Akira wore a purple kimono jacket with a purple sash around his waist and lavender pants. To carry the stones he had a pouch attached to his sash, another small pouch was tied to his right calf using bandages which had potions in it. He carried a blood red spear with length reaching his shoulder which was made of a single piece material, its blade was double-edged. A similar spear but of smaller size rested on his back. The spears looked more ceremonial than actual weapons.
For his armor he decided to go for minimum as possible, two metallic knee guards, bracers around his arms, a metal armour only on his left side of chest. On his shoulder two dull gray metallic pauldrons which extended to his neck to act as a standing collar. The armor was to make sure he doesn't get incapacitated in one hit.
He thought that his armour might look weird but looking around he could see Amazons wearing no armor, even their clothes were less than the armour he wore. Looking around he could see adventurers tended to prefer light armour compared to another fantasy settings.
Entering the first underground floor of Babel he came face to face with the 10 meter long hole that was the entrance of dungeon. Along the hole's wall were stairs leading into the dungeon.
Akira followed the flow of adventurers down the dungeon. Reaching the first floor everyone split up, walking alone deeper the voices of adventurers slowly disappeared.
Surrounded by the light blue walls Akira was truly alone. He kept spinning his spear with his right hand while walking to keep his boredom out.
Crack!!!
He gripped his spear and on the next turn saw the source of the noise. A goblin was born out of the dungeon, as the ugly green took its first step. It looked at him, with hatred in its red shining eyes and raced toward him. Akira placed both his arms on the spear pointed his spear forward and low. He bent his knee to get in position.
The Goblin seeing the spear in the way decided to jump attack, Akira expected this and pulled the spear back with his right arm and lifted its tip up using the left hand aligning the spear tip with goblin's flight path.
Puchi!!!
The goblin was impaled on the spear, the tip pierced straight through its chest.
"GAAARHH"
The still alive goblin screamed and swung his arms and legs as if trying to reach and kill him. Akira kept his right grip steady and placed his left palm above the spear pushing the tip down. The goblin crashed on the ground with spear blade slicing it apart ending his scream.
Akira squatted by the goblin's body, he let the spear lean on his shoulder. Taking out a tanto from his inventory Akira carved out the goblin's chest to find its stone. The instant he pulled the stone the goblin turned to dust.
'Well the lethal amount of damage is bigger than a human, looks like I would have to either do one hit kill or hit its stone.' Akira put the stone in his pouch and tanto in place of his potion bag. Putting the potion bag in the inventory, since this might be better to hide his inventory.
Coming against another goblin he aimed for its throat, piercing straight through it. Finding goblin still moving he swung his spear horizontally cutting half of its neck. After this goblin walked a single step before gurgling on its own blood and dropping down. Akira took the monster stone out of its body he found the position of stone to be about 2 cm to the left from the one before.
The next goblin was insta-killed the spear tip piercing his head. Akira tried to take out spear by slashing horizontally, finding the resistance of head to be more than of a neck.
He carved the chest of goblin to find the stone about a 3 cm to the right of the second goblin. He took out a notebook to note this, he killed a few more goblins to verify this.
Reaching the 2nd floor he had a conclusion the magic stone of goblin will always be in the area where a human left lung should be but the area was bigger than stone so it would be difficult to pierce in a single hit.
Although knowing this wouldn't change anything for a new adventurer who is not skilled enough to aim for it. It would also not be a problem for higher level adventurers who could just rip apart a goblin without breaking a sweat. But for Akira who was skilled but did not have much stamina to waste it was a problem.
Thinking of the situation he remembered a memory of his shishou.
After failing to hit her for the 100th time Akira couldn't help but question if he would ever reach her, to which she replied, "Akira, with your [Instinct] talent, whatever situation you are in with its danger sense you can save yourself. But if you can only save yourself then you are no better than a beast. If you want to be a hero you have to mold your talent by your experience. Use it to strike, resist the instinct to be safe and your spear might reach me."
Akira stood up, he decided to follow her advice.
Crack!!!
As if to test it a dungeon spawned a new goblin, the small green humanoid ran toward him with his stubby legs. It screamed and showed his small fangs. Akira calmly pointed his spear forward, he pulled it back and placed his weight on back foot.
When the goblin reached Akira's range he pushed forward and performed a straight thrust letting his instinct decide where to hit.
A red light shone in his dark left black eye. Seeing the light the goblin felt fear, it tried to stop the spear with his hand.
Puchi!!
The blood red spear pierced straight through its arm moving unimpeded the tip reached its chest burying itself in.
Puchi!! Crack!!! Tuck!!
The goblin's screams were cut off with the falling of the magic stone on the ground. The wind produced by his thrust blew away the sand that was the body of goblin.
Akira breathed heavily, the attack was more mentally tiring than physically. He felt that with enough practice he should be able to continuously use this. But looking at the reward he decided against it. The magic stone was cleaved into two pieces, the shining stars that should be present inside it were absent.
'Well head shots and beheading it is then.' Akira spun his spear removing the blood from spear.
After that ,every goblin was killed by thrust to the head or slash to the neck beheading it. Akira walked leisurely conserving his energy as much as possible.
Crack!!!
Thinking it was another goblin, Akira walked toward the sound. After taking another turn, he came face to face with a new monster — a Kobold.
The Kobold was a humanoid monster, with the head of a dog and the body of a man. Seeing a new foe, Akira got into his stance. The red-eyed Kobold ran straight toward him, its mouth opened, showing its fangs. It ran faster than a goblin.
Akira aimed his spear for the head. The Kobold tried to move out of the way, but with a little adjustment Akira's spear tip reached its throat. Then its own speed did the rest.
Puchi!!!
With its blood showering on the red spear, it thrashed. Akira placed the butt of the spear under his back foot and pulled his spear to point up.
The spear blade slashed the Kobold's throat, then jaw, and in the end split its head, ending its life.
The blood from the spear tip dripped down the shaft of the blood-red spear, making it look as if it was just painted with blood.
'The slash required less resistance than expected. The Kobold was only marginally stronger than a goblin.' Akira started cutting into the Kobold's body to find its magic stone. Akira felt this type of monster, with stronger attack and lower defense, was easier to kill.
With that done, Akira continued his journey. Every few minutes he would meet a goblin or Kobold, most of them alone. Once, he found two goblins and beheaded them with a single slash to the neck.
On reaching the stairs to the third floor, Akira felt that it was enough for today. He squatted beside the last Kobold he killed. As he was cutting into its chest to find its magic stone, he thought this work was really time-consuming. Thinking about it, he got an idea to put his kills into his inventory. That way, he could take out their magic stones together.
He put his hand on the corpse just as he was about to will it into his inventory.
A feeling of dread overwhelmed him; his body froze in fear. His vision lost focus, and sweat started to pour down his temple. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, the feeling vanished.
Ting!!!!
"HAAGGH!" He fell to his knees, and the spear fell right beside him.
'What was that... It was as if the world was angry... No, that's not the right word. It was malice... yeah, pure malice,' he thought.
CRACKKK!!!!!!
A loud noise pulled him out of his thoughts. He grabbed his spear and stood up. Still breathing heavily, he tried to calm down. He pointed his spear forward, placed his right foot back, and bent his knees.
SWIISSHHH!!!
A figure draped in a silver coat ran straight toward him. Feeling danger from it, Akira pulled his spear closer. As the figure entered his range, he maintained his stance and thrust his spear straight in the line of the enemy's run.
The figure suddenly bent down and slipped past his thrust. Relying on his defensive instinct, Akira turned his spear horizontal to cover his heart.
CLANG!!!!
The sound of colliding metal rang out.
Akira heard the sound of wind passing by his ear. One moment it felt like his arms were going to rip apart, the next he felt weightless. He could still feel his arms — they were trembling. He saw that he was inside a tunnel and by the stairs; he could guess he was flying with his back toward the 3rd floor.
The stairs to the third floor were spiral stairs curving to the left.
BANG!!!!!!!!!!!
He cried out in pain as his left shoulder collided with the wall, the shoulder part of his pauldron breaking apart. It added a spin to his fall. As he turned, he used the spin to bury his spear into the wall.
With his grip, he instantly stopped the spin. Putting the spear back into his inventory, he let the forward momentum fly him farther down the stairs.
As he finally landed on the stairs, he kept on running — he needed to get on even ground to face the enemy. As the stairs ended, he was greeted by three Kobolds, denizens of this floor.
The Kobolds roared and ran toward him. He kept on running toward them. Summoning his spear, he held it at the butt end, using two hands like a sword ready to unsheathe.
He put his right leg forward and straightened it to act as a brake. Sliding toward the Kobolds, he swung the spear in a sweeping horizontal motion, bisecting them at their waists. As their top halves fell, Akira came to a stand.
He turned to face the entrance, positioning his right foot in front, bending his knees, and pointing his spear forward. The most standard stance in spearmanship — with this, he was ready to face his enemy.
-----------------------------------
Akira didn't let it wait long. From the dark tunnel, the sound of metal blades against stone rang. Through the darkness of the entrance, Akira saw the enemy's eyes glowing in orange light.
Tread!!!
The enemy walked out of the darkness. It was a grey werewolf, but since werewolves exist in Danmachi, Akira guessed it was a strengthened species of Kobold.
The monster stood at 5 ft tall when straight on its two feet. In place of its normal claws were metallic blades, and its full body was covered with silver fur. Rather than the head of a dog, its head was of a wolf. It hunched itself as if ready to attack.
"Come..." Akira tightened his grip. The monster did a Naruto run.
Swish!!!
Akira could see its moves. He intercepted with his spear, but the monster ducked to get under it. Akira had expected this and pushed the spear down with his left hand, bringing the blade down on its head.
Clang!!! SCREEECH!!!!
The monster put its right claw above its head, blocking it. It continued to run as the claw and spear grind against each other, producing sparks. Its mouth opened, ready to take a bite out of Akira's waist.
Akira pushed his legs and kept his hands on the spear to jump up, dodging the blow. He adjusted his body to keep an eye on his opponent. As he was upside down, he saw his opponent run straight past his position. Completing a full circle, he landed on his feet facing his opponent, who was already running back toward him.
Taking the stance again, Akira took a deep breath. He was tired and his arms were trembling in pain, but his grip on the spear was strong.
Another charge. Akira kept the spear tip a little lower this time. The monster was close again, the spear tip in its way.
Clang!!!
With its left claw, it swatted the tip down into the ground. It pulled its right claw back and thrust straight toward Akira's heart. With the spear tip stuck, Akira tilted the shaft in his way. The claws collided with the shaft and redirected along its length to miss Akira's shoulder pauldron by a hair's breadth. As a last effort, the monster opened its mouth wide to bite his waist. Under the force of impact, Akira was already backing away, and he pushed himself back a little more. They passed by each other.
CRUNCH!!!!
Akira turned to the monster, which had stopped. It turned to face him, its mouth dripping with blood as it chewed on his food.
Akira touched his right waist with his left hand to feel the blood flowing. He measured the wound. It was about a 2 cm gash, and the bleeding was profuse. He poured a bottle of potion over it while keeping the spear pointed at the monster with his right hand. Putting the empty bottle back in his inventory, he placed both hands on the spear. Pointing it forward, he took the stance again.
"Roar..."
The monster roared, hungry for more. It attacked.
CLANG! CLANG!
Another collision. No winner again. Akira turned to see the monster still running — not just running, but accelerating. It leaned left and started turning, still increasing its speed.
The next attack, the monster was fast, hitting hard enough to collapse his stance. The monster didn't stop to turn. It kept running faster and faster, always coming back to attack.
CLANG! CLANG!
The next engagement, Akira couldn't keep his feet on the ground and was thrown up.
CLANG! CLANG!
The next clash, his right pauldron broke apart from the monster's claw.
CLANG! CLANG!
A scratch on his right arm.
CLANG! CLANG!
A cut on his right cheek.
CLANG! CLANG!
A gash wound on his left waist.
CLANG! CLANG!
The wounds on his body were increasing, the monster's speed was increasing, the interval between attacks was decreasing. His hands were barely holding the spear; with every attack, he almost lost his grip. He wasn't going to be able to take it anymore.
The words of his sensei echoed in his mind: "Use it to strike, resist the instinct to be safe, and your spear might reach me."
He got in stance, taking a deep breath. He resisted the urge to castle up in defense.
"AAARGHHH!" With a roar, he ran toward the gray blur racing toward him.
Just as the monster reached his range, Akira's black eye shone with a red light. He thrust the spear toward the monster, which had its mouth open for a bite.
Clang!!! Puchiii!!!
The monster was fast to react. It put its right claw forward, but the spear's full force broke its metallic claws apart. It pierced through its palm, going straight toward its head. The monster swung its right arm out, making the tip miss its head.
It thrust its left claw forward. Akira moved to the monster's left side.
PUCHII!!!
The claw ripped apart the whole left side of Akira's waist. It tried to do more damage with a bite but only caught the spear shaft in its teeth. As the monster passed by, its orange eyes followed Akira, hoping to see pain or rage — but it only saw a smile.
Akira's loosen his grip on spear, it glides on his bloodied hands which were painting it red with his blood. Another step and his hands had reached the end of spear he gripped it with his fully strength.
The spear tip in the monster's hand, the shaft in its teeth, the spear butt in Akira's hand — all aligned horizontally.
As the distance between them increased, the spear tip was pulled out of the monster's hand. Its teeth grind against the shaft. After the shaft came the blade.
"It's Over" Akira murmured and swung the spear horizontally, slicing monster's cheek the blade comes out of the behind his head. With a fountain of blood , everything above it's mouth was separated. The monster dropped dead.
The red light in Akira's eye shut down, and he dropped face down. He was happy with this fight and hoped his sensei would also be satisfied with his progress.
Just as he was losing consciousness, he remembered his goddess. He thought of her smile when she came back from work. He thought it might make her sad — maybe she might even cry.
He remembered Eina, who had already lost one adventurer under her. She would definitely be sad. She might even quit being an advisor.
He remembered the girls from the Hostess of Fertility — Anya, Ryuu, and Syr. The first two would definitely be sad. As for Syr, if he didn't bicker with her, she might feel lonely. After all, what better companion than a rival?
'What kind of man would I be if I made all those girls sad...' He opened his eye.
Lying in a pool of his own blood, with his right cheek to the ground, Akira's one working eye the left one could only see red blood and the monster's body. He tried to move his limbs but got no response. He could still move his jaw and tongue, but no sound came out of his throat.
'Think... Think... First priority, I have to drink a potion. But how? I can't move. Even if inventory can place it anywhere on my body, I would need to open it. Why... why open it?' he thought.
Akira willed the potion to appear on his lips at an angle. As the potion appeared, it tilted toward his mouth. He opened his jaw and bit the falling potion bottle by its neck.
Crack!!!
The potion bottle broke, pouring some potion into his mouth, most into the blood pool. Akira also ingested some glass shards, which cut inside his mouth, but he had no time to think about that. He licked the potion-filled blood on the ground using his tongue, ingesting potion and glass shards.
'Slowly... slowly, focus on the potion. Think only about potions. It's only red wine.' Akira drank his sweet blood until he fell unconscious.
............................
(A/N: It has been so long that I wrote something by myself that I feel I forgot how to write. Any advice to improve would be a huge help)
You can Support me on p@treon: [email protected]/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
I mainly translate other fanfics on there.