CH 182

Physical Strengthening

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The carriage pulled by Bran, which started moving towards Bakkenheim, had much less vibration than I had imagined, and I felt that the ride was comparable to modern Japanese fixed-route buses.

Inside the cabin, there were bench seats on the left, right, and back, with enough space for five people to sit on the right side, three people on the left side where the door was located, and four people in the back.

Master Reese lay down on the backmost bench seat, Lau-san took a position in the center of the right seat, Takayama sat on the door side of the left seat, and I sat near the back.

Ruija and Gunther were on the driver's box.

"Kokubu, isn't the ride really comfortable?"

"That's right. I thought so too."

"Fufufufu ... This is the cabin used by the Master of the Headquarters Guild, it's obviously made with the best techniques and materials.

"Speaking of materials, are they harvested from monsters?"

"That's right, the tendons of the Salamander's legs are used to suppress the shaking."

Those tendons supported a truck-sized body that moved at great speeds, so they must have considerable strength and resilience.

According to Reese-san, the cabin, wheels, and axles were also made of materials taken from monsters, making them both lightweight and durable.

"Even so, Kent, you really look unwell. Shuichi, move next to Lau and let Kent sleep there."

Although in name only, I had received a nomination request, but honestly, I was not feeling well, so I decided to accept Reese-san's offer.

"I'm sorry, I'll take you up on your offer ..."

As soon as I lay down on the seat, I fell asleep like switching off.

I gave myself up to the comfortable shaking and fell asleep, but I heard something like a groan and woke up.

"Guu ... Fuu ... Gu! ..."

As my hazy consciousness returned, I opened my eyes while remembering where I was due to the shaking, but at first I couldn't understand the situation in front of my eyes.

"Uu! ... Ku! ..."

At first, I was lying down, so I thought maybe I was losing my sense of up and down, but that wasn't the case.

In the shaking cabin, Takayama was doing a handstand while drenched in sweat.

"Ehh, what's going on ..."

"Kent, are you awake?"

"Yes, umm ... This, what kind of situation is it?"

"Lau ..."

"Ho!Ho!Ho! , this is basic training for strengthening your body. Hey, Shuichi, hold firm!"

"Guuu ... Mou, ah! ..."

Takayama lost his balance and fell down on his back.

"What, is that already your limit. That's pathetic."

"Regardless of whether I'm using physical enhancement, this is unreasonable."

"You're a man who has a lot of complaints ... come on, get up and chant."

"Y, you should let me rest for a while ... Ouchh."

Sitting cross-legged in the center of the cabin, Lau-san hit him with a cane while greatly perplexed.

"If you use physical strengthening, you'll get rid of your fatigue faster and feel better.

"Tch, I understand. Mana, oh mana, oh mana that governs the world ... Ouch!"

"It's slow, it's slow, in that case the sun will set before the chant ends."

"Haa ... Mana, oh mana, oh mana that governs the world, gather, gather, gather in my body, return, return, return and become my power, strengthen!"

After finishing the chanting with the speed of a tongue twister, Takayama closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing as if he were sitting in Zen meditation.

If I'm not mistaken, before I fell asleep, it should have been a luxurious cabin used by the Master of the Headquarters Guild, but when I woke up, it had quickly changed into a gymnasium-type gym where corporal punishment was OK.

While I was stunned, Reese-san spoke to me.

"Kent, are you good at strengthening your body?"

"No, I can't say I'm good at something when I've never used it."

"I see, you said that you used magic in your own way without even chanting."

"Yes, I've never chanted ... No, I did many times when I couldn't use magic ..."

"What's that, you chanted even though you couldn't use magic?"

When I was still in Japan, I used to repeat Chuunibyou-like chants with various poses in my room, hoping to be able to use magic.

"No, please don't touch on that subject ..."

"Fufufufu ... Maa, that's fine. But, isn't it inconvenient as an adventurer if you can't use physical enhancement?"

"Hmm ... In my case, I hide in the shadows and give instructions to my genus from a safe place, or launch long-distance attacks, so I basically don't fight."

"Hou, in a sense, you can say that you are a typical dark attribute magician, but aren't your other attributes a waste of treasure?"

"Yes, that may be true ..."

Basically, I don't expect to fight, so I use the earth attribute for making throwing spears or golems, but I hardly use fire attribute magic.

"If it's an outstanding magician like you, you may think that strengthening your body is not necessary, but physical strengthening is also the basis of manipulating magical power. If you wear it and polish it, you will be able to use your magic efficiently when using other techniques. That way, even if you fight for a long time, you won't be attacked by magic power exhaustion."

"I see, so I don't have to needlessly waste magical power."

"That's right. Right now, what Shuichi is doing is training to partially strengthen his body and strengthen his reflexes and ability to maintain balance."

"Is it possible to do such a thing?"

When I raised my voice in surprise, Reese-san spun her words with a bewitching smile.

"Why do you think it can't be done? From our point of view, your chantless incantation is extremely out of the ordinary. Even though you are using unconventional magic, it's strange that you are putting limits on your magic."

"Certainly, now that you mention it, you're right."

"The journey to Bakkenheim is only four days. During which you are able to do matters of little importance. So, what Lau came up with was to teach how to use physical enhancement efficiently, and how to use magic efficiently."

"Ho!Ho!Ho! , it's easier if Reese explains it. It's called using people efficiently."

After laughing for a while, Lau-san gave me a sharp look.

"And so, Kent. As you heard, let's start by using physical enhancement and teach you how to use it efficiently."

"Uuh ... please be gentle with me."

Lau-san's first request was to clearly capture the magic within my body.

"Kent, have you ever felt magic circulating in your body?"

"Yes, when I cast self-healing magic or steal attributes from others, I can feel it circulating inside my body."

"Well, if you can do something like that, it should be easy to use physical strengthening, but try using physical strengthening as a test."

"Haa ... Well, let's try it for a bit."

I've circulated magic in my body for self-healing many times, but I've only used it for healing wounds and relieving inflammation and muscle pain.

While listening to Lau-san's advice, I circulated the magical power with the image of increasing muscle strength.

"How is it, are you able to strengthen it well?"

"Somehow ..."

"Then, try holding my hand for a while. I'll slowly increase the strength of my grip, so try to hold back and endure it."

Lau-san's hands were about the same size as mine, and I've heard that he's a master swordsman, so I thought his hands would be rough with bumps and calluses, but they looked like an ordinary old man's hands.

"Look, we're just getting started, come on, come on ..."

"Nunuu ... Uu!Uuuu ..."

Right after I grasped his hand, his strength was still strong ... So I thought that even if he gradually increased his strength, I should be able to use physical strengthening, so it would be fine.

But, that couldn't be true, since he was a former S-rank adventurer.

"Hey, what's going, Kent, hey, do your best."

"Guoooooo ... Ouchh, ouchh, give, give, I give up!"

Lau-san's hand was tightened with a force that made me think that it seemed to have changed into a vise or a press machine halfway through, Lau-san had a cool face, even though he was tightening his grasp and I was red in the face while fighting against it.

"Fumu ... It's not bad for the first time, but you can't use physical strengthening efficiently, and you don't have enough training in the first place ..."

"Owowowow ... I thought my bones would break ..."

"You said that you could use self-healing, didn't you, a small thing like broken bones ..."

"No, no, it would be bad if the bones of my hand broke even if you say something like that."

"Fumu, you're surprisingly hard-headed, okay, Kent, this time you should strengthen your muscles and swing your arms as hard as you can."

Lau-san made a gesture like throwing a ball.

I lost concentration due to the pain of losing the strength comparison, so I refocused my magical power once again and tried to increase the strength of my arms.

In order to swing the arm strongly, the muscles of the upper arm were more important than the arm, so I focused on the muscles that extended the arm.

"Here I go ... Eei!!"

The moment I started to swing my arm, my arm began to swing with an acceleration that I had never felt before.

The next moment after swinging my arm, it left a sound that cut through the air.

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, my elbow! My elbooooow ..."

A sharp pain ran through my elbow as I heard a sound that should not have been heard.

I hurriedly applied self-healing to the right elbow I was holding.

"Ho!Ho!Ho! , good, Kent, I've seen enough."

"Ugiiii ... It's no laughing matter, Lau-san, you knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"

"No, I thought you would only feel a little pain in your elbow, but I didn't think you would improve so quickly, Ho!Ho!Ho! ..."

"Uuuuhh ... So mean."

According to Lau-san's explanation, I swung my arm with all my strength while strengthening only my muscles, so my bones and joints couldn't stand it.

"Just like Kent experienced, if you can strengthen it partially and efficiently, it's possible to draw out more power than you think, but if it becomes too focused, the parts around them will scream unbearably."

"But, if it leads to pain and injuries like this, wouldn't it be dangerous to strengthen your body efficiently?"

"Obviously, physical enhancement is something that draws out strength, speed, and reactions that exceed the original limits of humans, so danger is inherent. However, even if you don't use physical enhancement, martial arts and the like will polish the parts to exceed the limits of humans, how will you paint your limits when dealing with monsters? If you don't use it because it's dangerous, you won't make any progress."

"I see ..."

I've become able to move in the shadows, and if I think I'm in danger, I can run away, so I don't feel the danger of monsters as much as other people.

However, when an ordinary person who cannot move in the shadows encounters a monster, they must either defeat it or inflict enough damage to prevent it from chasing them, or their lives will be in danger.

In a cornered situation, if you could defeat or stop monsters in exchange for damage that would make one arm unable to move, you would use it without hesitation.

"Kent, even the movements that we usually do casually weren't usable from the beginning. Far from running and jumping, humans start in a state where they can't even stand. It's natural that you can't do things you don't know or have never done, but there are many things that you can do as a matter of course if you practice. It's the same with physical strengthening. Even if at first you are conscious of it and struggle to use it, you will be able to use it unconsciously as if it were a matter of course."

Takayama listened to Lau-san's story with a serious expression.

We were summoned to another world and suddenly became able to use magic, but due to the influence of manga and anime, we tend to think that we will be able to use magic as soon as we receive it.

When you heard the word 'magic', you think you can do anything, but magic also requires practice.

The road from Volzard to Bakkenheim could be summed up in one phrase: a country road.

For the time being, the road had been carved out, but it was not paved like Japanese roads, and it felt like it was made by travelers and carriages.

Because Bran was fast, the travelers and carriages that left Volzard this morning had already been left far behind.

For someone like me who grew up in Tokyo, the world where I could see the horizon with no human presences in front or behind me was very refreshing.

Bran also passed through villages where ordinary carriages stopped by during the day.

He drank water in the river on the way and took a rest, but it seemed that he had far more stamina than horses.

Around noon, Reese-san stopped the carriage in the grass on the side of the road.

When I got out of the carriage, Lau-san called out to me.

"Kent, Shuichi, can you run an errand before lunch?"

"An errand? I don't mind."

As I looked at Takayama wondering what we would do in a place like this, Lau-san gave us an order.

"Could you please bring us some lunch for Bran?"

"Haa? Bran's lunch ..."

"That's right ... Even one Goblin should be enough."

"Haa ... ?"

Lau-san continued to give instructions to me and Takayama who involuntarily looked at each other.

"You can use offensive magic or Kent's genus to get to the point where you find and drive out a monster that will become Bran's food. However, Kent and Shuichi are the only ones who can kill them. The only magic that can be used to kill it is physical strengthening, and the only weapon that can be used is the knife on your waist. Alright, don't think of killing it all at once. The two of you should work together, shave it down, shave it down, weaken it enough, and then finish it off. The opponent will desperately try to counterattack, so don't let your guard down until it stops breathing, alright."

Lau-san, tightened his expression severely, and as expected, Takayama seemed to be unaffected by the feel of the atmosphere.

Lau-san's expression softened as he looked at us who broke out in cold sweat.

"Don't let your guard down, but your body won't move well if you're too nervous. Now, relax your body and enter the forest. Once you take a step into the forest, think of it as a battlefield."

We swallowed our saliva at the same time, after making eye contact, we began to do warm up stretches.

[ Kent-sama, I will look for affordable prey and prepare it. Step straight into the forest. ]

"Thank you ... Takayama, my genus will prepare affordable prey, so let's go straight ahead."

"I see, I'm saved. To be frank, I'm nervous, but let's do it!"

"Of course, don't pull my leg."

"Hey, don't get carried away. If you can't use attack magic, I'll be more useful."

"Then, I'll leave it to Takayama."

"Hey, that's not right, let's cooperate!"

"I get it, you're pretending to leave it to me, aren't you?"

"Hey! Stop joking around, let's go soon."

"Roger!"

I lightly bumped fists with Takayama and stepped into the forest.

The trees were sparse near the highway, and the sunlight reached the ground.

Takayama was on the right, and I was on the left, leaving a gap of about 2 meters between us as we walked through the dense green scent.

"The footing is pretty bad ..."

"Isn't it dangerous to fight Goblins with this footing?"

"That's right ..."

In untouched forests, fallen trees and rocks were everywhere, making it difficult just to walk.

If you fight here, even a Goblin opponent will be risking your life.

While exchanging glances with Takayama, we proceeded cautiously through the forest when Reinhardt spoke to me.

[ I prepared one Goblin at the end of this path. I chose a lively one. ]

"Haa ... Thank you. Takayama, it seems there's a lively Goblin ahead, so prepare yourself."

"A lively one ... Roger."

When we went straight ahead, we found a frightened Goblin crouching in a slightly opened place in the forest ... No, in a place that had been artificially cut open.

Seeing more than 20 trees cut down and piled up at the edge of the open space, Takayama seemed a little taken aback.

"Hey, Kokubu, this is ... well, it's fine."

"Takayama, if you think about it, you will lose. Don't make a mistake like tripping over a stump."

"I know, I won't let my guard down until the end, it's a cornered mouse or something ..."

"That's right ..."

The Goblin, who was crouching down and looking around restlessly as if frightened, saw us, bared its fangs, let out a nasty squeaky growl, and threatened us.

"Gigigiiiiii ..."

"Kokubu, let's make a pincer attack ..."

"Understood ... Takayama, chant."

"Oops, that's right ..."

While Takayama was chanting to strengthen his body, I also focused my attention and used magic to strengthen my body.

When we pulled out our knives, the Goblin seemed to have strengthened its will to fight, opened its hands wide to show off its claws, lowered its posture, and prepared itself.

[ Kent-sama, if you stab it too deep, the knife may not come out. Please try to cut it shallowly, except for the finishing thrust. ]

"Roger ... Takayama, if you stab it too deep, it might not come out ... do shallow cuts."

"Alright ..."

There was a sense of tension in both of our voices when I called out to Takayama and he returned his voice.

While gradually shortening the distance with the Goblin, the distance between the two of us widened, trying to catch it in a pincer.

"Gigiiii ... Giya! ... Giya! ..."

The Goblin seemed to be weighing me and Takayama against each other while raising a threatening voice.

And I was the one the Goblin headed towards before it got caught.

"Giya giya, giyaaaa!"

"Kuh, you!"

Under normal conditions, the speed would have made me shudder, but I managed to cope with it thanks to my physical strengthening.

When I used the knife to swipe the Goblin's arm that was scratching at my face, fresh blood splattered with a light response.

The Goblin pulled back its arm in surprise, but Takayama, who had closed the distance from behind, cut open the Goblin's flank and quickly took a distance.

This time I cut the Goblin's back as if it had been flipped around.

"Giya! ... Giya ... Giya giya ..."

The more confused the Goblin became, the more we regained our composure, and when Takayama saw the Goblin holding its head and solidifying its defenses, he kicked it in the knees.

"Hiyaaaa ... Giya giya giya ..."

With a dull gurgling sound, the Goblin crouched down on its knees, and the moment I saw its unprotected neck, I unconsciously thrust a knife into it.

With a twist, I pulled out the knife while jumping back, and fresh blood spurted out of the Goblin's neck like a fountain.

I hurried to my feet, but Takayama couldn't afford to laugh at my clumsy appearance, and watched the weakening Goblin vigilantly.

"How is it? Takayama ..."

"It's not dead yet ..."

Although weak, the Goblin was still breathing.

However, the blood spurting from its neck had almost stopped, and the light seemed to have disappeared from its wide-open eyes.

Inside the thick smell of blood, we continued to watch the Goblin die completely.