Chapter 54: Preparations

Chapter 54: Preparations

TL Note: From now on, Ill translate all weapon skills as [Weapon + Art] so no one gets confused with them. This way, theyll be in a more similar format to the raws. It would also prevent any awkward skill names that would arise from following what youre probably used to reading (e.g. swordsmanship works for the sword, but the format just doesnt work for shields or whips).

Pushing the table to a corner, the smith prepared a wooden target dummy. While he did so, Ai went somewhere a bit more spacious and swung the whip around, taking care not to hit anything around her. As such, she was able to achieve [Whip Art] Lvl 3.

When the blacksmith was done, he took a step back, standing right beside Tatsurou.

Less than five meters.

That was the distance between Ai and her opponent.

It was a distance that could not be covered by the whip as it was.

Hence, Ai focused on accumulating her Ki.

Circling it through her body, she flowed Ki through the whip and coated it from the base to the tip.

Holding it in her right hand, she raised the whip as high as her left shoulder and swung it down parallel to the ground.

Following her action, the whip flew out.

Due to Ais Ki, the width of the whip thinned out while its length significantly increased in exchange.

The weapon reached its mark, boring a hole through the dummy.

[Skill [Throwing] has levelled up to Lv.8]

[Skill [Whip Art] has levelled up to Lv. 4]

Great job! Tatsurou cheered.

At the same time, the blacksmith muttered to himself, You sure youre a swordster?

Seeing Ai, who he thought was a swordster, use the whip proficiently put the blacksmith at a loss.

Theres more where that came from!

Seizing the moment, Ai threw a second attack in.

It wasnt one single motion. As the whip cut through the air, Ai pulled her hand downwards, making it land right on top of the dummys head.

And after a loud cracking sound, the wooden training dummy was cleanly cut into half.

[Skill [Whip Art] has levelled up to Lv. 5]

Hey, this things kinda convenient!

Yeah, somehow

Seeing Ai flail the whip around, chopping the dummy into finer and finer pieces, Tatsurou thought that she might awaken to a weird fetish, sending chills up his spine.

Shortly after, her [Whip Art] turned Lv 7.

Finally done with her masterpiece, Ai returned to Tatsurous side while looking proud of her work.

Youre okay, right? Tatsurou asked anxiously when she decided to buy the whip herself.

Going through the rest of the weapons, their final shopping cost came to a total of 133 million Sys.

When the conversation switched towards money, the blacksmith surfaced a crude smile on his face.

Alright, well take these guys tomorrow when we get the money okay!

So dont sell them to others while were at it old man!

With those final words, the two started to trudge home, leaving the old man behind with his nasty smile.

However, the old man caught Tatsurous shoulder.

Wait! Take them now! You can just pay tomorrow!

HA?

Surprised as to why the blacksmith didnt want to wait till tomorrow when they had the money, the pair tilted their heads in confusion.

Dont give me that look! Were friends, arent we? he continued. I trust that you two will pay so Im giving them to you now! Great, right?

And why would you do that?

Come on! Itll be bad if you suddenly change your mind tomorrow! I already have my retirement plans you know!

And what if we just take it and run?

As if it was fully intent on not letting them pass through this place, the monster did not move even an inch from its stealth after five minutes.

Haah wanna try baiting it out? said Tatsurou.

Bait it out?

Yeah. Get your throwing knives ready and throw it the moment it comes out, he drew up a quick plan. As for Cardina, .

The bird shrieked.

Seeing it ready, Tatsurou gathered his mana and created a sphere of light.

He then shaped it into a caterpy, placed it on the ground, and had it crawl to the top of a stone.

Finally understanding what he meant, Ai took a knife out and prepared to throw it.

Once the caterpy reached the mark, the hand once again flew out from the shrubs and tried to catch it. However, as the caterpy was made of light, the hand harmlessly passed through it.

To pull it further out of its hideout, Tatsurou made the bait move in a direction opposite from where the hand retreated to.

Not intending to let its prey go, it jumped out of the bushes and landed on top of the stone earlier.

HUT! Ai grunted.

GHRAAA?

As it was fully focused on catching its prey, the monster failed to notice Ais attack and was pierced by two knives, one on its left arm and the other on its flank.

Now alerted by their presence, it turned their gaze towards the team.

Did it not feel a thing?

Right in front of their eyes was a humanoid creature that was at most two meters tall with a frame so thin that it looked like a skeleton. It had a long blue nose, akin to that of a stereotypical witches, and huge ears.

Although it had two knives sticking out of its body, it did not show any particular reaction except staring at them in a temporary trance.

I have a bad feeling about this Ai muttered.

Me too. Lets just kill it as soon as we can, Tatsurou replied. He activated Level Eater instantly and blew the black sphere from his mouth.

Moving the fake caterpy towards the spheres trajectory, the monster chased after it and voluntarily absorbed the black sphere into its body.

Level: 17

Skill(s): [Scratch Lv 5], [Bite Lv 4], [Unarmed Combat Lv 2]

[Pain Tolerance Lv 3]

(Unarmed Combat? It can learn the skills of humans even though its a monster?

And Pain tolerance Sounds a bit eerie.)

Level: 17

Skill(s): [Scratch Lv 0], [Bite Lv 0], [Unarmed Combat Lv 0]

[Pain Tolerance Lv 0]

GHRAAAAAAA!!

With its [Pain Tolerance] skill dropping to zero, the monster now felt the pain of having two knives pierce its body.

After confirming the level of its skill once again, Tatsurou spoke in a cold voice, Ai, it doesnt have any skills left. Time to turn it into EXP. .

On it!

To make it easier for her, Tatsurou also assaulted it with his red laser beams.

And when it was on its death throes, Ai lifted her spear and swiftly thrust it towards the unmoving monsters head.

TL Notes:

[1] Raw had a phrase people say so that the misfortune wouldnt hit them. This is the best I can do for now.

[2] Raw translates to a side dish corner.