Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~
chapter-121

Master Swordsman Doberg (2)

The homeroom teacher, who is teaching Kurena, reprimanded Kurena for why she just spoke. Kurena looked straight at Doberg. There was no hesitation or regret in her eyes.

“Kurena, right? Why do you want to use these skills?”

Staring at Kurena with his single eye, Doberg asked her why she wanted the skill.

“Allen has big dreams and I want to make them come true!”

“Hmm?”

He gave a look that said, “Who is this Allen?”

“Oh, it’s that dark-haired boy over there I was telling you about.”

Helmios said to Doberg while pointing at me.

Doberg looked at me for a moment, then returned his gaze to Kurena.

“Helmios, Sylvia, I’m going to deal with this girl, Kurena. Please take over others.”

“Okay.”

Helmios waved his hand in understanding.

“Kurena, come over here so I can teach you some skills.”

(Oh, he’s a good man. He is going to teach her.)

“Yes!”

Kurena answered with a smile. She stood up from the crowd where the students were sitting and followed Doberg. Doberg had an instructor bring a sword for a mock battle.

Student question time was still going on. Some students were asking questions, while others were watching Kurena and Doberg.

Doberg gave Kurena a sword and took one for himself.

“Come and hit me.”

“What?”

“Use your skills and hit me.”

“I understand!”

I was wondering how he was going to teach her how to use the skill, but it seemed to be the ‘training while fighting’.

(I might be able to see Kurena’s future potential, depending on how well she currently fares against Doberg, who has been on the battlefield for over 30 years.)

This is valuable information, I thought as I checked Kurena’s status.

[Name] Kurena

[Age] 12

[Talent] Master Swordsman

[Level] 30

[Strength] 1240

[Mana] 474

[Attack] 1240

[Endurance] 872

[Agility] 838

[Intelligence] 494

[Luck] 595

Skills: Master Swordsmanship <1>, Slash <1>, Swordsmanship <5>

[Extra Skill] Limit Break

[Experience] 14,570 / 30,000

Skill Level

[Master Swordsmanship] 1

[Slash] 1

[Swordsmanship] 1

Skill Experience

[Slash] 0/10

Kurena’s [Attack] has reached four digits in the past two months. In the dungeons, I’ve basically been prioritizing speed, so I’ve kept the hunting of magical beasts to a minimum. The main reason for her leveling up is the experience gained from the bottom floor bosses of the C-class dungeons, of which there are now three.

Kurena dashed heads up towards Doberg, who was standing a short distance away. She then swung an unrestrained blow down on Doberg as if she were knocking her sword from above.

“Huh!”

However, Doberg easily caught the sword and blew it away from Kurena’s body with a caressing motion.

“What’s wrong? I’m going to keep you company until you can use your skills. Go ahead and use your skills.”

Apparently, this training will continue until she can use her skill.

(That’s right. I don’t know how one uses their skill for the first time at all. Is this how everyone does it?)

Soon, the question and answer period was over, and we were scattered in this large arena and began to receive instruction on how to wield swords. There were also students who used spears and axes, but they were taught together too.

I was also planning to learn swordsmanship from a Master Swordsman, but I changed my plans. Cecile and I watched as Kurena trained to activate her skills. Dogora moved to a remote part of the arena to receive instruction on how to wield the axe.

Then two hours passed.

“What’s the matter? You’ve been doing the same thing for a while now. You can’t use your skills like this.”

“Yes!”

Doberg called out to Kurena, who was blown away and struggling to get up. He didn’t offer any advice, but simply blew her away.

Two more hours passed, and Kurena’s training, which began just after one o’clock, was going on for four hours straight without a break. Kurena attacked Dober with her sword and kept getting blown away.

“You can stop if you’re tired, okay? You’ll learn slowly over the next year or so anyway.”

“I’m fine!”

(After all, does it take about a year to learn a skill?)

It seems that it takes about a year to learn sword and axe skills. And I haven’t learned them in class yet. This means it might take two whole years from now.

“Cecile.”

“What?”

“You already know how to use your magic skills, right?”

“Of course. Some of the kids can already use magic.”

Kiel also said that he learned Recovery Magic in two months. I wonder if it takes two to three months to learn any type of magic.

(There is a <Swordsmanship> skill that anyone can learn, but they learn it slowly. I don’t understand the adjustments that have been made. Is there a reason for this?)

I don’t know if the cause is the difference in [Intelligence] due to [Talent], or something else.

Two more hours pass.

The lights made of magical tools illuminated the arena. The Hero and Master Swordsmen have already finished their part, and the instructors, Helmios, Sylvia, Dogora, Cecile, and I were looking at Kurena’s training, which might end at any moment.

I told Kiel, who was not here, that he can’t go to the C-class dungeon today because we were training, using G-rank Bird Chappy.

“What’s the matter? The sun is setting. Why don’t you stop slacking?”

“Yes!”

Doberg, who showed no signs of fatigue, announced to the already tired and dazed Kurena. He has not yet said a word about how she can use her skills.

Two more hours passed, eight hours of continuous training.

“Heh!”

Kurena got blown away again. No one knows how many times she has been blown away. Dizzy, she desperately tried to stand up. She couldn’t stand up though, as her legs didn’t have any strength left.

“Is that the extent of your dream with your friend?”

“No!”

Doberg called out to Kurena, who was unable to stand up.

“No? Look at you! You can’t even stand!”

“No! Allen has been working hard all along!”

With that, Kurena, her hair crumpled, stood up once more.

“Then come at me! Prove it with your sword!”

“Yes!”

Kurena headed toward Doberg at a speed slower than walking.

“Come on, just think about activating your skill. Put everything you’ve got into it.”

“…”

The dazed Kurena no longer responded. She was blown away and she still slowly made her way to Doberg at a speed slower than walking. She then raised her sword with her head down.

Then she raised his sword above his head and swung it down.

Whoosh

The sword, which I had expected to be swung down very slowly, had more speed than ever before. It was a speed that I had never seen before, even in dungeons.

Kurena’s sword easily knocked away Doberg’s sword and sliced Doberg’s shoulder.

Pish

Kurena’s sword stopped at his shoulder, but the impact was so great that it cracked the arena floor below Doberg’s feet.

In one swift motion, Kurena’s sword sliced through the mock-up sword that Doberg was holding and bit into Doberg’s shoulder. Doberg was not wearing any armor, but the sword stopped at Doberg’s clothes.

“Brilliant. That’s a skill. Don’t forget it.”

“Yes, I won’t…”

Kurena collapsed in front of Doberg.

“”Kurena!””

Cecile, Dogora and I, who were watching the situation, rushed to Kurena’s side. I took Kurena in my arms. She seems to have fainted, but her face showed a look of relief.

“Why didn’t you just show her your skills and tell her what they are? It would have been faster.”

Helmios, who had been waiting for a long time, asked Doberg.

“Helmios. Not everyone learns everything as dexterously as you do. This girl didn’t seem like she could think straight. But still, she got it in a day. That’s faster than I thought…”

Doberg seemed to think it would take more than a day for Kurena to learn her skill. He looked at me, who was holding Kurena with a curious look on his face.

“Master Swordsman Doberg!”

“Nuh?”

An instructor noticed that blood was oozing from his shoulder where he had been hit by Kurena’s sword and rushed over.

“Huh? You’re hurt. Heal.”

Helmios used Recovery Magic to heal Doberg’s shoulder.

“It’s been a long time since I was cut by someone. Was the new Master Swordsman so good?”

“No, she can’t cut you with that level of stats and skill-huh!”

Helmios’ eyes glowed faintly. He seemed to be appraising Kurena, wondering about Doberg’s bleeding. Then a surprised voice echoed through the arena.

“What’s up, Helmios?”

“No, her status is going to be great. Huh? I must have imagined it. Sorry.”

“Huh…”

(What’s wrong with Kurena’s status?)

I also checked Kurena’s status in my Grimoire. Her [Strength] was the same but she had less [Mana].

(Oh! She got skill experience!)

Skill Level

[Master Swordsman] 1

[Slash] 1

Skill Experience

[Slash] 2/10

I was pleased to see that Kurena’s skill experience had finally increased, and thanked Doberg for his help.

At Kurena’s feet laid a steel mock-up sword, its hilt molded like clay.

Translator’s Corner

Thanks for reading.