Book 1: Chapter 16
Book 1: Chapter 16
I tried to return the pocket money back to Dante-san, but he didn’t take it. Instead, he stroked my head, saying,「I’m glad you found what you were looking for. Use that pocket money to buy some snacks you like.」
At that moment, I remembered my Japanese father, who I hardly remembered until now. A typical unreliable salaryman, who was 10 years older than Dante-san, and gets scolded by my mother as he idles around the house during days off. I also thought that I would be a salaryman in the future, but I was also thinking that I shouldn’t become like my father in the back of my mind.
…But now, it’s all unbearably nostalgic.
Lunch was fish soup noodles. But the soup was salty and had the smell of fish, and the noodles were not smooth. However, it was very delicious for me and I was engrossed in eating. After eating, it was kind of embarrassing to see Mimino-san, Dante-san, and Non-san looking at me with smiles.
「So, can we go to the training ground?」
「Sure thing. Boys are always interested in things like these.」Dante-san said, with an amused dad look. But my actual purpose was different.
I wanted to see the fight between adventurers and increase my own power with 【World Ruler】.
The training ground was the same as the warehouse. It was wide, and the ground was bare. You can see that it is used heavily because there were several depressions on the ground.
There was a scarecrow-like dummy for practice in the front, and a wide space at the back where you can fight freely.
「Your coordination is too weak! You will get knocked down by a skill!」
A muscular skinhead-san was taking on four people. They were training with wooden swords and simple leather protectors.
The four attackers were young and appeared to be in their mid-teens.
There were similar boys and girls standing close to a wall, and each time Skinhead-san’s wooden sword struck one of the four, their faces turned pale.
「Oh, isn’t that Raikira-san?」
I noticed a tall beastmen watching the training. Since he was wearing a hood low over his eyes, you can’t tell at a glance that it’s a beastmen.
Mimino-san and Non-san went out to buy the necessary supplies – since Non-san was interrupted mid-shopping due to my Reikon earlier – and I was brought to the training ground by Dante-san.
「Hmm…? Oh, if isn’t ossan and Reiji.」
「I thought you were going to sleep.」
「…Uhh, well, you know. I was just a little interested about the level of this guild. Newcomers seem to be training now, but veterans will train next.」
「I see.」
As I expected, Raikira-san is acting strange… Is he feeling unwell?
Well, whatever. Even if I ask, he’s not going to tell me.
I watched the training side by side with Raikira-san and Dante-san.
(【Physical Strength Enhancement】 【Leg Strength Enhancement】 【Sword Technique】 【Spear Technique】…And is that 【Support Magic】?)
A boy who seems to be the backup was casting magic on a girl in the front.
「That’s good! Use your magic more and get used to real battles! However, offensive magic is prohibited! If you destroy the warehouse, you’ve gotta pay for it!」
When skinhead-san raised his voice, a boy who seemed to be trying to use attack magic suddenly stopped his concentration.
「Think about when you should fire attack magic! You can’t use it if your friends are between yourself and the enemy!」
I see. Unlike games, attack magic will hit allies.
(Is that 【Hearing Enhancement】?…Mmm, yeah it is. I’m starting to hear everything in my surroundings.)
I watched the training as the boys and girls switched in one after another from the side, and gradually took in the skills into my body.
Aa… I want to try fighting. I’d like to try out just how good is 【Sword Technique]】.
「Haha. I thought you were watching pretty seriously, but now even your hands are moving.」
「Huh?」
I felt my body get hot as Raikira-san laughed. I was embarrassed. He saw my hands move as I was shadowboxing in my mind.
「…Isn’t that instructor a gold-rank adventurer? I think I’ve met him once before…」Dante-san said.
「What is gold-rank…?」
「Oh, you haven’t talked to Reiji about it yet?」
And then Dante-san taught me about the ranks of adventurers. Starting from the lowest – Bronze, Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold.
You become the top ranker in each guild branch when you reach gold rank it seems. This is not just limited to adventurers, but other guilds such as the herbalist guild and merchant guild have adopted the same ranking.
Mimino-san and Dante-san can be said to be high rank because they are “Silver”. Non-san and Raikira-san remained in “Bronze” because they joined the guild after entering “Silver Balance”.
The most famous adventurers in “Gold” will ascend to “Platinum”. And the best of “Platinum” will become “Mithril”.
When he heard the word “Mithril”, Raikira-san twitched, but did not say anything.
「Oh? Is that the “Silver GreatShield” I see over there?」
Skinhead-san noticed Dante-san, and called out.
「As I thought, you are “Inextinguishable Light Sword” Joseph, aren’t you?」
「It’s been a long time! The last time was when we killed a goblin horde, I think?」
「At that time, you had the highest number of kills.」
「That was because “GreatShield” was watching my back.」
Dante-san walked over to him, but Raikira-san, who was watching from the side, covered his mouth with his hand, as his shoulders shook.
「…Raikira-san?」I asked, kind of having an idea of what it was about.
「Kuku, ha… By “inextinguishable light”… Does he mean the slippery head? Kuku…」
As I thought! This person was laughing thinking about that!
「What say you, “GreatShield”? Can you educate the newcomers?」
「No. As you can see, I’m half-petrified.」
「That’s no problem. The newcomers need at least some kind of handicap! Wahahahahahaha!」
Slippery head… No, I mean Joseph-san! Oh man, weird words are coming to mind because of Raikira-san!
Joseph-san did not care about the petrification at all and began to teach with Dante-san.
Some of the newcomers, however, were frightened by the “petrification”, and Joseph-san rushed into those people and kicked their butts.
More and more screams rose.
(…Dante-san is amazing.)
Despite being called the “GreatShield,” he did not have a shield in this situation, and used a wooden sword that he normally does not use to attack. Dante-san hadn’t moved a step. Attacks kept coming in from the left side, which was petrified, but even that was easily intercepted by Dante-san.
「Dante-ossan is truly amazing. Indeed befitting his moniker.」
「Isn’t it great to have a moniker?」
「Yeah. Your rank goes up as you complete quests, but a moniker like that only gets attached to your name if you accomplish something great. There are many guys who name themselves whatever they want, but when people in faraway town know about you, that’s when it’s amazing.」
The gloomy air surrounding Raikira-san was no longer present, and he became talkative.
「You see that blue-haired man who is attacking? He probably has 【Sprinting Technique】. But he doesn’t know how to use it well.」
「【Sprinting Technique】?」
「It consumes stamina, but you can temporarily move faster by dashing or erase the sound of your footsteps.」
「!」
Erase the sound of footsteps? That means…
「I have one too…」
As I thought! Raikira-san’s movement was due to a unique-characteristic skill!
「If you don’t use it together with 【Stamina Enhancement】, you’ll get exhausted in no time. Moreover, 【Stamina Enhancement】 is just plain convenient. You don’t get exhausted even when you move for long periods of time. Oi, what happened?」
「…N-No, it’s nothing…」
「If you suddenly squat holding your head, of course there is something wrong.」
I was aware that Raikira-san had 【Stamina Enhancement】.
And I also learned Raikira-san’s 【Stamina Enhancement】 without realizing it. In other words, it wasn’t because my body had grown that I wasn’t feeling tired even when we travelled through the forest, it was because of the skill!
Oh man! I feel so embarrassed thinking back to when I told Non-san proudly that,「I’m growing up nicely, too!」Thinking about it normally, there’s no way you can’t get physically strong just by walking for a day or two!
「Oi, brat.」
「Y-Yes?」
「You’re being called.」
「What?」
When I looked up, Dante-san beckoned me to come, and Joseph-san watched me, with his arms crossed.
「…I have a bad feeling.」