Natsuo
Power Level: 37 (Body 17, Skill 9, Mind 11)
Wind Breathing Level 2 (231/1000)
Life Skills (Total: 7)
Level 2: Physical Training
Level 1: Swing Practice, Running, Camping, Cooking, Fishing
Level 0: Foraging
Achievement Points: 6
Walking through the woods, Natsuo kept thinking about how he needed to learn other Breathing Styles as soon as possible, all while searching the surroundings for enemies.
Logically speaking, these man-eating demons had been trapped around the lake for so long that they should have been starving.
The moment they caught the scent of living flesh, they should swarm him like insects in a rice field.
Nichirin Blade in hand, Natsuo was practically buzzing with anticipation.
For other swordsmen, the entire selection was probably a grim routine of being ambushed in the dark, fighting back, and scraping out a victory.
For Natsuo, it was completely different.
He only needed to see a name appear within the system's detection range.
Sure enough, a small line of text appeared in the woods to his right.
Then it rapidly grew as it drew closer.
Brainsmear ???
Power Level: 33 (Body 22, Skill 6, Mind 5)
Threat Level: Low
"Damn, finally, a living person. I'm starving to death!" Along with a burst of garbled shrieking, a creature that was seven parts human and three parts toad slammed down from a tree.
Dust exploded up around it as it raked hungry, impatient eyes over every inch of Natsuo's skin.
"Kid, don't resist. This great one can give you"
Wind Breathing
Second Form: Claw Gale, Cutting Wind
Several slashes like a beast's talons tore straight through huge chunks of the demon's body.
Its neck went with it, and its entire head was cut clean off.
"I can give you a quick death? Hey, hey, hey. My head!"
Only after the head hit the ground did the demon finally scream.
Then its body began to crumble away.
"I remember now. It was that monster. That monster turned me into"
Skip
This was an experience grind. Who had time to watch a personal backstory cutscene?
Wind Breathing Level 2 (265/1000) +34
Oh, 34 experience?
He thought the toad thing was weaker and would drop way less than the last one.
While he was thinking that, another noise came from the woods behind him.
The time flow that had been fast-forwarding snapped back to normal.
Another fight trigger.
Natsuo raised his sword to guard. A sharp, elongated claw raked across his Nichirin Blade, throwing a long trail of sparks.
"Brainsmear, that idiot, died to some little kid."
"Fine. Then I'll enjoy this meal instead."
A thin, wiry demon stepped out.
Aside from its oddly deformed limbs, it looked almost human.
Deadrod ???
Power Level: 52 (Body 41, Skill 6, Mind 5)
Threat Level: Low
Natsuo's interest ticked up.
The stats were much higher than the last one. This should be at least a little more fun. But why was the threat rating still the same?
He rushed in, blade drawn back to his waist.
A thrust.
Momentum stacked on top of speed, and the tip became a straight streak of light.
"What an arrogant little kid."
"Looks like I should teach you a lesson."
Even with that rapid lunge, the demon reacted with ease. It retreated while twisting its joints in a way no human body should, slipping the sword tip.
At the same time, it looped its long claws around the blade and ripped toward Natsuo.
Natsuo stayed calm.
In the middle of the thrust, he switched instantly. He dropped his center of gravity, and his right hand, which had been gripping the hilt, released into a loose hold.
Then he drove his elbow up and jammed it hard into the demon's arm joint.
Thud.
Deadrod's face contorted in pain as the elbow strike smashed its attack line apart.
As long as it was a humanoid creature, it still had limits.
Joints. Leverage. Structure.
Tendons and ligaments pulled muscle, muscle pulled bone, and everything funneled into strikes and slashes.
The more realistic the game, the harsher those limits became.
Humanoid enemies attacked with logic. That meant patterns.
It was a habit Natsuo had built over years of action games.
And this game's combat had system assist on top of it.
Before every enemy attack, a brief warning flash would appear.
During slashes, the system applied varying degrees of trajectory correction based on your stats.
Once your stats were high enough, it even generated instant, varied projections of enemy motions in dashed outlines.
And at key moments, time slowed into a dramatic bullet-time close-up.
In short, from Natsuo's perspective so far, this game's difficulty was basically beginner mode.
Compared to the punishing action games he was used to, it barely counted as hard.
Deadrod saw itself losing ground in the blink of an eye and flew into a rage.
It lunged straight at Natsuo.
In its mind, even if this human swordsman had some skill, it was still mortal.
Deadrod had endless room for error.
The human had exactly one.
But before it could close the gap, Natsuo stomped.
Crack.
It was not a kick.
He brought his foot down hard on the top of the demon's foot, cutting off its forward motion and sending a spike of pain through it.
The force drove the entire foot into the ground.
Deadrod's pain hit like lightning.
Before it could even scream, something hard smashed into its face.
A metal pommel.
In a range where wide slashes were awkward, Natsuo did not back off.
He shifted his grip and slammed the hilt straight into the demon's upper lip.
Pain and dizziness made Deadrod stagger.
But the foot pinned under Natsuo's weight could not retreat even a step, and it toppled sideways, off balance.
"You little brat, aren't you supposed to use a sword?"
Elbows, stomps, now pommel strikes.
It almost wanted to curse.
Natsuo did not hesitate.
He rotated the blade back into a proper line.
A sword was not some clumsy, inconvenient tool.
An upward cut.
A spray of dark blood arced out as Deadrod rolled in panic, barely avoiding decapitation.
Natsuo did not chase right away. He watched.
"Your blood's red too, huh."
Its wounds were closing at a visible pace.
No wonder demons did not care about pain.
Some kind of warped flesh regeneration.
Across from him, Deadrod was already terrified.
This kid's presence was weaker than his. So how was he this strong?
No wonder Brainsmear vanished in one exchange.
"Hey. You're not thinking of running, are you?"
Damn. Why did it feel like the kid was the hunter?
Natsuo said, "If you're not coming, I'm moving again."
Deadrod finally snapped. "Don't look down on me!"
It stopped holding back and charged with everything it had.
Natsuo met it with the Nichirin Blade.
In an instant, sword light burst out, drawing sharp arcs beneath the gentle moon and dreamlike wisteria.
It was like Natsuo was inviting someone into a dance.
And the other party, unwilling, was dragged into a death waltz.
Sparks.
Claws hard as metal colliding with Nichirin steel, scattering shattered light into the night.
Blood spray.
A demon taking a hit, pain and fear erupting from the wound.
Every time sparks flared in the darkness,
it was proof the two dancers were killing each other.
Under the shifting light, the demon's face grew more and more panicked and small.
In the blade's reflection, Natsuo's eyes only burned brighter.
At last, the sparks stopped.
Wind Breathing Level 2 (265/1000) to Wind Breathing Level 2 (377/1000)
The dance was over.
(End of Chapter)
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