The Spearmaster and the Black Cat

Chapter 4

Episode 4 ~ Playing with Chains

「Skill Status」

A list of skills is displayed .

Among them I try to touch <Chain Factor> to check it .

※Chain Factor※

→？？？Skill

Touching Chain Factor, I try to see the details .

※Chain Factor※

Chain Factor's effect evolves in conjunction with personal growth and other skills .

This may cause a mutation in the nature of <Chain>

Mutation in the nature, How? While thinking of this question, I repeatedly touched the displayed character [1] with my finger, Though there was no further description .

Oh well, I have no choice but to comprehend it myself little by little .

? ? ? Appeared with the skill, Do I have to learn it?

If that's the case, Is it similar to the skill system in a game?

It's very puzzling, But let's try it .

I nodded, Staring at the chain mark engraved on my left wrist .

「Try!」

The Status screen is turned off .

I held out my left hand- and the <Chain> which I prayed for shot out!

I heard a shooting sound, And the <Chain> really shot out from the chain mark on my left wrist,

The <Chain>, Which extended out, Pierced the ground about two meters ahead .

This "Chain" seems to be sturdy .

It really appeared from the mark engraved on my skin .

-Strange .

It feels like it's made of several iron threads twined around into steel . [2]

While looking at the extended chain I developed such an impression…

Even while pulling on the chain that came from my left hand, The tip that's stuck in the ground won't return

「Oi, Oii . 」

The chain disappears instantly with a thought of "Disappear" .

「Fuu」

It's good it disappeared, Being stuck in the ground like that, I wouldn't have been able to get away…

How ironic .

Still, The chain is usable .

Can it be shot according to image?

I imagine a short distance… And the chain soaring .

The distance, Measuring by eye is about ten meters? It stopped .

(10 meter = 29-ish feet)

「It's like this in the beginning?」

I thought it would have flew further…

Because of the short distance I'm a little disappointed .

However, While repeatedly shooting and retracting the chain I spontaneously smile .

Good — The initial velocity of the chain .

The initial velocity is disgustingly fast, This is good .

I keep producing the chain while turning my hand all around .

Little by little, The range seems to be extending slowly . Though it seems to only have the specifications to fly straight .

Hm? Did the mark of "Chain Factor" change? It might be my imagination…

「Oh, The range increased and the speed rose, When using it the limit grows」

With the physical ability of this chain I could fight with that monster from a while ago .

After I confirmed the effectiveness of my new weapon my energy grew excited .

I took the torch from the wall and started walking step by step into the darkness .

Even with a torch the eerie open cave doesn't change . The moss and mushroom that was still shining slightly on the ceiling of the cave was visible .

Eh?

While walking, I confirmed the ceiling had become lower . The light is close, But does the cave have the same atmosphere as a while ago? There's no wind, But the gloomy, Humid air drifts .

The damp air fills my lungs . It gave me a feeling sort of like "Gloomy" .

The gloomy damp cave leads to a slanting bottom . The dark world spread out, And the mouth of the abyss seemed gapingly open .

Quite the entrance to the underworld . It feels as if it's inviting me .

「I have no choice but to advance first…」

I muttered with a small voice .

I continued using the "Chain" to wipe the uneasiness from my heart .

The chain pierces the horizontal wall and ceiling each time .

Chain, Chain, Chain, Chain, Chain, Chain, Chain, Chain — Chain .

(TN: Grinding like a boss)

Every time I advance the chain is being increased .

「Haha」

I laughed for the first time in this different world .

At any rate, It's fun with this <Chain> .

I think I became too anxious, That's not to say that I was going insane . Because of the power of the chain for my first strange ability, It's slightly fun

Fuhahaha, Mr . Chain, You're usable aren't you!

「This is great Haha」

Is this state of mind because of the circumstances or insanity, I wonder?

Nevertheless, I get distracted from these feelings and, Oh the <Chain> .

I pull the chain and dangle while it's sticking into the low ceiling, And use the chain like a swing .

I returned to having a child-like mind and I was enjoying myself .

While doing such a thing intently, I walked through the cave with stone debris and intense irregularities scattered underfoot .

I aim at the ceiling again and extend the chain .

…Hey .

The chain only shoots through space and doesn't stick, Is there no ceiling?

It appears the ceiling turned into a large space somehow . The shining mushrooms have also quietly disappeared from the area .

My feet suddenly feel heavy and I stop walking .

I use the torch to cast light on my surroundings .

I do it quickly and anxiously . I think it's a very large place that my chain runs out of length, Stopping me from being able to play with it .

In such a situation, Distracting myself with even trivial things is a good thing .

Outside the ring of light illuminating my step…

The dark space seems to stretch endlessly in all directions .

I walk with grave steps .

In front, The dark cave spreads out… Eerie quietness and darkness haunted the place . My heartbeat and the sound of the torch burning echo slightly .

Haa, This kind of place…

You could say the degree of difficulty was raised too high suddenly .

Staring at the eerie cave, I slightly regret for a short while .

So frustrating, I have the power of a new race .

I gather my courage and push forward with grave steps . But the thin mask of courage fades away immediately .

The vast space of darkness is dominated by an eerie silence . The freezing darkness assaults me and wraps everything entirely .

In this dark space, It feels like my entire body is being swallowed .

I fall into such a ridiculous illusion . Just in the presence of darkness, I feel an intimidating air, As if from a powerful monster .

The pleasantness from earlier seems to have disappeared completely . Phew… To be honest I'm afraid, I hope there is nothing .

I also turn on the light from my watch, It made it brighter… Damn, Since I can't see the sun, I can't charge it and I have no idea when I'll be able to get out of this cave, I'll try not to use the light from my watch as much as possible .

I'll endure with the torch .

I think I have a miserable and frightened expression on my face right now .

I'm alone in such darkness . Furthermore I'm in a strange looking different world .

It's exceedingly scary . I have no idea where a monster might come from and it's terrifying!

In the solitude of my heart, I shouted for help .

Is this the feeling of my SAN value decreasing?

(TN: Sanity level)

Also the torch's shaking and flickering contributes to anxiety, Because of the solitude I seem to be going through intense emotional ups and downs .

Nevertheless my walking pace isn't reduce, I walk earnestly . The large space seemed to have become smaller gradually, I can see the rock surface on both sides .

I advance straight through there . The rock surface seems to have disappeared and a few diverging caves seems to appear .

「Which cave do I continue into…」

There was a big cave to the right and left, But I decided to walk straight without entering them .

I advance through the wide space .

Then - - From where I just passed I heard a strange noise . Rustling like *Juroro*

I get an unpleasant feeling-

Turning around I see the forms of weird monsters . Monsters springing out from holes to the right and left .

My spine freezes unconsciously .

「Haa, What on earth is this」

Holding up the torch carefully, I see two long tubes in the shape of a V .

「Eh? That's not a tube?」

What seemed to be a tube was a group of eyes .

The group of eyes is actually a compound eye, Like a fly or dragonfly's eyeballs .

(TN: Don't ask me how he got a tube from that)

Ugh, Gross .

The "Eyeballs" densely packed together form something like an extended vertical V-shaped tube, It was moving here and there with a *Giyoro* *Giyoro*

(TN: \_(0_0)_/ )

There's certainly a lot of eyeballs packed together, And they move .

The collection of creepy eyeballs stares at me at one point…

Under the V-shaped eyeball tube, It has a trunk like body similar to a slug and a caterpillar, And it made a *Nyururu* . And it had many legs like a centipede connected under the body .

There's the trunk like body, And legs .

Seems like a slug and a centipede were combined .

The centipede made a *Kasakasa Juroro* … Weird noise while it sprang out of the hole .

It seemed to have seen me as food and came near .

Uhee, I hate it . Though it's movement is slow . It's appearance is weird, And the Centipede's movement speed is slow .

Phew, I'm a little relieved . I might be able to defeat this .

I put the torch down, Taking the stone in my pocket, I aim and throw .

The stone hits the centipede in the eye . With a *Bushi*, The strange sound of an eyeball being destroyed is echoed .

Good, This feels good .

I continue throwing successively . When several eyeballs were crushed by the stone-throwing, One side of the V-shaped tube of the eyeballs collapsed and it stopped moving .

Is it dead?

But such centipedes appear one after another . The weird *Jurororo* sound kept increasing .

All together, I'll kill them . Fortunately, There's countless stones and rocks which collapsed here .

「Hyah!」

(TN: Sound of him exhaling while throwing)

There's a strange tension, But I pay no attention to it . I pick up a rolling stone at my feet and send it hurling . [4]

I pick up and throw, I pick up and throw, Because everything is going fine I maintain the strange atmosphere and keep throwing .

*Bushi Bushi Bushi*, The strange sound of collapsing echoed through the area . Midway I remember I can use <Chain> . Making the chain extend, I pierce through to kill the centipede . A hole appeared on the centipede, And white bodily fluids started to spread around where it was crushed . Lots of corpses start piling up .

They stopped coming out of the holes on the left and right already?

Then, Feeling a little relieved- .

※Pikon※※<Throwing> Skill Acquired※

Did that sound come from my mind?

The sound echoed inside my mind in a high-pitched tone and The red characters ※<Throwing> Skill Acquired※ were displayed .

It was a strangely pleasant sound . The strange sound I heard in my head… Was the sound of a skill acquisition .

It really feels like a game, But it's real . In my previous world, It would certainly be counted as an illusion and an auditory hallucination .

But here it's different .

The feeling of my actions earlier comes back, And is sharpened .

Oh, This feeling…

I feel like I've always known the <Throwing> "Skill", And I know the movements . If that's a way to put it…

「It's a strange feeling」

As for the skill for throwing stones, Is it because I killed a considerable amount of centipedes?

I have lingering thoughts about it .

「Gururu」 「Garuugau」 「Shuu」

This time it's the sound of an animal from the front and back .

Animal? The sound of an animal howling echoes from the front . The corpses of the dead centipede seemed to have attracted animals to come and eat the dead flesh .

The animals voice from behind seems to have been aimed at me .

I pick up an extra stone and stuff it into my pocket .

I made up my mind and turned around toward the back .

One eye appeared in the darkness, And another eye appeared a little later . The pair of eyes shined .

「Gururuu」 「Shuaa」

The animal voices and shining eyes kept increasing .

…The light of the torch illuminated the animal's form .

The figure was of a wolf or a dog, Like a small dog in stature . However it's mouth stretched sideways strangely . Like the length of a ruler could enter, And it revealed countless saw-like teeth in it's strange mouth .

(TN: Imagine a dog with an alligator mouth… or a crocodog…)

Saliva drips from it's teeth . Dangerous, I wanna escape…

However, Even if I run away, It's movement seems fast because it's a small dog, And there's three of them . I hear the centipedes corpse being chewed on behind me .

I have no choice but to take the initiative with a stone here . — Ugh, Phew, I throw it like a javelin . However, because of the effects of the <Throwing> skill, There was no wasted movements in the snap throw .

(TN: I don't know much about baseball, But I believe this is a throw they use in baseball?)

Leaving my hand smoothly, It flies . The stone hit the first dog with the torn mouth directly in the head .

One and two .

Unlike the time the first slug was knocked down, It feels like I've become a professional dart player and it seems like I've become a professional baseball player . Of course, It's not because I'm a professional player, Though it feels that way because of the exquisite control in the flexible wrist snap .

(TN: Slug = Centipede)

Continuing, It hit the body of the dog next to it .

How did that happen? It was to the extent where it was able to penetrate .

Unconsciously, I took the natural posture . (TN: For throwing)

Because of the effects of the <Throw> skill .

The dog with the torn mouth which was hit on the head collapsed to the ground immediately . And the dog with the torn mouth which was hit on the body trembled and groaned while falling down .

I succeeded in defeating two monsters . There is only one remaining . I had a short moment of joy .

The dog with the torn mouth arrived right beside me immediately .

Opening the torn mouth widely to bite me, It showed it's blade-like saw teeth which piled up from the roof of it's mouth to it's snout .

That's dangerous!

I quickly swing my arm .

I moved my right arm to prevent the saw teeth in it's torn mouth, And to shake the dog off .

The rough saw teeth directly hit my right arm intensely which I shook . It deeply cut from my right arm's wrist to my elbow .

Blood sprayed .

Painfullll!

However, The dog with the torn mouth which hit my arm was blown off to the side and crashed into the wall, Falling to the ground . Leaving the small body twitching .

The dog with the torn mouth stopped moving, As it died .

「Shit! Too much pain!」

My cut arm throbbed . After letting out a pain-filled voice I picked up the torch and ran away to the depths . It's unrelated that I avoided the dead mouth dog .

「Painfulll!」

I let out a weird cry while running . I clenched my teeth to endure the pain .

What, I'm a vampire… That was scary and painful, Great .

I was prepared to some degree, But pain is still pain . Oh, Whatever, It was painful… But it's not painful anymore?

The wound was already gone by the time I looked at the arm I felt pain in . Swinging my arm- .

「It's not painful…」

Blood is still there .

「Wow…」

Taking back what I just said, This Undying ability is great .

Thinking carefully, Earlier, Although I only swung my arm the dog was blown off and died .

And I'm not short of breath or out of stamina, Even after running all this way . The Vampire lineage is too awesome .

Hyuhoo

Nevertheless, I suffered a few wounds, And my mental state… Is that of an unemployed soft-hearted Japanese .

Just in case, I'll take a stone .

「…Hey, Its…」

After thinking in that way, Two dogs with torn mouths, Just like a little while ago appeared and blocked the way .

「Garuruu!」 「GuuuGau!」

In a hurry I stop running and promptly throw the torch I had at the dog with a torn mouth .

Simultaneously, The dog with the torn mouth sprang forward .

「Yaba!」

At the moment when I was going to try to escape to the rear and run- .

※Extra Skill※Cerebral Demon Spine Revolution derivative skill condition was satisfied※

※Pikon※ Acquired Skill <Cerebral Spinal Demon Speed> Invoked※

When the words sounded in my mind- .

<Cerebral Spinal Demon Speed> Is displayed in red in the top left corner of my vision .

Jumping back almost instantly, I feel the throbbing pain in my mind while simultaneously understanding the skill .

On the one hand, The dog with the torn mouth which attacked, Crashed head first into the ground, Fracturing it's teeth and causing it's head to twitch while it swayed .

「My head hurts, But-, I was able to avoid it . Is my abnormal speed due to a skill?」

I under sand the skill, But I haven't become accustomed to it yet .

The unsteady dog slightly moves .

I have no time to feel the headache, Now is a chance . Because there's a time limit to the speed provided by this skill, I must hurry .

I direct my left hand towards the dog with the torn mouth and take aim .

「Ikeeeee」

At the same time as my shout, The <Chain> simultaneously shot from the chain mark on my left wrist .

The body of dog with the torn mouth trembled repeatedly, Bearing it's broken fangs, Opening it's mouth wide .

In the mouth, My <Chain> was drawn in .

The chain pierced the roof of the dog's mouth . Penetrating the brain and continuing straight . Shaking and rotating the dog's body .

The brain matter scattered all over the surroundings, While the head tore off mid-air and flew somewhere .

-Still not finished . I run

In the state where the chain is extended straight, I began running towards the other dog with the torn mouth .

I was able to understand the effect of the skill, But also, Was able to actually experience it .

The <Cerebral Spinal Demon Speed> skill which I acquired a short while ago is able to raise my speed abnormally .

Approaching the dog with a torn mouth in an instant, I used the momentum of running . Kicking the dog with a torn mouth in the belly like a soccer ball .

Due to the force of the kick, The body of the dog caved into the shape of the character 'He' (の) .

(TN: I believe that's it…)

The body of the dog with the torn mouth floated in the air for a little while, While letting out a voice that sounded like a small scream . At the same time, My right arm clutched the stone from above, With all my strength, I released it from my hand vertically .

The fist sized stone sank into the head of the dog with the torn mouth . And the head of the dog collapsed completely . Thereupon <Cerebral Spinal Demon Speed> released automatically .

「That skill, Incredible…」

An effect still remained, The thoughts in my mind became strangely clear…

While having clear thoughts, I felt heat coming from inside my head . The heat gradually became more intense . As I discovered that it's being spread to the back of my neck and body . It rapidly spread to my spine from my head, It felt like the bone was charged with heat .

Unpleasant… Rather the bone…

「More, Inside… It's hotter inside…」

It's a strange feeling…

The image of the bloodstream where the blood vessel was, Boiling hot energetically until it affected the sensitive nerve that connected the brain and the spine appeared in my head .

At first I had a terrible headache, But now my body aches . Anew, My body is being changed…

While digesting such a strange feeling, I stare at both hands and think deeply about the changes happening to my body .

[1] I've been using the word 'Character' in place of letter, Seeing as it's referring to Kanji, Comparable to a word in English, Not a letter . Just wanted to let you guys know .

[2] Like how rope is several fibers twined around to make it sturdy and flexible, Several smaller pieces of iron (wires) twined is much stronger and flexible than a single large piece .