I hate being in pain, so I think I'll make a full defense build
chapter-368-30041322

Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 368

Defense Specialization and the 8th Layer – 5

A few days later, they had already gathered all the parts they needed to upgrade Sally’s diving suit as Iz had suggested, and in a single upgrade, they managed to make it so that Sally had no restrictions when diving underwater. After that had been taken care of, Sally immediately headed for the underwater section of the guild home.

“Alright, I’ll go take a look. Since it’s in the city, I don’t think there will be any monsters down there.”

Still, they haven’t seen anything like that before, so it would be better to be on the safe side.

Sally took a deep breath and went down the stairs leading into the water. What she found was a room that looked similar to the ones she and Maple had been exploring when they were looking for parts, and seemed to be connected to multiple rooms.

Holding a dagger in one hand, she pressed forward while making sure it was safe, and eventually came across a stone rack with several book-like things lined up on its shelves.

“Normal books would be ruined underwater… Are these stone tablets?”

The stone tablets were arranged from old to (relatively) new, and they contained information about the 8th Layer’s origins, such as its point in history when the water level started to rise for the first time, and the place where all that water was coming from.

“It looks like the water is coming from a dungeon. Is this… a symbol?”

Some of the stone tablets were just an enumeration of symbols whose meaning Sally had no way of understanding at the time. However, as she looked through the room, she was able to think of a place that could be related to all of that, based on the information she had been gathering so far.

“I guess that’s it, huh…? I can’t seem to be able to go any deeper than this.”

After going down a few stairs, Sally was stopped by entry restrictions once more, so she decided to go back for the time being. It seemed that the underwater section of the guild home was a place where you could get certain hints according to one’s progress. Unlike other Layers, It would be too difficult to have to explore the 8th Layer blindly, so hints had been scattered here and there to help players progress through the Layer.

Since there were no monsters in the city, Sally was able to return safely to the surface.

“So, how was it?”

“Instead of books, there were some stone tablets which hinted at the location of a dungeon. There were some things I couldn’t read because they seemed like a bunch of random symbols, but maybe it was some kind of map.”

“I see. We could use those hints to help us find where we should be diving next.”

“I guess we’ll have to go straight for that dungeon in the deeper parts, huh?”

“Then I’ll share what I found with you and the others as well, Maple.”

Sally sent the photos she took to the other seven and told them about her plans from here on.

“If I’m understanding this correctly, there should be a dungeon or an event that leads to a rare item one level deeper from here, so I’ll go take a look while getting more parts.”

“Got it! Take care, Sally.”

“Yeah, if it gets too dangerous, I’ll instantly back out. Underwater battles are tough, after all.”

It wouldn’t be long before all guild members would be able to explore as deep as Sally. If it ended up being too dangerous, it would be better to go with the entire team. That way, they wouldn’t have anything to worry about, even if they were to come across a normal boss battle.

“I hope we can get more parts soon.”

“When that happens, Iz should be the next one. I think we’ll get faster results that way.”

Sally would be on guard duty, so it would be perfectly safe to have Iz’s diving suit upgraded next. By doing that, the team’s ability to collect parts would skyrocket. It wouldn’t be too long before the entire team could explore the bottom of the ocean.

“I’ll look for parts as well, but I’d also like to take a walk around the city. I’ve been going underwater too much. I’ll let you guys know if I find anything. I’m not sure I’ll be able to fight by myself, after all.”

“Is that so? But if you used one of your spellbooks…”

“Ah, but I’m trying to save those for now. I might not even find anything to begin with, so don’t keep your hopes up.”

Kanade said that, but more than going for a simple walk, he seemed to have something to think about. Besides, it was unlikely for the prudent Kanade to decide to take on any activity that could prove to be useless to him.

And like that, they started to explore the deeper sections in order to find rare items and rare skills, all while collecting essential parts to upgrade their diving suits.