Shun POV:
[Boss: Lonely Lanwa]
“Stay back! The Boss is mine!”
The corners of my mouth rose as I sprinted toward the boss monster. It muttered incessant ramble to itself, but that didn’t stop long limbs from flashing out of its dark jacket.
“COME ON!!”
My eyes bulged, and the Lanwa’s smile widened behind its long, messy hair. We flickered around the Boss Room, trading blows that split the ground apart.
The wall to Monzen began to crumble with every exchange. It verified my growth. It confirmed my improvement. I parried the Lanwa’s strikes before capitalising on the openings made.
A kunai spun around my fingers, and my hand blurred again. Blood splashed everywhere, dropping the Lanwa’s HP by small chunks at a time.
“LANWA STYLE: LANLAN WA PUNCH!!”
Long arms glowed a dark green colour; its clouded appearance limited visibility, making it difficult to see where the strike would come from. A second later, walls exploded from the flickering of fists that extended the Lanwa’s range to more than 20 metres.
I weaved through the frantic assault when a fist struck my Ki Armour.
It cracked.
The Lanwa’s hardened punch sank deep into my gut before blasting me backwards. I smashed into the Boss Room doors at the other end of the room.
“Keuk...”
Blood spewed out of the wide smile on my face. This Boss Monster was quite good, but I needed to see more.
“S-Shu—“
“Stay back!”
I charged right into the middle, where the Lonely Lanwa greeted me. The battle continued with the party as spectators till its HP reached the halfway point.
[The Lonely Lanwa has summoned reinforcements.]
“Retsu.”
My Ki spread out along the ground, forming my Domain. Red and white Shinobi Banners marked off the boundary while partially matching my attire.
“Sha.”
The Apana Mudra was the half seal for this technique. All half-hand seals were performed in a vertical or upright position, rather than horizontal for obvious reasons.
Sha represented Healing. It was one of the few techniques that had no difference in benefits between half or full seal. My HP recovered in large chunks as I healed myself and the party members within Retsu.
“Rin.”
The Mutrashay Mudra was the half seal for this technique, but due to how the Kuji-kiri was designed, there had to be some connection between the half seal and full seal.
Rin represented Power. It increased my physical strength for a short duration of time, but the half seal also allowed me to reverse the force of a physical attack back toward the target. The greater the force, the more Ki was needed for the reflection.
Mutrashay meant Urinary bladder, and the Mudra itself was believed by others to regulate the urinary system. In other words, the force received overloaded that system, but the reversal of that force regulated it by using the same area as an exit point.
I had the power to cancel out the opponent’s with my own.
I cocked my head to the side when the Lonely Lanwa’s fist smashed into my hand. The force was sent right back to the Boss, shattering the bones inside.
They pierced through the monster’s sleeve; their dark colour only several shades lighter than the jacket the Boss wore. I ripped its entire arm off and dashed it to the side before stepping forward.
“OW, OW!!’
“Zai.”
My hands splayed forth, encapsulating the recoiling Lanwa in the middle of the seal. Hundreds of shurikens and kunai formed around me, waiting for my command.
The Adi Mudra was the half seal for this technique due to two reasons: the simplicity of the hand gesture and its association with mental clarity. By forming a fist with the thumb inside, concealed by the fingers, the half seal could be completed in milliseconds.
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Zai represented Creation. There are those that believe the Adi Mudra unites all of the elements within the body, which stimulates the Crown chakra. This leads to inspiration and clearer thinking, forming a link between the two Mudras. This technique was responsible for creating tools and weaponry via Codex Knowledge in Shinobi. If Zai only utilised Ki, then the tools would be limited to the Shinobi profession of that time period. However, since it used Codex Knowledge, I could create a more diverse range, though it would require intricate designs for the creation to be useable.
In other words, you couldn’t think of a tool and have it form right away without understanding everything about it. There were no shortcuts when it came to creating an original ability.
I flexed my fingers, and the bombardment began. Kunai and shurikens tore through the air, forming a storm around the Lanwa.
“Pyō.”
Pyō represented Channelling. The technique channelled my Ki, increasing its efficiency in order to boost the density of my Ki Armour. The drastic increase to defence was comparable to Rin’s improvement of my physical strength.
The Rudra Mudra was the half seal for Pyō due to the belief that it strengthened the body. Hence why it is also known as the Gesture of Strength.
I threw a smoke bomb down and ignored the reinforcements the party members were dealing with.
“LANWA STYLE: LAN LAN WAVE!”
The monster swung its long arm around. It created a vortex of wind that split apart the storm of shurikens and kunai before dispersing the smokescreen.
“!”
The moment my position was revealed, the Lanwa’s arm shot forward. A wave of Ki shattered the ground, creating dozens of smaller waves that restricted my escape and boxed me in place.
I threw my guard up; its technique pounded me into the wall. The waves rippled down my body, increasing in power till they diffused at the soles of my feet.
It failed to deal any significant damage, but its strategy was enough. I shifted my gaze to everyone else fighting and narrowed my eyes.
‘...I can’t train it.’
I clenched my teeth and flashed forward. Two chains, attached to a pair of sickles, sliced through the air toward the Lanwa. I spun with them, drawing blood from the several lacerations that appeared across the monster’s body as we dashed around the room.
Kusarigama: the chain and sickle.
The Boss Monster couldn’t respond to the assault. It couldn’t react to the frustration the arched blades carried. I manipulated the air to wrap around me, increasing my speed and accelerating the barrage that dyed the area with the monster’s grimy blood.
Unlike the Ninjatō, there was historical evidence proving the use of the Kusarigama by Shinobi. Either way, I could always use CK to create a Ninjatō, so it didn’t matter to me.
The sickles flew forward, and I used the distraction to sink my fist into the same spot on the Lanwa’s ribs as before.
“K-KEUK!! PAIN, PAIN!!”
It coughed up dirty blood while I battered it all around the Boss Room in annoyance. The Lanwa’s HP soon dropped to 1/4 when another system window appeared.
[Lonely Lanwa has found a crush.]
“...?”
I slid back to observe the Lanwa’s Ki explode past what I could sense. It unzipped its long jacket, revealing a feminine figure with breasts hidden by dark clothes.
The Lanwa slicked back its lengthy hair. A black hairband hung from the slight opening of round lips that the monster used to keep its ponytail in place. Aside from the sharp features of its now exposed face, the Lanwa’s ripped-off arm was restored, and its limbs—back to a normal size.
We locked eyes, and the Lonely Lanwa cocked its head to the side.
“You’re like me.”
“...”
I peered down at the Boss Monster. It met my glare without looking away and reacted to the bloodlust pouring out of me with its own.
“Isolation isn’t nice, is it?”
I pointed my trembling kunai toward the Lonely Lanwa.
“Shut your damn mouth.”
What would a monster know about me? How could a monster ever relate to what I had been through? The veins on the side of my head bulged while the Lanwa leaned forward.
“Adventurer Shun...”
It looked right into my eyes, confident that the situation was under its control.
“You’re crazy.”
The corners of my mouth rose, forming a wide smile at the unexpected result of this outcome.
“Good. Very good.”
I lowered the still kunai. My fingers coiled around the Lanwa’s neck. A silent trail of wind fractured the ground in a straight line from the unsuppressed movement I performed.
“Shun! Wai—“
The Lanwa blurred out of view, smashing through dozens of walls to the side of the Boss Room. Several Shinobi traps filled the tunnel left behind. I switched to Wizard, manipulating the earth to seal both ends before transitioning back to Shinobi in the blink of an eye.
I chucked the Lanwa down onto a small platform surrounded by darkness. The monster rubbed its neck and looked around in surprise.
“How can I clear this dungeon without killing you?”
“...What?”
The wide eyes and the slight backward shift of its left foot were nothing more than another facade. I took a seat and rested my arm over my knee.
“I want you to grow strong so that I can grow stronger after killing you.”
The Lanwa’s eyebrows fell, creasing the smooth space between them as the monster continued its act.
“I know you’ve been holding back by choice. Your Ki Stage is low Jikki, but your power is beyond that.”
My lips curved upward, reaching the corners of my eyes. It encouraged a faint tremble to run across the Lanwa’s body in response.
“You’re good enough.”
“...Check your titles.”
‘A Boss Monster knows about the Dungeon System to that extent? How interesting.’
It meant that the Lonely Lanwa’s previous dialogue contained a hint. A hint to my title... Dungeon Maniac. That was why it called me crazy.
[Title: Dungeon Maniac (Max)
Effect: During one on one fights with Floor Bosses or Boss Monsters, all of their physical attributes are drastically increased.
• Ki Recovery Rate is tripled.
• The likelihood of communication occurring is quadrupled.
• Your Mania can allow for hidden conditions to be unlocked to re-live it all again.
• Boss Monsters can now be trained.]
The Ki Recovery Rate applied to the monster rather than myself, but it didn’t matter. The title was useful and stacked well with ‘Extreme Ruthless Tunnelmen Teacher.’ However, the problem was the party. Their presence reduced the time and the frequency I could spend training monsters.
I shifted my gaze back to the Boss Monster.
The Lanwa had dark green skin that brought attention to its piercing blue eyes. The monster’s gaze never left me; it travelled up and down, performing its own assessment of my character until round lips parted.
“I am Pulzi.”
[You have unlocked a hidden condition in ‘Lonely Depths of TunTunnels.’]