Chapter 24

Somehow, Meguru is pointing the hilt of the Metal Turtle's sword at me.

Is she telling me to use it?

"Hey, who has the highest level among us? It's Meguru, right?"

"But the one who defeated it was Kousuke, right?"

I tried to leave it to Meguru, but she insisted on giving it to me.

"Look, if Kousuke holds it, he can be more effective as an attacker."

"No, no."

"What are you arguing about?"

Hagi's comment made us calm down and step back.

Then I noticed that Shinnosuke and Jitsu were looking at us with slightly exasperated eyes.

"Since we share the equipment, we can switch when necessary. Let Meguru hold it for now."

Shinnosuke's words made Meguru nod reluctantly.

Thinking about it, Meguru is a girl, and she might not actually want to fight.

Well, if that's the case, it makes sense to let me hold it...

I had forgotten about that after yesterday's battle.

Yeah, I'll hold it this time.

"Next is this. There are three, so Kousuke and Meguru, who are in the front, should wear them. The rest will be used by me and Hagi."

Shinnosuke took out new armor.

Armor made from crocodile-like leather...?

Armor made from Rock Lizard skin

Effect: Shock Resistance

Looking at the stats, it's better than the bone chestplate we had before.

The slight heaviness might be due to getting used to the lightweight bone chestplate.

And the fragments of the Metal Turtle's shell I had cut are attached to the shoulders and elbows.

"Of course, this used up all the points we got. This was the limit of what we could make with the materials we had."

"What about the rocks on the Rock Lizard's tail?"

"They're obsidian. Not suitable for armor."

Ah... I see, they would shatter.

"Armor made from that monster... It feels kind of strange."

"Meguru was the MVP, after all."

Meguru nodded, blushing and looking embarrassed.

"Our equipment is gradually getting better."

"Defeating monsters and getting materials to make equipment feels like a game."

"Indeed... That's why the combat group like Tani and Co. might get the wrong idea."

Indeed, even we feel the sense of getting stronger by defeating monsters.

What would happen if we start seeing our classmates, who were once our neighbors, as mere cannon fodder?

Still, I don't think it's right to keep them confined and claim we're protecting them.

"Let's get going."

With that, we started moving, continuing from where we left off yesterday.

"Alright, let's test our skills against the monsters we fought yesterday."

We started exploring casually.

Soon, we encountered a group of Purple Myconids.

"Be careful of the spores. Let's take them down quickly."

Holding a knife, I declared, and everyone nodded.

Approaching the Purple Myconids, I slashed horizontally to test the knife's power.

"---!?"

With a slight resistance, the knife cleanly cut through, and I almost fell over from the force.

"Whoa!"

The cut cap of the Myconid was floating in the air.

If it weren't a plant, it would have been a gruesome sight.

"Whoa!"

Shinnosuke also let out a similar exclamation.

As for Meguru...

"The blade is too sharp..."

It seemed she had been cutting vertically multiple times... The Myconid moved calmly and then fell apart after a while.

Ugh.

"Ta!"

Jitsu also hit the Myconid with a crowbar.

The Myconid caved in dramatically and died.

"Wow..."

No other words came to mind.

With bone swords or obsidian swords, there would have been more resistance, but now they feel like cannon fodder.

"Indeed. It's a surprising result."

"It's all thanks to Kousuke."

"Thanks to Jitsu's magic power replenishment."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks to everyone. With this, we might be able to reach a place with stronger monsters."

We agreed with Meguru's words.

Yeah, we should definitely be able to progress further than yesterday.

"At this rate, we might be able to defeat stronger monsters and allocate points to the armor..."

"Let's not forget to look for materials other than those from the forest, as Hagi requested. Hard tree bark might also be useful for armor."

We should consider armor made from wood.

Our current equipment is all heavy and clunky.

One of the Onion Shields is already warped and unusable.

"Let's gather points by defeating stronger monsters. If the Metal Turtle's weapon is this strong, the armor should be even more impressive."

"True, but... it's prohibitively expensive..."

How much did it cost? Most of Hagi and Shinnosuke's savings?

"By reducing the blade length, we made it cheaper, but armor will be more expensive. It's better to scatter the fragments here and there like we did with the current armor."

Ugh... but we can't do anything without earning more points.

"If we can do this, we might be able to fight where the Rock Lizards are."

"I hope so."

"Of course."

I hope so.

With that, we headed confidently to the rocky area where the Rock Lizards appeared.

"Still, be careful. The armor is still incomplete."

"Shouldn't it be enough to fight Rock Lizards?"

Using Rock Lizard armor to fight Rock Lizards should balance out.

"True... but don't let your guard down."

"Of course."

We defeated the monsters as we moved towards the rocky area where the Rock Lizards appeared.

It was a place with exposed rock and visible fault lines.

In a game, this would be where you could get minerals.

The presence of Rock Lizards might be due to such reasons.

"Shaaah!"

As we thought, a Rock Lizard appeared confidently.

The color... it's a Khaki Rock Lizard.

"Wow, a group."

There are four of them.

For such large monsters, having four is quite a lot.

"Let's consider retreating if the situation demands it. Meguru, please be ready."

"Understood."

Everyone took out their weapons and measured the distance.

We need to be careful of the attacks from the rock on the tail, bites, and claw attacks.

The claw attacks are slow, but the tail and bites are fast.

Meguru is level 6, while Kousuke and Jitsu are level 5, and Shinnosuke is level 4.

We need to see how much difference the weapons make...

"Ha!"

Meguru took the lead.

She circled around the front Khaki Rock Lizard, keeping an eye on the other Rock Lizards, and swung her sword.

The attack was barely avoided, and she followed up with a slash.

It was a weak attack, but it hit the Khaki Rock Lizard's chest.

It made a good sound, like a clean cut.

"Shah!"

The Khaki Rock Lizard, trying to exploit the opening, had its chest half torn off.

"Shah!?"

"Whoa!"

Fresh blood splattered.

Meguru, who was trying to avoid it, managed to dodge and avoid the splattered blood.

The lead Khaki Rock Lizard collapsed, spitting blood and died.

"Wow... Gross!"

"Amazing... Isn't it too sharp?"

We were stunned, and so were the other Khaki Rock Lizards.

After all, it was a one-hit kill.

They seemed to be in a state of panic, realizing the power difference.

"Shinnosuke! Let's go now!"

"O-Okay!"

Taking advantage of the opening, we rushed in and attacked in pairs.

We need to be careful of the tail, but the head is the weak point.

I don't know how much difference the knife will make, but I aimed for the throat and cut it off.

A solid feeling, like cutting paper with scissors.

I pulled back and took a step back.

Shinnosuke, just to be safe, slashed the tail with his knife.

"Gapo..."

The second Rock Lizard spat blood and died.

Meanwhile, Meguru had already cut the third Rock Lizard in half with a vertical slash.

Or rather, the Rock Lizard that lunged at Meguru, who was in a defensive stance, was split in two by the Metal Turtle's sword she held.