able to use those hammers decently, don’t you?


Yes…


Yes…

The two had become much stronger now and had fought with two weapons in the first layer, but as they had not raised their AGI at all, they could not evade attacks as they should.
While they may have acquired the power to deal a one-hit kill, it did not change the fact that they had the HP to be one shotted as well.

I will teach you how to evade attacks. And how to use two weapons. To be frank, as part of the guild, we want you to be able to evade piercing attacks.

If they were able to do that, then they would be able to fight alongside Maple.

But, but we aren’t as fast as you, Sally…

What Yui was saying was true. There was a huge gap between their and Sally’s AGI.
Of course, it would be hard for them to evade.

You’re right. I do think that it is difficult to evade an attack when you don’t even know which side it is going to come from. But…with skills, you are just tracing the fixed movements. So it should be possible to avoid attacks by the millimeter.


Th-that’s…


Th-that’s…

Yui and Mai thought.
That’s easy to say but hard to do.
If it was that easy, then everyone could evade any skill.

Well, maybe that is going too far. But… ‘Piercing Attack Skills’ are different.


Um… How is it different?


Among all the skills that I know of, ‘Piercing Attack Skills’ are the only ones that have a short ‘windup.'

According to Sally, other skills activate as soon as you finish saying their name, but skills with piercing abilities have a brief delay that you need to watch out for.
After explaining this to them, Sally took out two sheets of paper from her inventory.

These are the names of all kinds of ‘Piercing Attack Skills’ that I’ve gone around collecting. I want you two to memorize all them in one month.


Ye-yes!


Ye-yes!

If you used the small amount of time it took for the piercing skill to activate, and also knew the names of all the skills, then it would be easier to move first and evade the attack.

But…even that is still not enough.


Is, is that so?

Mai asked with a concerned expression. Sally then took out one of the wooden items that were lined in her inventory and answered:

This is a spear-like staff that Izu made. I’m going to be using this…for some hands-on practice.


Huh…? I thought you could only use skills for short swords…


Yes. Movement and speed. I learned all of it and I practiced… And eventually, I was able to do it.


Eh…?


Eh…?

What Sally did was almost inhuman. But this reality was already so abnormal as to hardly be believable.

The two of you said while on your way here, that you would ‘do anything’ to be of use. Didn’t you? So… Do your best until you can evade the attacks, okay?

Maple was Yui and Mai’s first teacher, and Maple had imparted her abnormalities to them, now Sally was their second teacher and she was trying to impart the ability to evade attacks.
During this time, Maple was wandering around inside of the guild.

Kasumi! Where is Sally?


She’s at the ‘Training Room’ with Yui and Mai. Do you have business with her?

Kasumi answered. She was sitting on the opposite side of the table with Chrome.

Hmm… I wanted to go look around the third layer with her… Well, nevermind then.

Upon saying this, Maple went out into the third layer’s town.
After seeing her leave, Kasumi and Chrome began to talk again.

My instincts tell me that Maple will upgrade something again and return.


Are your instincts…good?


I don’t know… It just seems like she becomes stronger every time you look away. Yui and Mai are like that too.


They are… Now that I think of it… Have you seen Kanade recently?

Kasumi and Chrome had noticed that Kanade was spending less and less time at the guild in the past few days.

Hm? Ah, I heard that she is absorbed by the books in the library in the second layer. Though, she was like that when our base was there as well…

According to Izu, she would sometimes visit it and read books.

I just don’t know where most of our members are going, to get stronger…

Kasumi said and then looked hard at Chrome.
No, more accurately, she was looking hard at Chrome’s equipment.
Chrome too had gotten stronger in some place that Kasumi was not aware of.
While she didn’t say anything, Kasumi was just a little bit jealous.

Maybe if you put all those wishes into Maple, you will become stronger? I’m kind of serious.


…You should think about it even more seriously.

As Chrome and Kasumi were talking like this, Kanade was flipping through the pages of a book in the library. A place where some second layer players never once stepped foot in.
She finished reading the book, that was not in Japanese, then shut it closed.

…I see. Yes, that makes sense.

Kanade picked up the Rubik’s cube that was on the table and stared at it in her hands for a while. Then she put the book away, stood up and mumbled.

So…there are two left.

Kanade left the library and continued to walk in the second layer.