A Middle-Aged Man Becomes the Strongest in Another World: The Physical Specialized Awakener - Chapter 11

Adventurer Level: 5

Weapon Skills

• Mace: Lv. 6

• Dagger: Lv. 4

• Unarmed Combat: Lv. 2 (new)

Armor Skills

• Buckler: Lv. 6

Physical Abilities

• Stamina: Lv. 7

• Strength: Lv. 8

• Speed: Lv. 7

• Agility: Lv. 8

• Reflexes: Lv. 6

Senses

• Vision: Lv. 5

• Hearing: Lv. 4

• Smell: Lv. 3

• Touch: Lv. 3

• Dynamic Vision: Lv. 6

• Aura Sense: Lv. 6

Mental Skills

• Calm Mind: Lv. 4

• Sharp Mind: Lv. 3

The next morning, I did my usual early training and headed to the Boulder Dungeon.

Even though I had just come back from a day-long monster extermination quest, my body felt fantastic. I couldn’t help but wish I’d had this kind of stamina back in my old life in Japan. Thanks to my level-up, I could now clear the third floor of the dungeon without taking a scratch. I even used my fists, well, my gauntlets, to punch goblins to death for extra practice in unarmed combat.

The fourth floor was said to be where Boarwolves start appearing. I figured I was strong enough now, so I headed down. The fourth floor looked much like the others, carved out of solid rock. No more goblins down here. As I smashed through Rock Lizards, my Aura Sense picked up a big signature.

Boarwolf.

It locked eyes with me and charged. Its charge could only be stopped by taking it head-on. I gripped my mace in both hands and swung it down at its skull as it came barreling in. Direct hit. My mace crushed its skull with a satisfying crunch, slamming its jaw into the ground.

I still had to absorb the impact, but I didn’t take any damage.

It dropped a magic stone and a hunk of meat, probably the same meat used in the skewers I’d been eating. I picked both up and continued deeper.

“Whoa, did you come down here all by yourself?” A party I didn’t know ran into me. Three teens, probably late high school age. The skinny boy who seemed to be their leader spoke first.

“Yeah, it’s doable solo if you know what you’re doing.”

“No way. You can’t solo a Boarwolf.”

“Sure you can. If you land the first hit, it’s manageable.”

He gave me a look like I was crazy. “Man, you’re nuts.”

“Well, whatever. Not our problem. Later.”

They walked off toward the back.

Crazy, huh? I didn’t think what I was doing was that out there. If you level up your skills and get some real combat experience, soloing should be within reach. Even Kisara at the guild said I was already E-rank material.

…So maybe I am strong enough for E-rank already?

No, I shouldn’t get cocky. I’m not doing anything that special. Just because I’m improving doesn’t mean I’m some kind of prodigy.

I spent some more time exploring the fourth floor. Ran into Boarwolves only twice total, I guess their spawn rate isn’t that high. I considered heading to the fifth floor, but if I go that far, I might as well fight the boss. So I called it a day and used the rest of the time to train.

“What?! You’re gonna fight the boss alone?! Are you nuts, old man?”

That night, during dinner, I asked Kaim about the boss and got the reaction I expected. “Why’re you in such a rush? You’re an old guy, just take it slow. At least get a party together first.”

“Yeah, I think you’re strong, Soushi-san, but a boss is a bit much solo,” Lavelt added with a concerned look. Meribe and Lannan nodded in agreement.

“I’m only going because I think I can handle it. Plus, I want to get a special skill out of it.”

“Well, I get that, but still…”

“Are you aiming to be the world’s strongest or something?” Kaim said, looking at me like I was delusional. That one kinda hurt.

“No way. But it never hurts to be strong, right?”

“True. This town’s chill, but in the bigger cities, they really look down on low-ranked adventurers.”

So that’s a thing, huh? All the more reason to move up the ranks quickly.

“Well, buy me a drink and I’ll tell you what you need to know. You’re a real pain, old man.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

I smiled and called for a drink from the innkeeper.

The next day, I dropped a decent amount of money on high-grade potions, had the blacksmith check my mace, and set off for the Boulder Dungeon.

By the way, I asked the smith about buying another Dark Metal rod, but he said he’d have to place a special order. When I asked him to get two, he gave me a weird look.

At this point, goblins, rock lizards, and even boarwolves weren’t a threat anymore. I smashed them all in one hit, collected the loot, and reached the fifth floor. 

The fifth floor had a different feel, its walls were grayish instead of brown, giving it a true “final floor” vibe. Same old monsters as the fourth floor, and since I was the first one in today, there weren’t any parties ahead of me.

Following the map, I eventually reached a large stone door, about 3 meters wide and tall, like a super-sized front door. My first time seeing something artificial in the dungeon. Carving this from stone must’ve cost a fortune, but I guess it’s one of those dungeon mysteries.

“Alright, potions ready. Armor secure. Mace is fine. Let’s do this.” I said it aloud to calm myself, then pushed the door open.

Inside was a stone room, more like a storage space than a boss chamber. About the size of a basketball court. As the door closed behind me, a black mist appeared on the far side. A monster emerged from it.

Just like the guide and Kaim said, a larger boarwolf. This was the boss, the Bearwolf.

“Don’t get psyched out, it just looks bigger than it is,” Kaim had told me. Still, it did look massive. Its forelegs were ripped with muscle. And… wait. Are those horns on its head? Horns?

Kaim never said anything about horns. Isn’t this supposed to be a “Bear” Wolf? What’s with the horns? “Don’t tell me this is a special boss… like a powered-up version or something. Please no…” If it had horns, Kaim definitely would’ve mentioned it. Which means this thing might be some kind of rare or elite boss. Well, if I’m wrong, I can just laugh about it later.

I adjusted my mindset. Even if it’s a variant, the base is still a boarwolf. The general strategy shouldn’t change. Still, if I take one of those horn charges head-on, I’m dead. A regular boarwolf’s charge I can barely survive, but this thing’s at least 200 kg. Three times my weight.

“HUFF” It snorted and charged, head low, definitely trying to gore me with those horns.

Right before impact, I jumped to the side. A regular sidestep would’ve been too slow, but my Awakening boosted my speed and power. With the help of Agility and Strength skills, I cleared five meters in one leap.

It lost track of me and skidded to a stop, looking around. I dashed in during that opening and slammed my mace into its leg.

“WHAM!” Crushed its left front leg, it screamed in pain but it didn’t stop. That’s what makes it a boss. Before it could collapse, it kicked off with its back legs and lunged.

Still recovering from my last attack, I took the hit. My armor protected me from the horn, but I got thrown hard and slammed into the ground. The air left my lungs. But my mind stayed clear, Calm Mind urged me to get back up.

I sprang to my feet. The three-legged boss came at me, like a beast possessed. I gripped my mace tight and brought it down between its eyes.

“KRRRK.” I felt its skull break. A heavy, brutal impact. Even so, it kept thrashing. Shaking its head, trying to stab me with its horn.

Guess I have no choice but to go full brawl.

Then something weird happened, I felt my body surge with power. My vision turned red, my mind zoned in only on attack.

“GO DOWN, DAMMIT!” I shouted without realizing it. Slammed my mace again and again. Its horn dented my armor and slashed my limbs. My mace smashed its face over and over, until its horn finally snapped off.

“BWROOOOAAAARGHH!” No idea how long we were trading blows. But at last, with a final cry, the boss collapsed to the ground. Its body was sucked into the dungeon floor, leaving behind a baseball-sized magic stone and two massive horns.

“Haah… whew. I… I did it, right?” My head started to clear. Weird, I thought I stayed calm, but I can’t remember some parts. But yeah, I was swinging like crazy. Probably lost control. But I felt an incredible power inside me. Could that have been a skill activation?

“Ugh… I need a potion…” I hurt all over from that hit, but thankfully nothing was broken. Lots of cuts, probably from the horn.

As I reached for a potion, I suddenly felt lighter. Like something inside me had changed. “Oh… this must be what Kaim was talking about.” The feeling of gaining a special skill. This must be it.

Now, what kind of skill did I get? It’s like opening a loot box. After a moment, knowledge of the skill flowed into my mind. “Regeneration” so, healing faster from wounds? I looked at a cut on my arm, it was slowly healing, just like when I used a potion. Not as fast, but clearly unnatural.

“Nice… it’s gone already? That’s a pretty sweet skill.” It took about five minutes, but all my cuts vanished. I’ve seen characters in manga with powers like this… and now I’ve got it too. Wild.

A skill like this that boosts survival chances is incredibly valuable. They say there are no bad special skills, but I think I lucked out big time.

I grabbed the magic stone and both horns, and made my way out of the dungeon. And of course, beating the boss doesn’t mean I skip training. If anything, hard work feels more satisfying when you’re in a good mood.