Songs in the Void

ICDS World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.

The next day, Tatsuo woke up in his bed. When he did, he was surprised to see that he had a text on his phone.

"Damn, I missed the text from Minami yesterday." Tatsuo muttered as he opened the text notification.

Minami Sumire: Is it okay if we spar in two days? I have some personal matters to attend to until then. I'll be free after that, though.

"She probably has to clear the Dungeon." Tatsuo thought aloud. "But that works for me. I need some time to experiment with those kukri knives, anyway."

Soramoto Tatsuo: Sure, that's fine with me. We can do it at my family's dojo. The address is…

Just like his home in his world, the floor below the apartment where he lived in this world, was also a training area. However, it was not so overdone. There were no weight lifting machines that could hold over a ton, no running track, and no fenced off octagon. Instead, it was a simple martial arts dojo with a wooden floor and a mat for sparing. There were also weapons of all kinds hanging on the walls for weapon practice, as well.

After seeing his reply, Tatsuo got out of bed before washing up. Just then, he remembered that he did not have any tools to make his new weapons. So, after cleaning up, he made his way into the Dungeon.

ICDS World, 1st Dungeon, 4th Floor Shop.

"Welcome back, Tatsuo-Sama." Loretta said with a smile. "I hope you slept well."

"Yeah, I feel great." Tatsuo said with a smile of his own. "But I need to know if you have any crafting tools I can use for these."

As he spoke, Tatsuo pulled the kukri knives out of his [Inventory] before laying them on the counter.

"Tatsuo-Sama, are you sure wouldn't like to sell them, instead?" Loretta asked with her eyes lighting up. "These are from a Named Monster, right? I can give you a good price for them.'

"Does that mean you can see their stats?" Tatsuo asked while narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "Because I can't. The only thing I know is that they are made of the densest material I've ever seen.""

In response, Loretta turned her head away. Then, she spoke in a small voice.

"No, not at all." Loretta replied without making eye contact.

"Then, how can you say it's a good price?" Tatsuo asked, narrowing his eyes even further. "Are you trying to rip me off, Loretta-San?"

"O-Of course not!" Loretta replied frantically. "But I would have offered you an item to appraise them before making an offer, of course."

"Mhmm…" Tatsuo hummed skeptically. "anyway, I don't wanna sell them. I think they'd be better suited as my new weapons."

"But you just made new weapons, Tatsuo-Sama." Loretta replied. "Wouldn't it be a waste of all the effort you put into making them?"

"You don't need to worry about that, Loretta-San." Tatsuo replied with a smile. "I enjoy crafting work, you see."

"I see." Loretta replied while lightly slumping her shoulders. A moment later, she put her professional smile back on before continuing. "Well then, might I interest you in…"

With that, Loretta pulled a portable furnace, anvil, a blacksmith's hammer, and tongs out from under the counter. To Tatsuo's surprise, this was a set. And after seeing Tatsuo's new knuckle duster daggers, Loretta decided to sell him something that would work with either metal or monster remains in the thought that he might sell some of his creations to the Dungeon, which she would sell to other Explorers for a higher price in the future.

Unfortunately, this set of crafting tools, that could work on any material without mana cost more than Tatsuo had at the moment. So, he equipped his defensive gear and his weapons before heading back into the Fourth Floor to farm some Gold.

Around sunset, after fourteen hours of hunting, Tatsuo left the Dungeon with the crafting set. On top of that, he had about 800 Gold in his [Inventory]. Even better than that, his Mid-Rank Martial Arts leveled up by one, as well.

{Mid-Ranked Martial Arts Lv. 9

-You can cause damage with less applied force. Your movements are more coordinated. Your body has grown stronger.

-Strength + 1

-Dexterity + 1?

With everything he needed and an increase in skill, Tatsuo happily left the Dungeon to begin experimenting.

ICDS World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.

For the rest of the night and all of the next day, Tatsuo experimented with the Heavy Kukri Knives, not even stopping to eat. Shortly after the sun went down, he finally made a pair of bladed knuckle dusters he was satisfied with.

{[Kobold's Ferocity – D-]

Durability: 75/75

Bonus

-Increases wielders [Strength]

-Increases wielder's Dexterity

Requirements

-Strength: D-

-Dexterity: E+

Created from the weapons of a felled foe, these bladed knuckle dusters were forged from the densest material on the world where the kobold's originated. Unfortunately, thanks to all the reworking, some of the material's durability was permanently lost. Despite that, they would still be incredibly difficult to damage without the use of mana.}

"Alright, I'll get a little something to eat then go to bed." Tatsuo said as he put the white, bladed knuckle dusters into his [Inventory]. "I should get a good night's rest, Minami will be here at around 11 a.m."

The next day, Tatsuo slept in, waking up at about nine in the morning. Then, after making himself a filling breakfast, he took a shower and got ready to welcome his visitor. And at 11 a.m. on the dot, he received a text from the person he was waiting for.

Minami Sumire: I'm outside of your apartment building.

Soramoto Tatsuo: Okay, I'll buzz you in. Just wait for me in the lobby. You need a passcode to get all the way up to the dojo.

With that, Tatsuo made his way to the elevator. Then, he took it to the ground floor. And as soon as the doors opened, he saw Sumire standing in front of him. Sumire, on the other hand, when she saw Tatsuo, flinched minutely. However, she recovered quickly enough.

"good morning, Soramoto-Kun." Sumire said with a smile. "How are you today?"

"I'm great, thanks." Tatsuo replied. Then, he gestured for Sumire to enter the elevator. "Why don't you come in. We can head right up to the dojo."

Nodding in reply, Sumire stepped into the elevator. However, she made sure not to get too close to Tatsuo. Because of that, the elevator fell into a slightly awkward silence. However, Tatsuo was unbothered as he pressed the button for the dojo. Then, he punched in the code before the elevator started moving.

Eventually, the elevator reached the dojo and the doors opened. Then, Tatsuo and Sumire stepped through the doors and entered the dojo.

"IF this is a dojo, isn't it inconvenient to have a code?" Sumire asked, wanting to break the awkward silence that she, herself, created.

"Yeah, a little." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "But there was an incident where someone broke in and stole some equipment. So, my parents decided that there should be a code to get in. They even had to screen the students to make sure they could be trusted with the code, too."

"that's terrible!" Sumire exclaimed.

"Yeah." Tatsuo replied. "The worst thing about it is it was one of the students who stole from us. But I made him pay for it when I found out."

Shaking his head to clear it of a memory that he did not actually live through, Tatsuo smiled at Sumire while gesturing to a door to his left.

"Anyway, the women's locker room is over there." Tatsuo said. "You can get changed in there. "I'll get changed, too."

"Oh, okay." Sumire replied with a slight blush, embarrassed at how casually Tatsuo mentioned changing clothes.

With that, the two separated. Then, after they both changed into their training clothes, Tatsuo's being a black sleeveless shirt and a pair of baggy black shorts while Sumire wore a white Judo Gi,

they moved to the mat that served as the sparring ring, immediately. Then, the spar started. Though, calling it a spar was a bit much. Instead, it was just five minutes of Tatsuo toying with Sumire barehandedly.

Because of that, Tatsuo called an end to the spar.

"Sorry, Soramoto-Ku." Sumire said while lightly sweating. "I didn't think the difference between us would be so big."

"Don't worry about it." Tatsuo said while waving dismissively. "But I noticed, because of the way you move, you're better suited for a weapon than fighting with your hands and feet. Maybe a spear and shield would suit you better."

Hearing that, Sumire was surprised. While climbing the Dungeon, she used a shield. But she had never considered using a spear, though. However, since Tatsuo was so skilled, she took his words seriously.

"Then, maybe I'll try it." Sumire said in a serious tone. "Honestly, I have experience using a shield. But I've never held a spear before."

In response, Tatsuo nodded his head in understanding. Then, he walked over to one of the walls and pulled a pair of round shields off of it. After that, he moved to a different wall and took a pair of spears, each one the proper size for himself and Sumire.

"Well, I'm not the greatest when it comes to fighting like this, but I can teach you the basics of shield and spear combat, if you're willing to learn." Tatsuo said as he offered one of the sets of practice spear and shield to Sumire.

"Thank you, Soramoto-Kun." Sumire said with her eyes lighting up as she accepted the shield and spear. "I'd be grateful."

With that, the two began sparring with the new weapons. And Sumire's performance increased noticeably. She was already quite skilled with a shield, though not to the point she could be called a master. However, she was not nearly as skilled when using a shield and spear together. So, Tatsuo gave her pointers wherever he could.

After a few hours, they brought their training to an end. Then, after thanking Tatsuo, Sumire said goodbye and returned to her own home. Meanwhile, Tatsuo took the elevator up one floor before taking a shower and returning to the Dungeon.

ICDS World, 1st Dungeon, 4th Floor Shop.

After exchanging pleasantries with Loretta, Tatsuo placed the Honey Bee Stingers on the counter top.

"So, how much can you offer me for these?" Tatsuo asked as he leaned over the counter and looked Loretta in the eyes.

"Hmm…" Loretta hummed in thought as she picked up and examined the black, bladed knuckle dusters. "How about 250 Gold?"

After having looked over the list of items available for sale at the shop, Tatsuo knew that his weapons should have been worth 300 Gold. But since the Loretta would probably be planning to sell them to another Explorer, he knew that was probably the best offer he would get. So, he nodded in response before Loretta handed him a bag with 250 Gold inside.

"Well then, it was nice doing business with you, Loretta-San." Tatsuo said with a smile as he put the Gold in his [Inventory].

"I'm sure it was." Loretta said sarcastically as the roles had been reversed.

"Well then, I'm gonna start exploring the Fifth Floor." Tatsuo said as he turned away from the counter. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck, Tatsuo-Sama." Loretta said with a smile.

With a smile of his own, Tatsuo pulled on his cowl. Then, he pushed open the door leading to the Dungeon's Fifth Floor.

ICDS World, 1st Dungeon, 5th Floor.

Tatsuo knew what to expect from the Fifth Floor thanks to the source material for this world. So, he was not surprised when he saw an orc, a large, about 6'6" tall, green-skinned, pig-headed monster with a large, muscular build and a protruding stomach wearing rags and carrying a glaive.

"Alright, let's get started." Tatsuo muttered as he charged towards the orc.

With Tatsuo not concealing himself, the orc noticed him immediately. And when it did, it charged forward with its glaive raised. Then, as soon as it was in range, it swung the glaive down, attempting to split Tatsuo in half, from top to bottom.

Just like he did when he delivered the finishing blow to the Named Kobold, Tatsuo side stepped the downward swing. Then, he pushed the handle of the weapon with his right fist, before jabbing the tip of the bladed knuckle duster towards the orc's throat. And just like with the Named Kobold, the orc was killed in one blow.

"They're too slow to be a threat one on one." Tatsuo muttered as he pulled his blade from the orc's throat.

{You obtained Gold x 10}

Like that, Tatsuo moved through the Fifth Floor, hunting every orc he came across. The 10 Gold they dropped every third one he killed being the reason for his fervent hunting. And although fighting the orcs one on one was no issue. When they came at him in groups, with their insane physical strength, not to mention the occasional archer among them, the fights grew much more challenging.

Eventually, after three days, sixteen hours of non-stop hunting each day, Tatsuo had collected almost 2,000 Gold before reaching a large set of double door.

"This must be the Boss Room." Tatsuo muttered as he looked at the towering set of double doors. "Well, let's do it. This boss, the Orc Lord, isn't gonna kill itself."

When climbing any of the Dungeons, every five floors, the Explorers would have to face a monster that was much more formidable than anything they had faced up to that point. A boss monster as it were. However, if they were able to defeat that boss, they would be rewarded handsomely for it.

With that, Tatsuo decided he would take a look at his Dungeon Stats before entering. He ignored his [System Status] for the moment, though. After getting several of his [Stats] from E+ to D-, he knew that it would be a while before he saw any improvements.

{Dungeon Explorer Status

Name: Soramoto Tatsuo

Race: Human

Sex: Male

Class: None

Title: None

Rank: Bronze 7

Level: 5

HP: 1110/1110

MP: 0

Strength: 21 > 23

Dexterity: 23 > 27

Constitution: 18 > 20

Intelligence: 22 > 24

Magic: 0

Charm: 295

Luck: 150

Skills

Mid-Ranked Martial Arts Technique: Lv. 8 > 9

Mid-Ranked Dagger Technique: Mastered}

Mid-Ranked Marksman Technique: Lv. 7

Mid-Ranked Stealth: Mastered}

Satisfied with his improvement over the last two weeks, or so, Tatsuo placed his right hand on the door, ready to push it open. However, just as his hand came in contact with the door, he heard a notification.

{The Floor Master, Orc Lord, is beyond this door. Would you like to enter alone? Or would you like to request a party with players from other dimensions?}

Hearing that notification, Tatsuo raised his eyebrows in surprise.

'I never noticed it back when I read ICDS in my past life, but did the notification just call the Explorers…"Players"? Like this is some kind of game.' Tatsuo thought to himself. A moment later, he shook his head. 'Well, considering what Sherifina actually wants to achieve, I guess this is just a game to her.'

"No, I'll enter alone." Tatsuo said, replying to the question in the notification.

With that, Tatsuo pushed the door open and walked through it. When he did, he immediately caught sight of fifteen orcs, all sitting around eating chunks of some kind of raw meat, the largest of which, presumably the Orc Lord, was sitting on what appeared to be a throne at the back of the chamber and wearing what appeared to be steel armor with an exquisite glaive at his side.. At the same time, all the orcs also noticed Tatsuo when the opening doors drew their attention.

"Well, here we go." Tatsuo muttered as the door closed behind him and the orcs slowly stood up while picking up their weapons and glaring at him dangerously.