Ladies and Gentlemen, It is now the middle of fall. How are things you ask?
In this world, things gotten really, very very cold.
On that note, nowadays, It seems like a rumor of me being a sex slave has become the talk of the town in the village at the base of the mountain.
I think I’ll have to poison Gustar-san next time.
For the first time in a while, I’ve returned to the path of magic and am going out to collect magical herbs. reaching my destination safely,
“Now then, so this is the middle of the forest. It’s so refreshing and nice.”
I breathed those words out to myself in a heart-felt loud voice.
“There might be some treasure in this unexplored terrain… is what I’m saying when I find the ingredient for making painkillers!”
Though it’s currently midday, it’s dark in the gloomy forest. I tear out the medical herbs one by one.
“But Teacher is really unforgiving, isn’t he. It should be normal for a girl to pick flowers. But recently, I feel like I’ve only been gathering practical things.”
My voice becomes increasingly louder. It’s uncontainable. It’s frightening.
The noisy tree grove…
“Hiih !?”
A sudden gust of wind blows through, rustling the grass while making a creepy noise.
“Don’t frighten me! Shit! If you’re going to make a noise, make a more refreshing sound.”
I won’t survive without acting like a coward, you know.
“Instead of a zawazawa can’t you do more of a sawasawa or soyosoyo sound? I’m quite timid you know?
“Shagyaa”
“Yeah. That one works too…… huh?”
“Gururururururur…….”
From out of the shade of the forest appears a bipedal lizard-like creature.
I’ve seen it before… back when I was alive in the Jurassic Park movie.
The ‘Raptor’-looking thing silently advances. If I remember correctly, it’s called a Keratos
“Hye…”
As I take a step back, it has already finished lowering its head in an attacking stance.
It’s ready to attack. This is baaaad!
“Ha Ha. With [Immortality], I wonder where I’d revive if I were eaten whole…”
Despite trying to calm myself by laughing it off, my voice is trembling.
As long as my corpse doesn’t end up somewhere else, I’d revive inside its stomach.
To die and come back to life — I don’t want to have to experience that ever again…
Strength leaves my shaking legs, and I sink to the floor.
“…Ah, Aah”
My glasses fog from the tears welling up in my eyes – my glasses?
“ —- that’s it!”
What did I learn from Teacher over these past three years?
I came to realize that the incident in Lilith town happen because of my own lack of strength.
With the resolve to never allow that sort of thing to happen ever again, didn’t I come here to learn magic?
“I have to stand —- I should already be able to fight!”
I muster my coward’s courage, suppress the shaking in my knees with my hands, and force myself to stand up.
Though my voice is shaking, I am able to manipulate my magic.
I activate my prohibited [Body Strengthening] magic – or “Accel Boost” as I’ve come to call it.
I divide the strengthening between vitality and agility 20% and 10% respectively.
Any higher distribution than this into agility, and that ground wouldn’t likely be able to withstand it and would give out.
“Guruaaaaaaaahhhhh!”
In the instance I begin activating the magic formation, the lizard thing comes rushing.
Having reflected on what happened last time, I will support myself with both feet and my one hand. Distributing the load to three points, the danger of gouging out the ground when kicking off is small. . . I think.
Compared to when strengthening agility, movement when strengthening speed feel much slower.
Perceiving my foe’s fangs closing in in slow motion, I kick off.
With a piercing crack sound, I distanced myself from the Keratops, moving my body around 10m in the blink of an eye.
Looking around restlessly having lost sight of its prey, the Keratops closes its mouth. It doesn’t know where I am.
“A, re? I … might be able to beat it.”
With this overwhelming speed, I could even toy with this guy.
Having finally successfully used [Body Strengthening], I couldn’t keep myself from getting excited.
“I (watashi) … I (ore) … ? Can beat … that dinosaur-like thing?”
The male mannerisms that had be sealed away continuously for three tears came to the surface.
My lips stretch into a grin as feelings of joy begin welling up inside me.
“Then, from now on —- it’s hunting time!”
It almost feels like I’m in a monster hunting game.
The Keratops, having discovered my location, turned to face me.
Getting onto all fours like an animal, I close in on the Keratos.
One step right diagonally forwards. Then one step left diagonally forwards. With just two steps, I got behind it.
Falling into panic having lost sight of me for a second time, the Keratops wildly swings its tail about.
“tto, that was close!”
While the Keratos randomly swings its tail, I duck as it almost grazes me.
Perhaps sensing my presence there, it looks back. Using the recoil from ducking, I jump.
With only 10% invested in speed … I guess this is the limit.
Reaching the eye line of the 5m tall Keratos, it shows its surprise again.
I rocketed up 7, no 10m into the air, above the Keratos.
Now that I think about it, I also flew about 10m horizontally with that first jump. (TL: when he/she jumped away from the Keratos at the start of the fight)
having reached the top of my jump, I started falling towards the backwards-facing Keratos.
Pachin! I release the built up magic.
Having released the unusable magic from the previous body strengthening, I gather the remaining magic and formulate the next magic in the span of just one second.
Recalling Teacher’s words, I put into use [Body Strengthening] serial activation.
It’s the tactic of manipulating the magic a second time to use body strengthening to match the situation.
I rapidly switch the active strengthening from supplementing speed to supplementing strength and simultaneously begin to activate magic to strengthen my agility.
The Keratos looks skyward towards the sound of the magic formation activating.
—- But it’s already too late!
Pouring a large quantity of magic into strengthening my fingertip, I but my full weight behind it and stab it towards the Keratos’s forehead. It pierces the Keratos’s skull and mangles it brain.
“Haaaaaahaaa . . . . . Fuwaaa”
It just lasted a few seconds.
The so-called fight, was an unsatisfactory, one-sided beat down.
With the excitement dying out, I feel fatigued to a degree that I have never ever experienced before.
“I’ve heard it said that ‘the strain from one real fight rivals that of one week of training’. I guess it really is true. . . . . . Hiiih”
Letting out a big breath, I calm my rough breathing.
Since I’m resting, I use the time to look at the finger I used to pierce the Keratos’s brain.
“I wonder if it’s because of the large vitality, but nothing but my nail was destroyed from the attack. Also, it really saved my butt that the preliminary construction for the serial activation body strengthening worked out well.”
Because of having a monstrous amount of magic, [Body Strengthening] preliminary construction is used.
I make close my hand into a fist. I feel no pain. Despite having been suddenly thrown into a fight, it looks like there are no problems.
“I didn’t even jam my finger. It’s like I’m a ninja from a western RPG. Ehehehe.”
Unaffected by the gruesome scene around me, I smile with a sense of accomplishment. At which time —
I hear rustling from the grass followed the sound of heavy footsteps.
The footsteps are heavy and deep enough to gouge the soil through the thick, overgrown grass.
No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like it’s teacher coming to check up on things.
Looking in the direction of the sounds of the footsteps, it’s just as I thought.
A Keratos is coming this way. . . . . . a fuckin’ second one.
“There was another one . . . . r-really!?”
I get up immediately into a fighting stance, but upon standing, I feel dizzy. I take a knee while laughing to myself. My vision becomes narrow. . . .
“You’ve got to be kidding. I’m feeling lightheaded at a time like this!?”
This isn’t even funny.
But it’s reality. I can’t stand up right, and fall back onto my buttocks.
“Ah, D… Don’t gum this whale!”
My vision narrows. My throat constricts. I can’t speak right.
This is obviously an abnormal condition. Isn’t [Situational Adaptability] supposed to take care of this type of thing?
Maybe it’s because its comrade was killed, but the Keratos approaches cautiously.
It approaches sniffing the air. It’s close enough that I can feel its breathing on me, but I can’t see it.
Keeping my hands from shaking, they barely even twitch.
Finally thinking of strengthening vitality, I attempt to manipulate the mana in my body, but I become shocked.
—- I can’t manipulate it!? No, this is . . . I’ve completely run out?
Oh, That’s right. I used 30% of it for strengthening twice, and I also used the preliminary construction technique once. Could that be why my magic is used up?
Up until now, I had never run out of magic from simple magic. And every time I used [Body Strengthening] magic, I’d lost consciousness from physical injuries. I had never noticed it!
So this is mana depletion!?
Saliva runs down my cheek. Rank-smelling breath blows against my face.
It looks like I ended up lying on the ground at some point. Now there’s no way I can get up.
This is . . . . it seems this is the very expensive tuition fee for what I learned to today. At that moment —-
Right before I lost consciousness, I heard a sharp slicing sound.