Atelier Tanaka

Book 6: Chapter 4 (12)

Academic City (2nd)

I have to take down the tentacled slug.

I flew into the sky directly above the dangling JC and prepared to shoot a fireball at the base of the tangle of tentacles that were constricting her. I held my hand out in front of me as a magic circle as large as my body formed in front of it. As I shouted, “Fireball,” a large mass of swirling flames erupted from the circle.

“Eat that!”

I perfected the homing feature and my fireball was on a direct course to strike the mass of tentacles.

However, a smaller fireball came flying from somewhere on the street toward the slug. There must still be someone down there trying to put up a fight.

The fireball I fired was larger and slower moving, so when the smaller fireball caught its attention, the slug also noticed my attack. It then concentrated several tentacles together and formed a wall which protected it from my attack. My fireball was destroyed, leaving only a few wisps of smoke as evidence it ever existed.

“….”

There was a loud crash and dust flew up from the ground as a single tentacle fell to earth.

My fireball managed to take out a tentacle, but there are still many left and that wasn’t even my intended target. The tentacle squirmed around on the ground, spraying unknown fluids around on the city streets.

The slug ignored the smaller fireball entirely which allowed it to hit its target right in the main mass that made up the creature’s body. It exploded but didn’t even manage to leave any scorch marks against the creature’s massive frame. Just as its status suggests, this slug has considerable defense and a normal attack stands little chance of damaging it.

“Damn it. Again!”

We’re in a city that, despite the slug’s best efforts, is still filled with people. Something like this is unavoidable.

I was frustrated with my failure and quickly fired another swirling mass of flames toward the tentacles constraining the JC.

My initial attack must have caught the creature’s attention. It viewed me as a credible threat now and brought a tentacle the size of a building forward and placed it between the JC and me. The massive tentacle swatted away my fireball but my attack still managed to land some damage.

A fiery explosion erupted when the tentacle made contact with the fireball and the raging flames enveloped the entirety of the large tentacle.

The end of the tentacle was blown away, sending chunks of meat flying through the city. The remainder of the tentacle fell to the ground, limp.

[Guoooooooooooooo]

The first sign of pain that the creature let out.

It must have a mouth to make a sound like that.

“One more time!”

I said this more as a prayer to myself than anything.

The creature is taking me seriously now, so I should as well. Over a dozen magic circles formed in front of me at once and an equal number of fireballs the size of a large man slowly emerged from the centre of them. They launched simultaneously and hurtled toward the mass of tentacles that restrained the JC.

The tentacled slug was ready, however, as numerous small tentacles sprang up to defend the main host. Each tentacle that was blown away by one of my fireballs was swiftly replaced by another. There was a clear intent to the actions of the slug; it was protecting the tentacles restraining the JC.

I wonder if it’s intelligent enough to understand what I’m trying to do.

[Guuuuooooooo!]]

The slug let out another cry of pain as a dozen lifeless tentacles fell to the ground.

The last fireball left hurtled toward the creature when one of the tentacles holding the JC pulled her into its path.

“Wha–!?”

This isn’t good. The fireball is on a direct collision course with the JC and she stands no chance of surviving. I quickly manipulated the fireball so its trajectory swiftly changed and fired off toward the sky. It exploded in the air like a massive firework celebrating my failure.

[Guguguooooooo]

One more roar and this one almost sounded like a mocking laugh.

The remaining tentacles that had been randomly destroying buildings and smashing the ground converged on me. All of the creature’s strange appendages were now focused on me and protecting the one tentacle still restraining the JC.

Is that tentacle in control of the others?

“…this thing is smarter than I thought.”

When I first attacked it, the tentacles were probably acting out of self-preservation more than anything. But now that the slug has singled me out as the one credible threat it has faced, it’s new strategy is to take me out before continuing its rampage. I thought this was nothing more than a mindless monster but it’s clear now that it is intelligent.

I initially continued my onslaught of fireballs, but now that the creature was playing dirty, I was forced to send the remaining fireballs firing off toward the sky. I can’t act reckless and risk endangering the JC. The creature went on the offensive as soon as it realized my attacks had ceased.

[Guguoooooooooooo!]

The tentacles appeared to act at random up to this point, but they were now clearly acting with one mind.

“Damn it!?”

It took all of my skill with flight magic to avoid the countless tentacles that flew at me with killing intent. Completely by accident, as I was avoiding their attacks in the air, I had somehow managed to maneuver myself closer to the main tentacle. For the first time, I was within earshot of the JC, and the words she had for me were,

“H-Help me! Please, save me!”

The tears streaming down her cheeks and the desperate pleas for help were that of a normal girl.

A normal, ordinary girl.

Goggoru-chan massacred countless fairies when she was left alone, the loligon can kill anyone in a single punch to the stomach, and Edita Sensei is an ancient elf who has had hundreds of years to be used by other men.

This is the girl I’ve been waiting for.

This is what I’ve always wanted.

She is the heroine of my story.

Wait for me, heroine. The hero will save you.

“I’m going to save you. I promise you, I’ll save you!”

“Wha…!?”

Our eyes met for a brief moment.

A busamen flying in the sky and a JC captured by the evil monster. Our eyes met as the swirling mass of tentacles converged around us. If this were an anime, a rock version of the OP would start playing right about now.

I’m not going to hold anything back.

I’ll conjure a fireball so astronomically large that no matter how many tentacles the slug has, it won’t be able to defend against it. Even if this slug can still live after having most of its body blown away, it will be easier to manage at a smaller size. The main tentacle also won’t be able to use the JC as a shield if I do everything right.

I’m going to use all of the skill points I earned on the Dark Continent to save my heroine.

Skill window, open.

Passive:Magic Power RecoveryLv. MAXMagic EfficiencyLv. MAXLanguage KnowledgeLv. 1Active:Recovery MagicLv. MAXFire MagicLv. 45Purification MagicLv. 5Flight MagicLv. 55Environmental Engineering MagicLv. 10Remaining Skill Points80

There’s only one thing to do —

Passive:Magic Power RecoveryLv. MAXMagic EfficiencyLv. MAXLanguage KnowledgeLv. 1Active:Recovery MagicLv. MAXFire MagicLv. 125Purification MagicLv. 5Flight MagicLv. 55Environmental Engineering MagicLv. 10Remaining Skill Points0

That should do it.

Men are simple creatures. Other magic exists in this world, but when the opportunity to go all out and unleash maximum damage presents itself, no man can resist. My fireball has finally achieved a level in the hundreds. There’s only one way this can end now.

[Guooo]

I flew into the sky until I was out of range of the tentacles.

An attack this cool needs an equally cool pose.

I held both of my arms above my head. All 125 levels of my fire magic are going into this attack. I shouted out toward the heavens and…what the hell is that? A magic circle that covered the entirety of Academy City formed several hundred feet above me in the sky.

The lines of the circle were fiery red and emitted an intense red light that bathed the city in crimson light. The fireball had yet to appear and I could already tell that this was different from any other attack I had used before. The size alone is enough to tell me that.

It’s my attack and even I’m scared.

“O-Oooooooohhhh!”

Even if I’m scared, I’m too committed to stop now.

I’m just going to let this momentum carry me to wherever it leads.

Besides, this is the quintessential moment where the ugly boy proves his use to the beautiful heroine. A momentous occasion like this is necessary to make any girl fall for an ugly man. Without a moment like this, the ugly man can never get married. This is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that every busamen dreams of growing up. I’m going to grab this opportunity with both hands and drag myself from this virgin hell.

Goodbye virginity, hello condom.

“Eat my fireball!”

I screamed out for the city below to hear me, hoping my feelings would reach the JC.

I’m unsure whether or not she heard me, but my fireball certainly did. There was an ominous silence that preceded the emergence of several tendrils of flames. The tendrils clung to the edges of the circle as if they were pulling the main mass of inferno from the depths of some unknown hell.

It took several seconds before the main body of the fireball was visible.

“It’s…massive.”

That might be too big.

The mass that was emerging from the circle was undoubtedly one side of the fireball. It is a ball after all so ‘side’ may not be the right term. However, the body of the fireball was so large that it was difficult to see any curvature and it looked almost flat as it slowly came into view.

Is this thing going to be as large as the circle?

Trying to put that into perspective is difficult. The slug is a massive creature that could cover the central section of Academy City from edge to edge. The magic circle that hung in the air dwarfed the slug. A good comparison would be to equate the slug to the earth and my fireball to the sun.

This really isn’t good.

If that thing hits the slug, the JC stands no chance of surviving. Even I will be in danger.

My own attack drew my attention away from the slug which gave it an opportunity to attack.

I thought I was out of range, but one tentacle was able to stretch far enough to reach me.

The main body was sluggish but this tentacle moved with extreme agility and quickly entangled itself around my body. The attack was reminiscent of the loligon’s tail attack. I tried my best to avoid it, but it managed to wrap itself around most of my body.

“Damn!”

I was captured before I even had time to react.

I’m no different than the Heroes of the East and West.

The tentacle ripped me out of the sky and smashed me into the earth. My vision went black and I could feel my bones shattering from the impact. Blood was pouring from several open wounds on my body and my leg was bent in an unnatural way. I had lost all feeling in the right side of my body.

I panicked but still remembered to activate my recovery magic.

A magic circle formed beneath me and a warm white glow caressed my wounded body. The pain quickly disappeared and the wounds covering my body were all healed in a matter of seconds.

I only narrowly managed to avoid dying.

If I had hesitated for even a moment, I may have died.

This attack had somehow managed to tear all of my clothes to shreds. As I got to my feet, the last shreds of fabric holding my pants and shirt together gave way and they both fell to the ground. I was relieved to see my underwear had held strong but this relief was short lived as even they ripped and fell from my waist.

Should I keep fighting?

I mean, I’m completely naked.

No, I shouldn’t be worried about something like that right now.

“Is that fireball still….”

I turned  my eyes toward the sky and was relieved to see the magic circle had disappeared.

The small percent of the fireball that appeared was also gone.

Unintentionally, the giant slug has given me a do-over and a chance to avoid destroying the planet.

“…alright.”

I’ve always been able to increase my level with magic and use it freely without worrying about the consequences, but my plummeting LUC stat has led to my magic being dangerous to both friend and foe if used improperly. Not that I didn’t already have enough to worry about.