Though they were surprised at seeing Hiiro suddenly rush forwards, the sight of Hiiro crossing without a problem caused them to join hands and run after him. The bridge that seemed like it would collapse under their feet caused Arnold to apply pressure to the hand connected to his, but he reassured himself that Hiiro had done something again.
(Even so, what magic did he use this time…)
Even with all three of them running on it, though the bridge creaked dangerously, it showed absolutely no signs of collapsing.
(And, like, I kinda wanted to fly, you know…)
Not only Arnold, but Muir as well. Both of them have a disappointed expression.
The group succeeded in crossing the bridge within a minute, but the two beside Hiiro seem to be tired because they thought that the chances of falling to their deaths was high. As Hiiro believed in his own power, he could not understand their fatigue.
“Y-you… what did you do?”
“The word 『Connect』 made it so that for one minute, the ropes would not give out no matter what.”
“Y-you can even do that?”
Muir raised her voice while Arnold glared at him with his eyes half closed.
“Ye~ah, no matter how I look at it, that magic is unfair!”
“No idea. Anyways, let’s go.”
But at that moment, Hiiro experienced an extreme impact on his back, causing him to roll on the ground.
“Hiiro!”
“Kya!”
The two of them watched Hiiro get sent flying before their eyes. But immediately after, it appeared before them.
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“G-Ganrock!?”
The Ganrock, as its name might imply, was a monster whose limbs and face were made of rocks. Its height was only around 50 cm, but these monsters were able to build up amazing amounts of momentum, so getting hit by them was no joke.
(Ow… That hurt quite a bit…)
Hiiro lifted up his aching body and glared at the cause. But it wasn’t only one, there were two more for a total of three.
(Right, this cave was supposed to be filled with monsters over Rank B…)
He briefly glanced at Arnold.
(I think it’ll be a bit difficult for that old man…?)
Usually, he would just use 『Burst』 to take them out in an instant, but this was a cave. He didn’t want to cause a cave-in here.
But with a body structure like that, a Sword probably wouldn’t do much damage. It would be difficult for Arnold. Thinking that, Hiiro shouted out.
“Old Man, use your sword!”
That was his conclusion. Though it would definitely be difficult to deal with them with a blade, Hiiro had a reason.
“Old Man! Start with the one closest to you!”
“B-but with a sword, it’s a bit…”
Arnold knew about the specialties of the Ganrock and knew that he wouldn’t be able to do much with his current armaments.
“Don’t worry, I’m going to use this!”
He said as he began writing a word. The word collided with the Ganrock in front of Arnold.
“Now!”
“I-I don’t really get it, but Ora!”
But, the Ganrock dodged to the side
“Like I’d let you escape!”
He turned his blade sideways and slashed at it horizontally.
And, for some reason, the Ganrock’s body split perfectly in two.
“Eh? …wha?”
The lack of resistance from his enemy shocked him. That’s right, there was barely any force acting against his blade. It felt as if he were swinging his sword through a ball of sand.
“Hey, on to the next one!”
Hiiro sent out another word. But perhaps the Ganrocks had become more vigilant. They jumped up to avoid it. The Word hit the ground and activated, and as soon as one of the Ganrocks landed, it sunk into it.
“Ah! I see, so that’s it!”
It seemed that Arnold finally understood the effect of the word. He turned his eyes to Hiiro.
“You have a word that makes things softer?”
Correct. The word that Hiiro used was 『Soft』. The first Ganrock felt its effect and was easily cleaved in half by a sword. When the ground was affected by it, the Ganrock buried itself with its own weight.
“Old Man, I’ll leave that buried one to you!”
Saying that, Hiiro once again began concentrating. Arnold turned his gaze to the Ganrock, who was desperately struggling to get out of the ground.
“Fufun. If it’s an immobile Ganrock, then all I have to do is concentrate my power and break it!”
He took a stance with his large sword.
《Wind Fang》!
The wind wrapped around the blade.
“More. I have to bind it stronger, or it won’t go through their bodies.”
With plenty of time, he continued to strengthen his sword. Eventually he positioned himself to thrust.
“HAAAAAAAAAH!”
The sword passed perfectly through the Ganrock’s body. And it seemed that Hiiro was able to use his 《Word Magic》 to defeat the last one easily.
“Fuu~ That was hectic.”
Arnold lowered his back onto the ground and took a deep breath.
“You were suddenly sent flying. My insides went cold for a moment.”
“Are you alright?”
Muir let out a worried voice.
“No problem. But it consumed more magic than I thought.”
Air Writing cost 100 MP, so even with his large reserve of Mana, Hiiro couldn’t use it too often. Though he had MP recovery items, there was no telling what would happen next, so it was best to save them.
“Then we better get out quickly.”
“Right.”
“Let’s go.”
The Three pressed onwards. Eventually, they arrived at another open area. But to their delight, they could see a light at the end of the gently sloping path.