This feeling…
If Renn had to describe it, it was like his body had completely memorized the movements after a single round of training, in a way he could never forget.
What was causing it?
He couldn’t work it out.
But what he needed to focus on right now was getting through his first real fight in one piece, and not letting these goblins drag him back to their cave for breeding.
“…”
Renn held the adventurer shortsword in a reverse grip in his right hand, his armored left arm raised in front of his chest.
Thanks to Takemikazuchi’s training yesterday, his first time facing monsters left him more curious than panicked.
The goblins came straight at him.
He lowered his stance, kept his balance, and lunged forward to strike first.
Even after becoming an adventurer, his physical ability was still in the range of an ordinary person.
But the goblin’s movements felt very slow to him.
As he closed the distance, he raised his right hand and swung the blade in a clean horizontal slash.
He aimed for the fragile neck.
The Hephaestus Familia blade met the goblin’s skin and went through it like a knife through tofu.
The flash of the blade took the monster’s head off cleanly.
“Pfft!”
The goblin didn’t even get a scream out.
The moment its head came off, the small body broke apart into grey dust.
A tiny magic stone fell to the ground with a clear little clatter, and beside it lay a mottled goblin fang.
According to what Hestia had explained last night, these drop items were the main harvest from Dungeon exploration, and you took them to the Adventurer’s Guild to exchange for money.
“Somehow…
these are even weaker than I expected?”
“…”
Renn turned toward the other goblin, which was rushing at him with a wooden club raised, and went straight into the fight without hesitating.
It turned out that as long as you weren’t in one of those darker stories about goblin nests, low-tier monsters like these could apparently be kicked to death even when they were armed.
Right.
At least on the shallow floors, combat wasn’t as hard as he’d imagined.
“So today…”
“I’ll stick to exploring the first floor, collect as many drop items as I can, and stop by the Adventurer’s Guild on my way back to Orario this evening.”
With his plan set, Renn didn’t linger in the area.
Of course, just because goblins were about as threatening as stray dogs didn’t mean he relaxed his guard.
One careless moment and he could still die down here.
And he probably wouldn’t get a remake and a fresh start.
The rest of his exploration went smoothly, since he stayed careful.
Every goblin he ran into, he was able to kill quickly.
But the more he fought, the more he felt like something wasn’t as simple as it looked.
While fighting the monsters, his energy felt like it never ran out, exactly the same as during training in Orario yesterday.
The same thing happening twice was hard to call a coincidence.
“I’m starting to think…
there’s something a little off about this body.”
If he had to describe it in galge terms, it was like having an energy bar that wouldn’t let him feel tired until the very end.
From a biological standpoint, that absolutely shouldn’t be possible.
Not bad at all.
Thinking it might be a cheat that came bundled with his transmigration, even if it wasn’t a particularly strong one, put him in a better mood.
At least he wasn’t standing around with nothing to show for himself.
“Let’s keep going…”
At the Hephaestus Weapon Branch Shop, the price of borrowing the weapons and gear had been made very clear last night.
She had to come in and work as a shop clerk every day.
If she put in the hard work, Renn could have an easier time of it.
Hestia was starting to feel like the weight on her shoulders was pretty heavy, but that sense of responsibility was exactly what kept her motivated.
The nerves, though, were unavoidable.
A rookie adventurer.
The first member of her Familia, who’d only had one day of basic combat training yesterday, was down in the Dungeon by himself today.
“He’ll be…
he’ll be fine, right?”
She sat at the counter.
With her hands propped against her cheeks, she watched the adventurers passing by outside the window, and the worry in her eyes was impossible to hide.
Her work suffered for it.
Hestia was more than a little distracted, and it wasn’t an excuse she’d made up to slack off.
She was simply thinking about Renn.
As evening drew closer, Adventurer Street went from quiet to crowded, and when she lifted her head she looked like she’d been waiting forever.
“Never mind…”
“You can knock off for today.
I doubt you’re in any state to stay anyway,” said Hephaestus, who’d noticed a while ago.
She shook her head helplessly.
She could understand how Hestia felt, since Hestia treated her Familia members like her own children.
“Really?”
“Heh.”
Hephaestus gave her a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“If you’re still like this in a few days, I’m docking your wages.”
“…”
But before she’d even finished speaking, and without waiting for an answer, she watched Hestia sprint out of the weapon shop in her sandals.
Well…
If she had to put it into words, the image that came to mind was of a wife standing on the shore waiting for her husband to come home safe.
“She’s hopeless.”
…
After leaving the shop, Hestia’s goal was very clear: get to Central Park and wait for Renn to come back.
In the evening, a lot of adventurers came out of the Dungeon.
Because of her height, she had to stand on her toes and look around in every direction.
When she finally spotted Renn’s familiar figure in the distance, with all his limbs still attached and only tiredness in his eyes, the weight lifted off her chest.
Close contact would help ease his exhaustion, so she didn’t care at all about the looks from the adventurers around them.
And so she charged into him headfirst again.
“You’re back!”
Hestia threw her arms around his neck and tilted her head up, smiling brightly.
“Did the exploration go okay today?”
“It went well.”
“I played it safe and didn’t push down to other floors.
I mostly just got used to the Dungeon and found my rhythm.”
“Good!”
He was the only member of her Familia, after all.
Rather than an aggressive exploration style, Hestia much preferred that Renn keep himself safe down there.
There was nothing wrong with playing it steady.
But as she looked up at him, her eyes landed on the translucent Hero Raising Plan panel above his head, and she couldn’t sit still anymore.
…
[Character: Renn]
[Level: Lv1]
[Mood: 55↑100 (Calm)]
[Energy: 3↓100 (Exhausted)]
[Health: 98/100 (Excellent)]
[Renn gained a great deal from today’s Dungeon exploration.
His status and his own potential have both risen slightly.]
…
“?!”
“So he really is good at this!”