Chapter 62

As Chacha approached, Seiki drew his dagger and closed the distance.

Then, in a flash.

The dagger and claws clashed.

“—!”

Strong!

Chacha’s arm strength was even greater than that of the orc ‘Chikaho.’

However, with his muscle strength now at 4, Seiki did not yield to Chacha.

Seiki added more force and pushed back Chacha’s arm.

To be able to so easily repel an attack equivalent to or greater than that of a wild brown bear...

Seiki realized the extent of his current physical abilities and his face twisted.

He felt he should no longer call himself human.

Putting that aside,

Seiki tightened his resolve and shouted.

“Kuren!”

“Yes!”

Kuren responded.

At the same time, Seiki stepped back.

In an instant,

A flash.

—Bang!!

The air split, and lightning streaked through.

“Gooo!!”

Chacha, struck by the lightning, stumbled and fell to the ground, convulsing.

However, it didn’t seem to have caused much damage.

The lightning attack lacked the power of its sound.

It was likely that normal magic would cause more damage.

The reason the lightning attack lacked power was that Kuren’s skill was still at level 1.

However, even so, the lightning attack was effectively paralyzing the 11th floor monsters.

It lacked power but was fatal.

“Kuren, I’ll leave it to you.”

“...Ah, yes.”

Kuren, who had understood Seiki’s intention, timidly stepped forward and raised her staff.

—Bang!!

“Gooo!”

—Bang!!

“Gaaa!"

—Bang!!

“Gyaaa!!”

Kuren repeatedly struck Chacha with lightning.

Each time she attacked, Chacha let out a rough cry.

It was a somewhat pitiful scene, but both Seiki and Kuren had been doing the same to the Gezigezi.

Sorry.

It’s all for the sake of experience.

Please bear with it...

Seiki apologized in his heart while preparing for Chacha’s counterattack and waiting for the moment of her defeat.

When Chacha was defeated, Kuren’s head tilted slightly.

It was a weak level-up dizziness.

It seemed that Chacha was a bit too strong for Kuren.

After that, Seiki repeatedly fought Chacha to level up Kuren.

However, Seiki only helped minimally.

If Kuren could fight one-on-one, she could hunt Chacha solo, though it would take time.

Seiki focused solely on creating one-on-one situations.

At first, Kuren needed to cast lightning about twenty times to defeat Chacha.

But by the end of the hunt, she had grown to the point where she could defeat Chacha with about seven or eight strikes.

Seiki checked the board, but Kuren’s lightning skill remained at level 1.

It seemed that the power had increased solely due to level-ups.

“Skills aren’t equal to attack power, after all.”

Levels provide the base attack power, and skills provide the bonus.

Even if you raise skills a lot, you probably won’t become as strong as Masatsugu.

Seiki and the others wandered around looking for stairs and a boss, but they couldn’t get close to the center of the floor.

This was because the appearance rate of Chacha increased dramatically as they approached the center.

Seiki, who wanted to level up Kuren, first circled the floor.

Even then, he couldn’t find the stairs or the boss, leading to the current situation.

“Do we have to go to the center?”

“Yes...”

“Hmm”

Is there any other way?

Seiki was troubled.

If the monster appearance rate only increased slightly, Seiki could dive in.

However, as they approached the center, Chacha appeared at an abnormal rate.

At first, two appeared simultaneously.

As they moved further toward the center, three, then four, appeared in quick succession.

If they moved further toward the center...

It might become a monster parade.

Seiki had broken through a monster parade several times, but he wasn’t a thrill-seeker who would dive into one willingly.

An adventurer is one who faces death.

This phrase doesn’t mean “adventurers should die.”

It means “in a place where you should die, have the resolve to give up your life without hesitation.”

Diving in without a plan is not an adventure but mere recklessness.

If they were to dive in, they should at least ensure a safety margin.

They tried moving toward the center, but Chacha attacked in large numbers.

At first, Seiki held them off at the front while Kuren stunned them.

They fought steadily.

However, they gradually couldn’t keep up.

The team’s battle turned into individual battles.

Seiki assessed the situation and urged Kuren to retreat.

“Kuren, let’s call it a day for today.”

“...Is that so? I understand.”

Kuren seemed a bit dissatisfied, her brows furrowed.

Rea patted Seiki’s shoulder, as if understanding Kuren’s feelings.

I can go a bit further, can’t I?

Such a message came from Rea.

But Seiki shook his head.

Doing more would just be brute force.

Of course, there are times when brute force is necessary.

But this felt different.

“I have a hunch that there’s a proper strategy for this floor.”

“Really?”

“Chacha has a wide detection range but no stealth skills. I think there’s something there.”

Seiki could easily find Chacha’s detection range.

Given that, Chacha’s fighting style was too ordinary.

She didn’t even use a back attack.

She wasn’t fully utilizing her abilities.

The balance was a bit off.

That’s why Seiki thought there was something.

He already had an idea of the countermeasure.

He just needed to obtain the item.

Seiki headed to the prefab house and handed over the materials he had obtained that day to Akane.

“...What, you went to the 11th floor!?”

What happened?

Akane’s face turned pale as soon as she saw the boss materials.

“Why didn’t you take me with you!?”

“Why should I take you...”

“I’m Kuren’s teacher, you know? It’s only natural to take me!”

“Well, Kuren, you can do it.”

“E...Eh!?”

Kuren let out a cry when Seiki suddenly addressed her.

She must have thought she wouldn’t have to fight Lutz again.

Her face was blank, and her shoulders drooped.

While Kuren was in a daze over the prospect of fighting Lutz again, Seiki sold the materials and completed the deposit to his card.

“By the way, Akane, do you know any good swordsmanship dojos?”

“Dojos? Are you going to break them?”

“No way. I want to learn swordsmanship.”

“Hmm, why the sudden interest?”

“Just a bit.”

Seiki was vague.

The new skill, Weakness Analysis, was a significant advantage.

It could even turn the tide in a battle where skills and levels were low.

However, relying solely on Weakness Analysis was risky.

If a strong enemy appeared, he might lack the skill to exploit weaknesses.

Seiki strongly felt that he needed to change now to avoid getting stuck.

Changing something about himself would take time.

If he waited until his performance declined, he might die in the dungeon before he could turn things around.

He might end up finishing without proper preparation.

If so, now was the time.

He had just emerged from the middle layers and defeated the monster parade, and he was on a high.

If he started now, the open road might be closed by his satisfaction.

Before that happened, Seiki wanted to learn what he could.

“There are some, but you’re equipped with a dagger. I don’t know if it will be useful.”

“Even so, tell me.”

Akane mentioned several dojos.

They were a bit far from K-town.

Training days would take up a whole day.

If training took up a whole day, it would reduce hunting time.

This was a real dilemma.

Maybe it would be more efficient to continue self-study.

But sometimes, the long way is the shortest.

Two opinions clashed in his mind.

“Kuren, are you going to the dojo?”

“Yes.”

“Is that so...”

Kuren’s expression fell when Seiki nodded.

She might be worried that they would return to solo activities after just defeating the monster parade.

“Even if you go to the dojo, you’ll... Ah, never mind, it’s nothing.”

“What is it, Kuren? You can be honest, you know?”

No.

Seiki was leaking pressure, telling her not to say anything unnecessary.

Don’t say more.

If you say more, you’ll cry?

“W-Well, at the dojo, you can learn even when you’re not sparring!”

“...That’s right!!”

Kuren’s words sparked a good idea in Seiki’s mind.

*

When he got home, Seiki immediately turned on his computer.

He played one video after another that he found through online searches.

Kuren was impressive.

She had done the same with the potatoes.

She always gave Seiki divine inspiration.

Seiki, rubbing his hands together while mentally bowing to Kuren, gradually focused on the videos.

All the videos were about swordsmanship.

Training scenes uploaded by various schools of ancient martial arts in Japan.

He pounded them into his head.

The way to move muscles, the movement of the sword, footwork.

All of it was a seamless whole, a series of “arts.”

Seiki, with his accumulated battle experience and the Mimicry skill, could understand it all.

He could see that it was all meticulously thought out and polished for combat.

Of course, when he first became an adventurer, he had also watched various videos online.

But his base level was too low, and he couldn’t understand the movements at all.

Plus, he didn’t have the Mimicry skill.

He couldn’t mimic the movements he saw.

But now it was different.

With his increased level and the Mimicry skill, he could understand the nuances of the movements of experts.

Seiki analyzed each movement in the videos.

He observed, imagined, practiced, corrected, and practiced again.

He applied his body to the movements of the characters in the videos.

He quickly understood his own shortcomings.

First, Seiki was gripping the hilt too tightly.

This limited the movement of the sword.

The hilt should only be gripped tightly at the moment of impact.

Otherwise, it should be held loosely.

The grip should be more like wringing a towel, not pinching with the thumb and index finger.

He hypothesized, mimicked, and practiced.

At first, the dagger slipped out of his hand.

But after 5 or 10 swings, he got the hang of it.

(Interesting. By increasing the range of motion, the acceleration distance extends.)

A small difference.

Just that small difference.

But it was a significant change.

Once he understood the correct grip, the speed of the sword tip clearly increased.

The sound of the sword cutting through the air changed.

Next, he realized he was swinging the sword with too much force.

Seiki had been gradually improving his overpowered attacks.

But it still wasn’t enough.

The experts’ practice matches had a flow.

There was a flow, a rhythm, a breath, and a life.

Like the werewolf he fought during the stampede.

Each sword stroke was beautiful.

Going against the flow of the attack added unnecessary force, causing it to warp.

This was tension.

Following the flow meant not using unnecessary force.

—Beautiful.

Just watching the dynamic movements of the characters in the videos made Seiki’s heart race.

He was moved to tears, and goosebumps formed on his skin.

Seiki immediately mimicked the movements.

But—

“—Whoa!?”

A light step, and the floor made an unpleasant sound.

He had overpowered it a bit.

Seiki, in a panic, stepped on Tadara.

(What are you doing?)

The sound of leaves rustling.

“...”

No, what are you doing?

Seiki looked at Rea, who was in the corner of his room, with a blank expression.

Rea was usually placed in her dedicated room, which had the best sunlight in the house.

Seiki had placed Rea there today as well.

“How did you get here?”

By doing this...

Yeah, yeah.

Rea demonstrated her leaf-based movement method.