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1048 Words
Now on the eleventh floor, they were back to fighting single monsters. That should have made things easier, as the monsters were still early Tier 14s, and the four of them had more than enough experience fighting monsters stronger than themselves. The problem was that the monsters that started appearing were all specialized in one aspect of combat.
The Fishman that Matt had beaten to death had been a master of spells, and was, as far as they could tell, not directly controlled by one of the octopodes.
Liz and Aster’s crab had a nearly impenetrable shell that easily fended off both Liz’s blood attacks and Aster’s ice spells. Suzanne’s jellyfish should have been an easy fight, but her attacks simply sank into its body like it was slime, doing no permanent damage. Ideally, they would have swapped opponents, but this fight had been an ambush.
The monsters had one area they excelled at, which increased the difficulty of the engagements to a point where even they struggled.
Susanne, who had crawled up and walked over to the three of them, sat down and said, “We need to make a decision.” She spat a bit of blood out before continuing. “We’re earning Genesis Energy, but our fights are forcing us to spend nearly as much as we get.”
Matt winced internally. She didn’t say it, but for the last three fights, Matt had used more Genesis Energy than he had earned from his single kills. He couldn’t help it. His entire fighting style was built around throwing massive amounts of energy around, and his skills and their modifications reflected that methodology. That was fine when he had unlimited mana, but now that his skills cost Genesis Energy, he was faced with a problem he couldn’t easily solve.
Susanne wasn’t wrong, though. The others were having the same issues to smaller degrees. Aster was running neutral while Liz was slightly on the side of gathering Genesis Energy each fight. Susanne herself was doing the best with her greatsword being fueled by Willpower, meaning it was stronger for no cost. It didn’t even have any enchantments, not that it needed them.
Matt looked to Liz and sighed as he asked, “What are your potion stores looking like?”
Liz pulled a dozen vials from her spatial ring. “I have a dozen on me, and two hundred and thirty in storage in the house. At least of the ones I’ve made. The store bought ones I haven’t touched.”
Matt nodded. That meant she had used only eight during their time in Minkalla.
Her potions were a limited resource, and they had intended to use them sparingly. The store bought ones, not so much, but they were less effective and a last resort. Despite Liz being able to theoretically grow more in her portable garden, it only grew as fast as they would outside.
Without any acceleration, she had no way to increase production.
Though they had planned around that.
Liz had bought a number of the needed herbs before they entered Minkalla, so she could make new potions, but that number was also limited. She always used the herbs the day she got them, but the final shipment had come right before they entered, so she didn’t have enough time to use them.
“Do we start using them? This floor is a hard counter to us.” Matt grimaced and corrected himself. “Me. The floor is a hard counter to me.”
Aster was going to say something, but Susanne spoke first. “This floor sucks for all low Tier cultivators. We have to rely on spells to fight up Tiers, and that’s just expensive now. You just got countered more than what would be normal for any warrior. Don’t get in your own head.”
Standing up, she collected the skill shards that had dropped from the monster’s bodies.
“I know this one, it’s been on my list for a while now. [Counter]. Damn good skill.” She then inspected the other two. “[Fist Blast] and something earth-related. It’s not on my list, though.”
Matt pulled himself out of his funk and inspected the skill that Susanne didn’t recognize.
Burning a little Genesis Energy, he ran his own inspection and nodded.
Her not recognizing the spell wasn’t surprising after he identified it.
It was a cracked spell.
“It’s a cracked [Tar Ball]. What the crack does, I don’t have a clue, though.”
Offering it to Liz then Aster, they had no better idea than he did.
Liz played with the skill and ran it through her fingers. “The normal [Tar Ball] is a good skill to spread fire-based skills. Mind if I take this skill and try to absorb it? It might make for some interesting combinations with my Talent. Flaming blood could be really strong.”
Susanne had no issues with her taking the spell, and neither did Matt or Aster, so Liz started absorbing the skill. She had already absorbed [Water Bubble] and successfully converted it into [Blood Bubble], which kept all of its defensive properties.
Water skills had never failed her before, but it was always a good thing when her Talent worked and expanded her arsenal.
Matt was less hopeful for [Tar Ball] converting successfully, but it was worth a shot.
Reaching out, Matt picked up the [Fist Blast]. “I’d like to try my hand with this spell. It’s Rusty’s favorite for a reason, and once we’re off this floor, it’ll be a nice backup. Especially with the gravity gauntlets.”
Susanne took the remaining skill and started absorbing it herself. “[Counter] is a good skill, but it’s quite expensive to buy on the outside, so don’t mind if I do.”
With their skills being absorbed, the four of them started progressing through the palace once again.
Matt and Susanne took the opportunity to down a strength potion from Liz’s stash before they moved on.
The next room had no monsters and only a single trap that they used their elephant summon to ruin.
Three rooms and two fights later, they found a branching hall leading away from the main one they had been headed the entire time.
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