NBAA Vol. 5 Chapter 2 Part 2
Reito and crew had entered one of the non-collapsed buildings to take a break after defeating the five Battle Golems. They were getting ready to eat. He had checked with Airis that there was no danger around them, so there was no problem there.
They had made hot pot from the ingredients in his storage magic and the monster he had hunted yesterday. Reito pulled out drinking water, too. Everyone was eating together. They planned to continue their investigation after they had rested enough.
Dain, Gonzo, and Kotomin, who were eating the hot pot, chimed in one after the other, “Wow… that was delicious!” “That was great!” “I wish we had had fish…”
“My bad. I’ll bring fishing supplies next time.”
Ullr whimpered.
“Purupuru.”
Reito was putting away the utensils and bowls as he looked outside.
There was no sign of any Battle Golem being nearby.
According to Airis, there were 7 Battle Golems assigned to protect this town.
『The Battle Golem were made out of crystals representing 7 magical properties. The only ones left are the water and lightning property Battle Golem.』
『Where are they?』
『They are on patrol in an area far from where you guys are hiding. They have designated patrol areas, so if you don’t approach the area on purpose, there’s no chance they’ll attack you. However, there are situations where they will track down the monsters that enter the town, so watch out.』
The first Battle Golem they encountered was a holy magic one that had been chasing after a goblin that was running away. It was an accident that they ran into the Battle Golem. Further, Battle Golems are vaguely able to grasp each other’s location. They are designed to gather when one of them enters battle mode. The second Golem was drawn in by the other one.
The cyclops had lost its habitat after being driven away by the master of the forest, the Minotaurus. It just happened to wander into the ruins.
Reito asked Airis a question, 『Do I need to get the magic crystals of the other two Golem?』
『If you can, it would be beneficial for you. You can use it to make holy swords, and if you use them right, you might be able to make something more powerful than a holy sword.』
『I have no plans to make such a destructive weapon.』
『At any rate, it would be best to get them. Oh, and there are other materials left in the town. We need to get them.』
『Dain is suffering from hard times financially. Can I share the materials with him?』
『Of course, of course.』
『Thank you, Airis… Wait, shoot. I forgot to think of a silly way to say your name… Darn it!!』
『Is it really that big of a deal?』
After finishing his conversation with Airis, Reito looked at the Holy Chain he had coiled around his arm. He didn’t use it in the battles with the Battle Golems. Maybe he wouldn’t really have much of a chance to use it in ordinary fights.
“Purupuru.”
“Reito, Suramin is bored. She wants to play cards!”
Kotomin translated Suramin’s words for her.
“What, no way. You’re too strong. You always strip me of all my money!”
“Suramin did that to you! How can a slime even play cards!” Dain was shocked.
“If you’re really pressed about it, we could play chess or shogi.”
The heroes summoned to this world brought games from the other world, and as a result, card and board games were widespread. Hanafuda and Mahjong were also popular games.
Suramin and Hitomin were highly intelligent and comprehended those games. They were really good at the games too.
“Purupuru.”
“He said he’ll play shogi and not cards… She says she’ll give you a handicap, so bring it on!”
“You little… You’ve been really bold lately. But Ullr is also really good at shogi.”
“Ullr can play shogi? Why are our pets so smart!!”
“I think he only understands half the rules, but he goes off intuition.”
“Wow, intuition!” Gonzo was impressed.
Reito pulled shogi out of his storage magic and watched as sparks flew between Ullr and Suramin.
Reito was comforted by his pets as he thought about the Battle Golems again. He thought of a new sure-fire skill to use against them.
“I’m going to step out. I’ll take Hitomin with me, so I don’t get lost.”
“Purun?”
“She’ll go, she says… Where to?”
“I’m going to go on the lookout.”
Reito took Hitomin and stepped outside, checking his surroundings. He didn’t spot any Battle Golems, so he practiced his skill for a while.
He took a breath before returning inside.
“I’m back!”
“Welcome back… I heard quite the commotion out there. Are you okay?”
“I was just having too much fun.”
Gonzo yawned.
“… You’re being noisy, and I can’t sleep!”
Ullr whimpered.
Reito came back to find Gonzo sleeping. A little ways from him, Kotomin and Suramin, were hugging Ullr and sleeping too. He didn’t see Dain. His bag was still there, so it’s hard to imagine he was very far away. Reito figured he went to use the bathroom and sat down.
“Phew… I’m tired. Hitomin, massage my shoulders.”
“Purupuru.”
“Ouch…”
Hitomin gave Reito little punches as if to say, “Don’t be ridiculous!” and then went back to Kotomin’s head.
Kotomin usually takes care of Suramin and Hitomin, but when she’s not there, Reito ends up taking care of them. They just need water, so it’s not very difficult, and they become your pillow at night. They’re really convenient critters. Reito was carefully raising the two of them.
Reito asked Kotomin, “Did Dain go somewhere? The bathroom?”
“No, he wanted to check out this building. He took his wand, so I think he’s okay.”
“He said he was out of energy after using his shadow magic so much… So reckless.”
“I don’t think he would want to hear that coming from you.”
“Good point.”
Reito realized he also does a lot of reckless things. He should have been working hard to live a peaceful and safe life. Still, before he knew it, he was fighting with legendary dragons and taking his friends to dangerous places. He had no right to call other people reckless.
He was still worried about Dain being alone and decided to look for him.
Reito asked Airis where he was.
『Airis.』
『W, Wait!! I’m changing my clothes!!』
『Um, sorry… Wait, do you even have clothes?』
『Ah, man, you got me.』
『Tell me where Dain is.』
『Okay, okay… Um, he is still in the building, but he’s far away from where you are now.』
Hearing Dain’s whereabouts, Reito went running off after him.
Things should be safe, but it was undeniable that there was a chance of an incident occurring.
After getting to the place Airis told him about, he found Dain.
“Oh, there you are… What are you doing.”
“Ngh… I can’t get it right.”
Dain was in one of the corridors. He was holding his wand and striking a pose.
Reito thought Dain was performing some kind of ritual, but he was mistaken. Instead, Dain was staring at the black-bound book at his feet and muttering something.
“Is it this? No, it’s this!!”
Reito used his “Far Sight” and “Observing Eye” skills to see what he was doing. He also used “Concealment” and “Soundless Walk” to not make a disturbance.
Reito, who had nearly erased his presence, peeped at Dain, who was reading the book.
“What is he looking at?”
Dain was looking at a page with an illustration of a wizard boy and explaining how to use some sort of magic in very fine letters.
“Here we go… Shadow Bite!!” Dain made the same pose as the character in the book and stuck out his wand. A black object shaped like a wolf-head was released from his wand, and the wolf-head crawled on the floor, opening its mouth.
Dain looked both shocked and overjoyed. He let out a yell in excitement, “I did it!! I finally succeeded. I can prove myself to Reito and them!!”
“Congratulations.”
“AHHHHHH!? R-, Reito!?”
Dain screamed and looked back at Reito.
“Wow… You completely surprised me… Dammit, don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“Sorry, sorry… But, was that some sort of new trick?”
“Uh, umm, yes, it was. Did you see that magic I just performed? It’s cool, right!? It was in this book!!”
Dain gleefully showed off the book. On the cover, it said, “Knowing Magic.” The title was somewhat occult and suspicious, but given that Dain was able to perform the magic in the book, it must be the real deal.
“That’s not your book, huh? Where did you find that book?”
“It was on the bookshelf in that room. It has dark magic from around the world. It had been greatly damaged, so I couldn’t see most of it, but the part about the ‘Shadow Bite’ was still intact.”
“Huh.”
Reit took the book from Dain and flipped through some pages.
Just as he said, the pages were dirty and torn. He couldn’t make out the sentences.
Reito closed the book and asked Dain, “Was that magic you just performed shadow magic? It looked like you were making a wolf go flying.”
“That’s right!! According to the book, you shape the shadow into a wolf’s head, and it can bite your opponents. But it’s not an attack move. Instead, it momentarily lowers the opponent’s status.”
“What? It’s not an attack move!?”
The wolf shadow looked so strong, so it was a big surprise it had no attack capabilities.
Dain made a face in apology.
“Instead, it lowers the opponent’s status. Unlike the other kinds of shadow magic I can use, Shadow Bite lets me hold on to the opponent for a while. They continue having a lower status, meaning I can pull away from the shadow and use other shadow magic! It’s quite the skill!”
“Wow…”
One of the unique characteristics of shadow magic is that you use your own shadow, and you usually can only use one spell at a time. Each spell is considerably potent on its own, so it would be a significant advantage to be able to use two attacks at once.
It’s impossible to do significant damage with a physical attack using shadow magic. The shadow will disappear if exposed to intense light, but ordinary sunlight wouldn’t make it disappear.
Shadow magic exhibits tremendous power in darkness. The shadow’s firing range and magical abilities are significantly increased. Of course, a certain amount of light is still needed.
Dain has two kinds of shadow magic that he can use.
First is “Shadow Bind,” which can bind a single opponent and take away their freedom of movement. It also enables you to move the person like a puppet to some extent.
The other is “Shadow Slip,” which creates a shadow at a blinding speed and can trip the opponent, causing them to break posture. It can triple multiple opponents in one fell swoop, and it works on super heavy opponents as well.
They are both convenient kinds of magic, but they have a weakness in common. The caster becomes immobile.
However, the magic that Dain learned, “Shadow Bite,” lets the user separate their shadow to release it on their opponent. While in operation, it can freely move. The shadow, which is transformed into a wolf-head, can be moved by Dain’s will, although it’s only for thirty seconds.
“You said you can lower the opponent’s status, but how much does it get lowered?”
“We would have to test it out…”
“In that case, try it on me. Don’t make it hurt!”
“What!?” Dain was surprised.
But, it was confirmed that it would be dangerous to use it in battle without testing it first. He was reluctant, but Reito made it clear it was necessary to test it out, so he begrudgingly agreed and prepared to cast the spell.
Dain called out to Reito, who had moved about 10 meters away from him.
“Alright, here I go!!”
“Bring it on!!”
“Shadow Bite!!”
When Dain cast the spell, a wolf-head-shaped shadow was released from Dain and bit onto Reito’s ankle.
“Ngh… Hold on? It doesn’t hurt… Wait!?”
Reito could feel his strength leaving his body from the area where he had been bitten. He fell to his knees.
“Reito, are you alright!?”
“I, I wouldn’t say I’m good… but I’m alright.”
Dain tried to run over, but Reito stopped him.
He wanted to check the efficacy of the magic and tried to reach his hand to the wolf head attached to his ankle, but it didn’t look like he’d be able to rip it off.
“Ngh… I feel flabby. This is gross.”
He wasn’t just feeling flabby but was losing all his bodily sensation from the part where the shadow had bit. Reito tried to think of what he could do and used “Photosphere.”
A ball of light was born from Reito’s palms and made the shadow vanish into mist.
“Ah… so it has the same weakness as the other attacks,” Reito mumbled, half out of his wits.
Gonzo, carrying Kotomin and the two slimes, came into the corridor riding Ullr.
“So this is where you were.”
“We found you!”
“Woof!!”
It appeared they used Ullr to follow Reito’s scent.
Dain told his friends, “so everyone came here. Were you worried about me?”
“Of course. We were afraid you would get killed by a monster otherwise.”
“Shit… The fact I don’t have a comeback makes me even angrier!!”
Dain sighed.
But he was pleased that he learned a new type of magic. He wasn’t sure if his new magic would work on inorganic beings like the Battle Golems. Still, he knew that it would be effective on ordinary monsters.
Kotomin and Gonzo chimed in, “Reito, we oughta get a move on.”
“It’s a little past noon. We’ve gotta finish our search soon, or we’ll end up spending the night here.”
Dain shivered in fear at the thought.
“I definitely don’t want to spend the night with those kinds of monsters around.”
“That’s true. Let’s move on.”
The ruins were a safe space that monsters rarely visited. Still, Reito wasn’t in a position to explain that, so he went along with his friends’ opinions.