Living My Third Life In Danmachi

Chapter 6: Aiz Wallenstein

"Innocent children are treasures of the world. The term 'charm of innocence' exists for a reason. That's why lolis are a protected species. I love lolis!"

— The Last Storyteller

"It's not that I liked lolis, it's just that the person I liked happened to be an attractive loli."

— The Strongest Demon King

"Disgusting lolicons!"

— The Strongest Mage Who Defies God

...

I got to try some alcohol from the Soma Familia, courtesy of Riseria, and it was absolutely amazing.

The alcohol scent didn't linger in my mouth, and it went down so smoothly with a subtle fruity aroma. Honestly, no drink from my past life or even the one before that could compare to this.

The craftsmanship isn't even particularly advanced, yet it's something made purely with the abilities of gods and humans? How does that even work?

Anyway, after drinking to my heart's content, I woke up the next day to an exciting Status Update☆Time!

Luke Blade

LV.1

Strength: H 140 → C 602

Endurance: H 166 → D 554

Dexterity: 179 → C 612

Agility: H 113 → E 489

Magic: 10

(None)

Heaven-Slaying Star (Lord of Killer)

•Can kill anyone.

•Reduces guilt from killing.

•Temporarily boosts status during battles driven by murderous intent.

•Permanently increases status when killing a powerful opponent.

...

When Susanoo checked my updated status, he stared at me in disbelief and asked,

"What the heck do you do to make your Excelia skyrocket like this?! Most people are lucky if their stats go up by double digits in a day!"

"First, I risked my life fighting 17 Killer Ants at once... and then dealt with two adventurers who indirectly tried to kill me."

"Ah, it's all thanks to that skill of yours. Got it."

The skill I have, "Lord of Killer", grows stronger the more powerful beings I kill. It works on both monsters and adventurers, but I try to stick to monsters since killing people comes with way too many risks.

It's like one of those games where you start small, but gradually grow stronger by consuming everything around you, until you're strong enough to take on bigger and bigger challenges.

"Still, there's a clear limit, isn't there? Status proficiency caps out at S rank. Unless you fuse the same card and break the limit, you can't strengthen it further, right?"

"You're treating me like some kind of limited event card. Go ahead, throw your money at me!"

Not that I haven't thought about it. Maybe if I had some protagonist-level plot armor, I could break through that limit and even go beyond S-rank proficiency. But unfortunately, I don't have skills like that.

"In my opinion, magic comes from talent, while skills are a manifestation of your mindset. Sure, there are differences, but if we're talking about the big picture, that's how it works. So, if you pray hard enough, maybe you'll get a new skill. Probably."

"So, you're saying if I go into battle screaming, 'Screw limits! I'm the craziest bastard here!' I might unlock a new skill?"

"I said 'probably.' The odds aren't zero, though. For a skill as powerful as yours, I think it would take a lot of desperation and willpower to unlock something new."

"But the activation of 'Lord of Killer'... that just happened on its own."

"Which means it's innate. You, my friend, are just like someone I know, though from a completely different field."

Susanoo said something cryptic as he patted me on the shoulder.

"A singularity of potential in a reincarnated being, huh? No matter how I think about it, you're far beyond the likes of us. Maybe…"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm heading to the dungeon. Let Riseria know I'm out."

"Alright, take care and come back safely."

Leaving my home, I started running toward the dungeon as part of my usual routine, using it as a workout. It's tough weaving through crowds, but thanks to the Eyeshield 21 techniques, I can slip through easily, even in a packed area!

When I have some spare time, I practice techniques like Renewal Taekwondo, the Mach Punch, Recoilless Kick, or Nigawa Kick, but I still can't quite get the hang of them.

I figure I'll need to be at least Level 3 to properly use those moves... For now, the only thing I can manage is something like the Normal Taekwondo and Muay Thai, strengthened by some real-world experience.

In my first life, I worked near a martial arts school a few times, where I ended up in a grueling fight against an elite martial artist. Let's just say that, whether I wanted to or not, I learned a few things.

As I was running along, I suddenly crossed paths with a stunning blonde girl I couldn't forget from a few days ago.

This time, I won't miss my chance! It's Devil Bat Ghost time!

I started sidestepping at full speed without losing momentum, aiming to slip past her… but then—what?

The blonde girl spread her arms to block my path, clearly signaling that she wouldn't let me through. No matter how I looked at it, she was dead set on stopping me.

"You won't stop me!"

Her golden eyes, doll-like yet vibrant, sparkled with life. With the imposing strength of a high-ranking adventurer, she bore down on me with no mercy. I was out of options.

But I want to survive! With you... no, not here! If I can't go back or sideways, there's only one way left—up!

"Devil Bat Dive!"

Using my freshly updated stats from this morning, I launched myself into the air. It was such a sudden leap that if a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fan had seen it, they'd probably exclaim, "A jump from that stance?! Zeppeli-sensei!"

Barely, with only a finger's width of clearance, I managed to leap past the blonde girl and land behind her, planting my hands on the ground as I shouted:

"Touchdown! Game set! The winner, Deimon Devil Bats!"

"Um..."

"And with that, the victor makes a cool exit."

Thank you, Speedwagon! Quick evasions save time and energy, so let's get on with my speedy dungeon run.

As far as I'm concerned, the blonde girl who blocked me so perfectly doesn't exist.

A golden-haired, golden-eyed beauty? There's no way someone like that exists in real life.

As I dashed forward, the girl—no, the specter of my imagination—effortlessly caught up to me, running alongside with an unreadable expression. Then, in a flat tone, she spoke:

"Excuse me..."

"Eek!"

I didn't know why, but my instincts told me one thing: run!

However, she kept chasing me.

What the hell is this? This is terrifying. Damn it, someone save me!

Our little chase scene (which was really just her running beside me, waiting for me to stop) ended when my low-level stamina ran out.

Starting at our home near the northern area, I had sprinted all the way to the southern wall of Orario without stopping, and the exhaustion hit me like a truck.

I swear, hunting 100 monsters would've been less tiring than this.

"Ah, damn it. I haven't even entered the dungeon yet, and I'm already drenched in sweat first thing in the morning..."

"Here, water."

"Ah, thanks... Hiiik!"

The girl casually handed me a water bottle she had on her, but I flinched and backed away instinctively.

Wait, why am I avoiding this kid? I didn't do anything wrong, did I?

"Geez, thanks to someone, I just had an intense workout. Anyway, what do you want? You've been chasing me since earlier, so you must need something from me, right?"

"I want to learn."

"Learn what?"

"The step I saw last time..."

Oh, she must mean the Devil Bat 4th-Dimension.

"If I can adapt it and combine it with my swordsmanship, it'll be useful."

"Not a bad idea, actually."

Even though it's a football technique, if you replace the ball with a sword, use it to exploit openings in your opponent's defense, and strike, it could be quite effective.

The technique itself is designed to either create openings or exploit existing ones, making it surprisingly compatible.

"But why do you want to learn it? With your skill level, you could probably copy it just by watching once."

"I watched again today just to be sure... It feels like there are other techniques too. I want to learn those as well."

I suddenly felt like a swarm of leeches had attached themselves to my back. More than that, her personality doesn't really mesh well with mine.

She's pure, someone who's probably never seen the darker sides of the world. If I were just a little more twisted, I might have thought, "It'd be satisfying to corrupt someone like her!" ...But let's not go there.

Whoa, that almost turned into some kind of fanfiction plot.

Damn it, perverted thoughts! Is this just hormones acting up because I'm at my prime? Looks like I need to, uh, deal with this somehow.

"So, what will you give me in return for teaching you?"

"Hmm... money?"

"I could use it, but nah. Forget it, my friend. I'll teach you in my spare time, and we'll call it even. Once I've taught you everything I can and it's time for you to leave the 'mountain,' no clinging or dragging things out. Just promise me that."

"I promise."

That takes care of any possibility of her sticking around afterward.

"And from now on, you'll call me 'Master.' Got it?"

"Okay, Master."

What do you do when someone takes a joke seriously?

—Just ignore it and move on.

But she's a girl.

—Is she pretty?

She's ridiculously pretty.

—Whoever ends up with her is gonna hit the jackpot.

Not my problem. I'm not taking her with me. Blondes aren't my type.

Now that I'm stuck with this, what should I even teach her?

The Devil Bat Series is more of a joke for me, but any high-level adventurer can master it with a bit of practice. I'll just teach her the basic theory and leave it at that.

As for my originals?

Absolutely not. No way am I teaching life-or-death techniques—ones I've spent my life perfecting through countless kills—to someone so pure and innocent, who's only a year or two younger than me at most.

Most of those techniques are for combat against other people.

They're not about just risking your life—they involve willingly stepping into the shallow waters of the Styx, splashing around, and barely making it back alive. If I taught her that, she'd probably end up using it in a real fight and getting herself killed.

"What weapon do you use?"

"A sword."

She drew the sword hanging at her waist and showed it to me. Its sleek, gray metallic sheen and elegant rapier design screamed luxury.

It gave off the impression that it wouldn't break, no matter what.

"A rapier, huh? That narrows down what I can teach you even more. I mainly rely on hand-to-hand combat, so I've barely used weapons myself."

The most I've handled are guns or daggers, and even then, not much. Weapons just aren't my thing.

And a rapier of all things? The only person I can think of who uses a rapier is Asuna from that story.

"Let me see that sword for a moment."

I wasn't sure if it would work out, but when it comes to wielding a weapon, technique matters more than brute strength. Just because someone's ridiculously strong doesn't mean they can swing a Dragon Slayer like Guts, right?

Taking the sword from her, I tested a few thrusts, trying to get a feel for it.

"Thrust!"

With a sharp whoosh, the rapier pierced forward with intimidating speed. It wasn't just raw power; it was a precise, straight-line strike with smooth, flowing movement. Honestly, I'm terrible at explaining things, so let's skip the detailed description.

"This is a technique you should be able to pull off too, right?"

"It seems like you don't use it that often, though."

This isn't as easy as it looks. Even with a sword, you'd need a lot of practice and experience to master a move like this. Something as seemingly simple as a thrust requires strong fundamentals and honed skills to execute properly.

Of course, once you gain enough experience, it becomes an easier technique. But even if she's a higher-level adventurer than I am, her overall experience is likely less than mine.

After all, she's probably only been an adventurer for a few years. There might even be lower-level adventurers out there who surpass her in pure swordsmanship.

Ultimately, it's not just the quality of her experience—it's the sheer lack of quantity that's holding her back.

"Let's say you're surrounded by ten monsters of the same level in a dungeon. If you attempted that thrust ten times, how many would you land successfully?"

"Out of ten... maybe five or six."

"That's a pretty high success rate. You've got talent."

If she didn't, there's no way she'd be at that level at her age. I don't know the exact gap, but there's at least a 2-3 level difference between us.

"Practice that thrust 100 times a day. You probably won't have to worry about stamina, but what's important is focus and fundamentals. If a life-or-death situation comes and you can't execute an accurate, powerful strike when it matters, you'll die."

Practice and real combat are worlds apart, but that's exactly why constant practice is necessary to bridge the gap.

Back when I was building my experience, I trained every single day. Even now, though I don't need to as much, I still work out whenever I have free time to maintain my strength and endurance.

"Sorry for assigning you homework on the first day, but just focus on practicing that for now. Class is over for today! I've got to head into the dungeon myself."

"Okay, Master."

Wow, those bright, sparkling eyes are seriously overwhelming.

Innocent kids are scary—they're hard to deal with.

And kids like her tend to drop bombs out of nowhere. If she suddenly asks something like, "How are babies made?" that'll be my judgment day.

"Now that I think about it, we haven't even introduced ourselves yet. My name is Luke Blade. I'm a newbie adventurer, just recently joined the [Susanoo Familia] as a Level 1. Nice to meet you."

"Aiz Wallenstein. Level 3, second-class adventurer of the [Loki Familia]. Nice to meet you, Master."

…Maybe I need to rethink this whole "Master" title thing.

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