part1 · 012-ep12

Episode 12: Learning How to Fight

How long had it been since he was sealed inside the dungeon? Ren couldn't say exactly.

But living each day, that much he had kept up. Search for water. Search for food. Rest his body. And run from monsters. Fight, sometimes. He repeated that life over and over.

　　　　　◇

One day.

Ren was walking his usual passage. Then he heard a sound up ahead.

"..."

Ren stopped at once and hid in the shadow of the rocks. He strained his ears. Footsteps, drawing closer.

One.

No—two.

Ren gripped his spear. After a moment, two small monsters came into view.

"...Two of them."

Before, that alone would have sent him running. But now, he didn't move right away. From cover, Ren observed the pair.

One in front.

The other a little behind. They weren't quite side by side.

"...One at a time, then."

He didn't need to take on both at once. He only had to bring down the one in front first. Ren drew back slowly. The two monsters noticed him.

And—

the one in front broke into a run.

"Here it comes...!"

Ren let it come, waiting until the last possible moment. The monster lunged.

That instant.

Ren dodged sideways. The monster's body swept past in front of him.

"Now!"

He swung the spear.

—Wham!

The spear bit into the monster's body. The first one dropped to the ground.

"...One down."

But there was no time to relax. The second one was already nearly on him.

"...!"

Ren readied his spear again.

But—

It was faster than the first. The monster closed the distance in a rush. Sharp claws came swinging.

"...!"

Ren twisted aside on instinct. A claw grazed his arm.

"Ow...!"

Blood flowed. Ren scrambled back. He checked his arm. The wound wasn't deep. He could still use it.

"...I'm fine."

It hurt. He was scared. Even so, he could still fight. Ren readied his spear once more. The monster growled low. And charged again. This time, Ren didn't dodge right away. He watched its legs. Watched the angle of its body. Where it was looking. Which instant it would jump.

"..."

The monster kicked off the ground.

"There."

Ren shifted a single step to the side. The monster's claws sliced empty air. Its body passed right in front of him.

That instant—

Ren thrust the spear out.

—Stab!

The spear sank deep. The monster fell to the ground.

"..."

Ren didn't move right away. He looked at the two of them. They weren't moving anymore.

"...I won."

The strength went out of him. Ren sank down where he stood. He looked at the wound on his arm. Blood was still flowing. It still hurt.

Even so—

He was alive.

　　　　　◇

Ren washed the wound with water. Then he wrapped a leaf from a plant he'd found before around it. Another thing he had learned living in this place.

"..."

Ren looked at the two monsters he'd brought down. This wasn't like when he'd defeated the slime. Back then, he'd been desperate. He'd known nothing. He'd fought purely to live.

This time was different.

He'd watched where the two were positioned. Moved so he could fight them one at a time. Watched their legs. Watched the angle of their bodies. Waited for the moment they attacked.

"...So I just have to think while I fight."

Not strength alone. Not speed alone. Watch the enemy.

Learn their movements. Think about how to win.

Just that changes how you fight.

"Next time... I can do it better."

It wasn't that he'd stopped being afraid. Fighting monsters still scared him, even now. He could die. He could be hurt.

That was exactly why—

he had to reduce the danger as much as he could. For that, he watched his opponent. Thought. And fought. Little by little, Ren was beginning to understand that.

　　　　　◇

That night. Ren gazed at his spear. A crude weapon he had made himself. But to the Ren of now, it was something precious.

"...I want something sturdier."

With this spear, he never knew when it might break. If he had something harder. Something sharper. Maybe he could cut the danger out of fighting, too. Ren thought back to the monsters he'd killed that day.

Bone. Claws. Fangs. There had been plenty of hard-looking parts.

"...Maybe I could use those."

Of course, he had no idea how to turn them into weapons.

Ren was just an ordinary fifteen-year-old boy. He had no knowledge of making tools, no skill at dismantling monsters.

Even so.

He could try. If he failed, he could think of another way. Until now, surviving the day had taken everything he had.

But—

That was changing, little by little. Learning how to fight. Improvising tools. Thinking up ways to avoid danger. Learning, one by one, the things it took to survive in this place.

Ren's life had started to change, bit by bit. From a boy who did nothing but run. Into a boy who thought for himself and survived by his own strength. Ren was growing, slowly.