In the darkness, the green light stone dimly illuminated the surroundings.
The light reflected slight shadows, it was that of beasts, crouching and desperately chewing on something.
"Egh~ Blegh, this is damn nasty!" [Hajime]
"Urgh~ I feel like throwing up right now!" [Tanaka]
"Uuuw- I-I don't feel like I can eat anymore...I can't take this!?" [Kaori]
The three cursed as they ate the meat of the twin-tailed wolf. Shredding the meat which consists of mostly tough muscles with their teeth, they desperately swallowed while dripping blood. It has been approximately two weeks since their last meal, and being suddenly thrown meat, their stomach protested violently, assaulting them with a gripping pain. However, Hajime and Tanaka simply treated it as a usual occurrence and continued to gulp down the meat, Kaori being the exception as she can't handle the nastiness of the meat of the magic beast.
Their appearance matched that of a savage completely, and any modern human would find their current state extremely disgusting. Though the repulsive smell and terrible taste brought tears to their eyes, they was intoxicated in the feeling of their hunger being satisfied.
Treating sacred water as a drink to wash down all the meat that they has had, their stomach began to swell and their body experienced abnormal changes.
"Ah?…!? Guaaaaaa!" [Hajime]
"Hn?...Hajime-kun!? Huh...? W-What's ah...Aaahhhhhhhhh!" [Kaori]
"What the he-...Kuaaaaaaaaa!? S-Shit! AAaahhhhh" [Tanaka]
One by one their entire body was suddenly struck with severe pain, it was an extremely unpleasant feeling as if they were being eroded from the inside of their body. The pain only intensified as time passed.
"Guaaaaaa! What, What's this…. Guuuuuu!" [Hajime]
"AAaargghhhh! It hurts! Haji- Kyaaaa!" [Kaori]
"Fuckk! AAAAHHHHHH!" [Tanaka]
Unbearable pain eating away at their body. They thrashed around on the ground, it was a pain so severe that it even blew away the phantom pain.
Retrieving a test tube shaped container made from stone out of Hajime's bosom with a trembling hand, he chewed through one end and drank all its contents with both Tanaka and Kaori doing the same. The sacred water's effects activated and lessened the pain, but it didn't take long before the intense pain struck again.
"Ahhhh! Why is it… not working, ahhhhhh!" [Hajime]
Their bodies began to convulse in sync with the pain. Ba-thump, Ba-thump, their entire body was pulsating, giving off audible popping sounds everywhere. But in the very next instant, the sacred water in their body took effect and cured the abnormality. After recovery, intense pain struck once more, but was healed again. The sacred water's effects were amazing but its tremendous healing abilities appeared to be useless.
Due to the effects of the sacred water, fainting was impossible, its tremendous healing abilities backfired.
They all writhed about on the ground while screaming, either hitting the head against the wall multiple times. With no end in sight, they continued to experience the taste of hell.
Changes began to appear on their body. First, their hair lost its color. It might have been because of the pain exceeding their limits, or some other reason, but their characteristic Japanese black hair rapidly turned white. Next, their muscles and skeleton grew thicker, with several thin reddish black lines appearing within their body.
There is a phenomenon called supercompensation. It is a phenomenon in which torn muscles due to training or other activities, when recovered, will experience slight hypertrophy. Similarly for broken bones, their strength is increased after recovering. Currently, what is happening to the three's body is exactly that strange phenomenon.
The meat of magic beasts is a deadly poison for humans. They possess a special organ within their bodies called the magic stone, which produces magic power that directly circulates their bodies, allowing magic beasts to exhibit astounding physical abilities. The flesh and bones of the magic beasts, soaked in the magic power circulating their body, turned strong and sturdy.
Such an 'alteration magic' does not require chants or magic circles, and is considered an inherent-born magic with unclear details. In any case, this alteration magic is lethal to humans as it corrodes the human body from the inside, destroying the cells from within. In the past, anybody and everybody who had eaten magic beast's meat, without exception, had their bodies crumbled and died. As a matter of fact, Hajime knew of this, but he was so preoccupied with his hunger that he had overlooked it.
If all they had eaten was magic beast's meat, their body would probably have collapsed and died already, but they had a secret medicine that prevented this. Sacred water. Destroyed parts were instantly restored, as a result, their body strengthened at an amazing rate.
Destroy, recover, destroy, recover. Their body pulsated as it changed, as though undergoing reincarnation. It was a metamorphosis in which they discarded their fragile human body and was reborn. Completing the ritual, the three of them cried out like a newborn.
The pulsations finally ceased as they collapsed onto the floor, completely exhausted. Their hair was dyed completely white, and now, under their clothes, several reddish black lines could be seen running across their body. It looked exactly like those on the Kicking Rabbit, Twin-tailed Wolf, and the Talon Bear.
Hajime's right hand twitched, slightly opening his tightly shut eyes, his wavering focus landed on his right hand. Clenching his fist, scratching sounds were produced as his fingers scraped against the ground. He is still alive. He released and clenched his fist several times to ensure that he was in control of his hand's movements before he slowly got up.
"…That reminds me, magic beasts mustn't be eaten… I'm such an idiot… oh well, even if that's so, I have already eaten it…" [Hajime]
"No shit *haah*...that was an awful experience….*haah* shit!" [Tanaka]
"...That….really hurts….I don't want to…feel that again…" [Kaori]
"I…could say the…same…goddamn…it…" [Hajime]
With an exhausted expression, they could only talk with a self-deprecating laugh. Their hunger has subsided and even the phantom pain has been blown aways by that intense pain, it had been a long time since they had not felt any pain. Or rather, their body was strangely light and they felt their entire body brimming in power.
"What happened to my body? What a strange feeling…" [Hajime]
"...You're right. It does feel strange for some reason." [Kaori]
The change was not limited to their body's appearance, as they felt a sense of discomfort from within. Both hot and cold alike, couldn't be used to describe that queer sensation. Hajime concentrating on his arm, thin reddish black lines emerged.
"Uwah, dis-, disgusting, it's totally giving off the feeling of some magic beast… What a joke. Oh yeah, my status plate…" [Hajime]
Having completely forgotten the status plate's existence, Hajime searched his pockets. It seems like somehow or the other, he didn't accidentally lose it. Hajime checked his current status, thinking that maybe he could learn something regarding his body's abnormality.
Nagumo Hajime 17 Year old Male
Class: Synergist Level: 8
Strength: 100 Vitality: 300
Resistance: 100 Agility: 200
Magic Power: 300 Magic Resistance: 300
Skills:
Transmutation • Magic Manipulation • Iron Stomach • Lightning Clad [+Lightning Pierce] [+Lightning Strengthening] • Language Comprehension
"…Why is that so?" [Hajime] {Tsukkomi-like expression}
"What's wrong…?" [Tanaka]
"Check your status plate." [Hajime]
"Our status?" [Kaori]
Hajime was so shocked that he instinctively retorted in Kansai dialect. Across the board, all his status had surged, with his skills increasing by three, and yet, he was still only level 8. If levels are considered a representation of a person's growth, it appears that Hajime's growth limits had increased as well.
Hearing his tsukkomi, the other two asked and were told to checked their own status.
Tanaka Taiyo 17 Year old Male
Class: Synergist Level: 7
Strength: 100 Vitality: 300
Resistance: 90 Agility: 300
Magic Power: 250 Magic Resistance: 400
Skills:
Transmutation • Magic Manipulation • Iron Stomach • Lightning Clad [+Lightning Flash] [+Lightning Stun] [+Lightning Bolt] • Language Comprehension
"What the…hell!" [Tanaka]
Shirasaki Kaori 17 Year old Female
Class: Priest Level: 36
Strength: 190 Vitality: 450
Resistance: 120 Agility: 200
Magic Power: 510 Magic Resistance: 470
Skills:
Recovery Magic Affinity [+Improved Proficiency] [+Increased Casting Speed] [+Image Supplementation] [+Piercing Spell] [+Remote Heal] [+Improved Status Effect Recovery] [+Reduced Mana Consumption] [+Improved Mana Efficiency] [+Chain Casting] [+Multicasting] [+Spell Retention] [+Effect Multiplication] • Light Magic Affinity • High Speed Mana Recovery [+Meditation] • Magical Diagnostics • Magic Manipulation • Iron Stomach • Lightning Clad [+Lightning Fist] • Language Comprehension
"This…is really surprising…" [Kaori]
"...Magic Manipulation?" [Hajime]
Judging by its literal meaning, it probably allowed one to control magic. "By any chance, was the strange feeling I experienced earlier, magic power?" Speculating that, just like before, Hajime concentrated and attempted 【Magic Manipulation】. As soon as Hajime began to concentrate, the thin reddish black lines emerged again.
Envisioning an image where all his feelings were gathered within his right hand, then once again experiencing the strange sensation, the magic began to move, slowly and awkwardly.
"Whoa, whoa, oh~?" [Hajime]
While trying it out, Hajime raised an unintentional cry due to the indescribable feeling. The gathered magic power within his right hand began to enter the transmutation magic circle engraved on his glove. While still surprised, Hajime attempted transmutation, causing the ground to rise readily.
"Are you serious? There's no need to chant? In principle, it is impossible to directly manipulate magic, except for magic beasts…Did eating the magic beast's meat give me that special characteristic?"
"Is that really possible…? It's unprecedented to even imagine that happening, you know?" [Tanaka]
"Well yeah, but….what else could it be but that when this phenomenon is happening to us?"
"...I see" [Tanaka]
Spot on. They had indeed obtained the magic beast's unique characteristic. Next, Hajime wanted to try out 【Lightning Clad】 as well.
"Well… how should I go about doing this? 【Lightning Clad】 is about electricity right? It's that? From the Twin-tailed Wolf's tails…"
There were no changes no matter how he tried. Unlike magic power which could be felt, without any clues, he had no idea how to use it. "Uuu!" With a groan, he recalled the importance of having a clear mental image when he wants to transmute. Since there weren't many formulas written into the magic circle, he needed to transmit an even more precise mental image to the processed object during transmutation.
Hajime imagined the crackling of static electricity. Then, sparks of red electricity were released from the fingertips of his right hand.
"Oo~, it came out… I see, imagination is important for the magic beasts' inherent magic."
"Hey, that looks cool~ Let me try!" [Tanaka]
Seeing how Hajime sparks out electricity from fingertips, Tanaka also tried to imitate it. Tanaka imagined his hand being covered by electricity. And then, electricity colored with red started to coat his entire arm.
"Whoa!? Awesome!" [Tanaka]
"...Then how about this 【Lightning Bolt】...?" [Tanaka]
Curious, Tanaka tried to use the sub-skill of 【Lightning Clad】called 【Lightning Bolt】. As he thought of what it could do, the electric that was coating his arm suddenly struck and hit the wall.
"Kyaaa!?" [Kaori]
"Yo! That's dangerous!?" [Tanaka]
"What the hell!?" [Hajime]
The three of them were surprised by the sudden discharge as the skill destroyed a part of the wall.
After that, electricity was repeatedly discharged. Adjusting the current and voltage would still require practice.
The last 【Iron Stomach】 could just be taken literally. Eating magic beasts' meat would cause a severe pain that would make anyone beg for forgiveness. However, it's unlikely that the dungeon would have any other food, between hunger and pain, one must be chosen. Faced with such extreme choices, They hoped that perhaps this new skill could help resolve this problem.
After stripping the meat from the Twin-tailed Wolf, Lightning Clad was used to cook it. As expected, after satiating their hunger, there was no longer any need to specially eat raw food. While enduring the intense stench, the meat was well-cooked.
Then, they made up their mind and ate it. Ten seconds… one minute… ten minutes… nothing happened. They cooked and ate the meat in succession, but the severe pain did not strike. They didn't know if it was due to the effects of Iron Stomach, or due to their own resistance, either way, they were delighted. The taste of hell that came each time they ate was finally gone.
After eating to their heart's content with the meat, they prepared to temporarily return to their base. To raise their chances of victory over the Talon Bear, they would have to make an effort in honing their new powers for quite a while.
Cutting up the meat from the rest of the twin-tailed wolves was comparatively easier compared to the first time they did it. Storing the meat into stone-made containers, They cautiously returned to location of the God Crystal.
It had been a few days since they returned to their base and began training on their respective skills. All their skills had been growing nicely. Among them, there was a change to transmutation, it had gained a derivation skill. That was 【Mineral Appraisal】. In the Royal Capital, even among the Synergists under the Kingdom, only those of the highest rank possessed this skill. Typically, appraisal-type magic required more magic formulas as compared to attack-type magic, inevitably, it could only be performed by restricted facilities with large enough magic circles. However, for a person who possessed this skill, as long as they were touching the mineral, they could analyze any mineral with just a simple chant and magic circle. It was not a latent skill, but a unique derivation skill that could only be obtained through mastering the use of transmutation over many years.
Hajime and Tanaka immediately examined the surrounding minerals thoroughly. For example, using 【Mineral Appraisal】 on the green light stone causes words to appear on their status plate.
*Green Light Stone*
A crystal with magic absorbing properties. After amassing magic power, a faint green light will be released. If it's broken in its amassed state, all the accumulated light will be instantly released.
It was an extremely simple explanation, but they fully appreciated the information. Hajime and Tanaka broke into a broad grin as they thought intriguingly. After wandering about, looking for a useful mineral, the two of them finally discovered an indispensable mineral for creating their weapon. The weapon which would not only be their partner, but also their trump card.
Combustion Stone
A flammable ore. After ignition, it will continue to burn with itself as fuel. It will gradually become smaller as it continues to burn before it eventually burns out. If a large amount of Combustion Stones were ignited all at once in a sealed space, there is a possibility of an explosion comparable to a highest ranked fire-attribute magic.
The moment they saw the explanation, they felt a jolt of electricity run through their mind. The way they looked at each other's eyes clearly showed that they were having the same thoughts. Doesn't the Combustion Stone play the same role as what is called gunpowder on Earth? If that's the case, then they had discovered how to maximize their attack power without using transmutation! Hajime and Tanaka were excited. It would probably require much effort and trial and error in order to produce it, nonetheless, being able to use the transmutation which had saved them on countless occasions to finally obtain a means of attack, made them unbearably happy.
Thus, earnestly devoting all their time on nothing but transmutation, even forgetting to eat or sleep much to the ire of Kaori as she pleads the two to not forget about their health, and as a result of over a thousand failures, Hajime and Tanaka finally successfully crafted that thing.
Flying through the shortest distance at a speed exceeding that of sound, a modern weapon which used its overwhelming power to crush its targets.
Spanning approximately thirty-five centimeters, made using the hardest ore in the area, the Taur Stone with a six-round revolving cartridge. It had a rectangular barrel. The bullets were also made from Taur Stone with powdered Combustion Stone compacted within. In other words, it's a large revolver-type handgun. Moreover, the bullets not only have the explosive power of the Combustion Stone, it is further electromagnetically accelerated by Hajime's unique magic 【Lightning Clad】 into a mini railgun. Its maximum power was ten times that of an anti-material rifle. Its name was Donner. Somehow Hajime felt the need to give the weapon a name as it will be his partner along with the weapon he and Tanaka were going to make next as their respective partner.
"…If that's the case, even that monster… even escaping… is possible!" [Hajime]
"For sure!" [Tanaka]
"I'm glad….we can finally see a hope to get out." [Kaori]
Besides Donner, looking at the array of weapons made in reference to modern weaponry in front of their eyes, they lightly laughed.
Usually, for a common job class such as "Synergist" with their "Transmutation" skill, they could no more than craft swords and armors skillfully, but now was the moment of the birth of a conventional weapon in the world of sword and magic.