Volume 4 Chapter 10 - The old man climbs a cliff. (1/2)

We entered the hot and humid jungle in Grannel where squalls and heavy downpour occurred excessively.

Just as expected, a squall occurred just as we entered the dungeon. Thanks to the horrible weather, our visibility was effectively zero making it impossible to advance deeper into the jungle. Instead we looked for the largest nearby tree, hiding under its reach to seek shelter from the rain.

Despite this, Luna and Til were still in high spirits.

[Yuuya, Yuuya. Look at my cute raincoat!] (Luna)

[The rain is unexpectedly fun.] (Til)

The two of them enjoyed putting on their newly bought raincoats. Phil and Selene on the other hand, didn’t enjoy the rain in the slightest.

Their reactions were much more reasonable as heavy rains were disastrous for adventurers.

Firstly, at this level of downpour our vision is effectively cut off and rendered ineffective.

Second, the sound of the rain drowns out any nearby noises and even washes away any smell lingering in the area.

With our eyes, nose and ears being ineffective against our enemies, we may as well be defenseless.

[Luna, no matter the circumstances do not turn off your Presence Detection. This rain is extremely dangerous.] (Yuuya)

[Uhn? But I can’t sense anything at all. Wouldn’t the monsters be the same?] (Luna)

[What you just said is the most dangerous thing yet. Think about it from another perspective. In this situation where our eyes, nose and ears aren’t reliable, our actions are affected and limited. For monsters who live in this environment, they are likely unaffected by the rain. How much of a threat are they to us?] (Yuuya)

[That sounds dangerous.] (Luna)

[Yuuya-niisan, isn’t that dirty. In this rain even though I don’t have the confidence to shoot my bow. Even my lightning spells can’t be used. If I was as good as my sister then maybe I would be able to do something.] (Til)

[That’s not true. If it was just a drizzle then it should be alright but with rains this heavy, I think the maximum distance I can shoot is only thirty metres.] (Phil)

Although a distance of thirty metres is the distance a normal archer could guarantee to land in perfect condition in the perfect environment. Til and Phil were abnormal in retrospect as they could easily land arrows a hundred or two metres away

[Yuuya-ojisama, how would the monsters be able to see us in this weather?] (Selene)

[It’s simple. Using Presence Detection. There are also monsters capable of using it from time to time.] (Yuuya)

Monsters capable of using the same skills as us also exists. Albeit rare there are still monsters capable of using Presence Detection. Among those monsters, the most famous is the Silver Slime. It was a monster which gives an insane amount of experience once defeated, as if you had just defeated the boss of the dungeon.

Essentially everybody wanted to defeat this monster, however with Presence Detection it escapes from its predators with incredible speed whenever it senses danger. Furthermore, it’s much more difficult to defeat the monster let alone keep up with its speed while its escaping. The only known way to defeat the Silver Slime was to corner the monster by cutting off its escape route, chasing it into a dead end and attacking as hard as possible using your strongest skill with a critical hit. Without a party capable of using Presence Detection and Assassinate together, it’s pretty much impossible to defeat the monster.

[I understand! Luna will do her best using Presence Detection.] (Luna)

Although Presence Detection didn’t drain its user’s mana to activate, it does place a huge mental strain onto the user making it difficult to maintain for a prolonged duration. However in this rain we can only rely on Luna’s Presence Detection.

We’ll have to do our best.

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I began to feel drowsy as I continued to listen to the sound of the rain.

The water on the ground wasn’t being drained quick enough as the mud pools on the ground had piled up, merging into a gigantic shallow mud lake. Due to this, we had no choice but to switch to our waterproof boots. It was a lot heavier than our usual footwear and slowed down our mobility significantly.

[Yuuya, there’s a monster approaching us from the back.] (Luna)

[What kind of monster?] (Yuuya)

[Probably… a cat?] (Luna)

[The monster I was hoping wouldn’t appear is here. It isn’t a cat. It’s a Squall Panther.] (Yuuya)

It was a monster who utilized it’s Presence Detection and the frequent squalls to sneak up on its prey. It sneaks up within the storm, targeting its unsuspecting prey neck with its razor sharp fangs. It was an intelligent monster which hid in the shadows during the clear weather and became active once it begins to rain.

[Everyone, do not turn back. It’s a cowardly monster. Once it realizes that we’ve noticed its presence it’ll definitely escape. It may be a difficult monster to deal with but we’ll definitely defeat it. It also drops desirable items for us.] (Yuuya)

Since it was a monster that only appears during the rain, adventurers would not encounter this monster often and even if they did, it was a monster that only appeared whenever it was confident of its kill.

[Yuuya, it is only 10 metres away from us. It’s slowly approaching us with silent steps.] (Luna)

[You’re lying. I can’t sense its presence at all. And I’m pretty sensitive to the presence of others.] (Til)

[We’re in this rain after all so it can’t be helped.] (Phil)

Although we were currently within a rainstorm, it was still impressive that the monster couldn’t be detected by Til and Phil who were elves with sensitive senses. That was its natural ability it possessed being born as a panther.

[Another 5 metres.] (Luna)

[Who is it targetting?] (Yuuya)

[Phil. It feels like its looking towards Phil’s neck.] (Luna)

[Understood. In that case, we’ll continue to move forward to hide our intentions. Selene stay next to Phil and the moment it pounces, you’ll intercept it using your spikes.] (Yuuya)

[I understand.] (Phil)

[I’ll make my preparations.] (Selene)

Selene seemed to be nervous as she began clutching her shield. Since we were unable to turn around, we had to focus our nerves behind us. It was likely too close for Luna to give us any signal since our voices could reach its ears. The moment it was within two metres, I finally caught a glimpse of the Squall Panther. However, what I noticed wasn’t it’s figure but it’s murderous intent as I was particularly sensitive to it.

Taking advantage of its body structure, it leaped into the air, masking its actions using the strong winds. Selene who was next to Phil turned to the side as she held Renoir’s shield into the air.

[Shield Bash!] (Selene)

Using the strength of her entire body, she stuck out Renoir’s Shield, releasing a spike into the Squall Panther who was about to bite into Phil’s neck, blowing it into the large tree we used to seek shelter.

The Squall Panther’s body began conversing as it laid on the ground, turning into blue particles several seconds later and leaving behind its pink skin.

[Fuu. Somehow I actually defeated it. I was worried that Phil-san would get injured to my incompetence.] (Selene)

[I knew that I would be safe since we’re talking about Selene after all.] (Phil)

Though it may sound like it, Phil wasn’t speaking words of flattery as she was a veteran explorer with a reliable sense of evaluation. She wasn’t naive enough to leave her life into the hands of someone she couldn’t trust.

[Yuuya, that was a vicious monster.] (Luna)

[Uhn. It look extremely disgusting too.] (Til)

[That was the result of evolving into a predator specialized in assassination.] (Yuuya)

The Squall Panther was covered in pink skin with a rubbery texture. Since it didn’t have any hair it wasn’t bothered by the rain and could move around easily in the rain and mud. Furthermore it didn’t have any eyes, nose and ears with a huge mouth. Since it evolved to rely on Presence Detection, its other organs weren’t necessary and had deteriorated severely.

[We’ve gotten a good souvenir though.] (Yuuya)

[What are we going to do with that rubbery skin?] (Til)

[If we use this to craft an armor, the end result is a piece of equipment highly resistant against the lightning element. Eventually among the three dragons, we’ll need specialized equipment against them. Against the Wind Dragon, we’ll need to have lightning and wind resistant equipment before we challenge it. Without it, it wouldn’t even be a battle.] (Yuuya)

The Coronoa Dragon which took us a difficult battle for us to defeat was actually the weakest among the three dragons. However it was still possible to defeat it without any flame resistant equipment. Unlike the Coronoa Dragon, the other two dragons were impossible to defeat without it.

[Yuuya-ojisama. I don’t really want to imagine myself wearing equipment made of that pink skin.] (Selene)