Published at 11th of August 2022 09:28:57 AM

667 Flower of Misfortune

Together with Aro and treant, I head into the Ngai Forest. The objectives are to raise my level and to test out my new skills.

Currently, my stats are less than half of what they were before evolving. I dont want to try fighting the spirit servants while this weak. My level will increase quickly right now. As long as I can find an A rank to defeat, my stats should increase by a lot.

Im still bearing most of the damage I suffered in the fight against Miia, but we havent got time to rest.

Its always when you want to find them that theres no monsters to be seen Id rather not go too far from the tower if we can help it.

Focusing on [Presence Perception] as we walk, I finally sense a faint presence. I signal Aro, whos walking by my side. Whatever it is, I cant see it Ah, no, by the base of one of the noroi trees are a bunch of dark blue flowers, each about a metre in diameter. The presence Im feeling seems to be coming from them.

[Despair]: A rank monster

A flower that is said to bloom with the demise of the world.

Sustains itself on grief and sorrow.

According to the teachings of the Holy Guidance, the world will one day be covered in [Despair], where it will wait eagerly for the arrival of a saviour.

S-scary As far as I can see, there are ten of them here.

This place is a graveyard for those used by Gods Voice. Its no wonder that [Despair] would bloom here Fortunately, they seem like they could be perfect targets for levelling.

I notice the flowers shaking in unison, and then they all rise. I watch them cautiously as their roots swell up, each forming into two round eyes a small mouth.

Furoo.

They cry out in a childlike voice.

Th-theyre a little cute?

Aro says quietly, watching the despairs.

No, dont be fooled by their cuteness. They might look cute, but theyre A rank monsters. Theres no doubt that theyre powerful.

WIth my stats so low right now, Im not much stronger than Aro or treant, so its entirely possible that we could get wiped out if they turn out to be too dangerous.

Species: Despair

Condition: God of Madness

Lv: 94/115

HP: 1985/1985

MP: 3227/3227

Attack: 387

Defence: 667

Magic: 1244

Speed: 887

Rank: A

Characteristic Skills:

[Automatic MP Recovery: Lv7] [Onmitsu: Lv8] [Flight: Lv7] [God of Madness: Lv-]

Resistance Skills:

[Magic Resistance: Lv8] [Poison Resistance: Lv8] [Paralysis Resistance: Lv7] [Curse Resistance: Lv7]

Normal Skills:

[Death: Lv7] [Curse: Lv7] [Mirage: Lv7] [Pure Bite: Lv6] [Extreme Poison: Lv6] [Life Drain: Lv7] [Dark Sphere: Lv7] [Scattering of Hopelessness: Lv1]

Title Skills:

[Final Evolution: Lv-] [Flower of Misfortune: Lv-]

All good As far as I can see, they should be easy pickings. Their magic is a little strong for an A rank, but thats all. For a magic specialist, their stats are too split between HP, MP, and speed, giving them a balanced distribution without any good strong points. This sort of monster is good at safely fighting opponents of the same or lower ranks, but cant do much against stronger opponents.

In addition, their skills arent good. [Death], [Curse], [Mirage], and [Extreme Poison] are more or less useless against us. Their attack stats are too low to make use of [Pure Bite]. The only thing to watch out for is [Dark Sphere].

If I were to classify them, Id say theyre magic-specialised attackers that can also use status conditions. For a monster that fights at a distance, their speed and defence are pointlessly high. Theyre mismatched in that they want to receive their opponents attacks, while also fighting with magic and status conditions at medium range. By contrast, close range attackers tend to be much more dangerous to face.

Theyre tough magic casters that are a little fast! Theyll attack with [Dark Sphere]! Watch out for [Mirage] too. Their stats are spread out enough that theres not much to worry about. Theres no need to be overly cautious. If anything, their statuses are a little pitiful.

If theyre this weak, then theres no need for treant to take on his world treant form. If he were to grow that big, itd risk attracting more monsters, which could lead to us being overwhelmed.

I feel a slight affinity for them.

Treant says, sounding a little lonely.

B-because youre fellow plant-type monsters, right?

Anyway, it doesnt really make sense that they dont have any healing skills, despite having so much MP. Its true that treants status was a little disappointing until recently, but hes always had the concept of wanting to attract the opponents attacks. Theres no sense of that in the despairs statuses. No matter how much MP they have, if they try fighting in close quarters without any healing, theyll die before running out of MP. They seem to be the very picture of disappointing stats and skills Hm? Their last normal skill was one I havent seen before.

Normal Skill [Scattering of Hopelessness]

All the remaining MP is concentrated inside the body and then bursts, expelling petals at a high speed.

So they do have a use for their MP! Its a self-destruct skill like [Direct Burst]. In my mind, the image of a giant smiling [Clay Guardian] appears.

Aro, treant, watch out! They self-destruct!

Aro and treant tense up. The next moment, the despairs fully uproot themselves and begin to run at us.

Furoo-!

FuroOO!

If they were a little slower, it might have been worth running away to find other monsters, but theyre fast enough that the chase would probably last annoyingly long with my level 1 speed. Theres a risk of us running into some other monsters and getting surrounded. Even if I try and shake them off, theres no guarantee Ill be able to find another monster weak enough for me to kill with my stats so low right now.

Lets kill them all quickly!