The stats and skills of the Death Crab are very ordinary, so there’s not much to say about them.
“I’m kind of disappointed.”
“That’s because of all the rare skills you’ve come across, darling. Normally people would be nervous when they saw that giant hermit crab.”
“Are you, Ayane?”
“Hum… Compared to the Golden Worm and Golden Swallowtail Butterfly from yesterday… It does kind of fall short.”
“Right?”
“But it does not change the fact that an attack from those scissors could be dangerous. And it has Command, so all scissor crabs around it will be stronger. Do not let your guard down, master.”
“Yes.”
I peek over at Aki and Maki, but they shake their heads. Yep, they don’t need it.
We talked about it yesterday, and they said they don’t need the experience gained from rare monsters. I figured it might be useful, because stats come into play in one’s everyday life too, but Maki wants to stay away from battles.
It’s not like they have to do it, so I won’t check anymore either, unless they come to me. I will push them to take skills if they’re good though.
“Ayane, Aira. Can you attack it once? Then you go in front and draw its attention, Aira, and I’ll take down the small fry with my bow.”
“Understood.”
“Got it! Fireball!”
Aira attacks the Death Crab before Ayane’s magic can even hit. As a result, the monster keeps attacking Aira even after being hit with Ayane’s magic, and the scissor crabs converge on her too. But Aira doesn’t mind them.
I’m thinking the area its threatening sounds reach is proportional to its size, and scissor crabs close to it respond.
“Hm…”
I figured they might be a threat with those numbers, but a ten percent boost from Command isn’t nearly enough for them to reach Aira when their stats were so low to begin with.
I guess hermit crabs will always be sluggish hermit crabs.
“There, there, there.”
I start from the ones closest to her, and they’re all down in less than a minute. It would be harder if they were agile hill wolves…
“Let’s take it down already. Purple Lightning Arrow.”
Woosh!
I’m about to prepare another Purple Lightning Arrow, because it is a rare monster after all, but I guess that’s overkill. The purple light hits the Death Crab on the head, and it pitches forward until it’s down.
Its movements are so dull, that I wonder for a second if it’s actually dead, but then smoke comes out of its body.
Looks like it really is over.
【Level up】
【Leveled up from thirty-one to thirty-five】
“So weak.. Or I guess this weapon and the skill are strong?”
Aira looks around to see if there are any scissor crabs left, and comes back.
“Is that all of them? I assume with your weapons and stats, an opponent like this will leave much to be desired in terms of level ups. Also, its magic stone was medium sized, and we can more or less gauge their strength by the magic stones.”
“Come to think of it, Boss Wolves have a medium sized magic stone too, and Golden Worms have large ones despite their lower level.”
“Yes. They have better skills and higher stats the bigger the magic stones are.”
“…I see. But didn’t you tell me to be careful?”
“Yes. Despite being an unsatisfactory rank, being a monster means they have weapons they are good against. If you are not conscious of that, you may get hurt. One cannot be too conceited.”
“I see… I’ll be careful.”
Yes, it was easy because I used the bow from a safe distance, and Aira took on the dangerous role of going in front. If I was fighting it with a sword, it may have been a bit tricky. Thinking about fighting that armor with a sword leads me to imagine myself not getting through it with just a couple of attacks.
After all, we’re not fighting on a grassy or rocky location now. This is a beach.
It’s hard to put our full weight into attacks here, and it’s easy for our feet to get caught when trying to dodge, leading to damage.
Ayane and I were pretty much just standing still, but it must have put a strain on Aira. And here I am ignoring that and looking down on the enemy.
“Thanks for going out in the front line, Aira.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Should I fight on the front line too, for the sake of getting better?”
“I think that ambition is wonderful, but even with Adamantine Armor, I cannot really recommend doing things when you are not ready.”
“I see.”
What then…
“…How about this? We will play tag on this beach later, and if you can catch me, you pass.”
“Eeh…? I don’t think I’ll catch you, beach or no beach.”
“I will hold back, of course. But if you are polished enough to do that, you can fight even on bad footing.”
“I guess… Fine, you’re on.”
“By the way, this swimsuit I am wearing actually has a hole in the midsection.”
“…Hn?”
What is this sudden disquieting mood?
“If you can catch me, I will grant you the privilege of putting our hand here.”
“…”
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested, but… I feel like the way Aira is normally, she would let me do that anyway. But let’s not say that.
“Although as far as I am concerned, you are always welcome to.”
“I didn’t say anything!”
“Same with me, darling!”
“Yes yes…”
“Mu… I mean it…”
I reach over to Ayane, but a golden film blocks me.
“Whoa.”
It doesn’t matter if it’s supposed to be an attack, Adamantine Armor blocks it anyway.
Then let’s tap it lightly… And pat her.
“Hehehe.”
“Leaving that aside, the next one might spawn, so let’s be on guard.”
“Yes master.”
“Yes!”
Ten minutes later, the smoke dissipates completely.
“Mu, a dud.”
“Too bad.”
“If it does not spawn even with master’s Luck… It might be a little troubling.”
“Yes. But regular people would probably never make it spawn.”
I leave the drops to Aira, and head back to Aki and Maki.
“Good job Shouta!”
“I’m glad you’re safe!”
“Hn, both the regular monsters and the boss went down to one hit, so it didn’t feel like much.”
““Fufu.””
I feel disappointed, especially since I had to leave Maki’s lap.
“I’m back, master.”
“How was it?”
“All skills and items.”
“Let me see…”
Name: Death Crab big shell
Description: The big shell carried by a Death Crab. Very sturdy, but it is unclear what it originally was.
Name: Death Crab big scissors
Description: Very sharp Death Crab scissors. Can easily cut a human in half.
Name: Death Crab meat
Description: An excellent delicacy. Edible.
“…?”
What’s with this explanation?
An excellent delicacy…? Says who?
That feels a little weird, but it says it’s edible, so it should be fine. This amount feels like it isn’t much considering how huge that crab was, but just the fact that it’s already cut…
I feel from looking at it that there are a few kilograms of meat here.
I’ve heard that hermit crabs taste like sweet shrimp, so not counting the amount, this might be a nice drop.
“Apparently this meat is edible. Aira, cut it into smaller pieces and serve with soy sauce.”
“Yes, it is done.”
Aira has already placed a table on the sand like that’s normal, cut the meat into bite-sized chunks, and even put out disposable chopsticks and a small plate with soy sauce.
What else could I ask for?
“Am I that easy to understand?”
“Fufu.”
“It showed clearly on your face, Shouta.”
“Uu… I can only read about half of it yet.”
“And I didn’t see anything…”
Say Maki, Aki, and then Ayane.
“…”
It looks like my thought circuits have been exposed to more than half.
Leaving that aside, I might as well take advantage of her consideration, and take a bite.
“Much.”
…It’s good.
It tastes sweet, and the flavor of the sea really fills my mouth. With a taste this rich, a small amount of soy sauce is enough. Yes, this is sweet shrimp, not counting the amount of course.
“I think they should change this from a dating dungeon to a sweet cafe dungeon or something…”
“I-Is it that good?”
“Try it.”
Aira gives everyone their own chopsticks and soy sauce, and everyone eats.
And as the girls enjoy it, I think about the plans for today.
I leveled up from thirty-one to thirty-five, so two or three more fights should get me over forty-one. They drop Command too, and it should be easy to do it if Aira takes care of the front line.
The meat isn’t bad either… Let’s just keep fighting here.
And so, we go forth to fight more Death Crabs.
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Thanks for the treat.