Book 2: Chapter 1: Part 5

New chapter for today.

Please enjoy~

Chapter 1 Part 5

Yesterday, we ended up getting a bath, so we cut our exploration short early, but today we were pretty far out in the depths.

…Because, you know, it’s a bath. You Japanese don’t understand? It’s a greater bliss… you know?

Even though I’m still not of age, I thought I could understand how the adults felt to want to drink in hot water in an open-air bath. That’s because it feels too good. Be that as it may, I continued to explore with more effort than yesterday. As a result, I encountered a new monster again.

“Night, it’s headed to your way!”

“Woof!”

“Shaaaaaaaa!”

The enemy we’re fighting now is an armadillo-like monster with a long needle-like a porcupine on its back. Or maybe it looks like a hedgehog, but I think the armadillo with a needle is the best way to describe it. By the way, the status is like this.

[Needle Roller]

Level: 610

Magic: 3000

Although its level is lower than the crystal deer we fought yesterday, none of the stats are comparable. The most troubling thing is that it charges at a speed like a bullet while curling up and spinning at high speed. The needles that grew from its back also boast tremendous hardness, and it can even hold against my [Absolute Spear] and [Omni-Sword].

…No, it’s a bit wrong.

Because, whenever it needles exchange blows against the [Omni-Sword], it always aimed at the flat part of the sword, so I can’t slash it. In the same way, [Absolute Spear] will always be able to pierce the target if the spearhead catches it. Still, if the spearhead is swept away like a clean stream, it will only be like to hit it with a blunt weapon. Even so, it’s strong enough, but the throwing [Absolute Spear], which had been a one-strike kill up until now, has also been avoided away nicely in the same way as the spearhead flows.

On top of that, even though it was parried off, it doesn’t change the fact that it was hit, so the [Absolute Spear] will be back in my hand…

As I thought, when it comes to S-class monsters, the throwing [Absolute Spear] won’t work unless I strike them unexpectedly. I got lucky with the orc king. In fact, the reason the crystal deer was able to fight [Absolute Spear] was probably because it was dealing with it in the same way.

I didn’t want to think about what would happen if such an S-class monster’s needle stabbed me.

As Night avoided the needle roller that was charging at him at high speed, the needle roller returned its body to normal the moment it hit the tree that was ahead of it, and as it landed on the tree with its momentum, it used the tree as its foothold, accelerating and now flying towards me.

“Kishaaaaaaaa!”

“Ugh!”

I manage to dodge at the very last minute, but my cheek is cut pretty deep.

“It hurts…”

“Woof!”

As I said, the needle roller was slower than it had been the first time. We’re a little tired too, but the advantage of two against one is huge.

“Maybe it’s time to end this. Let’s brace ourselves.”

“Woof!”

“…Kishaaaaaaaa!”

“Sooo, here it comes again…!”

The needle roller, poised, came charging at us again. Night was quick to leave the spot, but I kept the needle roller engaged until the very last minute. In fact, after watching the needle roller’s movements earlier, I had a plan that I wanted to put into action. I fought the urge to avoid it quickly and timed it well.

And then──

“Now!”

“Kisha!?”

I dodged it jumped sideways at the last moment, and the needle roller couldn’t even slow down, so it went right through me and slammed right into a nearby rock wall. The needle roller’s defense is quite high, so even if it were to smash into a rock wall, it wouldn’t do much damage, no matter how fast it was going. But that’s not what I’m here for.

“Kishaaaaaa!?”

“Yeaaahh!”

The needle roller slammed into the rock with such force and made the sharp needles that it was proud of thrust into the wall. It stuck into the rock wall. It desperately clutches its limbs, but because it’s an armadillo-type monster and its needles are quite long, it cannot do anything while its limbs are floating in the air. It would have been a lot harder to beat this one if it had the ability to shoot out needles, but it doesn’t look like that, so I’m relieved.

“Haaaaah!”

“Kishaaaaaaaa!”

As long as the movement stops, I can slash it with [Omni-Sword]. Of course, it doesn’t matter how hard the armor is. As soon as I make [Omni-Sword] appear in my hand, I activated the [Weakness Detection] skill and swung down from the upper level at the weak point at once. Even if I can slash it, it’s meaningless if I can’t kill it with a single blow.

The [Omni-Sword] that I swung down, entered the weak point cleanly. As it was, I slashed at it without feeling any resistance. Then the needle roller screamed and disappeared as a particle of light.

“W-we managed to take it down somehow…”

“Woof…”

Thanks, Night.”

I hugged Night as he came closer, and he licked my cheek. I immediately take out the [Complete Recover Herb Juice] and drink it down in one breath. There’s still plenty of stock to go around. The juices seeped into my body, and my vitality came back at once.

“You have to drink it too, Night.”

“Woof!”

After a long time, the message appeared when the juice was given to the Night in the same way.

Level-Up. You have acquired [Mind-Body Unification]* and [Mental Enhancement] skills. (T/N: Let me know if someone can come up with a better name for this skill “心身統一”.)

“I’ve leveled up and gained some skills!”

“Woof!”

“Eh? Did Night leveled up too?”

“Woof!”

Night barked like that, so I appraised him, and he really did level up. That’s nice! After allocating the appropriate level-up BP, I looked back at my status again.

[Yuuya Tenjou]

Occupation: None

Magic: 6050

BP:0

Skills: [Appraisal] [Endurance] [Item Box] [Language Comprehension] [True Martial Art: 8] [Presence Detection] [Fast Reading] [Cooking: 7] [Map] [Dodge] [Weakness Detection] [Assimilation] [Tame] [Mind-Body Unification] [Mental Enhancement]

Titles: [Master of The Door] [Master of The House] [Otherworlder] [Person Who Visited A Different World For The First Time]

Before I know it, my [True Martial Arts] and [Cooking] levels have gone up! I can’t tell the difference since it’s my own cooking, but somehow I felt sharper when I attacked in the martial arts than before.

For now, let’s check out the existing skills and check out the new skills.

[Mind-Body Unification] :: It unifies the mind and body and gives you more control over your own body.

[Mental Enhancement] :: Increased resistance to mental attacks such as fear states.

“Oh! Every single one of them looks useful.”

Mind-body unification can be recognized as being able to move my body as I imagined. And mental enhancement! Earlier, I was terrified when the needle roller came at me, but I was able to move without cowering. I think that was the groundwork to learn this skill.

“Alright… let’s keep up the leveling at this rate.”

“Woof!”

“Ah, let’s check Night’s level, too.”

“Woof.”

I stroked Night as I appraised him. The result is this:

[Night]

Race Name: Black Fenrir

Magic: 10100

Note: Yuuya Tenjou’s Follower.

What can I say, the way his status raising is the same as mine. The only difference with me is that he doesn’t have BP, and his luck is not rising. Maybe it’s just that it didn’t go up this time, but luck isn’t something that’s going to matter when the level goes up.

Nevertheless, Night has a well-balanced rise in agility, and his status isn’t too far behind that of S-class monsters. It’s not an exaggeration to say that thanks to the presence of Night, I can compete with S-class monsters. In terms of status, I’m overwhelmingly defeated by S-class monsters; I’m just aided by Night and the outrageous weapons that the sage-san left behind.

Well, I’m able to cope with the S-class monsters with such a dangerous weapon, but when I think about it, Night’s existence is essential. In terms of my mentality.

…I want to raise my level quickly so that I can take on an S-class monster with ease. Thinking about that, I went to look for the drop items.

[Strong Needle of The Armadillo Needle] :: Needle of the needle roller. With its sharpness, it can easily pierce even thick steel. They are mainly used to make spears and arrowheads, and these weapons are traded at very high prices.

“This is seriously dangerous…”

This was the only material it dropped, but it seems that the needle of the needle roller was a very dangerous thing. I don’t know if it’s an armadillo or not, but if it’s not an armadillo, what kind of creature is it?* I also retrieved the magic stone while thinking about what kind of creature it was in the unexpected notation. The magic stone is, as I thought, an S-class item. (T/N: Kinda confused with this, it’s written with English at the first one and Japanese at the second one, the name of the strong needle is also written with Japanese. “アルマジロ and 犰狳.)

And then──

“…No matter how I look at it, it’s a toothbrush, right?”

“Woof.”

There was a black toothbrush in my hand. It’s probably the needle roller rare drop item.

…But even if this were a rare drop item, it shouldn’t be a toothbrush, right? I mean, it’s a needle that can pierce steel. And if I brush my teeth with it, my mouth will be getting shredded. No, I don’t think the brush part of this toothbrush is that needle. I don’t even want to think about it!

After an appraisal with anxiety, it was displayed as follows:

[Extreme Toothbrush] :: Brushing your teeth with this item will completely eliminate the bacteria that cause bad breath and will significantly change the color of your teeth from ivory to white. It also removes plaque and tartar without missing, making the user feel comfortable and enjoy brushing their teeth.

“It’s absolutely awesome!”

What a usefulness of this daily necessities series! It’s a little crazy, don’t you think? I mean, it’s beneficial to me personally, but are rare drop items mostly just the daily necessities items? I’ve never played a game before, but is that normal? Did I just assume, as a stereotype, that a weapon or armor is the only item that can be dropped?

“Well, whatever… in the meantime, let’s go a little further inside, shall we?”

“…..”

“Night?”

As I retrieved the drop item and called out to Night, Night stared silently in a certain direction. When I followed his gaze, I saw that the rock where the needle roller had been sticking into had collapsed, and something that looked like the entrance to a cave had appeared.

“Eh, what is that?”

“Woof…”

Even Night didn’t seem to understand, so he tilted his head, but he kept on approaching the cave entrance.

“Ah, hey! It’s dangerous!”

When I said that, Night made a gesture of thinking and turned back to me.

“…Woof.”

The expression on his face looks like he’s saying let’s go to the inside of this… It’s true, this cave that suddenly appeared was worrisome. It just so happened that the position where we had fought the needle roller was at the bottom of the cliff, so I hadn’t expected such a cave entrance to appear.

I could ignore it and go deeper into the forest, but Night seems strangely concerned, and above all, Night’s wild instincts tell him there’s something to it. It’s as if he said, “I’ve got a hunch something’s up!” with a high level of confidence. I was also concerned about the “Something” that Night felt, so I followed behind with Night in the lead.

This was the first time I had been in a cave like this since I was in a forest. I was on the alert for any monsters to appear, but my [Presence Detection] skill didn’t catch any signs of monsters. No, it’s too early to be relieved. Just as crystal deer detected my [Assimilation] skill, there may be something that can slip through my [Presence Detection].

I was only worried about the monster when I thought about it, but if there are people in this cave, they might be setting a trap or something… Well, if there is a trap, I don’t have the skills to avoid it, so it can’t be helped.

I was wary of traps as well as monsters and proceeded without carelessly touching the walls or the ground. Just when I thought it was getting dark, a torch on the wall caught fire.

“Whoa! Why did it suddenly catch on fire?”

“Woof?”

In contrast to me, who was very surprised, Night was unconcerned… for the time being, Night isn’t alarmed, and we’re not in danger. More importantly, the torch on the wall means that there’s a human hand in it. It’s nothing right now, but there could be a trap somewhere.

I lost more and more of my understanding of what this cave was, but after a while, we reached the deepest part of the cave. The deepest part is a slightly larger space, and a large number of torches are held up on the surrounding walls.

“This place is…”

“Woof!”

“Night?”

Suddenly, Night rushed out, and I hurriedly chased after him. Then──

“Huh!?”

A skeleton in a robe is sitting, leaning against the innermost wall. I thought it was a monster for a moment, but it seems to be completely dead with no sign of movement at all.

I didn’t expect to see a white skeletal corpse… if it weren’t for the [Mental Enhancement] skill, I’d have peed in fear, wouldn’t I? Just as I thought about that, Night patted something that was placed in front of the skeleton with his foot.

“Woof!”

“Eh?”

I approached Night and looked at the thing that had fallen at his feet… it was a thick book.

“A book?”

What kind of book is that? When I picked up the book, the cover said “The Sage’s Book”, but I had no idea what it was.

I had no choice but to open it and check it───

To those who have reached this point, ~the sage~.

───That’s what it was written.