Ken yo, kaku katariki – 5
5 – Dance the Dance of Death
And then one month passed.
“So I finally got this far…”
At last, I had arrived at the top of the mountain.
There had been many trials to reach it.
First of all, I obviously had no tools for mountain climbing.
Thankfully, it was a season of fair weather. There was no snow on the mountain, which meant there was no need for winter clothes. However, there were no beaten paths up the mountain. I had to traverse through steep cliffs where a single misstep would send me plummeting. And there were many times when my progress was blocked completely.
Encountering monsters in such places was the worst.
The most dangerous of these encounters turned out to be the time I was attacked by a flock of harpies while climbing up the side of a cliff.
I really thought that I was going to die. Still, I managed to jump onto a harpy and survive.
This world was not a game. Monsters were not going to take it easy on you. Each and every one of them were out for blood.
Some were even intelligent enough to create situations that were more advantageous to them.
So many times, I was on the brink of death. And then I made it to the mountain peak.
And what I found there was…
“…A nest.”
Some kind of nest. Appearance-wise, similar to a swallow nest.
But it was on a completely different scale. While it was made up of leaves and branches, the entire, wide open space of the peak was one giant nest.
If there was something that can make such a large space its nest, it would have to be something ridiculously big.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
And then a certain possibility came to my mind.
And I felt that I was probably right.
After all, I had seen it before.
And then suddenly, the sound of beating wings above my head.
I looked up at the sky.
“Of course, it is…”
A Black Dragon. That was the name that immediately came to mind.
It glared at me from above… The dragon with the coal black scales. And then it unleashed a terrible roar at the intruder.
“GRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
I immediately lept.
And in an instant, the ground I had been standing on exploded into pieces.
…Wind magic.
There were some monsters who could use magic.
Harpies were among them. They were good with wind magic, especially one called Wind Cutter. The way they unleashed it repeatedly was what made them dangerous.
Wind Magic was difficult to deal with because it could not be seen.
You could hear it, but that alone made dodging it tricky.
Tsk.
I unsheathed my sword and cut through the rushing wind.
On the other hand, wind had a weakness. It was brittle. It did not do that much damage.
Compared to burning fire, or the overwhelming mass of earth or water, it was less deadly, once you knew it was coming.
However, this one is…
(Heavy…!!)
Completely different from the harpies.
If they were shooting wind blades, then this was a wind bomb. I would have lost all my limbs if hit directly.
…Use your feet.
(…I know!!)
As if to chase me while I run, the wind explosions came one after another, tearing up the ground and sending grass and branches into the air.
It was very difficult, running in the nest, but I could manage.
Compared to some of the old man’s training, this was ‘mild.’
His training was not just about the sword, but raising your physical abilities completely.
He had me jumping on boulders like in those Chinese martial arts films.
When it came to fighting, your feet were very important. There was a saying about how good walking led to mastering techniques.
However, this situation put me in an overwhelming disadvantage.
Even as I turned, jumped and dodged the barrage of attacks, I couldn’t help but grumble about it.
My opponent was in the air. And showed no signs of coming down.
Of course. There was not a single reason for it to relinquish its aerial advantage.
However…
(I climbed up this mountain.)
And on my way, I encountered countless flying enemies.
I would not have made it so far without a countermeasure.
…Walking technique, sky walk.
In the next instant, my good stepped on what should have been empty air, and I rushed up into the sky.
It was a technique the old man had taught me. A secret skill.
Obviously, there was a trick to doing it.
You used mana to create a platform in a flash. Furthermore, by using wind magic, you could give it direction, allowing you to accelerate.
Magic. A special technique that existed in this world.
The most important thing when using it was believing that you ‘could do it.’ To feel. And when I had conviction, I acquired the technique in the truest sense.
To be honest, I didn’t understand the logic behind it at all. As the old man used to say, ‘do it with spirit.’
Through the sudden change in direction and acceleration in the air, I passed the wind magic that was unleashed by the black dragon and…
“Raaahhh!!”
Draw.
A flash from the sheath, shooting through the void, slashing the black dragon’s wing.
Quite short figth, but interesting none the less.
Thanks for the chapter.