The city exploration continued.
Like a whirlpool, we were slowly making our way inward from the outskirts. There was no tremendous danger.
“Ppi ppi.”
“Cute.”
Stroke, stroke.
…That was how little danger there was—behind me, Jui was being petted.
Well, to be fair, this was the formation I had wanted.
ㄴTruth Scholar: Is there really a need to go out of your way to suffer? It’d be better to go together.
“No. If I stay with the group, I won’t build enough strength on my own.”
My mana was continuing to increase, and I swung my sword all day long, but…
It wasn’t enough. In the end, actual combat was the answer.
Just as you could be excellent at discussing swordsmanship, yet still lose once blades actually clashed.
…Still, I do want to pet Jui.
‘No. I have to do this. Endure it.’
Walking through the empty city, I drew up my dormant intuition.
Intuition prickled up like antennae.
My body remained tense, ready to move at any moment.
And then, after a while.
“…!! Stop for a moment.”
A faint noise rang in my ears.
It was a sound like a giant hammer striking the ground.
It was quite far away. But it was clearly out of place, so I needed to check.
“We’ll move slowly.”
ㄴTruth Scholar: Don’t overdo it.
ㄴHealingIsViolence: You probably won’t die, but take it in moderation.
Drawing a certain amount of courage from the chat directed at me, I approached carefully.
A collapsed building—I took cover behind it.
When I poked only my head out to check, something was standing in the vacant lot.
Clack. Clack.
“That’s…”
ㄴTruth Scholar: A crab… right?
ㄴHealingIsViolence: It’s a crab.
ㄴAlcoholIsLife: Crab as a drinking snack again—
What I could see beyond the building debris was a crab about the size of a car.
But unlike an ordinary crab, its outer shell gleamed silver.
First, I took out the scanner. You never knew.
Mana surged out, scanning the crab.
-Defender
-A crab whose outer shell is covered in mana-reinforced titanium to protect its companion. Its danger level is not particularly high, but its outer shell is difficult to pierce.
“So… it’s one hell of a tough crab?”
Since it had evolved to withstand its companion’s explosions, there was no need to explain its durability.
But its danger level wasn’t high, either.
I could feel it with my intuition—it definitely wasn’t dangerous.
In that case…
“Let’s use it as a sandbag for a bit. It’s perfect for trying out linked techniques.”
ㄴTruth Scholar: I can also act as a psychological counselor, so perhaps you should try that…
“No, I’m not crazy… It’s a rational choice…”
Just in case, I checked the scanner’s other information, but there was nothing special.
The fact that its danger level wasn’t high was clear.
It was time to use the swordsmanship I had honed.
“Whew…”
As I let out a deep breath, my body finished all preparations.
Slowly, one step at a time, I advanced.
Then.
Clack.
The Defender stared straight at me.
It immediately raised its silver claw.
The moment it was about to slam down, my swordsmanship followed at once.
Flash Twin Severance閃光兩斷.
Klaaang!!
“Kgh—”
The claw and sword collided, and red sparks flew.
A heavy metallic sensation traveled to my fingertips.
The place where my sword had struck was only dented slightly; I hadn’t cut through.
But I could clearly feel the possibility.
“Again!”
Sheathe.
Chain Slash連鎖斬.
Bang!
A wave of mana burst out, and the silver Defender staggered.
A momentary opening—I wedged myself into it.
The chain followed immediately.
Sword Energy·Flash Twin Severance 劍氣·閃光兩斷.
Green mana flashed and cut.
The sword energy flew straight ahead.
Thoom!
It severed one of the Defender’s arms.
But it still wasn’t dead.
“A linkage between the First Form and Second Form—”
According to the Drawing-Sword Saint, Heizen—
The sword’s cycle.
Draw, sheathe.
Klang! Bang!
That cycle continued.
Green light flashed countless times, and the sounds of impact kept ringing out.
ㄴTruth Scholar: …Was he at this level?
ㄴHealingIsViolence: Dozens of draws in such a short time…
The sounds of cutting into the Defender layered over one another, again and again.
With each sound that piled up, it broke further.
Tatatatang!!
How many times had the light flashed and faded?
Cla-ack.
Thoom…
The Defender collapsed, its body split in half.
Meat spilled out from between its silver outer shell.
ㄴAlcoholIsLife: No⁉️ My drinking snack‼️
ㄴKkukku: Stop eating so much, yon.
“Whew, whew…”
Unlike the peaceful chat, I was drenched in cold sweat.
The mana for sword energy. The numerous linked attacks in a short time. They had stolen an enormous amount of stamina.
ㄴTruth Scholar: That definitely wasn’t something that should have broken easily. It was an alloy reinforced with mana, after all.
ㄴHealingIsViolence: That’s true. You’ve gotten much stronger.
Sitting in the vacant lot and looking at the chat, I felt it firsthand—that I had grown stronger.
By the standards of the deep sea, I probably still wasn’t that strong, but my body could feel that I had grown stronger.
As I sat there catching my breath, the two who had been hiding behind the building approached.
“Are you all right?”
“As you can see…”
“Then you’re fine.”
“Piii!”
Eosollujeun came over to where I sat and held out a hand.
I took that warm hand and stood up.
Beside Eosollujeun, when I looked at Jui, she was staring intently at something.
Following Jui’s golden gaze, I shifted my eyes—
“…Crab? You want to eat it?”
“Ppi! Ppi!”
“Indeed, the Defender isn’t poisonous, and its meat is also soft from withstanding explosions.”
Now that I heard Eosollujeun say that, it really did look mouthwatering.
But… eating it raw might upset my stomach…
ㄴTruth Scholar: Why don’t you try eating it? I’m curious…
ㄴHealingIsViolence: You little shit, you feed people things just because you’re curious?
ㄴTruth Scholar: Yes! That’s why in the past, I once ate raw grass and barely survived at the temple…
ㄴHealingIsViolence: ……
…Truth Scholar really, well. How should I put it? He really lived up to his handle.
“Ppi ppi ppi!!”
While I was debating whether to eat it or not, Jui seemed unable to hold back and rushed in immediately.
“Chomp, chomp chomp…”
Jui ate the meat inside the shell with great relish.
At that mukbang, hunger slowly raised its head inside me.
As I was just staring at it, Eosollujeun poked me from the side.
“Why don’t you try some? You won’t die.”
“…Are you sure?”
“Mm, probably.”
I didn’t like that vague answer, but…
“It’s fine. If that isn’t the case, I’ll take care of you.”
“There’s no need to go that far…”
Seeing Eosollujeun say that with the corners of the mouth lifted somehow put me at ease.
Right. It wasn’t like I’d eat it and die.
I approached and looked at the Defender’s flesh.
Meat with a faint pink hue, neatly divided into sections that made it easy to eat.
Sliiide.
ㄴTruth Scholar: The meat comes out that easily?
When I grabbed it with my hand and pulled, a chunk of meat came right out.
Seeing it right in front of me made my mouth water even more.
“…Hap.”
I closed my eyes and bit into the meat.
And then.
“…!”
The saltiness of the sea spread through my mouth, along with the subtle aroma of crab.
The texture was firm and springy, alive with a vivid freshness that did not fade.
“…This is seriously good.”
It tasted far better than any crab I had eaten in the past.
The fact that I’d just done intense exercise probably added to that.
“…I’ll have some too.”
“Ah, sure.”
Eosollujeun came closer as well and pulled out a piece of meat.
Somehow, it turned into something like a family meal.
“Chomp chomp chomp!”
Jui eating passionately, and Eosollujeun eating crab beside me.
It was the dark, seemingly hopeless deep sea, but…
‘…It’s not bad.’
I thought that, more than expected, it might not be so bad after all.
***
We ended the exploration there.
It would have been possible to go deeper, but I wanted to use the information obtained from scanning the Defender.
Of course, it was a bit of a struggle dragging back the outer shell…
“…Is it normal for it to take this long just to cut off part of this?”
“You should saw one more time instead of wasting time saying that.”
Even though I worked while infusing mana, trying to process it like steel plate took a long time.
After such a painstaking process, we eventually returned to the original city.
ㄴTruth Scholar: This time… something really interesting unlocked, didn’t it?
ㄴHealingIsViolence: Is it armor? No, it doesn’t seem to be for humans.
As the regulars said, something similar to armor had unlocked this time.
The problem was, I couldn’t use it.
No, to be precise.
[Reinforced Armor]
-Reinforced armor for robots. It can transform a Zero Type into a First Type.
For starters, it wasn’t meant for human use.
Well, words like Zero and First came up, but I didn’t know either.
I wondered if Eosollujeun knew, so I asked.
“Zero refers to a very simple machine. The automated robots we use are Zeros.”
“Oh… Then does a First have more functions?”
“Yes. Simple conversation or combat becomes possible.”
Listening to Eosollujeun, I definitely got a sense of it.
So it was like an enhancement module.
‘Then what stage is Eosollujeun?’
Eosollujeun was a machine too, yet had turned human, hadn’t they?
When I asked out of that curiosity…
“I won’t answer.”
“…Why?”
“Because only I need to know, and because it can’t be made.”
Eosollujeun spoke while turning away.
It felt like Eosollujeun was sulking, so I had no choice but to hurriedly change the subject.
I immediately found the materials needed for the “Reinforced Armor” and placed them into the crafting machine.
Thoom.
After a little time passed, the reinforced armor came out.
At a glance, it looked like protective guards.
“This… goes on the automated robot…”
I attached each piece to the automated robot standing still.
The change—
“There isn’t any.”
“…You have to infuse it with mana.”
“Ah, I see.”
Again.
When I infused mana while it was still equipped, a change occurred.
Clank! Clank.
It began to increase in volume in an instant, then transformed automatically and took shape.
Blue light shimmered around it, and the automated robot changed into a humanoid form about the same size as me.
It looked like a white knight from the medieval era.
Blue light shone from its eyes as it moved.
-Greetings. Master.-