Chapter 126
Normally, a Skill's effects should be thoroughly tested.
That's because they directly affect your survival and that of your companions.
Ideally, Kiki's Reflection should be tested for its range, duration, number of uses, and so on.
It's not something you should ever use against a monster without testing it first.
Especially not against a Named-class monster.
(But this time, things are different...)
This isn't a situation where we can simply run away.
Whether Kiki's Reflection works on this thing will have a huge impact on the battles to come.
It might be our only chance to overcome this hopeless situation.
“...Kiki, can you use that Skill from before one more time?”
“Kyuu.”
Kiki nodded.
“Then, when I give the signal, I'm counting on you.”
“Kyuu!”
I swallowed hard.
If Kiki's Reflection didn't work, if Aka couldn't protect us in time, if I couldn't dodge—
I was sure I'd die.
Just thinking about it scared me.
Yeah, I was terrified.
But if I wanted to survive, I had to do it.
To survive, I had to move closer to death.
What a contradiction.
This world really was a rotten place.
“... (trembles)”
Aka trembled, still disguised.
――It's okay. We're together.
Apparently, that was Aka's way of encouraging me.
Thanks. I feel a little better now.
“Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”
Titan moved.
It raised its massive arm.
A mass far beyond comparison to a breakwater block came hurtling toward us.
It was practically a gigantic wall.
An overwhelming pressure, as if the air itself were being crushed.
Feeling it against my skin, I shouted.
“!! Kiki! Now!”
“Kyuu!”
The jewel on Kiki's forehead glowed.
A faintly glowing, fan-shaped membrane appeared in front of me.
And then—
Kiki's membrane of Reflection took Titan's blow head-on.
The surrounding air trembled with a thunderous boom, and nearby buildings began to collapse with a clatter.
The shockwave alone split the asphalt, swept away buildings, and transformed the landscape.
A corner of the shopping district, reduced to ruins.
At its center, I—
“Am I... alive?”
I was standing on two feet.
There was nothing wrong with my body.
I clenched and unclenched my hands, confirming that I was alive.
“Kiki, Aka, are you okay?”
“Kyuu...”
“... (trembles)”
Both of them seemed to be all right.
Not a scratch on either of them.
Then what about Titan?
I immediately looked toward Titan.
The dust settled, revealing its figure.
“Boruo...”
Its fist was cracked.
No, not just its fist. Its arms, legs, and even its egg-shaped body were all cracked.
“――Ooh... Rrr...”
Crack! One of its fingers broke off and stuck into the ground.
It lost its balance and fell on its backside.
That alone sent violent tremors through the ground.
“...We did it.”
I clenched my fist without thinking.
Emotion welled up from deep within me.
“We did it! We did it, Kiki! Aka! Reflection works! Kiki's Reflection works on it too!”
I laughed.
Joy welled up from the bottom of my heart.
I had won. I'd won the gamble.
“Kyuu! Kyuu!”
“...♪ (trembles)”
I could feel Kiki and Aka's joy, too.
Yeah, of course they were happy.
We'd been in a hopeless situation.
Now we could see even the faintest glimmer of hope.
How could we not be happy?
“Borururuu...?”
Titan let out a low growl, as if it didn't understand what had happened.
Its murky red eyes turned toward us.
“...!”
I understood immediately.
Those were the eyes of someone who had recognized us as enemies.
A chill ran down my spine.
“Aka!”
I instinctively shouted Aka's name instead of Kiki's.
Whether it was a Skill, my survival instinct, or perhaps both.
And that proved to be the right choice.
“Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”
“Nnnngh!! (trembles)”
As Titan roared, Aka's body swelled up almost at the same time.
Aka wrapped around us―――and in that instant, we were blown away.
A tremendous impact slammed into my body.
We bounced along the ground, flying dozens of meters backward.
“Gah... W-what was that?”
What on earth had happened?
The surrounding buildings and ground had been gouged out on a massive scale.
There were several huge holes, and I could see the landscape on the far side through the buildings.
I couldn't believe it. I looked toward Titan.
Its right arm was gone.
“...Did it throw its arm?”
Its right arm was cracked and battered, completely unusable.
It had torn the arm off and hurled it at us.
The thrown arm must have scattered like buckshot, blasting away everything in the area.
“You monster...!”
“Ruo...”
Titan used its remaining arm to scoop up the rubble around it and pour it into its mouth.
It crunched it up and swallowed. Then its body began to change.
The cracks in its legs and torso began to mend.
Hey, with a body that huge, it can regenerate too?
What a monster.
“...Ruo...”
It kept eating, but eventually sank into the ground.
Since its right arm hadn't grown back, had it retreated to recover?
(Whatever the case, we're safe...)
I was relieved that the battle was over.
Then all the tension drained from my body.
I was scared. I thought I was going to die. That was terrifying.
“But we got something out of it.”
Now that we knew Kiki's Reflection worked, we could come up with a strategy.
Titan would be on guard too, but we could still call this a step forward.
“Anyway, let's get out of here for now.”
I wanted to catch my breath somewhere we could settle down.
Keeping our presence hidden and staying alert, we left the area.
After that, I rested for a while in a nearby house.
It was nearly noon, so I ate a quick lunch.
“All right, then. Time to choose a Job.”
It was the long-awaited moment to choose a Job.
I had 30 JP from the battle just now.
Spending them would finally get me my next advanced Job.
My current Jobs were Ninja Lv. 7, Hunter Lv. 7, and Shadow Puppeteer Lv. 5.
If I spent all my points, I could promote either Ninja or Hunter to an advanced Job.
“As far as choices go, Ninja's the obvious one...”
I hadn't learned offensive Ninjutsu like the Fire Release Technique, but maybe I could learn some as an advanced Job.
But what was the advanced Job for Ninja?
Jonin? Oniwaban? Or maybe Hokage?
“Well, I can just look and see.”
I used JP, intending to raise my Ninja level.
But just before I did—
“... (trembles)”
Aka trembled.
“What's wrong, Aka?”
“... (trembles, trembles)”
“Could it be that Aka recommends Hunter instead?”
Aka trembled as if to say, That's right.
So Aka recommended Hunter...
“Kyuu.”
Kiki nodded as if agreeing with Aka.
Come to think of it, hadn't Momo and Aka recommended Shadow Puppeteer when I chose it before?
Hmm, this was a tough choice...
But Momo and Aka's instincts had never been wrong.
There had to be some reason—something with more benefits than Ninja's advanced Job.
“All right, I understand, Aka.”
After thinking it over for a while, I decided to trust Aka.
I spent the points to raise Hunter to Lv. 10.
Now what?
≪Your Hunter Job has reached its level cap.≫
≪Advanced Jobs and Branch Jobs are now available.≫
≪Your fourth Job slot has been unlocked.≫
≪Advanced Job 'Veteran Hunter' has been unlocked.≫
≪Advanced Job 'Tracker' has been unlocked.≫
≪Advanced Job 'Ranger' has been unlocked.≫
≪You have met certain Job requirements.≫
≪Branch Job 'Actor' has been unlocked.≫
≪Branch Job 'Swindler' has been unlocked.≫
≪Branch Job 'Exterminator' has been unlocked.≫
≪Branch Job 'Shaman' has been unlocked.≫
The new advanced and branch Jobs were presented.