part1 · 029-ep29

Episode 29: Special Training

For the next several days, Ren fought monsters daily.

The goal wasn't simply to kill them. When did the 《Survival Adaptation》 inside him activate? What changed?

That was what he wanted to know.

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First, a fast monster.

"Fast...!"

It came at him, leaping left and right. Ren readied his spear and chased it desperately.

Again and again, he nearly took a hit. Each time, his body reacted.

Little by little. Truly little by little.

He was becoming able to see the monster's movements.

"...I can keep up better than at the start."

And at last, he could read the instant of its attacks. The spear caught the monster.

Victory.

Steadying his breath, Ren checked over his own body.

"Against fast opponents... my reactions change."

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Next, a monster with powerful strength. Take one of its attacks square on, and he'd be blown away.

Ren kept his distance. Dodged. Fled. And searched for an opening.

Once, he took a hit.

"Gah!"

His arm went numb. He stood up anyway.

Heat rose deep inside. His feet could brace. The core of his body steadied.

"...Strength this time."

Ren deflected an attack and slipped inside its guard. Thrust the spear. The monster fell.

"...I'm changing, little by little."

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Yet another monster. This one was hard.

He thrust the spear at it, and it barely got through.

"Too hard..."

Ren attacked again and again. Still, he couldn't wound it.

At last—

the spear's tip worked its way, barely, into a weak spot on the monster.

"...There!"

He aimed for it again and again. And in the end, he was able to bring it down.

Ren looked at the spear.

"It's not just strength."

Seeing the opponent's weak points. Changing where he struck. The way he fought itself was changing, too.

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More days passed. Ren kept fighting, alone.

He was wounded again and again. Fled again and again. And every time, he thought.

How could he survive? How could he keep from dying the next time?

Little by little. Truly little by little.

The way Ren fought was changing.

It wasn't just swinging the spear around anymore. He watched his opponent. Read its movements. Measured the distance. When he sensed danger, he ran.

And he attacked only in the moments he could win.

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One day. Ren stood before the rock wall.

He readied the spear. Gave it a light swing.

Different from before. His body's movements kept up with his senses.

"...I'm starting to understand it."

What 《Survival Adaptation》 was. He didn't fully understand yet.

But—

it wasn't simply a power for getting stronger.

It was a power that changed him, so that he could survive.

That was how Ren had come to think of it.

And he remembered the opponent still left. That monster alone, he had yet to defeat.

Ren looked at the map on the rock wall. At the place where they'd met.

"...About time."

Ren tightened his grip on the spear.

"Let's go back one more time."

This time—

not to run away.

To win.