Chapter 97 - Analysis

Without hesitation, Ethan started to laugh as Tiona stared at the Minotaur's face that, after a second, dissipated.

"...To actually pierce his belly..just how much strength did you put in that hit? I am starting to feel bad for the Minotaur"

Saying this, he looked at the situation as Tiona laughed sarcastically

"It wasn't my intention to actually pierce his belly..! I... didn't think about reducing my strength because I was having fun...I guess?"

Her words, brought him to nod in understanding while he saw Tsubaki taking care of another Hellhound as she shouted.

"Someone is able to say something about the monsters??"

Asking this question, the several mages were thinking about this as Ethan thought about this.

'..From what I could feel from the direct contact with them, I guess what is different from before is the way their mana is structured their body. Probably, the fact we are able to kill them so easily is because the shock waves caused by our blows are able to enter their bodies ..'

Thinking about his theory, Ethan dodged another Minotaur's blow while giving it a kick to launch it towards Tiona again. He may not be able to hold a conversation while thinking, but the training with his mana bubbles wasn't useless.

This time, Tiona held back as she didn't want to open the belly of another Minotaur. As she successfully killed it, Ethan looked at Tsubaki as he used his [Instantaneous Movements] to arrive next to her.

Seeing one of the Hellhounds, Ethan appeared right above it as he slammed it to the ground with his [Boost Magic] that boosted his arms, letting him act 'cool'.

"I can probably reply to your question, the fact blows are working better than slicing them with a sword, is because slicing them won't generate a shock wave, while punching them, will land a force on their core, destroying it...look"

Using his free hand, Ethan punched the Hellhound as the latter, after receiving his punch, immediately dissipate. Seeing this as well, she nodded as she waited for him to continue.

"When I punched monsters in the Dungeon, normally, there would be some kind of resistance that prevents the damage that is generated by my hit from not directly reaching the core, now instead, our punches are strangely able to bypass that, as if such a thing never existed. This means, their level is actually inferior to what normally is. I guess a level one with an Pow of D rank would be able to kill a Minotaur with a few blows.."

Understanding what he meant, she smiled as she replied

"You are quite knowledgeable regarding the Dungeon, I'm impressed.."

Her words brought him to shake his head as he replied

"I'm just guessing, and this because I always paid attention to what I felt when I hit a monster... the fact the 'barrier' isn't here anymore made me able to understand that there was indeed one before."

Nodding, she killed another Hellhound as he stood up

"Now, I will return to help kill Minotaurs. The important thing now, is that we actually found something different, right?"

'It seems Ethan's theory is right..now I understand a little why Finn let him do as he pleased..'

With this, time passed quickly as, after another 30 whole minutes of killing Minotaurs and Hellhounds, they finally had time to rest.

Breathing heavily, Ethan was actually one of the few ones who worked really hard. Using his [Instantaneous Movements], he could cross the battlefield easily as he, after 'teleporting' could kill more Minotaurs than anyone else.

'It's a good skill...but...'

Having used it for so long, he felt his body was dripping wet with sweat. Even though he was tempted to use his [Boost Magic] to boost his recovery rate, he remembered what Light said to him while he was using [Instantaneous Movements] to cross the battlefield.

---

[..Sorry to interrupt you while you are fighting, but I have something important to say. I know you thought that you can just use your [Boost Magic] to help you recover, but to me, you shouldn't do that, and I'll quickly explain why while you fight]

Hearing her, Ethan finished another Minotaur as he kept his attention on her. The fact was, even though he was forced to slow down a bit, it didn't really matter as the Minotaur's weren't able to keep up with him as well as when he was talking with Light...

'What do you mean? Is it bad?'

[Even if once in a while it's okay, abusing it could lead to your cells losing quality. As you recover energy created through magic, it deteriorates the quality of the content, opting for a greater quantity. This because, originally, it should be a taboo to generate Mana with other Mana...]

Understanding, Ethan knew that what he did when he was fighting in the event was exactly that, but, before he was able to think about it, Light added

[Don't worry about that, it was just the first time you actually used that technique, so it didn't bring any considerable side effect..]

Sighing, he decided to treasure her words as he had to improve his recovery rate as counting on [Boost Magic] for everything was quickly becoming another one of his flaws..

Thinking about ways to improve his ability, Ethan continued to kill Minotaurs while Tiona was doing the same with a smirk on her face...

---

Seeing everyone else resting as well, brought Ethan to smile while Tsubaki shouted

"We can't rest here and you know that as well!"

Sighing, he knew she was right. Getting up, he smiled at Ais as he added

"I am trying to recover my mana, so I won't be as active as I was now until I recovered fully"

Understanding, she nodded as she sheathed back her [Desperate].

Giving back the various weapons she had in custody, Lefiya had a sad expression on her face while she didn't say anything as Ethan was about to say something before Aki spoke.

"Raul actually wants to talk with you! You know?"

Her words brought him to turn his head at her while he replied

"Why isn't he here then?"

Smiling at his words, she turned her head towards Raul as the latter looked away.

"He doesn't know how to approach you, and I decided to help him a little"

With a smile of his own, he replied

"You really like to tease him, I see"

"It's not like that! I don't want to see him bothered like that. I'm sure this won't be the end of our day, so he has to stay focused on what is in front of him, even if the monsters are weak."

Saying this, he wondered what happened to her as her tick, which was inevitably heard as she spoke, now seemed absent..but, he decided not to mind as he replied

"Then, I guess I will go to talk to him.."

Glancing at Lefiya with the corner of his eyes, he saw as Ais was talking with her. Sighing in relief, he used his [Instantaneous Movements] again while Aki didn't say anything more.

"You sure like that man!"

Hearing these words, Aki looked at the owner of the voice as she shook her head

"I don't like Raul. Why are you saying that all of a sudden?"

Looking in front of her, Tiona answered her question

"I don't know why, but people tend to not be honest with themselves, even when the situation is clear. I can't understand this, why you shouldn't admit you like someone or you shouldn't say that someone is cool? Even if it's embarrassing sometimes, who cares?"

"Because they are scared of what will happen if they are too honest to themselves"

With a 'mmh' Tiona nodded as she understood it was one of the possibilities....

---

Now next to Raul, Ethan sighed as he was about to say something, but Raul was faster.

"It's Aki's fault. Even though what I guess she said is true, it doesn't mean she had to tell you everything like this.."

Shaking his head, he felt the situation was becoming slightly awkward, but, without minding it, he followed him as he replied

"Aki did so because she cares about you, I don't know what kind of relationship is going on between you two, but to me, she seems quite interested in your well-being"

His words brought Raul to sigh as he replied

"There's nothing like what you are thinking, we just joined the same familia around 7 years ago.."

Knowing it was the truth, Ethan nodded as he replied

"I could guess you were friends from a lot of time, there was that kind of feeling when I saw both of you together. Perhaps you like her?"

Flinching, he looked away as he gulped

"I don't think about her in that way.."

Seeing how easy it was to understand he was lying, Ethan patted him on the shoulder as he had seen, for the first time since he entered this world, an anime-like reaction.

"You shouldn't lie to yourself so obviously..."

Making him release his shoulder, he decided to change the subject as he was quite embarrassed.

"And you? I don't understand. I understood you have some kind of special bond with Lefiya-san, you are friends with Tiona-san, Ryuu is an acquaintance, but..which one do you like?"

Being asked this question, he felt a little disturbed that he didn't mention the fact he was in a relationship with Ais, but, he chose to ignore it as he replied honestly.

"I am closer to Lefiya, but Tiona's carefree attitude is something I like as well. About Ryuu...I don't know, I feel that she is my type. I would reply that I like them all, while I love Ais..."

Thinking about the latter, he knew he was really overlooking her, so he decided that, after they finished in exploring the 17th floor, he would focus on his own lover.

His reply, brought a surprised expression to Raul's face as he replied

"You really..how can you like them all at the same time? I can't stop focusing--"

Closing his mouth, he looked at him as he had an amused smile

"You can't stop focusing on whom?"

Looking away, he was about to try to tease him more before he heard Tsubaki's shout

"Monsters!"

Sighing, he decided to return on this matter another time before he chose to return to his party...

Seeing him returning, everyone was in a battle-ready position as he was next to Lefiya. Turning his head towards her, he smiled as he added

"You know, you aren't useless, Lefiya. Stop thinking about it so hard now, you have to protect me."

Hearing his words, she tighten the grip on her staff as she had a determined expression on her face. Seeing that she managed to recover for herself this time, brought Ethan to sigh in relief as he didn't have to comfort her again.

'And, even though I am the one who has to stop thinking too much, I give advices to others regarding stopping doing so...'

Shaking his head, he saw as Minotaurs and Hellhound started to appear again but, this time, they were spawning at a lower rate...

---

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(Alternate Titles: "Finally, ice between Raul and Ethan is slowly melting..thanks, Aki-sama", "Lefiya..I wonder what happened that she was fine even without Ethan's help?", "Aki-nya? <--- It will be explained, why she hadn't her tick")