Grinding... Back when I was a hardcore gar, I used to spend days — even weeks — farming the sa mobs over and over just for a single item. It brought actual joy. And when that item finally dropped... there were no words to describe that feeling.
In real life though... grinding felt a bit different.
My body tired much slower than a normal human's. Add to that the stat boosts granted by the Legendary Weapon, and I was basically a hard-to-kill machine. Practically tireless. A fantasy world terminator.
So, it was ntal exhaustion that caught up to far faster than physical fatigue. And boredom. So much boredom.
I spent an entire week alone in the forest, surrounded only by the local wildlife. I sliced monsters, chopped them up, beat them down, even played hide and seek... In other words, I tried everything I could to shake off the monotony.
I'd always thought of myself as more of an introvert. But that assumption ca with one key condition — the existence of humanity's greatest invention: the internet. Which, in this world, sadly (or luckily), didn't exist.
After spending seven full days in the woods, with no one to talk to, no internet, and no outlet to express my thoughts or emotions...
Well, let's just say my sanity started to... leak a little.
Why didn't I just go back to the city if I was suffering so much? Good question. Honestly... I'm not even sure myself.
It felt more like a trial. A kind of training — not for my physical stats, but for my mind.
Or you could just call it idiocy. Or mule-headed stubbornness. Or masochism. Take your pick.
Anyway, back to the present. In the past week, I'd gone from level 14 to 38. Progress naturally slowed with each level, but it was still pretty solid.
I also unlocked a new active skill — Phantom Grip.
That one creates a zone around the target filled with phantom scythe blades. And when I give the command, the zone collapses, shredding the victim in a very non-phantom fashion. Its radius and versatility made it one of my best tools.
There was also a... slightly embarrassing incident that gave another new skill. I got carried away doing scythe tricks in front of a mirror (which I still regret deeply), and broke it. While cleaning up the shards, my weapon reacted and I gained Illusory Double, a skill that creates a ghostly clone. It's intangible, so it can't deal damage, but it's perfect as a decoy.
Most of my new skills were passives: stat boosts, crafting bonuses, basic utility...
Out of boredom, I even started mixing ingredients — sothing I hadn't originally planned to touch.
But it turned out to be a good call. Mixing let craft all sorts of potions myself. And using the sa materials, I could produce potions of far higher quality than normal people. Yet again, Legendary Weapon owners prove to be total cheats.
If I really wanted to, I could flood the market with potions and collapse the entire economy. Lucky for the world I was too lazy to bother.
Still, ssing around with herbs and brewing stuff could actually be kind of fun.
Ti passed, and I kept heading farther north from lromarc. A day after that long week, I stumbled on another village. The local chief gave a tip.
Roughly a day's travel from the village lay an old dungeon. These places are usually cleared out from ti to ti to prevent monsters from spilling into the overworld — population control, basically. But this particular dungeon hadn't been touched in a while, and a scheduled sweep was coming up soon.
Well, I'm a big fan of free loot, so why not make the lives of the cleanup crew a little easier? Work that finishes itself is a beautiful thing. Easier for them, and good XP for .
Thus, I gained a new goal and partially quenched my social starvation. The villagers gave a few odd looks. Not with hostility, exactly, but there was definite distance between us — a sense of separation due to status.
But really, what else could you expect when there's a Church of Heroes? The locals genuinely saw us as gods. To them, we were beings of another order entirely. And I had a sneaking suspicion the Church was built in our na on purpose. Not in honor of divine patrons or the Legendary Weapons themselves — but in honor of the Heroes. Ordinary mortals, even if summoned from another world. Flesh and blood.
Makes you wonder. Maybe ancient people were so awed by Heroes' power that they deified them. Or maybe Heroes really were connected to sothing divine or had the potential to beco divine themselves.
It's a sha the story lost its spark after Naofumi's na got cleared. My interest in the plot took a serious hit. I wish I knew what ultimately happens to this world. But for now, I'd have to deal with problems as they ca. Speaking of which...
"Ugh, gross..." I grimaced at the massive spider in front of .
The thing ca up to my waist, its twitchy little eyes scanning for food. The hairs on its legs were clearly visible — thanks to my heightened senses — and I could hear the disgusting noises it made.
Honestly, I had a fleeting, cowardly urge to just turn around and find another place to grind. After all, even the surface monsters were plenty monstrous...
But I stomped that thought down imdiately. I'm an isekai protagonist, damn it!
So, I braced myself and moved forward.
"Kkiiehh!"
The spider let out a shriek (ugh...) and lunged. And for the first ti in a while, I actually felt a bit of tension. The difference between dungeon monsters and surface ones was definitely noticeable.
Still not enough to be dangerous, though.
My scythe grew from sickle-size into a massive black blade nearly my height. I took a slow step forward. Five ters between us. Another step. Three ters.
I swung the scythe back behind my right side, letting its weight pull into motion. Two ters.
My foot traced a half-circle on the damp stone, and I spun, dodging the jumping spider while letting the montum carry . Then, shifting my balance and hauling the weapon upward, I cleaved the thing diagonally in half.
With a squelch, its two halves dropped to the floor.
Scythe Mastery (Lv. 5)
It was hard to judge the growth rate of the skill, since I'd never heard of anything like this in the original story. But based on how I felt, I was getting pretty damn good with this weapon.
I was approaching that elusive point where a weapon feels like an extension of your body — or in this case, more like an extra limb altogether.
I could feel its weight perfectly. Sense its balance. I intuitively knew how to chain moves together without breaking the rhythm of combat.
So, yeah, I began my genocide of the local population. Spiders, centipedes, giant pill bugs, worms... You na it, this dungeon had it. If soone had described its inhabitants to ahead of ti... I'm not sure I would've gone in at all.
From spiders I got a sewing skill, increased agility, and a new scythe. From tough-shelled bugs, I gained defense and endurance boosts.
As I went deeper, I started noticing oddly shaped patches of wall. It reminded of that episode where Naofumi mined ore in a cave or dungeon...
"Maybe I should've brought a pickaxe." I mused, walking deeper.
One floor at a ti, I descended further and further. Until, in one cavern, I heard a loud scraping sound above .
I looked up...
"Oh shi..."
...just in ti to throw myself into a roll.
BOOM
Sothing massive crashed to the ground.
A huge spider. Absolutely enormous.
It was twice my height, covered in hair, with six legs and disgusting, twitching mandibles. Nearly pitch-black — perfect for blending in with the shadows. And those eyes... six shiny black beads glaring right at ...
While I was still trying to overco the revulsion, the monster screeched and lunged. I'll admit for its size, it moved way too fast. I barely dodged with another roll.
The thing didn't give a mont — stomping and stabbing with its legs like it wanted to skewer on a spit, still screeching all the while.
I dodged again, spun on my heel, wound up my scythe, and dropped to one knee — slashing with all my strength at the leg it conveniently extended toward .
"KIIIEEEEH!"
It howled as murky green liquid sprayed from the severed limb.
But I didn't like how much effort it took to chop that leg. The chitin was insanely tough. I had to go all-in just to sever one.
"Illusory Double." I whispered, leaping back.
Two of us jumped away in opposite directions. But... the bastard still sohow guessed right (probably just luck) and attacked the real .
I barely managed to block with the scythe shaft — the impact slamming into the wall.
I shook off the stars in my vision and charged again. Another Double.
This ti, the distraction worked. The monster hesitated, giving the opening I needed. I spun the scythe and dashed toward its side, positioning myself in front of four of its legs — two right, two left — and whispered my next move.
"Phantom Slash."
A horizontal sweep, and from the blade flew a violet crescent. It cleanly sliced through two of the legs in front of . Not bad. The other two held up, and the skill dissipated. But still — more than enough.
"Phantom Scythe." A phantom blade materialized at the spider's side.
The creature began to topple and given its weight and montum...
"KIEEEEEE!" The curved phantom blade plunged into its abdon.
The skill would last 15 seconds, and while the spider flailed to remove itself from the blade (irony, huh), I prepared the finisher.
Spinning my scythe once more, I struck the shaft against the floor. Raised a hand as if to grab sothing and...
"Phantom Grip."
Half-circle violet blades erupted from the ground around the spider's thrashing head. Then...
...I clenched my fist.
The blades converged. So shattered against the armor, but enough pierced softer spots to reduce the monster's head to chunks. The screeching finally stopped.
Skill Activated: Life Absorption
[EXP: 420 ( 50)]
"That was... exhilarating." I muttered to no one in particular, staring at the fallen beast. "The world is definitely a better place now."
As I stepped forward to collect the loot, I froze.
There it was.
[Reaper's Scythe]
Floating in front of was an icon of a sleek black scythe, decorated with thorn-like spikes resembling the spider's own features. And the stats...
[Reaper's Scythe 0/30 (C)]
Ability not mastered.
Equipnt Bonus: Attack 30
Special Effect: Wither (active)
Mastery: 0
The na said it all. But the effect explained more: each hit that made physical contact would slightly weaken the target over ti. It wouldn't be enough to disable a foe of equal strength but it'd definitely soften them up.
All in all? Not bad at all.
This dungeon run brought a solid level boost and a powerful new weapon — one that would clearly beco my main gear for quite a while.
Less than 20 days remained until the next Wave. After so ntal math, I decided to rest a bit once I returned to the city which would take about four days. After that, back to the grind.
And I was curious, how's that Shield Hero doing?
If I rembered correctly, he should've gotten himself a certain adorable companion by now...
Can't wait to et the title's main waifu in the flesh. I was never a big fan of Raphtalia, personally, but still...
Decision made. No appeals allowed. Ti to move out.
"Just you wait, raccoon girl!"
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