[Kurumazuka Natsumi] [Power level: 37 (Body 17, Technique 9, Mind 11)] [Wind Breathing LV2 (231/1000)] Life skills (Count: 7) LV2 [Physical training] LV1 [Suburi] [Running] [Camping] [Cooking] [Fishing] LV0 [Gathering] Achievement points: 6
Walking through the woods, Xia Xi planned how to learn the other Breathing Styles as soon as possible while searching his surroundings for enemies.
Logically, these man-eating demons should have been starving after being trapped in the mountains beside the lake for so long.
Once they caught the scent of a living person, they should have swarmed him as quickly as striped mosquitoes in a field.
Holding his Nichirin Blade, Xia Xi brimmed with anticipation.
For other swordsmen, perhaps,
the entire selection consisted of being ambushed by demons in the darkness, then fighting and defeating them.
But for Xia Xi, things were completely different.
All he needed to do was spot a character name within the system's enemy detection range.
Sure enough, a small line of text soon appeared among the trees to his right.
It rapidly grew larger as time passed.
[Noutu ???] [Power level: 33 (Body 22, Technique 6, Mind 5)] [Threat level: Low]
"Fuck, finally, a living person! I'm about to starve to death!" Amid a string of bizarre shrieks, a monster that looked seven parts human and three parts toad crashed down from a tree.
As it kicked up a huge cloud of dust, its ravenous, impatient gaze swept over every inch of Xia Xi's skin.
"Kid, don't resist, and I can give you..."
Wind Breathing
[Second Form: Claws: Koto Wind]
Several slashes like a wild beast's claws tore through great swaths of the demon's body.
They sliced through its neck as well, sending its entire head flying.
"...give you a quick death? H-hey, what?! My head!"
Only after its head hit the ground did the demon belatedly cry out in shock.
Then its body began to fade away.
"I remember now. It was that monster. That monster turned me into..."
[Skip]
I'm grinding XP in a dungeon. Who has time for your personal storyline?
[Wind Breathing LV2 (265/1000) +34]
Oh? Thirty-four experience points?
He had thought this toad monster was weaker and would drop considerably less experience than the last one.
Just as Xia Xi was thinking this, another noise came from the woods behind him.
The flow of time abruptly returned to normal midway through fast-forwarding.
A new battle had been triggered.
Xia Xi brought his blade back to defend, and sharp claws dragged a long trail of sparks across his Nichirin Blade.
"That fool Noutu actually died at the hands of a little brat."
"In that case, I shall gladly help myself to this delicacy."
It was a gaunt demon.
Apart from its somewhat malformed limbs, it looked almost no different from an ordinary person.
[Sigan ???] [Power level: 52 (Body: 41, Technique: 6, Mind: 5)] [Threat: Low]
Xia Xi grew a little interested.
Its stats are quite a bit higher than the last one's. Fighting it should be a little more interesting... but why is its threat rating still the same?
He closed in, drawing his extended Nichirin Blade back to his waist.
Thrust!
With the momentum of his charge added to it, the blade's tip shot forward even faster, becoming a straight streak of light.
"What an arrogant brat."
"It seems I ought to teach you a lesson."
Despite the speed and ferocity of the thrust, the demon reacted with ease, retreating while bending its joints in inhuman ways to evade the blade's tip.
At the same time, it reached around the Nichirin Blade with its long claws and slashed at Xia Xi.
Yet the boy remained calm.
His thrust abruptly changed. He lowered his body, and his loosely gripping right hand left the hilt entirely.
Then he raised his elbow and drove it straight into the joint of his opponent's arm.
A dull thud rang out.
With pain written across its face, the demon had its attack forcibly knocked aside by Xia Xi's elbow strike.
Sure enough, any humanoid creature
was subject to the limitations of its joints and the mechanics of exerting force.
Tendons and ligaments mobilized muscles, muscle fibers pulled on bones, and together they produced swings, chops, and other movements.
The more realistic a game was, the greater those limitations became.
Humanoid monsters attacked according to a logic, with patterns that could be traced.
This was a technique Xia Xi had developed over his long years of playing action games.
Not to mention, this game's combat also came with system assistance.
Before every enemy attack, a fleeting [Red warning flash] would appear.
When he slashed, the system also provided varying degrees of aim correction based on his stats.
Once his stats grew high enough, it would even project real-time dotted outlines showing various possible enemy attacks.
And at certain critical moments,
the game would slow down and enter a close-up combat sequence resembling bullet time.
In short, judging by the combat so far,
Xia Xi considered this game downright baby-level.
Compared with the Soulslikes and hardcore action games he had played before, it really wasn't very difficult.
Seeing itself fall behind in the blink of an eye, the demon named [Sigan] grew furious.
It simply lunged straight at Xia Xi, trying to close in.
In its view, even if this human swordsman had some skill, against its immortal body, that would only determine how long he lasted.
It could afford countless mistakes.
Its opponent could afford only one.
But before it could get close, Xia Xi met it with a heavy stomp.
Crack.
It wasn't a kick. He stamped hard on the top of its foot, interrupting its advance while dealing a massive critical hit of pain.
The tremendous force instantly crushed its entire foot into the ground, and agony shot through its body like lightning.
Before [Sigan] could scream, another hard object slammed into its face.
It was the metal sword hilt.
At a range too close to swing his blade, Xia Xi hadn't backed away. Instead, he held his Nichirin Blade sideways.
And smashed the entire hilt into the groove above his opponent's upper lip.
Intense pain and dizziness made Sigan stagger backward.
But with its foot pinned firmly beneath his, it couldn't retreat an inch. Instead, it lost its balance and toppled sideways.
"You brat, aren't you supposed to use a Samurai Sword..."
First elbows, then stomping on my foot, and now jabbing me in the mouth?!
It was about ready to curse him out.
Xia Xi, however, didn't hesitate at all, smoothly turning his sideways blade upright.
Who said a sword had to be so inflexible?
Rising slash!
A great spray of black-red blood burst out. [Sigan] rolled away clumsily, barely escaping decapitation.
Rather than pursue it, Xia Xi began observing it.
"Come to think of it, your blood counts as red too."
Its wounds are healing fast enough to see?
No wonder demons don't feel pain.
Some sort of ability from a bodily mutation?
Opposite Xia Xi, Sigan was already terrified.
It was beginning to consider retreating.
This brat's presence is clearly weaker than mine. How can he be so strong?!
No wonder that fool Noutu died in a single exchange.
"Hey, you're not thinking of running, are you?"
Damn it, why does it feel like this brat is the hunter?
Xia Xi said, "Listen, if you aren't coming at me, I'm going to start moving again."
Sigan finally lost patience and roared, "Stop looking down on me!"
It held nothing back now, charging at Xia Xi with all its strength.
The Nichirin Blade met it.
In an instant, blade light erupted, tracing several chilling arcs through the gentle moonlight and dreamlike wisteria blossoms.
It was as though Xia Xi were inviting someone to dance.
And his unwilling partner was dragged into this dance of death.
Sparks-
were the scattered flecks of light thrown off when demon claws as hard as metal struck the Nichirin Blade.
Blooms of blood-
were the howls and terror that sprayed from the demon's wounds whenever the blade struck.
Every flash of sparks in the night
bore witness to the two dancers' deadly struggle.
In the firelight, the demon's expression grew ever more frightened and cowed; in the reflected blade light, Xia Xi's eyes grew ever brighter and more fervent.
At last, the sparks ceased.
[Wind Breathing LV2 (265/1000)] → [Wind Breathing LV2 (377/1000)]
The dance was over.
Before you continue