(Day 10)

11.56 A.M.

'Here I am.'

'In another hidden temple.'

This morning, I also woke up early and went to have a really quick breakfast.

Next, I went to the teacher's room to get permission from the homeroom teacher to go out again.

At that time, teacher Kenzo looked quite puzzled and asked:

"Do you need any help?"

It was the first time someone asked me in this world...

Of course, the legendary blacksmith - Enomoto Atsuta - also cares a little about my well-being.

Even if it's just a little.

But this is the first time I have received such direct care.

Somehow it made me feel very happy.

"Thank you, teacher, but I don't need it. Now I want to go out to practice more."

I took the bus to go to some deserted forest and, of course, still wore a mask.

I relied on my memory to get to this hidden Temple.

Overcome the traps I know all too well, as this is one of the top must-visit places in the speedrun challenge.

This dungeon's rank is quite low - rank D - but it provides many important items.

I will take advantage of some important items to prepare for the future.

'Let's finish this temple fast and come back to the academy.'

'I kinda miss watching Katia's face already...'

...

'Damn, I hate being a teenager again.'

As soon as I entered the trial, I was warmly welcomed by a flock of Skeletons.

Skeletons are basically skeletal beasts.

However, most of them are human-like creatures.

Fortunately, they don't have any weapons, so this flock is pretty easy to fight.

I just need to shoot the bow from afar.

I know it's dirty, but what could I do anyways?

I'm so weak that I could be squashed really easily.

'Just a slight mistake would cost me my whole life.'

I can take this chance to put my skills to the test too.

Moreover, I could practice archery for a bit. When I run out of mana, I use string darts again. (Because it's not effective on bones either)

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However, I realized that my archery ability improved quite well.

I don't even need [Aim Assisting] anymore.

I don't know what I did differently than usual, but at the same time, I felt like my bow usage was raised to a new level.

I don't know anymore.

I tried taking the stone and aiming at the skeleton head, and unexpectedly, it hit.

I tried the fourth time and still got it, so I thought I had the ability to throw 100% of the time. I tried throwing with my eyes closed and it didn't work.

I tried throwing a rock from about 20 meters away and didn't hit it, just barely missed it.

Hmm... Why did I suddenly become this accurate?

Maybe... This is the effect of [Kinesthetic Awareness].

Because of this technique, I was able to work effectively with my nerdy body.

'I'm glad that I touched a lot of grass in real life.'

But at first, I thought this skill was completely useless.

'My bad.'

'I think I need to raise this skill a lot more.'

'Damn, I need to sort out a priority task.'

'Really soon, to be honest.'

* *

Going a little deeper, there is a puzzle to arrange the teeth in order...

I know it's quite strange, but this puzzle is a piece of cake.

There are also more traps here than usual.

These are the thorns from the natural wall that suddenly appeared.

But [Lightning Reflexes] and [Death Sense] make the puzzle so easy that I don't need to remember any of it.

I just need to be careful of other unexpected traps, like the floor of the room suddenly splitting in half and the bottom will have sharp spikes sticking up.

Or the two sides of the natural stone wall are clamped together.

Luckily I remember it quite well because this is where I often die in games...

Walking a little further, I came across a herd of skeleton warriors.

They are equipped with swords, and some of the higher levels wear some armor.

I took the opportunity to learn a little more about the newly acquired skill [Return].

And the part with losing momentum is the part I find the most interesting, but I need to try it.

I threw rocks straight at the Skeletons. Instead of dodging, they raised their swords to slash.

Before slashing them, I used [Return] to make them miss, then I turned it off.

Instead of falling immediately, the stone continued to fly with the same force as before!

It hit the Skeleton's head straight, and it died.

'Maybe [Return] will suit my fighting style.'

I continued to experiment with other small rocks.

'Hmm. I think I can use this skill with dart rope.'

I threw the dart rope at the skeleton.

But it missed the monster shamefully.

'I need to learn how to use this weapon more properly.'

"Return!"

It flew right back to me.

And somehow hit bluntly at the Skeleton's skull.

The skull immediately shattered.

'Oh, so... the more Mana I put into this skill, the faster it will come back to me.'

'Kinda versatile, right?'

'I could even put things in like a time-stop mode.'

[Your skill "Return" has leveled up to Lv.2]

[Return (Lv.1 → Lv.2)

Upon active, the User will retrieve back the thing the User threw using Mana without losing its momentum.

Restriction: Below 3kg.]

An arrow flew right at my head, but I saw it and dodged it in a flash.

'Damnit, that was so close.'

'Why did my [Death Sense] not work?'

I charged the arrow and shot right back at the skeletal archer.

'Tit for tat, you son of a gun.'

"My [Return] has leveled up, huh?"

'3 kg?'

'Hmm...'

"Hey... I actually have a new idea..."

"I will try it on the boss."

* *

Enter a fairly large cave. Perhaps this is the boss fight arena.

I breathed in and out slowly to maintain my calm.

'I will win, no matter what.'

A Lich appeared.

Because of this Temple ranks D so its rank is also at D-rank only.

Although this one has one level lower than that electric slime, the Skeleton race is much stronger than a mere slime.

And Lich is a skeleton species that is much stronger than normal skeletons.

Not to mention I don't have the same elemental advantage as last time.

So this time the match will be very different from the previous match.

It's a Lich, so it will definitely be proficient in many different spells, but they will usually be extremely strong in ice magic and lightning magic.

And in particular, some of them also have a very special ability: necromancy.

This species is the scariest because the necromancy ability is one of the skills that looks weak but is among the most dangerous in the world.

As soon as I entered its territory, a block of ice suddenly appeared right before my eyes, signaling a difficult battle ahead.

Damn, my eyes were nearly being stabbed to blind.

Sigh.

'This may not be as easy as I thought.'

'Ah shit, here we go again.'

'Hey, that sounds familiar... no?'