Lizardman

I stopped once I’d entered the forest and the Minotaur was no longer visible. I was curious about what it was doing. I retraced my steps a little, hid in a thicket near the beach, and peered toward the sea.

The Minotaur emerged from the forest onto the beach and headed toward my raft. It was huge. Far too huge. Although it stood about three meters tall, it wasn’t some lanky giant. Its body was powerfully built, making it seem even larger.

It approached the raft, swinging its enormous axe around in an irritated manner. Once it reached the raft, the Minotaur looked around as though searching for prey.

That prey was probably me. I absolutely didn’t want it to find me. Anyone in my position would have felt the same. The Minotaur raised its axe and brought it crashing down onto the raft. In an instant, the raft was destroyed.

I nearly cried out but managed to suppress my voice. After smashing my half-finished raft to pieces, the Minotaur walked away.

“You bastard! I’ll remember this!”

My angry shout faded uselessly into the distant sea.

I attempted to build a raft twice more, but the Minotaur interfered both times. I could only conclude that the creature was deliberately trying to prevent me from escaping the island.

“Shit! What am I supposed to do?”

No matter how many times I asked myself that question, I couldn’t come up with an answer.

I was beginning to suspect that I wouldn’t be able to escape the island unless I defeated the Minotaur. It made no sense that the creature never appeared while I was fishing but always showed up when I was building an escape raft.

I decided to suspend my raft-building efforts and resume leveling up. Perhaps I could acquire a skill powerful enough to defeat the Minotaur.

I also began training the Lesser Heavenly Circuit skill I’d been putting off. There were two methods of qigong training. The first was Static Practice, which involved circulating internal energy while sitting or standing motionless. The second was Dynamic Practice, which involved circulating energy while moving the body.

The first step in mastering Lesser Heavenly Circuit was Static Practice. I sat cross-legged on the ground, regulated my breathing, and followed the knowledge engraved in my brain when I acquired the skill, concentrating on sensing the energy within my body.

“Oh, is this it?”

I sensed something resembling a source of heat inside my body. It wasn’t actually hot, but it felt as though a tiny furnace existed in my lower abdomen. Apparently, that furnace was called the Lower Dantian.

Something began overflowing from the Lower Dantian and flowing through my meridians. Along those meridians were intermediate points called acupoints. Whenever the hot, mysterious energy passed through those acupoints, it encountered resistance.

Apparently, the acupoints were closed, and forcing them open would take time. I settled into a routine of practicing Lesser Heavenly Circuit at night and spending my days fishing and leveling up.

My hatchet flashed, and the Hammer Lizard disappeared.

“Phew… That’s five today.”

Heat surged throughout my body, followed by a wave of intense pain. However, I’d grown somewhat accustomed to it and managed to endure the process while remaining on my feet.

My Strength, Agility, Stamina, Endurance, and Extrasensory Perception had each increased by one, while Presence Detection and Physical Resistance had both gained a skill level. When I checked the available skills, I found a new option called Bamboo Crafting. It was probably because I’d been building rafts.

“Bamboo Crafting, huh? I’ll pass. Isn’t there a skill that would let me defeat the Minotaur?”

I resumed fighting Hammer Lizards. As I gradually made my way clockwise around the island, fighting along the way, I encountered a lizard walking on two legs. Its body was roughly humanoid, but its skin resembled crocodile hide, and its head was that of a lizard.

According to my knowledge of aberrant beasts, this creature was called a Lizardman. It held a club in one hand. Since it was about the same height as me, it was probably around 180 centimeters tall.

“So there are monsters like this here too?”

The Lizardman rushed toward me and swung its club. The club was approximately fifty centimeters long, while my belt hatchet was only about thirty centimeters, putting me at a disadvantage.

I tried to block the heavy-looking club with my hatchet, but the impact sent my weapon flying. A numbing pain shot through my hand. Th-This is bad. Really bad! What should I do?

The club came swinging toward me again. I rolled across the ground to avoid it, picking up a small stone in the process.

“Take this!”

I threw the stone with all my strength. It struck the Lizardman’s chest and shattered. The unexpected attack injured the creature, causing it to stagger backward two or three steps.

Taking advantage of the opening, I picked up three more stones and threw them in rapid succession. They struck its abdomen, shoulder, and forehead, sending the Lizardman crashing to the ground. I retrieved my fallen hatchet and brought it down on the creature’s neck.

The blade severed half its neck, killing it.

“Pant, pant… That was close.”

I looked at my hatchet and sighed. I’d reached the limit of what I could do with such a small weapon. Then again, I didn’t have anything else to use.

When I picked up the Heartstone, I discovered that it was red, indicating the fire attribute.

“So lizard-type monsters drop red Heartstones? Well, whatever. More importantly, I need to do something about my weapon.”

That Lizardman had been using a club. Surely I could make something like that myself. I began searching for a suitable tree branch.

After wandering around for about five minutes, I found a promising branch on a Japanese zelkova tree. I cut it off with my hatchet and shaped it into a club. The finished weapon was approximately sixty centimeters long.

I tried swinging it. With my muscles strengthened by leveling up, the club produced a sharp whooshing sound as it sliced through the air.

“This should do.”

I began fighting with the club as my weapon. Clubs seemed to suit me, making combat much easier. I focused on fighting Lizardmen to gain experience and continued raising my level.

When I reached level 07, Club Technique was added to my available skills. I selected it without hesitation. Club Technique cost only one Skill Point, making it feel like quite a bargain.

No new skills appeared when I reached level 08. However, upon reaching level 09, a new skill marked with three stars, Iron Body Qigong☆☆☆, appeared in the Skill Selection menu. Apparently, my continued Lesser Heavenly Circuit training had made it available.

As my training in Lesser Heavenly Circuit progressed, I gradually came to understand the knowledge engraved in my brain.

In Chinese qigong, Lesser Heavenly Circuit apparently referred to circulating internal energy through the Governing and Conception Vessels in the upper body, completing one full circuit. However, the Lesser Heavenly Circuit provided by the Level System seemed to be something different.

The Level System’s Lesser Heavenly Circuit began by creating pathways for a type of life energy called Vital Energy, or simply Qi, along with a furnace that generated it inside the body. Circulating the Qi produced by the Lower Dantian, the furnace located in the lower abdomen, through the meridian pathways known as the Governing and Conception Vessels and back to its starting point was apparently what the system called Lesser Heavenly Circuit.

Although Lesser Heavenly Circuit seemed to mean the same thing in Chinese qigong and the Level System, the two were actually different. The effects of the Chinese qigong version were somewhat uncertain and apparently varied from person to person. By contrast, the effects of the Level System’s version were clearly defined.

When I understood that, I realized my body had actually been modified. Why the hell?! You went and turned me into some kind of modified human without my permission! Whoever’s responsible, get out here! …Sigh. As if anyone would actually show up.

My training had progressed to the point where I could circulate Qi from my Lower Dantian up my back to my head, then down the meridians along the front of my body until it returned to the Lower Dantian.

Once I became capable of circulating Qi, changes occurred in my body. Whenever I circulated the energy, my body became extraordinarily durable, and my physical strength increased.

However, my Lesser Heavenly Circuit skill was only level 3, which apparently meant I was still at a fairly elementary stage. Even so, once I began incorporating it into combat, I found that I could defeat Lizardmen with ease.

Three months had passed since I’d been stranded on the island. My hometown of Yaso City felt as though it belonged to another world, unimaginably far away. I only occasionally found myself thinking about my parents or my childhood friend, Misaki. Perhaps the constant danger I faced every day had gradually worn away at my emotions.

That day, I once again headed out to level up, carrying my homemade club. I believed that defeating the Minotaur would be impossible unless I reached at least a two-digit level.

After defeating my third Lizardman of the day, I heard that familiar voice again.

Once the level-up process finished, my status appeared.

Lesser Heavenly Circuit: 3, Club Technique: 3

[Passive Skills] Physical Resistance: 3, Poison Resistance: 2, Mental Resistance: 2

My Strength, Stamina, and several other attributes had exceeded twenty. I still didn’t know exactly what those numbers represented, but judging by how my body felt, my physical strength seemed to have more than doubled.

The number of available skills had also increased. A new skill marked with two stars, Flame Manipulation☆☆, had been added to the bottom of the Skill Selection list. Judging by its name, I suspected it might be something like fire magic.

Could this skill allow me to defeat the Minotaur? For the first time, I began to see a glimmer of hope. However, those two stars probably meant it would cost a considerable number of Skill Points to acquire. That was my only concern.

I returned to the air-raid shelter and selected Flame Manipulation. At that very instant, an unimaginable pain erupted inside my head. It exceeded everything I could endure, and my consciousness vanished into darkness.