Ch.123Summer, and the Sea (3)

“Chururuk!! Human!! Kill!! Human!! Tear apart!!”

The troll, wielding massive axes in both hands, charged straight toward Sasith.

Me? I decided to watch Sasith’s fight with my arms crossed.

‘Honestly… he still can’t win completely.’

That was my cold assessment.

I planned to let Sasith gain experience up to the point where he wouldn’t die, then step in and cut down the creature.

“Die!! Human!!!”

The troll swung its axe.

CLANG-!!

Sasith barely managed to block the troll’s strike with his sword.

SCREECH-!!

Sasith’s body was pushed far backward.

“Ugh…!”

Overwhelmed by the force, Sasith let out a groan.

“Don’t get overwhelmed by the pressure!!! Shout!!! Sasiiiiith!!!”

I yelled loudly.

“Sh-shout…?”

Why are you looking at me with such disbelief?

“Try it!! Try it!”

I immediately encouraged Sasith.

“……”

Sasith took a deep breath, then let out a roar.

“KIEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!”

After shouting, Sasith closed the distance toward the troll. Yes!! That’s it!!! Turn your hatred into power!! Sasith!!!

CLANG-!!!

Sasith swung his sword wide, cutting off the troll’s left arm.

“It hurts!! Human!!! Chururuk!!!”

The troll clutched the stump of its severed arm and shouted loudly.

However, with a troll’s regenerative abilities, losing an arm or two was nothing.

WHOOSH-!!!

The troll swung its right arm at Sasith.

SLASH-!!!!

Sasith somehow managed to defend against the strike with his sword. But the defense wasn’t perfect. The troll’s axe struck Sasith’s shoulder.

“KIYOOOOOT!!!”

Sasith groaned as he clutched his bleeding shoulder.

Hmm. Even in a crisis, he’s reached the level of shouting. Good. He’s adapting well. I nodded my head, overcome with emotion.

Now… it’s about time for me to step in. With that thought, I stood in front of Sasith.

Thud-!

I patted Sasith’s head.

“You did well, Sasith. That’s excellent.”

“Shota……”

“Leave the rest to me.”

I smiled and pointed my sword.

“Chururuk!!! Die together!!”

The troll swung its axe at me.

WHOOSH-!!

I could easily dodge the axe strike. Perhaps because I had faced formidable opponents like Saito Kana before, most sword attacks now seemed slow to me.

SLASH-!!

Right after dodging the attack, I swung my sword wide.

THUNK-!

That ended the fight; the troll’s head rolled on the ground.

“Let’s go, Sasith. Blue Beard will probably heal you.”

I said as I helped Sasith up.

And so, we returned to the dungeon entrance together.

“Blue Beard!! Please heal him quickly!”

I waved my hand toward Blue Beard.

“But… why are both of you shirtless?”

At that moment, Violet asked while staring at Sasith.

“……..”

Only then did Sasith blush with embarrassment. Why are you acting like that? You’re enjoying it too.

Anyway, Violet seemed to have some healing abilities. She immediately healed Sasith.

“Alright!! Let’s go another round!!! Mr. Troll!! Let’s fight!!”

I grabbed Sasith and pulled him along.

“A-another round?”

Sasith made a displeased face.

“Yep. We need to train hard while we’re asleep.”

I said. Seriously, these protagonists… born with talent but no hunger for improvement.

“Shota. Don’t you get tired?”

Sasith asked.

“Yeah, I’m actually more tired than usual since I have to fight alongside a weakling.”

I replied.

“You… bastard…”

That seemed to flip Sasith’s motivation switch.

“Fine!! Let’s go another round!! I’ll surpass you soon!!!”

Sasith shouted loudly. Heheh. He’s quite simple-minded.

“Then let’s go!”

I flung open the dungeon door. Then I jumped right into the dungeon. Jumping was the standard way to enter dungeons.

“Sasith!!! Why are you walking in normally!!!! Jump in!!! That increases your combat power!!”

“What nonsense are you—”

“Ahem!!!!”

“Fine… I got it.”

JUMP-!!

Our cool-headed Sasith leaped high and entered the dungeon. Hehehe. That’s more like it.

Watching this scene, Blue Beard made a comment.

“He’s been completely influenced.”

“Indeed… I wonder if we’re getting two troublemakers now… Arigiri Shota, you’re like a plague.”

Violet’s expression was filled with horror. Hey. Calling me a plague… you’re making me out to be some kind of cringe lord.

———

Anyway, from Sasith’s perspective, the second run was considerably smoother.

Moreover… Sasith, being the protagonist, had incredible talent.

“KIEEEEEEEK!!!”

He naturally drew the aggro of the minions while shouting, then cut them down one by one with his sword. The quality of his fighting was completely different from before.

I could comfortably focus on taking down elite mobs and mid-bosses. Well, there might be some experience loss, but… minions don’t give much experience anyway. I’ll think of it as raising Sasith. That’s how I justified it.

“Chiiik!! Human… damn it!!!”

I thrust my sword straight into the troll’s belly.

“FATALITY!!!!”

SLASH-!!

Immediately after, I twisted and pulled out the sword, creating a scene of organ display.

“KIEEEEEEEK!!!”

Completely battle-crazed, Sasith rushed to the next floor on his own. His appearance—shirtless, sword in hand, charging forward—was that of a berserker incarnate. Good. He’s adapting properly.

Anyway, Sasith and I continued circling through the dungeon like that.

After about five rounds, results appeared.

Ding-! Ding-! Ding-!

My level hit exactly 40. Since I had already accumulated experience through the God of War system, it looked like my level had risen dramatically after the dungeon runs.

But… Sasith’s level wasn’t rising as quickly. He had barely reached level 36.

‘Is the dream dungeon not very efficient for Sasith?’

He had leveled up rapidly when fighting monsters outside. I wondered why. I fell into thought.

However, there was strength that couldn’t be measured by levels and stats alone.

“I definitely feel like I’ve gotten a better grasp of close combat.”

Sasith said.

“Good. Then for the next round, try conquering the Troll Fortress by yourself. You should be able to do it now.”

I said. At this point, we didn’t need to go together anymore. Honestly, going together resulted in significant experience loss.

Having reached level 40, I planned to tackle a level 40 dungeon.

“Hahaha! I’ll do it!! Solo conquest? Piece of cake!!”

Sasith shouted in a booming voice.

A moment later, Sasith realized he had broken character. He blushed and cleared his throat.

“Ahem. Yes. I need to grow somehow. The June dungeon will appear soon.”

Sasith tried to speak in a cool tone.

Anyway, Sasith headed to the level 30 Troll Dungeon, while I headed to a level 40 dungeon.

‘Blood Tears Tribe Attack’

A large message appeared on my status window as I entered.

WHOOSH-!!!

The dungeon had a strangely open structure. It resembled a village… but it wasn’t a village anymore. Every house around was burning.

Corpses were everywhere.

“Please… spare me…!”

“AAAHHH!!!”

They were elves. Elven corpses filled the area. Apparently, this was meant to be an elven village.

FLASH-!

At that moment, I felt an intense headache. I was recalling some memory.

“Horrible…”

A beautiful woman in priestess robes said, trying not to vomit.

“The Blood Tears Tribe… a tribe of the most brutal orcs. I never thought they would do something like this.”

A beautiful woman with a teardrop mark, wearing a mage’s robe, spoke in a troubled tone.

But why are all the party members voluptuous beauties? Well, I’m not complaining.

“Alright. Let’s clean this up quickly. We just need to take the heads of the Blood Tears chieftain and his black mages to complete the Elven Queen’s quest.”

I spoke in a nonchalant tone. As if I were used to corpses.

“The Elven Queen… she promised to give Kunta anything he wanted.”

The priestess muttered.

“So, Kunta. What will you ask for as payment?”

The beauty asked.

“First, money. And then… I’ll ask to sleep with the Queen. That’ll satisfy me. She’s quite a mature beauty. I want to plant my seed in her.”

I said with a smile.

“Really… you’re obsessed with women. I thought you might calm down after turning 25… but you haven’t changed.”

The priestess looked at me with contempt.

“But we’re also women who fell for this playboy’s charms, so we can’t really say anything…”

The mage spoke in a resigned tone.

FLASH-!!

As my consciousness blacked out, I returned to my normal self.

What was that? Whose memory was that? I was slightly confused.

Anyway, I was excited about being in a new dungeon.

“KIYOOOT!!!”

I raised my tension and ran through the burning village.

“A human!!!!”

“A strong warrior!! His heart is mine!!!”

Before long, brown-skinned orcs blocked my path. True to the fantasy orc cliché, they boasted overwhelming physiques.

“Gihehehehe!! Die!!!”

The orcs stood in my way with weapons drawn. All level 40. They had definitely gotten stronger.

However, they were no match for me.

WHOOSH-!!

I immediately moved to the side of one orc.

“Die!!!!”

SLASH-!!

I swung my sword and cut the orc’s body in half.

SLASH-!! SLASH-!!

Before the group of orcs could respond, I cut down their vital points one after another.

Ding-!!

Having faced stronger opponents than before, my level rose steadily.

“Who’s next!!!!”

I pushed back my blood-stained hair and roared loudly.

And so, the dungeon conquest proceeded step by step.