Looking up, a ceiling so high it only somewhat comes into view, spread before my eyes is a gigantic Forested Dome. The exit from the Fairy Square was a wall, better said, it was like a small cave poking into a great precipitous cliff face. This magnificently vertical cliff extended to the left and right, the ends of which are out of visual range. Advancing along the walls like always, seemed quite the detour.
And spreading out in front, would be a densely packed lush forest. One could imagine hidden beyond that verdure, a torrential sum of Monsters.
But, scariest of all is the field that is known as forest. In underground passages, the view isnât obstructed, and detecting enemies is easy. You only need to be cautious around corners and near rooms. However, inside a forest, trees and other vegetation become an infinite supply of cover, and ambushes are facilitated all the more. Yet further, the Monsters that lurk there are ones that make the forest their home. Territorial advantage is fully on the home team.
Passing through even those small Forested Domes almost made my spine freeze over. To think weâd have to walk god knows how many kilometers through that kind of place, frankly, itâs just depressing.
ââRight, letâs just goâ
Still, we advance. For survival.
Brilliant white light like that of the sun shines down from the extra-large light panels affixed on the ceiling. This place is bright like midday all 24 hours of the day. Thanks to that, itâs fairly bright in the forest as well.
âI guess these Forested Domes, donât really change muchâ
âI think, they got the same type of plants. But itâs possible we can find some awesome herb here, so letâs check around the vicinity for nowâ
For me with my Intuition Pharmacy, a forest lush in flora is like a mountain of treasure. And in fact, itâs because I found those two Redshrooms soon after I was thrown into this world, that I was able to finish off the Armor Bear.
Iâm sure, thereâs a bunch load of useful plants here in this forest, that are just anxious for us to find them. Shelving a modest bit of expectation in my heart, letâs get this Forested Dome capture startedâ but before that,
âWait a sec Futaba-san. I got granted a new Curse, so Iâd like to try that outâ
âEhh, really!? Thatâs amazing!â
If you ask whoâs amazing, itâs pretty much Futaba-san whoâs actually made use of her vocation, but yeah, getting that kind of reaction from a girl isnât bad at all. Itâs hostess club customer mentality.[1]
âAmazing or not, I wonât know till I try it but⦠yeah, you shouldnât really get your hopes upâ
I let her know just in case being incompetent as ever, and now I shall commence the experiment for the brand new Curse No. 5.
âUhh first, you collect some earthâ
The reason I proposed to test the new Curse as soon as we got here is primarily because the first condition was already cleared. Around here I can get my hands on all the earth I want, but in the stone built areas, its surprisingly hard to find. And just in case, we can run from here back to the Fairy Square lickety-split.
I squat down and concentrate on digging out the dirt. Futaba-sanâs standing right beside me on lookout, but I guess sheâs curious so sheâs occasionally peeking at my hands.
âNext, you add water and make mudâ
The 500ml plastic bottle filled with water we planned to drink along the way, is all used up all of a sudden. It should be fine to get it refilled after. Itâs a pain though.
âOnce the mud is made, letâs now shape it into human formâ
Taking the mound of mud, I knead it into parts like back in kindergarten. Itâs saddening that I have to start making mud balls after coming all this way in the dungeon, but I convince myself that this too is a necessity, and seriously build it into a human shape.
Itâs not clay but mud, so itâs impossible for it to have self-support like figure models. A head and limbs of mud laid on top of the ground like a relief is the limit. The size is more or less 30 cm.
âYouâve made it here, just a bit more. You can do itâ
âHey, Momokawa-kun, who are you explaining all this to?â
âAh, please donât talk to me for a bit. This is the explanation flowing into my brainâ
âS-sorryâ¦â
Futaba-san finally retorted looking at me talking to myself like Iâm explaining some childrenâs toy, but Iâd like her to understand than Iâm not messing around here. Really this, if I donât speak it out while doing it, I feel like Iâll forget the invocation procedure.
The aria is deeply engraved into my head but, itâs likely, that this explanation is a one-off thing. I donât know the theory behind it, but itâs designed annoyingly like this. Well, itâs not like the steps are difficult, so Iâll remember it if I do it once.
âNow that youâve made a splendid human form, letâs now add some of your bloodâ
Adding in blood, itâs kinda gotten Curse-like. Maybe itâs finally time to unleash, right here, the powers of a true curse. Getting a bit excited.
âEh, b-bloodâ¦â
âI guess I need to cut my finger here. Itâs great we got the ointmentâ
Hii, goes Futaba-san as she turns subtly blue in the face watching me cut my finger, to the point I canât imagine sheâs the same Berserker who massacred all those Goma. This isnât like, one of those, look Iâm cute, acts that girls do right?
With those light suspicions, I swipe the boxcutter over my left hand middle finger. And soon enough, a ball of fresh blood forms and drops land on the mud person. Huh, how much is some blood supposed to be anyway, I donât really get it⦠hmm, several drops should be ok.
âAnd then you simply recite the aria, oh, is that it for prep work?ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Leaving my fingertipâs first-aid for later, I prioritize invoking the Curse.
âRise from chaos, bind in foul blood, stand on stained earthâ Vile Mud Dollâ[2]
After chanting the aria without break, the change starts.
The blood that had soaked into the mud without a trace, started rising and bubbling on the human shape. Me and Futaba-san both went âUwah!?â inadvertently at the disgusting process.
Blood boiled and enveloped the entirety of the human shapeâ wait, this is clearly more blood than the amount I dropped, the hellâs goinâ on. Anywho, I donât get the logic, but the human shape was now dyed crimson in blood, or so I thought or not, but this time, the bubbles of red all disappeared like water being sucked into the ground.
ââ¦Eh, itâs over?â
I voice a doubt after around 10 seconds of silence, but just then, the human shape moved.
âWoah, this, it moved!?â
A voice of surprise is raised a 2nd time.
That which was a plain human shaped clump of mud until just now, stood up. As if slipping out from the mold on the ground, the Mud Doll mechanically rose to its feet.
Its form, was slightly deviated from that human shape that I had constructed, the head was strangely bigger, the limbs like that of an infant, like a 4 head-lengths distortion design.[3]
âW-wow⦠Momokawa-kun, so this isâ¦â
âAh, yep, you guessed it, this is the Vile Mud Dollâ
Vile Mud Doll    A Puppet that moves to the will of its master. Absolute Obedience.
For now, this is all I get for mental description. As always, it basically says obvious things you can tell at a glance, so as for what this thing can do, or if it can use any special techniques or magic, all the important bits are left in the dark.
Also, itâll only move according to me, is what it said in my brain. So like this, I can make a giant robot mud golem, or something, at this point, I donât buy it.
âEhm, so, how do you move this thing?â
This kind of thing, rather than voice command, having it move by thinking about it should be the standard⦠for starters, start walking!
âWah, itâs moving, Momokawa-kun!â
âOhh, youâre right!â
On this rare occasion where something actually went according to my expectations, the Mud Doll swiftly moved its short legs and started walking. It started circling around my legs. Seems like itâll keep moving until it turns to butter if I donât tell it to stop.
âStopâ
I said, and it stopped. Itâs unknown whether it heard my voice, but itâs unmistakeable that my will is transmitted with something like telepathy. No, this Mud Doll doesnât have an ego so I should think of it like a radio controlled gadget.
Now then, how precise is this thought control method, this calls for a test. I say that, but what should I make it do? Hmm, thinking to deeply seems useless, so for now, Iâll just try whatever comes to mind.
âRadio Calisthenics No.1â[4]
As that hope-filled morning melody, a tune any Japanese countryman knows, resonates through my mind, matching the rhythm, the Mud Doll starts doing the Raise your Arms and Stretch your Back.
âAnd, one, two, three, fourââ
âWoah, amazing, itâs really doing radio calisthenics!â
The Mud Doll was different from some lazy brat, and performed the exercise with proper modicum. I didnât have that clear of an image, but it correctly deciphered the information in my head, and moved with seemingly practiced motions.
âYup, something like thatâ
âAh, weâre stopping?â
Futaba-san looks a bit disappointed. Doing all the radio exercises right here is a bit waste of time after all. Also, the 2nd exercise has some embarrassing poses so I donât really remember anything but the first part.
âOperation gets full points, but the problem is power, rightâ
âYeah, it doesnât look too strongâ
Exactly. This here looks to be as fragile as the appearance denotes.
I try touching it, and itâs the same feeling of mud I felt when I was collecting it. Gaining any sort of special hardiness, wasnât included.
âAnyway, letâs keep walking together along with this. It wonât put up much of a fight, but should be good for a lure or something.â
Thereupon, We, along with the as per usual unreliable Curse-made Mud Doll, dove into the deep forest spread out before my eyes.
âStill, feels like weâd get lost if we go just a bit off trackâ¦â
Now, walking inside the forest, the sense of direction is all but lost. Everywhere I turn, itâs trees, trees, trees⦠nothing distinguishable about them.
If we werenât on this animal trail, we wouldnât have a clue as to which way to go.
âAh, wait a bitâ
âOkâ
As I raise a voice to stall, Futaba-san immediately comes to a stand still. Having awakened as a Berserker, she would no more follow along shivering while gripping onto my clothesâ corners, but would boldly walk ahead and lead the advance. With her sub-weapon of the hatchet in one hand, she cut away the foliage obstructing our route, looking at it from behind she seemed quite sturdy. In fact, her back was wider than twice my own.
Why I stopped the advance was for none other than harvesting.
The discovery being Redshrooms that are known to pack enough power to kill an Armor Bear, and the other thing that was evidently expended, the Shamdelion. And gleefully, like those granpas and grannys that venture out to pick wild edibles, I began harvesting the poisonous mushrooms and inconspicuous weed-like herbs.
I wonât be letting Futaba-san help out here. Her role is look out. It wouldnât be strange if the head of an Armor Bear pops out suddenly from the bushes over there.
In her place, the one being my picking partner is this Vile Mud Doll, but its efficiency could only be described as lacking.
âHmm, this is a serious power deficiencyâ
Picking a single Redshroom or a single bundle of Shamdelions took all its might. I guess as long as the body itself is mud, the max strength would be up to the point where the mud wouldnât break.
Iâd like to praise it for using its whole body, trying to extract the items with maximum effort, but then, me using the boxcutter to cut them out would be leagues faster.
âOk, this is enough. Letâs goâ
After finishing up some collecting not too far from the animal trail, finally, I tie one of the strips of Goma cloth to a nearby tree. Itâs a just-in-case sign for back-tracking.
After that, I guess another hour passed. Similar to the forest way back when, this place also had its ups and downs, large roots on the way, claiming up, going under, it wasnât that easy of a route. So though I say one hour, itâs not like we got that far.
The average walking speed of a Japanese is around 5 km(~3.1 miles). But thatâs the case when itâs a flat road withe no obstacles, not a forest where Mr. Bear can pop out anytime, so our speed is probably half of that or less.
âAround here, letâs take a breakâ
Iâm kinda out of breath, and so decided to stop for a bit.
Fortunately, the Mud Doll has enough speed and stamina to match our pace, and right now, itâs beside me sitting with knees up as if in standby mode.
On the other hand, Futaba-san looks fine. I could make a guess that it has something to do with the Berserker vocation.
The Berserkerâs three Novice Skills are listed below:
Berserk Body    A body, knowing only slaughter
Blood Boost       Blood boils forth, to fight with no end
One who Hears Hear the voice from afar. Reject not, rampage not, listen to it with certainty [5]
The trouble is, the one and only hint that that can give us a clue as to what the effects of these abilities are, the descriptions coming to mind, every last one of them was like something that someone like I, from the literature club and afflicted with chuunibyou, would write down, a collection of indecipherable flavor text, and that, was fatal. This set of phrases, are practically useless.[6]
What part and how much does Berserk Body strengthen? What amount does Blood Boost increase the blood. Whatâs the rate per hour? Is there an upper limit? Thereâs way too many questions.[7]
And here comes the worst, this mystery skill called One who Hears. This, in the first place, I donât even know where to use this. Exactly what is this Skill for, with what kind of timing do you activate it, I donât get anything at all. Voice from afar, literally whose voice is this! Get me the VA(voice actor/actress) dammit!
Anyway, leaving aside my complaints to the literary hack of a Berserker God, itâs about that Berserk Body that incurs an effect on Futaba-sanâs physical strength. I think, itâs likely somehow strengthening her, but Futaba-san herself doesnât seem to understand much about it she said.
Futaba-san bashing around the Goma, clearly looks stronger than she was before, is my impression, But maybe itâs her original strength wielded to perfection with the supplement of courage.
And so, whether or not this Berserk Body is supplying the stamina so that she wouldnât get tired after walking for a while, is also something I canât be certain of.
Well whatever it may be, the current Futaba-san has the super-strength to pop off Goma heads bare-handed, so lets just keep it there. Whether this powerup is a result of growth and augmentation of base status numbers, or because of some Skill, the origin, in this case, doesnât really matter.
âMomokawa-kun, are we going ahead?â
âHmm, shouldnât we? There hasnât been any Monsters, maybe we can pass the whole forest like thisâ¦â
Itâs somewhat worrying. Iâd have thought weâd get into a fight or two on the way, but the route was peaceful.
âHowâs the Compass? Weâre not off track right?â
âWeâre good, the direction and the trail is still matchingâ
Iâve been frequently confirming the direction with the Magic Compass. Since its direction was spot on along the animal trail, our hike has been relatively easy.
With that thought, I think itâs fine to go along the animal trail until it diverges from the direction for today.
âNo, maybe this trail, itâs one that someone else cut open before usâ
âMaybe itâs Class Rep and the girlsâ¦â
âCould be Higuchi tooâ
As both of us inadvertently voiced out names we have some history with, the air got a little awkward. But as a possibility, thereâs no denying it. Higuchi gang and Class Rep Team, thereâs no doubt that both are ahead of us.
âA-anyway hey, Futaba-san, after this wââ
I opened my mouth as if to imply that we shouldnât give a damn about those people, but right then, Futaba-san abruptly stood up.
We were taking a break, tree trunks to our backs, sitting opposite to each other. Futaba-san was now standing up, her brows knit, and though not to the level of her rampage⦠her face got scary.
Wait, what, did I maybe, say something bad? Was reminding her of Class Rep that much of a landmine?
âAh, Um, Futaba-san?â
In her silence, towards me, she takes a step. Her hand draws the hatchet at her waist.
Eh, no way, for real. Wait, please wait, letâs talk, letâs talk ok? Letâs separate from the weapon, and the distance too, letâs calm down and talk it out Futaba-san.
Of course my thoughts donât go across, an Futaba-san swings her hatchet.
âEH, WAIââ
Faced with such a sudden attack, I had no time to prepare for death, and the blade of the hatchet made a dull sound of severing meat.
âItâs fine now, Momokawa-kunâ
ââ¦Eh, what is?â
As I timidly open the eyes I shut hard the moment the hatchet swung, I find, smiling with a single bead of cold sweat running down her cheek, her face before my eyes.
A beat later, I realize. Doesnât hurt. Nothing hurts, and thereâs no blood. What Futaba-san cut, wasnât me.
âItâs a big snake, look. Even if thereâs no poison, itâll be bad if something like this bites youâ
Fuu~, she lets out a delicate breath, and from right beside me, Futaba-san takes the snake, whose head was split with the hatchet, into her hands.
Uwah, didnât notice at all. Even when this big a snake got right into my breathing space.
âT-thanks⦠saved me thereâ
Attuning to the sense of danger of something secretly closing in on my body, I feel my face dripping in sweat.
This is a forest in another world. Not only Monsters, thereâs myriads of other dangerous animals inhabiting these parts. Thereâs nothing strange about a snake of two crawling around, and thereâs not helping an amateur to survivalism like me getting closed in by one such animal.
So, I can really die here just like that, once again apprehending such a fact, I shivered in fear. No, seriously, thank you Futaba-san.
âFufu, youâre welcomeâ
Replies Futaba-san with a cheerful smile like an angel, while taking the head-split snake, and uses the hatchet to land another strike. With a sound of slashing, the snakeâs head drops.
Futaba-san kicks the snakeâs detached head like a pebble, and as it disappears beyond the thicket, She grabs the tip of the neck portion of the rest of the body, and then proceeds to tear off the skin with all her strength as if trying to destroy it. Seeing her smooth movements, Iâm in mute amazement as, contrary to expectations, the snake was now cleanly skinned.
âEhm, Futaba-san, whatâre you doing?â
âThis snake, I thought we could eat it maybeâ
Its skin smoothly slid off, Futaba-san suspends the snake onto a nearby branch like a length of rope. Dark red blood started dripping out from the severed area on the neck. This must be that blood draining thing.
âEh, weâre, eating this?â
âEh~, you wonât eat it?â
The hell, sheâs acting like Iâm the one whoâs strange for not wanting to eat it. In the first place, this could be a poisonous snake, and trying to eat it is like, too much of a challenge orâ¦
âA plain old snake. Itâs a weakling and thereâs no poison, so you can eat it just fine⦠Err, ah, this snake, looks like we can eat it, thatâs goodâ
âReally? Yay~â
Intuition Pharmacy went off, and again, it was this careless kind of explanation, which confirmed that this snake was suitable as food. With definite proof that we can eat it, Futaba-san is absolutely thrilled. Looking to the snake corpse dripping in blood. Way too wild for a highschool girl from current day Japan.
âFutaba-san, so, how do we eat thisâ
âHmm, thereâs no choice but roasting I guess. We donât have salt or pepper, and without the seasoning it wonât taste that good⦠but we should still get in the meat contentâ
âAah, now that you mention it, weâve only been having walnuts havenât weâ
We can believe the information that itâs packed with nutrition, but no matter how you look at it, only those wonât be able to maintain your fitness of body. Weâre not squirrels. We need our proper helping of protein.
âYeah, the path ahead of here, should take us a while I think. So, itâll be great if we can eat our fillâ
Youâre damn right. And there arenât any cracks in that perfectly constructed line of argument, but then a roar was unleashed from Futaba-sanâs rotund middle, and it became a big fail.
âSo Futaba-san wanted to have meat this muchâ
âDonât say iiiit!!â
While regretting that rude slip of tongue, I thought that from now, I should employ Intuition Pharmacy to also see if the Monsters we kill are edible too. Well, even if they are, I wouldnât put my mouth anywhere near a Goma though.
________________________
[1] Cabaret/Hostess club Itâs like a mellowed down strip club? I wouldnât know >.>
[2] æ±æ¿ã®æ³¥äººå½¢ â Odaku no Doro Ningyou â Vile Mud Doll. The Vile part has the meaning of pollution, contamination, corruption etc.
[3] Itâs the kid 2nd from the right. Eh, nsfw? itâs educational! Erm, Simply said, the head is 1/4 of the body.
[4] Example, I guess people know Radio Taiso if youâve seen enough jap media. In fact, itâs even a big thing in Re: Zero (lol).
[5] ⦠this is hard. Iâll say this first, Iâm not sure about the romaji pronunciations. So ok, ç躯 â Kyou Mukuro â Berserk Body. The first part is straight forward, Kyou ~ Berserk, but the second part, Mukuro means dead body, but I based it to be similar to Blessed Body, so the end result is like that.
Next is å¢è¡ â Zou Chi â Blood Boost, Zou is increment, and Chi is blood.
Finally, 声ãèãè â Koe o Kiku Mono â One who Hears. This oneâs just⦠anyway, literally, one who hears the voice, I shortened it for aesthetic reasons, I donât think the nuance is too different, its a pretty out there name in the first place. The description for this one is iffy as well.
[6] Iâd think you know what chuunibyou is. I could call it being colorful of mindâ¦
[7] So he says Berserk Body strengthens, sure thereâs some truth to it but itâs also a pun/hearing discrepancy since thereâs Kyou in Kyou Mukuro and Kyouka (strengthen). Itâs likely that he heard the names and descriptions from Futaba, so the miscommunication is valid?