"Well, it’s true that I dated four girls before... but I broke up with three of them before we ever did it..."
Yuri added a bit shyly.
"And the last one... we had only just started dating when we got transported here, so we haven’t done anything either. I really am still a virgin."
"Bullshit! You’re just saying that to make me feel better!"
Kazui clearly didn’t believe him.
"Ahh, handsome guys have it so easy! All handsome guys should just die already!"
"Hey, stop saying crazy stuff like that!"
Yuri scolded him with an exasperated look.
"Besides, Kazu, if we’re just talking about your face, you’re pretty good-looking too."
Just as Yuri said, Kazui had inherited his mother’s features and had quite a well-shaped face. With his large eyes, sun-tanned skin, and cowlicks that stood up like cat ears, he gave off a black cat-like impression.
"In my case, being short already puts me out of the ’handsome’ and ’popular’ categories no matter how my face looks," Kazui replied.
As he himself admitted, Kazui was short. Back in Japan, he had been about five centimeters below the average height for a second-year high school student.
He had grown a little since then and was now much closer to the average, but people in this world tended to be taller on average than in Japan. Because of that, Kazui felt like he had become relatively shorter after being transported.
His complex about his height had only grown stronger since coming to this world.
"I think the reason you’re not popular has more to do with your foul mouth than your height, though," Yuri said.
Kazui was about to retort when a loud explosion suddenly shook the air, coming from the direction of the forest. Both boys turned toward the sound in surprise.
They saw trees and dirt being blasted into the air. Explosions continued to go off one after another, accompanied by screams, shrieks, and roars echoing from within the forest.
"It looks like a bombing raid," Kazui muttered. Yuri nodded in agreement. The successive explosions reminded them of bombing scenes from war movies they had seen back in Japan.
"The team in the forest has engaged the enemy! Everyone, prepare for battle!"
A red-haired man shouted from atop the city wall. He was a skilled adventurer in charge of commanding this defense battle. His olive-colored combat uniform had numerous pockets and a longer jacket, indicating he was a mage.
Both of his eyes were glowing with white light. This was because he was using the skill "Farsight," which allowed him to see distant scenes as if using a telescope. His eyes would glow white while the skill was active.
The red-haired adventurer, who had been monitoring the northern forest with Farsight, shouted a warning to the adventurers gathered near the wall. Though even without the skill, the flashy explosions made it obvious that their allies in the forest had engaged the monsters.
"Once they break through the forest, we’ll intercept them here!"
It was already known from scout reports that a large horde of monsters was advancing from the north. That was why the Adventurers Guild had concentrated their forces on the northern side of Aquila.
The guild’s main force was deployed on the grasslands in front of the northern wall, intending to fight the decisive battle against the monster brigade there.
However, skilled adventurers had also been scattered throughout the northern forest. They were conducting guerrilla warfare to reduce the enemy’s numbers before the main battle on the plains.
The explosions in the forest were the result of those adventurers clashing with the monster horde.
"It’s finally here... I really want to run away," Kazui grumbled with a tired expression.
Almost simultaneously, a faint white light began to emanate from Kazui’s body. It was the glow of aura — a type of life energy.
Adventurers’ combat techniques were broadly divided into martial arts and magic. Martial arts focused on close-quarters combat using physical techniques and aura. Those who mainly fought with martial arts were classified as martial artists.
Martial arts were further divided into many styles. One of them was hand-to-hand combat, and those who primarily used it were called martial artists (fighters).
Kazui, being a fighter, had generated aura in preparation for battle. When people released aura, their bodies usually emitted white light. The stronger the aura, the stronger the glow — and sometimes the color would change.
The light was faint because Kazui’s aura was still weak.
(Aura Mail, activate!) he thought.
The faint light around him immediately disappeared from view. Kazui had activated the martial arts skill "Aura Mail."
Aura Mail was a basic skill common to all martial arts techniques, not just hand-to-hand combat.
Most adventurer skills consumed aura or magical power to use. For martial artists, skills generally used aura.
Aura could be given various effects through skills. Aura Mail was a defensive skill that wrapped the body in aura imbued with defensive properties, raising one’s defense.
Defensive skills that wrapped aura around the body often caused the light to disappear upon activation. However, some higher-level defensive skills kept the light visible or even changed its color.
Since Kazui was using a basic-level Aura Mail, the light vanished. (Stronger aura users could maintain the glow even with Aura Mail, but Kazui’s aura wasn’t strong enough.)
With the monster battle drawing near, Kazui had strengthened his defense with Aura Mail. Incidentally, Aura Mail was an all-purpose basic skill that also increased the power of direct strikes in addition to providing defense.
When adventurers formed small groups (parties) to fight, martial artists usually took the front-line role, engaging in close-quarters melee combat. However, most martial artists also possessed mid-range attack capabilities using aura, so they weren’t limited to close combat only.