Chapter "215"
A crushing defeat. Just one cube and that was given out of pity.
Moreover, the opponent was a younger girl.
Nicholas's considerable pride was torn to shreds, reduced to tatters, and he was on his hands and knees on the circular stage floor, completely devastated.
Ai was just eager to tell Tatsuro that she had surpassed the level wall and reached level 50, so she left immediately after it was over.
(What was that all about? Was she lying when she said she couldn't use Spirit Beast techniques? Was she mocking me? But she didn't seem to be lying, so maybe really... If it were true, then she would have gotten stronger because I had taught her. What the hell was I thinking, aaaahhh!)
While he was letting a blizzard of regret rage in his mind, despite there being no one around, a voice echoed in his head.
"This time. We wish to express our gratitude for advising the girl who received our master's power, allowing her to make use of our assistance."
"...? That's not the Dungeon, right?"
[Did you call me~?]
"Eh? No-- just now..."While he was confused by the solemn voice that seemed to echo from the depths of the earth, unlike the feminine voice of the Dungeon, they quickly revealed their identity.
"We are not the Dungeon. We are the Spirit Beasts dwelling within martial arts skills."
(... Huh? Spirit Beast techniques, those twin dragons?)
"That's right. We normally don't speak to humans, but this time we wanted to express our gratitude."
(Oh. Are you going to give me something?)
"We cannot give you objects. However, we shall lend you our power. From now on, whenever you call upon us, we shall respond regardless of time or circumstance."
"Seriously?!"
For high-ranking martial artists, especially those who could use Spirit Beast techniques, he had always envied those who could call upon other martial arts skills whenever they wanted.
And yet now, just for giving a little advice to a girl, that worry was being cleared away.
For a martial artist, there wouldn't be anyone who wouldn't be happy about this.
But the gratitude didn't end there.
"And I shall newly grant you fangs that pierce through all"
"And I shall grant you claws that tear through all"
"We promise to lend these to you"
"Oh. Thank you........................... WHAAAAT!?"
There had likely never been a martial artist who could receive assistance from two beings before Ai just demonstrated it.
To think that he would also receive even a small portion of that blessing. It would be impossible not to be surprised.
And furthermore, the white dragon that had already been lending him scales would now lend him fangs as well, truly making it his time to shine.
However, since this conversation was only audible to Nicholas, his companions were giving him pitying looks, thinking he had gone mad from such a magnificent defeat.
Unaware of this, Nicholas was overjoyed at having obtained something more precious than any treasure in a sense.
But then he remembered something concerning they had said.
(Earlier, didn't you call that girl 'the girl who received the master's power'? --Master, could that mean...)
"Our master is only one. None other than the War God."
(War God... you're saying she received the power of something like that. Well, that explains why she's so monstrous)
"Indeed. With this, finally, the others who had been hesitant towards us will also come forth. However, do not speak of this to others. If you were to tell anyone else, we would have to void our earlier agreement."
(I'll definitely keep it secret! I won't tell anyone even if it kills me!!)
Having finally become a pure martial artist who could potentially become the martial artist of the century, he couldn't afford to lose that power.
Nicholas bowed deeply in the most respectful manner toward where no one was standing.
...However. His companions noticed this strange behavior and mixed with their gazes was one of viewing him as an eccentric from that direction as well.
But Nicholas remained oblivious as ever.
"Then so be it. As long as you keep your promise, we too shall swear to continue lending you our power. --Well then, farewell."
(Thank you very muuuuch!)
And so the conversation with the Spirit Beasts that would never be known or spoken of to anyone came to an end.
Nicholas immediately tried out the power he had just received.
White spirit fangs emerged from his right fist, and black spirit claws from his left fingertips.
Furthermore, if he covered his body with white scales, he would be a complete martial artist excelling in both offense and defense.
This was something that couldn't be obtained no matter how much gold and silver one accumulated, or how much experience one gained.
Nicholas became so excited that he forgot all about losing, and after dismissing his Spirit Beast techniques, he returned to the waiting room in high spirits.
"Hey. You were all depressed earlier, but now you're suddenly grinning from ear to ear. Nicholas, did you go crazy from losing?"
"What are you talking about, Nutau? You see, I... Ah... um... --That's right! The shock of losing made me have an awakening!"
"Huh?????????"
He couldn't tell them the truth straight out, so he tried to brag about his newly acquired techniques with such an excuse, but this clearly wouldn't work. The other members made Nicholas sit down, and for a while, no one would listen to him.
While that was happening on Nicholas's side, Ai, who had won splendidly and immediately come to Tatsuro, threw herself at him with a beaming smile.
"Tatsuroooo♪"
"Ooh, that's great. Ai, you can use Spirit Beast techniques now!"
"Heheheee~"
"Hm?"
After rubbing her head against Tatsuro's chest, Ai, satisfied, suddenly pulled away and showed a peace sign with both hands.
That mysterious action drew the attention of other members wondering what was going on.
"Actually, after I became able to use Spirit Beast techniques, my level also went up and I reached level 50!"
"Seriously!"
"Peewee!"
"Neigh!"
"How wonderful!"
"Congratulations!"
"I'm so jealous~!"
"Heheheheheee~!"
At everyone's voices of joy, Ai puffed out her chest proudly.
So Tatsuro placed his hand there.
"What are you doing, Mr. Pervert?"
"Well, I thought you wanted me to touch you"
"As if!"
"Ow"
While being lightly hit by Ai who was sighing at Tatsuro's deadpan face, she kissed him on the cheek before opening her status window to check for herself as well.
------------------------
Name: Ai Yashiki
Class: War Commander
Level: 50
Ki: 7182
Mana: 135
Dragon Power: 100
Strength: 1903
Durability: 1855
Agility: 1668
Magic: 131
Magic Resistance: 131+100
Magic Control: 131
|Acquired Skills|
[Valkyrie], [One Shot Multiple Penetration Lv.1], [Martial Arts Lv.10]
[Staff Arts Lv.10], [Throwing Lv.9], [Spear Arts Lv.8]
[Sword Arts Lv.9], [Shield Arts Lv.9], [Whip Arts Lv.9]
[Axe Arts Lv.2], [Archery Lv.9], [Fan Arts Lv.4]
[Ki Regeneration Lv.8], [Body Strengthening Lv.10], [Focus Lv.1]
[Air Walk Lv.3], [Far-Sight Lv.4], [Parry Lv.3]
[Crisis Detection Lv.3], [Universal Language Comprehension]
|System skills|
[Item Box+7]
Skill Points: 193
|Titles|
[Master of Martial Arts], [Master of Spear Arts], [The Strong One]
[Destroyer], [Perfect Harmony +1], [Dragon Slayer]
[Dragon Eater], [Amazing!]
------------------------
"War Commander, huh? That's an imposing class. And. Your magic-related stats that were already single digits initially have dropped even further in exchange for physical skills growing all at once."
"Yeah, that's how it seems. But putting aside the status, look at the new skill."
"One Shot Multiple Penetration. What kind of skill is this specifically?"
To Nana's question, Ai explained the effect she had just investigated.
Then, she investigated further in detail.
"It seems I can multiply the number of attacks by the skill's level."
"The key point is that it's multiplication rather than just adding the level number to the attacks."
"Ah-- So for example, if you can originally do five strikes like Jean-nee's opponent, it doesn't become six strikes but ten strikes instead. That's amazing~"
Counting the initial strike as one, at level 2 it becomes 1+2 for triple, and at level 10 it becomes 1+10 for eleven times.
So in extreme cases.
If you can normally do five strikes, when using it at level ten, you could unleash fifty-five strikes in a single-hand movement.
"Well, the spirit power consumption also multiplies accordingly though!"
"But with Ai's quantity and recovery speed being far from normal, you can probably use it as much as you want unless it's some extraordinary technique."
"That's right!"
After the review of Ai's status was finished, Nana and Athena wanted to ask about the Spirit Beast techniques.
Since they both had Beast Arts and Scythe Arts respectively, it wasn't irrelevant to them.
However, before they could ask for details, the next match was announced.
[Now announcing the sixth match. Jakajaka jakajaka─────jan. The event will be a three-minute cube destruction contest! The participating contestants are Tatsuro-san from Team Tatsuro And Orhanse-san from Fornacis, it's been decided to be a magic battle!]
"It's me"
"Alright! An opponent with good compatibility!"
Orhanse, the reptilian whom Tatsuro mistook for a fire magic user, was actually a dispel magic user who could nullify fire magic with inverse phase, and also possessed the ability to sense magical presence through his skin with [Skin Magic Sensing].
By combining these two abilities, this man could simultaneously cast anti-magic that normally could only be done after a spell was cast.
So he thought he could win if he could anti all of Tatsuro's magic.
Meanwhile. Tatsuro used [Spirit Eyes] to look at his opponent and check what type of magic user he was.
"A dispel and water magic user, huh? He probably made it so he could search underwater for this dungeon. His water magic doesn't seem too strong though."
"Does he have any attack capability? If not, Tatsuro could easily win by using attribute magic that can't be dispelled."
"Hmm. But I don't really want to show anything other than the fire magic I showed at first."
"If it becomes known that you can use various attributes at high levels, it might draw too much attention."
"Yeah. Also, we can't say for sure that we won't need to deal with anti-magic users later. And we've got a chance to practice with a high-level dispel magic user who's perfect for it. So I think I'll try challenging this using mostly fire magic. I have some ideas for dealing with anti-magic too."
And so with everyone's encouragement behind him, Tatsuro arrived at the circular stage slightly after Orhanse left the waiting room.
[This event is almost the same as the third match, but─ Would you like me to explain again?]
"No, I'm good"
"No need"
[Okay then. Let's begin! 3, 2, 1───Start!]
Along with the Dungeon's starting signal, cubes began appearing all around.
First, Tatsuro started constructing magic to destroy the surrounding cubes using only fire magic to accurately gauge how skilled of a dispel magic user his opponent was.
"I won't let you use magic!"
"Whoa. This is amazing."
In Tatsuro's mind, he had thought it would only be dispelled after completing the spell and destroying a few cubes.
However, he was made to realize that this thinking had greatly underestimated his opponent.
Just as Tatsuro finished constructing his magic and before he could activate it.
In that brief interval, an anti-magic spell was perfectly constructed and nullified his magic.
That speed was at a level Tatsuro couldn't match.
And while nullifying Tatsuro's fire magic with anti-magic, he himself was wearing brass knuckles.
Using the water gun fingernails that had come from a treasure chest while Tatsuro and his group were obtaining the cloud camouflage fur, he was shooting water guns from his fingers to destroy cubes.
(It's stronger than the ones we know... --I see, maybe he can increase the power by having water magic. That's an interesting way to use it)
The power was sharp, and the water guns from his five fingers were piercing through multiple cubes.
Currently, Tatsuro had 0, while Orhanse had 24. He had been instantly left behind.
(If I'm going to win with just fire magic, I'll need to get serious or I'll be completely shut out)
And so Tatsuro began to concentrate on using the magic he had thought about beforehand.