"B minus? Are you insane?" Lana asked. "I would like to have such a voice and be half of her."
"I don't doubt it, still, since you are pretty dumb, you can't notice when someone is trying hard to be friendly," Jake said. "It looks like you talked with her for a while, but you didn't even notice why someone like her is playing this game."
"Eh?" Lana said, surprised when she saw Louise making a complicated expression while looking away. "... Why someone like you who is so self-centered would notice something like that, and I wouldn't?"
"Because you are dumb," Jake replied.
Lana clicked her tongue in annoyance because she couldn't deny that she was a bit clueless in some aspects. She talked with Louise for five hours, and she didn't notice that someone like her, who had an interest in games, was playing for some reason, just like her.
"Well, despite the forced acting, I can't deny that she has a good voice and accent," Jake said. "I will help you this once, only because I will add it to my library."
"... Library?" Louise frowned.
"Don't mind him, he is a weirdo as well, but he is inoffensive," Lana said.
Jake hated to owe favors to others and he kind of owed one to them now. In any case, the game sure was helping him find some good voices. The only issue was the fact that the owner of those voices seemed pretty troublesome.
"So, you want help in fighting the fire slimes again?" Jake asked. "If that is the case, then I will choose the option to challenge the dungeon boss."
"No, If you do that, Louise won't be able to help," Lana said. "You can choose any other map. The more difficult the better."
"You say that, but only I will have a hard time," Jake said.
"It isn't because of that… I will explain once we arrive on the map," Lana said. "If you are going to choose a new map, we can go with you, if we touch your shoulders."
That was something Jake didn't know… so how come Lana knew? Regardless, he decided to check the deadly forest since, with Lana's healing skills, the giant bats would be boring.
While the second mission of the new area would grant him one thousand coins and one hundred points of fame, Jake decided to select the first mission since he wasn't alone and wanted to get a feeling first of the new area. There was no telling if those two would be useful or cause problems after all.
Fortunately, the deadly forest had its name for a different reason aside from eeriness. Things were much brighter and cleaner on the new map than in the first two. It was day, and there was no sign of smoke or fire. However, it was a real dense forest, and the terrain was filled with obstacles, not to mention Jake couldn't even see the color of the sky due to the massive trees and their thick branches filled with leaves.
"Finally an area that isn't depressing to play in," Lana said.
Jake couldn't agree more. Still, he wondered how come she could say that when she only knew a single area. Before the group could even move from the spot, they began to hear a weird sound coming from around them. Thanks to the numerous trees, it took them a while to identify the enemy, but then when they did it, all of them couldn't help but fling.
Jake thought that he was immune when it came to the appearances of insects, but he changed his mind when he saw three Deadly Bees flying toward them. The monsters were one and half a meters long due to the size of their sting, and it was hard to know if they looked strong because of that or if it was because half of the bodies were actually the sting. There was also the fact that their faces and their big dark eyes were really creepy.
"Hiiii!" Lana said while showing a mix of fear and disgust on her face. "Why did you choose such a place?"
"Well… I wanted to check the new map," Jake said and then prepared to fight.
Deadly Bee Lv 05
Health: 50/50
Mana: 60/60
Stamina: 40/40
Fighting three flying enemies by himself would be a pain in the ass, but Jake had no time to complain. Two monsters flew at him, and the other stopped to concentrate and summoned a wind sphere in front of its mouth.
"Great… they have long ranged attacks too," Jake muttered.
Jake raised his shield to focus on defense since any attack would leave him open to other bees. When the first bee tried to attack him, he used Bash alongside his shield to block the sting and make the enemy get dizzy, but then the third one fired a Wind Ball. Jake raised his shield to block the attack, but in the end, he saw the projectile losing speed and power while it was flying. In the end, only a light breeze hit his shield.
Jake had no idea why that had happened, but he didn't have time to worry about it since the second bee was about to attack him. However, before the monster could actually approach, a large Fireball passed by Jake's left side. It then hit the beast, turning into cinders in a couple of seconds. Jake knew that it had been Louise's attack, but that had been too powerful for someone who never actually defeated a single monster… Still, Jake knew what was going on. Louise also had a bugged skill like him and Lana.
Nevertheless, while the last bee was too far away, Jake dashed toward the first one, who finally recovered from his attack. Jake thrust his sword toward the head of the monster to deliver a critical hit, but the creature flew backward a little bit and dodged the attack. However, Jake insisted and used Bash to make his attack gain speed. This time the strike hit the monster's chest and made it stagger. Jake used that chance to smash the head of the beast two times with his shield.
The third bee used Wind Ball again, but the same thing happened yet again. The attack lost speed and power, and then Louise burned it with an oversized Fireball.