CHAPTER 312: CONCERNING DRAGONS 3

 

~Drake’s Perspective~

「Nine thousand nine hundred… ninety-nine! …Teeeennnn thoooouuusaaand!! Hah… Hah, hah… Hah… Uwooooh!! I did it, y’all!!」

「Okaaay, boy!! That was some nice guts!!」

Half a year had passed since we arrived at the earth dragon’s dwelling.

Put into words, it sounded short, but the way it felt was something else entirely.

Day after day, we built ourselves up through endless training. Strength training, of course, but also cardio, sparring with Landbulk, and all kinds of other drills.

The hardest part was having to keep mana circulating through our bodies at all times while doing all of it.

Maintaining internal mana circulation at one hundred percent precision while performing other actions required enough focus to grind my nerves raw. But there was no doubt that once we managed it, the ‘density’ of our magic rose to a whole different level.

Now, I could tell without even thinking.

The faint vibrations coming through the soles of my feet. A flow different from air, heavier and duller.

I didn’t resist it. I matched it.

Just by doing that, my body moved so lightly it shocked me.

And then there were my muscles, hammered into shape. The basics repeated thousands, tens of thousands of times.

But what we had trained even more than that was ‘cutting away waste.’

The time we had built up had definitely changed us.

And now was the moment to prove it.

「Are you ready?」

Landbulk stood there with his chest puffed out, same as always.

But the air around him today was clearly different.

This was, in a manner of speaking, our final exam.

「Whenever you are ready.」

Shinku-neesan took one step forward, and I matched my breathing half a step behind her.

「Okaaay… In that case—let us begin!」

Landbulk’s foot sank ever so slightly.

The next instant—

He vanished.

「On the right!」

The moment Shinku-neesan shouted, a massive shadow appeared in front of us.

A fist swung down.

A blow meant to smash the ground itself apart.

…But it was fine.

「I see you.」

Shinku-neesan stepped in between us and deployed 【Dorenkoi】.

—DOOOOM!!

The collision between fist and great shield sent a shockwave through the entire cave.

But—

She stopped it…!

She had taken the earth dragon’s blow head-on.

Her feet had not sunk.

She had not been overpowered.

That was the benefit of using mana without the slightest waste.

「…Excellent.」

Landbulk’s mouth twisted slightly.

「Then I shall get serious too.」

The pressure grew, and the ground began to creak.

Even so, Shinku-neesan did not move.

「Drake.」

「Yes ma’am!」

A short signal.

That was all we needed.

Landbulk’s second strike was a feint.

Shinku-neesan matched his third strike with a Guard Impact, and at the same time, I stepped in.

‘Ride the flow.’

Match the impact of my attack to the opponent’s movement, one-tenth of a second ahead.

Relax all needless strength, and put my body weight and mana behind it.

Here!

I overlaid my ‘flow’ onto the ‘stop’ Shinku-neesan had created and swung through.

A single strike that converged everything into one point—the Red Ogre Iron Club.

「—!!」

It struck Landbulk’s arm as he raised it on instinct.

But this time was different.

It did not bounce off.

It was not swept aside.

Instead—

Landbulk’s feet sank into the ground.

And his center of gravity shifted ever so slightly backward.

It was the first time.

「…Heh.」

Landbulk quietly exhaled and lowered his arm.

Then—

He nodded slowly.

「Amaaaazing!!」

He spread both arms wide.

「You two have gotten some good muscles!」

A smile covered his face.

「In these six months, your foundation has become perfect.」

At those words, the strength left my whole body.

We had done it.

That was what I felt.

「However—」

Landbulk raised one finger.

「From this point onward, it is no longer within Me’s field.」

His gaze turned toward the back of the cave.

「…Next, it would be best for you to head to the water dragon’s dwelling.」

「The water… dragon…」

「In a certain sense, she is the complete opposite of Me.」

He smiled just a little.

「She will piss you off, you know?」

「…Huh?」

「Oh, goddamn!! Just remembering her is making my scales stand on end! At times like this, it is training!!」

With that, Landbulk turned his back to us and slowly started walking toward the training grounds.

Landbulk had a strong personality, but he was gentle by nature.

Someone who could irritate even him…

That gives me nothing but anxiety…

But—

When I glanced beside me, I saw Shinku-neesan standing there, the same as always.

Just that alone made me feel like we could manage somehow, no matter what kind of opponent we faced.

「Let us go, Drake.」

「Yes ma’am!」

Lastly, the two of us bowed toward Landbulk as he continued doing push-ups over and over, then began walking toward the exit.

Next was the water dragon.

Its dwelling was the great underground lake—

Luminatren.