Episode(77)- Yagar, Champion of trolls
SOVEREIGN OF DEATH~(77)
Boom!
A heavy stomp echoed as a figure with gleaming eyes halted.
Nagisa, his blue hair having grown somewhat beyond his shoulders looked up.
There was a grin spread across his face.
Finally, he had arrived!
Standing before the giant door that seemed too big to even be considered a door, he was amazed.
Even stacking several trolls on top of each other probably couldn't achieve this high a height.
He shook his head slightly to shake away the unnecessary thoughts and focused.
Beyond this door was sure to be an unreasonable beast that would make his previous fights against the trolls look like a spat between children.
It was sure to be a supremely powerful existence to be part of a dungeon that killed humanity's strongest and last hope.
Yet, even before that door-
[Damn what a long journey]
All Nagisa cared about was the length of time it took to end this journey.
How long it took you ask?
A day? A week? No, it's a month.
It was a whole flipping month!
No, since Nagisa couldn't even be sure of anything, the time it took him to arrive here might even be more than a month.
Probably two or even more.
As for why it took such a long time to climb 10 floors, for this Nagisa had an embarrassed expression.
Immediately after facing the scorpion and leaving the location where he had found the corpse of the hero Nagisa ended up giving a taste to the ether fruit.
It was just a slight curiosity, honestly and he couldn't help it.
But in the end he ate them all and was only left with the lingering taste in his mouth.
The taste was so good Nagisa felt sorrowful as he ate the last few bites of the remaining ether fruit.
It was so delicious that he wouldn't be surprised if they were poisonous.
On the contrary however, as if it were meant to be eaten by himself, every fruit he ate improved his mana and physical condition by leaps and bounds.
His eyes lit up as he realized the effect to him wasn't random as the description stated but for him it was almost certain!
Along with the fact that he could enjoy a tasty treat aside from yucky monster meat, Nagisa was like a man on drugs!
So, like any addict their first time buying, he went directly back to the site of the crime for more.
And what had he seen?
There, hanging from the tree like pepper lights were countless ether fruits as if he hadn't plucked the tree clean just days ago.
This sight made the junky in Nagisa's heart jump with elation.
At the same time he came up with the idea to experiment just how long it took for the fruits to grow back after being plucked.
This also helped so he didn't need to come back every now and then when he had the cravings.
There was also the fact that he couldn't return after going to the boss room so he wanted to take advantage of this chance.
And like that, five hours after being stripped naked by a perverted addict, the tree magically gave life to new fruits.
Seriously, Nagisa felt as if he was hallucinating when he saw the tree shining golden before fruits started budding then ripened in mere seconds.
After that, he figured that at most it would only variate to a total of six hours at most for new fruits to form each time he plucked.
However he had to pluck the tree clean or else new ones wouldn't form.
And thus began the unhealthy lifestyle of a man and a tree.
Nagisa knew he was greedy but he just couldn't help it!
Maybe it was due to the amount of mana that was infused into the fruits but, every bite he took out of a single ether fruit was like clouds of sweetness drifting along his taste buds.
What he had already surpassed five years worth of yield.
And if he ate one to three each day, Nagisa didn't feel like he could run out even if he spent a few decades!
[I should probably plant my own fruit when I get out]
The thought came and Nagisa immediately thought that it made sense.
In any case, all he needed to do was supply mana which he really had a surplus of right now.
Giving a side glance, he checked his current amount of mana.
[Mana–40,000]
He couldn't help but whistle when he saw the amount.
Was this even considered normal?
Normally you would get at most 2 extra points of mana when you ate the fruit and this was only randomly.
It meant that you might eat 10 fruits and still not get a single point of mana.
However, probably due to some talent, trait or skill of his he not only gained points with every fruit he consumed, each gain was well over 10 points of permanent MP thanks to his MP boost.
[It's scary]
He couldn't casually show this treasure outside.
With the greed of humans he would probably have no rest even if he left the dungeon.
Before he knew it they would start a war and he would end up killing the younger generation only to get hunted by the elder generation!
By then it would be a drama where he made enemies where ever he went and stole kidnapped a dozen princesses and was misunderstood by a few empresses like a typical protagonist.
Dammit!
And to think this would all be because of a single fruit!
[Well, I don't want that. Seems to exhausting]
Nagisa, from the few novels he had thrown through windows didn't know how those so called protagonists called their lives living at all.
Making enemies, being arrogant, fighting over women and killing everywhere you went?
At some point don't you mature and start living like an adult?
In any case, he didn't plan to show any cards when he left the dungeon so he didn't need to worry much about this issue.
Looking at the door again, Nagisa checked himself.
He wasn't tired.
Especially since he had rested during that whole farming arc of his, he was actually brimming with energy.
Still, it wouldn't hurt to get rid of any lingering fatigue that might cause trouble later.
Hopefully no monsters attacked him during his rest but he wasn't too worried.
As for why he wasn't worried?
If you followed the trail leading back to where he had come from, there would be nothing but troll corpses. Heads, guts and blood splattered everywhere.
From frozen corpses to mutilated corpses, decapitation and even those cut into many pieces.
Even if a new troll spawned near him, the sheer terror this scene left would make them run in fright.
.....
...
...
[Yahoo!!]
As if he had entered a friends house uninvited, Nagisa cautiously poked his head out from behind the door.
[Anybody here?]
After sleeping for literally who knows long while anxiously clutching Nightfall, Nagisa woke up.
It had been five hours since and he decided it was good time to stop hesitating.
First he checked his gear making sure they were all up to par.
His equipment were all in excellent condition.
Although his swords were still in the process of an evolution they could still be used normally so he wasn't concerned in that area.
As for himself, that bout of resting had him feeling as fit as a fiddle.
He could probably defeat s*itama and s*perman in a 2v1 right now.
'Just kidding'
In any case, he glanced around the large space in awe.
[Still, why is this place so empty?]
Walking along the bridge connected to a large concrete ring, Nagisa looked along the huge chains, each link larger than himself.
They connected to the concrete ring holding it by each side and connecting to the ceiling on each side.
Looking down he could see water splashing and occasionally large spikes that peaked through the waves.
He marveled at the large space but still had yet to see even a sign of the boss.
Maybe it felt his aura and hid behind the throne?
Thinking this jokingly, Nagisa gave a short glance and of course it wasn't there.
He shook his head with a chuckle.
Still, to be unable to locate the boss even with his level of perception.
Did it have that high of a concealment skill?
Just then-
Swoosh!
A blade fell from the sky, its force was staggering and its speed didn't lag behind.
Before he could even rationalize the attack, all that could be seen were debris scattering, the ground sinking in and the small figure being split into two.
Surely, Nagisa had died.
...
[Must be what you thought!]
Swoosh!
As the words echoed, the dust clouds parted.
A figure moving so blindingly fast his feet looked as it they were floating flashed by the enormous troll monster.
By the time the monster could react, the figure stood up from a kneeling posture and slowly sheathed his sword.
As he calmly turned to face the troll, Nagisa watched as the blood spurted from the trolls neck like a pipe that had burst a leak, completely out of control.
It wasn't just the neck that had been slashed.
Within that short span of time, Nagisa had swung twice and both swings landed on the neck and shoulder.
Its shoulder was even more deeply cut than its neck, especially due to its extremely thick flesh.
Even now its neck wound was recovering at a fast rate although its shoulder lagged behind.
Still, Nagisa was far from disgruntled.
He threw up the sword, caught it by the sheath and pulled the blade before sheathing it again.
Recalling the feeling of cutting through flesh more vividly he felt like he could cut even deeper the third time around.
The troll wasn't much phased by its wounds.
It looked at the human while clutching it's deeply cut shoulder with a grin and spoke.
[Kakahaha! So a challenger of humans have come?]
Spreading its arms wide in an arrogant posture like an eagle facing the sky he bellowed.
[Welcome thee!]
Pew! Pow!
Nagisa could almost imagine the fire works and the spectacular dynamics that would appear if this were an anime.
[Well, enough about that]
Nagisa's eyes sharpened like a beast ready to prowl. He licked his lips ready for the new challenge.
[I didn't come here to hear a weird monster yap a tiring opening speech so show a little less lip would ya?]
[Hahaha, surely you jest]
The troll king chuckled as if he had taken no offense.
But in the next moment its aura changed and it spoke menacingly.
[But to think a puny human would dare to belittle me, Yagar, champion of trolls!]
Yet-
Clang!
Nagisa had already focused and disregarded its unnecessary yapping and he already move like a blur closing the distance.
In a fluster, Yagar pulled up the huge axe bringing it before its chest and blocking the attack creating the loud metallic sound echoing through the hall.
Both parties were shocked.
'This speed! Incredible!' (Yagar)
'I might've not used my fastest speed but it still reacted?' (Nagisa)
Even so, both of them grinned even more wilder than before.
[Amazing! Hahaha! Yapper or whatever! You've got me pumped up!]
Yagar grinned.
[Hmph!~Arrogant human!]