Chapter 79

Translator: “Pink Tea” Editor: “Weasalopes”

I grasped the hang of diving, so I once again get into the water.

I keep collecting fish. There was one with a human-looking face which I made sure to catch. It’s creepy though.

Occasionally I was disturbed by the likes of a bone fish or sea snakes but there is no problem so far.

However, if more powerful monsters were to come out it will be tough. Due to interference from the water,【Purple Lightning】or【White Flame】can’t be used. I am shooting【Stone Bullet】but due to water resistance it is very slow.

「Let’s dive deeper.」

Making bubbles instead of speaking I dive deeper. Gradually it is getting darker but since I have【Night Eye】my vision is ensured to some extent.

The depth is about thirty meters. The bottom had rocks, boulders and such, here and there seaweed could be seen.

There were bright red kelp and blue wakame, so I went for them right away. Kelp and wakame may look similar but they are quite different in nutrition.

After item appraisal, it has been established that kelp is A rank and wakame is B rank. I shall collect as many as possible.

「…What?」

Many small fishes cut in front of me all at once. Getting a bad feeling, I hid in the shadows of a rocky area.

It was the right answer. A huge shark was passing by. I don’t feel like I will be able to win a battle against that.

Let’s quckly find the stairs.

After about five minutes of search, I discovered a giant octopus.

Looks like it’s a monster called King Octopus. Level 48 with two skills,【Suction Pad】and【Octopus Ink】. The first one probably meant that he had more suction power than an ordinary octopus. The latter I suspect to spit ink.

My level was higher but I could not get careless since I was able to use only one-third of the power I had on the ground.

I want to avoid it, but something curious was in the immediate vicinity of the octopus. The reef strangely had a button on it and on the floor was something resembling an iron tile that could open and close.

Isn’t it leading to the 10th floor?

I waited in hope that the monster will go away. But it shows no signs of leaving. Guess I’ll have to do it.

While keeping plenty of distance I swim in front of the octopus. If he will chase after me I will be able to press the button while pretending to run away.

…No reaction. Its eyes seem to follow me though.

It’s useless. Even if I provoke him it’s too calm.

Then, sensing a strange presence I turn around… And quickly hide behind the reef. A shark came along.

I think that’s probably the same one I saw not long ago. It’s not a monster and yet it’s dangerous.

「Ah.」

For me, that was a nice development. The shark attacked the king octopus. Attaboy, get him!

I was cheering inside, but very soon I lost view of the battle. Because octopus spit ink and it spread over the vast range.

Wow, I can’t see anything at all. After a few minutes, water finally returned to its original condition. I was astonished.

It’s caught?!

The shark that was so vigorous was caught by squirming tentacles of the octopus. It’s probably already dead.

If those limbs with a massive number of suckers twine around you there is no escape. And it started to devour the shark.

After all, I won’t be able to get through without defeating him. Should I create a suitable skill?

Octopus Slayer C. . . . . .500

Octopus Slayer B. . . . . .800

Octopus Slayer A. . . . . .1500

Octopus Slayer S. . . . . .2500

I’d like to take S here. Where should I【Grant】it. It’s gotta be the harpoon. It seems that there is good compatibility with the harpoon and only 200 LP were required.

Without hesitation, I strengthen the harpoon.

「How about this, an exclusive weapon for killing octopuses is complete.」

I get behind King Octopus. Even while eating the shark it was wary of me as well.

Let’s retreat at full strength if it spits ink.

Slowly. Slowly. Approach. It moved as well, extending one tentacle towards me.

Take it!

I try to stab the tip of the tentacle with the harpoon. And immediately King Octopus shows an extreme reaction. It trembles and releases captured shark. Even after that, it kept moving all of its tentacles as if it was in pain.

Looks like it took an insane amount of damage. As expected of S grade. I felt an urge to push through, but let’s be cautious here.

*Bushuuuuu*

It performed an ink attack, so I rushed to the surface while distancing myself from the monster. As expected, it won’t chase me far.

After visibility will improve I approach again. I’m starting to run out of breath so I would like to finish the battle soon.

I attack with the harpoon a few tentacles that were stretching to me. It started rampaging again, so using this opportunity I came closer and finished it by striking the head. I was able to safely secure the victory.

I press the button on the reef right away. As I thought, the metallic part of the floor has opened, so I proceed there.

I fall down along with water.

「Ouuch…」

I crashed into the floor. Damn, that’s rough treatment. It seems that the gates were opening only for a few seconds and they were about to completely close already.

Sure, if they stayed open all the time then the 10th floor would be flooded out as well.

Well, well, so at the 10th floor, we are back to the corridor type. Ahead of me is the straight path that bends to the right further in the deep.

The walls were of dark grey iron, the surface was clean without any irregularities. There were no enemies in sight, so first I take off my clothes and squeeze them and then take a rest until【Dungeon Portal】is usable again.

Since clothes take quite a while to dry, I move ahead in the topless state. Am I a naked bandit?

I walk along the pathway and then turn right when I bump into the wall. Then, unnaturally, in the middle of the road was standing a stone statue of a dog. Moreover, it had a wide open mouth.

It gave off a weird feeling so I appraised it.

Stone Dog, level 200, skill【Red Lazer】it says…

「So it’s a monster.」

It didn’t show even the slightest movement but instead, particles of red light started to gather near its mouth. There is no need to even guess, that must be its favorite beam.

In a rush, I go back the way I came. It takes time to charge so I should make it in time. Well, I didn’t.

A thin but fast red beam rushes me. Diving to the floor I evade the first attack. The beam had enough power to leave a mark on the iron wall. With physical resistance of the human body, it might be harsh.

The second beam was coming so I crawled on the floor around the corner. Somehow I managed to successfully get away. But a beam scratched the back of my shoe a bit.

「It melted. Scary.」

It’s not a consecutive attack yet the time until the next shot was short. Without a sturdy armor or a shield, it’s hard to approach.

That’s it for today.

Using Dungeon Portal I returned to the teacher. Seeing my appearance, she goes frolic.

『No way, you came to make love to Olivia?』

「My clothes simply got wet!」

But indeed I look like a pervert. Since clothes were still wet it’s a bit unpleasant but I put them back on.

『You could have just put a skill for quick drying on clothes.』

「I’m down to three thousand LP. Unlike some legendary adventurer, I cannot waste them.」

『Oh yea, that reminds me! For your sake, I came up with ways to gather a lot of LP.』

「That is a rare concern from you, teacher.」

『You have a wicked tongue. Well, the contents are a bit silly so it’s fine. For example pushing each other with buttocks, princess carry or kisses… Eh, too stupid? I know, right? Ahahahahah!』

It’s not. I was silent because I felt that they might be quite effective. Even merely being sandwiched between two cute girls gave a lot of LP.

「Just in case, please share your ideas with me.」

『You even planning to take notes? Are you seriously going to try them?』

「For future reference. Just in case.」

『You little pervert. Fine, then I will tell you what I came up with.』

As expected, Master had bold imagination, mine could not even begin to compare. From her mouth, one after another come out profound ways to play that I wouldn’t be able to think up on my own. Without missing even one I write down all of them.

「It was very helpful. I will come again.」

『I will think up something risky as well.Bye.』

When I parted with the teacher and returned to town, the surroundings were already dark. Looking up, there was a beautiful night sky that immersed me into a fairytale-like feeling. However, I have things to do, so I hurry to the armor shop.

Arms shops also had shields and armors but they could not compare to the specialized store after all. I search for a shield at the shop that had the biggest selection of gear in town.

The price difference was extreme with numbers ranging from several hundred ria to hundreds of millions. It seems that gear with the cost of several hundred million would have multiple skills attached.

There is even a gear with magic reflection or stamina recovery from simply touching it. As I was appraising with great interest, a shopkeeper with a small mustache called out to me.

「Is there anything you want?」

「I might make a purchase soon.」

「I would recommend this.」

A small round bronze shield? Since it’s a recommendation it has to be quite outstanding, so I check it, and it has zero skills. And yet it had a ridiculous price of five million ria.

Probably he underestimates me because I’m young. Let’s take a jab at him.

「I don’t need it.」

「It’s not a simple bronze shield, it’s a work of the legendary master blacksmith Noston.」

「He must be very famous. But I don’t have spare money to throw away five million for a shield without any skills.」

「…Are you in possession of appraisal eye?」

「Something like that.」

When I returned the unfriendly answer, the eyes of the shopkeeper completely changed. It didn’t seem like it was because he failed, but more like he was happy.

「If that’s fine with you, how about working here? I don’t mind if it’s only for a short while.」

「I’m quite busy as well. You want me to appraise items for purchase, don’t you?」

「The appraiser that I hired ran off with money… There are a few items that I want to appraise no matter what, at least for one hour, please lend me your strength.」

「I also have my plans, I can accept if you don’t mind to postpone it for a while.」

If I cooperate he might sell me a shield cheaper.

「Certainly, please come by when you have time. We will be awaiting you!」

I have made an arrangement. I had a bit of sympathy for shopkeeper after all.

Running off with the money, that’s some terrible thing to do. Thinking about that, I guess I’m quite blessed with acquaintances.

Since there is a lot of kind people around me.

Though they tend to be a little weird.