Though the food was not enough to fill their stomach, they were oddly satisfied for now. Finishing their meal, they were looking at the cooking utensils and net.
"It feels like it would be a waste if we just left these things here." (Tatsuro)
"It'd be a bit too bulky of luggage if we took them with… AHH, what about an [Item Box]?" (Ai)
"[Item Box]? Is that a skill from the system?" (Tatsuro)
"Yeah, that should let us carry items up to a certain volume!" (Ai)
"Hmm… You sure know a lot about it, huh?" (Tatsuro)
"Of course! There was a time when I wanted it so bad, so I took the time to search for it." (Ai)
"Is that so? But you do seem like the better choice to grab that skill, Ai." (Tatsuro)
Ai could learn any martial arts pretty easily. There are various ways to prove it, but they also require the appropriate tools to do so. A sword, a spear, a bow; all of them are possible. Anything that can be carried around, depending on the situation and Ai's mastery of it, could be a weapon in her hands. Reaching that conclusion, Tatsuro easily agreed to the decision.
"How much SP do you need?" (Tatsuro)
"Nine, same as [Map]." (Ai)
"I see. You level up pretty quickly so nine shouldn't be a problem." (Tatsuro)
"Yep. So, I'm taking it now!" (Ai)
Already used to the system by now, Ai immediately navigated towards the skills section and grabbed the [Item Box] skill. Doing so added a new section to her system's home screen.
"Looks fine. Then, how do we use this?" (Ai)
Using Help to learn how to utilize the [Item Box], Ai closed the system and raised her head.
"Is it possible?" (Tatsuro)
"Yeah. This thing might be a lot more convenient than we thought." (Ai)
Holding the Tatsuro-brand products up high, they turned into luminescent particles before being absorbed into her hand.
"Oh, that's amazing! Can you take them out that quickly too?" (Tatsuro)
Ai held out her hand once more. Luminescent particles flew out of her hand and quickly took shape. The stone basin that they used earlier appeared.
"Did it tire you out or give you some other side effects?" (Tatsuro)
"Nope. Nothing to worry about here." (Ai)
Ai's face was full of smiles as she placed the basin back into her item box.
"That really is convenient. Should I try getting one too?" (Tatsuro)
"If it's you then you could probably get the expansion too so yours will provide us with more convenience." (Ai)
"Expansion?' (Tatsuro)
"Huh? Didn't it become available when you took the [Map] skill?" (Ai)
Dumbfounded by what he just heard, Tatsuro quickly booted up his own system to take a look. The slot where the [Map] skill once was replaced by [Map, Function Upgrade + 1].
"So, this is the expansion you were saying… I haven't taken a look at this section ever since I got the map so I never knew." (Tatsuro)
"Hmm… It's because you were only looking at the magic section." (Ai)
"Yeah. There's that too… Then, from now on, after I learn the item box, I'll try looking at this section again." (Tatsuro)
"That's the spirit." (Ai)
After storing their tools, there was still a lot of space left in the item box so Tatsuro took the liberty to mass-produce some kunai-like tools from the stones nearby. Along their journey, he managed to find a gigantic boulder which he promptly turned into a spear.
Without a need to care about their luggage anymore, the two continued walking until dusk.
"The sun is gonna set soon." (Tatsuro)
"It'll be dark in a bit, so let's start searching for a place to spend the night." (Tatsuro) Chapters first released on NoveI(F)ire.net
"Roger tha—Tatsuro?" (Ai)
"Something's coming." (Tatsuro)
Their ears picked up a loud sound deep inside the forest. From the sound of it and the increasing loudness, they understood that something… or rather a lot of something was coming their way.
"And here I thought that we could end the day without any troubles…" (Tatsuro)
"That sounds like some children's fairy tale now, huh?" (Ai)
There was no place around for them to hide in so they could only brace themselves. Tatsuro prepared his magic while Ai took out two kunai knives from her item box, holding one in each hand.
All while the sound kept coming closer.
Just as they heard a loud roar, something that looked like a wild boar with fangs about 2 meters long flew out of the bushes.
Understanding each other with minimal words, Ai turned her attention toward the boar and threw her kunai knives at it. Meanwhile, the boar-like animal started gathering power in its legs to prepare for a charge. As such, the boar-like animal was cleanly hit by the kunai knives.
Releasing another loud shriek, it fell flat onto the ground for a moment. After a brief respite, it stood up and started thundering towards them again. This time, Tatsuro took action. Creating a fireball with as much mana as he could muster, he shot it toward the boar-like animal, wanting to turn it into a roasted pig.
However, even after that, the boar-like animal still refused to die. Ai, remembering the stone spear in her item box, quickly took it out. Putting as much power as she could into the thrust, she aimed it straight at the boar's head.
|Skill [Spear Arts] acquired.|
|You have leveled up to Lv 13.|
Along with the announcement, the boar-like animal stopped moving. This, however, was not the end. While they were engaging the boar-like animal, the sounds of heavy footsteps were still relentlessly heading their way.
Ai quickly pulled the spear out of the boar's skull but was only returned with a shaft and a broken spearhead. Flustered by the sight of it, Tatsuro repaired the spearhead as fast as he could.
"They're here!" (Tatsuro)
"VICTORY COMES TO THOSE WHO STRIKE FIRST!" (Ai)
Shouting out to increase their morale, Ai threw another kunai towards the shrubbery where she predicted that the thing would come from.
The sound of metal striking metal resonated through the air.
Three bear-like monsters appeared alongside the thundering growl.
"Hey… Those things…" (Tatsuro)
"Bears. But they're too huge. Something's on their backs too!" (Ai)
Exchanging a few more words, the two used the boar's corpse as a shield while observing the enemy in this deadly capture-the-flag game. Their opponents were three gigantic bears with brown fur and a hard crystalline substance covering everything from their back up to the palm of their paws like an upgraded turtle's shell.
It was this part of the bear that played the clear high note when Ai threw the kunai.
The biggest of the three stood at five meters tall with a golden shell on its back as opposed to the other two which had blue shells on them.
Upon seeing the boar's corpse, the bear-like monsters approached it. In response, Tatsuro used [Level Eater] and blew the black sphere towards the gold bear. As soon as Tatsuro activated his skill, the bears were alerted of their presence and stopped moving, staring down at the two of them.
"Growl," as if threatening the two of them, the blue bears continuously released these low-pitched sounds.
The black sphere was still ever so slowly advancing on its path.
The first one to make a move was one of the blue bears. Despite the distance between them, it raised its right paw and tried to scratch them, swiping its claw downwards in their direction.
Sensing the danger they were in, Ai carried Tatsuro in her arms and dodged sideways. The place where they were once standing was now etched with a giant claw mark and the boar corpse had long turned into mincemeat.
Ai, with Tatsuro still in her arms, retreated about 3 meters from the bears. As she let Tatsuro down from her arms, she stared straight into the bear's eyes.
"Tatsuro that attack just now used Ki. These guys must be a lot stronger than what came out of the forest up until now." (Ai)
"Looks like it…" (Tatsuro)
Right as he heard Ai's words, the black sphere finally got in contact with the golden bear.
Tatsuro wasted no time and quickly looked at its status.
Skill(s): [Leadership Lv 8], [Bite Lv 8], [Scratch Lv 8]
[Enhanced Olfactory Perception Lv 2], [Claw Attack Lv 9]
[Boulder Blast Lv 9], [Charge Lv 7], [Golden Crystal Armor Lv 10]
"―――――This guy is a monster!" (Tatsuro)