Thud.
"...!"
I opened my eyes wide as I watched the wolf—or what had been a wolf—collapse limply to the ground.
"The steel sword is amazing...!!"
Using the newly learned Royal Palace Knights Basic Swordsmanship Form 2 and the steel sword, I bisected the wolf that had lunged at me.
I had cut off a goblin’s head in one stroke even with the practice steel sword, but that had been the result of an ambush from behind.
I cut down something charging at me head-on like this...
Aside from roughly cutting down some slimes after entering this place, this was practically my first experience.
Even during the boss battle on the fortieth floor, or the mob-grinding on the forty-fifth floor.
It had been impossible to split an enemy in half with a single blow.
I didn’t know whether the swordsmanship was amazing or the steel sword was amazing.
"No... no...."
Neither the swordsmanship nor the steel sword was what was amazing.
Rustle—
"I’m fucking amazing, right? You think so too?"
"Grrr...."
Wasn’t I the one who was insanely awesome for making it this far entirely self-taught?
Surely it was my amazing talent that had brought me to this level without even a teacher.
Smack—!!
"Kraaaah!!"
"Split in half and die—!!"
The wiki’s ability was my ability, so in the end, this was a level I had achieved with my own power.
Slaaash—!!
This is the thrill of action...!
There was a reason I’d abandoned magic for a while and worked myself to the bone on swordsmanship alone.
Step....
Swoosh—
"This time there are two."
I grinned at the appearance of two bizarre horned deer—companions, or whatever they were.
Holding up my bloodstained sword and pointing it at them, I lightly nodded as if telling them to come at me.
Flinch.
"If you won’t come, I’ll go...!!"
For some reason, the creatures staring at me hesitated, and I immediately kicked off the ground.
Why were they making faces like they were scared when I was the prey here?
I’d been a little scared at first, but now that I was getting results, it felt exhilarating.
It wasn’t that the fighting itself was fun. It was fun because I could feel that I’d grown stronger.
"Hup...!"
Whoosh—!!
The sword swung with a degree of perfection that couldn’t possibly be surpassed.
Even if my posture twisted slightly or my sword path was a little off, I could distinctly feel it correcting itself on its own.
Slaaash—!!
It wasn’t registered in the skill book, but the wiki was probably helping me to some degree.
Thinking about it coolly, that had to be right.
I had never even held a sword in my life, and yet here I was.
[07:20:12]
It said ninety minutes.
Ten minutes had already passed.
They weren’t swarming in from all over the place as much as I’d expected.
I didn’t know whether I’d chosen a good spot or the range was narrow, but—
"This is manageable, isn’t it?"
It was easy enough that I felt like I could blatantly raise a death flag and still be fine.
Flap flap—!
"Screeech!"
"You think I can’t get you if you’re in the air?"
I snickered at the giant bird I had seen earlier.
It must have thought my sword couldn’t reach it up there. As it circled around, apparently waiting for an opportunity, I reached into my pocket.
Fwoosh—!
Cracklecrackle—!!
"Screeeech!!"
"...Ah, Lightning Bolt!"
The magic stone that flew from my fingertips transformed into a sphere of lightning.
As I watched it hurriedly shoot upward as if fleeing for its life, I belatedly called out the incantation.
Boom—!
I blankly blinked at the giant bird falling helplessly from the air.
It works on its own as long as I picture the image?
Forget incantations or anything else... I really just had to throw it.
Stab—!
After finishing off the trembling, human-sized bird by stabbing it through the torso, I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my hand.
"Whew...."
Hop!
"...Hello, rabbit?"
"!!!"
I smiled when an ordinary rabbit—not a monster or some kind of creature—came out from between the trees.
The rabbit was trembling as it looked at me, so I shrugged as if asking what was wrong and approached it.
You came because my pheromones drew you in too, didn’t you? Why were you the one getting scared?
"Want to come take a bite? I’m what you were looking for."
Hop! Hop!
"Don’t run away!! Fight me!!"
I still wanted to enjoy this swordsmanship high, this steel-sword high, a little longer.
*
[06:49:13]
"..."
For some reason, monsters and animals gradually stopped approaching.
I was thirsty, and I approached the water flowing before me to wash the blood off my sword and hands.
"...I look fucking terrifying."
I gave a bitter laugh at my reflection in the water, my face completely smeared with blood.
Maybe it was because I had wiped the sweat from my face with blood-covered hands.
No wonder animals are getting scared.
If I went hunting and my prey greeted me with a smile, drenched head to toe in blood, I’d run away too.
How was that prey? How was that the weaker creature?
Anyone could see it was a mutant, an alien creature.
Would it be better not to wash it off, then?
I had gotten enough real combat experience with the swordsmanship and steel sword.
There was no need to keep fighting and waste my stamina, and I could clearly feel my growth.
Did I really need to clean up the monster and animal corpses, along with all the blood around me?
However far my pheromones spread, once they smelled all the blood around me, they wouldn’t come near.
Wouldn’t they think another predator was already hunting here?
I didn’t think they would attack while going so far as to fight over territory.
I’m not sure, but they say animals have excellent instincts for that sort of thing.
I didn’t know if monsters followed that principle too, but it wouldn’t matter even if they did.
Swoosh....
"If something approaches even after seeing this, it’ll be impressive in its own way."
I glanced around and let out a hollow laugh.
"Thirty... no, forty?"
When had I taken down so many?
I had thought I would get tired if they kept coming at me like this, but when I roughly counted the ones I had defeated, there were over several dozen.
I’m using a heavier sword than I did against the goblins....
My stamina and strength really must have increased.
Though the swordsmanship’s effects are probably better than I thought, too.
I had taken down most of them in a single strike.
I realized that Royal Palace Knights Basic Swordsmanship Form 2 was far more destructive than Form 1.
I hadn’t known while practicing alone and swinging at empty air, but the difference was huge when I actually cut something.
Forms 3 and 4 must be even better than this.
By spending a little TP, I could attain a level that would take others weeks or months to learn.
I couldn’t put a number to it, but wasn’t this like having an EXP event all to myself?
Easy mode, let’s go.
It was a shame that I saw no way of learning magic without magic stones right now, but thankfully, the path with the sword was wide open.
Rustle!
"More EXP just showed up."
"Grrr...!!"
"I won’t hit you too hard this time, so come on in if you’ve got the guts."
I had been doing nothing but swinging my sword for a little over forty minutes.
It was a bit larger than the other wolves, but a wolf that size would go down in one blow—or two or three at most if it was tough.
"Kraaaah!!"
So this time—
Flash—!
I should get some more solid real-combat parrying experience.
Tap—!
One... two....
"Grrrrr!!"
"Three!!"
Timing the glowing circle, I brought my shield down on top of its head at the perfect moment.
Wham—!
"Yelp...!!"
"Come at me again, you little shit."
I needed to replace my wooden shield soon anyway, so I would keep parrying until either its head or the shield broke.
*
[06:15:12]
About fifteen minutes remained until the end.
From the point when thirty minutes remained, not even a single creature had appeared.
I hadn’t moved even a step from where I had first scattered the pheromones, so the monsters and animals nearby must have all come already.
Thump...!
...Though one is approaching right now.
Thoom!!
"Grrrgh...."
"Fortunately, it’s not the one from earlier."
I snickered at the bear approaching without a care for the blood and corpses around it.
Fortunately, it wasn’t the massive, scar-covered bear I had seen before.
That bear had the kind of face that looked like it would appear during a final boss event.
This one looked similar, of course, but it still seemed like an immature specimen.
This is manageable.
The fact that this was my first thought upon seeing a bear.
Even I thought it was ridiculous.
With parrying available, I couldn’t imagine getting hurt.
Of course, it would be different if it was huge or fast enough to make parrying meaningless, but—
That’s basically a bear cub.
It was fairly small for a bear.
Unlike the things that had gone down in one blow the whole time, wouldn’t something that size finally let me see the real effects of my swordsmanship?
Swoosh—
I need to test whether this works on it too.
Like the friends who had come here so far, it was drooling profusely. I reached into my pocket.
Gripping a low-grade magic stone in my hand, I watched the bear as it warily eyed me.
"With your blood smell, everything else will be too scared to come near, right?"
To test the effects of the steel sword and swordsmanship, to test the effects of magic.
And to gain the barrier that was the smell of bear blood, I smiled.
"Grrrooo...."
The moment you try to cross that water, you’re going to become grilled bear.
I swallowed at the sight of the bear baring its teeth and took a few light steps backward.
Watching the stream between it and me, I prepared to throw the magic stone at any moment.
It’s more level-headed than I thought.
Was the smell of blood on my body really that intense?
I frowned as it refused to charge at me despite the Mark of Prey I bore.
Can’t be helped.
I didn’t want to just stand around gauging each other, and I didn’t want to give it the timing it wanted.
Tap—!
"Come closer and take a big bite out of me—!!"
I shouted at the bear, turned my back on it, and sprinted away.
If I had done this in the wild, I would have definitely died, but it seemed I had grown bolder too.
Thoom, thoom—thoom!
"Grrroooar!"
As though its instincts had been provoked, the bear charged at me, shaking the ground—
Splash!
Chain Lightning...!
I threw the magic stone the moment it leaped into the water.
Krazzzzak—!!
I smiled as the magic stone I had tossed carelessly flew perfectly toward the stream with the wiki’s assistance.
"Guh-guh-guh-guh...!!"
"Oh...."
Even by my standards, it was fairly deep water, reaching up to my calves.
I blinked as electricity spread through that water as if this were a game.
The effect must have been better than expected, because the bear’s body was trembling.
It was still baring its teeth, but the eyes glaring at me were wavering.
"Grrroooar!!!"
"Even a cub is still a bear."
I was impressed by the bear as it desperately tried to move.
Its eyes began to focus again, and its body, which had been unable to budge, started trying to move once more—
"Sorry, buddy."
Krazzzzak—!!
"!!"
I kindly topped it up with another magic stone.
"—!!"
Swoosh—
As it let out a scream too broken to become sound, I gripped the steel sword tightly.
"It’s not that you’re weak.... I’m strong...."
The instant the electricity visible over the stream vanished, I charged at full speed.
"Hup...!!"
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