Lord of the Hole

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“Thank you, Daniela. I’m fine now.”

 

So saying, I slowly draw away from her long embrace.

 

“I wanted to hold you a little longer…”

“We can save that for when we get out of here.”

 

I patted her on the head as she pouted with annoyance. I had found a single path inside of me. Fighting to protect people. That was what we were currently doing. It was not possible to mourn the death of every life that was snuffed out, and I would not blame myself for that anymore. I wasn’t a Hero or a saint. I didn’t want to kill to save lives, but it was not possible to save everyone either. I could not be a pacifist here. The only thing I could do was fully dedicate myself to what stood in front of us in the present.

 

For now, we would kill these monsters and prevent a stampede.

 

That was all. That was all that I could do.

 

“Damn, I think we rested for too long, when there is no time to lose.”

“No, it was necessary. Do not worry. We will just move at twice the speed.”

 

Daniela says with a laugh. I nod and take off my bag. The hollow bag. I open it and take hold of the supreme weapon, the ancient elven sword, and attach it to my belt. The elven shortsword quickly follows.

 

“So you are quite serious this time?”

 

I smile mischievously and nod. I was above serious now. We would trample them. I was prepared for this fight more than ever now. There was no hesitation, and I had the most reliable partner by my side.

 

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. About what I can accomplish with these weapons. And I’ve now found the answer.”

“Hehe. I see. That is good.”

 

For an instant, we seem to be wrapped in a warm and calm air. But that quickly dissipates and we find ourselves on a battlefield. It was because Presence Detection caught something. It wasn’t the dragon vein, but something big.

 

“Daniela, this…”

“Hmm, something that was hiding in the depths, it has started to move… Up ahead.”

 

I stare hard into the shadows. We were prepared for this, there was no problem. I glance over to Daniela who stood next to me, and she nodded with a smile that showed she was ready to fight. She really was reliable. She always helped me. I needed to become stronger to be able to support her equally. But first, we would kill what was up ahead. I would not allow the beautiful plains to be trodden over and destroyed. Never.

 

We walk down the tunnel. Presence Detection picks up several forms, but they disappear whenever my sword is swung in their direction. And then everything becomes quiet.

 

Once we were out of the tunnel, the scenery changed. The cave ceiling had been little more than two meters high, but now it was altogether gone. But it was still too dark to see how high it went. But it must be quite high if the lantern’s light could not reach it. We could also not see the walls. This was a wide area. What could be down here? So deep underground?

 

“Be careful, Asagi. The large presence should be somewhere around here.”

“Yeah, I can sense it. If only we knew the direction it would come, I could attack it.”

 

There was something huge in this wide area that was still far from us. And as it didn’t move, we had no choice but to go forward. But, since it had appeared so suddenly, does that mean it came to us? Why wasn’t it moving now?

 

There were a lot of questions that wouldn’t be answered unless we moved. We just needed to be cautious and we could get through this. Daniela knocked an arrow to her bowstring. I unsheathed my one-handed sword and short sword. The pale, silvery green glow gave me a kind of strength. I created a small ball of fire above our heads to replace the lantern.

According to Daniela’s findings, I was not very good with fire magic. And even when I did use it, I could tell that the magic consumption was higher than with ice magic, and yet the ball of fire was still only the size of a tennis ball. There wasn’t much to say about its inefficiency, but I wondered if it could be more than just a power used as a bridge between ice and water magic. However, our hands were full now, so this was the only thing we could use to light our way. Thankfully, all the monster slaying had helped me increase my MP…I think. I haven’t actually checked my status recently, but I was confident that it had gone up after so much hunting.

My MP had been going up gradually since I started using magic, so I was hopeful. I felt like I hadn’t reached my limits yet. Who knew how many ‘ice swords’ I could make in succession? Of course, the new equipment also helped. ‘Jack of all Trades, Master of None’ even showed me that I could create a light rain.

 

We were slowly making our way forward and should be within shooting range soon. Even fire magic should reach it. I put on the hood of my poncho and take in deep breaths. Once I felt calm again, the only thing left to do was kill it.

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Isekai ni Kita Boku wa Kiyoubinbode Subaya-sa Tayorina Tabi o Suru Jack of all Trades