With my sword resting on my shoulder, I continued exploring the dungeon. Illuminated by the mysterious moss, the dungeon had quite the fantastical atmosphere. Had dungeons not been such dangerous places, this would have likely been a popular dating spot for couples.
…I want to go on a date with Layla soon. Like, a normal, human couple date.
While I was thinking about such things, I heard some displeasing rustling noises.
“They’re here”
“Yes,”
I moved to hold my sword with both hands as three figures charged at us front the front, metal spears in hand. All 3 were Myrmidons.
“Fireball”
Landing the first attack was Layla. She had launched a ball of flame and aimed it at the Myrmidon in the very front. But since it was an attack from the front, the monster was able to guard with its spear.
“Gii!?”
Its forelimbs, along with the spear, still burned though. Curiously enough, despite being an insect, it seemed to be capable of feeling pain. It stopped moving before long. The pathway was somewhat wide, but even then, having that Myrmidon stop in the middle made it hard for the other 2 to proceed. As such, they stuck to either side and crawled on the walls.
I thrust my sword at the one on the right. With my grip firm on my sword, I was able to hit the monster square in the face. Green liquid sprayed out as I swung my sword.
“Hmp!”
Due to the force of my swing, the impaled Myrmidon slipped from the blade and flew toward the left wall. Having its way suddenly blocked, the Myrmidon that approached from the left stopped. I used that chance to close my distance all at once and then cut it down from above.
One hit was all it took. For how much faster they were compared to Salamanders, they were that frailer.
“Flame chain”
“G-giii!”
In the corner of my eye, I saw the first Myrmidon be bound by crimson chains. The red-hot chains made black smoke rise from the monster’s carapace and joints as it tightened in. In just a few seconds, that Myrmidon’s body was burned down.
There’s magic like that too…how scary…
Before long, the 3 Myrmidon, along with the blood they spurted, turned into particles and then vanished. And they dropped…unsurprisingly, nothing at all.
If I recall correctly, the items Myrmidon dropped are their mandible? But since there’s no practical use for it at the moment, I think they’re only worth 30,000 yen…well, that’s fine; our goal in exploring this place is to check the performance of Layla’s wand anyway. There’s no rush today. Plus, we’ve already made a bit of money in that Salamander dungeon…speaking of which, I should ask dad for help about final income tax returns and stuff. I guess I can make do with the text given to us during the training course, but it’s my first tax filing, so I’m quite anxious. Besides, my dad would be factoring in things like whether I was still considered a dependent for his own tax returns, so it was probably better for us to discuss sooner rather than later.
My thoughts wandered for a bit but I soon refocused on exploring the dungeon. I could worry about such things for when I got back home. I was often told during the seminar that even when I was sure to not die in a dungeon, it was still better to be on guard in case something totally unexpected happened. To not be too tense but to not be too careless either.
Which was easier said than done. Without the nervousness, it was rather hard to concentrate.
We resumed exploration. While we did encounter monsters, it wasn’t as often as in the Salamander dungeon. We had fought about 20 enemies in 30 minutes.
The path we treaded bent here and there like an ant’s nest. And when we were walking on a rather steep slope, my Magic Eye suddenly activated.
“Wha”
I quickly stepped backed, and not a moment later saw sharp claws swipe where I was. The claws probably still grazed my helmet as there was a loud ringing sound within the labyrinth.
“…! [Oh, Earth]!”
Layla had made a wall of earth appear to separate me and the enemy. Taking that chance, I repositioned myself a few steps away and readied my sword.
“Master, are you hurt?”
“Thanks, but I’m fine. I was just a little surprised.”
I didn’t hear any sound before that attack. A monster in this dungeon who could move silently…there was that guy.
I thought I was being careful, but it would seem I still wasn’t taking things seriously enough.
Suddenly, the one on the other side made strange noises. Next thing I knew, the wall had melted and there was now a large hole in it. That also revealed the grotesque figure on the other side.
“Gaaaaaa!!”
There came a beast-like roar. The roar of the king of beasts, you could say. The monster had the head of a lion, complete with a majestic mane. It was the size of a cow, but the stranger thing about it was that from its abdomen onward, it didn’t have the body of a lion or any mammal for that matter. Rather, the other half of its body was that of an ant’s. This half-lion, half-ant unworldly monster was called a Myrmecoleon. Just like the Salamander General, it was a D+ rank monster.
“Gaa!”
It jumped over the large hole it made just like an ordinary lion might jump a ring of flames in a circus show. Initially, anyway. While it was in mid-air, it turned its body sideways. As soon as the ant butt was facing me, it spewed green-colored, strong acid at me. It continued its spin too, so the acid had rained upon a vast area.
This was no magical attack and was rather a physical one. That meant my Resistance stat did nothing against it. But that didn’t really matter. I mean, I went to this dungeon because I was confident I would win against the monsters here.
I activated Magic Power Discharge and had my magic power turn into a whirlwind that surrounded my sword. With a flash, I shot that at my opponent as it was spewing the acid mid-air. The acid was pushed back and hit the ant-half, causing the Myrmecoleon to land on the ground in a rather unbalanced stance. Without wasting a moment, I swung my sword down at its abdomen, splitting its two halves apart. While its blood was spraying on me, the lion-half launched itself into the air away from me.
“[Flame Chains]”
As if the monster was being stitched in mid-air, several searing chains shot out from a magic circle and bound it. Naturally, it struggled in order to free itself. Based on its resistance stat, it would probably have been able to tear off the chains in a few more seconds, but before that could come to be, I plunged my sword at its chest. I twisted my sword and then made it cut diagonally upwards. Being cut from its heart to its mane, the monster cried out its last.
Still on guard on my surroundings, I watched the Myrmecoleon turn into particles and vanish. After I confirmed that there were no enemy reinforcements, I breathed a sigh under my helm.
“Are you hurt anywhere, master?”
“Nah, I’m fine. How about you?”
“I’m fine too. I was in the back, after all.”
It looked like we were both unhurt. Thank goodness. I mean, sure, maybe an attack from a D+ rank monster would amount to only a scratch, but I would rather not be hurt at all, thank you very much.
“Looks like that staff really has no issue being used in real combat.”
“Yes. Its firepower is still weak though, so its main use will be for restraining and obstructing enemies.”
“Yeah, especially when we go to a C rank dungeon, I suppose.”
We would probably try out the next dungeon rank someday, so it was definitely better to think of ways to improve our firepower. As for why I wanted to go to a C rank dungeon, well, it was to get the better item drops and treasure chest items that could be found there. Money was a very compelling factor.
“More importantly, are you really alright, master?”
“Huh? I don’t have any wounds, so yeah, I’m fine…”
“I was referring more to your mental state this time.”
“Ah…”
Half of the Myrmecoleon did look like a mammal and it even had red blood. She was probably just confirming if killing something like that disturbed me too much.
“…I don’t feel anything much about it. Maybe it’s because the enemy looked clearly monstrous.”
I would prefer if that was indeed the case. I really didn’t feel anything by the act…if anything, I felt a sense of accomplishment in defeating a foe. Saying something like that might make me sound like a serial killer though.
“I’m glad it doesn’t have a heavy impact to your psyche. Human enemies are one thing, but I don’t think there’s a need to be distressed over killing monsters that are clearly trying to take your life.”
“Yeah. You’re right.”
I felt slightly conflicted about what Layla said. On one hand, she was right. On the other though, I was worried about not feeling any guilt at all.
…yeah, I should be mindful of myself so that I don’t lose my sense of values.
“Ah, master. Look over there.”
“Hm?”
I looked toward where Layla was pointing.
“The Myrmecoleon dropped an item.”
“Wow!!!!”
I immediately picked up the claw item drop. It was about the size a small nata knife and it was quite heavy. Unlike Myrmidon mandibles, these things went for about 200 thousand yen. A lucky get indeed!
And before I knew it, my concerns were gone. Killing monsters was like exterminating pests, so there was no need trouble myself over it one way or the other. As long as I didn’t treat human life like that, I had nothing to worry about.
“Well, we’re here and all, so let’s go all out and take out the monsters! As safely as we can, of course!”
“Let’s go, master!”
But from that point until the end of Golden Week, no other item dropped for us. All the chests we found ended up being Mimics too. The whims of luck was quite terrifying.
* * *
Golden week ended and we now had to go to school again. Unsurprisingly, I found it a pain, but the other half of me was quite excited to see my friends’ faces again. Well, maybe not exactly half of me. The part that didn’t want to go was greater. Two weeks without school was just nowhere enough.
“My, Kyotaro,”
“Mhm? What is it, Mom?”
As I was putting on my shoes at our house’s entryway, my mother called out to me like that.
“Have you grown taller?”
“Mhm, maybe, yeah.”
Now that she mentioned it, it did seem like I had grown again. For some reason, I had been growing even more ever since I became an Awakened One. They say men continued to grow until we were 17, but something else must be going on for me to grow about 10 centimeters per year since the [Return of the Age of gods]. Either way though, if I wasn’t an Awakened One and I grew this much, I would probably have suffered various growing pains.
“I’ll fix your uniform later, so call me when you get back.”
“Okay, thanks, Mom. I’ll be off now.”
“Take care”
So, I left home and went to school…
“You sure grew…”
“Hey, I’m just as surprised as you are.”
With a build and old-looking face that would make one wonder if he came straight out of a basketball manga, Kumai-kun said so while frowning. Given time, he might even go over 2 meters. Like, what was he, some kind of American?
“You stand out too much though…think you can shorten yourself?”
“Come on. But it’s not so bad, you know. I mean, now I won’t be dwarfed by my ideal muscle girl, right?”
“S-sure”
I stepped back away from him as he flashed quite a creepy smile.
“Morning…wow, you’re huge.”
“Good morning.”
“Hey”
Uoyama-kun arrived and we greeted him back. Thankfully, he was quite normal in terms of height.
“Wait, you were with me yesterday, so why are you so surprised?”
“Seeing you in a blazer threw me off, I guess”
“And I think you also mentioned something about it when we were changing for our dungeon exploration the other day.”
“Look, it’s just next to impossible to get used to a high schooler being that tall.”
They were talking about something that happened that I had no idea about…more importantly, they were talking in such a way that could expose us as Awakened Ones. I had to change the topic.
What’s that? Why is that a big deal when I myself wanted to let everyone know I was an Awakened One at the start of my high school life? Listen, if I and the handsome guy in the class’s A group get compared to one another, nothing but disaster awaits me.
“Speaking of, are Awakened Ones more likely to become tall?”
“Hm? I wonder. I don’t think I’ve heard of anything like that online.”
“…ah, now that I look at you, Kyotaro, you’ve also grown quite a bit.”
“He has? Really?”
“You seriously just noticed?”
But then again, my growth wasn’t anywhere near as pronounced as Kumai-kun’s.
“You haven’t grown at all though.”
“Shut up. And for that, don’t expect me to let you be entangled by any tentacle I find.”
“Yeah, I’m fine with that”
“Me too”
Uoyama-kun indeed didn’t look like he had grown much if at all. Did it depend on the person?
“But if Awakened Ones do become taller, that’s, like, a dream come true to me.”
“What, did you always want to be tall?”
“Think about it, think about what’ll happen to the girls”
“!? Ahh, so that’s what you mean!”
“I knew you were just going to say something silly.”
“If female Awakened Ones are to develop in various ways…won’t the world seem like a brighter place?”
“I can see it already…2 meter tall well-toned beauties…!”
“No, not like that”
“No, what I’m thinking is a whole lot more sound.”
Honestly, I wanted to object to Kumai-kun as well as Uoyama-kun who for some reason was playing along with the former. However, this was a classroom and it was no place to talk about such indecent things loudly. Actually, participating in this conversation could be dangerous for me. For all I know, the class would be calling me Lewd-kawa Lewd-taro tomorrow onwards. So, I needed to be careful here.
“That aside, you guys heard of the quest system?”
“Nope, what’s that?”
“Same”
I tilted my head to Uoyama-kun’s words. Based on what it was called, it was probably something related to adventurers.
“From what I heard, companies will issue these requests—such as ‘get us this item’ or ‘test out this equipment’—and the dungeon store will act as middleman between them and adventurers.”
“Ohh. I see.”
“Adventurers are really sounding like those found in light novels, don’t they?”
“Yeah. And cities and prefectures might also issue requests to thin out dungeons.”
“Yeah, that’s definitely important too.”
“Mm? Kyotaro, you sound like you’re really keen in thinning out dungeons.”
“I…I would rather not talk about it now.”
Again, I would rather not talk about what happens inside a dungeon while we were in the classroom.
My classmates’ attention had moved on from Kumai-kun’s explosive growth to the recent golden week. Most were talking about how they trained to become an Awakened One. It seemed liked things did not go well for them. In other words, I had another another reason why I didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that I was an Awakened One. I was that scared of their jealousy.
“When’s that system going to happen?”
“June of this year, I think”
“Wow, that’s quick. June’s not so far off.”
“I saw on the TV that Minister Arikawa squeezed that in between other bills.”
“Hee, that guy sure does so many things”
Before the first dungeon overflow incident, he used to be a politician that only stood out for the wrong reasons, but now, he was so active.
But anyway, requests from companies, huh…somehow, I feel like dungeons are becoming more and more central to our society. Dungeons are actual threats, so I suppose that’s stating the obvious.
“Makes you wonder how society will turn out from now on, don’t it?”
“Yeah…”
“How indeed”
All three of us lazily said.
Unfortunately for us, our immediate future took priority over the future of society.
More specifically,
“All that aside, man, I’m so not excited for classes.”
“I feel so down and homeroom hasn’t even started.”
“Honestly, I just want to be on break forever”
We all sighed.
Before long, the classroom’s door opened and in came our teacher. And to make matters worse, our first class after that long break was math of all things.
TL note: most likely, the basketball manga is slam dunk. The designs do make it hard to believe any of the main cast are high schoolers.
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