arc01 · 020-ep20

Episode 20: 【Iron Demon】 and 【Martial Arts】

Finally—a new weapon in hand!

Knuckle dusters—the kind also known as "brass knuckles."

I'd been on the steel pipe this whole time, so this is effectively my first real weapon. Goblin weapons? Those are materials, so they don't count.

I drink in the dully gleaming black of the mana-forged steel 【Iron Demon】 from every possible angle.

Beefy. Cool. Looks strong.

And honestly, it should be plenty sturdy, and slipping it onto my hand feels incredibly right. How do I put it—it's like it becomes one with my hand? Unlike mithril, it has real heft, and that weight somehow makes it all the more reassuring. I'd never used magic of any kind up until today, and even my skills don't consume MP, so mana had never quite made sense to me. But now, the instant I equipped the 【Iron Demon】, I perceived it clearly. A warm something flowing inside me. It circulates right through the 【Iron Demon】. If I focused on gathering that into my arm and threw a punch, the power would be on a whole different level from anything before.

Compared to the steel pipe or a sword, its reach is basically nil, but get inside the opponent's guard and one blow could bury them. That's the kind of power I'm feeling. Who knows—maybe it could even put a dent in a turtle's shell now. I'll test it on the way.

◇

Spotted a turtle on Floor 4, so right away I took a fighting pose and entered combat mode.

Unlike before—maybe it judged that I had no weapon—the giant land turtle came at me with a bite attack. For a turtle it was decently fast, maybe, so dodging was easy. I could've bashed its head in right there, but since the chance presented itself, I decided to swing at the shell with everything I had.

"Reaaady… go!"

WHAMM!!!!!

"You've gotta be kidding me—?"

Forget dents—the thing shattered with a tremendous crack. The next instant, the giant land turtle burst into motes of light and was gone.

"Ah, it dropped a shell."

The punch outdid my expectations—I was the one left shocked. Well, okay, the turtle was probably more shocked.

Plus the bonus luck of a shell drop. What an auspicious start.

But man, the 【Iron Demon】 is absurd. It seems to synergize with 【Martial Arts】, and it doesn't get in the way when I use 【Plunder】 either. What a perfect choice.

And best of all—zero worry about it breaking!

That's honestly huge. I've wrecked more steel pipes than I can count, after all. The scrap piling up at home was a quiet little stress of mine. But those days are over. Best feeling ever.

Now then—riding this high, let's sprint straight through to floor 7.

◇

Aaand here we are: floor 7.

Home to my beloved goblin buddies and my moderately hated slime buddies.

The money grind is done for now, but I want to hunt club-carrying goblins aggressively going forward. Those clubs—hand them over.

Slimes, on the other hand…

Honestly, I'd forgotten all about it until this very moment: their strike resistance is ridiculous. Turtles are hard, but slimes absorb impacts with their elasticity. Frankly, a worst possible matchup for me.

Still, no way I couldn't test it, right?

【Iron Demon】, I believe in you.

Boing, boing, boing.

Maybe it's advertising how cute it is—who knows—but as always, it's a totally insolent little thing.

It's red, so the element it'll be throwing around is fire. Watch out for burns.

As I closed in, it started spitting out fireballs, but I dodged them without trouble. I stepped in to point-blank range and let loose a ferocious right straight!

Direct hit—but the slime just went sailing through the air and landed somewhere far off with a 'boing.'

Boing, boing, boing.

"D-dammit, this thing's making a mockery of me…!"

There has to be some way to deal damage with this 【Iron Demon】.

Hmm. Maybe I'll try using mana?

It takes some concentration to gather mana into my arm, but against a slime, I can manage that.

"All right, then—ready up for real this time."

I closed in on the fireball-scattering slime once more.

"Ssshhh————HAH!!!"

POP!!!!

The punch's speed and power were on another order of magnitude entirely, and by pushing the mana out at the instant of impact, the slime's body burst apart in every direction.

The core dropped with a plonk, not yet turned to motes of light. The scattered slime bits were streaming back toward the core, so I hurried in with a follow-up and crushed it.

It vanished into motes of light—subjugation successful.

"————phew."

Checking my status, it seems that one blow consumed just 1 MP.

…1? This much power for a measly 1?

『Through accumulated proficiency, the skill 【Martial Arts】 has risen to level 3』

"Hwah!?!"

With 【Martial Arts】's level up, I'd gotten another whole tier stronger. And somehow I could vaguely grasp what that blow had been. Apparently it was close to what they call hakkei—a burst of force. It seems it wasn't the complete form, but thanks to 【Martial Arts】, I understood exactly what to do next, like it was right there in my hand.

But somehow, the way my feet gripped the ground was on a whole different level now. A sense of being one with the earth. Close to how it felt when I equipped the 【Iron Demon】. Done right, I might even be able to borrow the power of gravity.

Word is even high-rank adventurers stall at level 5 with 【Martial Arts】… but what would happen if someone mastered it all the way to 10? Maybe it'd rise if I kept moving my body while channeling mana. Eh, probably not that simple. Still, I move around way more than other adventurers, so it should come easier to me than most. Target acquired: 【Martial Arts】 master.

Anyway, with nothing left to fear on this floor, it's back to nonstop leveling!

Hunt, hunt, huuunt!

◇

I got way too carried away. Yes.

And the time is now… 4 a.m. Dammit, why isn't today a holiday…!

Ah well, it is what it is. Go to school without sleeping, sleep through every class at full power—no problem. I'll get the notes off Ogi or someone…

Anyway, my level went up, and I've now pushed through floor 8.

My pack is stuffed with clubs, so I'll get a fat pile of money for them too. Considering the results, a slip-up on this scale is forgiven. Forgiven, I say.

So with that, time to head home. The trip back is a whopping 72 km. Honestly, this is beyond help. Eh, a sprint takes under two hours, and I won't be late for school, so I'll call it fine.

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【Name】 Kobayakawa Takeru

【Level】 19

【Status】

　・HP: 458 / 460

　・MP: 35 / 56

　・STR: 91

　・VIT: 88

　・AGI: 141

　・DEX: 89

　・INT: 83

　・LUK: 4

【Held Skills】

　・Plunder

　・Martial Arts (Lv. 3)

【SP】 22

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