"That tasted amazing. Thank you once again, Treant." Tanaka looked back at the withered tree. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong, but he still felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't thought of the possibility that his journey back home would be fraught with so much tragedy.
'Will I have to be confronted with more deaths as I go on?' Tanaka turned and trudged on. He no longer had the zeal he had previously. Uncertainty weighed on every one of his steps.
'Oh. I might have already killed. That's...' Tanaka felt incredible guilt as he remembered the goblin that had fallen into the massive hole whilst chasing him. He wondered if it was really okay for him to continue like this.
As he continued on his journey, he would only grow stronger. That meant he might be faced with the possibility of getting into large battles. Battles that could kill people.
'Well, it's not like I can sit around doing nothing either. I'm not that naive. I know that animals die all the time for food. It's not like it's going to be any different now. I do need to survive, and not just for myself. Mama and Baba are probably waiting for me back home.'
Tanaka looked around himself as he walked. What he saw saddened him deeply. The greenery that had been there when he first arrived was now gone, replaced only with dust and withered roots. 'I'll just have to get out of here and deliver that seed to the elves. I might as well help this world out whilst I'm here.'
Tanaka then reached into one of the wooden cases on his side, pulling out two glowing fruits. He then raised them in his hands, allowing them to illuminate his surroundings. He searched around for a spot to collect himself for a moment. He had been through a lot. First, the slime, then Mal, then the earthquakes, the goblins, and now he had to worry about some big, bad villain waking up and killing him. 'It wasn't even that long ago when my biggest worry was whether or not I'd pass math. Now I've got to worry about the deaths of many people, including my own. Sigh.'
With the glow of the fruits, he was able to find a nice and cosy spot to rest in, with relative ease. He placed the fruits back into their case and sat down. As he did, he started to feel his mana bubbling more and more. 'So is this how the fruit makes me stronger? Whatever, I'll just let it do its thing.'
There were more pressing things for him to think about, like how he'd even get out of these caves. 'Apparently, I'm inside a mountain, though. How did I even get here?' Tanaka shook his head. The more he learnt, the more he needed to know.
'Maybe this armour has some instructions for me to get out of here.' Right then, Tanaka felt some of the vines on his armour shift, before they spread along the ground. From there, they grew onto the walls next to him, forming a barely visible arrow. 'Huh. Is this what the Treant meant by it will respond to my heart?'
Tanaka marvelled at the intricately woven arrow next to him. 'At least I don't have to worry about that any-'
"Gah", Tanaka grunted, as he reeled over whilst clutching at his chest.
He could feel that his mana was now more chaotic. It swirled within him, causing him to feel a burning sensation spread throughout his chest. He could feel all his mana gathering into one spot, in the centre of his chest.
Thud!
Tanaka collapsed as he felt his limbs grow weak. He struggled to breathe. His chest felt extraordinarily heavy. Every breath he took was like its own herculean task.
The pain slowly began to fade as he felt his mana form into a sphere. It spun evenly without any difficulty.
As Tanaka slowly regained his strength, he stood up and stretched. Tanaka could feel that his mana had grown several times over, but that wasn't all. He also felt more flexible, stronger and lighter. He could also see slightly better now.
Tanaka clenched and unclenched his fists. He looked down at them. Underneath the armour, he could feel them now buzzing with mana. 'Is this like a pathway for my mana?' Tanaka could feel that every part of his body was now connected to the mana sphere in the centre of his chest.
'This is really cool, but at the same time, kinda scary. There are levels above this.' He was in shock, and the situation really set in for him. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about how he was in a magical world, but rather that he knew that even if he'd gone back to Earth at that instant, he would forever be changed.
'Phew. This is kind of crazy. Not only do I find out that monsters exist, but that there's also magic. Man, I wonder if I'll be able to do big spells or fire beams of energy one day. Heck, I might even be able to fly one day.' Despite the nerves he felt about what was to come, Tanaka was also excited. 'Mama will never be able to say I'm lazy anymore by telling me stories of how difficult it was for her to walk to school.'
Tanaka smirked firmly as he thought of all the possibilities. He then chuckled. "I better not get too far ahead of myself, though. I still need to make sure to get out of here first."
Tanaka reached back down to his side and took out two glowing fruits. "Armour, get me out of here." The vines on the walls then started to create a path for him, and Tanaka followed it with renewed vigour and determination.
...
"Surely there has to be another way out of here, right?" Tanaka looked at the path on the ground, hoping that it would branch off and form a new path. Unfortunately for him, the path didn't change.
Tanaka's face twitched in annoyance as he looked up towards the crevice in front of him. The same one he'd used to escape from the goblins earlier. The same one that had goblins waiting on the other side. They just stood there looking at him, waiting for him to cross over.
'If they couldn't get through the crevice, why didn't they go back? This is starting to piss me off.' Tanaka stared at the goblins waiting for him and knew that he'd have to go through them now. He had no choice, especially since he needed to get out of these caves.
Swish.
A wooden helmet formed around Tanaka's head. Tanaka then placed the glowing fruits back into their case.
"Hey armour, give me some weapons." Tanaka then opened his hands expectantly, in the hopes that he would get something.
Tanaka held his hands open as he looked across the now darker crevice, as he prepared himself for his first true battle. Stakes formed in his hands, and then Tanaka took a step forward, steeling himself for what was to come.
"Let's go!" Tanaka rushed forward, pushing through the crevice. He could feel the armour shrinking in places so that he could still fit through. As he got to the other side, two of the goblins had already put their arms into the crevice to attack him. Tanaka rushed through their arms, pushing the goblins out of the way as he got out on the other side.
"Graagh!" One of the goblins screeched out as it lunged at him.
He rolled across the floor to evade its attack, but he inadvertently bumped into a group of three other goblins. They grabbed him, limiting his mobility. Tanaka then elbowed one of them, but it didn't budge.
"Darnit!"
Thwack! A goblin struck Tanaka from behind, causing him to lose his footing. The goblins that had grabbed him took advantage of this and lifted him into the air and then tossed him to the ground.
Crack! Clack!
"Oof!" Tanaka felt one of his wooden stakes go off into the dark. He internally groaned, but he knew that he had bigger things to deal with. He got up and firmly gripped the stake in his right hand, preparing to get past them.
"Armour, can you form spikes along the ground!" Tanaka shouted out in desperation.
The vines spread from his armour to the ground and then moved along the cavern floor and formed into a bed of thorns. The goblins that had been approaching slowed down as they warily observed the new development.
"Okay, now make this stake into a spear."
The stake in his hand then increased in length. Tanaka gripped it tightly as he adjusted his stance, preparing himself for anything.
"Time for me to break through."