kscans

Chapter 903 - route: Team.B

Huh? You've already climbed ten more floors?

"It's nine, actually. We'll tackle the sixtieth floor after dinner."

And so, during another break on the first day of our incredibly smooth advance through the Key Tree.

I logged out of the virtual world, got out of my room, and headed to the Yotsuya dormitory's private restaurant. When I reported our progress to Nia, who I met there, her reaction was just as I'd expected.

She put down the knife she was using to elegantly cut her cotoletta, and with her usual impressive speed, her fingers flew across her terminal—shtatatata—typing out words that were a little surprised, but mostly exasperated.

The look she gave me was, of course, filled with a sense of, This guy again.

"Don't look at me like that. Sora's in on this too, you know."

Yeah. That's why my face says, ‘These guys again.’

"Ah, I see… Well, I guess it’s a good thing you two are close enough to not hold back anymore."

In any case, our tree-climbing was going exceptionally well. The pace was certainly fast enough to warrant an exasperated reaction from anyone I told, so Nia's response was perfectly normal.

Of course, it wasn't just my and Sora's achievement.

"Those three… they're just plain broken. I know they come as a set of three, but I doubt a better buffer will ever appear in Arcadia for all of eternity."

That was the Northern “trio,” who inspired nothing but genuine praise and awe.

"And then there's Gen-san. The sense of security you get with him watching your back is insane. You can really go all out without worrying about what's behind you, so both Sora-san and I got totally carried away… and he's invincible even on the front lines."

And that was setting aside his well-known trait of extreme stage fright in PvP.

This was another well-known fact: the reliability of the man they called the “Bedrock of the Eastern Faction,” the one and only [Twin Fists]-sama, who had built up a reputation completely opposite to mine in the truest sense of the word.

"Heh, at this rate, we might just be the second ones to reach the hundredth floor. Hahaha."

I could even make uncharacteristic jokes like that, because in terms of combat power, I had zero worries.

For now, the Saintess was just serenely smiling and watching over me while sprinkling blessings. The brothers, Shoh and Ren—who I learned were not twins but a year apart—were just as friendly as when we first met. And Gen-san was his usual heartwarming self…

All in all, it was a party with a pretty good atmosphere.

—And with that, my report was concluded. Which meant next up was…

"So, what about your team? How's it going?"

Hm?

Just as Nia wanted to hear about my progress, I was curious about hers.

After we three combat factions finished our group assignments and left the assembly hall, Ashe, Lady Helena… and the ten artisan rankers had a private meeting.

The Princess is a princess, and your master is a Sword Saint…

As a result, four were selected: [Crimson Arm (Enra)], [Scorching Arm (Kokoro)], [Fire-Player (Kagura)], and [Fairy of Aquamarine (Nia)]. It was decided that the top two players would carry them as the artisan squad, just as they had for the first act of the Green Connect raid. And so, after returning from the hundredth floor, they were once again storming through from the very first floor.

How did they get back down, you ask? Simple.

In the short time between reaching the hundredth floor and the start of the third Starry Sky event, they just conquered all one hundred floors again, but in reverse. Well, yeah. Nothing strange about that at all.

We started this morning. Wanna know what floor we're on now?

"I want to know, but I'm also kind of scared to hear…"

You know, that's the feeling I constantly have toward you, the acrobat.

Well, whatever the case.

It seemed we were both making good progress, and that was all that mattered.

◇◆◇◆◇

"So yeah, that's how it is. Nia might have already overtaken us by the time we realize it."

"Ahaha… As expected of Ui-san and Iris-san."

True to form, Iris seemed to be extremely busy and was absent from dinner. Afterwards, I logged back into the virtual world and re-entered the Key Tree Maze, where I was chatting with my partner.

We weren't in the fifty-ninth floor's boss room, which had turned into a safe zone, but rather…

"Man, the individual strength of the Eastern Faction (Istia) is just on another level…"

"We're basically getting completely carried. There's no room for us to even step in."

…the brothers were letting out voices of admiration I felt I'd heard many times today already, while the Saintess, protected by them, calmly looked down upon the scene with a gentle “fufufu.”

Accompanied by these three support members, who were now looking completely relaxed, we found ourselves standing on an undeniable battlefield—right in the middle of the Key Tree Maze's sixtieth floor.

As for who was providing the extremely lively background music of BOOM, CRASH, KABOOM behind our conversation, it was, of course…

"…You know, Gen-san is kind of like… he’s in a slightly different category from Ui-san or Iris, but the word ‘invincible’ just suits him perfectly. As expected of my martial arts instructor."

"Does him being your martial arts instructor have anything to do with it…? I mean, I agree that he's incredible, though."

…the one and only [Twin Fists]-dono, who was single-handedly grinding a monster tsunami to dust with his two fists—a wave of enemies that would have crushed a standard six-person party in seconds.

"—Hmph!"

A silent battle cry. His right fist roared.

And with it, a thunderous sound and shockwave. As if snatched up by the mighty arm of an unseen giant, the group of enemies directly in front of his straight punch was sent flying, scattering into particles of light.

"—Hah!"

A silent battle cry. His left fist raged.

And with it, space and foe were cleaved. Like leaves torn apart by a sudden gust of wind, the enemies in the extended path of his sweeping fist were cleanly punched apart, scattering into light.

Needless to say, it was an absurd scene. But for us Istia rankers, our close friends, and his fans, it was a familiar one.

The current ninth-ranked member of the Eastern Faction, [Twin Fists]—also known as the Embodiment of Aspiration.

Dwelling within him was a rare item that went beyond being body-integrated.

On par with a certain [Screen], his exceedingly rare Anima resided in his entire body. Having once again bonded completely with the vessel of his soul, he was, so to speak, the only Anima-Human in the virtual world.

Sixth Tier [I Am Hero (The Soul's Wish to Chase a Dream)]. Its power was the promise that effort will bear fruit.

Simply put, that Anima, which gave form to the martial artist's deep-seated “aspiration,” meant that—

"—!"

—at the end of an unimaginably long road of painstaking training, numbering well over a hundred million repetitions, he could easily send monsters flying with a single punch… a mere shockwave…

"—!"

—or, like this, cause the earth to shake and easily trip up monsters with a single palm strike to the ground… and finally…

"Mmmph—!"

—from his twin fists thrust forward, he could unleash a fantasy that made you want to yell, That's not a shockwave, that's a full-on beam! All of it.

It was a power that made realization possible through his own passion and immense effort.

And yet, because he himself had become an Anima—in other words, he himself counted as an equipped item and took up a slot—he was unable to equip any armor or weapons whatsoever. There were various other restrictions and abilities that made you want to ask if it was some kind of joke, but—

Well, in any case.

"Great work, Gen-san. Nice fight."

"Mm… ah, sorry. It took a little while."

"…Um, excuse me. Wh-what part of that was considered ‘taking a while’…?"

He too was a model Istian.

With the hordes of enemies cleanly wiped out, the door to the boss room now stood before us.

Our journey here, with me, Sora, and Gen-san taking turns on the front and back lines, had proceeded without a hitch, and our advance showed no signs of slowing even as we reached the sixtieth floor. We barely needed to support each other, so we had essentially just been taking turns resting and watching.

Thanks to the blessings from our support members, we felt virtually no fatigue. In fact, we felt none at all.

Behind this door waited a floor boss, one that came every ten floors and was expected to be on another level. This time, we would likely all have to fight together… but everyone's condition was perfect.

In other words, with an invincible partner, an invincible senpai, and the invincible blessings of the “trio,” I couldn't imagine losing, no matter what awaited us.

We had an overabundance of firepower; I was starting to feel a little sorry for our opponent—

"Excellent work. That was truly a magnificent display, as always."

Coming forward from the rear… or rather, being carried forward, the Saintess floated in a position above the other five of us, showering us with her howahowa smile, praise, and commendations.

What was she being carried by, and why was she physically higher up? It was because she was perched sidesaddle on a splendid “horse.” And what was that “horse”? None other than the Stardust Beast she had tamed.

It was about the size of a real adult horse. However, as you could tell from its hooves and tail, which were indistinct shadows flickering like flames, it was clearly a phantom beast type.

What's more, it was the fifth confirmed special individual with unique abilities, following my Sapphire, Sora's Ruby, Nia's Veshna, and the great wolf Monarch that [Wolf Pack] had unveiled during the Green Connect raid.

And so…

Having been chosen by such a noble and mysterious phantom beast, Sayaka-san had firmly established her status as a “Saintess.” And when she smiled at him…

"…Ah, ah…"

…here we had a blushing Gen-san. He was becoming quite the adorable character himself. But, setting that aside.

"Alright, let's go. This time, even we should get a chance to shine."

"Even if we don't, we need to force ourselves to do some work soon, or it'll just be embarrassing."

Though they said that, the two-thirds of our support trio—who, to be frank, were contributing more to the party with their absurdly overpowered support effects than me, Sora, or Gen-san—put their hands on the door, looking a little fired up.

Again, no one here was tired.

So there was no one to stop the two brothers.

"Alright… I'll charge in first, so…"

"…Um, Haru? Please don't leave me too far behind, okay?"

"I've got your back. I'll move up when I see an opening."

We followed one after another, stepping through the gap in the massive, towering doors into the great hall.

Unafraid and undaunted by the darkness that filled the space, we indulged in the comfort we brought each other, exchanging relaxed words… and threw ourselves into the floor boss's chamber.

What awaited us were sparks of fire, flickering in what seemed to be the center of the room.

And then, in a flash.

"—…I see. Well, it's humanoid, at least."

An explosion of light and heat.

In an instant, the darkness was blown away, and the great hall was filled with the brilliant light of a roaring inferno. It was the floor boss of the Key Tree Maze's sixtieth floor—and its extremely simple enemy name was…

"[Ifrit, the Fire Demon]…"

And so, at the same moment everyone heard Sora's soft whisper of its name…

The battle between man and a great fire that had swelled to over ten meters high had begun.

---

I'm changing plans a bit; the main course for Haru and Sora will be moved to tomorrow. But I'll be posting again tomorrow, so you'll forgive me, right?

[I Am Hero (The Soul's Wish to Chase a Dream)]
Anima: Sixth Tier
Everything is as written in the main text.
It's an Anima that simply guarantees the user will get stronger the more they work at it.

However, even though the results are guaranteed, the growth rate, even at the Sixth Tier, is so minuscule you wouldn't dare call it good. You'll definitely get stronger if you train. You'll definitely get stronger if you never stop trying. Just how many people are there who could believe in that promise and continue to walk the mind-numbingly long path of training, one step at a time?

By the way, the name comes from a finger snap. Although the origin doesn't really fit Genkotsu-san himself, his driving force of “aspiration” and various other factors get tangled up in a complex way, making it the perfect meaning for him… or maybe not.