In truth, Kimijima had been practicing remote control of trees based on Regress’s advice, but she still hadn’t grasped the feeling. Spells’s approach, grounded in the basics taught at the magic academy, was undoubtedly the correct one.
Spells looked around at the trees in the forest.
“Vines are probably the easiest to use.”
Saying this, he pulled some vines off a tree and tore off the tendril parts. After gathering a few, he returned to Kimijima.
He skillfully began weaving the tendrils together.
“Hold out your arm.”
“Like this?”
Kimijima extended her arm, and Spells tied the woven tendrils around it.
“A friendship bracelet!”
Sakuragi, watched with interest and spoke up. Indeed, the thin, braided vine resembled a friendship bracelet. “A friendship bracelet?” Spells asked in return, and Kimijima explained that such decorative items existed in Japan.
“I see. Well, in this world, many people wear something similar for a similar purpose.”
“Really? But if it’s a living thing, wouldn’t it wither?”
“If someone with an affinity for tree magic wears it, it absorbs the wearer’s tree magic, allowing it to stay fresh indefinitely.”
“Oh, so could I do that too?”
“Huh? Do you have an affinity for tree magic, Miki?”
“Uh… maybe not……”
“Then it’s probably impossible.”
Kimijima looked curiously at the vine wrapped around his wrist. Indeed, if it touched him as a decorative item, it could maintain its lush state through tree magic. But he didn’t understand what it meant. Was it some kind of training?
“You don’t get it?”
“No……”
“There’s a living plant there. If you channel magic through it──”
“Ah!”
“You’ve got it now. Yes, you can extend vines from it and do what you want. By wearing these plant rings, you can utilize the plant’s characteristics to produce the desired effects.”
“I see……”
Spells was a man who graduated top of his class from the magic academy. His knowledge of magic extended beyond his own specialty. When Kimijima focused on the plant ring on her arm, she could indeed feel a connection. As she channeled more magic, vines began to sprout and grow.
“Wow, senpai, that’s so cool!”
Sakuragi peered at it with fascination.
Having grasped the sensation, Kimijima extended her arm forward, and the vine swiftly wrapped around a nearby tree. After confirming the feeling, she turned to Sakuragi and smiled.
“Hehe. Pretty neat, huh?”
“Kinda stylish!”
By manipulating her magic as she usually did with tree magic, the extended vines quickly withered and crumbled away. The plant ring on her wrist returned to its original bracelet form. Seeing this, she turned back to Spells with a happy expression.
“Thank you. This is really convenient.”
“Hmm, seems like you’ve got it…… There was once a tree magic user known as the ‘Venomous Grudge.’”
“Venomous Grudge?”
“Yes, a fearsome name. They wore plant rings of all kinds of poisonous plants, defeating many high-ranking opponents with their toxins. But over time, the poison seeped into their body and eventually destroyed them.”
“That’s……”
“So, be careful what plant rings you wear. As your tree magic becomes more attuned to your body, you might even be able to control them remotely someday.”
Meanwhile, Nishina was being forced to run endlessly through the forest……
“Haah, haah, haah…”
Who was this slightly plump woman in front of him? Nishina asked himself this question repeatedly. After parting ways with Kimijima and the others, she had simply said, “Let’s fight. Follow me,” and started running through the forest. And they had been running ever since.
He knew that since coming to this world and receiving the blessing of the gods, his physical abilities were far beyond what they used to be. Climbing three levels of the staircase had further boosted his stamina. He had even thought he could probably run a marathon now.
But Mainui was running through the forest at nearly full speed. Even if he could run a marathon of 42.195 kilometers, he couldn’t do it at full sprint. Nishina was pushing past his limits, feeling as if his soul was being chipped away as he ran.
Then, Mainui stopped, and in front of them was a monster.
“Go. Think efficiency. Dodge attacks with minimal movement, and finish them with minimal effort.”
“Haah, haah, haah… Yes!”
Her words carried an undeniable pressure. Nishina desperately tried to steady his breathing as he drew his sword. His tough kendo club training was the only thing keeping him going.
When Nishina first arrived in this world, he used a katana. Since he had practiced kendo, he thought a katana would be more suitable than a sword. But now, he was using the sword that Sakuragi had carried.
After seeing how Shigeto used iaido to greatly enhance his abilities, Nishina thought, “If his katana were stolen or broken, he might not be able to use his techniques.” So, Nishina decided to keep his katana as a backup for Shigeto, sealing it in his bag. When he told Sakuragi about this, she said, “I only use magic,” so Nishina borrowed her sword and had been using it ever since.
In truth, switching from a katana to a sword hadn’t been too difficult, and he had grown comfortable with it. At first, he was intimidated by the double-edged blade, but he got used to it quickly.
The monster before them was a Barbone Cat, a feline-like creature. It wasn’t large, but its speed made it a challenge for Nishina. When these appeared, Sakuragi usually dealt damage with her shining arrow lasers, and Nishina or Kimijima would finish them off once they slowed down.
Fuu!
The monster hissed as Nishina cautiously closed the distance.
“I’ve climbed the staircase too. I can do this!”
Nishina’s kendo habits had been fading recently. The advice from the priest at the Sky Temple, the tips from the state soldiers during the staircase climb near Vazul, and his own experience had all helped him refine his fighting style.
Since Mainui hadn’t commented on the basics, he figured he was doing fine. But minimal movement? That was hard.
──Minimal movement.
Simply put, the more you wind up, the more power you can deliver. But the more you wind up, the more openings you create. It was all about balance……
“You can cut down on the wasted motion.”
Mainui spoke calmly as Nishina finished off the monster and gasped for breath. She immediately took out a knife and extracted the magic stone. Told to ignore the other parts, Nishina hurriedly got to work. Once done, they started running again.
──Damn it.
He couldn’t sneak a break or take his time with the task under Mainui’s watchful eye. The pressure was relentless.
Haah, haah, haah……
Perhaps she had a skill similar to Shigeto’s ability to sense presences. Though it seemed like she was running aimlessly, Mainui quickly found another monster.
──Where is it?
Mainui stopped and said, “Enemy,” but there was nothing in sight. Nishina wondered if he was being toyed with and turned to look at Mainui, but she was completely serious as she looked back at him.
“Wh-where is it?”
At that moment, he was hit with a terrible feeling. There was no sound, but he could sense the wind moving. He turned toward the ominous presence just as a massive snake, as thick as his thigh, lunged at his throat with its jaws wide open.
“Waaah!”
Reflexively, he deflected the snake with his sword. A loud clang echoed as he lost his balance and fell to one knee. The snake, having missed its ambush, slithered back toward Nishina.
“Eek!”
“Get up now!”
The sheer disgust made him want to look away, but that would mean death. At Mainui’s command, Nishina quickly stood and faced the snake. He gripped the hilt tightly with his still-numb hand and desperately channeled magic into the sword. Just then, the snake lunged again.
From Nishina’s perspective, the snake was a blur. Without time to wind up, he forcefully slashed upward to deflect it. This time, he held his ground against the snake’s weight. The snake hesitated for a moment after its snout was cut, and Nishina seized the chance to counterattack.
…….
As he was processing the now motionless snake, Mainui’s voice came from behind.
“You should try to channel your magic more smoothly. If you had done that from the start, you could have cut the monster’s head off with the first deflection.”
“Y-yes.”
“Your reflexes for defending against attacks are good, but try to think more about countering with an attack.”
“Countering with an attack?”
“Yes. If you focus solely on defense, your opponent can keep attacking without worrying about their own defense. You’ll be overwhelmed.”
“Right.”
“Fortunately, most monsters attack relentlessly. Keep that in mind when fighting them. Especially since Takato excels in healing magic, right? Fight while healing your wounds.”
“R-really……”
“An opponent who isn’t afraid of your attacks is the scariest.”
“…I’ll try.”
Nishina nodded, unable to say he didn’t like pain in this atmosphere.
Mainui seemed satisfied and ran off to find the next target.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
After parting ways with Kimijima and the others, Shigeto was struggling to keep up with Genuin’s incredible speed. It was far beyond what he had experienced with Sebek. It was a reminder of just how powerful higher-level monsters were.
Meanwhile, Miree, sitting in front, was casually chatting with Regress.
“This is my first time hearing about someone using a Hypod as a mount. It’s not too bumpy and quite comfortable.”
“Right? But it was pretty rough at first. I gradually taught it a smoother way to run.”
Amid the roaring wind, their voices naturally grew louder. It seemed like they were using wind magic to make their voices carry, but I couldn’t understand it at all.
“So, how far are we planning to go?”
“Hmm. I’m thinking of going as far as we can. Efficiency-wise, the Gallar Blue Mine seems like a good option.”
“Eh… Gallar Blue……”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been there before. And Sensei’s with us.”
“O-oh.”
Miree had heard about going deeper to climb the rank, but she hadn’t expected to go as far as Gallar Blue. Of course, I also felt uneasy hearing this.
Eventually, Genuin’s speed began to slow. Wondering what was happening, I looked up and saw Regress staring intently at the road ahead.
……Ah.
“Reg, up ahead, there’s a settlement full of people with faces like wild boars…”
“Hmm, High Orcs, huh? Carton seems to have reduced their numbers quite a bit, but those guys multiply fast,” R
“Huh? You know a lot about them.”
“Yeah, well… What should we do? Maybe we should take a detour.”
With that, Regress tugged on the reins and guided Genuin into the forest. We couldn’t move as fast as before, but we managed to bypass the monster settlement and continue on our way.
After detouring around the settlement, we returned to the main road and kept moving forward. The vaguely familiar scenery reminded me of the time Kimijima and I had desperately fled through here.
Even though we had run for our lives back then, here we were, heading back… I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
“Hmm… Sensei, is that okay?”
Regress asked after we had been traveling down the road for a while. He stopped Genuin and looked at me. Indeed, there was a familiar presence in the air. The sensation of several creatures moving stealthily through the surroundings could only mean one thing—those wolf-like monsters.
“Guess it’s my turn, huh?”
“Your rank-raising is the main goal here. These guys are a bit lower in rank than the ones in Gallarblue, but they should still make good practice, right?”
“Huh? Is Shigeto-san going alone? Is that okay?” Miree asked, sounding worried.
“Miree, you don’t believe it, do you? But this guy here took down high-level monsters without even raising his rank before,”
“But… I guess so…”
Miree still looked uneasy, but she reluctantly accepted Regress’s words. I got off Genuin, placed my hand on my hip, and slowly walked toward the source of the presence.
The monsters—likely Hipods—hesitated slightly, but as I moved away from Regress and the others, they quickly shifted their focus to me.
—Three of them. First…
Perhaps because they had changed their target, the positioning of the three monsters became disorganized. I couldn’t see them clearly since they were hiding in the bushes, but it felt like two were on the left and one on the right. Focusing my mind, I charged into the thicket toward the two on the left.
The sudden movement startled the monsters, and they began to scramble. I had a good grasp of their behavior. They were strong when charging forward but struggled to move backward. If you took the initiative and charged at them, their movements became sluggish.
With my blade drawn, I burst through the bushes to find the wolf-like monsters frozen in surprise. Two of them stood side by side, their heads perfectly aligned. In an instant, I severed both their heads. The third one, now panicking, turned toward me, but it was too late.
I had already sheathed my blade and prepared for the next draw. As the wolf lunged at me in what felt like slow motion, I cut it down effortlessly.
……
When I emerged from the bushes, Miree was staring at me in shock.
“It’s done.”
“Already…? That fast?”
“Yeah, I can only draw my blade, so I make sure it ends with one strike.”
“Ends with one strike…”
Miree had seen my blade-drawing technique when I fought the Disaster members the other day. Still, she seemed bewildered by how easily I had taken down high-level monsters in this area.
Thinking ahead about continuing to hunt monsters, I decided to only collect the magic stones and move on. The remaining carcasses were happily devoured by Genuin.
And so, while hunting monsters, we continued our journey toward Gallarblue.
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