Chapter 54
*
"You really are terrible at magic, apprentice."
I remember well the exasperated voice of my mentor.
"And yet, when it comes to magic that doesn't come from your own body, you're oddly good at it."
He looked at me, having channeled physical enhancement into my sword, and was genuinely dumbfounded.
"And on top of that, you're needlessly freakishly dexterous."
My mentor said this while scratching his head carelessly.
"Well, this is just how it is, apprentice. You should just give up on normal magic, give up on being a normal adventurer. For now, sharpen your edge—what you should aim to be is, let's see—"
Ah, there he goes saying something outrageous again.
"First, become the strongest ordinary swordsman."
See, there it is.
He's always like this—so quick to apply his own standards to others.
At this rate, it's just like——
Just like Erika——
——Erika!
*
How long had I been unconscious?
There was no need to worry about that.
Because I was still in the middle of being blasted through the air.
Ah, but I must say, I was blown straight upward beautifully.
And it hurts—hurts so much it's honestly shocking.
What hurts? My whole body hurts, but my arms are in a league of their own.
I can only imagine what's going on inside my sleeves, but since I can still see my fingers, they must still be attached.
It couldn't be helped, but the fact they didn't get torn off is probably a stroke of luck.
After all, this is the price I paid for taking that thing's direct hit.
I looked down and saw the monster standing at the center of the crater carved into the forest.
I thought I managed to absorb about forty percent of it.
Looking at the crater—big enough to fit three Hekatai houses—I was painfully reminded how far I still had to go.
I deflected what I couldn't take with my arms, but the remaining power was far more than sixty percent.
Pulled by gravity, I slammed into the ground without even being able to land properly.
Agonizing pain shot through my still-unhealed arms, but I ignored it and slammed my half-attached arms into the ground, rolling away to leap back.
I felt the bones in my arms break again beneath my sleeves.
But even so, it was a trade worth making.
Just after I leapt away, a black arm stabbed into the upturned earth.
That strike didn't have the flash to carve a crater, but it carried a killing intent far deadlier.
As expected of the King Series.
This is bad—I don't feel like I can win.
I looked up at the massive figure before me, thinking it was a miracle I could even stand.
Oganight, king of the monsters.
*
An ogre with black skin and an outer shell like armor.
Even in the Faltarl Kingdom, where stronger monsters are said to appear more often than in other countries, it's rare to encounter one.
In Faltarl, there's a clear distinction between Rank 6 and Rank 7 adventurers.
Whether they're still within human limits, or have gone beyond them.
But the gap between Rank 7 and Rank 8 is even greater.
That gap is measured by monsters like Oganight, known as the King Series.
Only those who can defeat one alone are recognized as Rank 8.
There are several such monsters, and adventurers who are Rank 6 or lower—those who still consider themselves within human limits—refer to them as the King Series.
If you want to be acknowledged as someone who has stepped beyond humanity and even further, then bring back the head of a king.
Well, I see now.
I thought as I checked the condition of my arms, reconnected by healing magic running at full throttle.
It really does feel wrong to call someone who can solo this thing a human.
I could only laugh, feeling the overwhelming difference in power.
Just being able to clearly recognize that difference makes it scarier than my mentor.
Ah——it's coming.
A lunge with a speed you'd never expect from a body twice my height.
The punch it threw was barely more than a blur to my eyes.
The only reason I dodged it was because the punch was infused with magical energy.
I remembered my mentor saying that some strong monsters even use magic just to move their bodies.
For those monsters, the magic to move their bodies activates before their bodies actually move.
In other words, since I can see magical energy, I could see the monster's future movements through that glow.
In less than a breath, I dodged three lethal punches.
My whole body ached—before healing magic could fully mend me, my full-powered physical enhancement would break something else again.
Speed aside, the frequency of attacks was still within a manageable range, which I suppose was lucky—but there was no opening at all.
At this rate, I'll be worn down to nothing.
Damn it.
I decided to give up one of my arms.
My left arm was crushed beneath the sleeve.