The more times Jhin conducted in-depth research on and refined the Ancient Magic [Dark-Corrosive Thunder], the more he could feel the limitless possibilities of Ancient Magic.
At present, the four standard modern weapons—pistol, sniper rifle, rocket launcher, and grenade—had already been adapted to dozens of different types of ammunition and models. The most basic of these was the remaining seven elemental munitions. If he were to name them, they'd probably be something like [Light-Corrosive Thunder] or [Water-Corrosive Thunder].
Incidentally, the sniper rifle could fire the [Blade of Resurrection] in the form of a bullet. This reminded Jhin of a healer-type sniper named "Anna." Perhaps he could consider developing a tranquilizer round as well, and then he'd be able to lug a few barrels of explosives right next to an enemy and put them to sleep with a single slash.
The ongoing process of refinement and research had also pushed both his [Elemental Manipulation] and [Mana Manipulation] skills up to Lv4, and the overall strength of his [Elemental Armament] had risen even further. He had a faint feeling that all he needed was to raise the skill to Lv5, and infinite ammunition for the pistol, along with the construction of a rifle, would no longer be a dream.
These were all achievements that could only be accomplished through the more idealistic style of casting that was Ancient Magic. With modern magic, there was absolutely no way to attain such a high degree of freedom and malleability.
Jhin put away the sniper rifle in his hands—its main body a silvery-white, its outline traced with gilded ornamentation. In the distance, a headless monster was slowly toppling over, the flesh at its neck a scorched brown as though it had just been seared by intense heat, yet the cut was remarkably clean, possessing a strange sort of beauty.
"I feel like your method of attack is getting closer and closer to that of an elven ranger."
"If you're only talking about long-range attacks, then yeah, it's pretty similar. But I don't think the arrows an ordinary ranger fires pack as much power as mine."
"Converting magic into ammunition—just this compression method alone can double the power, right?"
Jhin gave Kyaru a thumbs-up. "Sharp eyes, young lady. To mislead others, I even deliberately designed the weapons to look outrageous, so they'd draw people's attention."
"So that's what it's for..." The corner of her mouth twitched slightly. No wonder that with every refinement, the weapons in his hands leaned more and more toward looking like works of art. So he'd already been designing them to confuse his enemies right from the start.
"Just think about it—if an enemy gives it their all to knock the weapon out of my hand or destroy it, and just as they're secretly congratulating themselves, I suddenly whip out another one. What kind of expression would they make?"
"...Your personality is truly rotten."
"When facing an enemy, that comment is the highest praise you could give me."
Ever since the two of them had hooked pinkies and made their promise, their relationship had eased considerably—going from complete strangers to being able to trade banter with each other. Kyaru was no longer so lifeless either. Thanks to the fragments of memory from her time at the Gourmet Edifice, her words and mannerisms were gradually drawing closer to how she used to be.
Jhin was quite happy to see this change. After all, a tsundere cat-eared girl was definitely more pleasant to have around than a low-pressure, gloomy one—everyone would prefer the atmosphere around them to be a little more relaxed and cheerful.
In the midst of their conversation, a thunderous boom came from the distance, and the ground beneath their feet seemed to tremble from the commotion.
Looking toward the direction the sound had come from, Jhin pinched his chin and pondered for a moment before deciding to go take a look. "Kyaru, let's head over there."
"Are you really going over there? Something that can cause that kind of commotion might be a lord-class monster."
"The monsters here may generally be stronger than the ones outside, but it's not like I've never killed a lord-class before. Let's check out the situation first."
"Alright." With that, Kyaru picked up her magic staff and cast a spell on the two of them. "Concealment!"
Although this magic was called [Concealment], it couldn't actually turn objects invisible—it merely reduced the noise and mana fluctuations they produced. Jhin had ribbed her about it before, saying it didn't quite match the name and might be better off called [Silencing].
They quickly rushed to the vicinity of the sound's source, where they saw two grizzly bears of roughly similar color and height brawling with each other atop the earth. The only difference was that one had a scar on its left eye while the other didn't. In the course of their fight, the once-flat ground had been smashed into a massive pit by their absurd physical strength.
The scar-eyed grizzly was seized firmly around the waist by its opponent and took a German suplex head-on. The force was so great that the pit sank several more meters.
Jhin's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He'd actually seen a bear that knew grappling techniques in Another World. Next, was he going to see a cat that could do everything except catch mice, and a black-and-white mouse wearing red suspender overalls?
Seeing his astonished expression, Kyaru explained, "These are Raging Berserker Bears. They're keen on settling who gets to be the chief through this peculiar method. What we're seeing now is probably a new-generation contender challenging the current chief."
"They don't know magic?"
"No. They're native monsters of the Red Dragon Volcano, with extremely powerful bodies. The defense of their pelts can even chip a poor-quality weapon."
"In any case, it seems like they haven't noticed us. Let's keep watching—maybe we can snag some loot while they wear each other down."
"Mm."
The battle in the pit was still raging on. The scar-eyed grizzly yanked its head out of the dirt and let out a furious roar. From within its broad bear paw extended sharp claws glinting with a frosty light, which it swung at its unsuspecting opponent.
"Shhhk~"
The pelt that, in Kyaru's words, could chip an ordinary weapon, was sliced open as easily as a thin sheet of paper beneath those sharp claws, leaving three gashes from which purple blood sprayed.
With the strike landing, the scar-eyed grizzly immediately pressed its advantage. While the opposing grizzly was still howling in pain, it delivered several massive slaps in succession to its head, knocking it flat onto the ground. The once-mighty roar had turned into pitiful whimpering.
Pointing at the scar-eyed grizzly, which was now humiliating the loser with relentless War Stomps, Jhin asked Kyaru, "Using claws counts as cheating, right?"
"Huh?" She didn't quite follow.
"I said, using claws in a hand-to-hand brawl like this should count as cheating, right?"
"Uh... in theory, that's true, but they're monsters. There's no way they'd follow human rules, right?"
"Don't sweat the details!" Jhin grinned, condensing a rocket launcher out of the air and hoisting it onto his shoulder. "Let me show you what saturation bombardment looks like."
"The World!"
Twenty rockets, seventeen grenades, and a boundless swarm of sniper-rifle laser rounds filled the sky above the pit, their target being the two overlord-class Raging Berserker Bears below.
As the snap of his fingers rang out, the pit instantly became as lively as a string of firecrackers going off. All sorts of explosions and flashes of fire filled the crater, roars and shrieks mixed in among them—but they were quickly drowned out by the other sounds.
Jhin felt it still wasn't quite safe enough, so he tossed a few more plague grenades into the pit—ones he'd refined through his research into the power of life. Compared to curse- and poison-type magic, these grenades took effect faster and packed greater lethality. Under his deliberate control, their contagiousness was reduced to zero. All he could say was that Ancient Magic really was incredibly convenient.
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