Side Story 4: The Isolated Island 10

「Thank you very much. You really saved me.」

「Nn.」

『Mm-hmm.』

Ouri-kun was a young man who knew how to properly express his gratitude. He turned to us and performed a deep bow.

「You had a sword last time. Why are you using your hands?」

「This is for training. I wanted to practice various weapons and techniques instead of always relying on my sword…」

It seemed getting thoroughly beaten by Fran and Genba had given him a lot to think about. And so, he came to the dungeon to train, but…

How do I put this? Isn’t he kinda losing his way? Learning a variety of techniques is a good thing, of course. Even Fran uses her fists on occasion. Such skills can come in handy during a fight.

However, we’ve encountered many powerful people in this world. Most of them got there by developing their strengths into a unique fighting style.

This came in various forms, such as mastering your preferred weapon, utilizing the potential of specialized skills, or devoting yourself to a certain school of magic.

There may be some exceptions like divine sword wielders, but ultimately, the best way to get stronger was to develop a single skill to its absolute limits. At least, that’s what I think.

During our conversation, another Crystal Golem showed up. This one prioritized speed by fighting barehanded. I guess that’s a good opponent for leveling up hand-to-hand skills.

「Would it be okay if I fight this one?」

「Nn.」

「Thank you.」

And so Ouri-kun challenged the golem once again, but…

「Seyaaah!」

「Goh!」

「Damn it! Then how about this?! Deyah!」

「Gogorh!」

「Gwah!」

To put it bluntly, it’s painfully obvious that he’s getting impatient. At this rate, it wouldn’t even matter how much he honed his techniques. He kept going on the offensive too early instead of waiting for an opening, so there’s no way it would work.

In the end, he found himself in the same situation as before, and I had to save him with Telekinesis again.

I know this is a hardcore dungeon where everyone who enters is responsible for their own life, but no one wants to see people getting hurt in front of you. Especially since Ouri could probably turn the tables easily if he used his weapon.

「I am so sorry for troubling you twice…」

『Ah, well… I think you need to train your mind before your skills. Rushing to learn new techniques will just get you killed at this rate.』

「…But I must become stronger as quickly as possible…」

「Why?」

Ouri went on to explain his circumstances. It was a rather long story, and Fran kinda fell asleep on her feet halfway through. When did she even learn how to do that? I guess this was another sign of her growth…

To summarize, Ouri suddenly became the successor of the Ouka Style because his father, who was the head of the Ouka main family, died of illness. Ouri’s abilities were still far from sufficient, as he had yet to receive the Ouka Style mark of mastery.

There were other masters of the Ouka Style aside from his father, so he intended to receive the mark from one of them, but…

「First, I must become strong enough to be worthy of the mark. In order to succeed my father, I need to reach that level as soon as possible.」

『I understand your motivation, but doesn’t that mean you should be training in the Ouka Style? Why are you trying to fight barehanded?』

「That is because… Recently, no matter how much I train in the Ouka Style, I no longer feel that I am making any progress…」

And so, he became impatient after hitting a wall in his training. If I remember correctly, Ouri was only twenty-three. He’s plenty strong for that age.

Reaching mastery in a school of martial arts generally took decades of training. It was unreasonable to expect Ouri to reach that level at his age.

I was going to say that to him, but I decided against it. After all, I’m just Fran’s divine sword to him. Anything I said wouldn’t be very convincing.

From his perspective, Fran was a bona fide genius. I doubt Ouri would accept my argument when the counterexample is right in front of him. He did seem like the stubborn type too.

「Hey. I want to see the Ouka Style.」

「H-Huh?」

「I’m interested in the Ouka Style. Let me watch you fight a golem.」

Whoa! Fran, who’d apparently woken up at some point, suddenly made a straightforward request! She wasn’t listening to the conversation at all, right? That means she must have blurted out the response she was thinking of right before she fell asleep.

「I-I understand.」

「Nn.」

Ouri-kun returned a slightly confused nod. Since Fran had already established her strength during the sparring matches, he obeyed without much hesitation. Martial artists really were easy to get along with in that regard.

It seemed he brought his weapon despite coming here to train barehanded. Ouri-kun pulled a beautiful katana out of the item pouch at his waist.

「This is Kakashi, the katana passed down my family.」

「Kakashi? I can sense mana from it.」

「It is another of the magic blades forged by the Founder, but it has no special abilities. All it can do is repair itself when sheathed.」

「Hoh! That’s powerful. Good sword.」

「Is that so?」

Perhaps he’d expected Fran to mock him for calling a sword with nothing but a self-repair function a magic sword. Ouri-kun seemed a little confused by her praise.

「Master can repair himself too. Being able to use your weapon continuously is an advantage for long battles. In the end, that’s the most useful.」

『Yeah. You might not notice the difference in a short match between martial artists, but self-repair is essential if you’re up against a horde of magical beasts.』

「I see…」

It’s true that self-repair might not be very useful on this island. No wait, you’d probably want it if you fight multiple golems in a row. Perhaps Ouka forged this sword with that in mind.

「Hmm? There’s another golem. Well then, here I go.」

「Nn.」

『Good luck!』

Ouri-kun dashed toward the next Crystal Golem to appear. Now then, what sort of technique will he show us?

「Gogoh!」

「Phew…」

Ouri-kun faced the Crystal Golem and let out a light breath. I sensed the mana welling up from within his body and spreading over both his body and his sword.

Then he took a step forward.

「Ouka Style! Wind Blossom!」

A powerful overhead swing imbued with wind magic. The Crystal Golem attempted to block with the sword in its hand, but…

「Goh?」

It had been cleaved clean in half, sword and all. To think he could cut through a tough golem and its weapon in a single strike. Impressive.

Ouri-kun was one of the higher-ranked fighters. His abilities were genuine, especially in terms of power, so a Crystal Golem was no match for him with his preferred weapon.

I would go as far as to say he surpassed many of the higher ranked fighters in terms of attack power. He must be stuck at Rank 46 because his defensive abilities were lacking.

His mental immaturity might also have something to do with it. As shown in his match with Genba, he often made careless movements because he was too eager to strike, leaving himself open to counterattack.

And people without mental fortitude tended to be weak when put on the defensive. We just saw that in his fight against the Crystal Golem.

Take the Rank 6 fighter Kokuto for example. His attacks themselves weren’t particularly powerful, yet he managed to reach Rank 6. The synergy between his poison and his magic sword was not the only reason for this.

Kokuto possessed excellent perception and evasion, and was highly skilled at sustaining himself in prolonged battles. He also had the mindset to remain calm regardless of his exhaustion. That was why he rose to Rank 6.

Fran was another good example of the importance of mental fortitude. She never gave up no matter how badly outmatched she was. There were several times where her tenacity opened our path to victory.

「H-How was that?」

Ouri turned to Fran with a timid look. I’m not saying you need to be as thick-skinned as Fran, but come on, you can do better than that.

View the latest chapters at seeker142.github.io