This happened a little while before the Kobolds inhabiting Easteria forest, a newly-declared sanctuary, found and cared for the little girl from Viel village…

On their way back from the Ancient forest, the silver wolf-dog and his party of Kobolds and Elves dropped by and stopped over Lucua village.

However, the village was small and did not have a big enough place to let everyone stay, so they camped out in the clearing just outside the village and spent the night there, but now, the sound of wooden swords clashing and shouts could be heard from the area.

“SEYAAAAAAH!”

Liz, whose energy was as high as her cat ears standing on end, launched herself from a low stance and used the wooden dagger on her right hand to aim for the gaps in the black-armed Kobold’s leather armor and pierce it.

Although the blade was made of wood, such an attack would still cause an injury if it hits, so it was common sense to hold back on attacking the opponent during practice, but… with Liz’s experience, it was rather difficult to expect her to hold back. There was a possibility of something going wrong if the attack connected, so because he didn’t need to receive the blow, Buster stepped back with his left foot and bent his back a bit to evade the attack.

“Wauoh.” (That was close.)

“Kuh, I’m not done yet!”

Continuing from her first attack, Liz used the wooden dagger on her left hand that she held in an underhand grip and aimed for Buster’s throat, but Buster used force to hold down Liz’s thin wrist and stop her momentum.

“Voo, kuaruu…” (She’s light, but she’s still slow…)

“Kuuh!?”

Liz, whose left wrist had been captured, pulled her right arm back from her initial attack and tried to aim at her opponent’s heart… However, the move was within Buster’s expectations, so he vigorously yanked her wrist towards him and moved in to punch Liz in the face as she lost her balance!

“Kyaah!!”

Liz involuntarily flinched and was unable to move as she tightly closed her eyes, but… The pain she was expecting didn’t come, but she felt Buster’s paw patting her in between her cat ears instead.

“…Oaruga.” (… Let’s stop here.)

“Urghh, I can’t even win against Buster who’s fighting barehanded…” 

Unlike monster-type demi-humans who experience “abrupt evolutions”, human-type demi-humans also ascend the silver Spiral Staircase little by little without being aware of it through experience and combat. 

One such example is a Werecat swordsman who possessed the “Omniscient Eye”, which was admired by all Werecat warriors as a hero of their race because of his astounding dynamic vision and ability to execute slash attacks at an extreme speed. 

But since he did not know the continental language, the black-armed Kobold Buster could not understand what Liz was saying.

(Hmm, I don’t understand what she’s going on about, but…)

Upon seeing Liz depressed, Buster patted her head more and ended the mock battle that his pack leader asked him to participate in.

(Now, let’s see what’s happening over there…)

Buster was puzzled as he looked at the scene before him. Instead of his furry chieftain, a wild, silver-haired man with a narrow look in his eyes carefully approached a Werecat swordsman who was holding a wooden sword.

“…It seems like your movement has slightly slowed down, Archer.”

“I’m still not used to this form… Rather, it seems you’ve gotten stronger, Wallace.”

“I have regrets over losing my friends to the Goblin attack, so I can’t afford to lose to them again.”

The youthful-looking gentleman smiled fearlessly as he blocked the incoming attack, jumped back, and held his sword in a multi-directional stance*.

“Tsk, I can’t find an opening… You’ve truly gotten stronger.”

A few days before this mock battle, I succeeded in changing into human form and was finally able to speak the human language. But then I found that it was quite difficult to move in this body. I had anticipated it would take time for me to get used to it, but this was more than I expected.  I also realized that it was easier to move in a loincloth than moving in clothes with tail holes that I bought in Lucua village yesterday.

Still, it was necessary for me to test my limited abilities in this form so I asked Wallace for a mock battle, but… I had a hard time due to the decline in my sense of hearing and smell, as well as Wallace’s growth in terms of battle strength

(Should I just charge in…!?)

While I was at a loss as to how to attack, my opponent flawlessly charged in without missing a beat and launched a diagonal slash attack aimed at my upper body.

“Sei!”

“Guuh.”

I caught the attack by a hair’s breadth by raising my wooden sword diagonally, but at the moment of contact, the Werecat swordsman slackened his wrist and slid his weapon back, drawing a half-moon downward at an unrecognizable speed and launched a follow-up attack at the same pace.

“!?”

I gripped the wooden sword tightly to avoid being hit, and somehow managed to withstand a series of blows, but in a short time, the force of the blows calmed down and I was able to get an attack in. I felt a momentary chill as I pushed and slashed, blocking Wallace’s movement. After our swords clashed once, I quickly jumped back, gaining some distance away from my opponent as I squared off with him again.

“So after launching a series of attacks to put your opponent on the defensive, you get them to focus on protecting their upper body and launch an attack from below, huh…”

“Exactly. It’s amazing how you caught all of that.”

We smiled at each other as we exchanged a few words. Then, I took on a crouching tiger-like stance by turning my upper body to the side, lowering my hips, and positioning my sword so that the tip would extend to the back.

(I’m pretty sure this is the fool-proof single strike she was talking about…)

As I recalled the words and techniques of Sakura, a mercenary in my group who hailed from the Far East, I sharpened my focus. I felt Wallace take a half-step back while slightly lowering his hips and holding his sword in an upper stance.

And after a moment, the sound of two blades rushing forward cut through the silent air!

I closed the gap as if I were running on all fours by sliding my left leg backward, thrusting my other knee towards the ground, and using that as a spring to increase the force and speed of my attack as I used my upper body as a centrifugal force to swing the sword. However, my blade met my opponent’s blade with almost the same force. 

The violent sound of the wooden swords clashing with each other reverberated in the area and the blow I launched caused the Werecat Swordsman’s weapon to fly overhead, creating a deadly opening.

“Uwah!?”

“Gotcha!!”

I instantly adjusted my hold on the sword and proceeded to launch a slash attack at Wallace’s undefended torso, but…

“Well, they are made of wood after all.”

“You’re right…”

Both of our swords had completely broken due to the impact of the attacks.

“Do you want to continue?”

“No, let’s stop here… I have a feeling that I can’t win against you barehanded.”

I took on a light fighting stance and controlled the magic circulating inside my body in preparation for activating Adamantine Body when I asked Wallace if he wanted to continue, but the Werecat gentleman waved his hand in refusal.

So I relaxed my shoulders and looked in the direction of Buster and Liz who were supposed to be engaged in a mock battle, but it seemed like they finished earlier and came to watch. However, as soon as my eyes met theirs, they both averted their gazes and ran away somewhere.

Meanwhile, Ax fell over when one of the broken swords flew in his direction and hit him in the face while he was holding a bottle of honey… If I had to guess why he failed to dodge, he was probably busy licking off the honey from his paw.