Our Armed Exploration Permits for Special Underground Structures had finally been issued, meaning it was time for our last training session before we officially headed into the dungeon. Clad in the armor we had selected after consulting with Mika-chan and the others, I stood facing our seniors alongside Suzune-chan. We both shouldered backpacks filled with our exploration gear and gripped iron pipes with non-slip tape wrapped around the handles.
In contrast, our senior opponents weren't wearing a single piece of armor; they were just wearing their usual tracksuits.
"Are you sure about this? These are iron pipes," I asked. "You'll get hurt if we actually hit you."
"It's fine, it's fine. Even if you did manage to land a hit, it wouldn't do much damage to Yuji or me. Besides, if we actually try to dodge, you guys wouldn't be able to touch us at your current level....Do you honestly think you can hit me?"
"……No."
Suzune-chan and I both slumped at Kokonoe-senpai's blunt but irrefutable logic. Just as he said, I knew that with our current skills, there was no way we could land even a single grazing blow on them.
Our training up to this point had taught us—often painfully—exactly how wide the gap was between us and our seniors. Given that reality, it was only natural that they wouldn't feel the need to wear armor for a mock battle against us.
"That’s the spirit. Don't worry about us and just come at us with everything you've got."
Yes!
Kokonoe-senpai didn't look worried at all as he gave us the instruction to attack without holding back. It wasn't arrogance or overconfidence; he was simply certain that we posed no threat of injury.
It was frustrating, but I found myself forced to agree.
"Well then, shall we begin the mock battle? You ready, Yuji?"
"Yeah, anytime."
For this session, Kokonoe-senpai would be my opponent, while Hirose-senpai would face Suzune-chan. We stood about five meters apart from them. Unlike Suzune-chan and me, who were gripping our weapons with white knuckles and palpable tension, our seniors stood in relaxed, natural postures without even taking a combat stance.
Despite them just standing there, I couldn't visualize a single way to land a hit. They looked completely devoid of openings.
"Then, get ready…… Start!"
After scanning our faces, Kokonoe-senpai brought his hands together in front of his chest and let out a sharp, resonant kashiwade clap.
After a split second of hesitation, Suzune-chan and I steeled our resolve and lunged forward to close the distance.
"Yaah!"
"Ei!"
The moment I entered weapon range, I tightened my grip on the iron pipe and, exactly as I had practiced, brought it back in a quick, compact motion. I swung it down in a diagonal slash, aiming from Kokonoe-senpai’s left shoulder toward his right hip.
The strike was the culmination of my training; the weapon didn't feel heavy, and the pipe followed the exact trajectory I had envisioned without a hint of a wobble.
"!"
It was a perfect strike—so perfect that for a fleeting moment, I actually thought I might hit him.
However, no matter how good the strike was, the difference in experience and skill between Kokonoe-senpai and me remained as vast as heaven and earth.
"Oh, nice attack. You've got a good handle on your reach, and you're stepping in firmly without letting yourself get intimidated. You don't look like the weight of the weapon is controlling you, either."
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Kokonoe-senpai simply leaned back, and my attack whistled through the air where he had been a moment before.
However, I had expected him to dodge. Without letting the momentum of the miss pull me off balance, I immediately transitioned into a follow-up, taking a deeper step and swinging horizontally toward his right flank.
"Yeah, that’s it. A quick follow-up without hesitation after the opponent evades. Against an opponent of equal skill, that would have definitely landed."
Even as he praised me, Kokonoe-senpai shifted his body a single step back, effortlessly evading the horizontal sweep aimed at his torso.
Then, without missing the opening created by my swing, he stepped in half a pace before I could widen the gap and tapped a light chop onto the top of my head.
"The only issue is that when you followed up after I dodged, you didn't adjust your stepping distance to account for the speed of the opponent's evasion. Right now, your footwork is fixed to a set distance every time. Against an opponent who's good at reading habits, they'll see right through your range and hit you with a counter. You should always assume a counter is coming and be prepared to either evade or intercept it."
"……Yes!"
It didn't hurt, but I rubbed the spot where he had chopped me while taking his advice to heart. Adjusting my stepping distance... He was right. Up until now, I had been reflexively stepping in exactly one pace for every follow-up. To an expert like him, that must look like a predictable, glaring opening.
If an opponent knew I would step in with the same pattern every time, timing a counter would be trivial.
"Shall we continue? Keep 'em coming!"
"Yes, here I come!"
This time, I held the iron pipe in a low guard and closed the distance again. I swung the pipe upward in a rising slash from his left hip toward his right shoulder.
"Whoop."
Kokonoe-senpai leaned back to evade just as before, so I launched a follow-up while consciously focusing on his advice about counters and footwork.
I shortened my step to about two-thirds of its usual length, prioritizing my ability to transition to the next move while bracing for a counter. However, that lack of commitment turned out to be a mistake.
"Hmm. I see you're keeping your step shallow to prepare for a counter, but if your follow-up is going to be that half-hearted, you're better off taking distance and resetting. A tentative attack creates its own openings—like this."
"Kyah!?"
Kokonoe-senpai dropped his posture to duck under my strike and, before I could launch my hesitant follow-up, gave my leg a light sweep. My balance crumbled, and I stumbled back several paces before landing hard on my backside.
It wasn't painful, but I stared in blank amazement at how easily I had been tripped.
"The monsters you'll encounter on the shallow floors are mostly the size of medium dogs or small animals—about knee-high. If you fail an attack, they'll dive inside your guard like this and go for your feet. You can't neglect your lower body's defense even when you're on the offensive. If your legs get taken out, you're done. You won't be able to attack or retreat."
"……Yes."
"Well, you're wearing solid armor, so I don't think you'll suffer any immediate, incapacitating injuries, but keep it in mind."
I stood up and nodded at Kokonoe-senpai’s critique, catching my breath before taking my stance once more.
This was a mock battle against a person, but the purpose was to prepare for fighting monsters in a dungeon. As Kokonoe-senpai had pointed out, I had been focusing too much on interpersonal combat. We were explorers going to fight monsters; I couldn't afford to only think about human-shaped opponents.
"Also, wearing armor changes your range of motion compared to what you're used to. If you don't account for those differences, your movements will be sluggish in an emergency. Be careful."
"Yes."
"And remember, the joints have thinner protection to allow for movement. If you have to take a hit, make sure you take it on the reinforced parts of the armor. To do that, you need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your gear inside and out."
I looked down at the armor I was wearing. It didn't provide seamless coverage; instead, it protected my limbs and vital areas with individual plates. Since there were plenty of gaps, I needed to know exactly where the hard points were, or I’d fail to protect myself properly.
"Shall we continue?"
"Yes!"
I regripped the iron pipe and began to close the distance again. Even if I couldn't land a hit, I wanted to somehow catch him off guard.
By the time the mock battle ended, I was gasping for air, but I had managed to stay on my feet. I felt a surge of self-satisfaction—compared to when we first started training, I had grown significantly. At the beginning, I wouldn't have had the stamina to keep fighting until the end.
Both Suzune-chan and I managed to steady our breathing and bowed to the seniors who had been our opponents.
Th-thank you very much.
"Good work. Now that you've actually fought in full gear, what are your thoughts?" Kokonoe-senpai asked once we had recovered.
Suzune-chan and I looked at each other and thought for a moment before speaking up.
"It was much harder to move than I expected. The armor interfering with my joints was one thing, but the biggest issue was the backpack. Every time I moved, the center of gravity would shift."
"Even though I thought I had it secured properly, the weight made my body drift or wobble. It was really hard to get used to."
We both looked back at our backpacks. They were necessities, but in that moment, we looked at them with pure resentment. No matter how tightly we strapped them down, the contents shifting inside caused the center of gravity to fluctuate, which was a nightmare during combat.
I’d have to figure out a better way to secure the items inside. I wondered if Mika-chan and the others had some trick for this.
"That's a fair point. Today was your first time doing a mock battle in full gear, so it's only natural you'd struggle. But you were moving quite well toward the end. I think you'll be fine for the main event tomorrow."
Really!?
"Yeah. But there's still a lot of room for improvement regarding range of motion and center of gravity control, so don't get cocky. In the dungeon, the weight of your pack will change every time you pick up a drop item. Adapting to those shifts is vital. You've felt it today—even a slight change in the center of gravity drastically affects how you fight. You might think you're only leaning slightly, but the weight can drag you into a total loss of balance."
……Yes.
He was right; I had stumbled several times during the mock battle because the weight on my back had pulled me further than I intended. I thought I was only shifting my weight a little, but I ended up completely overextending.
It was fine here, but making a mistake like that against a monster in a real dungeon would lead to a serious injury.
"I'll show you how to pack your gear properly later—how to secure it so it stays balanced even when you're moving fast."
Thank you!
That would be a huge help.
"Right. Now that you've got your breath back, shall we start the next round? We'll switch opponents, and we're going to add extra weight to your packs to simulate a load of drop items."
Eh?
"What? An explorer's job is to kill monsters and bring back the loot. You'll always be heavier on the way out than on the way in. We're going to keep adding weight so you can find your limits. If you don't know your carrying capacity, you'll end up overloaded and unable to fight, which is a death sentence."
……
He was right. If an explorer didn't bring back drop items, they were just fighting for fun. No loot meant no income, and the expenses for the trip would put us deep in the red.
Training to know our limits was essential for survival. I didn't want to be broke, but I definitely didn't want to get hurt because I tried to carry more than I could handle.
"Y-you're right. Knowing our limits is important……"
"Since you're just starting out, you won't have the benefits of a level up yet, so it’s going to be rough. But once your level goes up, your physical stats will naturally improve, and carrying a heavy load will become second nature."
……Yes.
"Alright, let's get back to it."
Kokonoe-senpai began stuffing additional weights into our packs. We were already tired, but he insisted this was to simulate fighting a string of monsters without rest. He was right—we wouldn't always be at a hundred percent in the dungeon, so training while exhausted was the only way to prepare.
For the next round, my opponent was Hirose-senpai, and Suzune-chan was facing Yukino-senpai.
"Are you two ready? Then, mock battle, second round…… Start!"
Kokonoe-senpai's kashiwade clap echoed through the area, signaling the start of the second match.
Looking back, those mock battles were mentally exhausting and physically more grueling than any actual monster fight I eventually faced. No matter how hard we tried, our attacks were dodged, parried, or effortlessly blocked. But it was thanks to that grueling training that we managed to return from our first real dungeon dive without a single scratch. I just have to keep pushing.