The first light of dawn filtered through the gaps in the curtains, casting a narrow sliver of gold across the floor.
Lynn opened his eyes and lay quietly on the soft bed. He felt the perfect support of the mattress beneath him and the scent of sunlight clinging to the sheets.
It was comfortable.
It was a long-lost, almost forgotten sense of ease. In the Lands Between, the only place one could truly call a "bed" was likely the one beneath Fia. Most other times, "rest" simply meant sitting by a Site of Grace, letting his consciousness slip into a brief darkness while the campfire shadows flickered.
He sat up and stretched his limbs. His body felt no fatigue, and his mind was clearer than ever before.
As he stepped out of the guest room, the aroma of food wafted toward him.
Eina was busy in the small kitchen, wearing an apron. Hearing his movement, she looked back, a flicker of barely perceptible nervousness crossing her face.
"G-good morning, Mr. Lynn. You're awake."
"Morning," Lynn nodded, his gaze falling on the dining table.
Two simple breakfasts were set out: fried eggs, lightly toasted bread, and two glasses of steaming milk.
"Quick, have a seat. It's almost ready." Eina hurriedly pulled the last two slices of bread from the toaster and placed them on a plate.
Lynn sat down as instructed.
This seemed to be the first time he had ever sat face-to-face with another person at a dining table to eat something called "breakfast." In the Lands Between, food was merely a tool for restoring stamina—mushrooms, dried jerky, or those suspiciously effective Pickled Turtle Necks.
Eina took off her apron and sat across from him with a stiff posture. She clasped her hands, whispered a soft "Itadakimasu," and then picked up her utensils.
Lynn mimicked her, picked up a piece of bread, and took a bite.
It was crisp, with the sweet fragrance of grain. He chewed slowly, as if savoring an entirely new experience.
"Um... Mr. Lynn," Eina broke the silence, feeling the quiet was a bit awkward. "Did you sleep well last night?"
"Very well," Lynn replied, taking a sip of the milk. The warmth slid into his stomach, comforting him.
"That's good." Eina let out a sigh of relief, then immediately straightened her expression, shifting back into Advisor Mode. "What are your plans for today? I suggest you don't rush to the deeper floors. Get familiar with the upper levels first. At the very least, try to find a party. It's much better than going it alone."
"Mm."
"And your equipment! Use the money you earned yesterday to prioritize a proper set of armor! Especially a breastplate and greaves; those are vital for your safety..."
"Understood."
"And—"
"This afternoon," Lynn interrupted.
"Eh?" Eina's lecture was cut short, leaving her blinking in confusion.
"I'll be back this afternoon," Lynn said, looking at her. "Didn't you say you'd take me to look for an apartment?"
Eina's cheeks flushed slightly; she hadn't expected Lynn to remember that. "Ah... y-yes! That's right! It's a date—I mean, a deal! Let's meet at the Guild entrance at two o'clock. Don't be late! So, be extra careful in the Dungeon this morning. Don't push yourself!"
"Okay," Lynn agreed simply.
The breakfast concluded amidst Eina's mixture of concern and nagging. Lynn decided that this feeling... wasn't bad at all.
The Dungeon, Seventh Floor.
The air here was much damper than on the floors above. Fine beads of moisture seeped from the rock walls, clinging to the bioluminescent moss and refracting a ghostly blue light.
A few Kobolds lunged from the shadows of the rocks, but before they could even let out a threatening growl, they were cleaved in half by a heavy, sweeping arc.
Lynn expressionlessly flicked the purple blood off the Banished Knight's Greatsword, his pace never faltering. To him, these ordinary monsters didn't even count as a warm-up.
What he needed now were Runes—massive amounts of Runes—to boost this body's base stats. While the payout from soloing the Minotaur yesterday was decent, to someone like him, who was used to seeing hundreds of thousands of Runes per kill in the late stages of the Lands Between, it was still a drop in the bucket.
As he rounded a corner, the sight ahead made him stop.
The rock wall in front of him was distorted in a highly unnatural way. What should have been a smooth Dungeon wall was now kneaded like clay by an invisible force. The rough rock texture and familiar masonry patterns intertwined, forming an archway emanating a faint mist.
The sensation was exactly like the entrance to an Evergaol in the Lands Between.
The corner of Lynn's mouth twitched into a microscopic grin. Here it is. Miyazaki's "special supply." Without hesitation, he stepped into the mist.
The sensation of spatial transition was instantaneous.
He stood upon a circular stone platform surrounded by a bottomless abyss. Above, a vortex of violet-black nebula churned. Familiar environment, familiar pressure.
In the center of the platform, a cloud of black mist coalesced, stretched, and finally transformed into a hunched, humanoid figure draped in a tattered cloak. It slowly straightened its back, revealing its iconic beast-like helm and a uniquely curved greatsword in its hand.
A Bloodhound Knight.
"ROOOAR—!"
With an inhuman howl, the Bloodhound Knight's figure vanished instantly.
Lynn gripped the handle of the Banished Knight's Greatsword with both hands, lowering his center of gravity into a standard guard.
A moment later, the Bloodhound Knight appeared ghost-like at his left side. The Bloodhound's Fang in its hand whistled through the air, carving a lethal, blood-red trail.
It was terrifyingly fast! An ordinary Level 1 adventurer wouldn't have even had time to process the movement.
But Lynn simply took a step to the right, his body twisting at an impossible angle. The heavy blade swept past the tip of his nose, the pressure of the wind ruffling his hair.
Its strike having missed, the Bloodhound Knight didn't pause. Its body blurred into a shadow and vanished again.
That was Bloodhound's Step—an illogical, near-teleportation combat art.
Lynn didn't give chase. He stood perfectly still, his golden eyes calmly tracking the flow of energy in the air. In the Lands Between, he had died to this footwork no less than ten times, and he had also used the same step to toy with countless powerful enemies.
There!
Rear right!
He spun violently, swinging the heavy Banished Knight's Greatsword upward in a powerful crescent slash.
CLANG!
The screeching ring of metal on metal echoed through the empty Gaol. The Bloodhound Knight was forcibly knocked out of its mid-air dash. It used the recoil to perform a backflip, landing gracefully in the distance, its crimson eyes staring fixedly at Lynn through the slits of its helm.
Lynn's arm felt a slight numbness. This body's Strength was still too low; taking a hit like that head-on was a struggle.
He exhaled, adjusting his breathing. Since he lacked power, he would compensate with technique.
The Bloodhound Knight attacked again, this time using its signature spinning slash followed by an upward swing. The Bloodhound's Fang danced in its hands like a blood-red whirlwind.
Lynn didn't block. Instead, he chose the classic combat method of a Tarnished—the roll.
After dodging a full combo, the Bloodhound Knight's attack pattern hit a fraction of a second of recovery.
Now!
Lynn's gaze sharpened. He lunged forward rather than retreating. He raised his greatsword vertically and took a heavy stride forward.
Stamp (Upward Cut)!
Thud.
The Bloodhound Knight was caught in a minor stagger by the impact of his shoulder.
Seizing this fleeting window, Lynn gripped the sword with both hands and spun his body, letting the momentum of the massive blade unleash a simple yet devastating upward cleave.
Puch!
The blade cut deep into the knight's midsection, causing violet-black blood to spray out. The Bloodhound Knight let out a pained shriek, stumbling back. Being a battle-hardened warrior, it immediately used Bloodhound's Step to open the distance.
Want to run?
Lynn crouched low, the tip of his greatsword scraping the floor and throwing off sparks as he launched himself forward like an arrow.
The Bloodhound Knight had just stabilized itself when it saw the massive sword silhouette bearing down on it. It instinctively raised the Bloodhound's Fang to block.
CLANG!
This time, Lynn didn't hold back. He threw the entire weight of his body into the strike.
The Bloodhound Knight was sent skidding back by the impact, its feet gouging two deep furrows into the floor. Before it could recover, Lynn released one hand from his sword and slammed a clenched left fist into its faceplate without warning.
CRUNCH.
The hardened helm buckled inward.
The Bloodhound Knight lost its balance completely, reeling backward. Lynn regripped his sword with both hands, raised it high over his head, and brought it down ruthlessly on the knight's neck!
The blade fell.
The monster's head flew into the air. The headless corpse twitched twice before dissolving into a cloud of golden light that merged into Lynn.
[Obtained Runes x 800] [Obtained Bloodhound's Fang]
As the notification sounded, the scenery of the Evergaol began to crumble and fade. A shimmering, curved greatsword lay silently in the center of the platform.
Lynn walked over and picked up the Bloodhound's Fang.
He gripped it with one hand and gave it a few experimental swings. The blade sliced through the air with a crisp whoosh. Perfect weight, excellent balance, and that familiar weapon art...
This was it—one of his favorite weapons and the ultimate partner for any beginner. A genuine smile finally touched his lips.
When the world around him returned to normal, he was back in the Dungeon passage. The eerie archway had vanished as if it had never existed.
Lynn sheathed the Banished Knight's Greatsword across his back and admired his new weapon with satisfaction.
Suddenly, he felt a gaze.
He looked up toward the other end of the tunnel.
A girl stood there silently.
Blonde hair, golden eyes, and a face as exquisite as a doll's. She wore light armor and carried a magnificent rapier at her waist.
Ais?
How long had she been there? Lynn frowned slightly. How much of that fight had she seen? From an outside perspective, what did a battle inside an Evergaol even look like?
Ais didn't speak. She simply began to walk toward him slowly. Her gaze wasn't on Lynn's face, but rather fixed on the spot where he had just been standing—the empty air.
She had just witnessed something incomprehensible. This boy had been fighting a blurred, distorted shadow. That shadow's attacks were like lightning, carrying a heart-stopping pressure.
And he, relying only on unbelievable footwork and evasion, had dodged every single strike. He used no skills, no magic.
It was technique in its purest, most absolute form. It was exactly what she had been chasing but had never been able to reach.
Ais stopped three paces away from Lynn. She finally looked up, her golden eyes devoid of emotion but filled with pure inquiry and longing.
"You," she said, her voice cool like a breeze over ice.
Lynn met her gaze calmly.
"What was that, just now?" Ais asked, a trace of urgency in her voice that she didn't even notice.
"Combat," Lynn replied succinctly.
This girl Ais is even more of a woman of few words than I am, Lynn thought. Are we having a competition for the lowest word count?
Ais fell silent. Of course she knew it was combat. That wasn't what she meant. But she wasn't good with words and didn't know how to phrase her question. She just stared at him—stared into those golden eyes that looked as though they had witnessed mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
A few seconds later, she seemed to make up her mind.
She took a step forward and gave Lynn a slight bow. In a voice that was almost a plea, she said word by word:
"Please... teach me."
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My : https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
Danmachi: My Primary God is Hidetaka Miyazaki? (46 Chapters, Ongoing)
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