Chapter 14 : A Bug In Another World

(A/N: I made a slight adjustment to Chapter 13. Originally, I wrote that only Tione had her magical energy drained by Kazuma's Drain Touch, while Bete and Tiona weren't affected because their magic stat was at 0. However, I've changed this so that all of their magical energy is drained by Kazuma.

After doing some research, I realized that the magic stat doesn't represent how much magical energy someone has, but rather their understanding of magic laws, which allows them to contain more magical energy within their bodies. So even if someone has a magic stat of 0, it doesn't mean they have no magical energy inside their body.)

...…..

Back at Twilight Manor

The news about Aqua Familia was too shocking for Finn. It made him hesitant, unsure if Loki Familia should still proceed with the War Game. He turned to Loki, the one with the final say.

"What do you think, Loki? Do you still want to challenge Aqua Familia to a War Game?"

"Why are you even asking? Of course, we should still challenge them to a War Game!"

"But they're a new Familia, and on top of that, they only have three Level 1 adventurers. It could ruin our reputation as an Exploration Familia if we challenge them."

"I don't care. That man... he dared to question my identity as Loki. I won't let him off that easily."

"So, how do you want to fight them?"

"I'll let them choose the game. After all, I don't want to come off as a bully. This way, there won't be any issues, right?"

"Haaah... fine. We'll go along with your selfishness this time."

Finn sighed, resigned to Loki's decision. With that, the Loki Familia meeting came to an end. Not long after, everyone returned to their rooms, getting ready to sleep.

"BOOOM!"

A massive explosion occurred outside the northen wall of Orario.

Twilight Manor, being the closest to the northen wall, naturally heard the loud blast.

Although this was the second time Orario had experienced such an explosion, for the members of Loki Familia—especially the core members who had just returned from the dungeon that day—the noise immediately jolted them awake. They rushed outside the city to investigate what had happened.

When they arrived at the scene, they found nothing except a flattened forest area, leveled by the explosion. The ground in that area was reddish, as if scorched, and traces of magic lingered around.

The Loki Familia searched the surrounding area but found nothing. By the time they decided to stop, the sun had already risen.

The rising sun marked the start of a new day.

In an inn, Kazuma woke up from his sleep.

"Ugghhhhhh, my head hurts so much."

He was still hungover from last night's drinking. Kazuma tried to organize his thoughts, attempting to recall what he had done.

"Uaaaaaaghhhhhhh!"

Kazuma let out a loud scream. The memories of last night finally came flooding back. He immediately threw himself onto the bed and hid under the blanket.

His loud scream woke Aqua, Darkness, and Megumin from their sleep.

"Kazuma, why are you screaming so early in the morning?" Aqua said, slightly annoyed that Kazuma's shout had interrupted her deep sleep.

"Good morning, Kazuma! You were really cool last night!" Megumin praised him sincerely, without a hint of sarcasm.

"I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear it! That wasn't me last night! I must have been possessed by a demon!"

"Kazuma, don't run away from reality. You've accepted the War Game challenge from Loki Familia, so what are your plans now?"

"I don't know!! Besides, I have no idea what a War Game even is!"

....

....

....

Although the sun smiled brightly, illuminating the world, the sky looked gloomy and was crying heavily. Its tears cascaded down, soaking every corner of Orario.

Inside the guild lobby, Eina sat reading a newspaper. The headline shouted the hottest news of the day: "Loki Familia Challenges Aqua Familia to a War Game."

Then, right in front of her, there were three women and one man sitting together. They were the ones mentioned in the news.

That's right, they were Aqua Familia.

Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness showed no signs of worry whatsoever. Meanwhile, Kazuma looked extremely anxious and immediately wanted to find a place to hide.

"So... Kazuma-san, you accepted the War Game challenge from Loki Familia even though you don't know what a War Game is?"

Eina crossed her arms over her chest, looking down at Kazuma.

"Sorry..." Kazuma lowered his head and apologized.

"Haaaah... well then, let me explain what a War Game is."

"A War Game is a duel between familias where both sides fight fiercely according to the rules they set. At the same time, they also wager something. The winner takes whatever the loser put up on the line. This could be a family member, money—anything can be wagered. Furthermore, the losing familia cannot back out of their bet."

Kazuma lifted his head. A brilliant idea suddenly struck him after hearing Eina's explanation.

"By the way, Eina-san, does this battle always have to involve sword and magic fights? You mentioned that the fight is based on the rules set between the two familias, doesn't that mean there could be other ways to win the War Game without directly battling with swords and magic?"

"Hmmmm... that's an interesting thought. The rules of the War Game are determined during the Denatus event. By the way Denatus is a meeting of the gods and goddesses. If Aqua-sama can steer the course of that event to create War Game rules that avoid physical combat, then it's certainly possible."

Kazuma then looked at Aqua. She was currently enjoying the food and drinks provided by Eina. Her face looked quite silly, with crumbs of bread stuck to her cheeks.

Seeing Aqua like this only deepened Kazuma's despair.

There was no way he could rely on Aqua for something as important as this.

In the end, he gave up on trying to do anything strange.

"For now, let's put that aside... Kazuma-san, the news says that you defeated three Level 5 adventurers from Loki Familia. Can you explain that?"

"Oh, you mean the wolf-man and the two women with dark skin?"

"Exactly, they are Bete, Tiona, and Tione. They are the core adventurers of Loki Familia."

"Eina-san, are they really that strong? Aren't they only Level 5? I mean, even though I'm Level 1, the gap between Level 1 and Level 5 isn't that far, is it?"

"HAAAAAH?? ARE YOU CRAZY???!!"

Eina screamed loudly, causing everyone in the guild lobby to hear her scream.

All eyes turned to her, trying to figure out what was wrong. When they saw Aqua Familia in front of her, everyone immediately understood what was happening and returned to their own business.

Realizing her scream had disturbed the guild, Eina lowered her voice as she spoke to Kazuma.

"Don't you understand what being Level 5 means? Didn't I tell you about Aiz yesterday? Aiz is currently Level 5 and is considered the strongest swordsman in Orario!"

"Yes, you mentioned that yesterday, but why is being Level 5 enough for her to be called the strongest swordsman in Orario?"

"Level 5 is already more than enough to make you one of the strongest adventurers in Orario. And do you know how many years it took Aiz to reach Level 5? She spent 5 years to achieve it. And that's because Aiz is a genius adventurer! Other adventurers might take decades to reach Level 5!"

"Eeeeh, is it really that hard to reach Level 5?"

Kazuma's eyes widened in disbelief; he couldn't hold back his shock upon hearing that it could take someone decades to reach Level 5.

After that, Eina explained a lot about Loki Familia and the War Game, but in the end, They didn't come up with any solutions. They could only wait for the invitation to the Denatus event, where they would decide on the War Game to be held.

....

....

....

Inside the inn room, Kazuma paced back and forth. He bit his fingers, confused about what he should do at that moment.

In the midst of his thoughts, a magic stone fell from his pocket.

(A/N: In previous chapter I referred to them as mana stones due to a translation error, but from now on I will refer to them as magic stones.)

This magic stone was from the goblin he had killed but had forgotten to sell to the guild. Kazuma picked up the fallen magic stone.

He held the magic stone, spinning it in his hand while deep in thought.

After a moment, he want to confirm his idea.

Then Kazuma approached Aqua, who was leisurely sipping alcohol in the morning.

"Aqua, please update my status!"

"Huh? Didn't you just update your status yesterday?"

"Stop talking and just update my status!"

Aqua complied with Kazuma's request and began updating his status. During the process, she noticed something that shocked her.

"Wait a minute, what is this... Kazuma, you can now level up to Level 2!"

"WHAT???" both Megumin and Darkness exclaimed in shock upon hearing this.

"Aqua, is it true that Kazuma can level up to Level 2?" Megumin asked Aqua, trying to confirm she hadn't misheard.

"That's correct; he's already gained high-rank excelia. So, Kazuma, do you want to level up to Level 2?"

"Wait, Aqua, there's still something I want to try. Let me stay at Level 1."

"Alright then."

Aqua completed the status update process. She stuck a piece of paper to Kazuma's back, then placed her finger in the center of the paper and began to spin it. Before long, the paper was filled with letters displaying Kazuma's status.

Satou Kazuma

Level: 1

Strength : G 250 -> F 300

Defense : H 190 -> G 250

Dexterity : F 350 -> D 500

Agility : E 450 -> C 600

Magic : G 250 -> C 650

Skill :

Wizard Class:

•High-Speed Incantation (LOCKED) -> (UNLOCKED) 

Intermediate Magic :

•Fireball (LOCKED) -> (UNLOCKED) 

•Blade of Wind (LOCKED) -> (UNLOCKED) 

•Freeze Gust (LOCKED) -> (UNLOCKED)

•Wind Curtain (LOCKED) -> (UNLOCKED)

•Lightning (LOCKED) -> (UNLOCKED)

•Flash (LOCKED) -> (UNLOCKED)

•Unlock (LOCKED) -> (UNLOCKED)

......

Kazuma took the status paper from Aqua. He glanced at it briefly, focusing only on the numbers of his base status and ignoring the skills and magic that were listed.

Afterward, he pulled out all the goblin magic stones he had. There were a total of 30 magic stones. Without a second thought, Kazuma activated his drain touch skill on all the magic stones.

The magic stones touched by Kazuma's drain touch turned to ash and vanished into nothingness.

Monsters are creatures born from walls in dungeons. Each monster possesses magic stones within their bodies; the larger the magic stones they have, the stronger the monster becomes.

As a result, each type of monster usually has similar power levels since their strength is decided at birth. However, there are also some monsters that can become stronger than usual by consuming magic stones. These are known as strengthened species.

Of course, adventurers have tried to do this, but they gained no benefits other than digestive issues. Because of this, adventurers concluded that only monsters could consume magic stones and absorb them to strengthen themselves.

However, at this moment, Kazuma was undergoing a revolution—or perhaps an evolution. He was attempting to do what those monsters did by consuming the magic stones.

After Kazuma finished absorbing the 30 magic stones he had, he asked Aqua to update his status again.

Here is Kazuma's status after absorbing the 30 goblin magic stones.

Satou Kazuma

Level: 1

Strength : G 300 -> F 307

Defense : H 250 -> G 254

Dexterity : F 500 -> D 506

Agility : E 600-> C 606

Magic : G 650-> C 657

......

(To Be Continued)