Chapter 082 - ExcursionMonster Musume chapter 82: Excursion
The rest of the summer vacation was spent at the imperial capital. I refilled my talismans, tried to make new body-enhancing talismans that Loreen-san is using and I did a mock battle with my familiars while recalling I was only doing what I"m familiar at. Even in the mock battles, I switched between support and talisman arts.
In the mock battles, I tried to fight various pairs. Ruu and Lime against all the rest, Nichrome and I versus Ruu.... Well, we tried a lot and we have seen a lot of things. Ruu and Lime were unexpectedly in good shape and fought unexpectedly well with each other, than Rin and Nichrome who shot at each other. I only thought that Nichrome pushed clearly, but Rin shot a thunder strike and even went attacking from the front. After all, you can see the difference in experiences between them because of Nichrome´s defeat. I found a problem, which is that I´m helpless in close range and it"s difficult for me to move freely and avoid being approached by other people. If they get close, I will be attacked before throwing a talisman. I also thought that I should make body reinforcement talismans so that I could fight at close combat.... These talismans suit me...but I couldn’t make them. Ruu and Lime comforted me now.
“Don"t be depressed, Tsuchio! If we are here, there is no need for Tsuchio to fight in the front!" Ruu
“That"s right, father. Please leave such a matter to us. I won"t let any devil beasts come close to father." Lime
Although they comforted me, it isn"t always possible to fight with Ruu. I would like to be able to do as much as possible without Ruu and Lime. Although I was taking martial arts cla.s.ses, it was almost like using physical strength. Therefore, I stopped the martial arts cla.s.s in the second year.
Summer vacation is over and academy started again. I became a third grader and the lessons have become full-fledged. Almost all the students who are receiving taming cla.s.ses are striving to strengthen their cooperation with their second and more familiars in mock battles. The first familiar already evolved and is battle experienced. In my case, Rin and Shadow-san are taking part in the taming cla.s.s. Sasha-sensei told me that I should only bring one devil beast. What should I do if Rin and Shadow also become persons, can I still take this cla.s.s....
“By the way, sensei. It was completely forgotten, but what happened to that magic tool that I picked up when I tamed Rin two years ago?" Tsuchio
“Magic tool...oh, that bag. Since the guild hasn"t made contact in particular, perhaps the bereaved family has taken it back. The current you won"t need it." Sasha-sensei
“That"s right, but I"d like to get what I found. Well, I can"t do anything about it." Tsuchio
Sensei´s Garms run around and avoid the launched thunders and black arrows emitted by Rin and Shadow. Although they seem to be hit occasionally, magic will scatter as it sniffs cheaply and they avoid. The Garms would like to approach to attack, but the two of them are trying to strike a barrage.
“Can I add another one, if it"s okay?" Sasha-sensei
“Hmm...I"m fine with it." Tsuchio
Another Garm came out from sensei"s shadow and the number of Garms in battle became five. Two attack Shadow and three attack Rin next. Although Rin is surrounded by three Garms and scatters thunders around the vicinity, she keeps kicking with her hooves and keep them away. Rin wasn"t good at close range battles, but why is she so now? Even though her att.i.tude has been softened a bit since I resumed our riding sessions early in the morning, there is still something else. I guess she is clearing her anger...I"m sorry Garms. On the other hand, Shadow-san is fighting against two Garms and unlike me, she is fighting while paying attention to her opponents. She can float in the air and wait or avoid by returning to a shadow. If she doesn"t fight alone, it"s no use.
“Well, let"s finish it for today." Sasha-sensei
“That is earlier than usual." Tsuchio
“Today, there is an explanation of the excursion. Haven"t you heard?" Sasha-sensei
“Excursion...ah, I feel like I have heard something about it." Tsuchio
The excursion is a very heartwarming event. Until now, there were only training events and every time, I met a lot of hardships. So, do we go hiking this time?
“Where do we go for the excursion? Sea or mountain?" Tsuchio
“It"s a mountain. I will tell you the details at the time of explanation." Sasha-sensei
I guess mountain means even climbing is involved. When I say mountains in the vicinity, Mt. Maronma? There are not many strong devil beasts, but it"s okay. What are we going to do after that?
“Now, I would like to start the training of the devil beast subjugation by each lesson. Please follow the instructions of your homeroom teacher.” Teacher
Summer vacation had ended about a month ago and today all third graders went to the mountains in the western part of the kingdom to perform subjugation of large-scale demon beasts. It seems that at this time of the year, the third graders always have subjugation training, but this time we are able to subdue a large amount of magic beasts. This is the "excursion" that Sasha-sensei talked about.
“...It"s not heartwarming at all!” Lucas
“You don"t have a lot of time to complain when the demon beasts appear. I always kills the beasts in the sea. When I was done, I could play in the sea..." Tsuchio
“I wanted to swim." Tris
“Tris, can you swim?" Tsuchio
“I can swim! I used to play in the underground lake!” Tris
Well, this year is different from usual...even though it isn"t an excursion to the ocean. As far as that, there will be other excursions.
“Well then, I go to my taming cla.s.s. See you later." Tsuchio
“We have martial arts cla.s.s. Tsuchio, please be careful." Lucas
“I will do my best!" Tsuchio
In this excursion, the aim is to make use of the results of ordinary lessons in actual battles and we all are supposed to act in our cla.s.ses. Because I am in the taming cla.s.s, it is different from Lucas, Tris and Fal. We usually fight by ourselves, but this time we are with our teachers and cla.s.smates. Well, it will be difficult to move, but well it is cla.s.s, therefore it can not be helped.
“Everyone"s attention please, I will check the contents of the training now. In this training, we will subdue the ma.s.s of stone golems in this area. At first, they seem to have appeared around the middle of the mountain, but now it seems they came down to the foothills. Before the villages and towns on the foot are damaged, we must defeat them. Fortunately, golems are strong but very slow. They also have weak points against magic and strong attacks, that"s why they are opponents who can be dealt with by third graders. Since we will divide into teams from now on, please a.s.sign roles and positions amongst yourselves. We will depart in ten minutes, so please decide in the meantime." Sasha-sensei
Stone golem. A monster formed by gathering rocks and a low-purity magic stone as nucleus. Tamers often tame such a devil beast and it will be the same this time too. As Sensei said, it isn"t really good. Well, it is like a wall and because it uses a magic stone as its core, you can also take it if you do well. Well, if you break the nucleus with a blow the purity will be low, so there are not many people doing such a thing. In fact, it is rare that a demon beast who has a core appears in such large quant.i.ties. Did someone find a vein? It is a mountain range which extends even to the cave country, isn"t it impossible? Well, let"s leave the investigation to the guild.
“So Sensei, who should I build a group with? I"m the only one left." Tsuchio
“You act on your own. Because of the number of people involved, you"re the spare one..." Sasha-sensei
“I don"t need to be in a group, because we have an uneven number of students...?"
“Yes. You"ll be more p.r.o.ne to fighting alone, right? And you have many strong familiars." Sasha-sensei
“...Well, that"s right." Tsuchio
“I also act like that, therefore I think that there is no problem. If you´re okay with that, please help the students if there is a need." Sasha-sensei
“Understood.” Tsuchio
Haa, as usual nothing changed. Moreover, I have to protect the students, if needed. Well, it"s something I can do and I won"t be disappointed here.
“It"s the first time I fight against a golem." Tsuchio
“It’s true...so does that machine in the ruins not cla.s.sify as a golem?" Sasha-sensei
“Since it acts autonomously with nucleus, it can be regarded as a kind of golem." Tsuchio
“Is that so? Well then I haven’t fought with them, so this time it’s real huh." Sasha-sensei
“I"m not good against solid opponents, because my claws don"t go through. I hope I can cut them." Lime
“Why don"t you hit them? When I"m fighting with Lime and Ruu, I"m often the one hitting. "
“Then, let"s beat them as father says. They shouldn’t be harder than a rock." Lime
“Bururu..." Rin
“Rin your thunder magic isn"t really effective. Why don"t you just thrust and kick them?” Tsuchio
“Buruu” Rin
“Is that so? If so, I"ll depend on your escort. Shadow-san"s magic is okay...there is no problem, as expected of the dark attribute. Well then, I have to do my best for Shadow-san this time too." Tsuchio
She can’t take the life force...but when she absorbs the nucleus, will it become a part of her belly? Well, we won"t know if we don"t try it.
“I wonder...if the heavy firebee is a little severe but anyway, there is not much difference to the hornet. I can move around, but I can’t use the rock snakes much. Shall I use rock pillars or the five-elements talisman? There is no need to bother going overboard..." Tsuchio
Gold is harder than earth. If it hits, it will be the earth that breaks. Then, shall we hold on to it?
All tamers travel along the mountain road where rough rocks are rolling. Each one has their familiars search around. There is no sign of a golem, that"s why there is no other choice to check among the rocks with eyes and magic. It"s quite big, so it"s easy to find. Although there are many dead angles among the rocks, it seems there is no need to worry about the blind spots. 30 minutes after we started climbing, we encountered several golems. Behind them, a fairly large number of golems are hanging around.
“We need to go down. Everyone, please spread properly and hunt them all down. Please stay within the reach of my sight so as to not be too far away." Sasha-sensei
To Sensei’s words, all students divide into a few groups and move to battle with the golems. Then, do we also move forward?
“You wait at the top, it is troublesome if you move out too." Sasha-sensei
“Understood.” Tsuchio
I left the battlefield and climbed up the mountain path. The free golems who noticed us approach slowly.
“Well, Ruu and Lime will beat them easily. Nichrome, will you go out too?" Tsuchio
“I would like to fight on the front lines too because I would like to try my melee combat weapon." Nichrome
“Well then, you are in front with Ruu. Rin on the left and Shadow on the right.” Tsuchio
As we come closer, the golems swing their wielding arm from above greatly. The attack isn"t very fast and you could compare it to the speed of walking. Ruu lightly avoided it by moving to the side and blew off the head with one blow while another blow hit the rock body. A crack in the form of a spider web formed on the body and the golem broke down and crumbled. As expected, she could do it. Ruu seems to be compatible with such an opponent.
Unlike usual, Lime doesn"t use her claws and struggles. She transformed and hardens her arm into a cylindrical shape and drill through the arm of the golem. It seems to be a little hard, but she is fighting without problems. It seems to be okay with this, exactly like a sandbag, though it"s a ma.s.s of rock.
Nichrome’s melee combat weapon is her very arm. It was written as a basket hand, but it"s a complete arm when you actually look at it. A thick wrist, proportional to it, and a fist that can pack a basketball’s leeway. There is a number of gear-like things around and is spinning. It seems that something has been installed...but the opportunity to see it will be next time. Nichrome gripped the arm of the golem that was shaken and crushed it with her hand. Just a single hit by Nichrome and the golem was shattered and blew away. She told me that she wanted to try it only, but is this really a trial? She doesn"t even fight properly.
“It"s not our turn yet.” Tsuchio
“Bururu..."
“Certainly, it seems that the magic stone has shattered like this. Well, it can"t be helped. Let"s give it up." Tsuchio
“Bururu.”
“That"s right, should we look at the other students? Sensei said that if they are in danger we should help them." Tsuchio
Most of the students are fighting against one golem, which is okay, but if a second one comes, it will be a bit harsh. Let us attract them with magic. Ruu has plenty of room to spare, it won"t matter if she already has about 10 golems. It is great practice, so let"s make it fruitful.
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Ruu
Age: Unknown
Appearance: Late teens
She is Tsuchio´s first familiar and her name is a short form of the word dragon. She met Tsuchio, when he fell from the sky on her back.
She was a grapple wyvern, which couldn’t use offensive magic and that even when she became a human. When Ruu was a dragon, she was fighting with her whole body. As she evolved and her arms grew, she became able to fire flames besides close combat, so she was able to fight even at medium distance. It seems that the fuel consumption was bad, so she didn"t want to use it very much.
Her fighting style didn"t change even after she became a person, but Ruu came to be able to use a fatal breath. Ruu uses almost all the magic she possesses for this genuine trump card. So far, she has only used it against demons during the war.
She also is Tsuchio´s wife. From a normal grapple wyvern, she became his lifelong partner. Although not as much as Lime, there is a dislike to prioritize Tsuchio. She still has dragon-like limbs and a tail grows from her waist. Her scales, hair and eyes are red. Her favorite things are Tsuchio and fish, while she dislikes undead. Personality is somewhat friendly in a broad meaning.
Skills and Magic
Strengthening Magic: Magic from the elbow that heats up. Not only the damage caused by the heat on the scales is cured, but also her arms are strengthened.
Breath: A technique to emit heat rays with high temperature. Rather than magic, it is like a dragon skill. This also corresponds to alt.i.tude control in the air.