「Hey」
「Ah, Diana-chan, hey」
It was Diana-chan.
She came into my room while greeting me in a casual way, so I casually returned the greeting as well.
「Looks like your house arrest is over. Congrats?」
「Yeah. Thanks」
I do not know why she said it like a question, but thanks anyway.
「So, you know, I just met with Ralina earlier」
「Oh, really」
「I was about to tell Ralina 『I am going to meet Alec now』, but…」
「…………」
Why does Diana-chan want to provoke Ralina-chan this badly?
Maybe it is because they are actually close. Maybe they are just fooling around together. I hope so. I really want to believe that.
「But then I realized your house arrest was already over, right?」
「Ah, yeah. It was lifted a little while ago, so I met Ralina-chan again after a long time」
「Yeah, I heard. But still, Ralina was acting kind of strange. Well, she is always strange though」
That was casually cruel, Diana-chan…..
「Um, was she different from usual somehow?」
「Yeah. She was thinking really hard about something」
「Thinking hard?」
Could it be about my world trip?
Or maybe she has already figured out the truth and…
「She kept muttering something about a wild boar in a swimsuit」
「…………」
…For now, it seems the dummy keywords are working properly.
Even so, could she not have combined those keywords a little better, Ralina-chan?
「Anyway, whatever. What is up? Are you going somewhere?」
「Ah, yeah. I was just about to head out」
「Where to?」
「Hmm. Anywhere is fine, but I guess I will go with giant rats」
◇
So, together with Diana-chan, I came to the 『World Tree-sama’s Dungeon』.
It has been quite a while since I last came here. Because of the Time of Miasma Demon and the house arrest, I could not come for some time, so it has probably been about a month and a half.
We moved smoothly through the dungeon we had not visited in a while, and soon arrived at 4-2.
This time, my target was the 4-2 area. The 4-2 area’s 『Wild Giant Rat』.
「Oh, there it is」
We found a Wild Giant Rat almost immediately after reaching 4-2.
「Alec really likes rats, huh」
「It is not really like that, but…」
It is not that I like them. Still, when it comes to test swings, test shots, and various experiments, I kind of want the giant rats to cooperate.
That said, regular giant rats are already too weak now, and they are not very suitable for testing anymore.
Because of that, I placed a new kind of giant rat in a new area. That is the Wild Giant Rat of area 4-2.
The Wild Giant Rat is a monster that is born when a giant rat evolves.
Even so, it is only one possible evolution, and apparently not all giant rats evolve into Wild Giant Rats.
It seems giant rats have several evolution paths. Besides Wild Giant Rats, there are Giant Rat Leaders, Fire Giant Rats, Ice Giant Rats, Titan Rats, Super Rats, and more.
For me, any kind of rat would have been fine, so this time I chose the relatively safe-looking Wild Giant Rat.
I was a little curious about Super Rats too, but I decided against it in case they were actually super strong.
「Alright, Diana-chan. Just like I told you before we left, I am going to test 『Power Attack』 now」
The reason we came all this way was to test 『Power Attack』.
『Power Attack』 is a 『Hammer』 skill art I obtained recently. My plan was to check its performance on a Wild Giant Rat.
「What should I do? Want support?」
「Hm? Well, it should be fine. I will try fighting it alone for now」
「I see. Then I will just cheer you on」
「Thanks, Diana-chan」
「Do your bestー」
「Y-yeah. Thanks」
With Diana-chan’s sloppy cheering at my back, I started walking toward the Wild Giant Rat.
I was already equipped with Alexis Hammer No. 1. Preparations were complete. Come at me anytime, Wild Giant Rat.
「…Still, other than the fur, you really cannot tell the difference」
There is a visible change in the fur between the pre-evolution Giant Rat and the Wild Giant Rat.
While Giant Rats are gray, Wild Giant Rats are brown. On top of that, their fur seems a bit rougher… maybe, but it is hard to tell.
That is about it for appearance differences. Their size does not really change.
Their stats seem to be quite different, though. Even if it takes one of my arrows, a Wild Giant Rat can endure about one hit….It dies on the second hit.
So despite having evolved, the Wild Giant Rat is still fairly weak.
I am guessing it can be pulverized in a single hit from 『Power Attack』, but let us see.
「Kii!」
「Even the cry is the same… Maybe going with Super Rat would have been more interesting…」
「Kii! Kii!」
Noticing my approach, the Wild Giant Rat charged straight at me.
「Alright then, let us land a cool counter」
I ended up dislocating my shoulder during the Wild Boar fight, but with a Wild Giant Rat, there should be no problem.
I readied Alexis Hammer No. 1, pulled it back, measured the timing,
「Kii!」
「Now, wait, huh!? Whoa-h, 『Glowing Power Attack』!」
Just as I was about to unleash 『Power Attack』, for various reasons, 『Glowing Power Attack』 ended up activating instead.
The Wild Giant Rat that took a direct hit from 『Glowing Power Attack』 rolled several meters across the ground… and then stopped moving. It seemed to be defeated.
「Ah…」
Around the side of the Wild Giant Rat I had smashed, glowing moss sprouted out in a thick clump.
「Ah… I see. It stays, huh…」
The defeated Wild Giant Rat was absorbed into the dungeon as if it were melting away. However, the glowing moss was not absorbed and remained on the ground.
The glowing moss did not disappear…. The glowing moss does not disappear!
「…What was that?」
「Huh? Ah, yeah…」
Diana-chan ran over and asked with a puzzled look.
Well, of course she would find it strange. I am fully aware that my behavior was extremely suspicious…
「You know, like… something, clicked」
「Clicked?」
「Clicked」
It really did click. The image was like a light bulb going 『ping』 above my head.
「Right when I tried to use 『Power Attack』, it seems I learned 『Glowing Power Attack』… and that kind of made me panic」
At the exact moment I was about to activate 『Power Attack』, the words and image of 『Glowing Power Attack』 suddenly surfaced in my mind, and I seriously panicked.
I just followed the image and activated 『Glowing Power Attack』 as it was…
「What is 『Glowing Power Attack』?」
…That is what I want to know. What even is 『Glowing Power Attack』?
「Um, I think it is probably a composite skill art of 『Glowing Moss』 and 『Power Attack』…」
「Ah, I see. What does it do?」
「Glowing moss grows where I hit」
「…What is the point of that?」
That is what I want to know.
「But look… it is glowing and pretty, right? It is pretty, right?」
「Huh? Um, well… yeah. It is pretty」
「…Yeah. Thanks, Diana-chan」
「Huh? Yeah…」
next chapter:『Cocytus』
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