Danma: Danganronpa, but Monster Hunter!

He drew his sword and shield, equipped them, and stroked the slightly worn hilt, a hint of nostalgia appearing in his fiery eyes.

During his retraining process in the year after his time travel, this training ground was where he spent most of his time. It was here that Instructor Ni Tai let him choose weapons and taught him how to use them.

However, ever since he gained some skill, he has started to frequent the arena more often...

"Flame, your weapon is a sword and shield? So you're a heavy armor warrior."

Seeing Flame's weapon choice, Grace's eyes lit up, and his liking for Flame instantly increased. Good heavens, it turns out Flame wasn't just the only male specially recruited in the last two years, but also a heavy-armored warrior like himself.

He was worried that he couldn't find anyone in his clan to take over his vanguard duties.

"This is not a sword and shield. This weapon is called a shield and axe. It can be used separately like this, or it can be combined to unleash a more powerful attack."

Flame patted the massive shield on his back and answered with a smile.

"Combination? Charge Blade, meaning it can be combined into an axe?"

Grace blinked, somewhat confused, but also more intrigued.

He did not doubt whether the equation for combining a sword and shield to form an axe actually existed, or whether it was reliable.

Since Lieyan chose this weapon and has already achieved some success with it, its effectiveness is undeniable. Lieyan wouldn't deliberately choose an ineffective weapon to torture himself, would he?

What he was curious about was whether this weapon was actually any good.

For a long time, the weapons he used were very simple: a sword was a sword, an axe was an axe, and a shield was a shield. He had never seen such a fancy weapon as the shield-axe, which was usually a sword and shield and could also be combined into an axe.

Assuming this weapon is really useful, wouldn't he be able to try it out to improve his current problem of needing to acquire more equipment than others at once?

"Ah."

"So how do we use it? Oh right, you said you wanted to demonstrate it, Lefia! You'll be the opponent of Blaze!"

"Eh? It's me?!"

When her name was suddenly called, Lefia's eyes widened in surprise. She pointed at herself with her slender finger, incredulous.

You actually sent a rear guard mage to fight against a front-line warrior?

"Of course, otherwise who else would you want to be Flame's opponent? He just joined the clan."

Grace urged, eager to see the Charge Blade unleash its power.

"It seems so."

After a moment's thought, Lefia realized that things really did seem to be as Grace had said. She was the only opponent for Blaze. First, she had the lowest level; everyone else was LV6 or LV5, while she was only LV3. Furthermore, she was a mage specializing in magic, and her other attributes weren't particularly outstanding, so there wouldn't be a situation where the attribute gap was too large…

That's true.

But I'm still a little annoyed. Isn't this blatantly admitting that I'm the weakest of everyone? Although it's true...

Ugh, so annoying. In that case, I might as well take out my frustration from earlier!

Recalling the large hand that had just been placed on Miss Ais's head, the Yamabuki-iro spirit began to emit a continuous stream of black energy, muttering to herself. Her aura completely changed, as if she had become a different person.

Seeing the resentful Yamabuki-iro sprite standing at one end of the clearing, Blaze chuckled to himself.

This yuri elf, who is known as the female protagonist of mobile games, has her intentions written all over her face. But that's fine too, it's a good opportunity for her to assess her own strength level. She's also curious to know what she can achieve at LV1.

"Then I'll be the referee."

Rivera, who was also quite interested in weapons made of fire, volunteered to act as a referee.

"Since the two sides have nothing in common, this fight will be considered a free fight. I will be responsible for healing the wounds after the fight, but please be careful not to hurt the opponent. That's all."

After briefly reading out the rules, Rivera glanced at the distance between the two sides, made a mental estimate, then nodded slightly, raised her arm, and drew a line downwards.

"start!"

"The arrow of light liberated, the bow of holy wood, I am a master of the bow..."

The instant Riveria shouted "Begin!", Lefia immediately raised her staff and began chanting her most powerful spell. She squinted, carefully observing the distance between herself and her opponent.

Sparring and dueling are unlike ordinary battles. In the dungeon, she is protected by a vanguard, creating an environment for her to cast spells. After all, that's the nature of a mage; a successful large-scale spell can turn the tide of battle.

But one-on-one sparring is different. There's no one to create an environment for her to chant, so she can only chant at her fastest speed while constantly observing the distance between herself and her opponent. If the opponent shows any sign of getting close, she abandons the magic and dodges.

Judging from the distance between her and the other person...

It can do it!!

Why hasn't he moved...? What is he doing?

Just as the elf, who was chanting the incantation, was filled with doubt, a worm radiating blue light and trailing a thread of light behind it suddenly appeared in her field of vision. Immediately afterward, a huge figure burst through the air!

"too slow!"

Blazing Flame shouted, his sword and shield clashing as the mechanism of the Flame Iron Shield Axe clanged shut. Following the mechanism hidden inside the cross-shaped iron shield, the giant shield slid to the top of the sword and then flipped 180 degrees!

Raising his shield and axe, now transformed into a giant axe, high above his head, Flame, under the incredulous gaze of the elves, slammed the axe down onto the ground beneath Lefia's feet.

Derived from the jumping insect.

Axe: Leap Slash!!

The heavy shield axe slammed into the ground beneath Lefia's feet, the violent shaking sending a sensation from her feet to her middle ear, bringing a dizzying feeling akin to being drunk.

The elf, who had just been chanting incantations, suddenly went blank, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.

"you lose."

Flame raised his shield axe, activated a special mechanism, and the shield, which had transformed into an axe blade at the top, retracted back to its position near the handle. He disassembled the shield, sheathed his weapon, and reached out his hand towards the elf on the ground.

"I didn't lose!"

Lefia, with her neck stiffened, retorted loudly.

"Shall we try again? Anyway, it seems like no one has figured out what's going on."

"Come on then! But this time it'll be a bit further away."

"can."

The sparring began again. This time, Lefia maintained an even greater distance to ensure her magic could be successfully activated. She was very confident in her magic!

"It looks like Rafia is going to lose again."

"That magic idiot! He only knows how to create distance, without considering any other reasons. Even when Xiao Ka makes a mistake, he knows how to find the reason."

"That blue bug is so interesting! Blazing Flame introduced it before, I think it's called a 'Flying Bug'?"

"Yes, it seems that the worm's role is even more significant than we imagined."

"Moreover, Mr. Flame is also very skilled with weapons. To exaggerate a bit, I feel that even if I were to go up and spar with him, the outcome would be about 50/50."

"And this is even without Flame bringing his Hound and Palico."

"I want……"

"No, Ais, you don't want to! With your strength and speed, you could defeat Flame in an instant!"

The spectators whispered amongst themselves as the sparring began once more. With a greater buffer distance than before, Lefia raised her staff again, confidently chanting her spell, but…

Wirebug Jump + Sword: Jump Slash + Transform and Advance + Sword: Spinning Slash!!

The entire process was executed flawlessly; where one worm couldn't reach, two worms were used. The moment Lefia uttered the incantation, the tip of the sword in Flame's hand was already pointed at her nose.

"you lose."

"...Come again!"

"it is good."

In their third exchange, Lefia maintained an even greater distance than before to ensure the success of her spellcasting.

Observing the distance between himself and Lefia, Lieyan chuckled. It seemed that Lefia was frightened by the two times he quickly closed the distance. But it didn't matter. There were ways to fight when they were close and ways to fight when they were far apart.

It's easier for you to chant spells from a distance, and it's the same for me.

Small Barrel Blast + Full Charge Counter (Bug Defense) + Sword: Charge Slash, Shield Thrust + Release Action Cancel + Elemental Release Spinning Slash!

Fully charged counterattack to resist magic + grenade bottle charging + charged release, sword: High-pressure attribute slash!

With a dazzling array of transformations and disassemblies, Flame swiftly activated the Red Shield and Red Sword, loaded five grenade launchers, and instantly entered the Charge Blade's strongest, full-health state. Meanwhile, Lefia, her mind reeling from the direct blocking of her magic, was in a state of mental confusion.

After that, it was almost a complete replica of the operation from the second sparring session. The only difference was the way Flame finished its attack.

Wirebug Jump + Sword: Jump Slash + Transform and Move Forward +

—Axe: Unleash the ultimate attack with extremely high damage output!

The cross-shaped iron shield was pulled to the top of the sword by a mechanism. Flame gripped the hilt with one hand, his body leaning back in an exaggerated arc like a catapult. Upon reaching the designated position, the cross-shaped shield, transformed into an axe blade, crackled with golden electricity and began to spin wildly with a hissing sound.

overtake!!!

untie!!!

Like a catapult being pulled, Flame took a step forward, swung his shield and axe, and smashed it into the ground in front of him. The moment the spinning axe blade touched the ground, the lightning attached to it seemed to come alive, spreading forward along the straight line cleaved out by the shield and axe!

"Wow, so handsome!!"

"This is magic?! Didn't Loki say he didn't have any magic?!"

Seeing the seemingly tangible lightning spread, Bert jumped up in disbelief.

"No, I think it's due to the special weapon. Unlike the brutal weapon like the Demon Sword, it truly infuses the power of monster materials into the weapon, giving it magical abilities."

Grace narrowed his eyes; as a first-level adventurer, he keenly perceived the truth of the matter.

Indeed, the weapon in Flame's hands, meticulously crafted by artisans, possesses an ability called "energy charging." This ability collects and stores the vibrations generated during sword and shield strikes and defenses, then converts them into usable energy through a special mechanism. This enhances the performance of the sword and shield. Furthermore, through the connection between the sword and shield and the Wirebug, it can be fully charged immediately after a successful insect defense.

When the Charge Blade has stored energy, using the Super Discharge attack in Charge Blade Mode, which deals extremely high damage, will release all the stored energy at once.

This allows one to unleash lightning and achieve an attack akin to magic.

Meanwhile, Ais, who had watched three shows in a row, couldn't sit still any longer. Driven by her curiosity, she couldn't resist making a request to Rivera.

"Rivia, I want to fight the flames, is that alright?"

“Ais… alright, but you have to suppress your strength to LV·2.”

Riveria wanted to refuse, but seeing that Lefia had been defeated three times in a row and was now clearly somewhat withdrawn, she sighed softly.

Although it's a bit... well, barring any unforeseen circumstances, if Ais defeats Flame now, Lefia will definitely regain her spirits and might even use Flame as a potential rival in the future, working even harder.

With that thought in mind, Rivera simply couldn't bring herself to say no.

"clear."