Demonlands Education

I was lying on the ground. Ugh, that guy kicked me pretty hard right in the stomach. It hurts so much…

"Why didn't you dodge it when you saw it coming…? Or were you unable to dodge it?"

I wanted to answer, but I couldn't speak as I was holding my stomach in a crouch.

That's right, I couldn't dodge it. There are things that golem clothes can and can't do. Especially when attacked with something that exceeds the performance of the golem, there's no choice but to take the hit.

I'm also currently restricting the use of Orichalcum supporters. There's no need to expose my trump card, and I can't let them think I'm strong no matter what… Even if I won against Sebas here, it's not like I'd win in the actual match…

But Sebas' attacks were completely unstoppable with regular golem clothes. Ugh, my stomach hurts. Why did I have to go through with this?

"Kehma, are you alright? Can you stand?"

"Probably not… I'm pretty sure some of my bones broke… so I'm going to go to sleep for the rest of the day. Tomorrow too."

"You look fine to me. Let me try casting a healing spell on you."

Rokuko casted [Healing] on me. Ah… I feel so much better now.

Speaking of which, since Sebas could beat Niku, who was a semi-hero class, he's definitely strong enough to be a hero…

"Aren't you too weak? It's surprising that you even thought of participating in the martial arts tournament…"

"There's something I want in the prizes… But it seems like it might be too hard if there are going to be opponents like Aidi and Sebas…"

"Let me just say, Aidi will be in a different category. She participates in the annual tournament."

Hmm, is that so? That's one less rival to deal with then… Or should I say the obstacles between me and the [Divine Pajamas] has decreased by one?

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes. The Demonlands' cores have a separate tournament of their own. It's held annually, and it's where we showcase the results of our daily practice."

"Heeeh."

I imagined it to be like a piano recital, but the actual event is more like a very dangerous and serious battle.

"Will you be participating too, Rokuko? We welcome last minute entries."

"Nope, I'm not."

"You could fight with Jiji-sama if you win though?"

"That doesn't sound appealing at all."

"I see, so that's another cultural difference."

Aidi looked surprised, but that was just the norm for other countries.

"By the way, Rokuko's master is pretty weak, isn't he?"

"Hmph, Kehma usually does better than that, you know?"

"Hoh, so he's holding back?"

"… Rather than that, just think of it as me only being strong at my home. I'm a Dungeon Master, yeah?"

"That may be true, but your basic strength shouldn't change no matter where you are, right?"

Aidi pointed at Sebas and chuckled. She seemed a little proud, probably because her own master won.

"Besides, the actual competition will be held in a stadium like this, right? You should get used to this environment and be able to demonstrate your abilities."

"… Could you give me an explanation of the rules?"

"Sure. Master, you do the explaining."

With that, Aidi ordered Sebas, who sighed in acceptance.

"There aren't really any detailed rules. You win by making your opponent surrender or rendering them unable to fight. That's it, alright?"

"Are there no rules for ring outs or similar?"

"It's a battle in a colosseum surrounded by the audience. There's no need to worry about ring outs."

"What are the conditions for being unable to fight?"

"The easiest way to understand it is by death or unconsciousness. If you lose a limb, you can still fight as long as you don't lose consciousness."

The fact they allowed killing was pretty extreme.

… If I didn't have resistance to fainting, I might end up suffering severe injuries or even get killed. Could I manage to win if I use [Super Transformation]?

However, there's a limit to how many times I can use it per day, so depending on the number of matches, I might not be able to use it. Should I use the one remaining safety margin to level up?

… No, maybe I should rely on Niku instead?

"Can we use items and magic?"

"Yes, even summoning magic."

Hmm. If that's the case, that opens up many more options. I can use [Create Golem], [Summon Gargoyle], and [Summon Skeleton]. This might work out better than expected.

Right, maybe I should try a new type of summoning magic here.

"By the way, this is a past example, but there was an alchemist who brought a flute to summon a special golem that he created. What do you think happened?"

"… The alchemist was targeted?"

"Nothing as boring as that. He won the first match with the golem's power, but things went downhill in the second match. The golem was destroyed in the third match, and he fought without it to advance through the qualifiers in the fourth match. Quite a masterpiece, right?"

Hey, Mr. Alchemist, you won after your golem was destroyed?

I thought it was going to be some cautionary tale about how he died after it was completely destroyed.

"Sorry, what are you trying to say? That story…"

"The point is that you should rely on your own power from the beginning. Or that the golem should have been entered separately… Ah, but after that, it seems the golem was mass-ordered because it was just right as a practice partner for children.

"Isn't that a good story then?"

"Is it? He got so busy dealing with the orders that he didn't have time for his own research. How foolish is that?"

Hmm, spotted another cultural difference.

Anyway, in my case, I'll likely be fighting with [Create Golem] or [Summon Gargoyle]. It's nice that there's no usage limit like with [Super Transformation].

"Is it possible to make an agreement with the opponent beforehand, like if you step behind this line, you lose?"

"So long as if the opponent agrees. Oh, though if you break the promise the audience will rush in and beat you up, so be sure to keep it. Well, it won't be a problem if you also manage to defeat all the audience members though."

Sebas chuckled. It felt like he'd completely lost his butler facade, but I guess that's none of my concern.

"Already. Let's do it, dog."

"Yes."

Leaving me, who still had no intention of getting up, Sebas and Niku faced each other with new wooden swords in their hands.

They were really full of energy.

"Hey, Kehma. I want to see my Kehma put some more effort in."

"I don't want to put so much effort into practice since it's not the real thing… If I had a new magic skill scroll, I'd practice with it. But they're expensive, so I can't just buy them."

"Hey, I've got a good idea. I'll pull a gacha for you. Then you'll be able to show off your skills, right?"

Rokuko saying it was no joke. She was really going to pull a gacha for me. Not like I was about to say no to that.

"Aidi, mind if I use DP here?"

"Go for it, I'm looking forward to seeing your amazing luck."

"Fufufu, watch me… 1000 DP gacha!"

When Rokuko spun the gacha, a magic circle spread out with a swooshing sound. Then, a scroll dropped to the ground.

Rokuko had a smug look on her face. Nah yeah, like a legitimately smug look.

"How's that?"

"… You really got a scroll. Rokuko, what even are you?"

"I just had a feeling. So, Kehma, what kind of scroll is this?"

"Let's see, let's see…"

When purchasing from the catalog, we'd see its name, but with gacha, we couldn't. However, if it's a scroll, you could somewhat guess by looking at the magic circle inside and you could also tell if it's a spell you've already learned or not.

It wouldn't be consumed so long as I didn't channel magic power into it, so I opened the scroll and relied on the translation function to read the characters of the magic circle… It's a new spell. Hmm, "Create," "Hole," "Earth"… I see.

It didn't seem to have any negative effects, so I decided to learn it.

I channeled magic power into the magic circle again and felt its effect. I learned the spell and its name and effect were revealed. This was a spell that created a trap, [Pitfall].

… It was fitting for a Dungeon Master like me, but I already had dungeon functions, so it wasn't really necessary…?