WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Copy Skills with Affinity! ◈
Chapter 67: Taming (2)
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The creature named Soul Reaver, also affectionately called Reaver by some eccentric human somewhere, had recently found its satisfaction with life dropping exponentially.
Life in the Void Zone was, at its core, lived in complete obedience to instinct.
Everyone tried to eat everyone else. The weak died at the hands of the strong, and everyone considered that only natural.
They were pastoral, harmonious days of predation.
Nothing like where it was now.
This civilization beyond the Void Zone, filled with humans putting on airs, had a vitality entirely unlike it.
Reaver did not clearly remember how it had been dragged out of such a fine place, but one thing was certain now. Someone had put a collar around its neck.
Reaver snorted as it looked down at the human sleeping peacefully against its front paw.
This was the first human it had encountered after regaining consciousness outside the Void Zone.
Was the human incapable of sensing boundaries? Was his sense of fear broken? Or was it both?
Even magical beasts within the Void Zone, creatures left with nothing but instinct, normally fled in terror at the sight of Reaver. Yet this human was acting as familiarly as if settling down to sleep beside a pet he had raised.
Considering the circumstances, Reaver understood that this human had helped it somehow. Otherwise, it would have gone berserk, rampaged without reason, and eventually died somewhere.
Still.
[…….]
Reaver snorted and pulled away the front paw the human was leaning against. The human’s head hit the floor with a thud, but he paid no attention and continued sleeping soundly.
It had no obligation to feel grateful just because it had been helped. From a magical beast’s perspective, every living thing aside from itself was prey.
Ordinarily, simply being this close would have meant the human was already a minced lump of meat sliding down its throat.
But it could not do that.
Reaver let out a dissatisfied breath through its nose.
It knew it wanted to do so, and it had both the ability and means, but it simply could not act.
It felt as though someone had forcibly bound its mind to prevent such behavior.
Follow this human’s commands. Do not act violently. It was as though such compulsions had been planted inside it.
Earlier, it had even allowed this human onto its back as though it were a mount. It had been a truly horrific experience...
[…….]
Eventually, Reaver yawned and lowered its head with drooping eyes. It had been a long day. Even a magical beast with such horrific stats could feel tired.
One day, there would be a chance to become free. Until then, it only had to let whatever this human said go in one ear and out the other.
After all, it was only bound from harming this human. It could kill and eat the other humans whenever it was hungry.
That had been the plan. Certainly.
[……?]
Reaver blinked and looked around.
Its face was closest in shape to a wolf’s. Its ferocity and oppressive presence could not compare to a wolf’s, but its bewilderment was obvious at a glance.
A pitch-black space. Its body was floating there in midair.
It did not know where it was, but it immediately felt against its skin that this was an alien space, not the real world.
“First time seeing something like this?”
At the voice from beside it, Reaver turned its head.
The man who had fallen asleep against its front paw earlier was floating in the air as well. His name was Aiden, if Reaver remembered correctly.
“This is called the Mindscape.”
[……Let me out before I mince you.]
Reaver growled, instinctively realizing that this human had brought it here.
Aiden, meanwhile, was surprised by something else entirely.
“You could talk?”
[I simply did not need to. Speaking to lower life forms like humans is a waste of time.]
“You’ve been putting on strange airs with everything you do, but are you some kind of aristocrat despite being a magical beast?”
[I do not have a sense of privilege.]
Reaver snorted and continued.
[Though you lower life forms would not understand.]
“……”
Oh, I see.
“Then I guess I don’t have to feel too guilty about this.”
[……What did you say?]
“Nothing.”
Aiden yawned and swept back his hair.
“I risked my life to save you, yet I haven’t seen even a hint of gratitude.”
[…….]
“So I thought you could use a little manners training.”
[…….]
“The rules are simple. Promise to listen to me most of the time, and lose that unpleasant attitude. Then I’ll treat you with courtesy and respect as well.”
[And if I refuse?]
“Then we take this all the way.”
Reaver’s mouth twisted grotesquely.
[……So what? You intend to torture me?]
“No. Training.”
[……?]
Reaver looked at him as though he had said something incomprehensible, but Aiden was serious.
Training was training.
Though it could sometimes be difficult to tell the difference from torture.
“Why are you late again today? Wait, what is this?”
With those words, Reaver and Aiden both dropped from the air.
It was as though gravity, which had not existed before, suddenly appeared at that one remark.
[……What are you doing now-]
Reaver started to speak.
Then its mouth snapped shut the instant it saw the newly arrived human looking it up and down.
Magical beasts were creatures that fundamentally lived lives of violence and life-or-death struggles. That meant judging the difference in standing between itself and an opponent was nearly instinctive.
“A magical beast? You’re raising things like this now?”
And this human...
...was a monster who could grind Reaver apart hundreds of times with his eyes closed. Reaver could feel the disparity between them.
Reaver had never felt such pressure even from the other highest-ranking magical beasts in the Void Zone. As its eyes darted around in alarm, Aiden continued casually.
“It’s a test subject, Senior.”
“A test subject?”
[…….]
Reaver did not know what that meant, but it certainly did not sound positive.
The fur on the back of its neck began to grow damp.
“You’ve been complaining for a while, haven’t you? You said there were various techniques and combinations you wanted to test, but I was too fragile for you to use them properly.”
At those words, Meyer looked Reaver up and down with interest.
“Is it tough?”
“It is. Even when someone from our generation known for their attack power hit it, it didn’t get so much as a scratch.”
The fur on Reaver’s neck became damp even faster than before.
Meyer rubbed his hands together with a wide grin, looking more entertained than ever.
“There must be a great deal we can experiment with.”
There truly was.
▣
[……Stop, stop!]
The declaration of surrender came far earlier than Aiden had expected.
Specifically, Meyer was testing the thirteenth technique that he had been unable to use on Aiden.
It came so soon that Aiden, who had been watching and taking notes on potential improvements and applications, widened his eyes.
“Huh? What? Already?”
[…….]
Already?
Already?
Meyer, this human-shaped natural disaster, had torn Reaver apart dozens of times at minimum.
It seemed death did not truly exist within the Mindscape. Even after dying, Reaver quickly revived, only to be beaten again, die again, get beaten again, die again...
Still, Aiden truly found it regrettable.
-System Message
▶ The effect of “Skill: Analysis” activates.
▶ The target’s level of combat technique is exceptionally high.
▶ These are extremely useful techniques. They cannot be copied as they are, but the proficiency of Combat Path skills you already possess increases!
Until now, Aiden had rarely had the chance to develop his Combat Path through actual combat techniques because he had not been able to properly take Meyer's techniques head-on.
But Reaver endured far better than he did, allowing such gains to build up at a terrifying pace.
And now it was saying it could not endure any longer. What a shame.
[……I surrender. I will do as you wish. Now, please, stop…….]
Still, demanding that Reaver continue fighting when it was on the verge of losing its mind would be too much.
Even for a magical beast, the sensation of death was not something easily endured. Reaver’s entire body twitched whenever Meyer moved. It would have been stranger if it could maintain its will to fight while watching a human kill it dozens of times without the slightest hesitation.
“Magical beasts these days have no grit. It hasn’t died that many times, has it?”
“I know. I think it’s only died around fifty times. Don’t I die in the triple digits every day, at minimum?”
“……Oh, is that so? Has it died that many times already? I wasn’t keeping count.”
“……You suddenly backing off like that makes me look like the weird one.”
“No, you are weird. I think getting into fights with someone like you every day has messed with my head too. Now it just feels natural for someone to get back up and charge again after they die...”
“……”
While Aiden frowned and glared at Meyer, Reaver groaned in a hollow voice.
[……You fought this monster every night?]
“Yeah. Why?”
[How do you remain sane? You do this hundreds of times a day, every single day……?]
Aiden tilted his head instead.
Well.
For someone who would definitely die during the main story unless he became stronger by any means necessary, that was a fresh way to look at it.
If he failed, the world would be destroyed. And then everyone he wanted to protect would die as well.
In other words, no matter how many times he died, this was simply something Aiden had to do.
“Don’t you just do it because it has to be done?”
[…….]
“Doesn’t it even feel a little healthy? The more you do it, the more your skills improve, and you make progress every day. People should live proactively.”
[…….]
There was only one thought Reaver could have as it watched Aiden speak so casually.
‘A crazy bastard.’
A clear-eyed lunatic.
No one with a sound mind could possibly reach such a conclusion...
“Then it can’t be helped. Rest there. Senior and I are going to spar now.”
[…….]
The instant it heard that, Reaver panted and collapsed where it stood.
All the tension filling its body released at once.
Of course, the next words sent a chill down its spine.
“You should rest well so you can come again tomorrow.”
[……What?]
“There’ll be plenty of chances for you and me to fight together in the future. We can’t have an accident then, right? Wouldn’t it be better to train together?”
Reaver opened and closed its mouth.
It looked as though it wanted to say something, but nothing could come out.
It would have to do this every day from now on?
“Of course, the intensity of your training will depend on how well you listen.”
[…….]
“Understood?”
[…….]
...You demonic bastard.
A look conveying exactly that flew toward Aiden.
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