<strong><b>Itai no Wa 214</b></strong>


    Defense Specialization and the Tower''s Third Floor


    Grasping the situation, Maple runs back to Sally.


    "Huh? Huh?"


    "That''s right! Maple, check your skills!"


    Sally calls out to the breathless Maple, who confirms that all of her lost skills had returned.


    "Ah, look at that! My defense is back!"


    "Yeah? Uh… we should take it easy around here…"


    Sally tells that to herself, nods and takes a deep breath.


    "Looks like the terrain around here deals fixed damage. It doesn''t seem to deal that much, though. Ah, I should have known, after that time at the volcano map…"


    "I''ve been damaged for 20 points. And you Sally… it doesn''t look like you can avoid it, right?"


    "That''s right… it hurts quite a bit. But hey, Maple, look."


    Sally points at the ce in the ground where Maple had taken damage a few moments ago.


    There''s a small red crack there from where theva had emerged.


    It''s a sign that is easy to notice.


    "I see… I can see look for those and avoid them when I see them!"


    "We should be on the lookout for these walls. What kind of monsters are going to appear next?"


    Maple asks that question, then remembers something, and starts looking sad all of a sudden.


    "I… I took damage… Even though I had somehow managed to stay unharmed during the boss battle…!"


    "Ah, but… terrain damage doesn''t count, right? Haha, see? It wasn''t from an enemy."


    After Sallyughs it off with her suggestion, Maple closes her eyes and begins to nod frantically.


    "It doesn''t… it doesn''t count! It doesn''t count! I''ll do my best to stay undamaged against monsters! Ah, I''ll be looking at the ground, too!"


    Maple changes into her ck armor and starts to look more motivated.


    "Well then, let''s go! It doesn''t look like there are any monsters around."


    "We should have a good look around!"


    "I''ll stay alert. I won''t miss a thing!"


    The two begin walking on the third floor once again.


    Since Maple is so caught up in looking at the ground, Sally decides to look around them as they go.


    There are three paths ahead of them, and all of them look exactly the same, with their wallspletely covered with rocks.


    "Which way should we go, Maple?"


    "… If we go through the middle path, we may be able to keep an eye on the left and right ones, so let''s take the middle one!"


    "All right, let''s go then."


    As Maple holds her shield up, Sally checks the surroundings from within the area of effect of ''Cover''.


    "Maple, wait. There''s something here."


    "Okay… Oh, you''re right! It''s hard to see with all thisva flowing out of the walls… It''s a bit different from the fire bird we saw on the first floor, right?"


    Maple ces her hand over her forehead and narrows her eyes as if trying to get a better look, and sees a bird-like monster about 3 feet tall, dripping gleamingva as it flies about.


    The monster seems to emerge from theva that pours out from the walls, making it hard to stop them from spawning.


    "It''s possible that theva that monster is dropping inflicts fixed damage, so don''t get hit."


    "Got it. I''ll do this when I see iting!"


    Maple holds her shield over her head like an umbre.


    After their conversation, they decide to fight, so they wait for the perfect opportunity and jump at the monster.


    "''Ice Pir''… Huh!?"


    Sally creates her ice pirs as usual and steps on them in order to put herself at a higher position than the bird, which is flying in the air.


    But the pirs melt away instantly, and their effect is lost.


    "So I can''t use ice… then how about water?"


    Sally uses a water spell and urately hits the monster with it. The monster''sva turns ck almost instantly, and, no longer able to fly, falls right in front of Maple.


    "So they''re weak to water! … Not that I can use any water spells myself, but… ''Deploy All Weapons'' ''Commence Attack''!"


    Maple aims at the fallen bird and lets loose a barrage of bullets. Such a small fry cannot withstand that kind of attack, so it disappears.


    "Okay, let''s keep it up!"


    Maple aims her weapons up and fires at another fire bird that was flying around, but the bullet pierces through it and flies off into the distance.


    "Huh? It didn''t work?"


    "It seems that you need to weaken them with a water attack first, so leave them to me!"


    "Oh, sure thing!"


    Once the bird is brought down with a water attack, it cannot fly anymore.


    The two of them have just the right level to understand the nature of these monsters, which are so different from the ones found on the second floor.