Back at it again with another chapter. Thank you for the responses to the last chapter, and I hope you are ready for Chapter 3. I own nothing lol.
Chapter 3: The First Dungeon
Subaru opened his eyes. After letting his eyes adjust to the morning light, Subaru realized he was in an unfamiliar room, but it looked way too fancy and expensive compared to what he was used to. "I don't know that ceiling, I don't know that chair, and I definitely don't know this bed, but man is it comfortable. I could sleep in this bed for hours." Subaru said to himself. However, the urge to go back to sleep was replaced with an urge to explore. However, first, he remembered he needed to check out the Unique Skill: Blade Arts. So he did, but not before reading the following message:
Congratulations! You have acquired your first unique skill. Unique skills function as both passive and active skills, and are very rare.
'So they function as both Active and Passive skills? And they are very rare? I hope this skill is pretty powerful then.' Subaru thought to himself. He had played games where certain skills had a high rarity, but they were… pretty shit. He then read the description of Blade Arts
Blade Arts: The Player is able to grasp blade styles and movements at a rate based on their level. Current Level: Novice. The More the Player uses or trains with a bladed weapon, the more this level will rise. This also gives access to bladed techniques and abilities to the Player.
'A bladed weapon? Wait a minute, that means I don't have to exclusively use a sword to get this level up! I can use knives or daggers as well! This is awesome!' Subaru thought, really excited. This skill wasn't one of those useless skills! It was strong! There was also the matter of Bladed Techniques/Abilities. If he could unleash magic slashes with his blade like Crono from Chrono Trigger, he was gonna scream. (It's a pretty popular JRPG, and I highly doubt Subaru wouldn't have played it at some point. Then he again, he might be more of a Tales/Legend of Heroes type guy)
'I wonder where Emilia is? I remember falling asleep and now I all of a sudden wake up in this place. Well, I can't spend too much time dwelling on it. I'll just go look around.' Subaru then exited his room, and then walked down the hallway. As he continued walking, he noticed something. 'A looping hallway?' Subaru thought to himself. 'I can't get out until I find the right room.' He then turned and stood in front of a door. 'The typical pattern dictates the first door is likely the goal. He then opened the door.
The door led to what looked like a library. In the middle of the library, on a stool, was a little girl with blonde, drill-like pigtails. She had blue eyes with pink butterfly irises. She wore a small red and white dress. "What a profoundly aggravating man you are, I suppose." the girl said
Subaru decided to mess with this girl a bit. "First NPC found! You're gonna ruin that cute face with that cold attitude of yours!" Subaru said, walking towards the girl. "Come on! Smile! Smile for me please!" "The only smile you deserve is a derisive sneer." The girl said to Subaru, annoyed.
Subaru smiled, and then looked around, before asking "So what is this place?" "This is Betty's multi-purpose room. It serves as both a Library and a Bedroom I suppose." the girl said. 'Betty's?' Subaru thought to himself. "Wait, who is Betty?" he asked. "That would be me I suppose. My name is Beatrice. Betty is what you would call a nickname." the girl, now identified as Beatrice, answered. "You know what, I'm just gonna ignore the fact that you just referred to yourself in the 3rd person because of your overwhelming cuteness." Subaru said, still smiling. Beatrice blushed, and said "Betty does not need your flattery I suppose!", though deep down, she liked being called cute by this human.
"I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Natsuki Subaru, pleased to meet you!" Subaru said, and he put out his hand for Beatrice to shake it, but she wouldn't. "Betty knows who you are. You're the one that foolish elf girl brought in I suppose." Beatrice said. "Yeah, Emilia. She did a good job healing my side. There isn't even a scar." Subaru said. "Actually, it was me." Beatrice said. Subaru, at first was confused, then he laughed. "What are you talking about? I saw Emilia healing my side right before I passed out." Beatrice then looked at him annoyed and said "While that is true, and the elf girl was able to somewhat heal your side with her abilities, your wound was just deep enough to the point that if it was left the way it was, it would have left a scar. So I took pity on you and prevented that I suppose." Subaru then took a step back in shock, and tried to find any deceit in the girl's words, but found none. He then smiled, and said, "You're not as cold as you let on. I must have given you quite a bit of trouble if you went that far for me. I don't have a scar on my side thanks to you. So thank you." The girl was shocked for a second, before saying "Betty does not care for your gratitude I suppose." but deep down, she was pretty happy.
Beatrice's face became more serious, and said "I was going to do this no matter what, but for keeping Betty somewhat entertained, I will tell you this now so you are not caught off guard. I have to drain some of your mana I suppose." "What? Why?" Subaru asked, confused and shocked. "This is just a measure I have to take to ensure you are not a spy or someone with malicious intentions. Consider it standard procedure by the lord of this manor, who sponsors that half elf girl I suppose." Subaru then asks "Sponsors Emilia? For what?" "You are either very clueless, or you do have malicious intentions. I'll let the mana drain decide that I suppose." She then drained Subaru's mana, and then he got a warning from the system.
Emergency Warning: Your mana has been forcefully drained. Your body is not yet used to this kind of shock. You will fall asleep in 30 seconds.
`Hmm, I wonder at what point I will get used to attacks like these?' Subaru thought to himself. "You're just clueless I suppose." Beatrice said, finding no malicious intentions from the boy. "You're not human, are you?" Subaru asked, about to lose consciousness. "So you figured it out?" Beatrice said smugly. "That's right, I'm a great spirit I suppose." "At least you warned me about this, but this… still…sucks." Subaru then went unconscious. Beatrice then had one thought cross her mind as she stared at the unconscious Subaru. 'His mana. It's… different.'
Subaru then opened his eyes, and he was right in his room again. He then remembered what happened, and was a bit annoyed at having his mana drained like that. He couldn't really complain about it, since it apparently was standard procedure, but still. "He has awakened, Nee-sama." a voice said. "Indeed, he has awakened Rem." another voice said. "I hope I didn't sleep too long. I don't want to be behind on my workouts." Subaru said. "My, did you hear that Nee-sama? Our guest is a meathead." Rem said. "Indeed Rem. He is truly a hopeless meathead." a voice said. "Okay, who are these voices criticizing me in stereo?!" Subaru said annoyed, and then he turned to his left, and saw two girls.
The Girl on the left was a petite build, with pink hair and red eyes, her left eye covered by her bangs. The girl on the right appeared to be a twin of the girl on the left, except she had sky blue hair and blue eyes, with bangs covering her right eye. Subaru also noted that the blue haired girl had a bigger bust than the pink haired girl. Both girls wore maid outfits.
'Maid costumes exist in this world?!' Subaru thought, looking at them blushing 'In my mind, maids were always the epitome of elegance. And both are very attractive.' "How terrible Nee-sama. You are being violated in the mind of our guest." Rem said, seemingly being able to read Subaru's thoughts. "It's truly Terrible. You are experiencing the ultimate shame by this meathead, Rem." Rem's twin said. "Stop calling me a meathead!" Subaru exclaimed, and then there was a knock on his door.
"Can't you wake up more peacefully, Subaru." Emilia said, and Subaru immediately noticed that the outfit she was wearing showed off her thighs. While Subaru was no pervert, he was a hormonal teenager, and he could not deny he liked what he saw. "Whoever picked out that outfit totally gets it!" Subaru said, and then clasped his hands over his mouth as he hadn't meant to say that out loud. "I don't know what you are talking about, but the fact I know it's stupid is reaaaally disappointing." "Listen to this, Emilia-sama. Nee-sama was just violated by that man." Rem said. "Listen Emilia-sama. Rem was just held prisoner and shamed by that man." Rem's twin said. "And you two, don't mess with him too much." "Hai, Emilia-sama. Nee-sama is very sorry." Rem said. "Hai, Emilia-sama. Rem is also sorry too." Her twin said
"Tell me Subaru, are you feeling okay? Does anything feel off?" Emilia asked. "I'm okay, just a bit groggy from oversleeping. You and Beatrice did a great job healing me. Thank you, Emilia-tan, '' Subaru said. Emilia then tilted her head in confusion and asked "Tan? What does tan mean?" "It's an expression back in my homeland. Don't worry about it too much, it's not that important." Subaru said blushing. Emilia then said "I should be the one thanking you. You barely know me, and yet you risked your life to save me. It was only natural that I helped heal your wounds. I did have to ask Beatrice for help, since I reaaaally did not want you to have a scar on your side." Emilia said, before frowning, and said, " I heard that Beatrice caused you some trouble". Subaru then smiled and said "It wasn't anything bad. We had a nice conversation, and then she just drained a bit of my mana and I passed out. She's actually a kind person if you can get past that cold attitude. I also thanked her for healing my wounds by the way." Emilia smiled and said "Good, otherwise you would be in big trouble mister." "What are you, my mom?" Subaru asked still smiling, until he realized what he just said, and some sad thoughts entered his brain
Emilia noticed Subaru's mood change, and asked with a concerned face "Subaru, what's wrong?" The two maids also had concerned faces after seeing the sudden mood change. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Subaru said, putting up a smile again. He then decided to change the subject. "Who are the two maids?" he asked. "Oh, they're Rem and Ram. They work for Roswaal." Emilia answered. "Who's Roswaal?" Subaru asked. "The owner of this manor. You'll meet him later." Emilia answered. Subaru then got up out of bed, and decided it was only polite to introduce himself to the maids. HIs father had taught him to always be polite to service workers, which was another thing that made him a great man.
He bowed to the twins and said "I'm sure Emilia-tan already told you my name, but my name is Natsuki Subaru. I hope we can become great friends." Rem and Ram were a bit stunned at this, not expecting their guest to be this polite, before introducing themselves back to Subaru. Subaru then decided it was time to start the day, and his daily quest, so he left the room to get his clothes. As Rem and Ram followed after, Rem had something on her mind. 'Why does he smell…so good.' she thought to herself. (This will be explained at the end.)
Subaru decided now was the time to do his daily quest, but first, he had to do something important: try to flirt with Emilia. To do this, Subaru decided to have Emilia participate in some warm-ups before moving on to his daily quest exercises, and as he finished them, Puck appeared.
"Hey Subaru, great morning, isn't it?" Puck asked, and Subaru smiled, and said "Yeah, even if it has been a bit chaotic. Looping hallways, meeting a cute mean girl who seems to be a tsundere, meeting twin maids, and to top it all off, shedding the sweat of passion with Emilia-tan." "Don't make it sound so scandalous!" Emilia scolded, blushing a bit, before turning to Puck and said "Good morning Puck. I'm really sorry I put you through so much yesterday." Puck said "Good morning Lia. I almost lost you yesterday. I can never thank Subaru enough. I should do something for him."
Subaru initially thought to ask to be able to pet Puck's fur whenever he wanted to, but then another thought occurred to him. He then said his proposal. "Two things: First, I would like to pet your fur, whenever I want." He then did so, petting Puck as the spirit laughed. "What's the second request?" Puck asked. "My second request is to learn magic." Both Puck and Emilia's eyes widened, and then Puck said "Wait, don't you already know magic?" Subaru shook his head. "But your speed and strength increased when you saved Felt and me. Is it a divine protection?" Emilia asked. Subaru shook his head, and said "I'm not fully aware of what it is. I only recently acquired these abilities, so I'm not fully sure what they are." This wasn't a lie, as he had only acquired those abilities YESTERDAY!
"Can you show off your abilities again?" Puck asked. He had a glimpse of Subaru's abilities before he fell asleep, but he needed a closer examination to determine what Subaru's abilities actually were. He would have been suspicious of Subaru, but he detected no malice from him, so he trusted him. Subaru showed off his abilities, as he ran around with speed. He couldn't show off muscle though, as there wasn't anything he could lift or throw without potentially getting into some trouble with the margrave. Puck was very perplexed, as Subaru's abilities were very different from what he was familiar with. Puck then said to Subaru "Your abilities are very different from what I am familiar with. I'll have to see if Beatrice has any information about them in her forbidden library." This got Subaru thinking, as he knew Puck was a spirit from his first loop in the capital, and he knew of spirits that lived a long time in isekai stories, which got him to ask this question: "Puck how old are you?" Puck looked at Subaru perplexed, before saying "I've lived for 100s of years. Why do you ask?" Subaru's eyes widened, as he realized something '100s of years? That means he has had to have seen a lot of magic and abilities used in this world, yet my abilities are the enigma?'
"Isn't it weird that you have lived 100s of years and yet you can't figure out what my abilities actually are?" Subaru asked. "I suppose it is. I am probably missing something, but I do agree with you, it is strange." Puck answered. Emilia decided to interject, saying "Um, maybe we can discuss this later. Could you please teach Subaru some magic, father?" "Of course, Lia." Puck answered. Puck then told Subaru he first had to know Subaru's element. Puck did so, and it was… "Shadow." "Oh, shadow? That element is very rare Subaru." Emilia said. Subaru then got a notification from the system.
Congratulations. You have discovered your magic element, Shadow (Yin).
Subaru then got a notification telling him what his element was.
Shadow is a rare element that is usually used for debuffs. However, there are spells that can be used offensively and can even manipulate space and time.
Subaru's eyes widened in shock. 'Time and space manipulation? Holy shit, this element is strong. And wait a minute, space-time manipulation usually involves shifting through dimensions. I wonder if… I can learn a spell that can send me home.' Subaru's eyes had hope in them, before he shook his head. He couldn't get his hopes up that easily, but the possibility was there. "What does shadow magic do?" Subaru asked. Emilia then explained the debuffs, but nothing about time and space manipulation. Subaru was perplexed, as Emilia didn't seem to know about the time-space manipulation part of shadow magic, and Puck didn't seem to know either since he wasn't correcting her. Before he could say anything, Rem and Ram appeared, telling Emilia that Roswaal requested to meet with her, and Subaru would end up tagging along as well, as he wanted to meet this Roswaal as well.
Subaru would meet him, though he was shocked that the owner of the mansion was dressed like a clown. Subaru was kicking himself a bit, as he had unknowingly insulted the owner of the mansion, but come on, if it looks like a clown, talks like a clown, and acts like a clown, it's probably a clown. Beatrice had called Subaru a fool for his training warm ups, before spending some time with Puck, who she called 'Bubby'. We now see Subaru sitting at the table talking with the margrave after learning that Emilia was actually a candidate to become the new ruler of Lugunica, and she lost something that qualified her as such. This meant that Subaru was due a reward, and that got Subaru's gears turning in his head, as he wanted to stay with Emilia, and do his daily quests.
"I have two requests then." Subaru said, and everyone listened in anticipation for what the boy would ask for. "First, hire me to work in the mansion. The second relates to my first request, but I would also like time to train while I work here. I have a specific workout regime that I do everyday. I would like to make sure that this job doesn't interfere with it." Roswaal then says "What is this regime, and how long does it take you to complete?" Subaru thought for a bit and said "It involves 100 push ups, sit ups, and squats, and a 10km run. As for how long it takes to complete, over 1 hour." Roswaal smiled, and said "You have an interesting regime. We can make it work, Subaru-kun." Subaru smiled back, as he was now a butler of the mansion.
Subaru would then be measured and everything, before finally finding a uniform that somewhat fit him. Then, he had gotten a tour of the mansion, before finally getting to work. Thank god he was able to have training breaks, because with the amount of work in the mansion, he might have gotten the penalty from not doing his daily quest. Later that night, Subaru was lying on the bed, exhausted from his first day, when Rem came into the room, as she had cleaned his clothes for the day. He was shown his modified suit, but it was still a bit off. He then went on to show off his sewing skills, and Rem was honestly very impressed. "You seem to have a talent for sewing. Unfortunately, I don't know if it can be of much use here since Roswaal-sama gets clothing for us from the capital and the village." Subaru was a little down hearing this, but then Rem said "However, I'll see if I can find something you can use it for." Subaru then looked at Rem, smiled and said "Thank you Rem." Rem gave him a slight smile, before leaving the room. 'I may not fully trust him, but I will at least give him common courtesy.' Rem thought to herself as she walked away.
It was his second day, and Subaru was working in the kitchen. Subaru had experience cooking, as well as other house chores, which did help him yesterday. Too bad he didn't have experience peeling with a knife, as he had cut himself with it multiple times. He definitely could use that first aid kit he had gotten as his first reward from the cursed random box right about now. Ram had taken to calling him Barasu, which kinda scared Subaru as she had turned his name into a binding curse, while Rem just called him Subaru-kun. Ram usually insulted him, but Subaru could tell it was her way of showing affection. As he had cut himself with the knife, Ram said "Ha, it seems you are hopeless with a knife, Barasu." "Sorry, I'm not that experienced at peeling with knives. I have only peeled tatoes like once in a blue moon, and I definitely was not peeling them with a knife." Subaru replied. This got both Rem and Ram curious.
Subaru would then explain how he had peeled potatoes with a peeler, rather than a knife, and the conversation would shift to the food he made with it in his homeland, and then it would shift to some of the other food he made in his homeland. Rem and Ram were enthralled by this conversation, as they kept listening while they were working. He would also talk about learning to cook from his dad, and how they would make food together sometimes. By the end of it, Subaru promised he would make them some cuisine from his homeland if he had the chance. Rem then asked Subaru "Subaru-kun. You said you learned how to cook from your father. What about your mother?" Subaru's eyes then took on a look of sadness, and Rem and Ram recognized it as the same look he had during his conversation yesterday morning with Emilia. Rem immediately realized she had crossed a line, and immediately tried to apologize "Subaru-kun, I'm so sor…" Subaru then cut her off, putting up a fake smile, and with some fake enthusiasm, said "You don't have to apologize. You were just curious. I'll tell you two someday about my mom. It's just a bit of a heavy subject for me."
An awkward silence filled the air for a moment, before Ram said "Barasu, let me take you to your next task." she said. As Subaru followed her out of the kitchen, Rem and Ram took one last look at each other, concern etching their faces, before Ram and Subaru left. Rem had been on the fence with Subaru, as he seemed to have an aura similar to witch's miasma, but he smelled good, so she really did not know what to think of him. The same could be said for Ram, but she was trying to see if Subaru was actually a spy or an assassin, per Roswaal's orders. However, the twins could not ignore that look of sadness. It seemed that their new co-worker had some personal demons in his past like them. And they knew that despite how much he put up a smile, they knew he was not okay.
Subaru had finished his second day better than the first, as he was adjusting to his life as a butler quite nicely. It was a good thing his father taught him how to do his own chores, otherwise this job would be a lot more difficult for him. He thought back to how he reacted to his mother being mentioned by Rem. He wasn't upset at her, and he felt they, along with her sister Ram, were becoming friends, but what bothered him was how he realized he was slipping back into old habits. Before his mom entered a coma, when he felt like his best wasn't good enough as Kenichi's kid, he had nearly developed a habit of becoming a clown. If his best in races wasn't gonna be good enough, then he would be the biggest clown ever. It was only after his talk with Kenichi after his mom went into a coma did he kick that habit, but every so often, remnants of it would slip out when he felt pain inside.
He knew he shouldn't do this. He knew he should talk to Rem and Ram about his past, or at least someone, but he wasn't ready. He just met these people, why should he dump them this information about his past? He hadn't even told his friends about his true emotions, only his father. And yet somehow, he felt he had a better connection with these people than his friends in his old world. He couldn't understand why. Though he felt in the inevitable future, he would tell them his past. And that put some form of comfort in him, but it didn't stop him from being perplexed. Friends were people you told your struggles to, so why hadn't he felt comfortable sharing his emotions with his friends in his old world? This was a question he did not yet know the answer to.
It was day 3 of Subaru working as a Butler. He had just finished his daily quest. He had been putting his stat points into Strength and Agility as planned. His Strength was at 24, while his Agility was at 21. He had noticed that he was starting to complete the run a bit faster each day. He wondered if it was related to his agility increasing. He then got something that caught his interest from the cursed random box. It was a dungeon key. It's rank: E. They key stated it could only be used on a specific door in the Roswaal mansion, and this door just so happened to be the door that led to Beatrice's room.
This is where we find Subaru. Standing in front of the door, ready to use the key. "Here goes nothing." he says to himself, and he enters another space entirely as he inserts the key. It looks like an underground subway area. When Subaru tries to see if he can turn back, he realizes he can't, as he gets a notification telling him he cannot leave until he kills the dungeon boss or uses a teleportation stone. "So, I can't get out huh? I better watch my step then." Subaru said to himself, as the air around him felt mysterious and dark, and he felt something could pop up at any moment. He walked through the dungeon, looking around, until he heard a growl, and right in front of him was a red wolf with steel fangs. The wolf lunged for Subaru, looking to pounce on him, but he was able to dodge very easily. The wolf was called a steel fanged lycan, and the creature had a red name label above his head. Subaru hadn't even used Observe. He wanted to figure out why this was the case, but now was not the time. (By the way, he is doing this in track clothes, because why would you train in a butler uniform?)
'Can I beat this thing?' Subaru thought to himself. He had grown in the 4 days he had the system, but was he ready to face off against a creature like this? He wondered, but as he and the creature were sizing each other up, Subaru realized something, and laughed. "What am I saying? This creature is nothing compared to Elsa." With his face full of determination, he said "If I allow a creature like you to scare me, I'll never become a hero. I'll never carve out the life that I want. And most importantly," Subaru's eyes flared with even more determination, and said "I'll never be able to see my parents again. I've already died once. I've been given a second chance of life and acquired a new power because of it. I refuse to die easily, hell, I refuse to die again, so" Subaru then looked at the creature with a challenging look and yelled "COME AT ME!"
The creature then lunged for Subaru, and Subaru then dodged again, and punched it on the head, sending it flying into a security gate. Subaru was a bit shocked at the power he just unleashed, and said "This power, this energy. All from raising the strength stat?" Subaru then grinned, and said "Seems like I made the right choice in stat investments." Subaru then looked at the gate where he had punched the wolf through, and saw it was getting up. Subaru, with a frown said "I knew it. That thing was not gonna go down from a punch like that." Subaru then grinned and said "However…" The creature then lunged for Subaru, but Subaru dodged, and then, using a combination of speed and muscle, punched the creature in its jaw, causing it to fly and crash into a wall, leaving an imprint.
"A hit like that from muscle and speed is gonna be much more effective." Subaru said, still grinning. The wolf got up again, though this time, it was dazed, trying to get over the hit. 'NOW!' Subaru said in his mind. Subaru sped over using speed, and then used muscle again, hitting the wolf this time THROUGH the wall, and then Subaru got a notification.
You have defeated [Steel Fanged Lycan]
You've leveled up!
Subaru was excited seeing this. "I did it! I beat the creature! I leveled up!" He exclaimed, but he couldn't celebrate. Two more wolves approached him, and both had red name labels. 'I could defeat them with Muscle and Speed again, but that might waste too much mana, and leave me vulnerable to more of these things. There has to be another way to defeat these things.' He then remembered the knife he had gotten from his first loop loop in the capital, before he got the system. It was still in his inventory. He grabbed it, and dared the wolves to come get him.
The wolves then ran towards Subaru, baring their fangs. Subaru dodged the first one, before dodging the second one's attempt to bite him, and then he stabbed the blade through the wolf's head. He wasn't done, as he then dragged the blade through the wolf's body, slashing the right side of its head and body open.
"I was right." Subaru said. "These creatures, compared to Elsa and Reinhard, are totally weak." He then looked at the wolf that remained with a glare, and the wolf backed away slowly into the darkness, as if it was afraid of Natsuki Subaru, until only its eyes reamined, before those disappeared too. Subaru, thinking that the coast was clear, decided to check his stats since he was now level 2.
Name: Subaru Natsuki
Job: None
Title: None
Element: Shadow
Level: 2
Fatigue: 3
HP: 205
MP: 22
Strength: 25
Agility: 22
Sense: 11
Intelligence: 11
Vitality: 11
Available Stat Points: 0
'Hmm, so everytime I level up, I get a 1 point increase on all my stat points.' Subaru said thoughtfully. 'This means that I get 5 stat points total, compared to the 3 I get on my daily quest. Leveling up by hunting monsters like these seems to be the fastest way to grow. I would need to find a way to grind more often outside of dungeons like these, because I don't know if fighting in dungeons like these every 4 days is gonna do it for me. And who knows if I even get the opportunity every 4 days, I might get stuck with fucking pens and first aid kits again.' Subaru thought sulking, as he remembered the rewards from the cursed random box before he got the dungeon key.
Subaru noted that he was correct in assuming that intelligence linked to mana, and knew he would have to use more of his daily quest points on it more once he got strength and agility at a high enough level. He then saw he was able to pick up items from the fallen wolves, and also noted he was able to sell them for gold. How much this was worth in lugunican currency, if it was even worth anything at all, he had no idea. "I don't know how powerful this dungeon boss is, but maybe if I keep leveling up in here." Subaru said. "Then again, I shouldn't get too confident. I'm still at a pretty low level, and who knows if I'll be strong enough to face it. Maybe I could try to get one of those teleportation stones and fight it later, but who knows when I'll be able to get one of those."
Subaru then heard growling, and he saw a pack of wolves approach him. The stray wolf that had backed away from him in fear had brought back-up. Subaru then said "A long time ago, I would have been scared of a pack of wolves like this. But now, I feel nothing. I feel no fear. And I know why. I've already died once." Some wolves charged Subaru, but they were met with slashes that drove them back. A wolf then was slain by Subaru's blade, before a wolf was about to bite Subaru on the head, before Subaru punched it on the snout. He then looked around, still surrounded by wolves, and said "It's gonna take more than that to kill me. So give me your best shot, otherwise I'll feel bad." His right eye was shadowed, and it was glowing blue.
Subaru then slashed through the wolves with his switchblade. He was leveling up at a rapid rate. As he was killing the wolves, his thoughts raced. 'I know one thing. If I gave up here, if I just died here, I would never forgive myself. All that work to make myself stronger would go to waste. I will not die again. I know I may be able to cheat death, but I never want to experience that ever again!' As he stood next to a wolf who's neck had been slashed by Subaru's blade, Subaru thought back to the people he met in this world, his friends, and of course, his parents. 'If I just give up here, I'll never be able to protect the people I've met in this world. If I just give up here, I'll never be able to obtain the future I want. If I just give up here, I'm not being the best person I can be. And if I give up here, I know I'll never see my parents again. I will not let a simple dungeon beat me! If it means I can achieve everything I want, if it means I can protect my friends, if it means having to fight until my last breath, I will gladly follow this system's rules!'
With a yell, Subaru continued to slash through the wolves, continued to level up, and continued to push on through the dungeon. Subaru, a bit tired, still with his switchblade in hand, continued to walk through the dungeon, until he encountered another pack of wolves. Only this time, their name labels were white. The wolves were now significantly weaker than Subaru. Subaru took a deep breath and readied his blade. He faced the wolves, his once black eyes now glowing blue. The next thing he knew, He had slaughtered the pack of wolves with ease, and then as he killed the last wolf, a new notification popped up.
You have gained the [Title: Wolf Slayer]
Natsuki Subaru had progressed mightily in the dungeon. Whether or not he could take on the dungeon boss, he did not know, but one thing's for sure: He would go down trying.
And that's it, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. A bit early, don't you think? Well, I did say BY next Saturday, not next Saturday. I also hope you enjoyed Subaru's characterization this chapter. It's the one thing I'm a little bit nervous about, particularly in the dungeon section, but I think I did a good job. Anyways, time to answer some questions you may have and some from reviews. One more thing before I do that: in the anime, Subaru's eyes are brown, but in the light novel, they are black. Take off that what you will, but the black eyes work better here.
Q: Why did Rem say Subaru smelled good? A: Again, look up Cha Hae-In, and you will understand why but here is the gist: the system nullifies Subaru's scent of the witch. There are exceptions to this. These are: When he breaks the rules of Return By Death, and when he dies. There will be a burst of Witch's miasma that will be present before the system nullifies it again.
Q: Why did Beatrice say that Subaru's mana was different? A: Can't tell you, yet.
Q: Will Subaru learn anything beyond the standard Re:Zero spells? A: That, I'm not sure. I will say that Subaru might try to create some shadow techniques of his own whenever he has the chance, but that would have to depend on the flow of the story. I will say that he will try to create a spell that will allow him to return home at least temporarily.
Q: What are Subaru's stats right now? A: That will be shown in the next chapter.
Now I'll answer some questions from reviews
ReZerofan67: He'll be fighting Mabeasts. Though I'm not sure his growth is gonna be slower
Lemonman12: Solo Leveling does not have a defense stat. There is armor and potions that reduce physical defense though. Plus, I think it might be connected to strength as well.
77husanmalhi: That will depend on the flow of the story and if it makes sense.
See you guys BY next Saturday. The next chapter will cover the boss fight against Rasaka and a bit of the Mabeast trouble in Arlam village. Until then, I bid you all adieu.