Level Eater-Having brilliantly achieved victory on her own, Ai eagerly checked her prize by opening an extravagantly ornate treasure chest adorned with platinum and jewels. Inside, s
Having brilliantly achieved victory on her own, Ai eagerly checked her prize by opening an extravagantly ornate treasure chest adorned with platinum and jewels. Inside, s
Having brilliantly achieved victory on her own, Ai eagerly checked her prize by opening an extravagantly ornate treasure chest adorned with platinum and jewels. Inside, she found a reddish-black, unpleasantly shaped object resembling a deformed human heart.
"What... is this...?" (Ai)
"It looks kind of gross. Is this really the grand prize?" (Tatsuro)
"Mother, Let's check the instruction manual!" (Nana)
"Ah, yes. That's a good idea. Let's see... Here it is. Now, let's take a look..." (Ai)
Carefully avoiding touching the mysterious object, Ai took out only the instruction paper from the box and read its contents.
Summarizing what was written, it seemed to say:
"Well, it looks like this causes Celestial Armaments to evolve when given to them." (Ai) (T/N: generally referring to all celestial weapons)
"An item that promotes the evolution of Celestial Armaments, huh? But isn't yours a weapon that grows on its own, Ai? It seems like it would evolve by itself anyway, so is this really that useful?" (Tatsuro)
Unable to determine its value himself, Tatsuro asked Leah, who was native to this world.
Leah switched to her blue eyes to observe with her [All-Seeing Eye], then slowly turned to look at Tatsuro's face.
"The key point here seems to be that it's calling this evolution rather than growth. Unlike normal growth, which tends to reinforce existing strengths, evolution here likely refers to transformation... becoming a different entity altogether. In that light, I'd say it's indeed worthy of being called a grand prize." (Leah)
"Becoming a different entity, huh? That does sound impressive when you put it that way." (Tatsuro)
While Tatsuro was simply impressed by Leah's explanation, Ai, the owner of the Celestial Bow, had one concern she couldn't ignore.
"Um, does that mean if I use this, it might turn into something completely different from a bow? I quite like its current form, you know." (Ai)
"However, that Celestial Bow is trying to grow into a form that Ai-san would desire. Given that tendency, it shouldn't evolve into something you'd dislike." (Leah)
"Is that so? Hmm..." (Ai)
"You could always sell it without using it. Seems like it can be used on Celestial Armaments that don't grow too." (Leah)
"That's true. If you find the current form easy to use, there's no need to change it." (Tatsuro)
"You could also keep it for now and use it when you want to in the future." (Leah)
After listening to everyone's opinions and contemplating for five seconds, Ai made her decision.
"I've decided. I'll let it decide, not me!" (Ai)
"By 'it,' you mean the Celestial Bow itself?" (Tatsuro)
"Yes. I'll let it decide automatically, not based on my will. That way, I'll consider it to be its own decision." (Ai)
"I see. If that's what you want, Ai, let's try it." (Tatsuro)
"Okay!" (Ai)
Ai took out the spear from the bow the Celestial weapon attached to her waist and placed the evolution item on the floor without controlling it.
The spear extended towards the item, wavered indecisively in front of it for a while, and then chose to evolve by touching it.
"So you want to evolve. Alright, I'll give it to you then." (Ai)
At Ai's words, the Celestial Bow evolution item melted into a liquid-like state and was absorbed through the spear tip it was touching.
Once it had been completely consumed by the Celestial Bow, the bow attached to Ai's waist fell to the floor with a clang.
Ai hurriedly tried to pick it up, but it seemed so hot that she had to pull her hand back to avoid getting burned just by bringing her fingers close.
The bow gradually began to emit light, becoming difficult to look at directly, causing everyone to avert their eyes.
After about two minutes, the light subsided, and its form became visible again.
"Huh? It doesn't look any different at all..." (Ai)
"Why don't you try using it? I'm sure something must have changed." (Tatsuro)
"Yeah, you're right." (Ai)
Feeling half relieved and half disappointed that the appearance hadn't changed at all from when it last grew, Ai picked up the bow and manifested an arrow using her spirit energy for a test shot.
The difference was already apparent.
Until now, the arrows created with spirit energy had an unrealistic blue glow in the shape of an arrow, but the arrow Ai manifested now had an appearance close to a real one.
"The arrow's shape has changed. Here goes—" (Ai)
When she lightly test-fired the arrow, despite not putting much effort into drawing the bow, it flew faster and sharper than before, embedding itself in the wall before disappearing after a few seconds.
So this time, she drew it with full force and released it. The initial velocity was several times that of the previous shot. Even with Ai's eyes, it flew at a speed that would be just barely dodge-able, creating a large hole in the wall.
"That's amazing! Just looking at the bow, it's clearly gotten stronger." (Ai)
"Indeed. If I were targeted by a bow like that, a magic user like me would be in the afterlife before I could even defend with magic." (Tatsuro)
"The spear looks promising too. I can't wait to see it!" (Leah)
"Right, then let's do it right away. Come out, Mr. Spear!" (Ai)
Although there was no need to speak out loud, Ai said so out of habit as she tried to bring out the spear. Suddenly, four thick black wires extended from each side of the bow's grip, eight in total, writhing around Ai like headless snakes.
"It's not a spear? What on earth..." (Ai)
As Ai stood dumbfounded, five-fingered robot hands suddenly popped out from the tips of the wires that had been empty just moments ago.
"Hands came out!" (Ai)
"This is clearly different from what it was before." (Tatsuro)
"Hmm. I guess the spear is gone now. Well, this looks useful in its own way." (Ai)
As Ai muttered these words, one of the eight hands came in front of her eyes, raised its index finger, and wagged it side to side.
While she was wondering what this meant, the hand moved a bit away from Ai, opened its palm, and a spear tip protruded from it.
Moreover, like the bow and arrow, it had a quite realistic appearance. When Ai tried to stab the floor with it, it pierced through as easily as if she were stabbing tofu.
Ai couldn't hide her surprise and was opening and closing her mouth, but that wasn't the end of it.
Surprisingly, three-centimeter needles made of spirit energy shot out from each fingertip. She scratched the floor with them. Incidentally, being a new feature, these weren't as realistic as the bow, arrow, or spear, and were composed of solidified blue light.
"The variety has increased. It might be cool!" (Ai)
"Huh? Ai, you're writing something on the floor. Are you doing that?" (Tatsuro)
What seemed like a mere scratching of the floor turned out to be writing characters of this world using the needles from the fingertips of the Celestial Bow's hands.
"Eh? I'm not doing it. What could it be... let's see... 'I want a name'? It wants a name?" (Ai)
"You mean it wants us to give it a name?" (Tatsuro)
"We've been calling it 'the Celestial bow' all this time. Maybe it wanted one after evolving. Why don't you give it a name?" (Tatsuro)
"A name? Leave it to me!" (Ai)
"I never know where that confidence comes from..." (Tatsuro)
As Tatsuro sighed, remembering all the terrible names Ai had tried to give to Cardina and others before, Ai's head suddenly had an idea.
"Eight hands... That's it! From now on, you'll be Mr. Octopus!!" (Ai)
"Mr. Octopus? Aren't those supposed to be feet, not hands?" (Tatsuro)
"Oh, right. Well then—" (Ai)
The usual time of 'not this, not that' passed, and then—
"Oh, speaking of eight hands, wasn't there a Buddhist statue like that?" (Ai)
"Eight hands? You mean like the Thousand-Armed Kannon?" (Tatsuro)
"Not that one, but you know, the one with a name that sounds like 'trampled and kicked' or something!" (Ai)
"Trampled and kicked, and it's a Myoo? What's that, sounds terrible. But if it's a Myoo, Fudo Myoo doesn't have eight hands... As for others, there's something-something Yaksha Myoo... trampled... kicked... trampled..." (Tatsuro)
Tatsuro dug through the vague memories in his head, trying to recall information about the Buddhist deities called Myoo, of which he had little knowledge. Then, from the sound of "trampled," he remembered one particular Myoo. (T/N: All these names are from East Asian Deities mythology)
"...maybe?" (Tatsuro)
"That's it! That Gundari-san. I shouldn't be the one to say this, but you figured it out well." (Ai)
"Well, yeah. But I'm surprised you knew such a name, Ai. I've only heard the name somewhere myself, and I didn't know at all that it had eight hands." (Tatsuro)
"I think it appeared in some game. Along with that Fudo-san." (Ai)
"Don't call it Fudo-san, it means something else. Anyway, are you going to name it Gundari Myoo?" (Tatsuro)
"Yes! It sounds cool! Is that okay?" (Ai)
Tatsuro thought it might be a bit too fierce, but when Ai asked the Celestial bow, it made a circle with one pair of its right and left hands, signaling its approval.
"Alright then, nice to meet you from now on, Gun-chan!" (Ai)
"Gun-chan... you're calling it so lightly compared to its original name..." (Tatsuro)
Tatsuro said this, but the bow itself, named after the Buddhist deity Gundari Myoo, didn't seem to mind, so he decided not to worry about it.
Then Ai decided to take it for a test run, but...
"Ugh... It's impossible to control all eight at once. I'm going to go crazy." (Ai)
"Looks like we'll have to rely on auto-pilot for a while." (Tatsuro)
"For a while? More like, it's absolutely impossible! I can only manually control one while giving general instructions and fighting at the same time." (Ai)
"But you could handle two before, right?" (Tatsuro)
"Probably because it changed from a ball joint and rod-like grip to a rope-like grip with less range of motion restrictions, the operation has become more complex than before." (Ai)
"I see. Indeed, controlling all those wiggly things does seem complicated." (Tatsuro)
"It's like going from an automatic car to a manual transmission car." (Ai)
And it went from two to eight, so it would be impossible for anyone, not just Ai, to manually control all of them.
Having understood this, Ai imagined extending an arm from the bow's grip to attach Gundari Myoo to her waist. A black wire wriggled out and wrapped around the waist part of the armor Ai was wearing, then spread thinly horizontally and merged with the armor.
Now, visually, it looked as if black wires were extending directly from the waist part of the armor.
And when she wanted to use the bow, these wires would extend like a vacuum cleaner cord to her hand, so she didn't have to detach it every time.
"Well then, I guess I'll go get my prize now too." (Tatsuro)
[Alright, I'll clean up this place then~]
As Ai seemed to have settled down when Tatsuro was about to start fighting the monsters, a mysterious voice that sensed this began to neatly repair the parts damaged by Ai's battle and the subsequent test run of Gundari Myoo.
"Tatsuro, stay close to us at first. If it's a speed-type monster, you might get taken out before you can use magic." (Ai)
"Ah, about that. But, like Ai, I could prepare before the monster appears—" (Tatsuro)
[Oh, if you do that next time, you'll be disqualified, just so you know~]
"Why!?" (Tatsuro)
Just as Ai had used a flying punch to strike first, Tatsuro had prepared to cast magic in all directions—up, down, left, right, 360 degrees—before the monster appeared, planning to unleash a simultaneous barrage once it materialized.
It was a strategy that would ensure victory regardless of the opponent, but apparently, that was no longer allowed.
[Why, you ask... This is a place for duels~ It's courtesy to at least wait until your opponent can move before starting! We didn't explain it earlier, so we let it slide, but it's prohibited from now on~]
"Not even one?" (Tatsuro)
[Not even one~]
"I see, then I have no choice but to fight fair and square." (Tatsuro)
[That's right, that's right! I'm glad you understand. Now then, please touch the stone tablet right away.]
"Understood." (Tatsuro)
And so, Tatsuro walked alone towards the stone tablet, his mouth curling into a grin for just a moment.
(He looks like he's plotting something. That face Tatsuro just made.) Ai thought.
