Chapter 22: Once again into the sea
The sword fight with the Dullahan gave him confidence in fighting with a sword … although at best he could get one hit in.
Nevertheless, he gained confidence.
He also had confidence that his magic control had improved considerably … although he had not succeeded in 『Blood Freeze』 yet.
It was unclear if it could succeed in the first place.
In any case, Ryo was thinking of verifying his growth.
It was inevitable.
Ryo had not entered the sea ever since that time he lost consciousness.
He obtained salt by collecting seawater from land and evaporating the water but he never entered the sea.
If he really wanted to eat fish, he would hunt river fish.
Yes, the inevitable was undersea combat.The competition for magic control with the Bait Ball … he must win!
At that time, he certainly did disperse the Bait Ball.
But that was nothing more than a surprise attack he used to escape from the magic control.
To live in 『Phi』, that was not enough.
In the end, the only way was to gain confidence by building on successful experiences.
Ryo stood on the rocky spot and glared at the sea.
His appearance was the same as before, his only weapon was the knife-tipped bamboo spear in his right hand.
Alongside his waistcloth and sandals on the beach was the knife he received from the Dullahan … the ice sword known as 『Murasame』 (named by Ryo).
He was particular about keeping the same equipment as before.
“Now, here I come!”
He dove in and stabbed a nearby fish with his bamboo spear.
He wasn’t there to enjoy the scenery like the previous time.
Since then he had trained further and with the increase of his endurance came an increase in his lung capacity but even then, his limit was at most five minutes.
That was probably the human limit …
In that case, he should start the fight as soon as possible.
The instant the fish was speared, the world changed just like before.
Like a repeat of the past, a Bait Ball came from the front.
That was exactly his aim.
And Ryo confirmed that he was in a situation where he could not grasp the water with his hands and feet.
(All right, then I will snatch the control of the seawater around my hands and feet back.)
Imagining it loosely will result in 『repulsion』.
However, for Ryo who had gained greater magic control in an order of magnitude, just by imagining along with slightly more magical power, his hands and feet were able to grab the water.
(All right! I got it back.)
Next was Ryo’s turn.
He imagined it in his mind. The scene where Ryo freely controlled the seawater the Bait Ball was in and that the monsters that form the Bait Ball were not able to move.
(<The World is Mine>)
The moment he chanted that in his mind, the Bait Ball began to distort.
The monsters that made up the Bait Ball could no longer control their posture and movements.
(Does that mean I can freeze them too? <Ice Coffin>)
The distorted Bait Ball froze.
Instead of freezing the monsters that made up the Bait Ball, he froze the seawater around them.
On land, in the past he failed to freeze anything within 10 cm of the monster’s body but now, against monsters that seemed to have strong control of water magic, he was able to freeze their surroundings.
Ryo was extremely satisfied with that result.
He succeeded in neutralizing the entire Bait Ball without using his bamboo spear.
Using the power of magic control that he had trained so far.
Therefore, it was unavoidable that he was late in noticing the appearance of the huge squid in front of him.
Just the previous time, the shrimp made him fall unconscious because he was careless after defeating the Bait Ball but this time the same pattern appeared once more.
Yup, that can’t be helped anymore.
The huge squid … might be the legendary creature called the Kraken on Earth.
Its total length was 40 meters.
But his reaction was quick after he noticed it.
(<Ice Wall 5-layers>)
The moment it was deployed, something hit the ice wall and the ice wall broke.
(The ice wall 5-layers was broken in one hit!?)
That was unexpected.
(<Ice Wall 5-layers>)
(<Ice Wall 5-layers>)
(<Ice Wall 5-layers>)
He deployed three copies of the spell.
However this time, his control of the ice walls was robbed and they were dispelled the moment he cast it.
The ice wall cast under magic control that he painstakingly trained … was easily taken control of by the Kraken.
(<Ice Coffin>)
He used the area freezing magic that he froze the Bait Ball with to freeze the area around the Kraken.
However, even though the ice was generated in an instant, it quickly dissipated and returned to seawater.
The Kraken snatched control of it …
(This is impossible. Let’s flee. <Water Jet 32>)
Water Jets sprouted out from the base of his feet and he made an emergency escape.
Even the Kraken did not anticipate that action.
Escape was a success.
He hurriedly put on his sandals, picked up his waistcloth and Murasame, and ran toward his home as quickly as possible.
He could finally take a breather once he entered the barrier.
“The sea is terrifying …”
“Even though I once again lost, this time to the Kraken that appeared afterward, I was able to win decisively against the Bait Ball. Right, I have certainly improved. It’s just that it is too soon to face the Kraken. That is definitely a boss character that should only appear when I become much stronger.”
He was unpleasantly made aware of its level of magic control that was completely different from the Bait Ball.
In other words, it was possible to raise his magic control even further … probably.
“As expected, I have to train further. I’ve been making a five-story pagoda but now let’s make it a Tokyo Sky Tree.”
There seemed to be a huge mistake there but that was part of Ryo.