The Priest of Complete Dispel ~ Every Time I Save a Cursed Beautiful Girl with My Status Abnormal Cure Skill, For Some Reason Her Dependence on Me Maxes Out ~ - Chapter 8: Level

Chapter 8: Level

—

“Embrace her from behind while topless and rub the area where her heart is.”

This was the treatment method instructed by the <Perfect Clear> skill for Amelia’s “Burn Fever.”

You can understand why I thought, “Skill, are you alive!?”

Even though it was a status ailment severe enough to hover between life and death, I never imagined I’d be given such a perverted instruction.

But I followed the skill’s instructions, hugged her from behind, and rubbed her left breast where her heart was.

It took about thirty minutes.

It was quite a long treatment time.

And after finishing the treatment, with fatigue and lack of sleep in the early morning, I fell asleep as is.

When I woke up, Amelia, who had recovered from “Burn Fever” first, was looking down at me, topless. Honestly, I thought I’d get a hard slap, but with trembling eyes, she thanked me.

◇◇◇

A few days later.

“Hmph… Hmm… Hmph!?”

It was the old man making noises like a sports commentator similar to Keryneia.

That day, too, he was practicing with a wooden sword from early morning.

But something strange was happening.

I could clearly follow Ouji’s movements with my eyes better than before, and I felt I could keep up with his sword speed.

“You said you cured the holy beast’s ‘Venom,’ right…?”

“Yeah…”

“And on top of that, Amelia’s ‘Burn Fever’… Shu, your level might have gone up quite a bit.”

“…Huh?”

My surprise wasn’t about what was happening in front of me.

It was about the concept of levels.

“No, no, what’s a level? That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”

“Was it? Hahaha!”

This damn old man. He really doesn’t tell me important stuff.

“So, what’s a level?”

“Well then, let me explain. A level is an indicator of a person’s strength. You can’t know it without a special church ceremony or the <Appraisal> skill. And it’s said that levels go up by using magic or skills, or by defeating monsters.”

Is this something like a game from my previous life?

But what does an indicator of strength mean specifically?

“Shu, the reason you’ve started keeping up with my movements is probably because of your level. By curing two powerful status ailments, your level shot up, and your physical abilities improved.”

“So, you’re saying that, even though it’s not visible, I’ve gotten stronger or can move faster?”

“In simple terms, yes.”

Ohhh!

Then this is like a level-up in a game, isn’t it?

Attack power, defense, speed, and such. Those kinds of stats must have gone up.

“So, what’s my level?”

“No idea. If you want to know, ask Mizette.”

“That makes sense. I’ll ask her when I have time.”

The fact that this world had the concept of levels and that I had leveled up significantly made my heart race with curiosity about how this world worked.

But even so, I lost every match against the old man in training, so I didn’t feel that much stronger.

“It might be time to try hunting some monsters.”

The old man said that to me as I lay sprawled out on the ground.

◇◇◇

The next day, as he said, I went to the forest with the old man.

He told me to leave the monster-repelling rosary at home, so I did.

If you listen closely, it seems the rosary has a monster-repelling effect in this forest protected by Keryneia, but not in other places.

And the farther you get from the village or Keryneia’s location, the weaker the effect becomes.

After following the old man for about an hour, we stopped.

“This should be good.”

“Finally doing it, huh?”

“Yep. You can swing a real sword properly, right?”

“Well, sort of.”

I had been given a real sword a while ago and had been practicing swings.

It was a plain, undecorated longsword. I thought it was heavy, but thanks to leveling up, it didn’t feel that heavy.

I haven’t asked the old lady for an <Appraisal> to check my level, nor have I asked what level is considered strong.

But I know. The old man’s level is way higher than mine.

“Look, here it comes. A Giant Boar.”

Where the old man pointed—there was a monster at the riverbank.

It was drinking water with its head in the river.

“…Huh?”

But I froze when I saw it.

The reason was obvious: it was a massive boar, easily over ten meters long.

It was even bigger than Keryneia, who was about the size of an elephant.

The Giant Boar looked incredibly powerful just from its presence.

“Are there only huge monsters around here!?”

“Hm? This size is normal. If you worry about size, you won’t get anything done. Go on, get to it.”

“Huh!? How and where do I even cut it!?”

“Just go!!”

“Ugh!?”

Then the Spartan old man kicked my butt hard, sending me flying right in front of the Giant Boar.

That damn old man. Just you wait…

“Buuoooo…”

The Giant Boar noticed me, turned around, and showed its ferocious tusks.

I readied my sword while slowly backing away in fear.

“For real… What do I do—Whoa!?”

The Giant Boar charged at me with speed unbelievable for its size.

I barely managed to dodge by sliding my sword against its tusk, but this was bad. One hit could seriously injure me.

“I taught you before. The basics of fighting are to take away your opponent’s weapon. So, what’s the Giant Boar’s weapon?”

The Giant Boar’s weapon…?

I turned to face the Giant Boar as it prepared its next attack and stared at it.

When it came at me again, I thrust my sword at its tusk.

“Guh—!”

A clang rang out, and I was knocked back by the force.

“Idiot! The boar’s weapon is its legs! Even if you take out the tusks, it’ll keep charging as long as its legs are there!”

“Ugh… You’re right, but… I’m still not used to fighting.”

“Hm… Maybe throwing you into battle without showing you how it’s done was a mistake. Fine, I’ll show you.”

The old man slowly stepped forward and stood in front of me.

Holding his sword with one hand, the Giant Boar, unlike when it faced me, started to act wary.

Maybe it instinctively knew how strong the old man was.

“Come on, boar.”

“Buuoooo!!”

They both charged at the same time.

The old man’s run was nothing like an old man’s.

The Giant Boar’s charge had the momentum to kill in one hit.

Its thick tusks closed in.

But just before impact, the old man spun, deflected the tusk with his sword, and in one motion, slashed through the Giant Boar’s right front leg and then its right back leg.

Blood sprayed, and the Giant Boar, losing one leg, fell to the side with a loud thud.

The old man looked at the immobilized opponent, leapt into the air, and drove his sword into its snout, killing it with one clean cut.

“…No way I can do that!!”

The sword strength to casually cut through thick legs and a thick snout with one hand.

That’s not normal.

But from then on, and for a long time after, my training with ridiculously huge monsters continued under his guidance—.