Chapter 15: Assault

Chapter 15: Assault

Though the food was not enough to fill their stomach, they were oddly satisfied for now. Finishing their meal, they were looking at the cooking utensils and net.

"It feels like it would be a waste if we just left these things here." (Tatsuro)

"It'd be a bit too bulky of luggage if we took them with AHH, what about an [Item Box]?" (Ai)

"[Item Box]? Is that a skill from the system?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, that should let us carry items up to a certain volume!" (Ai)

"Hmm You sure know a lot about it, huh?" (Tatsuro)

"Of course! There was a time when I wanted it so bad, so I took the time to search for it." (Ai)

"Is that so? But you do seem like the better choice to grab that skill, Ai." (Tatsuro)

"Right?"

Ai could learn any martial arts pretty easily. There are various ways to prove it, but they also require the appropriate tools to do so. A sword, a spear, a bow; all of them are possible. Anything that can be carried around, depending on the situation and Ai's mastery of it, could be a weapon in her hands. Reaching that conclusion, Tatsuro easily agreed to the decision.

"How much SP do you need?" (Tatsuro)

"Nine, same as [Map]." (Ai)

"I see. You level up pretty quickly so nine shouldn't be a problem." (Tatsuro)

"Yep. So, I'm taking it now!" (Ai)

Already used to the system by now, Ai immediately navigated towards the skills section and grabbed the [Item Box] skill. Doing so added a new section to her system's home screen.

Status

Gold: 0

Party

Skill

Item Box Used: 0%

Help

"Looks fine. Then, how do we use this?" (Ai)

Using Help to learn how to utilize the [Item Box], Ai closed the system and raised her head.

"Is it possible?" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah. This thing might be a lot more convenient than we thought." (Ai)

Holding the Tatsuro-brand products up high, they turned into luminescent particles before being absorbed into her hand.

"Oh, that's amazing! Can you take them out that quickly too?" (Tatsuro)

"Of course!" (Ai)

Ai held out her hand once more. Luminescent particles flew out of her hand and quickly took shape. The stone basin that they used earlier appeared.

"Did it tire you out or give you some other side effects?" (Tatsuro)

Ai quickly pulled the spear out of the boar's skull but was only returned with a shaft and a broken spearhead. Flustered by the sight of it, Tatsuro repaired the spearhead as fast as he could.

"They're here!" (Tatsuro)

"VICTORY COMES TO THOSE WHO STRIKE FIRST!" (Ai)

Shouting out to increase their morale, Ai threw another kunai towards the shrubbery where she predicted that the thing would come from.

PING

The sound of metal striking metal resonated through the air.

GROOOOWL!

Three bear-like monsters appeared alongside the thundering growl.

"Hey Those things" (Tatsuro)

"Bears. But they're too huge. Something's on their backs too!" (Ai)

Exchanging a few more words, the two used the boar's corpse as a shield while observing the enemy in this deadly capture-the-flag game. Their opponents were three gigantic bears with brown fur and a hard crystalline substance covering everything from their back up to the palm of their paws like an upgraded turtle's shell.

It was this part of the bear that played the clear high note when Ai threw the kunai.

The biggest of the three stood at five meters tall with a golden shell on its back as opposed to the other two which had blue shells on them.

Upon seeing the boar's corpse, the bear-like monsters approached it. In response, Tatsuro used [Level Eater] and blew the black sphere towards the gold bear. As soon as Tatsuro activated his skill, the bears were alerted of their presence and stopped moving, staring down at the two of them.

"Growl," as if threatening the two of them, the blue bears continuously released these low-pitched sounds.

The black sphere was still ever so slowly advancing on its path.

The first one to make a move was one of the blue bears. Despite the distance between them, it raised its right paw and tried to scratch them, swiping its claw downwards in their direction.

"Watch out!" (Ai)

Sensing the danger they were in, Ai carried Tatsuro in her arms and dodged sideways. The place where they were once standing was now etched with a giant claw mark and the boar corpse had long turned into mincemeat.

"Ack." (Ai)

Ai, with Tatsuro still in her arms, retreated about 3 meters from the bears. As she let Tatsuro down from her arms, she stared straight into the bear's eyes.

"Tatsuro that attack just now used Ki. These guys must be a lot stronger than what came out of the forest up until now." (Ai)

"Looks like it" (Tatsuro)

Right as he heard Ai's words, the black sphere finally got in contact with the golden bear.

Tatsuro wasted no time and quickly looked at its status.

Level: 51

Skill(s): [Leadership Lv 8], [Bite Lv 8], [Scratch Lv 8]

[Enhanced Olfactory Perception Lv 2], [Claw Attack Lv 9]

[Boulder Blast Lv 9], [Charge Lv 7], [Golden Crystal Armor Lv 10]

"This guy is a monster!" (Tatsuro)