That Lacking Something
"Hikaru-kun, get ready."
"Don't hold back for your own safety, alright. Come at us with all you've got, Hikaru-san."
...Why are you two getting ready.
This should be my sparring time against Alma Papa. They're making it look like I gotta fight them both.
"...Wasn't this supposed to be one-on-one...?"
"Ah. You'll have to face both me and Lunati from today on."
"No err, you did tell me it was coming, but this is just too soon...!! I haven't even landed a hit on either of you, taking you both on is just asking too much!"
"No, this is fine. I'm confident in my assessment after watching you."
Where'd that confidence come from!? This is only our third time sparring! There's only been a slight improvement over the previous one!
...Ah, well, I mean I did finally get an idea of my own fighting style during the past few days thanks to leveling and sparring with Alma and the rest.
"A past hero left this saying, 'Take a good look on a man you haven't seen in three days'. It apparently signifies how an individual can undergo great changes over a short period of training, which describes you exactly."
"Ufufu. Show us what you've learned since our last match."
I think that's proverb from Three Kingdoms or something. I'm not really familiar though.
I mean if there's anything that's changed. One is my level going up from 57 to 59.
Then my Base Attributes increasing by 117, can't say that's a big difference, can I...?
Yep, that's like a margin of error against these two. Better than nothing though.
"Now then, let us begin."
"Here we go. 【Cthuga】."
Wait a minute, please give me some time to prepare my mental, ah you're just gonna ignore me huh, okay, hahahahaha....---
~~~~~~~~~Peeking Hero's POV~~~~~~~~~
Oy.
Oy.
What the hell's going on? Is Kajikawa-san doing that?
The flaming giant that was a menace to Reina's group is being swung around by its ankle like a giant swing.
<<...Err, Kajikawa-san grabbed [Cthuga] summoned by Lunatiara-san with a giant hand made of mana and swung it at the two like a club... I said all that yet it all sounds gibberish to me...>>
Yup. That explanation is gibberish to me as well.
...Is he even human? I'd believe you if you told me he was actually the demon king.
"...Kajikawa-san's absurdness knows no bound."
"Nobody's gonna believe that's the same man who waited the table during that victory feast..."
Hyumlassa and Gazanginando could only smile wryly at the crazy spectacle.
These two didn't go back with that damned brat? Or maybe they're usually leveling separately from him.
Although the two instructors effortlessly dodging the high speed swinging of that giant is just as absurd.
They must be used to fighting magic beasts that size...
Ah, the giant vanished. Well, it was clearly nothing but an impediment. What were you even here for.
It's a close quarter combat time now. The same routine as our group.
...Huh, didn't Instructor Lunatiara just cast some sort of magic to Instructor Duke?
<<That's an Advanced Support Magic [Everything Reinforce]. The highest level Support Magic that buffs all Attributes temporarily... They're going a bit too far I think~.>>
No no no, this is just a bullying now! His principal Attributes like STR have gone up to around 5000s!
Frankly, Kajikawa-san's position isn't favorable cause he needs to consume stamina to be on par with those two.
Only a one sided battle awaits once the gap in Attribute opens up again. This is hopeless no matter how you look at it.
In fact, his HP has been gradually decreasing since a while ago. He failed to dodge Dukeris-san's wooden sword and ate direct hits a few times.
Though it's amazing how he could endure those attacks.
...? Dukeris-san is moving faster than the time he fought Alma yet he's been making some unnatural moves every once in a while?
He'd bob his head like a boxer, suddenly take some distance away, and swing his sword in an unnatural trajectory.
It's like he's dodging and deflecting something invisible attacking him.
<<Yes, Kajikawa-san has been striking at him with a chain of mana stakes from every part of his body while swinging that greathammer around. He's constantly altering the timing, size and direction of those stakes to make it harder to intercept... Yet 'Sword King' saw through it all.>>
Not only are those stakes invisible, there's even feint attacks mixed in. So nasty.
Dukeris-san who's casually handling them all is even nastier.
Not to forget Lunatiara-san who's been bombarding Kajikawa-san from afar without any reservation. I just can't with these superhumans.
...This is a training right? Not a mobbing right? I'd be dead in two seconds flat if I were in Kajikawa-san's shoes.
This doesn't work at all as a reference. Heck, it's making me lose confidence instead.
Guess I should head back. I gotta do some leveling again tomorrow and prepare myself to obtain those Titles.
...!?
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
~~~~~~~~Kajikawa's POV~~~~~~~~
Oh crap, oh crap oh crap!
Alma Papa's Attributes shot up to stratosphere, nullifying my sole advantage. I also have my hands full dealing with Alma Mama's constant barrage of magic.
I'm gonna turn into a dirty rag yet again at this rate. I refuse to become that a second time!
"What's wrong, don't tell me you haven't made a single progress? If so, my bad, I overestimated you."
You are. Both of you even buffed yourselves with Support Magic, you're acting way childish, you know.
But don't you think you're too harsh with that criticism? I'd like to think I've been trying my hardest...
"Fumu, I was sure you're the type that gets stronger the bigger the obstacle, but is this your limit? Or perhaps we haven't stoked the fire enough."
"Hmm, then let's go with that."
Alma Mama changed where she pointed her staff after Alma Papa said that.
Toward... Alma's group? Eh?
"Okay, say goodbye for now~"
"...Eh?"
Alma's group looked dumbfounded as Alma Mama cast a spell their way.
It's not an offensive spell. That's, Space Magic...?
Her magic hit and made two girls + one chicken disappear.
Looks like she sent them someplace away with Space Magic.
"W-what did you...!?"
"Hikaru-san, you are strong. In fact, you hold the biggest potential among everybody we're coaching this time. But you see, you lack a sense of crisis in part due to your half-baked strength."
"Everybody else is feeling that crisis to a greater or lesser extent. Some are taking it too far, which helps them grow leaps and bounds."
Ah, yeah, you're right.
Radia-kun in particular, he even got to Lv40 in just a week.
But what's that got to do with you two teleporting the girls away.
"We're adding a condition to make you feel that sort of crisis."
"Condition, that is to say?"
The two resumed talking while frowning a bit.
"You are barred from seeing Alma and the rest until you defeated us."
...Say what?
Mind going by me again?
"The thing you're lacking lies in the mindset. Either in the form of the impatience of a cornered creature, or the craving one has towards a goal."
"I sent them to a different continent Hikaru-san has never set foot on so you can't Fast Travel there. Ah, just so you know, you're free to quit this training anytime. You can then go see them right away. But that also means losing the right to ever train under us again."
"...We're fully aware how unreasonable we're being. But we can't have you stay in a stalemate forever."
Err, does that mean I can't have meals together with Alma, tease Reina or fluff Hiyoko until I snatch a victory over these two?
Hmm, okay, so that's how you wanna play huh. Hee.
A sense of despair along with coldness ran through my whole body starting from my head down my spine.
My reason for living has been lost. I'm gonna die from loneliness, you know. No, really.
"Now then, if you wish to see Alma and the rest, first try to land a hit on us."
"I understand."
Likely thanks to the strange coldness in my head, all sorts of nasty moves popped up one after another in my mind.
No more pulling punches. Anything goes now.
I boosted my Attributes with energy control to 8000s temporarily.
And swung down the explosive great hammer at Alma Papa.
"Hoo, you can get even higher huh! But simply more firepower changes nothing!"
I struck him with Mana Pile from my feet at the same time.
It's got more than enough power and accuracy cause I've mixed it with energy and life force.
"The same move again, I've seen through---!?"
I activated another pile branching from the pile he dodged.
He reflexively caught it with his bare hands, just as planned.
I converted the pile in his hand into electricity!
"Guwooooooo!? T-this is...!"
"Raaaaaaaa!!"
I struck ten more piles from every parts of my body.
He narrowly managed to dodge them all despite the electricity slowing him down.
I shot the dodged pile stakes like bullets and kept pressuring Alma Papa!
"Kuh! ...W-what the hell is this."
He struck all the piles down with his sword and a mana sword, but that's a bad move.
I made the piles' mana to have a soft gluing property just before they landed, making them stick to his sword.
He may be able to deflect them if they were hard, but that doesn't work when they're soft and sticky like this.
I converted the sticking mana into electricity once again!
Then while he stopped moving from it, I bashed him hard with the greathammer!
"U, oooooooo!!"
He managed to block it with his mana sword just barely, but so what.
He can't get away while being electrocuted.
It's a contest of pure strength now. And my weapon has the weight advantage. Then!
"Gwaaaaaa!!"
I blew Alma Papa away with the greathammer.
He did defend against but I felt some feedback.
In fact, that blow just now reduced his HP by 5%.
Can't say if that counts as 'landing a hit' though.
I had been pondering just what my fighting style is during my sparring time with Alma.
Alma has her sword and magic. Reina has her ninjutsu, stealth and dagger, Hiyoko claw and fang as well as mana control they all mold into their own fighting styles.
Contrasting them, I have no foundation to work on. The foundation known as Skills.
That's exactly why I have so many choices, numbing me instead.
But that also means being freer than anybody. I'm not limited by Skills.
I can change physical attacks into magic.
Attacks that are initially hard like steel can turn soft and sticky. Mana with no definite form can be converted into lightning or heat.
A lethal tactic that allows me to freely mold my mana to fit any circumstances.
It's extremely lackadaisical which makes it slippery and hard to deal with.
If I had to give it a name, it'd be 'Infinite Alters (Bunker)'... Yeah, I know I have no naming sense, please give it up.
It's probably not enough to defeat these two still but I'm not gonna use that as an excuse anymore.
In order to get my fun back, in order to have meals together with the girls once again, I'm gonna beat up these two, no holds barred!
Author's Q&A
>Does he use explosive greathammer against Oni-sensei?--
As it's a training to learn kempo and martial arts, the greathammer is off limits.
If he did use it, sensei would likely destroy the hammer. Sensei's got short temper.
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