Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou - Volume 1

by Chuuni Suki

  "A dream is just a dream, Shirasaki-san. This time we have Meld and his veteran knights to accompany us. A lot of strong people like Kouki are coming with us. Rather, our whole class is amazing. I actually feel sorry for our enemies. I am weak and because I have shown such weakness is probably the reason for your dreams."

  Kaori just stared at Hajime with an anxious expression, while he spoke.

  "Still....Still...I'm still worried."

  "Then."

  Hajime was somewhat shy, but he stared straight into Kaori's eyes.

  "Will you protect me?"

  "Eh?"

  He was aware of what he was saying, and as a man saying this to her it ashamed him. His face was already red with shame. In the room that was illuminated by the moonlight. Kaori understood the situation well.

  "You are a healer, right Shirasaki-san? Healer was a class that had an innate talent for healing magic. No matter what, even if I get injured, you can cure me. Will you protect me with this power? If so, I believe I'll be fine."

  Kaori just stared at him for a bit. Hajime just endured desperately the shame that he felt, and he kept his eyes from breaking contact with Kaori's. Even though his body was writhing.

  The biggest cause of a person's insecurity is the unknown. Kaori right now, was worrying about what could possibly attack Hajime. So, it would be soothing, if they had the confidence to face the unknown that would attack him.

  For a while, they stared at each other. The silence was broken when Kaori started to smile.

  "You never change, Nagumo-kun."

  "?"

  Hajime made a doubtful expression as Kaori said that. Kaori laughed at his expression.

  "Nagumo-kun, you probably think we first met in high school. I knew you since the second year of middle school."

  This revelation caused Hajime to widen his eyes in shock. He quickly searched through his memories, but he couldn't recall the meeting. Hajime groaned as he thought, and this caused Kaori to giggle at him.

  "It was a one-sided meeting. The first time I saw you, you were in Dogeza (Prostration). Since you were in such a position, you did not see me."

  "Do-Dogeza!?"

  Why did she see him in such an uncool time? His body writhed again, but for a different reason this time. Where and when did she see him in such a position? He frantically searched his memories. Kaori giggled as she saw Hajime make so many comedic faces.

  "Yeah, you were surrounded by shady people. Even when they spit at you, poured their drinks on you, or stepped on you, you did not stop. Before long, the left appalled."

  "I showed such an unsightly sight..."

  Hajime felt like dying a little. It would have been the same as if she saw him when he was still suffering from his Chunibyo. And it would have to be the worst scene in his dark past. Only a humorless smile came out. The same humorless smile that came out when he found out that his mom had found his hidden Ero doujinshi stash and placed them neatly on his bookshelf.

  However, Kaori just gave him a gentle look. One that was free from contempt and ridicule.

  "No, it wasn't unsightly. Rather, when I saw you like that, I thought you were a very strong and kind person."

  "Ha?"

  Hajime couldn't believe what he heard. That's not the kind of impression someone would have, if they saw that. Perhaps, Shirasaki-san had a special fetish for that? Hajime thought it was very rude to imagine such a thing.

  "I mean, Nagumo-kun. You did it for the sake of a grandmother and her grandson."

  When she said that, Hajime finally remembered something. There was such an incident during his middle school years.

  It started when the little boy accidently hit delinquents, and smashed his Takoyaki onto them. The little boy started to cry, the delinquents started to niggle the grandmother. The grandmother cowered in fear, they were in a very difficult situation.

  By chance Hajime was just passing through. When the grandmother started to take out her wallet, his body moved on its own. He had never fought in his life before. He had only practice his Chunibyo Special Moves at home. It couldn't be helped against such opponents, so he performed Dogeza. In public he did it. It was unexpectedly embarrassing for everyone there. He felt like running away. It went as planned and soon the delinquents left.

  "Strong people would have solved it easily with violence. Kouki would defeat the person that was causing the trouble. But I don't think there are many people who would help others even when they were not strong. Especially someone that would prostate themselves for the sake of others. In fact, at that time, I was afraid. I just used the excuse that if I was strong like Shizuku, but I just stood there and did nothing. Just asking someone to save them."

  "Shirasaki-san..."

  "So, I believe you are the strongest person I know. When I saw you in high school, I was so happy to see you. I wanted to become like you, and get to know you. But you just fell asleep..."

  "Ahaha, Sorry."

  Hajime was shy and embarrassed when he knew the reason Kaori interacted with him so much. He just laughed wryly at the unexpected high opinion she held for him.

  "Therefore, even if I am a little uneasy. I'll make sure you don't do anything crazy in the dungeon. Like when you faced the delinquents."

  Kaori looked at Hajime with determination.

  "I'll protect you, Nagumo-kun."

  Hajime accepted her determination. He looked straight at her, and nodded.

  "Thank you."

  Immediately after, Hajime wryly laughed. The role of the man and woman was totally reversed. Without doubt, Kaori was playing the hero. While Hajime was playing the damsel in distress. He couldn't help but laugh at the weird situation.

  They chatted for a few moments, then Kaori returned to her room. While Hajime was laying on the bed, he thought over things. He wanted to find something he could be useful for. Hajime wanted to rid himself of his incompetence. It did not sit so well with him, that he was so dependent on others. Hajime fell asleep with renewed determination in mind.

  * * *

  Nobody noticed the person that was staring as Kaori left Hajime's room. The person just had an ugly distorted expression on their face.

  Chapter 5: Trap

  Before I knew it, I was on the ranking system.

  How scary. I wonder if I can still write leisurely at that...

  Still, I am happy. Thank you for reading.

  * * *

  Currently, Hajime and party is gathered around the square just in front of the Orcus Dungeon entrance.

  For Hajime, he imagined a dark gloomy entrance, but the entrance looked like the entrance to a museum, heck it even had a reception desk for the entrance. There was a smiling Onee-san in uniform that was checking people who entered and left the dungeon. Apparently, this was the place people checked in with their Status Plate. Using those figures, they could record who perished in the dungeon. With the war nearing, they did not want too many casualties.

  In the square near the entrance, there were many stalls there lined up. The shops were competing against each other. It was like a festival. This place was a popular area to earn a good income because people naturally gathered here. The superficial levels of the Dungeon was popular. There were many people who wanted to challenge the Dungeon, some took it seriously while others just fooled around with their lives. There seemed to be a lot of criminal activity in the back alley near the Dungeon. The country, with help from the adventurer guild, have establish operations and facilities to limit the crimes because of the pending war. This was very useful because you can buy and sell material here, and it was close to the Dungeon.

  While the class was looking around like some bumpkins, they followed the duck-like mount behind Meld.

  * * *

  The inside of the Dungeon was totally different to the bustling of the outside. There is not much ambient light, but in front was a passage that emitted light. The passage was about 5 m high and wide, it was possible to see to some extent even without any ma
gical light or torches. Special green stones, that were buried in the walls, emitted light to brighten the dungeon. Orcus Dungeon seemed like it had a huge vein of these green stones.

  The party organized into rank and progressed forward. For a while, nothing of interest happened till they advanced into a hall. The hall was dome shaped and the ceiling looked to be around 7-8 m high. Gray fluffy balls gushed out from the cervices of the wall.

  "Okay, Kouki and group step forward. Anyone else fall back! We will take shifts for the frontline. Get ready! These monsters are called Ratmen. They are that strong or dangerous, but they are quick. Take it steadily."

  Just like he said, the Ratmen jumped at them with speedily. Their scarlet eyes shined eerily between their gray hair. Their name suited them. Ratmen were bipedal and had a muscular upper body, and they had mouse-like features. Only their chest and abdomen, which had an 8 pack, was not covered in hair. It was like they were showing off their abs.

  The frontline was comprised of Kouki and his party. When Shizuku, who was at the front, saw the enemy her face stiffen up. The Ratmen gave off a creepy feeling. Kouki, Shizuku, and Ryutaro intercepted the charging Ratmen. Meanwhile, two girls that were close to Kaori started to chant. The girls were Nakamura Eri the meganekko, and Taniguchi Suzu the energetic loli. They prepare to invoke their magic. They stayed in the formation they were taught.

  Kouki wielded his white shining bastard sword so quickly that it was hard to see the motions, he quickly made short work of a few enemies. His sword was one of the artifacts that the Kingdom gave to him, the "Holy Sword". The sword had a light attribute. Any enemies caught in the light, that the sword produces, weakens and it also automatically strengthens its wielder. Even if it is "Holy", it has such "dirty" abilities.

  Ryutaro's class was a "Fist Fighter", so he used gauntlets and shin guards as his equipment. These were also artifacts, and they could cause shockwaves. They were also believed to be unbreakable. Ryutaro takes a imposing stance and does not let any enemy pass by him with carefully placed kicks and punches. Though he had no shield, he acted like a heavy armored tank.

  Shizuku, who was like a Samurai girl, with her "Swordswoman" class and sword that was like the mixture of a Shamshir and a Katana. Took a battojutsu stance and drew her sword. All the enemies were cut in an instant. The draw was so refined, that the knights were dazzled by it.

  While the other students were fascinated by Kouki's party's battle, a chant resounded.

  """Swirling Dark Flames, Incinerate My Enemies, Return them to the Earth as Ashes, "Spiral Flame"."""

  Three people simultaneously casted it, and three spiraling flames engulfed the Ratmen. The Ratmen gave out a death cry as the flames turned them to ashes.

  They noticed that all the Ratmen were wiped out. The other students didn't get a turn. It seemed like that the enemies on the first level were too weak for Kouki's party.

  "Yeah, Good Job! Next time you guys try it, don't lower your guard though."

  Meld warned not to let up, but he smiled at the prowess the students showed. However, the tension from their first experience at encountering monsters in a dungeon could not be stopped. The students faces broke out into smiles. Meld just shrugged his shoulders at their reactions.

  "Although this is a training exercise, don't forget to keep in mind about Magic Stones. Since it's obviously overkill."

  At Meld's words the people in Kaori's group that casted the spell blushed.

  There were no particular problems from there, they repeated battles in the same manner. Everything was going well in the lower levels. Eventually, they arrived at the 20th floor, which is the mark of a first-class adventurer. The highest level explored was the 65th floor for Orcus Dungeon. This achievement was done by adventurers over 100 years ago. Getting to the 40th level is considered Elite first-class. Those who passed the 20th level was considered first-class. Since all the students were cheats, they easily broke through to the 20th level, even if they did not have much experience.

  Traps were the scariest feature of a Dungeon. In some instances, the traps were lethal. There was something called Fair Scope for the lower levels. This is a gadget that detected traps by feeling flow of magic. Because most traps in a dungeon use magic, the Fair Scope can detect more than 80% of traps. The detecting range is somewhat narrow, so experience or information was needed to progress smoothly.

  Therefore, they were able to quickly breeze through the floors. This was mainly because of how earnestly the Knights guided them. Meld especially mentioned to them that if they did not know the layout, check for the traps. If they were not sure if traps were around, move with caution.

  "All right, you guys. From this point on, not only will there be other types of demons but they will work together to attack us. Do not get careless just because it had been easy so far! After we clear the 20th level, it will be it for today! Get fired up!"

  Meld's undertone in his message resounds with everyone. Up to this point, Hajime had not done anything in particular. Once, he practiced on a monster that the knights had weakened. He created a pitfall for the monster to fall into, and stabbed it with a sword. Until now, he had only defeated one dog-like monster.

  No one wanted him in their party. Basically, he just stood behind the cover provided by the knights. It was pretty pathetic. However, by repeatedly using his "Synergy" skill in combat he could improve his magical power. His magical power raised by 2 points, it seemed actual combat was useful.

  (Still, I'm totally a parasite player....)

  Again, a weakened monster was thrown to Hajime by the Knight that weakened it. When it approached, Hajime transmuted the ground and breathed out a sigh. With it restrained, Hajime swung his sword to strike down the monster.

  (Well, it seems like my precision with transmutation has gone up. Let's do our best step-by-step.)

  He consumed a magic replenishing pill, as he wiped the sweat of his brow. Hajime had not noticed, but there were some knights that were impressed with him.

  The knight did not expect anything from him in the beginning. In battle however he dared to fight against the demons and do not just stand around. Of course, weakened monsters.

  For the knights, they thought Hajime would fight using his barely used sword. Hajime choose to use his transmutation to seal their movements. He brought down decisive blows on the monsters with a reliably strategy that the Knights had never seen before. "Synergist" was considered as a crafting class. They had never thought of using the transmutation skill like that in combat.

  Since he did not have anything else, Hajime thought about transmuting his weapon. He thought that if he could manipulate minerals, why can't he manipulate the ground? Since he was surrounded by so many strong people, and him just defeating a few, he felt useless. This was his first public exhibition of his tactic. When his impotence was shown in the combat training in the capital, he came up with this tactic.

  They stopped for a short rest. He looked forward and met eyes with Kaori. She looked towards Hajime and smiled at him. Kaori seemed to be keeping an eye on him after last night's declaration to "protect" him. This caused Hajime to be embarrassed and he broke eye contact. Her expression sulked slightly at that. Shizuku who had been observing what was going on with a wry smile on her face, she asked in a small voice.

  "Kaori, why are you two constantly looking at each other? You can't be considering a romantic comedy in the Dungeon, no time for that."

  Kaori blushed at the teasing. She refuted Shizuku angrily.

  "Mou, Shizuku-chan. Don't say strange things. I was just wondering if Nagumo-kun was alright. That's it!"

  Shizuku knew it wasn't like that, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to say anything that might upset her more. Though she couldn't hide the laughter in her eyes. Kaori saw that and just sulked at it.

  Hajime just side glance at their state, suddenly he felt a gaze. The unpleasant gaze was full with negative emotions and seemed to be glued to him. Hajime was not unfamiliar wit
h such stares in the classroom, but this was feeling could not compare, it was so grave.

  It was not the first time today that he felt that gaze. Since the morning he had felt this stare. When he tried to locate the stare, it would disappear. Hajime was tired of it, after having it repeated so many times.

  (I wonder what it is...did I do something? I thought I was doing my best even if I was incompetent. I wonder if that's the cause? I'm not getting arrogant! Target?)

  Hajime breathed out a deep sigh. He started to feel the bad feelings Kaori mentioned.

  The party searches the 20th level. Each level of the Dungeon was several kilometers in each direction. It would take dozens of people several months to map out an unknown level. 47 levels have been mapped properly, so it was not that easy to get lost. There was not a big worry of getting caught in a trap.

  The innermost room of the 20th level had a very complicated geographical feature. The walls were protruding like a stalactite cave and icicles formed around the room. The stairs to the 21st floor was just ahead of this room. If they reached that point, the training would be done for the day. In ancient times they were able to wield transportation type magic, but at the current age such means was impossible. They must head back the old fashion way. The party relaxed slightly, since the walls were protruding they had to advance in a column.

  After a bit, Kouki's party and Meld that was in the front stopped. The classmates who were keen, got into their fighting stance.

  "They're camouflage!. Make sure to pay attention to your surroundings!"

  Meld advised them. The wall suddenly rose and discolored a bit. The body that was camouflaged was now dark brown, and they stood on 2 legs. It raised its chest and started to pound on it like a drum. When they took a good look at it, it was a gorilla-like demon with a camouflage ability.

  "Rockmounts! Be careful of their arms, they are strong!"

  Meld yelled echoed in the cave-like room. Kouki's party went to engage them. Ryutaro was able to reflect the blow that came from a Rockmount. Kouki and Shizuku try to surround the beast. They could not position themselves because the terrain layout was too obstructive.