I had plenty of food in my item storage, including dry goods and bread, in case time passed differently inside. So I didn’t have to worry about going hungry. Plus, I had my bed!
...I seriously hope I don’t have to sleep on my bed in the middle of the forest, though!
Man, this arrow really wants me to go right into the deepest part of the woods...
“Crown, Scale Skater!”
[—Ready.
—Deploying movement device: Scale Skater.]
Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The rotating gears on both my feet kicked up the earth.
Honestly, at this point I’m not sure whether I’m super lucky or super unlucky. But if nothing else, I can’t think of many people who’d be able to catch me when I’m speeding through the forest like this!
“Hup!”
Vrrrrrrrr, Vrrrvrrrrrrr!
Ka-klunk! Hop!
What’s with all this bumpiness and branches? Either way, I skated along and hopped over what I needed to.
Ugh, who’d have thought it’d be coming in handy now? Guess that’s why it’s good to have all sorts of experience, huh? But I’d prefer to avoid dealing with any more bears...
Whoosh, whizz, fwoosh!!
Hey, I’m pretty deep in the forest... Should I be worrying about monsters and stuff?
...
Is this bad? This is bad, isn’t it?
I’ll be alright though, right?
[—Analyzing. Enemy presences detected ahead. Seven in number.]
“I’m not alright at aaaaaall!!”
[—Identification complete. Enemy determined to be forest wolves.]
“Huh?!”
Forest wolves...?
Like the ones that came into Cardiff four years ago...?
“Does it look like we can go around them?”
[—Contact with enemy will occur in 10 seconds.]
“Gwaaaaah!”
Damn! Why does this have to happen to me?!
I’ll remember this, you dang cursed mask!
Ah, there they are!
They were tree monsters in the shape of wolves — for now, just two of them.
After those monsters had entered the town, I looked into them in the school library. Forest wolves actually weren’t animals, but plant monsters using mimicry. They were treants that copied the shapes of wolves in order to move. That was the most accurate way to describe them.
“Never would have guessed I’d end up having to wipe some out...”
Jeez, it’s all this selfish mask’s fault...
Naturally, I was feeling a little nervous. I mean, these things were an object of terror back in the village four years ago. Would I really be alright? Frankly, I was feeling a little scared, since I didn’t want to get hurt.
I should be faster though, right? Maybe I can shake them off...
“Whoa...!”
Something that looked like a leaf just went flying past me! No, wait, it was a leaf! No doubt about it! I managed to dodge it, though!
Okay, let’s try and shake these guys...
Ah, no good! They’re just running after me, and there are seven of the things! Looks like they must’ve done a pretty good job of mimicking wolves...
Ack! That was a close one!
I weaved in a zigzag pattern, dodging the leaves they were firing off. None of them made it to me, getting stuck in tree trunks and the like instead.
With a smooth half-rotation, I turned around. Yeah, I was flying along while facing backwards. That actually sounds pretty dangerous, doesn’t it?
It looked like there were vines trailing along behind the forest wolves. Ugh... Just imagine how much trouble it’d be to get caught up in those...
Launching an attack while running away and dodging leaves...
Alright! Looks like I have a plan!
Apparently I don’t have any sort of “level.” But my skill does!
Right now, if I analyze myself, it comes out like...
Anti Kythera
Human (♀) Age 15
Skill: Gearcraft Lv. 2
Yup, my skill went and leveled up.
“Crown! Give me chakrams in both hands!”
[—Ready. Processing.]
This was something I’d tried before.
Gears spinning fast can only move slowly.
I found a solution, though.
So I put them on my body and plunged forward.
Still, now that my skill had leveled up, my gears had a bit more freedom to them.
The gears on each of my hands came as a small and large set, with the big one on the outside of the little one.
Alright, looks like you get it!
[—Lifting freeze. Commencing reboot.]
Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!
Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!
Now I just had to hit them. Fortunately, I’ve had a lot of practice.
[—Critical temperature reached.]
“Now throw it! I’m counting on you to course correct!”
The small gears weren’t spinning. They went flying.
The big gears were rotating, while fixed to the little ones.
And so...!
“Take this!!”
They both went flying together.
“Roooar!”
It dodged! But you know? You may dodge it once, and yet...!
Vrrrrrrrrr!
“Grah!”
“You can’t keep on dodging it, can you?!”
I’ve got free control over the unmoving gear’s trajectory! Well, it looks like it lost a little momentum, though...
But still, touching it sure is hazardous to your health!
That’s my Anti-style Flying Saucer!
Now go on and take it!
The two forest wolves were chopped up into twigs in no time!
The bodies of these things were made up of fine branches. Break, and break, and keep on breaking!
Ah, it chopped right on through!
[—Others approaching. Five in number.]
“Wha?! All at once?!”
Gah! I’m getting surrounded here!
W-What should I do?
Ack, I suddenly stopped without thinking. This... could be bad...
“Rooooar!!”
“Gyah! Crown! Give me a big chakram!!”
[—Deploying according to predicted intentions.]
A large two-part gear appeared around my hips.
“E-Expand it!!”
[—Progressing according to predicted intentions.]
Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!
My gear roared as it spun, its outside covered in sharp teeth. Thanks to my skill leveling up, it was bigger than the ones I used to be able to make. That’s cool and all, but when am I going to start getting to the size of the ones I’ve used for item storage...?
The instant the five forest wolves leapt at me, my gear expanded with a woosh!
Ooh... With a yelp, they were all split in half... like a baguette being sliced for a sandwich...
“W-We won, just as planned...”
[——.]
“W-What is it...?”
[—Current actions acknowledged as an attack. Shall an attack name be registered?]
“Huh? U-Um, how about ‘Hooper’...”
[—Attack name “Hooper” registered. When attack name is input, it shall be deployed around your hips.]
I’d beaten all those forest wolves. It was kind of a strange feeling, somehow. They were the exact same type as the ones that had terrorized the town four years back, and I beat them, all by myself.
It really was an odd feeling.
Though I was kind of freaking out a little when all five of them attacked at the same time.
Still, to be honest, they were really, really weak compared to the bergbear. Like, seriously.
I’d been magicless until just recently, but now my common sense had crumbled to bits and was getting reformed.
Yeah. This Gearcraft of mine may be a pretty crazy skill. I mean, if just anyone could beat forest wolves this easily, there wouldn’t have been such a big panic in town back then.