Chapter 40

Summary of the previous chapter ------------------------------------------------------

It seems that a considerable number of classmates are already dead.

There are also many troublesome skills, so the basic policy is to act with this group alone.

"Hey! There's a reaction on the radar!"

"Report the situation!"

"Two individuals that appear to be boars. Distance, 50!"

"...Naoto, Toya, what is this, a little play?"

Haruka sighs, looking tired.

It seems she wasn't pleased.

"What, you want to say something dramatic?"

"I get it! Rather, I want to do that side!"

As expected of Toya. He's always willing to play along.

I'd like to switch, but my detection ability is still a bit better.

Hehehe.

We are now walking near the forest, a little off the road.

It's getting close to noon, and we accepted Toya's suggestion to hunt some boars for combat training.

Personally, I want to eat some birds... but if we can successfully hunt the boars, I'll suggest it.

"So, in the end, there are two boars about 50 meters away, right?"

"Yeah. Should I lure them over?"

"Sure... Toya, Yuki, and Natsumi will take one, and if both are lured, Naoto and I will take the other."

"Got it. Hey, Natsumi, let's switch spears."

"Huh? But..."

Natsumi looks confused as she compares the spear I offered with her own.

Indeed, the price difference is probably more than ten times.

"Just for now. Honestly, that spear would break if it took a direct hit from a Task Boar."

"But, Naoto and Haruka are fighting together, right? Isn't that more dangerous?"

"I'm more worried about Natsumi getting hurt. Besides, I have magic too."

"Naoto... thank you. I'll borrow it."

Natsumi looks a bit happy as we exchange spears. I plant the spear I received in the ground and head into the forest.

Honestly, a spear is a bit cumbersome when luring.

As I enter the forest via a random animal trail, Haruka climbs a nearby tree and readies her bow.

While confirming their positions with detection, we approach the boars.

The larger one is among the biggest we've encountered.

The smaller one is also quite large, so they might be a couple rather than a parent and child.

Task Boars are basically stupid, so they charge when provoked, but with two, we need to think carefully.

Our target is the smaller one.

If we use too strong an attack, it might run away, so we'll use a normal 'Fire Arrow.'

At the moment of impact, I make a bit of noise and jump into a visible position.

I run back the way I came, hearing the boar's scream and angry roar.

While confirming that the detection is following, I run out of the forest, grab the spear I planted, and run to Toya and the others.

"They're coming!"

The detection shows they are only 10 meters behind.

As I run past Natsumi, who is holding her spear, a small depression forms at the tip of my foot.

Wow!

Perfect timing!

If I were the enemy!

"Whoa!!"

I thrust the spear into the ground and stretch my foot to avoid the depression.

I regain my balance, turn around, and confirm the large boar is there just as Natsumi's spear pierces it with a heavy thud.

—Wow, she hit the eye precisely, and the spear tip is protruding from the back of the head.

It's an instant kill.

But, I can't just stand there watching.

The boar I hit with the 'Fire Arrow' first comes out of the forest almost immediately.

A second arrow is already embedded, so I rush over and finish it off with a spear thrust.

With just a 'Fire Arrow' and two arrows, it was quite weakened, so it only took one hit.

"Phew~ Good work~"

The boars stop moving, and I confirm there's no reaction on the detection, then exhale deeply.

Even though they're just boars, combat is still tense.

Yuki rushes over, bowing her head.

"Naoto! Sorry! I—"

"Ah, no, it's fine. It's not like it would go smoothly from the start, right?"

I laugh, pat Yuki's head, and make her look up.

Actually, even if she had fallen, it wouldn't have been a fatal problem.

She might have sprained something, but Haruka can heal it, and the boar behind her was within Toya's range to handle.

It was a bit acrobatic, but there was no real issue.

"That's right. It's practice for this."

Haruka, who has climbed down from the tree, agrees while retrieving the arrows from the boars.

"Y-Yeah. Sorry. But, thank you."

"More importantly, Yuki, you'll learn the skill of 'Dissection.' We've got two specimens, after all."

"Ugh... I'll do my best..."

Yuki's expression is a bit strained, but she answers resolutely.

I understand how she feels; I was quite shocked the first time I saw a dissection.

Hang in there. You'll get used to it eventually.

As I drag the boar I killed back to Toya and the others, Natsumi is pulling her spear out of the boar.

Her face is a bit pale, but her movements are steady.

A boar with a pierced head is quite gruesome... she's strong.

I was quite shocked the first time I killed one.

"Ah, Naoto, thanks for the spear. If it wasn't for this one, it might have broken."

"Yeah. But, Natsumi, that was amazing. One thrust to the head?"

Piercing the head is partly due to the spear's quality, but to calmly thrust it into a vital spot in her first battle is quite impressive.

I thought Natsumi would attack as I passed by, and Toya would stop and finish it off, but she killed it with one hit from the front.

Moreover, the fact that she didn't flinch when the massive boar charged means she stopped its momentum with the spear.

It's not just brute strength, but skill... Really impressive. As expected of a level 4.

Considering that I'm an elf and Natsumi is human, and taking gender differences into account, I don't think there's much difference in strength, but I probably couldn't do it at level 2.

"Ugh, I almost hurt Naoto... and the difference in our first battles! What's different?"

"In my case, I practiced martial arts a bit in my original world, so there might be a slight difference. Don't worry, Yuki, you'll get better with training."

"Actually, making a pitfall at the right time is quite difficult, so there's no need to worry. It's impossible to succeed on the first try."

"Thanks for the support. I'll practice hard."

"Right. But now it's time to practice dissection. Copy me."

"…Okay."

Yuki nods as she takes the dissection knife Haruka offers.

"Okay, I've copied it."

Copying itself is instantaneous, as I expected.

Umezono ran off quickly after hearing about our skills, so I knew it wouldn't take long.

"Then, I'll teach Yuki dissection. Natsumi, you should watch too. I want everyone to be able to do it."

"Understood."

"Naoto and Toya—"

Haruka gives me a 'What do you think?' look, so I say what I was thinking.

"Can we go hunting? I haven't had birds in a while."

"Birds? Can you manage without me?"

We've always hunted birds with Haruka's bow, so she asks, but I think we can manage.

"—Just for fun."

But if we can't, it would be embarrassing, so I set up a precaution.

"Okay? Don't go too deep into the forest."

"Got it. Toya, let's go."

"Me too? Sure. See you later."

We are sent off by a slightly worried Haruka and the others, and Toya and I head back into the forest.

◇ ◇ ◇

"So, how are we going to catch the birds? We can find them, but you've never caught one without Haruka's bow, right?"

There are a fair number of birds, so we can find them with my 'Detection' or Toya's super senses.

Ideally, we want a tasty bird, but our priority is to catch one.

"My best option is the 'Fire Arrow,' but can you do something with a quick slash, Toya? You have 'Swift Legs,' right?"

"Don't be ridiculous! Swords can't reach the trees! ...But, if the bird is on the ground, maybe?"

"Hmm, a quail-like bird... it might end up minced?"

Toya's sword is different from a katana, more of a 'blunt force' type.

Attacking a quail with it would obviously result in a mess.

"Maybe a pheasant or a dove would be okay? We could also use 'Roar' to stop them, but—"

"No, no, if we use that, we won't get the second one."

Toya's skill 'Roar' can scare opponents with a loud bark, but it hasn't been very useful so far.

Task Boars charge immediately, so there's no need to use it, and with the Vibe Bear, there was no time.

It worked on the goblins we fought twice, but we only used it once, and with so few battles, it's hard to call it useful.

It was convenient to stop the movement of birds and rabbits, but it made the other prey run away. Honestly, it's not easy to use for hunting.

"Okay, if a large bird is within Toya's reach, he'll take it; otherwise, I'll use the 'Fire Arrow.'"

"Sure, but if the 'Fire Arrow' is strong enough to kill, won't it burn the bird? We could burn the feathers and I could finish it off."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I've been improving, you know? The 'Fire Arrow' has evolved."

I've been training seriously, so my magic has improved.

The skill level hasn't increased, but it's a different level from when I started.

"Like, 'Fire Arrow 2.0'!"

"That's a bit outdated, but I get what you mean."

"Whatever. In short, I can use a focused version with more penetration. If I do it right, I can blow off a quail's head."

"…If you do it right?"

"The accuracy is still developing. Look forward to 'Fire Arrow 3.0.'"

I can now converge the target within a 20 cm range at a 10-meter distance, but for a quail, I need to get within 5 meters.

"…Our target is a larger bird."

"Preferably one that's not too tough."

Smaller birds are harder to find with 'Detection,' but they're generally tastier.

The downside is that they don't have much meat.

"Let's look for one."

"Sure."

To find them, we focus on detecting life reactions, approach quietly, and confirm the target.

'Detection' can tell us what the target is, but it's not that versatile.

It has a skill level, and I can now recognize Task Boars, so I might be able to identify them eventually.

Toya's super senses are even more vague, so they're not very reliable.

However, they are quite useful for sensing hostility.

"(Oh, this is a bird. It's called a 'Kotasu,' it seems.)"

"(That's 'Appraisal.' It's a bit bigger than a quail...)"

It's a bit larger than a quail, with a light brown body and no patterns.

"(Okay, I'll use my 'Fire Arrow 2.0.')"

"(Got it.)"

I focus and fire a 'Fire Arrow' that is as focused as possible.

However, the arrow, now the size of a thick pen, misses the Kotasu's head and pierces the ground.

"Missed!"

In the instant I realize this, Toya moves quickly and stabs the Kotasu's neck with a dissection knife.

"Hey, you can do it normally!"

And you moved as soon as I fired, didn't you?

Do you not trust me?

"I managed. I thought, just in case, if Naoto missed and the bird flew away, I could catch it."

"..."

I look back at Toya, who grins at me, and I swallow my words.

Considering the distance, I can't say anything.

But, the Kotasu's head is only about 3 cm, right?

It's not like I could hit it, is it?

...Wait, thinking about it, Haruka hit a boar's eye with an arrow, and Natsumi just pierced a boar's head, right?

"—Okay, the Kotasu is yours. I'll aim for something out of Toya's reach."

Let's forget the inconvenient truth. Of course, we can't make a movie out of it.

"Large birds should be fine to aim for the body with that 'Fire Arrow 2.0,' right?"

"No, I'll aim for the head! This time, it'll work. Definitely. Yes."

After a while, as the number of Kotasu corpses increases, we finally find a good target.

It's about 50 cm long with feathers, dark brown with a bit of white on the tail.

It's perched on a tree branch, so Toya won't interfere.

—No, it was a support. Yeah, I just missed, right?

"(What's that?)"

"(It's a 'Kurasu.' Is it edible? It looks a bit like a crow.)"

"(It should