Hmm.
I finally made it out of the magma lake region and reached an area with actual land.
That was great, but I haven't hunted a single Monster since then.
As a result, my SP—which I had so much of—has been steadily draining.
It probably won't drain all the way to zero before I starve to death, but to conserve it, I've been avoiding using any SP-related Skills.
Ugh, what do I do?
It's not like I can just hide out in the magma or anything.
There's no way I could do anything in there.
Hiding out in a field that favors you and playing defense—how cowardly is that?
Can't you fight fair and square, you shameless lot?
But seriously, I'm in a bind.
Most of the Middle Layer Monsters can flee into the magma.
If I'm on land, my Speed would let me finish them off before they escape, but if they're already in the magma from the start, there's nothing I can do.
I guess I could keep things going by picking off the Monsters that stay on land, but that wouldn't be very efficient in terms of Experience Points.
I want to rack up Skill Points too.
I can evolve at Level 20, and before then I was planning to get one more Evil Eye. Then after evolving, I'd use the bonus and subsequent level-ups to aim for something like Sloth, but this is throwing a wrench in the whole plan.
What should I do?
If I go up to the Upper Layer, there's no magma, so even if they run, I could chase them down without issue...
Ugh, is there any Monster out there that won't run away?
That's what I was thinking, but—seriously, isn't this just ridiculous?
『Fire Dragon Rend — Level 20 Status HP: 3,701/3,701 (green) +1,200 (details) MP: 3,122/3,122 (blue) +1,200 (details) SP: 3,698/3,698 (yellow) (details) : 3,665/3,665 (red) +912 (details) Average Attack Ability: 3,281 (details) Average Defense Ability: 3,009 (details) Average Magic Ability: 2,645 (details) Average Resistance Ability: 2,601 (details) Average Speed Ability: 3,175 (details) Skills "Fire Dragon Lv1" "Reverse Scale Lv8" "HP High-Speed Recovery Lv3" "MP Recovery Speed Lv6" "MP Consumption Relief Lv6" "Magic Power Perception Lv5" "Magic Power Operation Lv4" "Magic Power Strike Lv4" "SP High-Speed Recovery Lv1" "SP Consumption Great Relief Lv1" "Flame Attack Lv9" "Flame Enhancement Lv7" "Destruction Enhancement Lv6" "Slashing Enhancement Lv2" "Piercing Enhancement Lv2" "Blunt Force Great Enhancement Lv2" "Coordination Lv10" "Command Lv2" "Three-Dimensional Movement Lv4" "Accuracy Lv10" "Evasion Lv10" "Probability Great Correction Lv5" "Presence Detection Lv10" "Danger Detection Lv10" "Heat Detection Lv3" "Flight Lv7" "High-Speed Swimming Lv10" "Satiety Lv2" "Fire Magic Lv4" "Slashing Resistance Lv1" "Piercing Resistance Lv1" "Blunt Force Great Resistance Lv1" "Heat Nullification" "Status Abnormality Resistance Lv1" "Vitality Lv5" "Mana Storage Lv4" "Flash Step Lv5" "Endurance Lv5" "Brute Force Lv5" "Toughness Lv5" "Taoist Lv4" "Talisman Lv3" "Shrink Step Lv5"
Skill Points: 30,050 Title "Monster Slayer" "Monster Slaughterer" "Leader" "Dragon" "Overlord"』
The encounter was sudden.
The moment we entered each other's danger detection range, both of us tensed up at exactly the same time.
It was a fire dragon.
With wings sprouting from a shape that was already dragon-like, it was the very image of what a dragon should be.
Looking at its Status, it seemed to be roughly on par with the Earth Dragon Kaguna.
I'd been thinking I might be able to fight the Earth Dragon Kaguna, and then this shows up.
We still had some distance between us.
But it looked like it was ready to go.
What to do?
[1 vote for running] {Agreed} Yeah, figured as much.
Right then—full-speed dash! I'm fleeing with Dash!
Like I could take on a dragon!
And then—the fire dragon came chasing after me!
You've got to be kidding me?!
[This is bad. It's faster than us!]
{It's catching up!} Magic officer—use that spell to get us out of here!
{Roger!} The magic officer activates a certain spell.
Shadow Magic Level 7: Shadow Sink.
This spell sinks things into shadows.
The size of what you can sink depends on how much MP you consume, and you can't sink anything larger than the shadow itself.
If you combined it with Shadow Magic Level 2's Greater Shadow—which can alter the shadow's size—you could sink bigger things, too.
As for what happens to the things you sink: the destination seems to connect to a special space called the Shadow Space.
And that space has no air, you can barely move, and it's basically a death trap of a void.
If you sink an enemy in there, they'd be done for in one shot.
However, you can't close the entrance while something is inside, so getting out is actually pretty easy.
Also, if the thing being sunk resists, it can slip out without much trouble.
I'd already proven this when I used it on some Monsters as a pitfall trap before.
The spell seems pretty useless, honestly, but I came up with an idea—combining it with Shadow Magic Level 3's Shadow Manifestation, which lets you create shadows even in light, to use it as an emergency escape spell.
It's my first time trying it, but anything beats getting caught by this fire dragon.
So, right before the fire dragon catches up, I plunge into the shadow.
At the same time, I drop the Intimidation and all that, killing my presence.
There's no air in there, so I can't breathe, but using Detection to check on the situation, I see that the fire dragon—having watched its prey vanish right in front of it—has begun looking around in confusion.
If it just leaves without noticing me, the plan's a success.
But will my breath hold out until then?
Oh no, this isn't gonna work.
A sudden realization hits.
After looking around frantically for a while, the fire dragon starts staring intently at the ground.
Right at my feet.
Where I'm hiding.
That's right.
I'd forgotten about one troublesome Skill among the fire dragon's arsenal.
Presence Detection Lv10.
I wasn't a rat in a bag—I was a spider in a shadow.