Acquiring a skill like Foresight at the exact moment I made a guess at something… Coincidence?
'I think not! I wasn't trying to use mana in any special way. Only to control my body. My guess is probably correct and somebody is definitely planning to kill me. Skill system wouldn't lie to me right? But who could it be? I haven't made any enemies yet since coming to this world. Could it be Fran? No way. As far as she's concerned I'm already dead… Maybe the leader of these cockroaches I have been murdering left and right?'
Thinking up the only possibility based on the information I have, I raised my guard up a notch before moving onwards. I killed a few more groups of cockroaches and even a few Cockroach Chargers. I found a path sloping downwards which led deeper into the cave.
'Something's telling me that a boss fight is coming up and I think that something is Foresight.'
Feeling danger up ahead, I slowly walked down the path. Before reaching the lowest end I stopped.
'If a big fight is coming up I should prepare.'
Moving to the side of the path I turned my back to the wall and knelt down. On my back was a mud pouch similar to a kangaroo. I used it to carry all the crystals I had been collecting. With all the killing I've done, my crystals had reached a staggering amount of 389. Because of this, I've dumped most of my golf ball rocks keeping only 5 good sized ones. The rest of my mud body was full of these crystals.
Seeing the small mountain of crystals behind me I got up and did a few stretches mud girl style. I decided to also leave my socks and shoes with the pile. The last time I fought with them on, I nearly ripped them apart when I morphed my legs into blades. I managed absorbed them into my mud body at that time.
Finally, I used Body Enhancement and Mind Enhancement which I had been holding back using in order to polish my control over my body during battle. These two skills greatly improved my battle capabilities which was already high enough to deal with the cockroaches I've encountered so far. Using them would have been overkill. But now was the time to use them. I used Analysis to see my stats while these were active.
Name: Ruby Sen
Age: 17
Race: Half-Human?
HP: 9 [50%]
MP: 15 (+5) [98%]
STR: 9 (+10)
DEF: 9 (+30)
INT: 17 (+10)
WILL: 14 (+10)
SPD: 7 (+5)
-Skills Omitted-
I got an increase of 10 levels in STR, DEF, INT, and WILL as well as 5 levels in MP and SPD. These amazing buffs in stats would definitely help in the upcoming battle. But my mana was draining rapidly.
'It's a good thing I've collected all these crystals.'
I continuously used dissolve on the crystals in my hardened body to keep my mana above 95 percent. Activating Camouflage while I was at it, I was completely ready for a showdown. I proceeded onwards. What I saw after entering what seemed to be a wide area chamber in the cave, was a large amount of cockroaches that were much bigger than the ones I've encountered before. Some were crawling all over the ceiling and others were riding piggyback on other cockroaches.
'They haven't noticed me yet. They seem to be focusing on a wall at the back of the chamber. This is a good opportunity for some scouting.'
Inching closer to the cockroach swarm, I used Sensing and Analysis to see the info of some of them.
Name: Cockroach Defender
Race: Roach Insect
Class: Tank
Name: Cockroach Bomber
Race: Roach Insect
Class: Mage
Name: Cockroach Ambusher
Race: Roach Insect
Class: Assassin
Name: Cockroach Knight
Race: Roach Insect
Class: Warrior
'… This might be too much for me to handle.'
As I saw the different types of cockroaches in the swarm, I start to have my doubts. I was a normal high school girl until recently after all. Though I had a blast feeling like a protagonist, I didn't think that I could handle over a hundred enemies with different abilities at the same time. I planned to slowly back away but life wasn't going to let me take the easy way out.
Name: Cockroach Queen
Race: Roach Insect
Class: Support
I saw a giant cockroach head, much bigger than all the others, pop out of the swarm. When I saw its details, it turned to look right at me.
*Screeeee*
It made a screeching sound and all the cockroaches in the vicinity turned towards me.
'Shit it noticed me using my skill on it!'
Before I could turn around and run back to where I can from, Cockroach Ambushers dropped from the ceiling and flew towards me. Quickly turning my left arm into a blade, I swung at them…
*Swish Splat*
… and easily bisected it in one slash much like my first encounter in this cockroach den.
'Huh? Are these guys weak? Or am I that strong with my buffs?'
My initial fear started to fade. Taking another swing and killing another Ambusher, I confirm my superiority over these bugs.
"He. Hehe. Hehehe. BWAHAHAHAHA!"
Laughing like a maniac I rushed towards the swarm. Although I looked like a reckless idiot rushing to my death after becoming overconfident, I did this logically. My mind was buffed right now. In team vs team fights in MMORPGs, the first target should always be the healer or support units. Without killing them, the other enemies will be able to fight without worrying about themselves, knowing that the healers got their back. Just having a healer around could greatly increase the survivability and efficiency of the party. Luckily in this swarm there was only one such target. The Queen.
While I was rushing forward the Ambushers continued to drop towards me. Moving while slashing at the aerial targets, it looked like I was doing an awkward blade dance. Although I wanted to be elegant, my swordsmanship was self-taught and very shoddy. I had no background in wielding blades. The closest experience I had towards sword fighting was when I swing golf clubs that one time with my Dad. Thankfully, my Dad was very thorough in teaching me how to properly swing a club to deliver all the force I could muster and get that golf ball flying great distances.
With a swing, cockroach guts splattered across the air. I made sure to keep my mouth shut so as to not accidentally eat some. Killing more than 15 Ambushers, I was now 15 meters away from the swarm. The other cockroaches didn't sit still while I was killing the Ambushers. They started to spread out and surround me in a formation. The Cockroach Queen must have been commanding them. This gave me a bigger reason to prioritize killing her.
The Cockroach Bombers standing on top of the Defenders started doing something as I noticed with Sensing that mana was gathering around their mouths. I prepared myself for the attack with a mana barrier 5 cm thick which is the maximum I can control even with the buffs. As I continued to run towards the Queen, the Bombers' attack activated and a liquid sprayed from their mouths toward me.
"Ew gross Cockroach puke!"
I wasn't mentally prepared for such an attack. I tried to dodge as many as I could by rolling, sidestepping, and jumping. It was a good thing I became more flexible with my half mud body.
*Splash*
But since the sprays were coming from multiple directions, even though I could detect them with Sensing, my speed wasn't fast enough to react to all of them. I got splashed on the leg by the liquid. If I didn't have the Body Enhancement buff, I would have been hit a lot more. I started feeling a light pain from my mud leg which I found strange because I didn't think that mud had nerves. But the pain to me could only be described as a very irritating itch that wasn't worse than a bug bite. It was still gross though.
"Heh. My Dissolve can do better than your sorry excuse for an acid! You should be called Spitters instead of Bombers!"
I taunted the bugs but it showed no effect. While I was dodging earlier I had prepared a golf rock in my hand which I now threw at one of the Bombers in front of the Queen. Since I now know that their acid spray is not that effective on me, I only needed to deal with the ones close to my target. I hit one of them right in the head which caused it to fall off the Defender. With this I was now 7 meters away from the Queen.
But unfortunately, I should have taken the Bomber name more seriously. As I frog hopped over the big Defender that lost its Bomber, I saw a mana reaction coming from the fallen Bomber. Sensing something bad about to happen, most likely thanks to my Foresight skill, I tried to increase the strength of my mana barrier. The moment I touched the ground again…
*Sploosh*
…The Bomber exploded spraying bodily fluids everywhere. Before the wave could hit me, I used Mana Release to try and protect myself. But it only managed to deflect some of it and I was pushed back. My blouse, skirt, and legs were painted with cockroach chunks and fluids.
"Hurrk."
Holding in my disgust, I dissolved some crystals to recover my lost mana. That explosion had actually pushed me closer to the Queen and we were now staring face to face 3 meters apart.
"Screeeeeeee!"
She made a loud screech and the Cockroach Knights quickly got in between us like they had received a speed buff.
"Out of my way!"
I swung my arm blade at the nearest Knight.
*Clang*
But it blocked my attack with a massive horn on its head and forced me to take a step back. The other Knights also gathered and the other cockroach units surrounded my back and above.
"Tch. Troublesome."
Although the Queen was just within my reach, I found out just how difficult it is to kill a properly defended support unit.
CHAPTER END.
Name: Ruby Sen
Age: 17
Race: Half-Human?
HP: 9 [50%]
MP: 15 (+5) [81%]
STR: 9 (+10)
DEF: 9 (+30)
INT: 17 (+10)
WILL: 14 (+10)
SPD: 7 (+5)
<
Assimilate
Mana Manipulation
Physical Resistance
Weaponized Limbs
Foresight
<
Dissolve
Morph
Body Enhancement (Active)
Mind Enhancement (Active)
Mana Release
Sensing
Analysis
Camouflage
Sculpting
<
Tongue Enhancement