When it was time to switch the night watch, Ai was gently woken up by Tatsuro. During the short time frame when they were both awake, Tatsuro told Ai about the effects of titles, making her grow curious about her own.
Class: Martial Artist
[Valkyrie], [Unarmed Combat Lv.6], [Staff Art Lv.1]
[Throwing Lv.7], [Spear Art Lv.1], [Sword Arts Lv.1]
[Ki Regeneration Lv.5], [Body Strengthening Lv.9]
[Destroyer], [Perfect Harmony]
"My Ki really went up a lot…" (Ai)
(… No, that's not it. Titles… There!)
She checked the effects of her titles before going back to the stats screen.
(Eh? So if I didn't have the [Destroyer] title, my magic stat would be just 2 points? [Valkyrie] really wants to cut me off from magic completely, huh? Well, Tatsuro is here so I guess it's fine… Next is [Perfect Harmony]'s telepathic communication. I'm glad I can at least talk to Tatsuro anytime I want…)
Looking at the title the two of them got together, and Ai's lips curled upwards into a foolish smile. That is until she heard the sound of water splashing coming from the river.
Laying down behind their camp's wall to hide, Ai confirmed the situation outside through a peephole made by Tatsuro. Doing so, she saw something, which was about 40cm long, swimming violently in the river as if trying to hunt for fish.
(Is it something that lives in the river? Nothing happened in the forest so far and it does look like an aquatic animal…)
Ai carefully observed the creature under the moonlight, and when she did…
"A crayfish? But its pincers are a bit too thin…" (Ai)
That something had the appearance of a crayfish. However, unlike your typical crayfish, it had thin pincers on both arms which one might call harpoons upon seeing them. It was currently using those harpoon-like pincers to hunt for fish in the river.
After a lot of stabbing and thrusting, it had already accumulated 5 fish on its harpoons. The fishes, desperate to stay alive, wriggled with all their might to escape but to no avail. The crayfish-like animal then proceeded to the riverbank, where it minced them into tiny little pieces.
Devouring the fish, it hopped back into the river and started to swim upstream.
"That's definitely gonna be a stab fish." (Ai)
Feeling pride in her naming ability, Ai continued to stare upstream where the stabfish went.
After that, nothing worthy of note happened. To pass the remaining time left on her night watch, Ai scrolled through the skill shop in search of anything that would benefit them.
And just like that, two hours passed and it was time for the two to switch places again.
Watching Ai fall into slumber within a few minutes, Tatsuro's fatigue drained from his body as he stared at the gigantic moon.
(Doing nothing once in a while really loosens up the mind, huh? It's only been two days and yet a lot has already happened so doing this feels refreshing.)
Relaxing his body, Tatsuro listened to the sound of Mother Nature. In the middle of it, he suddenly saw the shadow of something moving through the sky, covering the moon as it passed by.
At first, he thought it was just a bird. However, that thing completely covered the moon as it moved past, finally revealing its shape a few moments later.
(Did I just see… a dragon?)
The thing flying in the sky boasts of a humongous body which was covered with majestic silver scales. It had a lizard-like figure but with a longer neck and thicker muscles all over its body. And then, there were the sharp claws at the ends of its four limbs. Gigantic wings were also attached firmly to its back, allowing it to soar freely in the air as though it were dancing. At the end of its body was a bulky tail, fluttering in the night sky as it flew gracefully.
Tatsuro wasn't able to move his eyes off the sight. In his view, it was as if the sky was made for the sole purpose of accommodating the dragon's grand waltz.
–Suddenly, the dragon turned its head towards him.
Tatsuro felt a faint pressure emanating from its gaze. Though the dragon only paid a silver of its attention, it was enough to instill terror in him but yet, Tatsuro still could not turn his eyes away from the scene. It was as though his whole body was not under his command.
Soon enough, as if losing interest in Tatsuro, it turned its head away and sneered, flying away to the ends of the sky.
"—was it laughing? Why…?" (Tatsuro)
For most of their interaction, Tatsuro just stared at it like an idiot, unable to make a single movement. Maybe that's why? Was what Tatsuro concluded in his mind. When he did so, he finally felt relieved from the pressure he felt earlier.
As a gentle breeze flew by, Tatsuro felt unnaturally cold and finally noticed his sweat-laden body.
"Wow… This feels like the ice bucket challenge…" (Tatsuro)
Even though his skin felt sticky and he was tired from the earlier charade, the magnificent sight of the silver dragon was still stuck in his head. While it was true that he was utterly terrified by the dragon, Tatsuro was equally moved by the beauty of the scenery.
(That was a dragon. No mistakes, right? This isn't a game or a movie, that's a real dragon right there!) (Tatsuro)
The tranquil moment as it flew calmly in the sky while the moon provided the perfect backlight. It was a scene that he would never have a chance to see back on Earth —– something that he would never forget in his entire life.
"This is another world… after all." (Tatsuro)
With his heart still beating rapidly, Tatsuro could only smile as the words came out of his mouth.
While he was still basking in the scene earlier, a weak, high-pitched sound similar to a bird's chirping entered Tatsuro's ears. The sound gradually got louder and along with it came the sound of wings flapping or rather– several wings flapping.
Tatsuro activated his Dispel magic. Changing its shape from a dome to a cone, he pointed it in the direction of the sounds. However, it was slightly too late as the creatures had already flown out of the woods. Check latest chapters at novel※fire.net
Looking exactly like a bat, each creature had an average wingspan of about 30cm.
The first few pass by over their camp, heading into the forest on the other side of the river. Then a whole bunch of bats followed right after. Unfortunately, the two were spotted by one of them, then two, and suddenly, the whole flock headed towards them.
(It would have been great if you guys just continued like that.) (Tatsuro)
With that thought in his mind, Tatsuro grasped tightly onto Ai's hand.
Allowing [Perfect Harmony] to take effect, Tatsuro instantly created about a hundred tiny red spheres of light around them.
And then, he attacked.
Lasers started firing mercilessly at the bats from each tiny red sphere. It sounded like a requiem dedicated to the bats caught in its way. For those lucky few who managed to pass by the smaller lasers, Tatsuro took care of them by shooting larger lasers at them with his hands.
After thirty short seconds, the sky was once again clear of disturbances, leaving only the glistening moon and stars behind.
(I should search for survivors with Dispel magic.)
It was time for the magic to redeem itself. Reverting back to its usual dome-like shape, Tatsuro searched to see if there were still any bats alive.
Locating three bats that were on their final breaths, Tatsuro used [Level Eater] on them without any hesitation.
Skill(s): [Flight Lv 1], [Bite Lv 2], [Bloodsucking Lv 2]
Skill(s): [Flight Lv 2], [Bite Lv 4], [Bloodsucking Lv 3]
Skill(s): [Flight Lv 1], [Bite Lv 3], [Bloodsucking Lv 1]
Which he devoured without batting an eyelid.