Ordeal and Magma Zone

―[God's Ordeal], Deepest part of UG, the ninth floor.

After defeating the Battaman, I loitered around the blue passage to meet an

opponent that could drive me into a life or death situation. However, all I

met were small fries.

I mean, no matter how fast or powerful the attack of the monsters I met

along the way was, those crude attacks could not hit me in any way. The

monsters' stats were like pearls before swine, useless without any

refinement whatsoever. Just a light touch of my wooden sword on the joints

of those insect monsters was enough to sever their limbs.

「If I knew it would be this boring, I would've just wasted my time

swinging my sword.」

In the three years after I started exploring this dungeon, although it was not

that much, my base stats rose to an average of five. The reason I took three

whole years to reach the tenth floor was that this dungeon was just too

f*cking huge. As if that wasn't enough, the size increased as I went down.

This dungeon had a safety point that could be used as a resting place since

no monster could enter that place. That safety point also had a teleportation

circle to send me back to the entrance of the temple. Thus, the method to

traverse in this dungeon was akin to moving from one safety point to

another and moving back to the temple's entrance for resupply. I needed

dozens of days in the dungeon to reach another safety point.

Naturally, there was a limit on how many [Extremely Poisonous Bugs] I

could bring with me. Inside the dungeon, I procured my meal from these

bugs. Like that, I kept advancing deeper and deeper into this dungeon while

killing the bugs and eating them as a provision.

""

When I descended the giant stairway in the innermost area of the ninth

floor, I saw a giant bee waiting in the next room.

『First Trial: Defeat Killer Hornet! Begin!』

Hearing the inorganic female voice resound in my head, I readied my

[Unbreakable Stick].

Finally! This guy might be the opponent I've been looking for.

「LET'S ENJOY, OUR DEATH BATTLE!」

I screamed at the top of my lungs as I walked toward the monster bee.

Suddenly, the monster bee's body shook and became blurry. I felt a chill run

down my spine and shifted my center of gravity to the right. As I did so, I

realized that my left arm had been gouged.

「Hmm! An opponent I can't see, huh! Not bad.」

I readied my [Unbreakable Stick] again as the tip of my lips rose

upward. I was enjoying the comfortable pain and the delight of brushing

against death after a long time.

I couldn't see the enemy; this meant my opponent was formidable. I had

never felt so delighted before. Suppressing the joy in my heart, I took a

strong grip on my wooden sword's handle.

「In the end, only this much, huh…」

I had expected this situation before, but I couldn't help but feel

disappointed. Sure enough, I couldn't see that monster bee's movement.

But, the bee just moved in a straight line. It was f*cking predictable.

Moreover, since the bee shook its body on the same spot before executing

its ultra-high-speed attack, during that period, it was literally a sitting duck.

I mean, the bee practically told me where it was going to attack next so that

I could dodge.

As if that wasn't enough, the guy's trump card was―

I raised my wooden sword over my head as I saw the incoming lump of

violet poisonous water raining down toward me.

「[Commandement Sword Art One Sword Style], third Form―Moon

Mirror」

I sent the lump of poison raining down toward me back at the monster bee

with my wooden sword.

As if someone had rewound the scene, the lumps of violet poison retraced

its previous orbit and went on to melt the tip of the monster bee's tail.

「Sorry, but such crude use of projectile weapons doesn't work on me.」

Third Form―Moon Mirror was a counter form I had created to defend

against the long-distance attack magic of Silver, the magic swordsman.

Silver's ultra-high-speed magic aside, returning such a crude attack wasn't

a big deal for me.

Seeing its melted tail, I could tell that the poison contained an extremely

powerful acid. Well, it wouldn't even have worked on me though.

Despite screaming in pain, the giant bee, which should've created some

distance from me, kept clinging to the ceiling.

Uhm, so it's different from the other bugs. Even when it's at such a

disadvantage, it doesn't escape or lose its fighting spirit.

This thing was a bug but, for some reason, it had the pride of a warrior.

「Time to end this.」

I clasped my wooden sword in my left hand, lowering my center of gravity

as much as possible. Then, I slightly raised the tip of the sword with my

right hand. [TL: Uhm, Gatotsu?]

This was my current fastest sword art and my response to my opponent.

When the bee's body started to shake…

「[Commandement Sword Art, One Sword Style], Second

Form―Flash」

The moment I spun those words, numerous streaks of light rushed into the

room. As for me, I was already standing behind the giant bee.

『GIGI?』

The moment the bee turned around, its head slid down and fell on the

ground along with its body.

「Rest in peace.」

I swung my wooden sword to the side to get rid of the green bodily fluid

sticking on its blade. Then, I fastened it back to my waist,

『Confirming the subjugation of Killer Hornet. You've cleared the 1st trial.

You acquired Special Clear Privilege.』

Immediately after the inorganic female voice resounded in my head, a long,

narrow wooden box appeared in the centre of the room.

When I opened the wooden box, I found a long sword with a shiny red

blade. I immediately tried appraisal on it.

―――――――――――――――――――――

★Flame Sword: When this sword cuts a target, it can burn them by using

the mana in the atmosphere.

・Rank: Advanced

―――――――――――――――――――――

A sword that can burn the target it cuts, huh! I should be able to grill those

bugs with this. I mean, doing that might improve their flavour.

After healing the wound I had received from the Killer Hornet, I descended

to the eleventh floor. The ground of this place was boiling lava.

Yup, this is it! This is how it's supposed to be! I mean, if I can't find an

opponent, even if it sounds like a joke, it should at least be this much even.

Now, the problem was what to do now. Forget exploring, I couldn't even

take a step forward in this situation. This wouldn't have been a big deal if I

had heat-resistant shoes, but unfortunately, I had no such convenient thing

with me.

「Resistance, huh… Well, this might be a good chance for a little

experiment.」

After I cleared the tenth floor's trial, that place had turned into a safety

point I could use to teleport outside.

I took off [Escape Shoes] and put it back into my item box. Then, I tried

to dip the tip of my toe into the magma and immediately pulled it back.

「Tch! It's impossible after all.」

In the end, I took out the elixir from my item box. I clicked my tongue

while grimacing at the pain in the tip of my toe. The elixir healed the burn,

but then, I dipped my toe into the magma again.

After repeating the same thing fifty times,

『You have met the requirement to get [Weak Heat Resistance]. You

acquired a skill―[Weak Heat Resistance].』

A transparent board appeared before me along with the inorganic female

voice.

―――――――――――――――――――――

・Skill―[Weak Heat Resistance]: Have a little resistance to heat.

・Condition for skill acquisition: Exposing one part of the body to high

heat 50 times.

・Rank: Beginner

・Rank up condition: Exposing one part of the body to high heat 500 times.

―――――――――――――――――――――

This is it! THIS IS IT! YAAY! My time and elixir are infinite! I've got

another goal in front of me! Let's raise this new skill till I gain [Heat

Assimilation].