I Have a Task Log

’Why is he getting so worked up?’

Colin thought to himself. ’But this is good, too. It’s a chance to test my limits.’

The Half-Orc was panting like a wild beast.

He completely abandoned his defense. Planting his feet, he used the momentum of his turn to swing a horizontal slash at Colin!

The force behind this attack was on a completely different level from before. If he tried to block it head-on, Colin felt he’d be knocked back several steps at the very least. If it was really bad, he’d probably be sent flying.

But he didn’t panic.

The instant Kase spun, Colin completely abandoned the last shred of any thought of "counterattacking," pushing the effects of [Defense in Attack] to their absolute limit.

He could feel himself unconsciously focusing all his energy on his opponent’s hands gripping the sword, on his tensed shoulders and back, and on the trajectory of the Wooden Sword.

Once he saw everything clearly, he lowered his center of gravity and planted the tip of his sword on the ground.

At that moment, the angled sword, the ground, and Colin’s body formed a perfect triangle.

Though it was a bit difficult to perform such a move while wearing Armor, Colin managed it, and perfectly at that.

CLACK!

The Wooden Sword struck the scabbard of [Burning Blood].

Colin felt the web of his hand gripping the hilt go numb as a terrifying force traveled up the blade and into his arm, sending his entire body sliding backward.

He lowered his center of gravity again, instantly stabilizing himself and firmly blocking the blow.

Seeing Kase was about to continue, Colin quickly said, "Alright, stop!"

"That was a great fight!" "Mr. Colin is so amazing!"

Ale and Orelia shouted from the side. The two young girls had been watching with great excitement.

Langgrin, who had been standing off to the side, had walked over at some point and was now staring at them.

"Hmph, that was a little unsatisfying, Colin, my friend." Kase laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, looking like he hadn’t had his fill. "I feel like those moves of yours are a lot like those Black-skinned Elves."

"Maybe all Elf Swordsmanship is similar," Colin said.

Kase sniffed. "You learn way too fast. I get the feeling you’ll be stronger than me one day."

"Isn’t that obvious?"

"Hmph." Kase sighed. "Looks like I’ll have to cut into my drinking time to train more. It’d be too embarrassing if the little bro was stronger than the big bro."

Just then, Langgrin walked over too. "The human race is a pile of dogshit. You guys can learn anything so damn fast."

"You could also say my new gear is just that good," Colin said.

"Gear? Who said anything about gear? Speaking of which, what’s with that rag you’re wearing?" Langgrin asked. "I thought you were trying to be like those bandit Barons and hide your Armor."

"Try punching me."

"You sure?"

As Langgrin balled his fist and was about to throw a punch, he froze for a moment. His reaction was exactly the same as Dorn’s.

"Wait, the effect on this piece of gear is way too good," Langgrin asked in surprise. "Did you guys go to a deeper level this time? How did you get something this good?"

Kase opened his mouth with a grin. "We found it on the first level."

"The first level? What nonsense are you talking about?" Langgrin glanced at Kase’s expression, then tugged at the corner of Colin’s Cloak and complained, "We’ve been to the first level so many times and never found anything like this. It’s not fair!"

"There’s no such thing as fair in this business. The Goddess of Destiny is on my side."

’Even though a Drow almost slit my throat in my sleep...’ Colin silently swallowed the rest of that sentence.

After chatting with Langgrin for a bit, the group continued their training until nightfall, at which point they left the training grounds and went home to sleep.

「The next day.」

Seeing that no "rat" had come to tell him to move, Colin decided to start his daily training as usual.

Orelia’s hand injury would still take a few more days to heal, so she definitely couldn’t do any strenuous work.

Besides, after that whole ordeal in the Undercity, Colin wanted to take a short break as well.

It was also a perfect opportunity to learn a new Tier Three Magic or something.

After washing up, Colin once again took Ale and Orelia out for some wraps, and then headed to Donkexes’s herb shop.

As they entered, they were surprised to see the old Dwarf sleeping in a hammock behind the counter. To be honest, they had realized Donkexes was asleep when they were still two hallways away—the guy’s snoring was just that loud.

After sending the two young girls on their way, Colin went to Langgrin’s small blacksmith workshop. He used his own tools to maintain his gear, perhaps as a way to raise his [Magic Craftsman] Skill Level.

A while later, when he returned, Donkexes was just leisurely waking up.

"Ah, Colin, my boy. I was wondering who’d come by so early." The Dwarf, still lying in his hammock, squinted to get a better look at him, then pulled a monocle from his breast pocket and began wiping it with a piece of cloth.

"I came today because I want to learn another Tier Three Magic," Colin said as he walked over. "Do you think I should learn [Dispel Magic], or an area-of-effect damage spell?"

"Hold on a minute, I’m still a bit dizzy."

As he spoke, Donkexes dragged his short, stout body out of the hammock. He then picked up a horn cup from the counter, walked to a corner of the room, opened a nondescript wooden chest, and filled the cup with ale from within.

He shuffled back in front of Colin and, with trembling hands—though they were shaking, not a single drop of ale was spilled—drank half the cup.

"Ah, that’s much better," Donkexes said, taking a sharp breath. "Boy, remember not to tell anyone else about the ale over there. Now, what was it you wanted?"

Colin sighed and repeated his question.

"Hm, so basically you’re choosing between defense and offense," Donkexes said with a yawn. "Personally, I think your one-on-one fighting ability is good enough. Dorn said you defeated an elite Drow Samurai by yourself underground, right?"

"It was a tough fight, and I had to use a few little tricks," Colin said. "I was also lucky, since I happened to find a decent Magic Item."

"’A fight without dirty tricks isn’t a real fight.’ Remember that proverb. A true Warrior is never ashamed of using a ’few little tricks.’"

Donkexes coughed twice, pretending he hadn’t heard the part about the Magic Item.

He spoke again, "And I heard you also forgot to use your Flash Bomb."

Colin nodded.

It was the first time he’d had that kind of consumable, and he’d been ambushed in his sleep, so he couldn’t quite react in time.

’Looking at it another way, at least I saved some resources,’ he thought.

"Anyway, let’s get back to business." Donkexes turned his head and started rummaging through his Spellbook.