Volume 4 Chapter 4-2 Valley of Trials – Second Floor
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Figures──turns out, you really can’t use other skills while you’re meditating.
It’s like trying to sing and drink water at the same time.
Just… nope. Not happening.
Still, I couldn’t let it go.
I kept messing with things, and then──huh──something interesting popped up.
Even if you stop the perception-blocking skill for a split second, the effect actually lingers.
Same goes for the meditation skill.
It’s got a sort of inertia──skills don’t just quit instantly.
So then… what if I kept flicking the perception-blocking skill and meditation skill on and off, super fast?
Turns out, you end up with the same effect as using Stealth and meditation at the same time.
Timing the switches is pretty unforgiving, but──not gonna lie──I’m good at this kinda stuff.
Was always obsessed with cancel moves in fighting games.
Bundling in auxiliary skills like Optical Camouflage and toggling them all together?
Easy. No problem at all.
Probably helps that they were all lumped together as part of the Stealth skill in the first place.
Gave it a try for a while.
Once you get the hang of it, you can basically run it perfect, no mistakes.
Infinite cancel loops don’t count as cheating if you’re doing ’em by hand, but when playing at a friend’s house, I always banned ‘broken’ moves like that.
Movement cancels got a bit more leeway, though──so I’d dart around at impossible speed, jittering all over the place just for fun.
Never thought I’d wind up pulling the same tricks in another world.
Not in a million years.
So, that’s my anti-MP-drain plan, at least for now.
After this, it’s all about luck.
Just steer clear of any spot with 3 or more pixies clustered up and keep moving.
I’m still nervous, but… no turning back.
Time to go.
There’s the first one──sitting pretty right on top of a stone spire, dead ahead.
I ease right past her, keeping a close eye.
She’s got these long, skinny arms and legs──honestly, looks almost human.
Don’t know about gender, but with a cute face like that, I’m betting female.
Or maybe a boy?
Hard to say.
Everything but her head looks a lot like an Antfolk’s exoskeleton.
Doesn’t look like she’s wearing clothes, but not much bare skin showing, either.
Wings are like a dragonfly’s──no veins, just incredibly flexible.
Monsters in this dungeon probably aren’t the real deal anyway.
They’re not finely crafted robots, but there’s something… artificial about them.
Their movements are sorta… predictable.
They wait for a bit, then take off randomly, and if they spot an intruder, it’s straight to battle.
Is this their routine or something?
They don’t seem to have any will or purpose of their own, making them impossible to anticipate──totally reliant on sheer luck.
The worst is when 2 or more are in the air at the same time.
I’ve got to weave through them without getting cornered, but their flight speed is so fast, there’s not much I can do.
Now, just a bit more to the stairs leading to the third basement floor, that’s when the biggest pinch hit.
Bad luck had 5 of them gathering right in the next corridor.
Charging through is out of the question, so I’ll back off a little and take a breather in the shadows of the stone pillars.
Constantly switching my skills to pulse mode is mentally exhausting.
It’s a real bummer that all this trouble is just to match the effect of an MP recovery piece of equipment.
Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure the dungeon’s clear reward had an MP recovery ring.
The ring’s abilities are random, but hitting on an MP recovery ring would be a straight shot.
There are other rings with extra powers or invisibility, but half of them are cursed duds.
Anything else would be fine, but that MP recovery ring… I really want it.
If only I could have it now.
My luck took a dive when a Pixie zipped in close, ending my break.
There are only 3 left in front.
Three of them, should I force my way through?
The exhaustion is hitting me hard, maybe because I took that break.
Sleep’s coming at me strong.
Feels like I haven’t slept for ages.
Either way, I need to make it to a safe zone and grab some shut-eye, stat.
Losing my cool now would be stupid, something in the back of my mind is ringing like an alarm, but I’m choosing to ignore it.
I dart past the 3 of them.
My Stealth skill is getting chewed up fast, but it’s expected.
I thought I might just make it… when the worst-case scenario unfolds.
One of them, the one from before, is tottering back right now.
The piercing stares of 4 pixies shredded my Stealth Skill in an instant.
I cranked my power to max trying to keep up──my MP bottomed out, just like that.
Guess that should’ve been game over… but the next second, meditation refilled my MP to full.
Barely kept it together with Stealth Skill at max all over again.
After that, I managed to tumble down onto the stairs to the third basement floor.
No clue what the hell just happened, but honestly?
I don’t even want to think about it.
My head’s pounding, but whatever──it worked out, didn’t it?
One swig of water from my canteen, curled up in the corner of the stairs, and I was out like a light.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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