The Shaman can't become a Hero
Act 3: Drug
Chapter 15: Martial Art
Now that we’re a team, lets get this dungeon over with! is not what we did. Our location remains at the Fairy Square.
“For now, let’s get a grasp of what we’re capable of”
I’ve already heard about Futaba-san’s 3 novice Skills as one receiving the vocation of ‘Knight’, but I think it’s beneficial to do a practical test.
No matter how much power you receive, being able to use it when it counts is what really matters. And no, the class rep getting it done when suddenly facing the enemy right then and there isn’t normal. If I hadn’t practiced the canto for ‘Red Fever’ at least once, I could have fumbled it when finishing off the Armor Bear. In many things, practice does make perfect.
“Yes, I’ll be in your care!”
Though I may be inexperienced— in that manner, Futaba-san buoyantly lowers her head, seeming evermore amiable. I’m worried she could deceived by some vile Shaman somewhere.[1]
“To start off, I want you to try out ‘Foresight’ and ‘Repel’, Futaba-san”[2]
Skills invoked by intention, otherwise said, Active Skills, are the usual category for defence moves like ‘Repel’. I have the feeling she hasn’t invoked it even once.
From what I’ve heard about Natsukawa-san using ‘Foresight’, it appears to automatically show effect, a Passive Skill. Well, I guess if you need to see the enemy’s attack for ‘Foresight’ to activate, it’s already in your sights then, obviously.
“Umm, so I should do what?”
“This time, I’ll pretend to attack you so I want you to foresee it”
“Pretend to attack... sounds kinda really scary!”
“Relax, I won’t be throwing Curses from the get go”
I mean, even if I did use ‘Red Fever’, I pretty much know what to expect. With her ‘Blessed Body’ being strong to injuries and ailments, she may not even feel the insignificant rise in temperature. Yeah, I kinda wanna try that out, but more importantly,
“I was wondering, is your belly alright? If it hasn’t closed up, we can rest a bit longer”
“Oh, it’s fine now. Doesn’t hurt at all, Momokawa-kun’s ointment worked super well”
“... Seriously? No way, is it fully healed?”
“Uh, seems so...”
Growing slightly doubtful at my look of disbelief, Futaba-san turns around on the spot. Then, quietly rolling up her the hem of her sailor uniform, she secretly makes sure.
“Yup, it really is healed”
“Eh, wait, let me have a look”
Her overtly affirmative answer. Healed, meaning no scarring, or even any scabs. Isn’t that a bit too hard to believe?
“Kyaa!?”
As she was raising that lovely cry discordant with her build, I already had a box-seat view of Futaba-san’s rich, white middle.
“Wow, it really is...“
It was a sight befitting my involuntary exclamation. The deep, horizontal gash right below her navel had closed up without a trace. I can’t see a scratch; there remains but a slight tinge of unwashed blood, and a bit of dry scabbing on its way to peeling off.
What astounding recovery. Was my sloppily compounded Ointment A really that high efficiency?
Certaintly, the Shamdelions did seal the lacerations I got from the Armor Bear pretty fast, but the scabs haven’t completely ripened even now. Suppose that asshole Masaru kept punching me in the stomach and not the face, the wound would’ve opened right back up, and even now, if I push myself, there’s a risk of hemorrhage.[3]
As an herb, there’s no doubt the Shamdelion has extraordinary hemostasis effects. Mixing that with the White Blooms and Fairy Walnuts that have some healing properties I don’t really understand, raised the effects by leaps and bounds— really sounds too good to be true.
Intuition Pharmacy determined that combining these 3 wouldn’t cause any earth-shatteringly synergetic effect. It only guaranteed that the effects wouldn’t cancel each other out.
Therefore, Futaba-san’s wound completely healed implies—
“U, uu... M-Momokawa-kun, aren’t you done?”
As though my intense scrutiny of her belly-button was much too embarrassing for her, Futaba-san’s face was beet red. Her keeping the sailor uniform rolled up even as tears are on the verge of gathering displayed a worrisome purity. Definitely the type that’s too nice for her own good.
“Ah, sorry, I’m done”
I wanted to immediately take advantage of that fact, and have a poke-fest on her waxen flab for atleast 5 minutes, but I refrain for obvious reasons. Loosing her trust via sexual harassment would be the worst way to lose one’s dignity.
Right, my experience with the opposite sex being nil further elects for a great need to be cautious. Girls are apparently hurt by things guys don’t even consider trivial. A pain in the— ahem, very innocent is the word.
“I’m glad it’s healed so quick. I think it may have something to do with ‘Blessed Body’.”
“Dressed Body?”
Atleast remember your own Skill name right. And no, you don’t need to look it up on your phone.
“You’re a Knight remember? They gave some fuzzy definition like its strong against illness and wounds, but I think it’s become like medication will work a lot better”
“I, uh, I guess?”
“It is. If it was plain super-healing powers, it would’ve gotten better even without my ointment”
Sure, if this Skill was that amazing, the wound would’ve already started closing when I found her. But in reality, she was almost dead from blood loss. Maybe it was too much for the ‘Blessed Body’s’ healing prowess, or rather, maybe it’s a low tier Skill that doesn’t make the natural regeneration corrections when damage is too high.
That being the case, if it stacks with healing agents, then having me, who can make tons of it only provided a Fairy Square, can save Futaba-san from a major portion of injuries. Well, it’s gonna heal but it’ll still hurt like hell.
“Then if you’re all patched up, let’s get back to business shall we?”
“Okay, umm... only pretend attacking right? Go easy on me, please?”
I mean, it’ll activate granted that there’s an attack so. You’re gonna have to dodge with ‘Foresight’ or defend with ‘Repel’.
“No prob. If it’s gonna hit, I’ll make sure to stop an inch away”
Stopping that close requires quite a bit of skill. I have not a smidge of confidence in precisely stopping my fist or a shinai once at their fulcrum. I indeed don’t, but said that anyway. It’s fine, you can trust on the vocation.
“’kay, so I need a branch or something... nice, let’s use this”
From a Fairy Walnut tree growing at a corner of the square, I locate a decent sized branch and reach for it. With a firm grim, I brace myself and pull—
“Kuh...”
Tough. It’s much more solid than I imagined. I thought I chose a one thin enough that even my slender arms could break, but it will not budge.
“HaAAAAA...c’mon!”
I was all up in a frenzy, but no use. Seems this Fairy Walnut tree, is quite deceptively sturdy.
“Umm, Momokawa-kun, you alright?”
“Huff... hah... Nah, this thing’ll never br—”
“Ei”
Sounded Futaba-san as she casually grabbed it, gave it a pull, it snapping away as a result.
“I did it Momokawa-kun, I broke it see!”
“Ah, yea, you did, thanks”
I shudder a bit comparing my flimsy limb to Futaba-san’s bulky rod of an arm with a thickness akin to my thighs and realizing the utterly unsurmountable difference in strength. This brute strength must be in reason of her having the vocation, ‘Knight’... No, not really. Who am I kidding. I’m just weak as hell.
Reflecting anew on my frailty, I receive the aforementioned branch from Futaba-san
Now to get psyched, and start the experiment.
“Yah—!”
“Kyaa—”
Seeing my fledgling swordplay, Futaba-san’s eyes shut, body cowers, motion stills. If this was a monster, even I had a chance to score a critical hit, but now’s not the time for that.
“Futaba-san, I don’t think ‘Foresight’ will activate if you don’t atleast look at me attacking”
“A...yes, sorry... I didn’t see anything”
Gee, I wonder why. It could be that when you master ‘Foresight’, it stops relying on your eyes, and uses a 6th sense of sorts, but for the current Futaba-san at least, it isn’t anywhere near that level.
“Alright, again. Pay attention this time, alright”
“Uu... I’ll try...”
Futaba-san looks entirely weak in the knees, paying attention to the branch. I may be stating the obvious, but we had 2 branches prepared: the 1st for me to attack with, and the 2nd for Futaba-san to invoke ‘Repel’ on. Goes without saying that collecting the 2nd one was a piece of cake using Futaba-san’s superior muscle. Though it was a size thicker than mine, the 2nd one too broke off without a hitch. I felt like her might could easily break off not only branches, but a person’s bones as well.
“Eiya—”
On take 2, I attempted to swing considerably slower. Though there is a doubt whether her ‘Foresight’ will recognize and react to something like this as an attack—
“Wa, wawah!?”
Futaba-san moved, and with surprising agility at that, and successfully dodged my lackadaisical attack. She strafed her body leftward, right beside which, my feeble slash sluggishly made its way.
“Did, you see it?”
“Yeah, I really saw it!”
It appears to match her story, ‘Foresight’ lets you perceive the path of the enemies attack with a faint white glow. If it could recognize that sham of a strike as an actual attack, it doesn’t look to have very severe activation conditions.
“This time, I’ll come with the same attack, so try repelling”
“O-okay, got it... I’ll do it!”
Perhaps thanks to this small but sure victory, Futaba-san’s face seems a bit more vibrant than just before. Alright, let’s keep it up at this pace.
“Here I go— Ei”
As I made another of the same lighthearted attack following that utterance, an immense shock ran up both my arms.
“—yah!”
To my astonishment, while with that enthused cry reaching my eardrums, I found myself dancing through the air.
The scenery rushing past, swirling violently as if there’s a bug in the camera, was the sight that assailed my eyes. But somehow, I distinctly saw the branch I was supposed to be holding on to, also spin uncontrollably and fly away.
“—Fugyaaa!?”
Raising a heavy_damage_voice.mp3, I slammed into the ground. Pain. My whole body groans... But luckily, I landed on soft grass. It’s, probably not too serious.
“M-Momokawa-kun!? Wh—!? Oh no, are you alright!?”
In scattered, hazy consciousness, I see Futaba-san cry out while charging towards me with her dump-truck-like frame. I felt a bit dead.
“I-I’m okay... I’ll live...”
“Uah— I’m sorry! I’m really sorry Momokawa-kuuun!”
While still lying pancaked to the ground, I reign in Futaba-san’s madly desperate apologizing, by somehow moving an arm. Hmm, this angle, I can almost see under her skir—
“Sigh... it’s just some scratches, so no worries. I was pretty surprised though”
I somehow or other raise my body while resisting the temptation of panties teasing my eyes. I’d pretend to be just fine but... nope, I’m actually fine. By some miracle, I hadn’t sustained a single scratch. In Judo class, I was great in only my falling technique after all.
“R-really sorry... I had no idea that would happen...”
“So you definitely used ‘Repel’ just now right?”
“...Yeah. I thought about trying it, and my hand somehow naturally...”
Scored a homerun on me I see.
“I’m truly sorry! I’ll be much more careful next time, so—”
“No, you really don’t have to apologize that much. In fact, it was a big success”
Certainly, Futaba Meiko has now, at this time, for the first time, invoked her Martial Art. It’s now obvious that even a wuss like her can do it if she can only muster the will.
But what I’m most grateful for, is that force.
“So this is the power of the vocation, ‘Knight’... Futaba-san, you’ll definitely get stronger”
A strength that I can never hope to achieve is within her reach. I feel like I’ve finally found a ray of hope towards this dungeon capture.
“So let’s go for it”
“Yea... Alright! I’ll work my best, Momokawa-kun!”