He took another strip of wolf flesh and seared it with his Lightning Field. Since he was no longer half-mad with hunger, he realized there was no need to eat the meat raw. He tried to ignore the pungent odor of burning flesh as he cooked the meat. Then he steeled himself, taking a bite of the meat.
A few seconds passed... a minute... ten minutes... and still nothing happened. Hajime grilled some more meat and ate it. And still there was no pain. He wasn’t sure if it was due to his Iron Stomach, or if his body had just adapted to monster flesh. He also didn’t care too much. He was just glad he could eat again, without having to suffer every time he did.
After he had eaten his fill, Hajime returned to his base. As he was, he might even have had a chance against that bear. He decided to spend some time training his new skills first, though.
He went back to where he’d left the wolves’ corpses and cut their meat into strips. He had a much easier time peeling their fur off this time. He piled as much meat as he could hold into another one of his stone containers, and carefully took it back to his base.
Once safe in his base with a supply of food, Hajime spent the next few days diligently training his skills.
All of his skills grew at a fast pace. His transmutation skill underwent a change as well. It appeared that he had mastered it to the point where derivative skills began to pop up. The derivative skill he had learned from it was “Ore Appraisal.” It was a high-level derivative skill that was rare even among royal blacksmiths.
Appraisal magic was generally far more complex than offensive magic, and therefore required suitably large magic circles to activate. For that reason, only certain academic facilities and large institutions had appraisal magic circles. However, people with appraisal skills could appraise anything within their domain of analysis with a small magic circle and simple incantation, as long as they were touching their target. It was a derivative skill, so it was by definition impossible to innately possess. Only through long years of transmutation training could one obtain the skill.
When he acquired it, Hajime made sure to appraise every single ore and mineral he could find. When he appraised the green glowstones, the following appeared on his status plate:
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Green glowstone: This ore can absorb mana. When it is saturated with mana, it emits a faint green light. If you break a saturated glowstone, the light it has contained within explodes out all at once in a brilliant flash.
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A very simple explanation. However, it was still very useful information. Hajime grinned wickedly as a plan came to mind. He wandered the labyrinth, looking for other stones to appraise, and ran into a certain mineral that gave him the idea for a weapon that would soon become his trump card.
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Blastrock: A combustible ore. When exposed to fire, it burns like oil. As it burns, it slowly decreases in volume until it finally burns to cinders. Burning large quantities of blastrock in a confined space will make it explode violently. Depending on its quantity and pressure, it’s possible to create flames as strong as those created by fire magic.
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Hajime could feel all the pieces coming together when he read that explanation. Blastrock is just like gunpowder back on earth. With something like this, I can make a weapon out of Transmutation, even!
Hajime stared at the stone excitedly. It would take a great deal of trial and error to get things the way he wanted them, but he was still overjoyed. He finally had a combat use for the transmutation that had saved his life so many times before.
He began zealously working on his project, so focused on his transmuting that he didn’t eat or sleep for days. After thousands of failed attempts, Hajime finally completed it.
A modern weapon that boasted immense strength and fired projectiles that traveled faster than the speed of sound. The weapon was about thirty-five centimeters long, made of the hardest and densest material he could find, taur, and it boasted six chambers. The barrel was rectangular. The bullets were made from the same super-hard taur stone, and each shot was packed with powdered blastrock.
He had made himself a revolver. But the difference was that it used more than just the power of blastrock combustion to propel its bullets. Hajime was able to use his Lightning Field skill to electrically accelerate his shots like a railgun. The combination made his bullets pack more of a punch than an anti-tank rifle. He decided to name it Donner. It was going to be his partner moving forward, so he reasoned it needed a name.
“With this, both those monsters... and the exit... are in my sights!” Hajime stared proudly at Donner, the weapon he had made by using the guns he remembered from his old world as a reference.
The most common class in the world, Synergist, which was thought to be good for nothing more than crafting swords and armor, had brought forth modern weaponry into this fantasy world with the power of its sole skill, Transmute.
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Taur stone: A black, hard rock. On the Mohs scale that went up to 10, it would rank an 8 for hardness. It is able to handle heat and direct impacts well, but is weak to the cold. Cooling the stone makes it brittle and fragile. However, reheating it will restore its hardness.
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“Munch... Munch... Man, even rabbit meat tastes like shit...” A few days after he had finished crafting Donner, Hajime was sitting outside his base eating rabbit meat. By rabbit meat, he of course meant Kickmaster Rabbit meat. The same powerful rabbit that had looked down on Hajime before was nothing more than his prey. Hajime had hoped the rabbit’s meat might taste a bit better, but it was every bit as disgusting as the wolves he had eaten. It was still monster meat, after all.
Despite its disgusting taste, he still ate it with gusto. Thanks to his Iron Stomach skill, he was able to eat as much as he wanted whenever he felt himself getting hungry. Using the magic he had acquired from monsters made him grow hungry quickly, and since he had used that magic to take down the rabbit, he had eaten it all to replenish his energy.
If he overused his magic, his hunger pangs would flare up again, and while he wouldn’t die thanks to the Ambrosia he carried with him everywhere, he still needed to be careful about how much magic he used.
Incidentally, he had killed the Kickmaster Rabbit by luring it into a trap. He had drawn water from the river he had first woken up in, and lured the rabbit close. Once it had dashed forward into the wet surface he had created, he had used Lightning Field to transmit a powerful electric shock. Once the electricity passed, smoke started rising from the rabbit’s body, and as he had expected, its movements had been slowed. Hajime had finished the weakened rabbit off with Donner.
Just as he thought, his railgun powered revolver was able to obliterate the rabbit’s face, the bullet moving three kilometers per second as it punched through its head. Donner was even more powerful than Hajime had imagined.
“Now then, that was my first time eating rabbit meat, so let’s see how my stats changed...”
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Hajime Nagumo Age: 17 Male Level: 12
Job: Synergist
Strength: 200
Vitality: 300
Defense: 200
Agility: 400
Magic: 350
Magic Defense: 350
Skills: Transmute [+Ore Appraisal] [+Precision Transmutation] [+Ore Perception] — Mana Manipulation — Iron Stomach — Lightning Field — Air Dance [+Aerodynamic] [+Supersonic Step] — Language Comprehension
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As he had thought, eating monsters increased his stats. Though he hadn’t gotten much stronger by eating more Twin-tail Wolves, his stats had taken a huge leap when he ate a new type of monster.
Guess I’ll test out what this “Air Dance” does. What first came to Hajime’s mind was the way that rabbit had moved. It had rushed forward so fast that he’d o
nly been able to make it out as a blur. He inferred that that was most likely the Supersonic Step skill at work. Come to think of it, it’s a lot like the fast movement stuff you see in anime.
Hajime kept the image of explosive power gathering in his legs and dashed forward. He felt mana gather within his legs. The ground underneath his feet exploded in a shower of rubble as Hajime leaped forward... and slammed face first into the wall.
“Owww! C-Controlling my acceleration is harder than I thought.” However, his experiment was still a success. He imagined that if he trained it a little, he too would be able to move like the rabbit had. Used in tandem with his revolver, those skills would be a powerful weapon indeed.
Next, he tried to use Aerodynamics. However, he found himself unable to activate it. He had a hard time figuring out just what kind of skill it was from the name alone. After testing a bunch of different things, Hajime suddenly remembered how the rabbit had sometimes looked to be standing in midair. And so, he quickly stuck his foot out and imagined there being an invisible shield supporting it from below. Then he jumped forward.
He found himself face-planting magnificently into the ground.
“Guooooh!?” He cradled his face in his hand as he rolled around in pain. After the aching subsided a little, he sullenly drank a bit of Ambrosia.
“Well... at least it works...” The reason he had faceplanted into the ground despite jumping forward was because he hadn’t properly formed his footing. That was why he had effectively stumbled and fallen in midair. Aerodynamic was apparently a skill that allowed him to create footholds in midair. He had obtained multiple skills at once from the rabbit, though they were all derivative skills of the skill Air Dance.
Pleased that he had obtained multiple skills at once, Hajime began training them at once. He wanted to be strong enough to take down that Claw Bear. He figured he’d be able to defeat it at long-range with Donner easily enough, but he wanted to make completely sure, just in case. And there was always the possibility of even stronger monsters showing up. Optimism in the labyrinth got you killed. Once he was certain he could kill even Claw Bears, it would be time to start searching for an exit.
Hajime redoubled his resolve, training harder than ever before.
A figure sped down the labyrinth corridors so fast that he appeared no more than a blur.
That figure was, of course, Hajime. Having completely mastered Air Dance, he was using Supersonic Step to dash off the walls, while sometimes also using Aerodynamic to create mid-air footholds for himself. He traversed the labyrinth at high speed, seeking out his mortal foe, the Claw Bear.
In all honesty, searching for an exit should have taken priority, but Hajime was consumed by the desire to get revenge on the bear. He wouldn’t be able to move on unless he was able to prove to himself that he was more than a match for the monster that had once crushed his spirit.
“Graaaaah!” He ran into a pack of Twin-tailed Wolves, and one of them leaped at him. Hajime calmly vaulted into the air, did a mid-air somersault, pulled out Donner, which was strapped to his right leg with a holster made of transmuted threads, and fired.
Bang! The sound of combusting blastrock echoed down the corridor and Hajime’s Lightning Field-accelerated bullet pulverized the head of the first Twin-tailed Wolf.
He then used Aerodynamic to do a double jump in the air, before taking aim and firing a volley of shots at the other wolves. They didn’t all hit their mark, but he was still able to annihilate the pack with only a single barrage.
Hajime held Donner in the crook of his left armpit and quickly began reloading. Then, without so much as a backward glance at the fallen wolves, he dashed off once more.
After a while spent killing any Kickmaster Rabbits or Twin-tailed Wolves that he came across, Hajime finally spotted his prey.
The Claw Bear was in the middle of a meal. It was chewing on the remains of what appeared to have been a Kickmaster Rabbit. Hajime grinned triumphantly and began leisurely walking closer.
The Claw Bear was the strongest monster to appear on this floor. In other words, it was the king. While there were hordes of Twin-tailed Wolves and Kickmaster Rabbits, the Claw Bear was the only one of its kind.
Thus, it stood to reason that there was nothing stronger inhabiting the floor. The other monsters all took great pains to stay out of its way, and if they ever encountered it, they ran as fast as they could in the other direction. No creature dared oppose it. The thought of anyone approaching it of their own free will was patently absurd.
However, that very absurdity was currently unfolding before the bear’s eyes.
“Sup, bear. Been a while. Did you like the taste of my arm?”
The Claw Bear narrowed its angry eyes. What is this creature? Why doesn’t it run? Why is it not trembling in fear? Why does despair not fill its eyes? The bear was confused, having never seen something like this before.
“I’m here for my revenge match. But first, I’m going to make you see me as your enemy, and not just prey.”
Hajime pulled Donner out of its holster and pointed it at the Claw Bear. He then slowly asked himself a question as he took aim.
“Am I scared?” The answer was a definitive “No.” He wasn’t shivering in fear, nor was he in the grips of despair. No, the only emotions roiling within him were a fierce will to survive, and a burning desire to kill his enemies.
Hajime’s lips curled upward into a ferocious grin.
“I’m going to kill you and eat you, you bastard.” He pulled Donner’s trigger. With a resounding bang, a hardened bullet of taur sped toward the Claw Bear at three kilometers per second.
“Gaaaooo!?” It instantly dropped to the ground with a roar, narrowly avoiding Hajime’s bullet.
It had started moving even before Hajime had pulled the trigger. It was of course impossible for the bear to see the bullet Hajime had fired, but Hajime’s bloodlust had made it reflexively dodge. It wasn’t this floor’s strongest monster for nothing. It had reacted far faster than its massive, two meter long, frame would have suggested. However, even then it hadn’t been able to completely avoid the attack. The bullet had grazed its shoulder, gouging out a slice of it.
The Claw Bear angrily glared at Hajime, blood staining the white fur around its shoulder. It looked like it finally saw him as an enemy and not just food.
“Graaaooooo!!!” With a furious roar, it charged Hajime. The ground thundered as its tree trunk sized legs pounded down the corridor, making for a truly awe-inspiring spectacle.
“Hahaha! That’s right! I’m your enemy! Not just some prey to be hunted!” Despite how foreboding the Claw Bear looked as it bore down on Hajime, his smile didn’t waver.
This was the moment of truth. It was the moment that would decide if Hajime could overcome the monster that had eaten his left arm, crushed his soul, and been the impetus of his transformation. A necessary ritual he needed to overcome, if he was ever to move forward. Something deep inside made him feel that he would give up for good if he failed at that point. He couldn’t explain how or why, he just knew.
He took aim, firing Donner once more at the charging bear. He had aimed squarely at its forehead, but the Claw Bear somehow managed to roll to the side, even while charging forward. It made no sense for something so big to be so fast.
It barreled its way into range of Hajime and swiped at him with one of its massive claws. The edge of its claws looked slightly warped as they swept down. Is that related to its special magic?
Hajime recalled that the rabbit that had supposedly dodged the bear’s swipe had still been cut in half. So instead of just barely dodging to the side, he leaped back with all his might.
“Hah.” An instant later the bear’s claw swiped past where Hajime had just been standing, followed by a ferocious gale. He gasped in pain, then looked down and saw shallow cuts running down his chest. He hadn’t been able to completely dodge it. His reaction time wasn’t able to keep up with the rapid increase in his physical abilities.
> The Claw Bear roared, angry that its prey still lived, and in the blink of an eye, swiped down a second time at his enemy.
“Damn, you’re fast!” Hajime cursed without realizing it as he saw a second set of wind blades bear down on him. He instantly used Aerodynamic to flee into the air while firing off a third shot. However, the Claw Bear instantly changed directions the moment it saw the red flash from Donner, completely ignoring the laws of inertia. Upon closer inspection, Hajime saw deep ruts in the ground and realized it must have used its claws as a fulcrum to pivot off of. It was certainly far more intelligent and far more agile than a normal beast.
“Gaaaaaaoo!!!” It roared again, then swung its foreclaws in a cross at Hajime, who was still up in the air. Warning bells went off inside Hajime’s head. Without sparing a moment to think, Hajime activated both Aerodynamic and Supersonic Step at the same time, then dashed away from that spot.
He felt a gust of wind brush past his thigh, and a second later the wall behind him had a crosshatched lattice of furrows gouged into it.
“Guh. Damn bastard. You can do that too?” Hajime groaned as he fell to the ground. He hit the ground off-balance, and fell. He righted himself instantly, but staggered as a sharp pain ran through his thigh. It seemed that the Claw Bear could throw its wind claws too.
Hajime’s expression twisted into a pained grimace, but he took no time to dwell on it and fired Donner once more. He didn’t have time to nurse his wounds, as the bear had already started closing in once more. He pulled the trigger again, firing twice in quick succession. Even with its inhuman agility the Claw Bear wasn’t able to dodge both bullets, and took two hits, one to the temple, and the other to its flank. Though it had managed to avoid fatal injuries, it had still been blown off the course of its charge. The distraction proved enough to stop the next barrage of wind claws from going off.
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 1 (Premium) Page 13
