krpg (kentusrpg): “Good job, everyone!”
KK (Katsuragi Kenta): “...”
MK (Momokawa Kyou): “...”
RN (Katarine von Stolzherz aka Rine): “...”
AA (Ara'ainn): “I guess you broke them.”
krpg: “Hey Kenta, how are you?”
KK: “Fuck off, hamster.”
MK: “You know no delicacy.”
RN: “Meanie!”
AA: “You brought them back to life.”
krpg: “Why are you so down? I mean, it's like always, somehow you survived against the odds.”
KK: “...eat shit.”
RN: “Usually, it feels like we won something. I mean, in volume 1, Kenta won against the patriarch, in volume 2, we won against the giant monkey-spider, in volume 3, we protected Aroahenn, in volume 4... this is volume 4 again!”
MK: “You lazy writer!”
AA: “Momo, how is that supposed to be an insult?”
MK: “Normal people don't think that laziness is a virtue, Arako!”
AA: “But laziness is the best.”
KK: “Shut up, all of you! Hamster, what was the point of this!?”
krpg: “One day, my son, you'll understand.”
KK: “Who's your son!”
krpg: “I'm the writer, so you're all my creations and slaves to my whims! Kukukuku!”
RN: “Woah, I've never heard such an evil laugh before!”
KK: “Don't admire him, Rine! Can we just go on?”
krpg: “Alright. There are three Extras included. One is a Gottfried Extra again. They seem to be popular.”
KK: “Well, he can't be worse than Luuto.”
RN: “Don't worry. We'll become much stronger until then.”
krpg: “The final Extra will be that special something.”
MK: “Why do you continue with the final one? Also, special something?”
AA: “Ahem.”
krpg: “Ara'ainn gets her own little corner this time to describe the different species of this fantasy world!”
KK: “...let me get this straight... you ask the most racist of us to describe other people?”
AA: “Kenta-kun, everybody is a bit racist.”
KK: “And some more than others!”
krpg: “The readers voted it and it won... with one vote!”
MK: “What was the alternative?”
krpg: “A short story called 'Queen Momo'.”
MK: “Shoot! So close!”
KK: “...dodged that bullet.”
RN: “I'm very excited to read Ara's thoughts on different species.”
AA: “I even drew pictures.”
RN: “Wow!”
AA: “Katarine-san, your sparkling eyes are blinding me.”
krpg: “Then let's talk about the second Extra at last. This is the canonical one, which is a sequel this time.”
MK: “A sequel to what?”
krpg: “This volume.”
All: “....EHHHHHH!?”
EXTRA 1 – GOTTFRIED VS. REVOLUTIONARY SWORDSMANSHIP
Proofreader: Antsago
Two weeks after the Aroahenn-incident...
Meldorn looks at the distance, following the tracks of the princess and her companions with his eyes only. “They’re leading to Goldbrunn, after all.” After the delay with the laxative, they had a harsh cross-country marsh and so Meldorn is questioning whether the other party even stopped at the cities. They have the skills to circumvent it, but maybe they needed to resupply. It’s the same for his own search-party, after all.
Sir Gottfried also knows it but doesn’t like it at all. “Meldorn, you’ll stay outside the city and find their newest tracks. Boy-mage and the pontiff will do the resupply.”
“What about you?”, asks August von Rotfeld, a soon-to-be archmage. He’s by far the youngest one of this group, only in his twenties, and seems to be sick to be called boy-mage, wannabe-archmage, youngster, pukefrog, or mage-brat.
“It’s ‘What about you, Sir?.’”
“What about you, Sir?”
Sir Gottfried overlooks the sarcasm and says in a dry tone: “Even if they let me in the city, I’ll get too many visits anyways.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Mage-brat, this is a small city-state. They’ll keep tabs on who is entering and the moment my name falls, they’ll either shit their pants, fall on their knees in admiration, or both. Not to brag, but I could storm a city like that on my own. They know it as well and I’ll be held at the city gate for hours until they make a decision, whether they want to defy me or showcase that they care about the safety of the city by formally declining my request to enter the city while shitting their pants so hard that they have to yell their denial at me from afar, in fear that I take a dislike of their stench and go on a rampage.”
Rotfeld thinks a moment about that. “In terms of power, wouldn’t they need to reign me in as well?”
“How adorable. Brat, you don’t have a name and no reputation outside Feuerberg. Use it as long as you can, after you have passed a certain point, you can’t even visit your relatives in another country without someone crying ‘invasion’.”
The young mage is about to say something, but Meldorn can see how Rotfeld thinks about the past few weeks, and what kind of feats Sir Gottfried did in that time, and remains silent.
Meldorn puts his hand on the youngster’s shoulder: “Confidence and pride are separate things. Same for pride and dignity.”
Rotfeld says and shows nothing, so Meldorn can only hope that his message comes across.
Pontiff Reiner Kassus claps into his hands, interrupting this conversation before it becomes sour: “I really need something to eat. While camping can be fun, I need something properly cooked for a change.”
―○●○―
It went exactly as Gottfried imagined it. He separated from the group before going to the gates and when it was his turn to say his name, occupation, and reason for entering the city, the guard broke out in cold sweat and ran to her superior officer.
Now he’s currently waiting until the lord mayor makes his decision, a process that may take up days if that fool thinks that delaying tactics will work. Gottfried regrets his decision to even try to enter the city in the first place, but he had hoped he could go into a bar and enjoy a drink before he gets countless visits from challengers, wannabe-disciples, city-officials, and the like.
The retired knight watches the gates as the people go in and out. Of course, he’s under surveillance, another futile attempt to give everyone the illusion of safety. Some people are also looking at him as if he had just split the sky with a single sword-strike: a possible but foolish way to boast.
Bored by the waiting, Gottfried decides to stand up, the guards around him tremble in fear and anticipation. “Seriously,” says the old man, “I’m just going to pass the time with some training.” These words cause almost a panic, most likely because guards can’t imagine Gottfried to just stick to basic body training, instead of destroying cities. If he needed that to keep a certain level of strength, the world would be a whole other place.
What Gottfried hasn’t anticipated was that multiple mercenaries would come from the city and join his push-ups, sit-ups, sword-swings, and the like. It seems that some of them want to learn how to be like him, but the retired knight doesn’t care about any of these people.
After Gottfried finishes his light training, the first idiots—also called challengers—come. Of course, Gottfried accepts their challenges seriously. Yet all of them are green, most of them short on limbs afterward—the same as always. True masters are either wanderers or restricted in where to go.
His eighth challenger, however, was different. A lean but well-trained man in his thirties, the first gray hairs are to be seen in his ponytail and beard. “I’m Aster Torhom.” The man holds his head high as if Gottfried should know who he is.
However, he doesn’t. “Good for you.”
“... I’m the inventor of the Torhom Sword-Style.”
This, however, piques Gottfried’s interest, as he is always interested in new combat styles. The man is also old and capable enough to back it up. “You named your style after yourself?”
“Yes, of course. I also know that you have also invented your own style of swordsmanship.”
“That’s correct though I have never named it properly.” Not that Gottfried didn’t try, there were several ideas like ‘Whirlwind Death Style’, ‘Strike and Stab Style’, or the ‘Pain-Rain Style’, yet nothing really caught on. However, naming your style after yourself is a sign of hubris, something that he has already too much, so Gottfried seriously thought of alternatives.
“I’ve always wanted to compete with someone strong. I challenge you to a duel.”
Gottfried smiles dashingly, as he has been bored cutting down monsters only barely capable of fighting back, and challengers that think that holding a sword right and using it properly are the same. “Are you sure? I don’t take any challenge lightly.” Despite his words, the older man is looking forward to it as Torhom is most likely at his peak right now and has honed his skills to perfection.
“I’ve seen that, and I wasn’t impressed by your skills.”
“Oh, you’re giving me hope.”
“You’ll only taste despair. Your style has plenty of weaknesses.”
“Oho!” Gottfried’s smile would make most common people wet their pants, but Torhom smiles back with an equally unsettling laugh. “Hey guards,” Gottfried asks his monitors, “we need some space unless you want to put your city-walls to the test.”
After the walk, one of the guards becomes the judge, most likely giddy as a fangirl inside despite her formal behavior. “Draw your weapons.” Gottfried fluently draws his weapon, a motion that also puts him into his battlestance, the blade in one hand and away from his body, though his arm is lightly bowed. The whole body of the knight looks relaxed at first, but it’s like a panther: Ready to pounce. Torhom also draws his weapon, it’s an arm sword. He’s still in a neutral position, observing Gottfried, who is already in his stance. “Take your stance.” Now Torhom takes his stance, it’s a defensive one, the blade between the knight and himself, his fingers firm at his blade. Something is off, Gottfried can tell that Torhom’s stance is good, however... “Fight!”
Gottfried blade cuts through the wind as he approaches swiftly. Torhom parries his attack while taking a step back. Then he stabs at the knight, sending a shockwave in his direction that Gottfried cuts with ease, though this is just Torhom’s way to get close again, his movements reminds him of fencing, a swift succession of strikes that Gottfried easily deflects using his free hand. This... Gottfried changes the grip of his sword and swing once to cut the air, creating a current that pushes the two of them away. “Steelwind Style, Griffon Fencing, and the footwork remind of Serpent Blade,” he comments on the fighting styles that Torhom used.
“Yes, I revolutionized sword-fighting by combining the best aspects of each.”
“Jumbling techniques together doesn’t make a good style.”
“Styles that don’t adapt are weak. Traditional styles are the same for centuries. You also have created your own style, because you know it.”
“That’s correct, but you have missed the point. I respect the masters of the old styles. You have trained each style five years at best, that’s why you’ll go down in three moves.” Without an initiating movement, Gottfried suddenly stands before Torhom, it’s the same attack as before, so Torhom does the same, parry with the step back, a basic of the Steelwind Style, though this time he loses balance, as Gottfried put some more force into his attack: “Traditional styles are strong, as they’ve had centuries to perfect their ways of fighting. A master of Steelwind would have killed me right now.” Torhom tries to sidestep, but Gottfried attacks his blade and stops him from regaining balance: “A master of Serpent Blade can retain his balance in whatever situation, always launching fast and surprising attacks.” Gottfried’s blade comes in fast. Blows, cuts, and strikes are parried in a hurry, then with a creak, Torhom’s arm sword breaks, causing a deep cut into his flesh. “Finally, fencing takes care of your weapon as well. You had a good blade, but deflected blows hardly better than an amateur, putting all the force into your weapon. Instead of your own style, all you have is an excuse of swordsmanship.”
Covered in blood, Torhom falls on his knees as he looks at his broken blade. His trusted companion, a fine weapon indeed, yet it’s now beyond repair. The swordsman himself is also about to faint.
Gottfried gives his lecture before that can happen. “Also, you got something wrong. Every master has their own style and is a variation of a known one. This especially applies to masters of traditional styles. To become a master in the first place, you have to adapt your way of fighting to your strengths. While your current style urges me to vomit, you can start over and learn your styles properly. Then look at what suits you best instead of just mixing stuff because they’re the best in their respective area. Actually, the whole idea of a ‘best fighting style’ is a shitload of crap.” Gottfried swings his blade once in the air, causing all blood on the blade to fall off. “Guards, there is a companion of mine in the city, Pontiff Reiner Kassus. He may fix that one.” This is exactly the moment Torhom falls to the ground, unable to remain conscious. “I may have cut his lung.”
There is nothing wrong with combining fighting styles to improve in certain areas. However, just dabbling into several styles, thinking that this is enough, gives only superficial knowledge. A certain degree of mastery is needed to use the full strength of those fighting styles and only those who continue to hone the different techniques from every angle can hope to combine them to something even worth called a fighting style.
Later, the pontiff gnaws Gottfried’s ear again, but Torhom had to pay a hefty price: 100,000 Newgold to cover his treatment and bolster the group’s travel funds.
EXTRA 2 – SWAMPY SEQUEL
Proofreader: Antsago
I stand amid a pink forest full of glitter that flies through the air. “Ken, you have to fight.”
“What?” I look at the monster Kyou-san points at, it seems like a fishmen that escaped a horror flick. It just had emerged from the blue grass and is now tottering at us.
Ara-san puts her hands on my shoulders and turns me to her. “Kenta-kun, you’re the only one who can do it.”
“Why!?”
“Because you have the Kenta Blaster. Only the Kenta Blaster can kill this thing.”
I see Rine hacking at the fishperson with her sword to no avails. She looks at me over her shoulder and then yells: “Kenta, the Kenta Blaster is the most powerful technique of this world!”
Kyou-san pushes me from behind and towards the monster: “Without the Kenta Blaster, you’re nothing.”
“Ah, there comes Luuto!” Rine points at the alfr-hero who drives through the forest on his motorcycle, helmet included, and winks at us.
“Phew...” I know that pattern and decide to wake up. [Dormurnal] pulls me out of the realms of dreams and a flood of information fills my head. Everything that has occurred since I was asleep comes into my mind. The cold mist on my skin and in my lungs, the constant sighing and grunting of Rine, the scratching of Ara-san’s quill on paper, the spitting of the fire.
Whenever something happens while I’m asleep with the [Dormurnal]-skill, I notice it, yet something I’d call a semi-subconscious decides whether I stay asleep or not. When I don’t wake up, I forget the details until later.
I groan loudly, as also all the discomfort of the night, the humidity and coldness of the air, the hard roots beneath the fur I was sleeping on, and the croaking of the frogs around me assaults my mind. We’re still in the Spirit Swamps. I hate this place!
I open my eyes to see a WP-message. At this point, it’d be strange to not see one after waking up.
You gain 2 WP. Waking up next to your wives bring you the energy to survive the day.
Can I take your word for it, WP-system? Because after yesterday, I started doubting the whole ‘survive’ thing. Yes, it was just yesterday that we got our asses kicked by Luuto until he kinda messed up if I understand it right.
It seems like my spirit made the alfar think that I was insane for a moment. Yet human spirits work differently and I just snapped. Seeing things I never wanted to see again. My mouth tastes like shit and my body begins to tremble with fury and sadness, a combination of emotions that causes nausea.
Next to me is Ara-san, who is fulfilling the WP-quota by sleeping and waking next to me during nightwatch. Of course, she has already noticed that I’m awake. Sometimes I doubt that there is anything she would miss as long as it happens within three meters of her. Except the point. “Kenta-kun?” Ara-san calls out to me calmly. “Is something wrong?”
“Just a strange dream.” I mean, you may want to interpret something with dreams like that, but let’s be honest: Most dreams don’t make sense even remotely. Why was Luuto on a motorcycle? What about the Kenta Blaster!? It’s not like this dream was a divine revelation for me to learn some strange [Skill] that’s capable of defeating that ass.
“Is it linked to what Lvo’tjos did?”
“Definitely not.” If I were to design a dream that uses my most painful memories as a source, it would be with much more backstabbing. My mouth tastes even more like shit even thinking about it, and as I see this matter as somewhat solved, I decide to not think about it yet. There are more important things to do.
“Do you want to share your dream?”
“What would you do if I tell you?”
“Make fun of you.”
“No thanks.” At least she’s honest about it.
“Bummers.” Ara-san returns to her writing and I look over her shoulder to see what she’s doing. I begin mumbling the letters, as I need this to have it make sense to me. “I can explain it to you,” Ara-san offers, most likely annoyed by my mumbling.
“I’m trying to read.” Kyou-san was right, I need that practice. It’s not like I’m illiterate in this world’s language, but while I was solo, I may have dismissed fluent reading as unnecessary and therefore am barely able to come by. In general, I have neglected any life-skills, mostly because I don’t want to live here at all.
“If that’s your goal, I can give you a novel. It’s called ‘Burning Fangs’ and you may mark any references to heroes in there.”
“Why does it sound like you’re pushing your work onto me?”
“Because I am.”
“I think I’ll rather talk to Rine.”
“Alright.” Without a shred of hesitation, she goes back to writing her piece.
I look at Rine, who tends to the fire and seems to be deep in thought. When she notices me, she becomes pale and tries to avoid my glance. “What’s up?” I ask her while sitting down across her, on the other side of the fire.
“Erm...” This is rare, Rine thinks about what to say. “Kenta... I... I’m trying to think about you...”
“About me?”
“Yes, you asked me to... so...” She seems already at a loss. Then she suddenly breaks out into tears. “I...”
Seems like she’s overwhelmed by her emotions and can barely hold it back. “Phew, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but let me be clear: Don’t cry on me. It’s annoying.”
With an audible gulp, Rine swallows whatever makes her tear up. It’s as childish and adorable as ever. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For... annoying you...”
“It’s neither the first time nor the last time.”
“I... I’m sorry.” She’s about to cry again.
“Hey, don’t misunderstand. You don’t need to apologize for annoying me. That’s basically what you’ve done since the beginning, so I just accept that as my fate.”
“Ugh...” Her lips are trembling and then she dashes away at an unusual speed, her new [Swishstride]-skill creates a small gust which fans the fire for a moment. I can’t see her anymore, but I can hear her bawling from behind the bushes.
Ara-san teases me: “You made her cry!”
“Shut up!” Dammit! This somehow came out wrong. All the years of not caring about others may have made me worse at socializing than I thought. “Phew...” This will become a handful.
―○●○―
We sit at breakfast. Rine’s back to a somewhat stable emotional state, yet she’s also still taking her medicine for her hormone balance. Soon, this bomb will explode.
The breakfast is leftovers of yesterday’s dinner, frog-soup. After everyone has their share, Ara-san begins to speak up. “I would like to review a piece of the fight with Lvo’tjos,” she says.
Of course, we’re rather spooked by this. Rine’s emotional breakdown, my mental breakdown, and Kyou-san’s unnecessary breakdown after accidentally using [Empathy] made all of us somewhat fearful of this topic.
Yet Ara-san continues without care: “When Kenta-kun had his incident, I noticed something. I already told Momo, but while Kenta-kun moved as fast as Katarine-san, he moved differently.” She tells about muscle movements and asked me to repeat some specific actions, same for Rine, to visualize what she means. “After comparing the differences between Kenta-kun and Katarine-san, I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason why Kenta-kun moves at the same speed with less effort is that he used the hero-system more efficiently.”
I scratch my head while trying to summarize everything, especially as it ties into prior conversations I had with Ara-san: “So our [Attributes] are—what did you call it—a potential? So my [Agility] as a [Ranger] may be 201, but I usually use less than that?”
“That’s my hypothesis.”
“Which means that Rine hasn’t even properly used the hero-system at all!?”
“Exactly.”
“Heck!” Rine was overpowered before she became a hero, and now she has all that dormant potential!?
“Hn?” Of course, the girl in question needs some explanation.
“Rine, imagine a bottle. That bottle is filled up to a third with water. That’s my [Agility]-attribute. If I need to move faster, there is enough space for more water in the bottle, so I can add to it.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Won’t having more water in you make you heavier and therefore slower!?”
“...bad example. Well, let’s just say that when you look at my status, the [Agility]-value indicates how fast I can be, while I usually use less.”
“How does it do so?”
“...” Maybe this is because of what I told her, but all these questions make it difficult for me. “Ara-san, take over.” I guess I only got the gist of it and that’s why I can’t explain it properly.
“Katarine-san, our hero-status is very misleading. For example, as a [Druid], my [Strength] is 68, but what does it mean? Can I lift 68 hand-sized stones at once? Each [Attribute] lacks a scale of unit. So I’ll make one up. Let’s call it hero-sparkles.”
“Worst name ever,” I toss in.
Ara-san turns to me, the ears parallel to the ground, I guess she’s protective of her brain-child. Then she turns to Rine and Kyou-san again: “Each hero-sparkle improves you. They add to your power, speed; heighten brain activities; and even your charm. Some of them are always at work, while others are sleeping. When Kenta-kun had his outbreak, he may have awakened all of his hero-sparkles, causing him to become that much stronger.”
“Ah, I see.” Seriously!? This is more complex than my explanation... or is it? Actually, this is way too easy to imagine, if I look at everything about the hero-system I know and many things make a lot of sense with this explanation.
I mean, when I think back to the experiment of lifting a head-sized rock with different classes and with and without the curse-bonus by staying close to my wives, this would explain everything! When I’m in a particular class, more hero-sparkles are active in specific [Attributes], depending on the class, and the curse somehow creates more hero-sparkles that are instantly active. It also explains why I somehow survive a lot more than I should, because I still have hero-sparkles dormant that start activating when I need them.
Hero-sparkles... while the name is horrible, Ara-san might be onto something. “Since when did you have that thought?”
“Around eighty years ago, but I also had some other ideas. While traveling with you, I can gather data firsthand, that’s why I can move on from hypotheses to actual theories.”
“So following your thoughts, your physical capacities aren’t recorded in the status, only how much you can enhance them?”
“Broadly speaking. I doubt that your inherent traits and the hero-enhancements are entirely independent, as the numbers I have from all the heroes I interviewed seem to reflect certain physical and mental attributes individual to them, in addition to the fact that the [Class] is also adapting the body, most likely to create a better vessel suited for the hero-sparks.”
“This theory is full of holes. The sum of all of my [Attribute]-points isn’t equal when comparing my classes, so why can I suddenly create or lose hero-sparkles?”
“I think you have a lot more hero-sparkles and the [Attribute] only refers to how many of them you can activate for certain tasks at most.”
“So there aren’t different types?”
“I do not believe so, but I could tell more if we find a hero who has reached full capacity in an [Attribute].”
“What about numeric stats that aren't [Attributes], like [Attack] or [Defense]?”
“They’re most likely derived numbers, like an [Attack] equal made with X hero-sparkles.”
“What about-”
“Hey, you two. Your soup will get cold,” Kyou-san snarks from the side-line, visibly annoyed. “I’ve done my best to make the frog edible, so I dare you to wait until it regains its former taste.” Her tone makes clear that she’d rather make us force down this soup than let us trash it.
Too bad, this was a very constructive conversation. Hero-sparkles, huh? Despite its name, it might be the answer to some of the incongruences of the hero-system.
The next logical step would be to be able to activate all of these sparkles at will. It might be risky, as I don’t know the reasons why many of them are dormant in most cases, but after my experiences in these swamps so far, I can tell that the key to activate them lies in the mental condition.
Despite the possible danger, having access to all of them whenever I want would be a powerful tool I can use in emergencies, rather than relying on the hope that they’ll answer my needs when I face danger.
I also need to remind myself that it’s still a theory.
―○●○―
The dark landscape before us begins to depress me. At this point, my mind tries to make strange metaphors with my situation, relationships, and life. Dark, decaying, joyless, and no end in sight. “Phew...” My body aches from the wounds I suffered yesterday. Kyou-san treated all of them, but I guess the pain was bad enough to leave an impression. If I weren’t a hero, I would have needed months of recovery.
I look over my shoulder for a moment. Rine notices it and avoids eye-contact, though I’m sure she was staring at me just a moment before. At this point, I’m really concerned whether she’ll be able to fight or not. Even though she hasn’t been as overwhelming as usual in these swamps so far, she still adds a lot to our combat prowess. I guess, I—as the somewhat leader of this party—have grown too reliant on her. Now that I think about it, counting Rine into our party-strength is kinda bad, as the moment something happens to her, we lose too much to offset with the rest of us.
Dammit, now I’m second-guessing our decisions again. There is a reason for our current route through the swamps. We entered a more dangerous area to increase our [Experience], hoping to get as many levels as possible while we’re here. But are we strong enough to do that without Rine?
What’s that noise? Ara-san and I turn our heads towards the origin. Something emerges in a puddle right before us! I don’t even know what that is. Just imagine a vaguely humanoid figure with the posture of a hare, the face of a frog, and rubbery green-blueish skin with a lot of mucus. They are also a head taller than me, definitely what I imagine as a swamp-monster.
I draw my bow and shoot at it. While my arrow pierces through the body, it gives me no confirmation of whether it was effective or not. Suddenly, Rine jumps forward, her blade gleams for a moment. The monster lifts its gooey fingers, trying to hit her, but she quickly makes a side-step while turning around her axis and decapitates the thing with a powerful slash full of momentum.
Seems like my worries about her combat-prowess were unfounded.
“Interesting,” says Ara-san as she realizes the same thing that I did: That thing is still standing! It swings at Rine, who skips away without even looking at it. “Kenta-kun, there is one more.”
I look into the direction Ara-san is pointing at, as a second of these goo-fingers is emerging. I retrieve my spear and put my bow into my quiver. “Give me support. [Speedthrust]!”
“[Protect]!” Kyou-san uses her one buff-spell to give me an additional layer of protection. This spell can only target one person and when it’s cast again, the previous one ends, so casting it on me, who is much more likely to be hit than Rine, makes sense.
Despite its appearance, the goo-finger nimbly dodges my [Skill] and it moves its hand in my direction. Drops of mucus are flying, and as a precaution, I jump back to avoid it. This goo strikes me as poisonous.
“Watch out!” Kyou-san says. “It’s poisonous!” With her [Nature Lore]-skill called [Poisonous], Kyou-san can see whether a substance or plant is poisonous or not. So she can confirm what I already knew.
“[Fountain Gun]!” Ara-san hurls a waterblast at the monster, but it also evades that. So let me sum up, it’s agile and able to poison its opponent — nasty combo.
It charges at me, but I learned my lesson: The ground here is too slick to dodge constantly, so I plant my feet into the ground and put my armguard first. If its goo can’t touch my skin, it shouldn’t affect me.
With my other hand, I aim the tip of my spear, ready to unleash a [Skill]. “[Armor Piercer]!” This is more of a test, as I don’t know if the rubbery skin counts as armor or not. Apparently not, as I feel no difference. Transparent blood gushes out, yet despite aiming for the middle of its torso, I don’t believe that I hit a vital organ. I change to [Pikeman] to increase my power. With a sharp thrust of my spear, I push it away from me so that I can use my left arm also to grab my weapon and put more strength into my next move. “Uaaaaah!” With a yell, I have enough power to swing the thing against a tree. I immediately pull the blade out, step back, and: “[Speedthrust]!” After my attack, I jump back and look if it was enough.
Nope.
I change to [Ranger] again, mostly to shield myself from possible interference from the trees. But heck is this thing resilient! “Rine, what about yours!?”
“I don’t know. It still moves.” I risk to take a look and see something squirming on the ground. Then I realize that it’s a limbless torso, so it can even move after all this!?
Therefore I better fight smarter with mine. “[Entangle]!” I force the tree the monster was knocked against to grab it. “Ara-san!”
“[Icicle Knives]!” In games, magic would usually hit another kind of defense, therefore doing more damage against opponents weak against magic and less against opponents resistant to magic. Against my better judgment, I hope that this might also work here. Logically speaking, it doesn’t make a difference whether I stab someone with a knife made out of ice or to create those ice-knives and hurling them with magic.
That may be the reason why there is [Defense], but not [Magic Defense] in the hero-system.
Well, Ara-san’s attack penetrates the body, but it’s not that different from my arrow. Yet I noticed something... With my [Focus] on the goo-finger, I see something within the spear-wound I caused before, that I wasn’t prepared for... moving organs. Gross.
“Their bodies are just bags with their innards floating freely there.” Standard brute force is possible, but not very effective. “Ara-san, use [Tidal Wave] on mine. Kyou-san, look at Rine’s if your poisons work.” Let’s see whether brute force everywhere or harming the organism works.
Another alternative are firebombs. Yet I want to save them if possible. I don’t know when I can replenish them. We also have the fight pretty much in the bag. I feel a spiritual struggle between me and the goo-finger who tries to escape my [Entangle], yet I’m clearly superior here. Training with the alfr wasn’t a life-scarring experience for nothing.
Kyou-san draws her knife: “[Coating]!” The herbs in her hands turn into dripping poison on the blade. She gulps once and then charges, stabbing the goo with her blade, then she runs away in panic. I won’t make fun of her because of that—I know exactly how she feels—but I still find it hilarious.
The goo-finger torso moves a bit different. “How is it, Kyou-san?” She has [Check-up]-skill, which is the best way to determine whether her poison works or not. In a sense, Kyou-san’s synergy there is not bad.
“It works.”
I put some more effort into my [Entangle]-spell as I wait for Ara-san to finish her chant. “[Tidal Wave]!” A massive amount of water crashed on the goo-finger. Tied up as it is, it can do little to subvert the brute force of the spell.
If it can move its organ, it may be able to create a crumple zone with the rest of its body, so I don’t expect it to die. But depending on how its body works, it may lose consciousness, at least. I guess we need to dissect one of them later.
The [Tidal Wave] subsides and I see the goo-finger almost as vivid as before. This becomes a pain, time for a firebomb. Due to the moistness of the swamps, I don’t carry any in my belt pouch to preserve them, so I put my hand into my backpack to open the [Inventory] to retrieve one and throw it.
After a burst of flames, the goo-finger is still there. Does the mucus protect it from fire? Too bad that firebombs are more fire than bombs, otherwise they might be able to blow off that goo.
What a pain. “Kyou-san, I think we found your enemies. Do you have anything that can kill them outright?”
“No?”
“Phew... then aim for coma or paralysis.” I go to the limb- and headless torso and step on it, forcing its innards outside. “Do it to the whole one, we’ll dissect that later. I try to kill this one.” This may be the spleen, this the stomach, this the heart. After some more steps, I have just a suit of skin under my boot. “Kyou-san, is this thing still alive?”
“Of course not!” I guess I’m annoying her, but this is an important way to understand how these mobs work. I’ve never faced anything like that before.
―○●○―
After some disgusting work, we found out that these things are literally bags full of fluid and organs. I have no idea how this is supposed to work biologically speaking. Best I can imagine is that the nutrients are somewhat solved into the fluid and most likely also dissolve their victims.
We’re on a break and I try to wrap my head around how to deal with the goo-fingers in the future. The second one died after we crushed some organs, yet it’s not like I can aim for these when the monster is still intact. I guess I need to try it like Rine and dismember these mobs for the best effect. Poisoning them is all well and good, but I like to have my own options, instead of entirely relying on the rest. ...bad enough that I need to rely on them at all.
Ara-san goes around the plants. I guess she uses [Plant Memory] to get more intel. From what she said about that spell, it doesn’t seem to be very useful, as plants tend to forget things that don’t happen often.
Rine and Kyou-san are in a conversation. “Rine-chan, if it’s torturing you so much, you can talk to me.”
“I- I’m fine.”
“Come on, I’m your best friend. You can tell me everything.”
I stand up after hearing it to make clear I want to say something. “Hey Kyou-san. Don’t manipulate her.”
She faces me and draws herself up to her full height. “What are you saying?”
“The ‘I’m your best friend’-thing’, of course. That’s exactly the line you use to guilt someone into fessing up.”
“I want to help her.”
“Then don’t help her.”
“What!?”
“Let her think for herself and make her own decisions, for once.”
“What do you imply?” Both of us glare hostile at each other.
Before I can answer, there is a sudden, loud interruption. “I’M SORRY!” Rine takes Kyou-san’s hand and speaks up to her: “I’m sorry, you two. I... Kyou, I want to try what Kenta said. Please don’t be angry at him.”
Kyou-san looks first at her and then at me, sending me a telling glare: ‘What have you done?’
‘What was necessary.’
‘If this makes her feel miserable, you’ll feel worse.’ Then she turns back to Rine: “It’s alright, Rine-chan. We won’t fight.”
...again with this pampering. That’s exactly the reason why Rine turned out the way she did. “Is it alright? Or do we rather avoid the conflict because having Rine upset would be inconvenient?”
I sure hope that there is no [Skill] that can kill with a glare because I’m sure that Kyou-san is on the verge of learning that. Yet I stand firm, I’m honest, there is an underlying threat in Kyou-san’s eyes that I take seriously, as I know she’s capable skill- and morale-wise to slip poison into my dinner and brutally kill me off later.
Rine looks at the two of us and is about to say something, but then does nothing. Kyou-san grimaces in anger and then tramps away, most likely royally pissed with me, and maybe even with Rine.
...this is a win for me, right?
Rine now also grimace, but it seems in pain. “...I need a moment,” she says while looking for cover.
Ah, she needs to take a crap. “Ara-san, please go with her.” Having Rine walking alone would be bad.
“Why?”
“Because Rine needs to take a crap.”
“Erm... not that...” She blushes deeply red while being weak on her legs. “It started.”
“What started?”
Suddenly, she begins to yell at me in pure anger: “MY PERIOD, OF COURSE!”
...crap.
―○●○―
Menstruation. Once every month, a woman’s body uses secretion and a little bit of blood to flush out an unfertilized egg cell. A completely natural process that only sounds disgusting. Yet it takes time for the body to do. Therefore menstruation lasts some days.
Kyou-san is in the midst of one, but Rine has now entered that state. While Kyou-san is only in a bad mood, however, Rine’s case is a bit more extreme. I think I mentioned that before? Well, she’s always quick to change her mood, but her period makes her mood swings faster and more intense, while also opening her to upright hostility, fretfulness, and annoyance.
The last time, we were in the safety of the alfr village of Aroahenn, so I have no idea how much it may affect her in combat. I guess, when we add her mental anguish to the mix, she’s pretty much done for.
Means I have to carry her weight, because Kyou-san can’t really carry her own, while Ara-san is very unreliable. The problem is that Rine carries a lot, and to be honest, it makes me a bit afraid to fill in her part. I just hope that I’m wrong and the moment combat comes, she snaps out of all of her problems and just kills everything that’s not us, like usual.
Rine claws at my arm. It’s actually WP-grind-time and she’s supposed to link her arm with mine, but she’s squeezing it so strong, that my left arm feels numb. “Erm, Rine? Could you ease up a bit?”
“I’m not the only one who stinks!”
I have no idea what she’s talking about. Make sense, girl!
Facing this randomness, I do a facepalm. Yet this also triggers Rine: “Am I annoying again?” She’s somewhere between anger and crying.
I try to answer as calm as possible. “Somewhat.” Sometimes honesty hurts. Especially when being honest causes your arm to twist and yanked by a very pissed girl.
Kyou-san and Ara-san are going in front of us, conversing in soft voices. They noticed that the whole plant-life begins to change here. To be honest, I didn’t pay attention to it before, but now that they speak about it, I also notice that the trees have other leaves and barks, the herbs and aquatic plants are more stout, fungi are growing at some spots, and even the grass looks different.
As we know next to nothing about what lies ahead, I don’t know whether changing the route will be for the better or worse. Yet this reminds me of something my mentors, Meldorn and Oro’hekk told me: The more fertile the land, the more animals and monsters are making their territories there.
My [Perception]-enhanced hearing, however, makes out an irregularity. “Ara-san, can you listen ahead? Is it me, or is there less noise?” Why is the croaking and slithering behind us louder?
“You’re right.” We nod at each other, understanding what it means. “You want the trouble?”
I silently nod.
Kyou-san finally gets what this is about: “So there are strong monsters ahead? And you want to fight them?”
“That’s why we’re here, right?”
Usually, Kyou-san would come with sound logic shrouded within insults to tell us what a stupid idea this is. Yet my argument sticks. I can see how she tries to mount an answer while playing with the ring of her finger, then she sighs and says in defeat: “Let me check my gear first.”
“Alright, I also like to wait until we finish the arm-link WP. Should be in a minute or two.” I look at Rine and try to fight back my doubts about whether she can do it or not. She’s Rine, so she will kill all the mobs with ease.
...maybe I should think about a battle-formation that won’t put her directly into danger. Sadly, there are only few options with the members we have. Kyou-san can’t be at the front and in case of Ara-san, I need to decide whether her magic or her much weaker close-combat capabilities should be the priority...
“Kyou-san, you’ll take the back. Rine, you’re the center. Ara-san and I do the front.”
“I, at the front?” Even Ara-san can’t believe it.
“We need your [Spirit Magic] to locate the suckers. Maybe we can get some clues where they might be, but you’re our best chance to find them. You also don’t need your [Druid] to do so, so you can stay in [Acrobat] and change your position depending on the situation in the blink of an eye. From the center, Rine can attack after she knows where the monsters are. Kyou-san can observe from the back and decide whether we need CC, support, or more offense.” In exactly that order: Crowd control if there are too many to handle, support if they’re too strong, more offense if the little Kyou-san can provide makes a difference.
I know this isn’t a real strategy, but when you face the unknown, you have to deal with the cards you’re given. Kyou-san at the back makes my stomach turn, but as Ara-san has little to no experience with being at the front, I can’t let her do it alone and move back in the formation. At least, Kyou-san has a little [Spirit Magic] and might at least not fall for a sudden hallucination.
With this, we enter the too-good-to-be-true habitat. Our cautiousness is the best option to be not counter-ambushed. I’m looking and hearing so hard that I almost dig through dirt and weed with my focus alone.
As I scout my surroundings, I hear a [Whisper] from Ara-san: “Kenta-kun, there is something dangerous in that water.”
I look at a bigger pond with my [Wild Eyes]. “[Whisper]: I sense nothing.”
“Its spirit has ceased to be detectable, yet for a fraction of a moment, I sensed something there. It’s lurking.”
Without giving me a chance to answer, something shoots out of the water. The splashing and slurping seem for a moment slower than the motion itself, only my [Focus] and the forewarning helped me to raise my armguard to deflect a bullet made out of slime and mud. A sharp pain goes through my arm before it becomes numb, but the strain on and below my shoulder tells me exactly how painful this will be.
The monster’s ambush failed and therefore it attacks before we can prepare. I guess, even though Ara-san and I used [Whisper] to not alert it.
In an instant, I check what everyone is doing. The moment the bullet came, Ara-san has jumped into the air and is still there, Rine has already drawn her weapon and stands between the pond and Kyou-san, while Kyou-san is still processing what’s going on.
The monster is still in the pond and now I can detect its spirit clearly. No other monsters around as far I can tell. Four against one, we have the strength in numbers. The monster is also emerging, which cancels its cover.
Something like a mud-head emerges, mud that’s framed by wood and held together by vines and bushes. The problem is that the head itself has the size of a washing machine. The shoulders come out, the two arms, the torso, the four legs... it’s a six-meter (20 feet) mudgolem-centaur! Well, let’s call it swampgolem instead.
I feel a spirit... how can I describe it... waving over me. Something like an omnipresence spreading out. I instinctively know what it means: The swampgolem just took control over the whole plant-life in its surroundings.
Ara-san lands next to me with an overdramatic pose, so I ask her: “Can you dispel the control?”
Her ears twitch twice before she carefully answers: “Only for a moment on a small area.” Precious.
I don’t want to charge that thing, yet I feel how the scrubs and grass beneath me start to move unnaturally, the more I hesitate, the more I have to deal with them. “[Speedthrust]!” So charge it is. “Wuuuu...” Let me remind you, [Speedthrust] is a skill that propels my body towards my target and makes me charge it with increased speed with my spear in front. Now imagine, that during this speedboost, the six-meter thing full of mud and slime, which is made with an awful lot of water which is pretty heavy, just gave me a hook from around my spear! This thing is much faster than I thought.
My head and torso hit the soft ground, sliding some meters before coming to a halt. I can be glad that I was [Ranger] with my [Focus] on it, predicting the hit a moment before it came and therefore being able to abort the [Skill] and move with the punch instead. Otherwise, I may have been knocked out, now I just scream in pain and feel fuzzy.
Where is my [Heal]? I get back to my feet and see how our formation is broken. I see big piles of mud everywhere... does it mean that it didn’t only hit me, but also shot its mud-missiles at the same time?
Ara-san changes to [Druid] and shoots a [Fountain Gun] without any visible effect. Ah, Rine charges, now she can... get hit as well, as her movements are sluggish and without her usual sharpness... She still takes the hit better than me, as she at least jumped back and is able to land on her feet.
Shit, she’s in the range of a tree! It’s grabbing her, and the swampgolem thuds towards Ara-san and Kyou-san.
I quickly get my bow: “[Quadruple Shot]!” I have no idea whether arrows will even work. One of them is deflected by the wooden frame, the other three vanish inside the mud and slime without any trace.
“[Plant Whip]!” Ara-san points at the monster itself, trying to use its own greenery to attack, but they don’t even tremble.
“[Protect]!” Kyou-san backs off while providing Ara-san with her buff. Well, backing off is hard with grass grabbing your feet, Kyou-san falls on her butt instead, curses, and begins to cut the grass with her knife.
Rine is circling the swampgolem, most likely looking for a good angle for another attack, while I stow my bow back into my quiver and pick up my spear to do the same. If we coordinate our assault, then we should be able to get at least one attack in.
There are three problems, however. First, Rine and I actually never coordinated our attacks, as she’s usually just doing her thing and I pick up whatever is left. Second, I can’t see eyes or other sensory organs, so I can’t tell whether there is a blindspot or not. Third, I’m pretty sure that this thing can deal with numbers from the little I have seen.
Well, time to attack its butt. That’s the best shot I got: “[Speedthrust]!”
“[Crescent Moon]!”
... DON’T USE THAT WHEN I’M CHARGING, DAMMIT! I know, she has set it in an angle that it shouldn’t hit me, but as she’s on the opposite side, having a [Crescent Moon] flying in my general direction is scary! What if that swamp-thing hits me into it!?
Ara-san changes to [Acrobat] and joins our lackluster effort of a team-combo: “[Chin-upper]!”
[Crescent Moon] is blocked by the wooden exoskeleton, there is damage, but it’s slowly growing back. While I’m able to skip over some scrubs that try to grab my ankles, I abort [Speedthrust] to evade a mud-bullet. [Chin-upper] is dodged by the swampgolem. It grabs Ara-san by her staff and throws her aside like a gamer his pad during a bad streak.
Rine blurs and begins to move with amazing speed and gets closer, ready to jump. The problem is that the grass grabs her ankle and she falls on her face instead, the swampgolem turns to her and stomps on her: “Urgh, argh!” Her cries of pain echoes into my ears.
“Rine-chan! [Warp Plants]!” Kyou-san has freed herself and tries to influence the plants of that thing, despite Ara-san’s earlier failure. That’s just wasted time!
If it’s about pushing things aside, I have the right [Skill]. I evade the grasping scrubs rather cumbersome while shortening the distance. Here comes its fist: “[Whirlwind]!” It only has enough force to push the fist aside and with its four legs, the swampgolem doesn’t even lose its balance. At least I can get closer: “[Whirlwind]!” I use it on the foot stomping on Rine and the moment it stops hurting her, Rine rolls aside and get some more distance. She has cuts and bruises on her face and it seems that her body moves only under great pain.
Rine is basically a glass-cannon. Usually, she evades all attacks and destroys everything that can be dangerous in a second, but the moment an assault hits her, she takes much more damage than I. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t use her—urgh—hero-sparkles at all?
Nonetheless, I have no time to ponder about that. “Rine, recover. Kyou-san, distance.” Me, survive.
“[Power Dive]!” Using one of her most dramatic and most useless [Skills], Ara-san flies at the thing like a meteor.
“[Rising Point]!” I can see how the air-current that builds up around me blows away some of the monster’s mud. With me attacking from ground to air and Ara-san vice versa, we may have any effect on it.
Or we’re just knocked aside by hand and foot, respectively.
OK, let’s think about retreat... we can go between those trees which are definitely under that things control and I’m not sure if Ara-san can wrestle it out long enough for all of us to pass through. The pond... bad idea, the golem has home-advantage there. The clearing... no cover, Kyou-san is too slow to evade those bullets, and even I may have problems when I’m not facing them. Dammit.
Kyou-san and Rine have used [Heal] on the princess to make cuts and bruises disappear, but I know from experience that it still takes a while to really get into shape. Rine’s eyes also look a bit glassy and unfocused, so I’m not sure how much longer she can perform at even that subpar level.
Ara-san is wobbling on her feet, I guess without [Protect] she would have been knocked out.
Dammit! Fuck! Shit! While my stomach feels icy, the rest of my entire body burns with anger and hatred towards this whole crap. I know I need to calm myself, but I can’t!
This is a fucking random encounter! Or did we trigger a boss-fight without knowing? The last one against the hornchasers wasn’t nearly as hard! This is rather another monkey-spider boss!
This isn’t a game, so there is no difficulty curve. This is a shitty fantasy world that doesn’t care about you, just like the world I’m from.
Yes, I’m forging this hatred to awaken my hero-sparkles. It’s as easy as that. I can already feel the power coursing through my veins. “[Speedthrust]!” A first well-placed hit right into the weak mud. I feel my spear sinking into it, but there is nothing... shit!
I’m picked up by the swampgolem like a flower. I stab at it with my spear, try to hit the wood, the plants, but I have no idea how this thing functions. Is it like the goo-fingers and basically a sack of organs that can be moved?
The swampgolem throws me a bit upwards to grab me on my legs. Then it swings me overhead towards the ground. Then it repeats that, again and again. I can sure be glad that the ground is somewhat soft. It still hurts, though.
“Ken! [Protect]!” Unable to give me real help, Kyou-san makes this at least less painful.
“Kenta!” Rine charges again, evading the bullets that are shot into her direction, but the swampgolem runs closer to the trees, which begin to bend to block the path. “Go away!” Rine hacks at them, but they quickly regrow. “KENTA!” Using the new terrain, I’m meeting hard wood instead of soft ground, it’s sure an improvement in terms of pain.
“[Entangle]!” Ara-san uses her own magic to get control over the trees, and it seems to work for a moment, yet the swampgolem sicks other plants to immobilize her while shooting mud-bullets into her direction to break her concentration.
I change to [Pikeman] to improve my durability. I can still fight. “[Ri]-urgh!” Well, I can try to fight. As I can’t get a moment to use a [Skill], I stab at it whenever I have the opportunity, but to no avail. I lack power.
I’m about to lose consciousness, my head feels heavy, the pain begins to feel less painful, and I can feel blackness approach — one last attempt. I need more power. I used more power against Luuto. I only need to repeat this.
‘It’s not your fault.’ Cold anger flushes my system. ‘Come here. I’m there for you.’ Blackness corrupts once fond memories even further. ‘Ken-chan, I—’ I taste shit.
I want to destroy. I want to kill. I want to hurt. I channel all of these feelings into my spear and make a large swing. Without any lasting effect, my weapon bounces off the wooden exoskeleton, the cut I made quickly regenerates.
I can’t do it. I can’t lose control on command. I’m still thinking about what I’m doing! Even if I try to remember it, it’s not the same as Luuto pulling on my memories, emotions, and even my perception. Something like thinking about it isn’t enough to open that old wound.
I endure two more hits against trees. I can only see colorful dots and hear my heartbeat. Fuck it. At this moment, I just need one good strike. If I can’t dip into my hatred and other emotions, I just outset it with pure willpower. As long as I’m a [Pikeman], I can use my spear. It’s the exact thing as with Crunch!
I swing my spear another time, I feel how something tears underneath it. I have cut through the exoskeleton, but in the moment of glee, I feel how my power is drained from tip to toe. I gasp for air, but my vision returns. I’m still upside down and can see the huge cut I caused... This is it. This feels familiar.
“[Rising Point]!” I repeat it, it feels like my spear sucks out my power, but the [Skill] ’s current is much stronger than before. Mud is blown away, offering me an enrooted stone — a heart. I unleash my attack at it and shatter it like it’s nothing.
The swampgolem falls apart, burying me with mud, plants, and wood. I can’t stand up on my own, but Ara-san drags me out of the mire. “Kenta-kun, what was that?”
“...heh.” I can barely say something and even if I could, I wouldn’t be able to describe it. Maybe I’m now able to access my hero-sparkles. Perhaps, I have found something else. It’s strange, and I don’t know exactly how I did it, but I keep that feeling in my heart. If I train a bit, I should be able to do it freely.
“Momo, Kenta-kun feels bad. He’s smiling.”
“That’s not a smile, Arako.”
Was the swampgolem a boss or just a strong mob? Or maybe even a usual mob in these parts of the swamps? I don’t know, but I check my [Status]. This is it. [Experience]. But there is no new [Skill], what I used is something different.
For now, though, I will just be glad that I survived this.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I’m the worst.” I can hear Rine’s weak bawling as she has fallen into a fit of sadness and whining. “KENTA, YOU IDIOT!” Now she’s angry. “Why don’t you take more care of yourself!?” Then she grabs her hair, looking earnestly scared.
My conclusion: Rine is halfway stable during a fight, though she can’t access her usual badassness. Also, the moment combat is over. She’s overwhelmed by all the feelings she ignored and falls into rapid emotional outbursts.
Rine grabs me and starts opening the belts of my armor. I tell her with a straight face: “You’re hurting me.”
“We need to look at your wounds.”
“Rine-chan, that’s my job?”, Kyou-san carefully reminds. Rine starts to tear up again.
Oh god, I’m still alive and almost well, dammit! Just don’t move me!
―○●○―
The worst part of my injuries from the boss-fight is that they’re at the lower end of beat-ups I received. In the situation, I may have been more helpless than usual, but the damage wasn’t so bad. So we decided to continue.
Now it’s evening and this day was intense. After the boss, we fought some giant dragonflies, a strange twig-monster, and some more goo-fingers. I feel exhausted. Partly because of the many battles, partly because of Rine. “My tummy hurts!” How can someone who has beaten up by a giant monster make sound stomach-ache worse? The pitch of her voice, however, grinds on my ears, it’s annoying!
Another source of exhaustion is right next to me. “Try again!” Ara-san insists. We’ve been trying for around half an hour to replicate my empowered attacks. “Activate your hero-sparkles!”
I try to concentrate on my hate for that term. “[Rising Point]!”
“The wind-current becomes weaker. Try harder!”
“I’m dead beat.”
“That’s no excuse.”
“It’s your own primary excuse!”
Her inner iris narrows. “That’s why you can’t use it.”
“Come on!”
“Kenta-kun, we need to figure out how you did it.” Her fervor to learn everything about the hero-system makes her reckless again.
“What if it wasn’t about being a hero, but because of the curse? Something like a husband protecting his wives?”
“Hm...” Her ears rise a bit. She also wants to learn about the curse but is less ardent about it. “Then we must ask Kyou-san to put herself into danger.”
“WHAT!?” The person in question isn’t keen on that proposal. “Why don’t you do it?”
“It would put me into danger.”
“And what about me?”
“You’re a human and very resilient. You have excess blubber to act as natural armor, while poor me is just a frail girl.”
Instead of going into an anger-fit, Kyou-san just sighs and yawns. “I’m too tired for this. Rine-chan, would you and Arako take over the first watch?”
“...sure.” Rine sounds like she’s dying right now. But as I’m also about to fall asleep, I won’t argue with going to sleep first.
While Rine and Ara-san do some magic training, Kyou-san and I make everything ready to sleep. While I brush my teeth, Kyou-san changes into her pajama and joins me only a minute later. “Hey Ken...”
“What?” At this moment I have some ideas about what she wants to talk about. I try my best to check my spirit to notice whether she uses [Empathy] or not.
She doesn’t, but somehow she becomes angry. “...nothing.” Has she noticed that I made sure? No, she’s just good at guessing what goes through my head.
Well, it’s not a topic I like to talk about anyway. Let’s concentrate on more important stuff than what Luuto did to me. It doesn’t matter in the greater scheme and dwelling on that will only hinder me.
There is a reason why we’re in these swamps. I have levels to grind, I have [Skills] to learn, I have the—urgh—hero-sparkles to master. It may seem much, but I will do it to beat this shitty fantasy world!