Chapter 22
Larna... It was the first frog monster I defeated after gaining the Heavy Knight class in this world.
It was one of the iconic, beloved fodder monsters of 〈Magic World〉.
There were many kinds of Larna, and one of them... Moneybags Larna, was our target this time.
Considering my current situation and Ruche's stats, I decided there was no better hunting ground for us than 〈Angel's Toy Box〉.
Moneybags Larna was a golden Larna. It appeared infrequently, but when defeated, it had a high chance of dropping an incredibly valuable item.
On top of that, despite its high Level, its Attack and Magic were low, and it had no attack Skills.
In other words, it was a monster with poor combat abilities that gave great Experience Points and dropped expensive items—a winning proposition all around.
There were several Larna that served as bonus-character types, with Moneybags Larna at the forefront. In 〈Magic World〉, they were collectively known as Golden Toads and were quite popular.
Many players said that hunting Golden Toads was the most fun part of the game.
There was a limit to the number of Golden Toads that could emerge from a single 〈Dungeon〉, but based on the information I'd gathered in the city of Rondarm, I didn't need to worry that all the Golden Toads in this 〈Angel's Toy Box〉 had already been hunted down.
“Moneybags Larna appears most often in the middle section of 〈Angel's Toy Box〉. I know all the routes where it's easiest to find one... the generated routes where it's most likely to appear, the monsters that tend to spawn alongside it, and the monsters that never spawn with it.”
And the chance of a Golden Toad appearing varied according to Luck.
With all that in place, all we had to do was use Ruche's Luck to draw out a Moneybags Larna.
“Um... I-I, um, I've heard of Moneybags Larna too.”
Ruche said anxiously.
“Then this'll be easy to explain.”
“I heard someone at a tavern say that if you defeat one, you can live comfortably for years. But I've also heard that even D-Rank Adventurers—and even C-Rank Adventurers—often fail to catch them. Moneybags Larna are terrifyingly fast...”
That was right. Moneybags Larna had no offensive abilities, but they were incredibly fast on their feet.
But a C-Rank Adventurer... That would be around 【Lv: 60】, I suppose.
At that Level, I'd expect them to be able to hunt something like Moneybags Larna reliably. But this world seemed similar to 〈Magic World〉, yet different.
After all, when you died, that was it.
It seemed only natural that builds tended to focus on not dying, rather than on becoming as strong as possible or drawing out a Class's full potential.
There wasn't enough information on Classes, Skill Trees, or monsters, and you couldn't even choose the Class you wanted.
Forming a party was also incredibly difficult, since it was hard to gather the people you wanted.
In those circumstances, hunting Moneybags Larna might indeed be difficult.
“Apparently, they're so fast you can't even catch up to them, and even when your attacks land, it doesn't feel like you're doing any damage at all... Some people chase them too far, get surrounded by monsters, and end up in a desperate situation. ...Ugh, maybe some Adventurers have even died because of Moneybags Larna.”
Ruche shuddered.
“Moneybags Larna have absurdly high Agility and Defense, and they even have powerful resistances.”
Moneybags Larna were completely immune to elemental attacks, status ailments, and debuffs.
To defeat a Moneybags Larna, you needed enough Attack to pierce its golden hide, as well as the ability to keep up with its swift movements.
Even if your stats were high enough to defeat one, if you tried too hard to match its speed and your movements got sloppy, you wouldn't be able to put enough power behind your attacks to deal damage.
That's why even C-Rank Adventurers let them escape.
“Um... Doesn't that mean there's nothing we can do? The 〈Iron-Piercer〉 you gave me, Elymas-san, is effective against opponents with high Defense, but I really don't think it could damage a Moneybags Larna... And I doubt I could catch up to one in the first place.”
“Well, you're right about that. The Moneybags Larna that appear in 〈Angel's Toy Box〉 have 【Agility: 67】 and 【Defense: 99】. Against that golden fortress, the 〈Iron-Piercer〉's 【15%】 Defense-piercing effect might as well not exist.”
Its Agility was more than double Ruche's, and she was a quick-footed Jester.
And it was three times my value, as a slow Heavy Knight.
There was no way we could catch it once it started running.
And 【Defense: 99】... Even if my 〈Castle Wall Counter〉 landed perfectly, that Defense was high enough to prevent it from taking even a single point of damage.
Not that the timid Moneybags Larna would ever attack us in the first place.
My 〈Counter Slash〉 also pierced 【15%】 of the target's Defense, but that still wasn't nearly enough to damage a Moneybags Larna.
“...Um, are you sure this is even possible? Even if we managed to catch up to one a hundred times, I can't imagine we'd be able to hunt it even once.”
“It'll be fine. I chose this hunting ground because, of course, I have a plan to hunt Moneybags Larna.”
Moneybags Larna were immune to all elemental attacks, status ailments, and debuffs.
But that didn't mean they were unaffected by every special effect of every Skill.
Their resistances seemed perfect at first glance, but they had a loophole.
By my calculations, we could just barely pierce a Moneybags Larna's Defense.
“Elymas-san, do you have a Skill that can damage Moneybags Larna? I've never heard of a Heavy Knight having a Skill like that...”
“No. You'll be the one to corner it so it can't escape, and you'll be the one to pierce its Defense and damage it. Both of those jobs are yours, Ruche.”
I pointed at Ruche as I said that.
“M-Me?! Um, um! I'm happy you have such high expectations for me! Really, I am! But I don't have that kind of power!”
“You should have eight Skill Points from leveling up earlier. Put all of them into 〈Fool's Acrobatics〉.”
Once 〈Fool's Acrobatics〉 reached 【10】, she would be able to learn two new Skills.
Those Skills were the key to our hunt for Moneybags Larna.