ch1-ch20 · 020-ch18

Chapter 18

"My butt huuurts! My legs huuurt!"

"Come on, Hiyori, that's so undignified... There, there."

The sparring session with Hiyori and Mio was over.

After that, they'd done mock battle after mock battle, and both of them were completely wiped out.

Hiyori in particular — every time she charged in, she was tripped, or thrown, or generally manhandled.

Maybe the damage was worse on the hardwood floor — she was sprawled out in a star shape, completely collapsed.

Mio, on the other hand, hadn't gotten it as bad as Hiyori since Sai's punches were all pulled, but she'd still tried to move around and gotten tripped up.

So she was sitting with her legs folded to one side.

"Alright, so how did it feel, fighting like that?"

"Honestly, I never thought there was a fighting style like that. Sensei's movements were three-dimensional, I guess? I'd love to be able to move like that."

Mio answered like an honor student, analyzing Sai as she spoke.

"Too much to think about. My feints don't work at all. He keeps beating me to the after-counter and it's frustrating."

After-counter — basically, counterattacks. Hiyori seemed frustrated that she kept getting countered every time she tried something.

"Yeah. I haven't been back in Japan that long, so honestly, I'm surprised there are high schoolers who can move this well."

That was the unvarnished truth.

When he was a high schooler himself — right after he'd been transported to the other world — how hard had it been for him back then... If he'd had as much ability as Hiyori or Mio back then, how much easier would it have been? There was no point in daydreaming about it, but he couldn't help thinking about it anyway.

That was how much evidence of their hard work he could see in both of them.

"But we couldn't hit you at all..."

"In six months or a year, Hiyori-san, you'll be able to move about as well as I do now."

"Really!?"

"Yeah. If you train hard, definitely."

"Huh, I see..."

Hiyori looked happy.

"What about me?"

If Hiyori would take half a year or a year, what about Mio?

"Let's see... I think it'll take about two years."

He'd given her a different number — he thought she'd make a face — but Mio's reaction was surprisingly calm.

"Understood."

Mio had awakened in middle school, but she'd only started seriously training in high school. That's when she met Hiyori, was scouted, and started working as a demon exorcist.

Before that, she'd done physical activities in P.E. class and such, but that was about it.

Even so, being told she could move as well as Sai in about two years — that was more than good enough.

"Anyway, there's a lot I need to teach you two... Right, let me start by telling you the plan."

Sai deliberately paused.

To make sure they listened carefully.

"I want you both to abandon your current fighting style."

Hiyori puffed up her cheeks when she heard that.

"Wha~ hold on! When you say 'current fighting style,' do you mean the way I'm front line and Mio-chan's back line?"

"That's part of it, yes."

"No no no, I'm better at fighting with a sword, and Mio-chan's a mage, right? Me on back line, Mio-chan on front line — that's impossible."

Mio was listening calmly.

"Can I ask why?"

"Because if you keep going like this, the same thing will keep happening."

They remembered the last time in Shinjuku Tower well.

Mio had fallen into a pit trap and nearly lost her life.

It wasn't something they could forget even if they tried.

"What do you... mean?"

"From our sparring today, I can see your coordination itself is decent at a basic level. But your fighting style isn't suited for a two-person party. If you had a four- or five-person party, I wouldn't criticize your current style. But for a pair, it's dangerous."

The two girls' fighting style was based on what they'd studied from the Adventurer's Guild combat manual and adapted for themselves. And it was true — the manual also said the ideal party size was four to six people.

"When exploring a dungeon as a pair, I want both of you to be able to act as either front or back line. If you can't handle both roles, it's dangerous. Especially going forward, you're going to be dealing with multiple enemies more often. Assuming the back line will be protected by the front line is a bad move."

"That's... maybe true."

Mio was thinking back to their recent runs in Shinjuku Tower.

Because she'd noticed that when fighting wolf packs on floor 7 and goblin packs on floor 8, the burden on Hiyori was getting heavier. Mio had also been moving in a way that focused on staying behind Hiyori's back.

From Hiyori's perspective, she was being forced to fight enemies while also keeping an eye on Mio behind her. It was only natural that Hiyori would get tired.

Inside a dungeon, you had to pace yourself to keep going for long periods.

And yet Hiyori was the one getting exhausted.

Fatigue led to wandering attention, which made it easier to fall for traps.

Pointed out by Sai, Mio realized her own mistake.

She was right — this way, the same thing could happen again.

"Mio-san, you said earlier you wanted to be able to move like me, right?"

"Yes. Not just when you saved us before — that big jump you showed us during the first sparring today. I want to be able to do things like that."

The strength that had saved them from a hopeless situation. That move of leaping from floor 7 to floor 8 through the pit trap. The movement today in the sparring match where he leaped over Hiyori, the front-liner, to attack Mio.

If she could do that, how much easier combat would become.

Mio's admiration shone brightly.

"Yeah. I'll teach you that too."

Mio felt reassured by Sai's firm answer.

"Alright. So that you can both handle front and back line going forward, I have presents for you."

"Oh my~, a present for a flower-of-youth high school girl? Haha♪"

"Sensei is giving us a present?"

Both of them were beautiful — they'd been confessed to countless times.

They often received presents, but honestly, they were always awkward to deal with. That's what presents were.

Having to give return gifts for every single one was endless, and thinking of ways to decline was exhausting too.

Still, this was a present from Sai, their teacher.

What would it be? Hiyori and Mio were a little excited.

Sai took out a long staff and a bracelet from his Item Box.

"The staff is for Mio-san. The bracelet is for Hiyori-san."

"Won't a bracelet get in the way when I'm attacking?"

"Once you get used to it, it won't. Both of these are magic wands used by mid-level adventurers in the other world. The bracelet — even though it looks like that — is a proper magic wand. It improves magic activation speed and allows you to construct spells instantly."

"Heh, so there's stuff like that."

Hiyori took the bracelet and, just to try it out, attempted to use the basic spell "Light" — creating a light source.

It was a simple spell that just lit up the area, but for Hiyori, who wasn't great at magic, it required some effort to activate.

...And yet, the moment she put on the bracelet and chanted "Light," the light activated immediately.

Hiyori was amazed that the magic wand had smoothed the pathway of her internal magical power.

"Whoa, this is amazing!"

"Next, Mio-san's staff — this is a magic wand shaped as a staff. It enhances power output and control. Go ahead, hold it."

Mio accepted the staff-type magic wand.

"O-Okay... Huh? What is this...?"

She could tell that just holding the staff increased her internal magical power.

Mio had once tried holding an expensive wand worth tens of millions of yen that was displayed at the Shinjuku Adventurer's Guild. The moment she held this staff, she felt the same sensation she'd felt then — a forced amplification of magical power.

No — it felt even better than that tens-of-millions wand.

"It's a bit heavy, but it's also designed with the option of clobbering people with it in mind. If you master it, you'll really transform."

"Th-Thank you very much, Sensei! But this must be really expensive..."

"I used to use that staff myself, back in the other world. But recently it's just been sitting in storage. If I'm not going to use it, I'd rather give it to someone who will."

It felt like he'd dodged the question about the price, but being told it was Sai's own weapon, Mio felt determined to master it.

"Also. If you want to become a full-fledged mage going forward, I'd like you to get used to that staff instead of the gun rod."

"Is there a reason?"

"Well. A gun rod fires magic by pointing the muzzle, but there's no reason magic has to fly in a straight line. The point is to make sure it follows a trajectory that hits the target. When you fought me earlier, Hiyori-san was always in your line of fire, right? It made it hard for you to shoot."

Sai had moved deliberately, always keeping Hiyori positioned between himself and Mio.

Even now, Mio wasn't sure what the best course of action would have been in that situation.

"Back then, you could have fired a curved magic bullet, or made it home in on me."

"I can't do anything like that right now..."

"That's the side effect of using a gun rod. Gun rods are easy to fire and good for rapid shots — they're convenient — but they tend to make your magic purely linear. Staff-type wands are harder to control when firing, but they let you give magic bullets all kinds of different behaviors."

Sai made it sound simple, but that control was the hard part.

For Mio, who'd awakened, actually activating magic itself was easy.

But control was very difficult and had been a challenge for her.

"Magic control is really tough at first. So — the main event of today's training. I'm going to teach you a special technique I learned in the other world."

With that, Sai grinned fearlessly.

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Thank you for reading.

Today also marks a two-chapter update.

Another update was made at 9 AM as well.

Starting tomorrow, updates will be at 8 PM only.

Thank you very much.