Throwing Knives and a Cat in the Wrong Place
The knife flew. Clack-clack-clack! A hollow sound pierced the quiet silence and echoed outward. There wasn’t even a safety lever, yet the trigger refused to pull on the Injector. And thanks to that damn revolver, my head was starting to burn.
‘What’s the problem this time?’
The sudden surge of heat made my index finger tighten. As if begging for mercy, a translucent window popped up in my vision in a hurry.
[No valid injection target exists.]
‘What?’
Is this thing broken? Injection target? What the hell is it even saying? Do you think you’re a real syringe or something?
‘This concept is seriously twisted.’
From the looks of it, this insane swing-out revolver called the Injector could only be used on intelligent lifeforms capable of feeling fear, just like its nickname suggested. Against a pitch-black charred log, it was no different from a toy gun.
‘Guess I can’t use this right now.’
I let out a powerless sigh and stored the Injector inside my coat. Nothing ever goes smoothly.
“Is something wrong, junior Raven?”
“No.”
Thanks for worrying, but I’m fine. Even without a gun, I can still do ranged attacks. It’s a bit primitive for a Tactical Demon, but what can I do? The one gun I have doesn’t want to shoot inanimate objects.
I waved Regina Gura off with a gesture that said I was okay and quietly chanted the activation word.
“Mutation.”
Shrrrrrk….
Black ripples spread across my entire body like raindrops on water, then quickly settled. ‘I’m getting used to this the more I use it.’ Just yesterday, the slightest lapse in concentration would turn me into a puddle like a slime. After using it a few times, I was starting to get the hang of it.
‘A spear or hand axe feels too much. Maybe throwing knives would be better?’
Slither. The shadow that had been shapelessly shifting into spears, hand axes, bows, and crossbows solidified into the form of a throwing knife and settled into my grip. The tip was sharp, the edge properly honed. ‘But… it’s a little small.’
Smaller throwing knives tended to bounce away too far if they missed the target, so being too small wasn’t good. I’d spent my idle time in Terraforming practicing knife throws on lunatics’ heads, so there was no way I’d mess up. Still, just in case, I decided to adjust the length a bit.
As I lengthened the blade by about ten centimeters, a small murmur rose from behind me.
“After the wand, now it’s a dagger…”
“That didn’t feel like pulling out a stored weapon. It felt more like he created it. Is it a type of creation magic?”
“There’s a spell that infuses mana into shadows to materialize them. It seems similar in nature.”
“Shadows, huh. Well, since he’s a demon born from fear, it makes sense he’d use darkness-related magic or authority.”
“Maybe the undead that adventurers saw in the Dungeon Road were created the same way?”
“…Thinking that those weren’t illusions but actual materialized magic is kind of creepy.”
“Still, no matter how you look at it, this ability is incredibly practical.”
“Offense, defense, deception, baiting, trap disarming. Just thinking about it for a second gives this many uses. If he really digs into it, there’d be no end.”
The record keepers were engaged in a heated discussion while observing the throwing knife I’d created. ‘…Aren’t they taking this a bit too seriously?’ I’d thought they’d just casually take notes from the back, but they were doing a full analysis. Their passion made me feel like I should try harder too. And, well… I wouldn’t mind hearing a few more compliments.
“Ahem.”
I shook off the stray thoughts and got into position. Though… how long was I supposed to keep doing this?
‘They’ll probably stop me when they’ve seen enough.’
With that thought, I put a decent amount of strength into the throw.
Whoosh!
…It’s been a while. This is actually fun.
Thud!
The adventurers let out gasps of admiration as they stared at the dagger that had sunk straight into the center of the log, buried all the way to the hilt.
“How is the dagger flying in a perfect straight line…”
“It’s not just stuck in the wood. It’s practically drilled into it. With that kind of power, most monsters wouldn’t even leave bones behind.”
“Just how strong is that demon?”
Perfect dagger throwing that combined both power and accuracy.
“…Not bad, huh?”
“I thought demons were bad with weapons?”
“I’d love to learn a thing or two.”
Even for skilled users, accurately planting a dagger at twenty meters was difficult. The adventurers who knew this had sparkling eyes. It was an impressive sight worthy of being called a skill, but at the same time, it felt a little disappointing.
“Is he hiding the large-scale flame magic he used in the dungeon yesterday?”
“Maybe he’s holding back because it’s too powerful.”
“From what the fugitives said, it was strong enough to turn a White Zone into a Black Zone. Using something like that in a cramped space like this would be difficult.”
“He’s called a crazy demon, but does he still have some common sense?”
Summoning an army of the undead in the Dungeon Road, dropping lightning on the Rainbow Cup, wiping out dozens of monsters with a single spell. In less than a week since arriving in Bastion, the insane demon known as Raven had been spreading all sorts of bizarre rumors.
The adventurers had hoped to catch a glimpse of his true power, but it seemed he wanted to hide his abilities. While it was disappointing from their perspective, they could also understand why. Revealing one’s full strength was a double-edged sword. In a crowded place like this, holding back was the right decision.
But then—
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
“…Just how long is that demon planning to throw?”
Raven showed no signs of stopping as he continued hammering daggers into the target log as if it had personally wronged him.
“…Isn’t he getting faster and faster?”
And as time passed, his speed only increased.
“…This is incredible.”
“Is that even possible?”
No matter how fast someone could throw throwing knives, firing them in rapid succession was difficult. The reason was simple: there was a limit to how many you could carry. But that limitation didn’t apply to Raven, who was mass-producing daggers from his palm every 0.5 seconds.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Changing his throwing style freely—from overhead to underhand, from the side to diagonal—Raven’s movements resembled a conductor. Everyone watched in awe, but as time went on, that awe gradually turned into shock.
“What the…”
“He’s throwing with both hands!?”
“Th-that crazy bastard.”
“We said he was good, but he doesn’t know when to stop.”
Now using both hands like whips, Raven was literally shooting daggers. His hands should have gotten tangled at least once, yet the longer it went on, the faster and more accurate he became.
A rain of blades flying past the 20-meter target, then 50 meters, and finally toward the 100-meter mark. The rear-line adventurers who used bows and crossbows stared with dazed eyes at the absurd range and DPS.
“I didn’t realize it until now. Our party never had a proper backline, did we? How the hell have we survived this long?”
“Shut up, you bastard. You wanna die for real?”
That day, the Adventurer’s Guild received dozens of assault reports. Notably, every single perpetrator was equipped with a bow or crossbow.
After finishing the ranged combat capability evaluation, I was following Regina Gura to the next testing ground.
‘That was fun.’
It had been a long time since I’d done knife throwing, and it was genuinely enjoyable. Back in Terraforming, the inventory limit meant I could only throw about ten times before having to go pick them up again. Being able to throw without any interruption was so satisfying that I’d accidentally gone a little overboard. Because of that, I’d destroyed three logs and gotten a mild scolding from senior Regina Gura, but I had no regrets.
“This is where the second test will take place!”
The place we arrived at by following Regina Gura’s ponytail was a wide clearing. The soft dirt and grass looked like they’d cushion any falls. The odd part was the wooden barricades made of planks and stacks of sandbags placed here and there.
‘It looks exactly like an airsoft survival field.’
I remembered it because I’d gone once with that damn friend of mine back in the day. Before I could even shoulder my gun, the veteran players had beaten me from behind and I retired instantly. I really hadn’t known toy guns could hurt that much. If it were now, I was confident I could wipe the floor with those veterans. It was just a shame I never got the chance.
As I sat on the grass watching a ladybug and reminiscing about the bitter past, Regina Gura’s energetic voice shattered my thoughts.
“This test requires the adventurer’s assistance!”
“My help?”
Needing the contractor’s help to evaluate a familiar’s capabilities. I already had a bad feeling about where this was going.
“This test is a defensive combat evaluation! All Raven junior has to do is protect the adventurer from the evil thieves trying to harm you!”
“Thieves?”
Rustle.
The moment Regina Gura finished speaking, I sensed movement all around us. From behind the wooden barricades and sandbags, five suspicious figures wearing brown robes slowly emerged and instantly surrounded the contractor.
It seemed the second test of the familiar’s combat capability evaluation had already begun.
But… why the hell was that crazy cat Sion standing among them?