Reincarnated in the game world ~ A gamer's beginning to [Dungeon job hunting recommendation]

Vol. 7 - Chapter 381 - Cats are formidable opponent #2

"Ah! It went behind you, Pamela!"

"It's too a-agile-desu! <Ninja Art - Decoy! I am taking a strategic retreat!"

"<Long Thrust>! Kuh, It's really hard to hit the opponent with its size."

"Don't panic, I will create an opening, so deal with it calmly. <Shield Bash>!"

"Guh-meow!?"

"Now. <Rapid-Shot>!"

Team B was currently facing cat-type monster <Wild-Meow>. As for its appearance, it walks on all fours and holds a <Fish Bone Sword> in its mouth. <Wild-Meow> was both smaller and much faster than <Chamisen> from earlier, which made it a stronger opponent to tackle down.

At this point, everyone had understood that they were not the adorable, harmless existence contrary to what their appearance entails. Gradually, they were getting used to fighting them. Lana had immediately started with her full-on healing support as soon as they started fighting against a cat. This was what she would later say, "It was the first time I had used that much healing magic."

Well of course, the name of Intermediate-mid dungeon wasn't in vain. The normal monsters here could easily surpass the boss. That's why they weren't to be taken lightly.

Team B had already seen us, Team A, fighting <Wild-Meow> multiple times, so they immediately got into action knowing what to do. But they still were led around by <Wilde-Meow> swift <Cat Run>.

Things were especially rough for Ester, the attacker, whose weapon happened to be a huge two-handed spear, making it a challenging task to properly strike down the tiny <Wild Meow>. Fortunately, cool-headed Sierra swiftly used <Shield Bash>, knocking back the opponent to stop its movement, turning the tide of battle into their side.

Shizu didn't miss the chance and swiftly followed up with <Rapid Shot> to knock <Wild-Meow> down. From there, they managed to bring it down by pulling coordinated attacks. Finally, they didn’t hesitate anymore to slaughter it.

The drop item was 'Cat Ear', a costume item with 'DEF 1'.

"Great work, everyone. It was really a strong opponent as Zephyr said."

"Thank you, Sierra! As expected of our reliable tank-desu! I am not good at countering that much-desu!"

"You too, I really didn't expect it to be such a formidable opponent with how cute it looks. Cats are really terrifying."

Sierra, Pamela and Shizu shared their impression about the battle. I guess after having fought seriously, they keely felt the strength of the Int-mid dungeon's monsters.

"Phew. Looks can be deceiving indeed. It can become quite a helper if tamed."

"Ester, are you thinking of riding a cat?"

It seems like Ester has still not forgotten about the taming. I really wish she would discard that thought. Look, how Lana's eyes twinkled imagined that.

"Alright, let's move on to the next one after a brief session."

Seeing that everyone's viewpoint about the cat has been refreshed from just cute to strong and cute, I clapped my hands twice to redirect everyone's focus to the battle part.

"The monsters of this <Solitary Kitten Dungeon> are just as small in size similar to <Wilde Meow> you guys just fought. It's an opponent where you should be passive instead of actively chasing after it. Team B, you should consider forming tactics centered around Sierra from now on. Shizu, why don't you try using <Flare Bullet> or <Flash Bomb>?"

"<Flare Bullet> and <Flash Bomb>?"

As I gave my suggestion to Team B, Shizu parroted back in confusion.

I have hardly seen her using <Flare Bullet> and <Flash Bomb>. She probably wasn't aware of them since neither of them are offensive skills. Besides, she probably sees herself as a pure attacker so her focus was more on high damage skill.

Hitting small and swift targets from a distance could be quite challenging. So I needed her to be more aware of which tactic to choose depending on the situation.

"<Flare Bullet> increases accuracy rate, which is effective against enemies with high evasion rate. And <Flash Bomb> puts the enemy into <Blind> stat for a brief period of time. Don’t you think they are suitable in your current situation?"

"Hmm, I see. Alright. I will try it from next time."

"Great. Ah, but <Flare Bomb> might also dazzle the allies so make sure to call out when using it."

"Understood."

Shizu might be an attacker, but there was the saying about gunners; It's ineffective if you can't hit. That's why there were many skills in the gunner category to raise the hit-rate. I hope she uses them well.

Next, I gave advice to Pamela, Lana, and Ester.

Sierra was flawless, so I didn't have any advice for her. Rather, I would like to receive her tutelage. As such thoughts crossed my mind, I sensed what seemed to be an envious gaze (?) from Sierra, so I turned to look at her, but she quickly turned her gaze. What's the matter?

Afterward, Team B proactively set out to fight the monsters. With Shizu using <Flare Bullet> and <Flash Bomb>, the battle progressed more smoothly. I really couldn't get my head around how 'raising accurate rate' in reality works, but that was amazing to watch.

Just when the monster thought it had dodged, a bullet came flying its way. It was no less than a miracle for me to see attacks striking different spots than expected or accurately shooting down an evading target. Of course, it didn't happen every time.

This is something to watch out for in guild battles if the opponent uses an accuracy increase.

Especially the <Flash Bomb>, which played a critical role. Monsters appearing in <Cat-Dun> were weak to <Blind> status effect. Once they're blinded, they're generally disoriented for about 30 seconds and couldn't move recklessly, making them easy targets.

Incidentally, Pamela's <Dark Art> were ineffective against them. They had resistance against the <Blind> from <Dark Art>. (I wonder if it is because cats have good night vision?)

in the <Dungeon Activity>, 'Blind' and 'Darkness' have similar effects, but the types of status ailments are different. (T/N - Changing Blind from Pamela’s Dark Art to Darkness)

<Blind> was classified as Internal Status Ailment, while <Darkness> was external status Ailment.

To go in more details------

Internal status ailment consists of <Poison> <Paralysis> <Blind> <Sleep> <Stun> <Fear> <Confusion>.

External status ailment consists of <Burn> <Bind> <Darkness> <Freeze> <Petrification> <Curse> <Charm>.

In reality though, there wasn't that much difference in internal and external status ailments. <Poison> and <Burn> cause damage over time, while <Sleep> and <Freeze> immobilize the target for a certain period. If the immobilized target takes damage during this time, the damage is doubled, and the status ailment is removed.

<Fear> and <Curse> inflict status debuff and MP based damage over time. <Confusion> and <Charm> cause the affected character to become disoriented and attack allies.

Internal refers to status ailments affecting oneself, while external means status ailments imposed or sealed by an external source.

There did exist the concept of <Internal Resistance> in <Dungeon Activity>, and boss monsters had quite a chance to have it. That being said, there were also quite a few bosses with <External Resistance>.

On the contrary, there are also bosses who have <External Resistance> but not <Internal Resistance>.

This aspect of <Dungeon Activity> quite enhances the way of strategising.

Ahem, I trailed off again.

Anyway, after they had gained enough understanding of how to handle those cat-type monsters, we advanced deeper into the dungeon.

Our current aim was the 10th floor. In the floor 1~10, only single monsters appear here, so I would have practiced here thoroughly. Then once they're all set, it would be the time for speed-run!