Becoming a Mesugaki (8)
“So, you've decided to enter the dungeon, and you want some live combat practice beforehand.”
That's right.
“I see.”
The knight, having heard my explanation, nodded as if satisfied.
“Understood. I'll help you as much as I can.”
Thank you.
“Consider it an honor, you pathetic knight.”
Answering with confidence, the knight grabbed a wooden sword and headed toward the sparring grounds at the back of the training yard.
“First, try attacking me. I need to gauge your skill.”
With this mace?
“You want me to be hit by that weapon?”
Yes.
Are you serious right now?
“Pathetic knight. Are you insane?”
Thanks to the skill's translation, my words came out rather vicious—but it wasn't wrong, either.
The knight was still wearing the same cloth clothes he'd had on during training just moments ago.
For all practical purposes, he might as well have been bare-bodied.
If I swung my mace into an unarmored knight, it would be a catastrophe. Just like the wooden dummies I'd been crushing all week, his head would surely split open.
Despite my visible alarm, the knight only smiled.
“There's no need to worry. No matter how hard you hit me, young lady, I won't be hurt. Go on—give it a swing.”
Puffing out his shoulders with confidence, he told me to hit him.
A knight who had been through countless real battles couldn't possibly be ignorant of how dangerous a mace was.
Was he saying this because he genuinely believed he wouldn't be hurt?
Thinking in terms of the game, it did make sense that he'd be fine.
A count's family knight would be around a level 50 NPC in Soul Academy, and I was currently a pathetic level 0.
No matter how desperately I swung, dealing no damage would be the expected result.
That was the logic—but with an actual person standing in front of me, I hesitated.
So this is what it's like. Hitting a wooden dummy and hitting a person are completely different things.
Swinging a weapon at another human being was far more of a burden than I had imagined.
“If you can't manage even this much, we have a problem. Once you're in the dungeon, you'll have to kill real, living monsters.”
His words steeled my resolve.
Right. I can't afford to be scared of something like this.
Considering Soul Academy's scenarios, I'd be facing not just monsters but hostile people too—I couldn't afford to falter over this.
Besides, if there were a real chance of something going wrong, he wouldn't have suggested it in the first place.
No matter how strong the knight was, he was still human. Nobody liked being in pain.
I raised the mace.
The motion I'd drilled into myself to the point of exhaustion over the past few days.
A technique of bringing the mace down from above.
Head Crusher.
Watching my mace bear down on the knight, I was certain I had executed the technique perfectly.
But that certainty crumbled the moment the mace met the knight's skin.
It felt like striking a massive boulder.
It was as if I'd been swinging my mace against a rock that no amount of desperate pounding could wound.
Indeed, the knight didn't seem to feel the slightest impact—he was still smiling. The only one in pain was my hand.
“See? Nothing to it.”
Are you even human?
“Pathetic knight. Are you sure you were made correctly?”
“That's harsh. I'm a perfectly pure human being.”
This thing is... human? Seriously?
Are all the knights in Soul Academy like this?
Then just how strong is Benedict, the one commanding all of them?!
...Fine. Next time he gets on my nerves, maybe I'll put up with it a little longer.
“I was worried since you'd only been practicing alone, but your skills are quite good. You swing a mace better than most soldiers.”
Really?
“Heh. Of course.”
So using the proficiency system really does make a difference compared to ordinary training, huh. If the knight is going this far with his praise.
“That said, perhaps because you still lack experience, your attacks carry a lot of hesitation.”
Can't be helped.
I was just an ordinary person from the modern world. It's not like I had experience assaulting people with blunt instruments.
Of course there'd be hesitation.
“Keep attacking. Until it becomes second nature. But this time, I'll be attacking as well—so stay sharp.”
Got it.
“Do your worst.”
I pressed my attacks as the knight led me.
My mace, swung with all my strength, connected at times and missed at others, but it never posed the slightest threat to him.
He's just dancing out of the way! Ugh, seriously, how do I land even a single proper hit?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the knight abruptly swung his wooden sword.
The instant I saw the attack, my mind went white.
What do I do?
Raise the shield.
Move the shield. Block that.
The very instant I made that resolution, the method for deflecting the attack surfaced in my mind.
Not simply catching the blow on my shield, but wedging myself into the path of the blade mid-swing—interrupting my opponent's attack while simultaneously blunting its force.
“Oho.”
The movement was so masterful that even the knight, mid-attack, let out an involuntary gasp of admiration.
Even to myself, it didn't seem like something that had simply happened because my shield proficiency had gone up.
Even with the proficiency I'd built while running, it shouldn't be that high yet.
There was no way I could pull off a move this impressive.
Most likely, this was the influence of a skill.
Perhaps [Iron Wall], my shield-type skill, was granting some beneficial effect.
I had no idea why a skill that used to just reduce damage taken by fifteen percent had changed like this, but there was no other explanation I could think of.
“Far better than I expected.”
Right?
“Ha. Pathetic knight. What did you take me for? Seems your eye for talent is lacking.”
“You seem to have plenty of room to spare, so I'll come at you harder.”
Wait, what? Hey, hold on?!
That wasn't me taunting you just now!
The Mesugaki skill translated that on its own, I swear!
Not my fault! So calm down!...
Ugh!
I caught his second swing with my shield yet again.
There was no time to think. If I didn't move on pure instinct, I couldn't keep up with the speed of the blade.
Enough!
Come on!
I said enough already!
This isn't sparring anymore, this is bullying!
Be honest with me!
You've been annoyed by all my mesugaki antics, haven't you!
You're taking it out on me right now, aren't you!
Complaints welled up inside me, but none of them made it out of my mouth.
Blocking the knight's whistling wooden sword took everything I had—I couldn't find a single gap to squeeze out a word.
Just as the knight's strikes were growing fiercer and fiercer, I missed what my instincts were screaming at me.
My shield lost its destination and froze, and with nothing in its way, the blade flew honestly along its path, straight at me.
It hit me. At that thought, my eyes squeezed shut on their own—but the impact never came.
When I cautiously opened my eyes, the wooden sword had halted mere inches before my face.
“You have a talent for shieldwork. To manage this much the first time you've ever handled a shield—if you hone it, I can't even fathom how far you might go.”
The knight was clearly praising me with his words, but his eyes said something else entirely.
The eyes fixed on me were reproaching me, unmistakably.
“However, giving up on your defense and closing your eyes at the end was deeply disappointing. That was the worst possible thing you could have done, young lady. If this had been a real battle, you would be dead without question.”
I'm sorry.
“Hmph. Do better, then.”
It was undeniably my fault, so I tried to apologize meekly—but the Mesugaki skill had other plans.
Even at a moment like this, I can't just say 'I'm sorry, forgive me'?!
At my display of misplaced fury, a faint crease formed between the knight's brows.
“Let's try that again. Come at me.”
The training the knight put me through maintained a constant intensity.
Constantly brutal, that is.
There was no room to swing my mace at all.
With the sword poised to slip past my shield at any moment if I let my focus waver, I had to gather every nerve in my body onto that shield.
Thanks to that, my shield proficiency was climbing rapidly—but it was hard to feel it in my body.
Every time my shieldwork improved even a little, the knight swung his sword even harder.
Desperately fending off the ever more vicious wooden sword, I was utterly worn out by the time thirty minutes had passed.
It wasn't the limit of my stamina. Compared to the relentless running I did every day, this much exhaustion was nothing.
What drained me was the knight's attacks.
Blow after blow too fast for the eye to follow, without a moment's rest—and if I missed even one, that sword would be at my throat.
Even knowing he wouldn't actually strike me, the threat carried in that blade was gnawing at my nerves in real time.
Because even a rank novice like me could clearly see the killing intent packed into it.
I had a rough idea why the knight kept repeating this training.
He wanted me to grow accustomed to attacks, most likely.
To help me learn to face whatever came at me without flinching, without ever closing my eyes.
Some part of me understood that—but I couldn't help being furious anyway.
It felt like losing a slap bet with a friend, then having them toy with the question of whether to hit me or not, over and over, for thirty straight minutes.
Of course I was boiling over.
“Giving up already?”
I won't deny it was good training.
It's true my shieldwork has improved a lot because of it.
I've gotten much more used to watching your attacks, too.
But still. When all I've done is eat attack after attack, a girl starts wanting to land just one hit on you.
Looks like you're the one who's tired, Sir Knight, if you're the one talking about giving up.
“Pathetic knight. Getting tired? You can quit if you're tired, you know. If your stamina can't keep up with a girl's, that is~”
When I laughed his own words right back in his face, the knight's expression froze.
Since I'd set out to provoke him from the start, it worked beautifully.
To think the man who never batted an eye at anything I said was finally letting his face harden over this.
“I am not tired in the slightest.”
Really? Then let's continue.
“Then let's. I haven't given up either, you pathetic knight.”
“Suit yourself. I'll see this through to the end.”
The moment the knight declared that in a stiff, clipped voice, I felt power surging into my body.
You're actually angry, aren't you? You are, aren't you? You're pissed.
Otherwise, there's no way the Mesugaki skill would have activated.
The sole buff of a skill that offers nothing but penalties: the angrier your target gets, the more your stats rise.
I don't know exactly how much they rise. Whether it's a flat number or a percentage, I have no idea.
I hardly know anything about this so-called Mesugaki skill, after all.
But one thing is certain.
If I keep making this pathetic knight angry, my stats will keep climbing—and the odds of me landing a hit on him will only grow.
Even with my physical specs boosted, the gap between us remains overwhelming.
The difference in raw ability. The difference in combat experience.
Which means I need to provoke him harder.
I have to drive this pathetic knight until he loses his reason entirely.
I have to let the Mesugaki skill operate at maximum efficiency.
Who would have thought I'd end up meaning every word when I said things like this?
Truly, no one can know what tomorrow holds.
Pathetic knight~ Don't tell me you're actually upset over something your own young lady said?
“I am not.”
Pathetic♡ A knight who talks back to his lady? That's a disqualification from knighthood right there♡
With every word that spilled out, I could feel strength flooding deeper into my body.
The Mesugaki skill. Its taunt effect is no joke, huh?