Chapter 36 - Bare-knuckle arithmetic – Part two

A few days after they found a new inn for Karan.

“Hm, that is the Rakshasa correct?”

“Yes, the boss of The Ice Den of the Rakshasa. Don’t let your guard down.”

Survivors were exploring The Ice Den of the Rakshasa again.

They moved while hidden, until they were close enough to see the terrible blue skinned goblin.

It was an opponent Survivors had defeated numerous times, but it was not always the same being. When miasma became thick, new monsters were born.

The Rakshasa that stood before them should have no memories of being defeated by Survivors, but bore an intense fighting spirit.

This also served as a test for their new member.

“Now observe my blade!”

“Ah, idiot! We managed to not make a noise until this point by using 《Telepath》 to talk!

“Grrrr…!”

Bond ignored Nick’s scolding, and jumped at the Rakshasa in front of him.

There was no hesitation in his step.

“Shah!”

Sharp claws were swung at him, but Bond stopped them with his blade.

He couldn’t use his original Sword of Bonds while in human form, so he was using a plain two-handed sword.

But…

“An attack of pure strength and no skill will not work against me.”

“Guu…?

Bond stopped the attack dead in its tracks with the tip of his sword.

It wasn’t strength, it was skill that brought about this state.

These movements that were not unlike an old, skilled swordsman’s put fear into the Rakshasa’s eyes, even if they came from the body of a little girl.

“Guaaaa!!!”

The Rakshasa jumped back, and started to concentrate magic energy in its hand. It was ice magic, but not the same as Tianna’s 《Icicle Dance》. It was 《Ice Bullet》, which shot a big mass of ice.

But still.

“Choyah.”

Bond swung his sword, and changed its course.

“Guah!?”

After seeing its secret technique being dealt with so easily, the Rakshasa started to panic, and Bond did not let this opening slip away.

“Tou…!”

In a second, Bond jumped towards the Rakshasa and targeted its neck, but his target was too obvious, and it managed to defend in time.

Steel and claw clashed.

“Guh… Guoooh…?”

“《Parallel》.”

The moment the fight became close, Bond won.

Suddenly, another ‘Bond’ appeared behind the Rakshasa, and swung his sword.

“Guaaaah!!!???”

The Rakshasa screamed as it fell.

“Alright… What do you think?”

“That wasn’t fair…”

Nick whispered in a perplexed state.

This was the true power of 《parallel》.

It made it possible to create a human body based on the user of the Sword of Bonds, but it wasn’t restricted to only one body.

“Nick, with your current skill, it is possible to create five bodies. Not bad.”

“You say that, but I’m still kind of tired.”

“Well, that is because I borrow your vitality and magic energy… 《Erase》.

Mumbled Bond, as the body that delivered the finishing blow to the Rakshasa disappeared.

“Wow… It’s like single meal Fifth.”

“Ah, I’ve heard about the 《Doppelganger》 user.”

Single Meal Fifth was one of the few rank S adventurers in the Labyrinth City.

He was a warrior skilled with both sword and magic, but he had a special technique that you could say was synonymous with him, 《Doppelganger》.

It was an incredible technique that allowed him to create copies of himself, and become both a vanguard and back-row all by himself.

“There is someone that can use 《Doppelganger》? He must be very good.”

“Hn? Is it stronger than 《Parallel》?”

“It depends on the situation. 《Doppelganger》 is magic that manifests various ‘you’ from the inner universe into the outer world. Its nature is completely different from a method of attack like my 《Parallel》, and it can be used in a multitude of ways. Above all else, 《Doppelganger》 consumes more magic energy and allows its user to maintain its copies for longer. Some can even walk around with their copies for hours.

“Eh… I wonder how long Fifth can do it. Do you know Karan?”

“Probably more than half a day. The other day he was in line to buy cheese cake that was restricted to one per person, but he had five copies in line with him.”

“T-That sounds like a dream crushing sight. That old man is a rank S adventurer right…?”

“Does it? Everyone was laughing.”

“That Single Meal Fifth sounds surprisingly funny.”

“Well, even if I am not a 《Doppelganger》 user, I am useful, am I not?”

Bond laughed with an air of self satisfaction.

“Yes, all sarcasm aside, you’re pretty good. Not just 《Parallel》, but your swordsmanship is better than intermediate adventurers. Where did you learn that?”

“They installed basic sword techniques during my development stage.”

“Instoled?”

Nick was confused by a word he wasn’t used to hearing.

Tianna and Sem didn’t know what it meant either, and shook their heads.

“Basically, the sword skills of my previous owner were put inside me.”

“That’s really not fair.”

“That again you bad-mouthed boy?”

“Now now, I’m just joking. In any case, it’s obvious we can count on you. The vanguard will be me, Karan, and Bond, and we’ll watch each other’s backs to reduce accidents. With a stronger vanguard, the back-row will have to use less magic. Our balance is becoming pretty good.”

“Does that mean we can challenge higher ranking labyrinths?”

Tianna asked full of hope, and Nick happily nodded.

“Yes, with ease, I think.”

“Fufun. And you even have a great special technique do you not?”

Bond proudly laughed, but…

“We can’t use Union so easily.”

Said Nick with a stern expression.

“W-Why!?”

“If we use it, we’re down for the count, so we can’t use it carelessly. And you know…!”

“W-What…?”

“It has a low success rate! When we fail, I feel sick!”

Survivors actually tried to use Union a few times, but even combining with Karan, like Nick did successfully before, wasn’t perfect, and it worked about one out of three times.

Tianna and Sem weren’t successful in using Union even once.

“Y-yes but…! If you practice a little more, you will be able to do it! I guarantee it!”

“It’s fine, just having a trump card is a plus.”

“Yes, is it not?”

“Now, becoming high rank adventurers isn’t just a dream. Thanks Bond.”

“Y-you know, it would be nice if you were always this docile.”

Bond’s face was red as he turned away.

Karan gave him a tap on the back, and for some reason Sem, Tianna, and Nick followed suit.

“Say something! I do not understand the meaning of this if you stay quiet!”

It means we’re counting on you.”

◆

And then, they returned to Fishermen once again.

They were cashing in their materials as always, when they were surrounded by colleagues saying things like ‘hou, nice haul again today’ and ‘Stay here and have a drink once in a while’. Before finally slipping away from the crowd, Nick answered ‘oh be quiet and go out adventuring instead of drinking’.

“See you later.”

Said Nick, and Bond was shocked.

“Eh, is that it!?”

“That’s right.”

“I was sure you were all going to a different place to eat something good…”

“We have a rule to not mess with each other’s interests.”

“I-I know but… Do you not want to go have fun?”

“No…”

Nick didn’t want to bend the rules too much.

Having that said, Nick himself realized how hard it was to completely follow the rule to not interfere with each other’s private lives. He already interfered in Karan’s private life, but he still felt there was a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

“I am not telling you to stay together all the time, but I am unfamiliar with this land, and does it not feel a little lonely to go your own ways with nothing more than a ‘good job everyone’? You are not part-timers in a convenience store or a factory.”

“What does part-timer mean? Sometimes you use some strange ancient words.”

“Regardless! I won’t say you should do it every time, but having a feast to celebrate once in a while would not hurt! That sort of thing is part of being an adventurer!”

“Feast…”

“Look, how about there? That place myself, you, and Karan went to the other day?”

“Ah, Fromage? But that is a cafe and restaurant, it’s not the kind of place to get drunk.

“We do not have drunks here… Correct?”

Bond looked at everyone.

“I like blabbing to women sitting next to me and serving me drinks more than drinking itself.”

“Sem is not opposed… Tianna?”

“I’ll go if there’s sweets or tobacco.”

“I guess there are sweets, but there’s no way they have tobacco… Wait, you smoke?”

“Well, I don’t really do it in front of people. So what now?”

“Hmm… Let’s try it.”

And thus, Survivors decided to go to a restaurant to celebrate.