Dimension Wave Chapter 9

—Raphanea Plains

I may be two weeks late, but I finally stepped through the gates of Lurolona.
A long snaking path leads into an open gra.s.sland.
I am so late to the party. There’s not a single person around trying to level up here.
In any case, I strap my strongest weapon—my Cetus Longsword—onto my back and head forwards.
Before too long, a monster by the name of Common Wolf appears before me.
I grip my longsword tightly, jump, and slash.
With a delightful swish!, the Common Wolf was literally cut in twain.
It disappears upon dying.

“Huh?”

To be able to one hit kill the wolf must mean that my weapon is d.a.m.n strong.
Too strong, perhaps. I put away the longsword and opt for the Steel Chef’s Knife.
It’s lighter than the longsword, making it comfortable and easy to use.

“There’s another one over there.”

The monsters in this area aren’t aggressive, which makes sense given how this is one of the first sections of the game.

“Hmpf!”

I slash at the Common Wolf with my chef’s knife.
As expected, I didn’t kill it in one shot, but I did take away three-quarters of its HP. However, my delight was short lived as the wolf takes the moment to bellow out a war cry before pouncing on me.

“Augh!”

I’m definitely not used to combat yet, but it’s also my first time playing a VR game. Being pounced on by the puppy-sized wolf is just a little frightening.

“Gah!”

I took 5 points of damage, which for me means 5 points of Energy. I can see how it’s tough trying to acc.u.mulate it. There’s a reason why they say Spirits are weak,
Let’s try not take any more damage.
I thrust my knife at the Common Wolf once again and it makes contact.
The clean strike toppled the wolf over onto the ground.

“Whew… I’m so glad my weapons are strong.”

I don’t think it would’ve gone so well if I were using a novice weapon.
Not to mention that my Energy level is pretty high.
I’m sure that’s why I had such an easy time defeating the wolf.

“Now then… let’s try this out.”

Unlike the first one, defeating the second wolf left its corpse behind.
I point my Steel Chef’s Knife at it.
I have no qualms about gutting fish, but cutting up a dog is another story. Since the game is rated for E for Everyone, I received Coa.r.s.e Pelt, Animal Bones, and Common Wolf Meat without having to see anything too graphic.

Looks like it works. As long as I carefully cut the animal, I’ll be able to get their items.
It might be that no one knows about this because it’s exclusive to gutting weapons.
But it wouldn’t be surprising even if everyone knows about it.
Whatever. I can hunt monsters and raise my gutting skill at the same time.

Since my weapons are pretty good, I had been trying to find a more suitable place to hunt. Upon going deeper into the fields, I encountered a girl fighting these small green men wielding spears… a.s.sault Goblins, apparently.

I can tell that she’s taller than me even from far away.
Well, it’s not exactly my fault that I’m a little loli. I doubt there are many people smaller than me.
… anyway, back on track.
She’s smaller than Kanata but looks more mature than Tsugumi; maybe a high schooler?
Yeah, she’s about as tall as the girls in my cla.s.s. I think I’m right.
But that’s not to say it’s indicative of what the person in real life is like.

She’s dressed in an indigo kimono with a gold pattern.
It’s a very elegant look.

Her weapon is a folding fan.
According to Kanata who has tested out all weapon types, they’re all-arounders that can attack and defend.
But instead of attacking with her fan, she has a fl.u.s.tered look on her face as the a.s.sault Goblin closes in on her. The fan starts emitting a white light, but it doesn’t seem like some kind of offensive skill.
Now I’m curious…

“Why aren’t you attacking?”

As the girl notices and calls out to me, the a.s.sault Goblin takes the opportunity to stab her with its spear.
She parries the attack with her folding fan in a gorgeous manner.
That doesn’t look easy at all.
At the very least, it would be hard for me to dodge a spear like that.

“Wild Dance, the First: Chain Attack…”

The girl mutters out the name of the skill before continuously smacking the goblin’s head with her fan. Eventually, the a.s.sault Goblin keels over dead.
She lets out a big sigh.

“You little… what if the goblin had struck me?!”
“Sorry. Were you in a spot of trouble?”
“Any other race would be fine, but I am… oh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“You are a Spirit as well? I must apologize.”
“Huh.”

The young girl suddenly speaks to me in a much gentler, kinder tone.

“I am sure you understand already, but health and experience are directly connected to one another for us Spirits. Thus, I try to avoid receiving any damage when I fight.”
“Oh, that’s what you’re talking about.”

Like when I was fighting the Killerwing, I was supposed to get 300 Energy. But since I took 550 points of damage, I ended up losing experience. There are definitely aspects about Energy where it’s inconvenient.
And what about her? She’s equipped so nicely, so why is she fighting at a place like this?

“Do I catch your curiosity? I lost a bit of Energy the other day.”

She must’ve understood what I was thinking from me staring at her.

“Are you sure you should tell me that?”
“It is nothing that should be hidden from others.”
“Hmm…”

She was in a party with friends that she got close with on the first day. And with them a few days ago, she was tanking for her party.
Since Energy is also HP for Spirits, that means we have a lot more HP than any other race. It seems like that’s how she lost her Energy. I’m sure her folding fan doesn’t help too much either.
After seeing how she got weaker, her so-called friends clearly didn’t want her in the party anymore. So that’s why she’s soloing and trying to get stronger right now.

“I apologize; listening to a stranger grumble on must be tiresome. I just got a little worked up.”

She apologizes after telling me her story.
She’s pretty p.i.s.sed about her once-comrades, huh?

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve heard about stories like this, but never thought it’d happen to someone I know.”
“No longer do I consider them as friends, for I am ashamed to even have a.s.sociated with them.”
“Do you speak like that ‘cause you’re roleplaying?”
“Roleplaying?”
“Never heard of it? Like to act out a character.”
“No, I am simply acting as I normally am. Is there a matter with it?”
“Oh, nah. No problem at all.”

You don’t see people like her in an MMO too often.
Of course, that might be part of her character as well.

“Well, in that case, why don’t we get in a party together? We’re Spirit buddies so I’m sure we’ll get to understand each other well.”
“Are you sure? I have about 20,000 Energy currently.”
“I’m about the same. In fact, I might be exactly at your level. Do you know of any good hunting grounds?”
“Yes, but near the second city.”
“Alright. If you’d like, let’s party up.”

The girl puts her left hand by her lips as if she is deep in thought before flashing a tender smile.

“Let us go together then.”
“I’m Kizuna. Nice to meet you.”
“My name is Hakoniwa Shouko. I am sure we shall be great together.”

She gracefully bows to me and I awkwardly bow back.
For some reason, though, I am sure we shall be great together sounds like this an arranged marriage or something.

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