**Day 10: The Cave**
I woke up with my whole body aching. The bed was just a square slab hardened with Earth Magic, so the comfort level was no different from sleeping on the floor.
"Guuah, it hurts!"
My body creaked with every movement. This was going to break me sooner or later.
Yesterday a new skill called Wood Magic had appeared in my status. Since the name literally screamed "wood," it had to do something with wood.
It might promote growth, but if it could shape or process wood, it was worth testing.
I gathered goblin clubs and scrap wood and started experimenting with Wood Magic.
Not that I knew how to use it. So I did what I always did: wrapped the wood with Packing Magic and tried slowly bending it.
"Bend… bend… ooooh!"
It responded to my suspicious superpowered voice and actually bent.
I had no idea what kind of magic this even was anymore, but it bent. Maybe it worked the same way as Earth Magic.
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What do you know? In the center of the room now stood a large mid-century modern table. From the side it formed a long rectangular box shape, with four tapered legs made from stretched goblin clubs at the corners.
Around it were eight Eames-style shell chairs on simple four legs, an egg-chair-style seat in the middle, and even a large ball chair in the corner for good measure.
Oh no. I had completely forgotten my original goal. Also, why did a loner have so many chairs…? I-I'm not lonely or anything!
The main event, the bed, was made by lashing together square timbers like campfire logs and laying thin planks in a lattice pattern to create a springy board bed. There was no mattress, so it couldn't compare to a real sprung bed, but it was more than enough compared to the stone slab.
I tried making a stylish rack shelf against the wall, but I had nothing to put on it. I gently placed a club there instead.
…The stylish vibe disappeared.
Appearance-wise, the room now looked way cooler than my old six-tatami apartment back home. It was all wood and stone, though. That place had been cramped and I never had money for furniture anyway.
I lost track of time and spent several hours on this. It was probably long past noon. Time for lunch.
Even though it was late, today's plan: according to the Map skill, I had only explored upstream and downstream along the river. The areas to the left and right of the river were untouched. Not knowing what was on the right side of the cave made me uneasy, so I decided to explore that direction.
The forest wasn't as dense as deeper in, but the trees still grew thick as I pushed forward.
"There are quite a few of them."
Goblin presences were scattered everywhere. There was no guarantee they wouldn't come to the cave. Even if they were small fry, their numbers were high. If a big group attacked at once, I wouldn't stand a chance.
I had no choice but to pick them off one by one for sure.
To survive I needed to raise my level, gain skills, and hone my combat experience. To live safely, I had to take risks.
Keeping Presence Blocking and Stealth in mind so I wouldn't get surrounded, I approached. Three of them. None had particularly high levels.
I readied my staff and moved as if tracing the motions I had imagined during staff training. I steadied my breathing, erased my presence, and closed in on the nearest middle goblin in one burst. Gripping the staff with both hands, I swung it through in the image of slashing from left to right.
The goblins on either side roared and charged with clubs raised. I gripped just the end of the staff with my right hand and thrust it straight into the right goblin's chest, then switched hands on the return momentum and swung wide to the left. At the same time, I hurled a fireball at the panicked goblin that had backed away and drove the staff into its neck.
I let out a long breath and looked around. The right goblin was still breathing, so I moved in to finish it while staying alert and erasing my presence.
Did it go well? The result was more than satisfactory. All that solo imaginary staff training had paid off… Don't say it hurts! Even my heart ached for some reason.
But it almost felt too good. How should I put it…? For some reason the first goblin had been slashed to death? Thanks to that, I was covered in splattered blood.
I had definitely wrapped magic power around the staff, and I had swung it with the image of slicing like a sword, but could it actually cut? What was that? Was this what "hold like a sword" meant? Amazing, Shinto Muso-ryu!?
Well, there was no way that was real, so it must have been the effect of Magic Wrap. Maybe the Mage title made it stronger? I had no idea. Still, the second goblin had a stab wound in its chest, so the spear image must have worked there.
The biggest question was the follow-up strike I had swung with the image of a naginata. It dodged, but didn't the reach extend? It did extend, right?
Shinto Muso-ryu staff techniques were amazing. Did they extend? No, I never actually learned them. Yeah, I only heard about it from the otaku.
No matter what, if there were techniques back in the original world that could cut or extend, they would have been super famous. So this had to be the power of magic.
Was it because I had wrapped magic around the staff? I could also launch fireballs easily now. Couldn't I just call this a Fireball? It only flew about two meters, though… A Fireball that doesn't fly far is still just a plain Fireball! Exactly what it says on the tin!
I probably should head back and test this properly, but since I had already come this far, spending all my time training inside the cave would lead to something terrible.
What, you ask? The levels of Hikikomori, NEET, and Loner. Well, it was already too late anyway, so I'd just hide it.
I pulled myself together and used Enemy Search. There—found some.
This time two. I slashed the first one diagonally from shoulder to hip, then followed through with a return slash to cut down the second. (It was a stick, though.)
It really could cut. While I was at it, I mowed down two more that approached (still a stick) and thrust at the next one that appeared.
Yeah, no mistake. It could cut and thrust.
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The area was starting to grow dark. When I came back to my senses, what a sight: a vast goblin massacre spread before me. Quite the splatter-filled scene. The work of a master craftsman? Sorry, I got carried away.
Thanks to my level 4 stats, my body moved well. I could slash, thrust, and sweep freely. At some point I had completely gotten into the zone and gone wild on the endless stream of goblins.
When one blocked with a club, I imagined a hammer and used Weight to make the staff heavier, smashing it down. When they tried to keep distance, I imagined a gun and sniped them with fireballs, chaining fights together.
Since they were only goblins, the stat difference let me overpower them. But if there had been fast kobolds or the supposedly stronger orcs, I would have been the one killed.
This world wasn't a game. Even if it felt game-like, this was reality now. If I didn't stay sharp, there might not be a next time. I collected the magic stones and clubs, tossing them into the item bag. Today alone I had taken down 32. The last fight had been a continuous battle against 25 goblins.
I needed to cool my head and head home quickly. If my job had been adventurer, working this hard would mean no one could call me a NEET. Well, since I had no job, I was still unemployed.
With those thoughts running through my mind, I returned to my home. At some point it had completely become my home. A comfortable 30-tatami one-room space that was nicer than my old six-tatami apartment. Somehow it now had a kitchen, bath, and toilet too. No one could complain about me being a hikikomori anymore.
While eating a late dinner, I reflected on the fights. No way. Guns were off-limits. Guns.
Otherworld Self-Taught Shinto Muso-ryu Staff Techniques – Now With Magic! "Thrust like a spear, sweep like a naginata, hold like a sword. If I run, it's sniping. If I defend, or get defended, I smash it flat. Thus is the way of the staff: it never misses because it extends. And now it comes with free Magic Power UP!!" …No way.
When I imagined a gun, the fireballs got smaller and flew nearly ten meters. Thanks to the image, they seemed to spin and gained penetration power. Maybe their shape had changed from balls to bullets. I had a lot to think about: I needed to visualize properly to decide whether to penetrate, stop on impact, or set them on fire. And even then, was I still going to insist this was staff technique?
Someday the Otherworld Staff Technique Association would probably file a complaint, but since I was still a loner for now, it didn't matter.
**NAME:** Haruka
**Race:** Human
**AGE:** 16
**Lv:** 05
**Job:** --
**HP:** 65 （15 UP）
**MP:** 61 （14 UP）
**ViT:** 65 （13 UP）
**PoW:** 63 （15 UP）
**SpE:** 58 （15 UP）
**DeX:** 58 （15 UP）
**MiN:** 64 （14 UP）
**InT:** 69 （14 UP）
**LuK:** Max（Limit Break）
**SP:** 40
**Martial Arts:** "Staff Arts Lv5" (2 Up) "Evasion Lv4" (Up) "Foresight Lv3" (Up) "Magic Wrap Lv3" (Up)
**Magic:** "Temperature Lv3" (Up) "Movement Lv4" (Up) "Weight Lv3" (Up) "Packing Lv4" (Up) "Four Elements Magic Lv1" (New) "Wood Magic Lv1" (New)
**Skills:** "Health Lv2" "Sensitive Lv2" "Calisthenics Lv3" (Up) "Walking Lv4" (Up) "Servitude Lv1" "Appraisal Lv3" "Clairvoyance Lv3" (Up) "Presence Detection Lv3" (Up) "Enemy Search Lv3" (Up) "Magic Manipulation Lv4" (2 Up) "Presence Blocking Lv3" (Up) "Stealth Lv3" (2 Up) "Concealment Lv1" "Map Lv2" (Up) "Focus Lv2" (Up) "Physical Resistance Lv2" (Up) "Magic Recovery Lv1" (New) "Stamina Recovery Lv1" (New)
**Titles:** "Hikikomori Lv3" (Up) "NEET Lv2" (Up) "Loner Lv3" (Up) "Mage Lv1" (New)
**Unknown:** "HouRenSou Lv1" "Jack of All Trades Lv1" "Useless Blockhead Lv1"
**Equipment:** "Tree Staff?" "Cloth Clothes?" "Leather Gloves?" "Leather Boots?" "Cloak?" "Contacts?" "Ring of Soul Torment" "Item Bag" "Bracelet PoW +1%"