novelnext Chapter 447
Chapter 447
Day 102 – Daytime, Dungeon, 38FBecause of the Spider-Silk Rolling Society, I’d ended up wasting more time than expected. But the horsie seemed happy rolling them around, so whatever, I guess?
「Alright, I’ve gotta finish this today, otherwise my totally innocent 『mistake』 of accidentally going into this dungeon might actually get me in trouble, so let’s finish it in one go. Humans are creatures that make mistakes, so up to a hundred a day doesn’t count, and up to a thousand isn’t even a sin. That’s one of my 108 mottos『Blame others, forgive me』 But apparently, I’m gonna get scolded for it anyway. So narrow-minded!」
As I step into the Dungeon, the air changes. I breathe in and exhale. Through correct breathing, the naturally refined inner Qi of Featherweight Qi was circulated throughout my body, turning it into a single Taikyokuken whole, mixing mana into the flow as well also boosts my physical abilities. Unlike Magic Wrap, this was pure internal reinforcement from within. On top of that, I applied Magic Wrap too, merging mana, magic, skills, and Qi together, uniting inner and outer into one complete whole.
I don’t want to waste time on the upper floors, so let’s blaze through them.
「Stacking outside and inner enhancements and merging them together with the body into one whole is making Wisdom-san working overtime trying to keep control, but at floor 30-something this is such an overkill? Not even magic stones are left behind.」
The upper floors went quickly, but side effects started showing. This is close to the same thing I had before, where I couldn’t keep control, the monsters vanish the instant I strike them, without even leaving magic stones, turning the fights into a massive net loss, but since every attack is instakill I’m progressing fast, and since I can’t collect stones, I’m going reeeally fast.. The MP drain is awful, but it’s within the range that 『Mana Absorption』can cover.
Ignoring whatever monster I might’ve missed on the upper floors, I press downward. Extending the Staff of the World Tree to about three meters length making it a size suitable for use as a weapon, I advance smoothly, sweeping the enemies blocking my way. In Chinese martial arts, the staff is compared to a gust of wind, swift and fierce, circling close around the body and using spinning flowery staff techniques to accelerate the strikes I’m able to hit enemies and both short and long range, smoothly moving forward. While the form was good enough for now, my body and senses still felt out of sync in many ways, but Wisdom-san’s calculations were starting to catch up based on the data collected so far, allowing me to control my body with minute conscious adjustments, finally getting the feel for it..
By adding something like a thin layer of『Teleportation』magic with Magic Wrap, my speed surged even further, although that turned control even more complicated, no self-destruction so far. The pressure was high, but with the stats of my refined body further enhanced by Featherweight Qi, I could handle it. The lack of fine control was the cause of my rampaging overkill mode, but better to waste a magic stone or two than destroy my own body, let the monsters get hyper destroyed instead.
Mowing them down, slashing in great arcs, spinning and sweeping, and scattering them. I avoided finishing them with strikes that would lead to me pausing the motion, instead using the ones that would keep my rotation and momentum continuous, creating an area of control as far as my staff reached.
A sphere of raging staff-wind surrounds me, in a way this can be called a defensive state, but charging into a crowd of monsters like this would lead to numerous unfortunate fatalities among them monsters getting caught up in a storm, vanishing without a trace after having the most unfortunate of accidents. While slightly regretting all of the magic stones lost, I reach the 50th floor. Even if it’s only the 50th floor, I can’t take this boss lightly. I have a feeling the dungeon already grew past 90 floors while we couldn’t get to it. While this should be great for EXP, the monsters here are definitely tough.
And here I’m kind of stuck, Snapping Turtle-san snaps at me for a bite. The issues in 『Reflect』 trait of the 『Reflect Snapping Turtle Lv 50』. Normally, I nullify reflect effects and overwhelm them with sheer probability so they never get the chance to reflect, which makes me good against reflection types, but this time was different. In this state, with power overflowing and out of control, if I attacked and even the slightest bit got reflected, I’d die. With transcendent destructive power and paper-thin defense, even the tiniest portion of reflected damage would mean my instant death.
One strike would be enough. So I focus on a single, controlled blow, suppressing the rampage of extra skill effects. A strike gathered at one point like a falling droplet of water, Poured everything into one point like water boring a hole into stone. Yes, I should be able to do that. Because making it drip, wet and soaking, and then boring into the holes is my specialty, and I trained in it to the utmost every night.
Neither too tense or too lax, just following with the flow, not clinging, not wavering, abiding as it comes. As the body feels, as thought acts, creating a current that neither resists, nor absorbed, nor is swept away by the turbulence flowing inside and outside the body. A circle turns, when it intersects, it becomes a spiral. If you don’t disturb the natural state, you naturally arrive at the inevitable, and if you don’t arrive, then why don’t you make it happen yourself! Unify the whole into one, be one, Zen spirit, Taiji thought, and the heart of a Highschool Boy united as one! Don’t bite, die!
The Staff of the World Tree went into the super hard shell of the giant turtle without resistance, as if melting into it, permitting neither the effect’s 『Reflection』 or high defense of its shell to get in the way, or even allow an attempt to bite, the staff went through shell and then the heart. I won’t allow anything to try to bite me, whether it’s a Bitch, a little raccoon, or a snapping turtle. Compared to a vicious bitch or a wicked little raccoon, a mere sturdy reflecting turtle isn’t worth fearing.
Looking only at the result, I barely made it in time for Spider Meal Girl and the Rolling Society, but they were in a near-critical condition. It seems that because of the paralysis poison they didn’t feel the pain, and being barely conscious their memories ended up quite hazy, so they somehow managed to avoid getting a lasting psychological trauma, but they only happened to get lucky. As for the adventurers who were kidnappers, it was already too late. They didn’t need saving anyway, and they were Middle-Aged Men too, so whatever, but that’s only hindsight. I didn’t make it in time.
With a body that can’t move instantly when precise control is needed, there’ll come a time when I truly won’t make it in time when it matters. I need to seriously master body control, but judging from my experience so far, I can’t go all out unless I’m about to die.
It would seem that my type of Motivation-san is not the strong one that goes all out when cornered, but instead is the one that wouldn’t wake up at all until I’m cornered. In that case, in this Dungeon, that is guaranteed to be a tab bit worse than just being one step from death, it should be solved. I thought I’d toss my Motivation-san into a deep ravine and watch it struggle from on high… but it wasn’t someone else’s problem, it was actually mine!
「See? I am the kind of kid who can do it when I try? Or rather, the kind of kid who can do it when things get super crazy nasty dangerous? Yeah, when it gets to the point where I’m thinking, 『This is absolutely impossible』 that’s when I really go all in. When I’ve got leeway, I trip, fall, and keep rolling, that’s just my way, you know?」
(Bounce-Bounce!)
I got scolded! Apparently, Slime-san is against going to the lower layers, and is unreasonably body-checking me, soft and rubbery, with angry jiggly bounces.
It seems that in this other world, which has stopped at about a medieval level, my modern highly logical explanation can’t be understood.
1) Without death looming over me, my level won’t go up, and I can’t control my body properly. Yeah, with a safety-first approach, I can’t progress at all.
2) As things are right now, if it’s a deep Dungeon of 90 floors or so, I can easily die super dead. Conversely, if it’s around 80 floors level, it might just barely work out.
3) That means that here, it’s either die, or raise my level and gain body control, so if I don’t die here, everything’s solved, right? Yeah, a perfect syllogism.
And yet, this is the part that somehow doesn’t get through, I’ve never once died in my life since I was born. In other words, from a probability standpoint, I have a 100% chance of not dying. Yeah, should be alright? Well, sooometimes 『Rescue』triggers and my MP gets completely drained, so maybe I do die just a teeny little bit for a split second, only for an instant, so it doesn’t go against the three-second rule, but they just don’t get it? As long as I don’t die, I’m basically immortal? Isn’t that amazing?
And I’m pretty sure that if I reach level 25, Armored Pres-san, Dancing Girl-san, and even Slime-san will be able to hit level 50. Levels have walls every 10 increments, but there’s a sizable wall at every 25 as well. Because of that, I’m stuck at level 24, and even those under my Taming, only the Dungeon Emperors are stuck at twice that, level 48. Demon Scythes have evolved to higher forms also, so they might get stuck somewhere too, and if the bitches evolved into something like a Bitch Queen, there’s the danger they’d get stuck too.
And while level 100 is an even greater barrier, surpassing Lv 50 is a major challenge too. At level 50, there’s a big boost in strength, and skills effects also improve. I brought Armored Pres-san and the others with me by using Taming, and they stubbornly refuse to release the binding. If that’s the case, then even from a safety standpoint, getting them past level 50 to increase their safety is the responsibility of their master. It’s something their lives depend on, so of course it’s natural to risk my life for it. Well, I might come close to dying, but I usually don’t die anyway? For the sake of safety, danger is unavoidable.
(Bounce-Bounce!)
Still angry, this time it turned to bouncy ramming attacks. To be honest, with Armored Pres-san and two others combined, there’s no way danger could exist. If something more dangerous than those three did exist, I think this would’ve already been done. But Dancing Girl-san was captured by the Church… which means, since we don’t know what’s out there, we need to seek the maximum safety possible, and the greatest boost they can get right now is reaching level 50. For the sake of the current max, a bit of near-death danger should be tolerated. Yeah, safety is important, you know?
「Guhahhh! Hey, that last tackle was a pretty strong, straight-up ramming right to the gut! C’mon, you’re worrying too much, why can’t you understand my explanation that safety is important? I get that you’re worried about me, but getting past the level 25 wall will make me safer too, you know? In our world there’s a famous saying, 『Safety first』 and along with that there’s a wonderful phrase, 『For the sake of safety, fear not even death』, Ow! Ow, that hurts, I’m telling you it’s gonna be fine. In our world there’s an absolute truth called a flag, and since a marriage flag was triggered, it means only the Idiots are at the risk of death, so right now I’m super safe! I’m serious!」
Even on the 50th floors, I’m still overwhelming everything with staff techniques. Since I’m prioritizing body control it does get pretty close at times but I’m managing to dodge and play things off. As long as no large monsters show up, the defense of wuhuagun (Dancing Flower Staff) is solid, and with staff, or rather, staff-weapon, techniques that combine offense and defense in one, I can take them down. But it’s getting to the point where I can’t just blow them away on momentum alone. With controlled Magic Wrap, I can cut, strike, or pierce at will, but with Magic Wrap and body control in disarray, I’m starting to lose the ability to finish them off decisively. Rather than a safe steady onslaught, what I need now is sharpened skill, not the standard, by-the-book forms, but the focus to control, integrate, and focus the flow.
That means the warm-up is over. It can’t actually be called control if I’m just tracing forms and can’t move freely, adapting unconsciously and naturally, as a matter of course. In a natural state.
「Hyahhaaaa!」
(Bounce-Bounce!)
「No, it just somehow gets me in the groove, you know? Like going back to basics so I don’t forget my beginnings, so, hyahhaaa? It’s hyahhaaa with no evil intent behind it? Hyahhaaa?」
(Bounce-Bounce!)
Without consciously trying to control, feeling it as is, moving as if it were the most natural thing in the world, moving as I please, and because I’m moving as I please, it becomes inevitability. Therefore… Hyahhaaaa? Yeah, it just happens. I wonder why?
Holding the Staff of the World Tree in one hand, I walk casually, my body completely relaxed, even somewhat languidly, wait, I kinda just look like some sort of a lazy slob?
Then, matching the leap of Frog-san, I take a step towards it, and in the flow of the moment cut it down as I pass, then in the same fashion cut the next frog, and following the momentum take down the one beside it too. It’s not like I lost my temper and killed them, and I have no regret or remorse about doing that, just cutting as I please, as I feel like. Yeah, that’s the natural state. Reaching this state, being hyahha is unavoidable.
Slashing around me I blow away the rain of rampaging frogs, walking in a stride akin a wild dance, hacking them apart, basically, roadside slashing. My body still reacts sharply, moving at unexpected speeds, but I’ve gotten used to it, so I just adjust as I go, cutting one after another.
Rather than restraining my body and reactions, I just let it do as it pleases, and get used to it. Until this becomes normal and natural, and if it doesn’t, then I just adapt and bluff my way through while getting used to it.
「But really, you’re amphibians, shouldn’t you be in swamps or ponds? Why are you just sitting on the dungeon floor?」
『Panzer Frogs Lv 59』 of 59th floor would jump suddenly, no signs, no preparatory motions, no scheduled appointment, just suddenly leaping in. So wouldn’t they be pretty strong if they hid in a swamp with poor footing and then all attacked at once? With their swampy dark-gray camouflage the armored frogs suddenly coming flying like bullets would be impossible to dodge, and if your legs get caught in the swamp, you can’t evade. Yet they just kept at me leaping from the floor, so I cut them down? Honestly, there are a lot of monsters in Dungeons that don’t seem suited to them. Well, that’s why dungeon overflows are so scary, and conversely, it’s why they’re easier to deal with inside dungeons.
Anyway, I’ve gotten a feel for it now. I did stumble a few times but didn’t actually fall, and bumped into the frogs only a couple of times. When they did happen, I caught them on my shoulder guard, and at the moment of impact used the stomping step into a shoulder strike to knock them away, which worked quite well. Would this work on the floor boss of the 60th floor? Well, if it doesn’t, I’ll just push through. And if I can’t push through I’ll just slide through.