chapter3 · 049-ep49

Episode 49: Yeah, Dungeons Really Are Great

There were two black giant lizards in front of me.

One was along the far wall.

The other clung to a rock near the ceiling.

Their black hide was rough like stone, making them look less like normal lizards and more like reptile ornaments that had crawled out of a crack in the rocks.

Except unlike ornaments, they had actual fangs.

I wanted to hurry up and catch Segawa and the others, but apparently it wasn't going to be that simple.

"...No, no, no."

The words slipped out.

I was supposed to be following people, but after following a mysterious flow of energy, I'd somehow ended up at two black giant lizards.

Interference Eye.

It had a name that sounded seriously useful, so what was up with it leading me to monsters right from its first use?

No, that wasn't it.

It wasn't guiding me anywhere.

I could only see the current; I was the one who decided to follow it.

It was irritating how the blame circled properly back to me.

So what now?

Run away?

No, impossible.

The only future I could see was them pouncing the moment I turned my back.

Then the one farther in lowered its body.

And kicked off the wall.

It looked rough and heavy, but it moved more lightly than I expected.

"Whoa!"

I shifted sideways.

The giant lizard's claws grazed my sleeve.

That was close.

No, seriously close.

Before I could even think I'd fully dodged, the other one near the ceiling kicked off the rock.

"Don't come at me two at once!"

A black shadow fell from above.

I twisted my body and avoided it.

This was bad.

I couldn't worry about catching Segawa and the others like this.

First I had to do something about these things, or I couldn't go any farther.

I focused on my fist.

Strength enchant.

I drove my fist into the one that had pounced first.

"Hard!"

It felt like punching a rock.

The giant lizard's body slid sideways, and it clung to the wall again.

Apparently it wouldn't go down that easily after all.

"Stubborn thing."

Then red light swelled at the edge of my vision.

"Huh?"

The other one.

The giant lizard by another wall had opened its mouth.

The energy flow I could see with Interference Eye was gathering all at once in its throat.

"...Fire!?"

I saw it.

But I was too late.

I'd just punched the lizard in front of me, and my posture hadn't recovered yet.

"Oh shi—"

Flames rushed in before I could finish.

My right hand had already gone out before I could think.

No, why did I put out my hand?

It was going to be hot.

The kind of person whose hand just goes out in a crisis.

Human reflexes are terrifying.

Or wait, this wasn't a reflex.

It was instinct.

It felt like my brain had told me to hold my hand up.

Like it was telling me that was the best possible answer.

Then, before I had time to pull my hand back, the flames touched my palm.

"Whuh—...!?"

Heat ran through it for an instant.

It was normally hot.

This was going to be a serious burn.

But in that instant, I saw the flow of the flames touching my palm.

Not the fire itself.

Something that was forming the fire.

The moment it touched my palm, it stagnated sharply.

Without thinking, I willed one thing.

Stop.

No, stagnate.

It was that crude a command.

Even so, there was a real change.

The flames hitting my palm broke apart there.

And before they could spread, they suddenly cut off.

The fire went out.

No, had I put it out?

I looked at my right hand.

My palm was red.

It hurt.

I definitely wasn't unharmed.

Could that have been Stagnation?

I could make phenomena I saw with Interference Eye stagnate by touching them with my hand.

Otherwise, there was no way a ridiculous word like stagnate would have popped into my head.

I see.

This was Stagnation.

For now, I'd accept that.

But even though the fire went out, I apparently took the hit normally in the instant before it stagnated.

This didn't seem to be a convenient ability like total defense.

"...Kind of iffy."

No, it was plenty amazing.

I knew it was amazing.

Being able to put out flames with my hand was already completely ridiculous.

But if I used it wrong, my hand would be wrecked first.

For now, I wanted to avoid receiving fire barehanded as much as possible from here on out.

I lightly shook my right hand and looked at the giant lizards ahead.

The one that had breathed fire was a moment late to move.

I could probably get a hit in now.

There was something I'd wanted to try at just the right time.

The Job-exclusive Skill I'd obtained when I landed a hit on Kanzaki in Meeting Room Seven.

Shock Grant.

I hadn't had time to check it then.

But just from the name, I had a rough idea how it could be used.

If I was going to punch a tough opponent, there probably wasn't a more perfect moment than now.

I focused on the Shock Grant display.

【Shock Grant】

Can only be granted to oneself. Amplifies the impact dealt to a target through the user's own contact.

Can only be granted to oneself.

Even though it was an Enchanter reward, it was apparently a buff I couldn't put on other people.

What happened to being a support Job!?

That was what I thought, but this wasn't the time for a review session.

For now, the point of new Skills was to try them out!

I immediately kicked off the ground.

Then drove my fist into the side of the giant lizard that had breathed fire.

It was hard, just as I thought.

That feeling like I had punched a rock came back.

But the next instant, the impact sank deeper in.

It felt as though the shock hadn't stopped at the surface, but had gone into its insides.

The black giant lizard's body jolted just once.

Right after that, the scales on its back, a little off from where I'd struck it, burst away as if blasted from within.

"...Huh?"

The giant lizard rolled across the floor, then vanished with a crackle, like particles of light popping apart.

No, this...

"Is this really something I should use on people?"

It was way more dangerous than I'd thought.

Dangerous, but it seemed devastating against monsters.

The instant I confirmed that, the other lizard pounced from the side.

There was no time to think.

I hit it head-on with my fist.

Strength enchant.

Shock Grant.

My fist, carrying two enchants, landed.

A dull shock spread beneath its hard hide.

Several scales on the giant lizard's back burst away together.

A high-pitched cry.

The grating sound echoed through the open space.

The giant lizard rolled onto the floor and disappeared.

"...Haa."

I let out a breath.

My right hand was hot.

My palm stung.

The fabric at my shoulder was torn a little too.

It was hard to call me uninjured.

Still, I had managed to take them down.

Two of them, by myself.

No, saying by myself was trying a little too hard to sound cool.

I had enchants, Interference Eye, Stagnation, and Shock Grant.

Even so, I had fought them alone.

As I savored that feeling of victory, a display appeared in my vision.

【XP acquired】

【Level: 10】

【XP: 1115/1200】

Oh.

I got some.

I got XP properly.

It was only natural, if you thought about it, but seeing it visualized again made it sink in whether I wanted it to or not.

Not that I didn't want it to.

You defeat monsters in a dungeon and get XP.

Then you get stronger.

It was incredibly simple.

And because it was simple, it was easy to understand.

For a self-proclaimed gamer, that was a pretty exciting point.

But at the same time,

Segawa and the others might be in danger right now.

And entering here without permission was seriously bad too.

I knew it wasn't something I should be thinking in a situation like this.

Saying it out loud would be seriously inappropriate.

So at least let me say it inside my head.

(Man... yeah, dungeons really are great.)

And just as Himuro Ren was pulling that internally inappropriate move,

Kanzaki and the others were leading Aizawa-san, Segawa, and several other Awakeners farther inside.