CH 15

A chance encounter

(Bersleid: I put square brackets for skills and brackets for thoughts, or at least I tried. Also, gonna do a continous release today, meaning I will release them as I finish editing.)

[Acquired: The scythe skill has become available]

“…Oh?”

Three days after that.

I’m still doing lumberjack work today. However, there is only a little bit left to get the required amount of lumber.

In the middle of my work, the news of acquiring a new skill suddenly appeared, so I stopped cutting trees and checked out the skill.

■ Acquisition conditions

· Logging 30

・Collection　30

· Two-handed axe 60

“…I see, there are weapon skills that can’t be obtained unless you upgrade your production skills, to some extent.”

Or vice versa, there might a crafting skill, that doesn’t appear, unless it’s used as a combat skill…

In the early game it is hard to find focused on a purely combat build or production build.

“…Alright, I’ll need a few more materials, so let’s go and test out this scythe, once we’re done!”

(Since it’s decided, let’s hurry.)

After thinking about it, Crim once again raised her axe, in order to complete the remaining quota.

–In the early afternoon after reaching the quota.

(Well, I finished delivering the necessary materials and returned to the forest.)

By the way, about the axe Crim used for logging.

It was, at first a simple axe that could be bought at a store, but after that it was replaced with its shadow counterpart.

Thanks to that, her proficiency level increased considerably, and recently, she learned a magic when she reached proficiency level 60.

“…[Shadow Heavy Weapon, scythe]!”

A shadow hangs over the hands raised in front of me.

As if peeling away from the shadow, before I knew it, a pitch-black scythe, with a blade half as tall as me, appeared in my hand.

But…

“…Hmm, it’s kind of rugged and tasteless.”

“That’s right”, Crim muttered in dissatisfaction. The shape of the scythe in his hand was… just like a scythe, that is used as a farming tool.

……Weapons made with this shadow magic are convenient, but the drawback is that they are the basic weapons of that category.

“… Alright, [Transformation]!”

Combat-type support skill [transformation].

A skill obtained by destroying 500 enemies and objects, with weapons created via magic.

With this, it will become sharper and more heroic looking… and its size will be increased to the extent, that it doesn’t hinder movement, even with my current strength…

Before long, a gigantic scythe, with a spear-like tip, a halberd-like shape, and a blade as tall as Crim, with ominous saw-like claws, was completed.

“… OK, I wonder how I look.”

I nodded in satisfaction at the shape, that would touch the heart of a middle school boy.

The problem is whether or not I can swing it properly… but after swinging it around several times, I’m satisfied with its weight and balance.

“Until now, I had no choice but to aim for a critical hit because, I wasn’t powerful enough…!!”

In a flash…

She turned around and swung her scythe, cutting the large leopard-like cat-like carnivorous beast that was creeping up behind her, in two along with the surrounding branches and leaves.

“…When you do it, it feels good…”

I was trembling with the excitement of wielding a weapon with high offensive power, hugging the hilt of a scythe with an ecstatic expression, that no one else was around to see…

Crim’s keen ears can perceive the noise the slightest unnatural fluctuation of foreign objects in the forest.

(It is… a human voice. It sounded quite urgent…)

“… I heard a scream.”

Once again, I closed my eyes and listened intently, separating myself from the environmental sounds and SE information.

Then, this time, she clearly caught the faint scream, that echoed in the distance, pinpointing its direction.

“I wonder if I have a connection with this kind of trouble.”

Even as she grumbled, she ran through the forest with the new gift on her shoulders. (Bersleid: The repeat of the interlude is coming… from a different perspective.)

The source of the screams is getting closer… Crim now puts on her fighting equipment, the cloak of the young red lion emperor, and in addition her new equipment, a pair of black boots. She continued to jump on the branches. (Bersleid: Ninja mode on.)

The long-shafted boots, with slightly high heels, were made of black leather and had red braid. They hey had a slight gothic Lolita feel to them. They were called [Strider Boots].

This… was dropped by the enemy called [The Strongest Demon Beast], that I managed to defeat while helping George.

It seems that I was lucky enough to have it drop at that time, and when I woke up, I realized that it was in my inventory.

Its performance greatly surpassed that of store-bought equipment, but its most prominent feature was “Movement Speed +6%” buff it had on it.

It’s an ability that comes in handy in a game like this… now, even though she’s running on the branches of trees, her steps are surprisingly light.

While searching for enemies from a high vantage point, I found monsters prowling around, aiming for one point, with well-coordinated movements, probably their target.

“…There are four signs… no wait, five?”

Most likely, they are [Dark Hounds], a formidable wolf-type enemy that lives in the depths of the Schwarzwald.

It has a very sticky nature towards its prey, and it’s likely, that it came here after chasing someone who had escaped.

But… Right now, it still hasn’t noticed Crim above its head.

(If you take your time, you’ll be hit with waves of attacks, not being able to get in a single hit.)

(However, now that my weapons attack power has risen dramatically, I can do it before the other side even has a chance…!)

As soon as she made that decision, Crim jumped down from the tree and cut the neck of the dark hound directly below her without even giving it a chance to call for help.

While reducing the impact of the fall with a roll, with the same momentum, she spun turn around with and put the blade on the second ones neck.

“And then slash.”

The blade knocked off the head of the second body without much resistance.

Two dark hounds, that received fatal blows at almost the same time turned into glowing fragments and lit up the dark forest.

“Good, this feels really good…!”

While exuding joy at having found a weapon that is familiar to me, I quickly regained my posture and avoided the [Dark Hound] that jumped at me, by taking a step to the side. I hooked it with the scythe――I spun my body around like a spinning top, with one of my legs as the axis.

After seeing one of the dark hounds, that was hooked being cut in half, she took off with even more momentum.

She jumped at the last dark hound within sight, who seemed to have decided, that it couldn’t win as soon as its comrades were killed.

A quick slash with unmatched speed and centrifugal force, swept away the surrounding branches and leaves like a storm, cutting the fleeing dark hound in two with a single stroke.

“Who’s left?”

Aiming for the shadow of the rock, she further accelerated her rotation, in order to slash the rock away――

“Wait, wait! Hiii!?”

“…!?”

Suddenly, a figure appeared… a human.

I desperately held back the scythe, which was gaining momentum, as I thought, (Oh my God…) The blade barely came to stop, just before decapitating the figure’s head.

—That was dangerous.

(Now that I think about it, I was in a hurry because I heard someone calling for help. Because of the tension, it completely slipped my mind.)

It felt uncomfortable to break out in cold sweat, and while lowering the scythe, I took off the hood of the overcoat, that was covering my head with the other hand.

“… Are you a player?”

“…”

Gazing up at Crim, he was a little skinny looking, with half-grown hair tied up in a mess behind his back, and a faint stubble. A moderately veteran, but dull looking old man who, tried to aim for the shape of a man with good looks.

That was… the first player character I saw on this side, and not in the unlimited city Valhalla…