Pick Me Up!

The next day.

At the airship’s third-floor training area.

Bubbles fiercely moiled up from the water.

An arrow sliced through the water, flying towards me.

But its speed was significantly slow.

By the time it reached in front of me, the arrow had almost lost all its power and feebly sank.

Jenna frowned, then jumped off the water’s surface. I followed suit.

Splash!

“Phew!”

Jenna took a deep breath.

“This underwater combat thingy isn’t working at all, isn’t it?”

Jenna swept back her wet bangs. Instead of her usual leather armor and dress, she was wearing a simple swimsuit.

“The stance is hard to maintain, pulling the bowstring is tough, and the arrows don’t fly properly. Can we even fight in this condition?”

“It seems so for now.”

Arrows, swords, or spears, none were of much use here.

We tried with dummies set up in the swimming pool, but unlike the first swing of a sword, maintaining balance was impossible. The posture was all over the place. Even if the weapons hit the dummies, they didn’t deliver their full power.

“Can’t the wizard do something? I’d rather not go through this.”

Velkist was kicking the water while holding onto the pool’s edge.

“I’ve realized now that I’m practically useless in water.”

Splash!

Next to Velkist, Neryssa was practicing swimming along the rails, holding a kickboard.

It was an unusual sight.

The training facility’s swimming pool, with its modern look, didn’t match the atmosphere of the rest area.

Anyway, as long as proper training was possible, it didn’t matter.

‘The learning speed is…’

Jenna mastered breathing techniques, kicking, and basic swimming in just 30 minutes.

And now, several hours later, she could freely move underwater, shooting arrows and swinging a dagger. Neryssa, having grasped the basics, followed after Jenna. Velkist, the slowest learner, was still struggling with swimming basics.

“What if we fought using the wizard’s water-walking spell?”

“That won’t be enough. If the enemy goes to the deep sea, we’re done for.”

I continued.

“We need to learn underwater combat skills. We have no choice but to dive in.”

“I would rather set fire to my hand.”

Velkist spat out the water in his mouth.

“Jenna, again.”

“Yes, I’m going.”

Jenna took a deep breath, then submerged her head in the water.

I entered the water as well. Jenna, positioning herself underwater, pulled the bowstring.

The arrow flew toward me, inevitably slow. I gripped my sword’s hilt.

The purpose of this exercise was to replicate the arrow-blocking training but this time underwater.

Of course, Jenna’s arrow was ridiculously slow, and the speed of my sword was no different.

Our strength and skill had improved several times over from before. However, swinging the weapon with more force only increased the water resistance, and the refined techniques were almost ineffective underwater.

‘This is tough.’

Both Jenna and I were merely thrashing in the water.

Thirty minutes later, without any progress, we took a break.

During the break, Katiio came to the training area to report.

By tomorrow morning, we would arrive at the first base in the north of the map.

Katiio was essentially not participating in the training due to managing the airship’s operations and facilities.

‘We need to master this before that.’

For now, I gathered the weapons of the four of us.

A greatsword, a longsword, a rapier, and also bows and arrows, and daggers.contemporary romance

“We need to start with modifying the weapons.”

“Ah, right.”

Jenna picked up an arrow.

“The feathers are wide, so it encounters a lot of resistance. We need to change this.”

“Right. When the master arrives today, we’ll return your weapons through the portal. We’ll change their shape. The blade will be slightly streamlined. The arrowheads and feathers will be reduced in size.”

I glanced at Bifrost.

Bifrost had a broad blade, closer to a greatsword.

A heavy sword focused on destruction. It was designed that way from the beginning. In water, however, such a structure was eating into its own flesh. I whispered softly while holding the sword hilt.

‘Shape transformation.’

Click!

The blade’s edges folded inward and retracted.

The blade transformed into a streamlined shape.

“It’s a fine weapon no matter how many times I see it.”

“Is that so?”

The other weapons would be modified into underwater versions at the equipment workshop in the waiting room.

Additionally, we planned to order a small crossbow as a secondary weapon suitable for underwater use.

After deciding on the modifications for each piece of equipment, I directed the training to resume.

The red circle was expanding moment by moment. There was no time to waste.

And then in the evening.

As soon as Anytng logged in, a notification popped up at the bottom of the screen.

[‘Party 1’ is undertaking a long-term mission (34th floor).]

[Click ‘here’ to check the status.]

Clicking the notification split the screen into two.

The top showed the airship, and the bottom the rest area.

[‘Party 1’s leader, ‘Han (★★★)’, proposes.]

[Proposal – Equipment Modification]

[Tips/You can modify equipment according to the characteristics of the field.]

Anytng immediately entrusted items to the equipment workshop for modification.

And also created a swimming pool in the waiting room’s training facility. The screen showed Party 2 starting underwater training as if they had been waiting.

‘Eloka is there too.’

It seemed they were trying to learn swimming, Edis, who knew how to swim, was teaching them.

I removed the control window from my view and continued training.

The underwater training lasted until dawn.

…Bubble.

An arrow was shot from Jenna’s practice bow.

I clenched my teeth. In water, simply applying force didn’t make the sword strike harder. Instead, the right balance was crucial. I relaxed my body, utilizing inertia and elasticity.

Swoosh!

The arrow was clumsily split in half.

[Skill Awakening!]

[‘Han (★★★)’s ‘Heavenly Sword Spirit’ has leveled up to Lv.2!]

the underwater combat that I was seeking was still unreachable, and the level of Heavenly Sword Spirit increased.

‘It’s not unhelpful though…’

Underwater, there were many more things to be mindful of compared to on land.

Could it be considered a form of self-reflection?

Jenna looked at me and raised her index finger.

It was the signal for a second shot. I nodded in response.

…Gurgle.

Jenna made a full turn underwater and then positioned herself.

She took an arrow out of the quiver and nocked it on the bowstring. Then.

[Skill Awakening!]

[‘Jenna (★★★)’ has learned the ‘Underwater Combat’ skill!]

[Tips/Heroes who have learned certain skills experience a significant increase in combat power in special fields.]

Ping!

The arrow was shot with a speed incomparable to before.

‘So soon?’

It hadn’t even been a day.

I barely managed to swing my sword, but the arrowhead grazed my shoulder.

Blood welled up. Jenna approached me in surprise, but I shook my head. I could endure this level of injury.

‘It’s better this way.’

Improving proficiency doesn’t come easily with mediocre challenges.

I adjusted my sword.

Again, the next morning.

[Skill Awakening!]

[‘Han (★★★)’ has learned the ‘Underwater Combat’ skill!]

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!

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