ch221-ch240 · 237-ch237

Chapter 237: True Strength

"'We're aiming to clear Floor 40!'—all stern and proper—and yet we're doing exactly the same thing as always!"

True, that.

Today, as ever, it's golem magic-stone mining.

It's nearly afternoon when Soushi's complaint finally comes.

"If the goal changed but the work didn't, that just proves we weren't wasting our effort all along, doesn't it!"

This IS the most efficient way, you know.

I could happily do this forever, honestly.

And what's with the "all stern and proper" bit—fine, I'll dig it out sternly, then!

"Hey—our levels just keep climbing and climbing, but do you think we're actually getting stronger?"

Aikawa asks a strange question.

"Real strength," huh......

She doesn't mean levels have nothing to do with strength, I'd wager.

Maybe she just wants to do something that feels more like effort.

Or maybe, since the camping was fun, she wants adventuring to be fun again.

Pulling magic stones out of motionless golems is less leveling, more chores, after all.

And lately her attacks seem to land easily, so maybe the chore-feel has only grown.

She's in a mood thanks to Soushi today, so—praise first, correct later.

"No, no—you can take an Orc General one-on-one now, and the Forest Ogres were no trouble either, right? You ARE getting stronger. Anego-san said so too, and......"

"'Got talent,' she said. That means 'talented, but a LONG way to go,' doesn't it......"

Some people, like those part-timers, stumble at hobgoblins, and most never get past the Ogre King.

Soushi and Aikawa have no such wall ahead of them.

I think you're allowed to take the compliment at face value and be happy about it.

Well—she wants to polish that talent, I suppose.

"Fine, fine. This afternoon, we go get trained up by Hiramatsu-san."

"Ehhh? Hiramatsu-ryu is the style that attacks from behind and snatches the enemy's weapon away, right? And anyway, is Hiramatsu-san actually strong? He's Single, isn't he?"

I don't really know how strong Hiramatsu-san is either, to be honest.

My level's gotten so high that I don't think I'd lose to him inside the dungeon......

Outside, though, I can't even follow what he's doing to me.

"You just said it yourself—strength that isn't levels. He's Single because he trains in the martial arts, I'd bet. Maybe there are rules holding him back or something?"

"Ahh—I've heard the 'Sword Saint of the North' is on terrible terms with his son over exactly that."

Soushi brings up the 'Sword Saint of the North.'

Right now, Japan's various martial arts bodies and sports associations refuse to send people into the dungeons.

Too many people died in the First Dungeon Boom, after all.

Right after the dungeons opened to the public, famous athletes and each organization's ranked competitors charged in with full fanfare—and every last one of them fell.

'It's useless in real combat.'

Some organizations reportedly withered after taking that on the chin.

There's the deeper problem, too, of whether martial arts designed around fighting humans work at all against monsters.

Kendo is the prime case: it was commonplace for an adventurer who'd first gripped a sword the day before yesterday to hold a higher level and rank than a dan-graded kendo practitioner.

'Sword Saint-chan' never trained kendo, after all.

Her knocking out a famous male competitor on a TV program didn't help either.

Dungeons being bad for moral education and all, the kendo organizations prohibit adventurer activity.

But then, afterward, the old man now called the 'Sword Saint of the North' went and became a 【Sword Saint】.

The 'Sword Saint of the North' supposedly holds kendo's highest rank of eighth dan, but had retired from the public stage and wasn't entering tournaments.

Leveling up restored the old man's vigor, and he put that skill of his on full, unapologetic display.

The kendo world apparently buzzed for a while, but with adventurer activity already banned, there's no walking it back now.

And so, triumphantly, the 'Sword Saint of the North' stands expelled from his school.

His son, a pillar of the organization, sits caught in the middle in a miserable position......

The tale of their never-ending father-son feuds gets scooped by the weeklies every so often.

"Hmm~. Then this afternoon, let's have Hiramatsu-san show us what he's really made of!"

That's looking down on him, you realize.

You're the ones being taught—bow your heads and say please?

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"Don't tell me you lot think you could take me in a dungeon?"

We ended up getting coached by Hiramatsu-san in the parking lot—and he was in a mood of his own.

The freshly Double-Rank newbie appears to have baited him without mercy.

"We don't. Winning would prove nothing. We came begging for instruction because we want to get stronger. So please teach Aikawa what real strength is."

"Good attitude. But 'winning would prove nothing'—that means you think you COULD win, doesn't it?"

Huh? Did I fumble my wording?

"Well, in a dungeon......"

I could manage, maybe?

Inside the dungeon, I can reproduce Hiramatsu-san's movements, after all.

And on top of that, I have super mode—plus the "hyper mode" the newbie goes on about.

In hyper mode—spear and shield super modes both running—I'm confident I could put out attacks more precise than Hiramatsu-san's.

"You said it, you brat. Right—take your stance. I'm going to re-forge that spine of yours so you never talk like that again."

"Refusing to demand a dungeon duel right here and now—how very Hiramatsu-ryu."

Aikawa seems to have some fundamental misconception about Hiramatsu-ryu.

"Um, could you re-forge AIKAWA's spine instead of mine......"

"Excuses already? To put some fire in you...... let's see. If Haruki takes even one point off me, I might teach you the technique you're missing. A defensive kata, that is. Until you take a point from me, I teach nothing."

A defensive kata, in Hiramatsu-ryu?

Sounds interesting—but what should I do......

If I play my trump card, could I scrape out one point?