Jiro Tanaka, 28 years old, has a girlfriend.
His girlfriend is Suella Henderberg.
Memoria Tris.
Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Full-time Employee)
Magic Aptitude: 8 (General Class)
Role: Warrior
My session with Suella yesterday showed me the direction I need to aim for.
So, I had no choice but to act.
After deciding, I immediately picked out what needed to be done.
“Senpai.”
“Huh? Wh-what is it?”
“Senpai, you’re usually so put together, but sometimes you go completely stupid, don’t you?”
I had brought my Kouhai, who said they were bored, to my place, only to be called stupid.
“Alright, if it’s a fight you want, I’ll take you up on it.”
“Whoa!? But anyone would think that if they saw you dressed like this!! Like, ‘What is he doing?’ or ‘Ughhh…’ and frankly, it’s weird to even think about training with such a heavy weight. More importantly, how can you even do it?”
“It’s not a weight. It’s an anchor. Whether I could do it or not, I tried and I could. That’s all.”
“Ugh, seriously, thank goodness for fantasy.”
Instead of just putting the anchor down on the ground for a breather, I swung it sideways with a dull gust of wind pressure and then positioned it as if to carry it on my shoulder.
Well, as Kaido said, I wonder how many people on this Earth would even consider training with something like this.
If you ask me what I’m lacking, I have to admit to lacking everything.
From strength to technique and knowledge, if I list what I’m missing, there’s no end to it.
I had been contemplating how to compensate for these deficiencies.
However, I realized that the very idea of ‘compensating’ was a passive approach.
I decided to shift my mindset to ‘mastery,’ not compensation.
Then, the next question becomes, what should I aim to master?
Master everything.
If I had the talent to make such a grand statement, I wouldn’t be harboring such anxieties in the first place.
I can’t conjure something from nothing.
Therefore, I’ll become specialized.
In Jigen-ryu, there’s a technique called “Kumo’o no Tachi” (Sword of the Cloud’s Embrace).
It’s a teaching of striking first for victory, even if it’s by the slightest margin, like a single hair’s width.
Following that principle.
I’ve been practicing sword swings with a ship’s anchor, which boasts a weight of tons that humans normally cannot wield, aiming to master just one strike.
Once my breathing settled, I mentally declared the break over and resumed my practice swings.
“More importantly, Senpai, you’ve been doing this for about two hours. Will you have enough stamina for the dungeon this afternoon?”
“No problem.”
Of course, this isn’t something that can be mastered overnight, and I still need to learn footwork and other techniques to complement that single strike.
However, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; nothing will begin if I don’t start.
Rather, if I can visualize the finished product, there’s no reason not to pursue it.
I believe if I can also form a contract with a spirit to enhance my body, this build will become incredibly fearsome.
To close in at a speed imperceptible from outside one’s reach and split them in two with a honed strike.
This is my ultimate goal.
“Why don’t you train a little too?”
Swinging something heavier than an Ore Tree requires meticulous attention to overall balance.
To swing it down precisely along the center line and then swing it up again is simple to say, but it was far more grueling than I imagined.
In terms of stamina, I can challenge the dungeon this afternoon without any issues.
As evidence, though I don’t know if it counts, I can still converse while swinging something weighing tons.
Well, conversely, it means I can’t do anything beyond this.
“No, that’s impossible for me to do.”
“I heard that succubi happen to like well-trained bodies, though.”
“Senpai, I’ll do it too. Do you have anything a bit lighter?”
“Such an opportunistic fellow.”
However, concentrating on monotonous training like repeatedly repeating clean practice swings is difficult.
If they told me to take it seriously, I’d admit it’s understandable, but if I can continue with more-than-necessary efficiency, I’ll have free time.
If I were doing this alone, I’d give up and just do it diligently, but fortunately, I’m not alone, so I’ll have them entertain me to pass the time.
With that thought, I relayed a story Memoria had told me, and as I expected, one more fool, after taking off his jacket, joined me in swinging practice.
After spending the morning like that, we ate lunch as planned and entered the dungeon for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Whoa, I’m swinging too hard, and my sword feels light. It’s really weird.”
“Get used to it.”
I can’t help but find that straightforward nature endearing.
Though there’s a proverb about even a pig climbing a tree if you flatter it, Kaido, humming “Mote mote mote mote,” demonstrated some impressive practice swings and felt a strange sensation with the sword he’d drawn from its sheath.
It’s unavoidable.
After all, I was swinging something more than five times the weight of that sword just moments ago.
It’s natural to feel one or two kinds of strangeness.
And, by any chance, is he noticing another strangeness?
“Kaido, have you noticed?”
“…No.”
“Yeah, it’s too quiet.”
We should normally have encountered and fought a couple of times by now, but there’s not even an insect to be found.
The dense forest emanates an unsettling silence.
“…”
“Hey, Kaido.”
“What is it, Senpai?”
“…I have a really bad feeling about this.”
“Me too.”
I felt a strange sense of déjà vu in the unusual atmosphere and scanned my surroundings to secure a retreat route.
If I listened closely, I could hear sounds like fighting in the distance.
“…Are they fighting?”
“Maybe other Testers?”
It’s not strange that there are other Testers in the Dungeon besides us.
That’s their job, and we just happened to have overlapping schedules.
This silence can be explained if those Testers drew all the enemies to themselves.
However, my intuition tells me that’s not the case.
“Senpai, aren’t the sounds getting closer?”
“Maybe so, but the visibility is so poor, I can’t tell what’s going on.”
Even if I climbed a tree to observe, they’re all about the same height, so I can’t do that either.
Since I have no choice, I confirmed the direction of the sound while remaining vigilant of our surroundings.
After advancing for several hundred meters, we reached a high point from which we could look down, and the sight that greeted us…
“…”
We were forced into silence.
A black shadow with form was preying on the Dungeon monsters.
It swallowed Army Ants whole, munching on them, and even while eating, it picked out its next prey and attacked another ant, swallowing it whole again.
Naturally, other Dungeon monsters were attacking it, but whether physical damage was ineffective, it pushed forward through their attacks, and this time the predator, a praying mantis, was being eaten.
And the shadow’s volume increased.
I pondered whether such things existed in the Dungeon, and the only conclusion I reached was that an abnormal situation had occurred.
It’s nothing short of abnormal for the Dungeon’s monsters, meant for defense, to start cannibalizing each other.
“!”
With that thought, I tapped Kaido on the shoulder and urged him to retreat.
Kaido, stunned by the sheer sight, almost cried out in surprise but managed to suppress it by covering his mouth.
Using my gaze and hand gestures to convey my intention to retreat, Kaido silently nodded.
Before we retreated, I took out my camera to take a photograph for the report.
However, as if reacting to my movement, the shadow momentarily stopped and turned its formless shadow precisely and clearly towards our location, as if it knew where we were.
It had probably consumed various creatures.
The ominous, formless shadow was formed by piecing together the things it had consumed.
I understood this the moment we made eye contact.
And I also understood what this shadow’s staple food was.
It looked at us without eyes.
No, what this thing was perceiving was…
“Run, Kaido!!”
“!?”
My voice seemed to be the signal, or perhaps it was already planning to pounce, but as we turned and ran, the shadow sprouted multiple legs and began to run towards us.
“What is that thing!?”
“How should I know!! All I know is that it’s not an official monster of this Dungeon. And if we get caught, we won’t get away unscathed!!”
“Hiii!!”
It was the right decision to avoid combat with a split-second judgment.
The opponent’s abilities were unknown, and the terrain was disadvantageous for fighting there.
By playing this game of tag, we can gather a small amount of information.
Fortunately, this is a forest we’ve grown accustomed to by repeatedly challenging it recently.
I can avoid the trees and gain speed by leaping, so there’s no immediate danger of being caught.
However, it’s also true that the opponent’s abilities are high, making it difficult to escape.
I glanced back to check, and the distance between us and the enemy remained the same; it was chasing us.
The shadow, utilizing its amorphous nature, avoided obstacles and pursued us with the flexibility of its body.
And the worst part is that the enemy perceives us through something other than our five senses.
As evidence, even though we completely disappeared from sight behind the trees for a moment, the shadow still followed us without hesitation.
At first, I thought it was its sense of smell, but we were downwind, and our footing wasn’t just the ground.
We were also using the trees to move, so our scent should have dispersed. It shouldn’t be able to track us so easily by smell.
Most importantly, there were no eyes to see, ears to hear, or nose to smell.
What kind of senses could a wavering shadow with the mass of Tar possibly have?
“…Is it tracking our Magic Power?”
The answer came to me easily.
If that’s the case, it might be quite serious.
If my theory is correct, this Magic-infused body might become completely useless.
To prey on something implies there’s something it subsists on.
And what that thing consumed were Soul, a mass of Magic Power.
When they are defeated, they become mere Magic Power.
Even if their Magic Power is replenished, their stomachs won’t be full.
This fact leads to the conclusion that the opponent’s goal is not to fill its stomach, but to obtain Magic Power.
And this body is currently being replenished with a considerable density of Magic Power.
“Crap, this means we’re like a promising meal.”
“What do you mean!?”
The conclusion I reached was that, even if unintended, it was like placing prime-grade meat before a beast that had been eating cheap meat.
Even if this body is equipped with an emergency escape function, if we are completely consumed, there’s no escape.
Once it’s in its mouth and chewed, we’ll be deliciously consumed and digested.
And the contents to be digested will include the data of my soul.
It’s a hopeless, unprecedentedly terrible opponent.
“Its staple food is probably Magic Power. And it tends to target high-purity Magic Power. To put it bluntly, if you ask who has the most Magic Power among the monsters around here…”
“It’s us, right!?”
“Correct.”
Perhaps it’s because it consumed all the monsters in that area that we didn’t encounter any until now.
We ran into a troublesome creature that jumped out of the bushes before we could even poke them.
However, we can’t just keep running.
“Kaido, can you use magic for a feint?”
“I’ll try, but if you’re right, I don’t expect much.”
“It’s worth a shot.”
“Understood.”
With that, Kaido used a moment of airtime to fire a Fireball at the shadow, but as expected, the fireball was simply swallowed by the shadow.
“Whoa, just as I thought.”
“It ate it.”
It seems magic, a mass of Magic Power, is nothing more than a meal for it.
If that’s the case, what about physical damage?
Half-jokingly, I wished I had the anchor I was using this morning, but it wasn’t available.
In that case…
“Hmph! Ha!!”
I used my Ore Tree to slice through a tree in front of me and then sent it flying forward with a kick.
Then, I quickly sheathed the Ore Tree on my back, grabbed the floating, adult-male-sized tree, which was about my waist in circumference, with both hands, and threw it at the opponent.
“Eat thisssssssssssssssssss!!!”
My body, which had been swinging tons of weight until just moments ago, made full use of its performance and imbued the thrown tree with a speed comparable to a professional baseball pitcher’s fastball.
I definitely won’t say any cool lines like “Take that!” after doing this.
After throwing it, I didn’t kill my momentum and immediately fled.
“How was that!”
“It’s being eaten! But it seems to be taking time to just pierce and swallow it.”
“So it’s better than magic.”
Listening to Kaido’s report, who was observing the progress, I learned that physical attacks, not masses of Magic Power, caused some damage.
If that’s the case, there might be a slight chance.
“Alright, let’s kill it.”
“Seriously!?”
Although we don’t have all the information, we have at least some.
We stopped fleeing and faced it, as if to say, “No more running.”
With tears welling up in his eyes at my actions, Kaido also took his stance.
Well then, let me give it a try.
Jiro Tanaka, 28 years old, has a girlfriend.
His girlfriend is Suella Henderberg.
Memoria Tris.
Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Full-time Employee)
Magic Aptitude: 8 (General Class)
Role: Warrior
Today’s Quote:
Setting a goal makes a significant difference in efficiency compared to not.
That’s all for this installment.
For now, let’s pit them against something like a slime subspecies that a physical-type warrior would struggle against for their training!!
Thank you for your continued support of this work.
