Chapter 32: Skill Tree 2
After observing the unremarkable guard HQ and delivering dessert, our party disbanded before dinner.
Grace seemed to be going shopping with her now heavier wallet, while Han Se-ah appeared to be wandering around the city to fill in the blanks on her minimap and to console her disappointed viewers.
I grabbed my equipment and dashed back to the tower to check out the skills Han Se-ah had chosen.
Running through the plains without having to match my pace to my party members, a refreshing breeze rustled my hair.
My speed was probably similar to a horse's when I ran without shattering the ground.
Crossing the plains, I broke through the 11th-floor forest, which Han Se-ah and Grace had not yet visited.
Plowing through the tangled branches, I followed the fragments of the lantern in a straight line.
Most of the monsters that appeared in the forest were beast-type, like the Helmeted Deer and Moss Wolf, making it difficult to practice my shield techniques.
Thus, my target was the Goblin and Kobold tribes that started appearing on the 11th floor.
Considering my stats, I should have fought stronger monsters above the 20th floor, but going up there is too much of a bother.
'Reflective damage, it's definitely powerful.'
The Moss Wolf, which used the moss on its fur to camouflage itself in the forest, and the Helmeted Deer, charging with its horns sharper and sturdier than an ordinary wooden spear, both met their end, rushing at me and falling to the reflective damage.
It was too much trouble to stop and pick up magic stones, so I just kept running to find the Goblin and Kobold tribes.
If I left them, some lucky adventurer would eventually pick them up.
Relying on my enhanced senses rather than any scouting skills, I wandered around the forest until I faintly heard the cackling sounds of Goblins.
They were more likely to use ranged attacks, which was perfect for my purposes.
Cackling and grumbling, the Goblins seemed to be exchanging opinions amongst themselves.
They were about 10 centimeters taller and had more supple skin than the ones I'd seen on the 10th floor, but they were still Goblins.
Behind them were huts made of branches, filled with Goblin dwellings.
"Hey, look at this!"
Ignoring the noisy Goblins, I kicked and destroyed several huts, then banged my shield with the handle of my warhammer, making a loud noise.
Furious at me for destroying their homes, the green creatures swarmed out.
Kyaak! Cackle, chuckle!
At least they weren't stupid, as they quickly surrounded me and prepared their ranged weapons.
As they cackled, rocks and poisonous darts flew at me from all directions.
My armor unscathed, I raised my shield against their attacks.
"How do I use this?"
Of course, the skill didn't activate right away.
I pushed magic into my shield, like I did when strengthening my body, but could only block the chaotic barrage of rocks and dartscounterattacking was another story.
I shouted the skill name aloud, just as Han Se-ah recited her magic spell.
Although we were in a forest filled with nothing but goblins, I spoke quietly.
If I kept shouting skill names, I might end up denying reality and start shouting things like "logout" or "stat window," just like my embarrassing past.
My shield, which had been with me for ten years, sparkled and emitted a brilliant light for the first time, perhaps due to my brief embarrassment.
At the same time, a stance instinctively popped into my head, as if the system was hammering it in.
I wondered if this was how Grace felt when she saw her inventory and naturally thought of magic.
"Yeah."
A man, holding his shield and visibly tense, emerged from the bushes, as if expecting a monster from a higher floor to cause havoc on the lower one like the Horned Wolf did.
Naturally, what greeted him was not a 20th-floor boss monster like an Orc Hunter, but me, clad in full heavy armor.
The unknown tank finally realized that the cause of the commotion was another adventurer, and his arm relaxed.
As his Kite Shield lowered, the rest of the party members, realizing they were not in a combat situation, approached cautiously.
The party consisted of a tank wielding a Kite Shield and a one-handed axe, a rogue who had silently descended from a tree, a mage who brushed away branches with her staff, and a woman in a pristine white nun's robes.
One man and three women made for an interesting combination.
"Um, did you also destroy the goblin settlement behind you?"
"Yeah."
The three women were taken aback by my words.
The male tank seemed to accept it naturally, but the women looked as if they were in a similar situation as my party.
The seasoned mid-floor adventurer tank was probably guiding the inexperienced trio.
The forest boss that appears on the 20th floor, no... If something like the full moon wolf is the real boss, then what appears on the 20th floor would be more like a named mob.
It was slightly stronger but appeared in numbers.
In any case, the Orc Hunter that should have been on the 20th floor was closer to a silent assassin.
It utilized ambushes in the forest with Moss Wolf hides, powerful arrows propelled by orcish strength, and various traps befitting its name as a hunter.
"I told you. An Orc Hunter would never leave traces like these."
"Alright, we get it, sir."
Leaving me standing there dumbfounded, they resumed their whispered conversation among themselves.
The middle-aged tank had a stoic expression but tended to nag like an innkeeper when he spoke.
The rogue and mage shrugged their shoulders in annoyance, but one of them had a different reaction.
A woman in a spotless white nun's robe that seemed to be unaffected by the forest.
Instead of an explorer-like outfit, she wore a religious robe that didn't reveal her figure.
Her hood was properly worn, not showing a single strand of hair.
Everything that needed to be covered was covered, but her exposed face was striking.
It might be a prejudice, but her face alone looked like she could be at least 4.
***
1/4! New update of the site is up and is looking pretty stable not bad. Ads are working... kind of... something to fix as usual but I'll be posting chappies for the weekend and work on that next week.
I haven't completed reviewing all the ads but I have completed the first few hundred, please remove ad block for this site. Google does a good job in making sure they're not harmful. I'll be looking out for these as well.
No popups and I'm blocking some are that too inappropriate or stupid or oogly(disturbing). Like that one webtoon one where there's usually a girl going "Wow it's so big." or this one dental one. Was gross.
Enjoy the chappy!
Please give the book a rating and a review on NovelUpdates.
It helps the website and helps people find this novel!
Novel illustrations are also found on the ko-fi link below! Check out the gallery page inside the ko-fi page.
If you'd like to make a one-time donation to support our translations or subscribe to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can do so via Ko-fi.
