2 Bandits Are Basically Just Walking Bonus Stages (1/2)

I think about 10 years has gone by.

Magic is amazing. With it, I can easily make movements far beyond human limits.

Crushing rocks? Easy.

Running twice the speed of a horse? Totally.

Jumping higher than houses? You bet.

But I'm afraid a nuke is still beyond me. Magic can up my physical resistance, but mighty are Earth's weapons.

The thought that ”There is no nuke in this world, so isn't it fine to drop this?” did cross my mind, but what worth is there in a power in the shadows who attained his position by compromising?

None, absolutely zero.

Thus, I continue to strive towards attaining a body that can win over anuke.

To that aim, I have poured my days into research and training. Recently, a certain possibility has surfaced in my mind, and I'm currently experimenting on it.

Oh and by the way, the family that I was born into is apparently a noble house. It's a lineage that has continuously spat out knights that fight while using magic to strengthen themselves – so-called magic swordsmen. And I was brought up as the family's heir with sky high expectations and respect... or not. Nah, they just treated me like any other apprentice swordsman.

Powers in shadows reveal their true strength only to people and in places of their choosing. Up till that moment...

Though I am holding back, the training for apprentice swordsmen is not completely useless to me. I am able to learn how this world fights with magic, and it is also a chance for me to review my own fighting style.

To be blunt, the fighting techniques that I had learned in my previous life are several folds more polished and rational.

This could be easily seen just by watching any modern martial arts match. Useless techniques and unnecessary movements have all been weeded out, and different schools have taken and adopted other schools' very best. That melting pot effect was indeed bringing all those schools towards the path of being perfected.

Of course, modern martial arts have boundaries called 'rules,' but that does not change the fact that their various techniques are being polished against each other and undergoing the process of selection.

But this world, in comparison. Firstly, there is absolutely no way that a technique crosses between countries. Neither would a technique cross schools. There are techniques that apparently only disciples can learn and are forbidden from leaving the school grounds. Even if a technique gets publicized, there is no media to spread it. In other words, there is no melting pot, no selection, no polishing. If I had to sum them up in a single word, it would be ”crude.”

But this world's fighting is indeed fundamentally different from that of my previous world. Exactly, because of magic.

Due to magic, basic physical stats of this world's people are on a totally different level.

For example, physical strength. People can lift someone else up with a single hand. Just because of that, all grappling techniques become obsolete. Even if I mount someone, they can jump into the sky just by flexing their abdominal muscles. Even if I put someone into the guard position, they can send me flying with just a single leg. So yea, grappling techniques, all out the window.

People fight the way that people fight, and goblins fight the way that goblins fight. That's all there is to that.

Furthermore, the speed and distance of step ins are different, so maai are considered differently.And actually, this is the most important one.

(T/N: 'Maai' refers to the space between two opponents in combat; formally, the ”engagement distance”. It is a complex concept, incorporating not just the distance between opponents, but also the time it will take to cross the distance, angle and rhythm of attack. It is specifically the exact position from which one opponent can strike the other, after factoring in the above elements. For example, a faster opponent's maai is farther away than a slower opponent. ~Wikipedia)

Martial arts are, in essence, a fight over maai. Distance, angle, positioning, these are all what the fights are all about.

It took me quite some time to determine my own maai in this world. I mean, this world's people's maai are so far away. They start fights standing 5m away from each other. Sure, their step in is long, and their speed is fast, so it's not like I don't understand. At first, I was impressed with it and thought ”ohh so this is this world's fighting style”... but nah, turns out that it's only because their defense techniques are undeveloped.

We have this kind of people in our world too – people who suck at defense so they just meaninglessly distance themselves from their opponent as much as possible.

The opponent's attack is scary, isn't it? Being in a place where their attacks can't reach you is safer, isn't it? So that's why fights become just blandless repetitions of opponents dashing in to make an attack before dashing right back out. Hit and run, is it? Sorry, useless and simple back and forth movements don't count as hit and run.

To me, 5m and 100m is equally worthless. After all, proper attacks can't be launched from either distance. 6m, 7m, 10m, it's all the same. There's no point to it, so let's just walk closer together and close the distance, shall we?

But at a certain distance, there is enormous meaning between the difference of 1mm, which is maai. Whether my attacks will hit, whether my opponent can react in time, considering the angle and various other things, gaining or losing advantage by moving half a step sideways or tilting a certain degree. By no means is it just running 5m to make an attack before jumping backwards 6m.

All my preconceptions about another world and magic and all that confused me for quite a while, but recently I was finally able to determine my own maai, so all's good, I suppose.

So yea, that's pretty much how my daily training at home goes. There's only me, my older sister, and my dad – my dad teaches my older sister and me, and my older sister and I spar. My older sister of 2 years above seems to have quite the talent, and will most likely become the heir of the house. In this world where magic can be used, even girls can become crazy strong, so girls becoming the heads of their families is not that uncommon.

And because of that, I get beaten up by my sister pretty much every day. I mean, I can't win, right? After all, to become a power in the shadows, I have to act out my common life as an unremarkable Mob A.

Which is why I spend everyday going ”fueee, onee-chan you're so strong~” while getting beaten up.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

So, such is my daily life. During the daytime, I also have studies related to being a noble, as well as various other tasks that I need to carry out as Mob A, so I don't have much free time.

Therefore, my personal training naturally ends up having to be carried out at night, after everyone else has gone to sleep. Of course, that means decreasing my sleeping hours, but by combining the effects of meditation and magic's recovery powers, I was able to develop a unique sleeping style that is super short but super effective.

Well then, let's work hard at training today as well. For today, I have a bit of a special menu after the usual running in the forest.

As of late, it seems that some ruffians have taken to occupying a nearby abandoned village. Upon investigation, they turned out to be a bandit gang of quite some size. Yep, they make for perfect tameshikiri targets.

(T/N: A sort of urban legend is that there were swordsmen in the Edo period who would test out new swords by cutting up random pedestrians on the streets, and this act was called tameshikiri.)

I do kill random scattered brigands whenever I come across them, but something the level of a full-fledged bandit gang is like a once in a year event for me, so I'm quite excited. All year long I'm in lack of a proper sparring partner, so I love these kinds of criminals. Aah, can the local public order go down please?

In the rural areas of this world, criminals can generally be killed without a trial. More like, only the large cities have judges, so those in the rural areas aren't too fussed up about this kind of thing. Which is why I will judge you all, kekeke.

Today is to commemorate a new weapon that I have recently been trying out – the slime bodysuit.

Allow me to explain what the slime bodysuit is.

This world has magic. This world's people fight by using that magic to strengthen themselves and their weapons. However, there is always some degree of loss when they use magic. For example, a normal iron sword would only have 10% efficiency – you pour in 100 points of magic, but the effect is only a boost of 10 points. Which means that 90% of the magic is lost in the process. Even for mithril, a metal lauded for its high conductivity, a sword capable of 50% efficiency would already be considered to be a high grade item. So in short, there is always a huge amount of loss.

Then I came to consider slimes. Slimes are, well, true to their appearances, magical beings. They change form and move around using only magic. When I studied them further, I realized that their magical conductivity is a mind-shattering 99%. Furthermore, as they are in liquid form, they can freely change form. So I hunted slimes, crushed their cores, and experimented on the leftover slime jelly. The number of slime cores that I have crushed are easily in the thousands. It was to the degree where the local area began suffering from a slime deficiency, forcing me to go on expeditions further afield.

The slime jelly was quite easy to process. After strengthening and compounding it, I was eventually able to make a full-body bodysuit out of it. Unlike armor, it does not make any sound, is comfortable, and actually even provides support to any movements I make. And of course, its defensive capabilities are also guaranteed.

At the moment, I'm wearing a completely black bodysuit made from slime jelly mixed with black pigments. There is no unnecessary adornments, the suit fits my body perfectly, and my vision and breathing is unobstructed. I pretty much look exactly like the villains in a certain detective manga.

Perhaps I should also think of a more appropriate design in preparation for the day when I shall intervene as a power from the shadows.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

So with that, I've arrived at the abandoned village. Despite the late hour, they've got torches lit up all over the place. Apparently, they've just successfully assaulted a merchant caravan, so now they're having a feast. Yep, my luck is pretty good. Bandits generally have zero planning skills, so they have a strong tendency to immediately use up whatever they get their hands on. It's only right after an assault that they actually have things worth anything.

What belongs to the bandits, belongs to me. This is how I'm saving up capital for becoming a power in the shadows in the future.

With max tension, I crash into the feast. I don't play the stealth route, because then that wouldn't count as practice.

”Hyaha~! Bring out all your money and valuables!!”

So I yelled standing smack dab in the middle of the camp.

”The fuck is with this little squirt?”

I'm 10 years old, so I guess the 'little squirt' comment is not entirely undue.

”Oraa, I said to bring out all your money!”

After I kick away the rude guy who called me a squirt, the other bandits finally take up their weapons.

”Oi, if you look down on us too much don't think we'll go easy on you just 'cus you're a...!”

”Oraa!”

That guy's lines were just too cliche that I couldn't help but to cut off his head first. Naturally, my weapon is made of slime material; it's an exceptional weapon that I can take out only when needed. Furthermore, this slime sword still has several more handy functions.

Handy Function 1: it stretches.

”Ora ora ora ora oraaaAAA!”

I stretch the slime sword and swing it in a horizontal arc to take out all the nearby bandits.