STGB Episode 509

Grave(1)

Its basic form resembled that of a frogman: a round belly as if filled with air, fingers tipped with suction-cup-like appendages, and even the shape of its face was strikingly similar.

However, its skin was not green but gray, and it wasn’t carrying its trademark harpoon.

And most importantly…

“Wings…?”

A pair of wings that looked as if they were cut out with scissors and glued on its back.

[Keek]

Soon, it flapped its wings against the wall and reached up onto the deck.

So, they’re not just decorative wings, huh?

“Emily. What’s its rank?”

I quickly gathered my wits and asked Amelia to check its Level. Of course, it’s impossible to get an accurate rating with [Crisis Detection], but…….

“They’re probably below Level 7. I don’t feel any threat from them.”

“Below rank 7…”

I looked at the dozen or so monsters that had climbed onto the deck and were glaring at us, then quickly issued an order.

“Don’t rush out! First, we need to gather information about them!”

“Ugh!”

Aynar, who was about to charge forward, flinched upon hearing my command.

Good, at least she listens.

“Bethel—raaaaaa!”

As I stepped forward and used [Wild Burst] to increase my threat level, the unidentified monsters immediately began to attack.

Their blows were nothing like I expected.

They had neither teeth nor claws.

They weren’t even holding harpoon-like weapons.

So, how were they attacking?

Swoosh.

The creatures assumed a cat-like position, lifted their hindquarters and –

Zzzzap!

Spikes, apparently from the Lightning attribute, materialised in the air and were shot out.

Because they were below level 7, there was obviously no real damage.

I blocked most of them with a shield, and even the ones that landed couldn’t pierce my skin.

But…

What the hell…?

My body froze.

It wasn’t because I was paralysed or electrocuted by some unknown effect.

I was simply too surprised.

[Mr. Jandel… that thing the monster just used…….]

Versil trailed off, and Erwin finished her thought.

“It seems like Pluminas’s [Thunder Spine]…”

Level 7 monster Pluminas.

A lightning-type monster that appears in some areas of the 3rd and 4th floors.

But, another species is using its unique skill?

“Could it be a superior mutant?”

The thought crossed my mind, but it was unlikely.

All of the ten or so monsters that had climbed onto the deck were using the exact same skill.

‘Different monsters using the same skill…’

Then, what about other skills?

After refraining from attacking and just observing them, we discovered something surprising.

“That’s… the Iron Falcon’s [Steel Feather].”

“Oh! I know that ability! Isn’t it [Bubble Sphere] from the Level 7 monster, Seaworm?”

“Well… it’s actually Level 7…”

Each of the three active abilities it possessed belonged to a different monster.

I was curious about the passive, but unfortunately, it wasn’t easy to find out.

So, I decided to capture one to find out, and just as I swung my hammer—

[Your attack has missed due to Rotten Slime]

“What the hell, its the Frogman’s passive ability?”

No wonder it looks similar.

Anyway, that’s enough. I’ve discovered everything I needed.

“The investigation is over. You may kill them all now!”

“Really?”

As soon as I gave my permission, Aynar rushed forward and claimed the EXP for being the first to defeat a newly discovered monster.

The problem was…

「You have defeated a Macfrog.」

Strange, I didn’t feel any experience points coming in.

Even though it was below Level seven, I had grown accustomed to sensing the subtle flow of experience—

「No.9999 Beginner’s Luck has activated.」

I paused my thoughts and looked ahead.

“…It dropped an Essence!”

Wow, it really gave us an essence.

“Versil! Quick, put it in a test tube!”

While I hurriedly instructed the mage, an unconscious thought crossed my mind.

So if that’s the case, does it mean we’ll get something like Frogman’s
𝑅𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑆𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑒 with one of Sea Worm’s, Iron Falcon’s, or Pluminas’ active skills attached?

This might change the entire character build strategy.

***

After the quick squirmish was over.

Our loot: one green essence.

I couldn’t be sure until we checked it out, but I suspected it was Iron Falcon’s [Steel Feather].

[Steel Feather] was a green essence after all.

“Versil, how many test tubes are left?”

“Twenty-seven.”

“Didn’t Melbes only provide twenty?”

“I brought all the ones I had, just in case.”

“I see…”

“What should we do with the filled test tubes?”

“You keep them. It’ll be easier to manage if they’re all in one place.”

Having solved the storage problem, I quickly turned to my colleagues.

“By the way, did you all notice? When we first killed that thing earlier…”

“Ah, you mean how we didn’t get any contribution points?”

“Huh? Did that happen to everyone? I thought it was just me…”

Since no one felt any experience points coming in, it’s clear that there were no experience points to begin with.

‘This floor has a unique concept…’

Monsters that seem like a mix of this and that, like chimeras.

And they don’t give experience.

It’s a bit demoralizing.

If all the monsters in this floor are like this, it means that there are no new skills to look forward to.

But on the other hand, another thought occurred to me.

“…Monsters with skills from other species? This is going to cause an uproar if it gets out.”

Maybe something big is coming.

After all, this could lead to creating far more powerful skill combinations than obtaining mediocre new skills.

Is this like unlocking a customization feature?

‘Take the Steel Giant, for example… If you could only take its active skills without the passive, the weapon restrictions would disappear.’

Similarly, there are many core essences with active or passive skills that are desirable but didn’t make the final cut due to lacking stats or other factors.

‘What if you could add [Gigantification] to those passive skills?’

Take the Orc Hero, for example—the passive is basically a bonus. Hero’s Path, which raises physical stats as HP drops, isn’t half-bad, but at the end of the day it’s just a Level 5 essence, so it can’t match up. Its base stats are on the lower side as well.

Without linking it to Gigantification and Union, there are plenty of better options out there.

‘‘…… Is there such a monster? though?’

I don’t know.

Maybe the ones we saw are special. Maybe others have brand-new essences. Or maybe we’ll never run into anything like this again.

But…

This is fun.

As a longtime player who loved Dungeon & Stone, my heart was racing.

I want to know what lies ahead.

I can’t help but feel excited, and my fists clench involuntarily.

But I shouldn’t get too carried away.

The unknown is both an opportunity and a danger.

“Set the sails!”

After cleaning up the deck, we continued our journey.

This area seemed to be the habitat of the electric frogs we had seen earlier, as they kept jumping out of the water and onto the deck.

This time, we hunted them with ‘Distortion Magic’ applied

「Versil Gowland has cast Level 6 space magic [Superior Distortion]」

Well, they’re new monsters, right?

By-products like these will surely sell for a high price in the Mage Tower.

“Hey, Bjorn!”

“If you’re bored, go clean the deck.”

“That’s not it! I have something to say!”

“…Go ahead.”

While we were smoothly continuing our exploration, Aynar suddenly asked a question.

“What are you going to name these things?”

“Name…?”

Oh, I hadn’t thought about that at all.

How are monster names decided?

“Erwin, do you know?”

“Uh… I’m not sure…”

Surprisingly, Erwin, who usually knows a lot, was clueless about the origins of monster names.

“I never really thought about it… Maybe the discoverer gets to decide?”

“Hmm… So that’s how it is.”

Amelia, who had been assisting with navigation next to Auyen, showed interest and approached.

“Nanari.”

“…Huh?”

“How about Nanari? It sounds nice, and… kind of cute, don’t you think?”

She really likes this kind of thing, huh.

“…We’re naming a monster, not something cute. Emily.”

“…But isn’t it up to the person who discovers it?”

“That’s true.”

Looking around, everyone seemed interested in naming the newly discovered monster.

Well, we’re all explorers, after all.

It might serve as motivation for future explorations, so I decided to set the stage.

“If anyone has ideas, speak up. We’ll gather suggestions and vote.”

“A vote… That’s fair. I’ll go with Nanari. And I’ll give 10,000 Stones to anyone who votes for Nanari.”

“I said to vote, not to buy votes…”

“But you didn’t say not to buy them.”

“…Suit yourself.”

For a moment, there was a minor fairness issue, but starting with Amelia, everyone proposed their own ideas for a name.

“Ultimessandra! Isn’t it powerful?”

“But they’re lower than level seven. Maybe we should focus on their characteristics? They have the abilities of Sea Worm, Iron Falcon, Pluminas and Frogman -”

“Then…?”

“Sea-Falcon Frogman!”

“…Huh?”

“Sea-Falcon Frogman! Doesn’t it sound good?”

The name stunned me, but it was surprisingly popular.

“Indeed! It sounds strong!”

“Easy to remember, vividly descriptive.”

“Nannari sounds better. I offer 20,000 Stones.”

Many suggestions later, we finally voted.

“Seven votes for Macfrog. Three for Sea-Falcon Frogman. Two for Nannari, and one for Kiruru.”

“What? Wait! Seven people cast thirteen votes?” Versil Questioned the fairness of the votes.

“Didn’t you know, Versil? According to clan rules, the leader’s vote equals the total number of clan members.”

“That’s not democratic at all!”

I replied coldly.

“Democratic? What’s that?”

“Oh, I mean—”

Realizing her slip, Versil hesitated.

Yes, players needed to hide such things.

Democracy doesn’t exist here.

“Alright, it’s settled. They’re officially Macfrogs now.”

Thus, the newly discovered monsters were called Macfrogs.

Named hastily after a frog with seagull wings, but it didn’t matter.

Macfrog sounded better than Sea-Falcon whatever.

“Alright, everyone, back to your stations!”

At my command, Erwin returned to the watchtower, and Auyen and Amelia headed back to the helm.

And Versil went back to fishing and collecting specimens.

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