DXD: MY SUMMONERS WAR DIMENSION

The itch in my ear wasn't the only thing I felt. When I rested my hand on the mattress, I felt it sink as if it were made of marshmallow. It was strange, almost like my strength had suddenly increased.

Without a doubt, Horus's attribute boost made me stronger.

'Status.' I thought.

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Summoner: Reiji Hoshino – Lv.6

Integrated Summon (2.2%): Fire Horus [★★★★]

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Clicking on Horus, his page expanded.

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Fire Horus [★★★★]

Type: Defense

Level: 12/30

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Attributes:

HP: 3,825 [+2,417] | Attack: 265 [+140]

Defense: 289 [+116] | Speed: 101 [+48]

Critical Rate: 52% | Critical Damage: 97%

Resistance: 51% | Accuracy: 47%

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'Maybe, just maybe…' I thought. 'Is my strength also influenced by Critical Rate and Critical Damage?'

When I pressed the mattress again, I didn't feel the same strength as before. It was peculiar. It made me wonder if Critical Rate and Damage didn't just affect attacks but also other actions. Perhaps, with my Critical Rate, every 10 attempts using my strength, 5 could be critical.

If so, my strength is basically doubled when I land a critical hit.

But that could also be a problem...

If I don't know when I'll land a critical hit, in a situation requiring precise strength, I might end up using more force than necessary.

'Is there a way to change this or at least toggle my critical damage on and off?'

Of course, that's only if my speculation is correct, and my strength is indeed being influenced by the fluctuations in critical rate.

'I need to be careful...'

Whatever the case, I must act cautiously to avoid causing irreversible damage. After all, unlike the Water Fairy, Horus doesn't have healing abilities, and even if he did, I'm still unable to use Horus's skills…

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Later, I arrived in the living room and first saw Ai-chan. She was sitting on a chair facing the dining table while Mom was busy in the kitchen.

Ai-chan noticed my arrival and stopped swinging her little feet under the table. She and I exchanged small waves – a silent greeting – before I moved forward and sat in the chair at the far right end of the table.

Looking to my left, I saw that Ai-chan still felt uncomfortable with my presence. She became quieter, keeping her head down.

"Good morning, Ai-chan," I said, breaking the suffocating silence.

She looked at me but quickly lowered her head a little.

With her lips forming a pout — the kind that shows she doesn't know how to act in this situation — she spoke softly in her gentle voice, "Good morning..."

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"I'm leaving."

"GATCHA!"

Closing the door behind me, I swung the hand holding my school bag over my left shoulder, using my free hand to open and close the gate.

"Zinng~"

The gate made a sharp metallic sound as it opened. A sound that, according to my dad, even though it's similar for anyone who opens the gate, he can identify who opened it based on the sound.

The truth? He almost never gets it right, but even when he's wrong, he insists that he said exactly the person who opened it. Well, he's strange, I know...

"Uaahh~"

Yawning, I used my free hand as a visor while the sunlight blinded my eyes.

It's said that having light-colored eyes makes your vision more sensitive to light due to the lower amount of melanin in the iris. I usually squint because of this, but I must say that, while it's still a nuisance, today in particular, I feel less discomfort.

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Later that day, after school.

I took a train and got off at the last stop, which was still in the Kuoh region.

My destination was a more isolated area, surrounded by nature.

After getting off and moving away from the train station, I walked for 10 minutes until I reached a forested area.

[Warning: Bear Sightings!]

'Bears?' I frowned but soon ignored the warning.

No matter what, whether it was overconfidence or not, I didn't feel threatened by the possibility of encountering a bear.

Passing through several trees, following a dirt trail, I kept walking.

The sounds of birds singing became more noticeable, and I began to hear the sound of water falling.

'I'm getting close to the waterfall. I think this is far enough...' I thought.

Looking to the left, then to the right, I headed left, where there was an open area surrounded by trees.

It was a grassy patch reaching up to my shins.

The sound of grass rustling echoed as I made my way to my destination.

There, I started running around, flattening the weeds.

Then, I placed my backpack on the ground, unzipping it and pulling out a pair of boxing gloves.

I might be looking to test my strength, as well as learn to control it better, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to punch a tree with bare fists, scraping up my hands, going home covered in injuries, worrying my mom, and making her think I got into another street fight...

Using my mouth, I secured the boxing glove on each hand.

"Yoshi! I'm going to do this…!" I murmured aloud, standing before the thickest tree, about 3 meters wide and 7 to 8 meters tall.

Positioning myself, even though I've never done boxing—only karate—it doesn't matter. In the end, my goal was never to train to become a boxer, but rather to improve control over my strength and better understand the changes that the bond with Horus has brought me.

"Dom!"

At my attack, though a loud sound echoed, the tree barely moved. It only lightly shook its green leaves.

"Again..."

"Doom!"

This time, I used a bit more strength. The tree trembled slightly, causing a few leaves to fall.

Taking a step back, my eyes became hyper-focused. As the leaves descended to head level, I threw my first punch.

"Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham...!"

As I got into rhythm, my jabs became more precise. With my final punch, I saw the green leaf being shredded by my fist.

'This...' I thought as I looked at my fists. 'With this kind of strength, winning gold medals would be much easier...'

But that was no longer what I desired. And even if I wanted to, I was banned from the world of Olympic sports, so it doesn't matter...

'However, it didn't matter anymore. I had already given up on my dream of becoming a professional in karate. And even if I wanted to return, I couldn't, after all...'

Shaking my head, I rid myself of these useless thoughts that only brought me down. Whatever happened in the past no longer shakes me. I learned the hard way how unfair this world can be. Dwelling on it won't change anything.

I approached the tree again, took a deep breath, and held it. My eyes narrowed as I leaned to the right, returning with all my strength.

"Bang!!"

"Pracc!"

My punch was so fast and powerful—possibly a critical hit—that it managed to damage the tree's protective bark, making the tree shake as if a car had crashed into it, causing several leaves to fall at once.

I took two steps back, closed my eyes, and opened them again, focusing entirely on each falling leaf.

"Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham...!"

My feet barely moved but shifted positions each time I twisted my body to throw a punch at an odd angle.

In moments, I delivered over 50 jabs. Each punch at least grazed the leaves, with my speed and precision improving as I progressed.

...

The sky began to darken, and the air grew colder.

Sweating heavily, I grabbed a face towel.

As I dried my face and then my hair, I felt my heart race.

"Pracc! Pracc!"

As if it were something trivial, I saw something that definitely wasn't a bear, though it resembled one.

Giant, to say the least—a dark gray, bipedal monster about 3 meters tall with long arms. It was a monstrous creature with the body of a werewolf, razor-sharp claws about 20 cm long. Its head resembled that of a bear, with blood-red eyes radiating immense ferocity.

'Hey, hey, hey! Is this for real!? A monster? They actually exist?'

I stood with a confused expression, feeling like my eyes were playing tricks on me.

Yes, I know I should expect something like this to exist; otherwise, how do you explain the summoning dimension? But why now? Why would I run into a monster right now? I mean, I know I'm in an isolated place and all, but it's not like it's my first time being somewhere like this. However, this is the first time—aside from the Summoning Dimension—that I've seen a monster in real life.

"So-So-Lo, So-soo, Kke, ki, so, De. Deli. Us. Hu. Human!" The monster's mouth opened and articulated, speaking strange things, but I could understand when it said, "A human."

Its voice was deep and distorted, like the echo of thunder mixed with the sound of metal scraping.

Its mouth, full of sharp teeth, looked bloodthirsty. I bet it could easily tear through my skin with one bite.

My heart felt like it was about to explode in my chest, each beat echoing in my ears like a war drum.

This wasn't like facing a human or punching a tree—or even fighting monsters in the Summoning Dimension.

A sticky slime began to drip from the monster's mouth as it stared at me.

In its eyes, I bet it thought I looked delicious...

Damn it!

I didn't think twice. Grabbing my backpack off the ground with lightning speed and still crouched, I used all my strength to propel myself in the opposite direction of the monster.

"ROARR!!"

I heard a roar that was like a mix between a bear's growl and a wolf's howl. It was terrifying.

I started running, wishing I had four legs, as I heard what sounded like the footsteps of a giant.

With my heart practically in my throat, pounding furiously, all I wanted was to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Stay and fight? No, that wasn't an option. This was clearly something far stronger than I could handle. Maybe I'd stand a chance if my bond with Horus were higher and I could use its abilities, but right now? I couldn't envision any scenario where I'd win, especially since this monster was easily knocking down trees, smashing them with its monstrous hands.

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