ARIFURETA: Cooking to be the Strongest?

The next day, Shin embarked on his exploration of the current floor.

The wooden sword now rested comfortably at his waist, a new primary weapon. He'd forgone carrying the bulk of his harpoon spears, opting for just a few throwing bone daggers on his belt, trusting in the sword's blunt force.

"Sharr!!" A guttural roar ripped through the humid air as a hulking reptilian monster lunged, its scales shimmering with predatory intent.

Shin, however, met its charge with an unsettling calm.

He didn't bother with evasive maneuvers. Instead, he materialized the wooden sword, its black surface gleaming, and stepped directly into the beast's attack.

"Let's see what this sword can really do," Shin murmured, a glint in his usually impassive eyes.

He swung the wooden sword, not with a precise cut, but with a forceful, arcing strike.

CRACK! The sound of impact echoed, a sickening crunch that wasn't of flesh being cleaved, but of bone and internal organs being pulverized.

The reptilian monster reeled, its roar dying in its throat as a fresh wave of agony seized it.

Shin didn't let up. He moved with brutal efficiency, a whirlwind of blunt force.

Each swing of the wooden sword landed with devastating power, turning the monster's scales into little more than a hardened shell for the soft, vulnerable organs beneath.

The monster thrashed, trying to bite and claw, but Shin's blows were relentless, a rhythmic THUD-THUD-THUD that spoke of utter domination.

He aimed for joints, for the base of the skull, for anything that would transmit maximum shock throughout its formidable frame.

Within moments, the massive beast lay sprawling, a grotesque heap of bruised flesh and possibly shattered bones, its eyes glazing over as consciousness fled.

"It really cannot cut?" Shin mused, looking down at the fallen, beaten monster. It was a mass of dark bruises and mangled limbs, a testament to the wooden sword's incredible impact. He decided to wait, letting the creature regain its senses. There was still more to learn about this enigmatic new tool.

When the monster finally stirred, its eyes flickering open to a world of pain, Shin was ready. He moved in again, not to kill, but to experiment.

He employed fluid, cutting-like motions, mimicking slashes and thrusts he'd seen in his past life, but the wooden sword remained stubbornly blunt.

It delivered crushing blows, leaving craters in the monster's tough hide, but never a clean slice. 

The beast endured another relentless beating, its roars growing weaker with each impact, until it once more succumbed to unconsciousness.

Shin then dragged the monstrous, bruised form back to his makeshift base, tying it firmly with thick vines to prevent any escape.

Using his obsidian knife, he fashioned a rudimentary yet sharp sword from a large bone of the Komodo dragon monster he'd hunted earlier.

Swish, Swish. The bone sword whistled as he tested its edge. When the tied monster finally roused again, Shin brought the bone sword down.

The blade sliced through flesh and bone with a chilling ease, cleanly bisecting the creature in half. This action also made a CRACK on the bone sword due to the sheer force of swinging alone.

"The bone sword can still cut, looks like it was the wooden sword's properties," Shin concluded, his theory confirmed, and he let go of the cracked bone sword.

The wooden sword was a battering ram, a weapon for crushing and bludgeoning, a perfect counter to the heavily armored monsters he was now encountering.

He efficiently processed the now bisected monster carcass for later use, making sure to extract all edible and usable parts. After that, Shin continued his exploration, mapping the outlines of the new floor for the remainder of the day.

*******

Shin finished mapping out two-thirds of the current floor, revealing its diverse composition and environment.

This floor was predominantly a vine forest, interspersed with a few clear puddles of water and some herbs and small bushes growing around.

Unlike the singular "gimmick" nature of previous levels, this one boasted a variety of landscapes and monster types.

He'd encountered large lizards, bipedal reptiles, and even armored, monkey-like mammalian creatures swinging through the vines.

"The floor boss should be that T-rex-like creature at the edge of the map," Shin muttered, chewing on some jerky, his gaze fixed on the uncharted part of the map displayed by his book. 

"But the unexplored part isn't covered in forest, which is weird. A stark transition like that... there must be something significant there."

Guess I'll check it out next day; there may be special monsters there, Shin thought, a flicker of curiosity in his otherwise stoic demeanor. He needed to understand this floor fully before proceeding.

He spent the rest of the day resting, preparing to check that place tomorrow.

******

The next day, Shin, fully geared, decided to investigate the uncharted section before confronting the floor boss.

He ventured into the mysterious area. True to his observation, the forest abruptly gave way, transitioning into the familiar stony cave environment of the labyrinth's upper floors.

As Shin entered this new zone, at its very edge, he discovered two colossal figures. They were large, one-eyed, horned, armored gorilla-like creatures, standing guard before a massive, intricately designed door.

Shin paused, observing them carefully. His mind quickly calculated their movements, their potential weaknesses. These were clearly a different breed from the forest creatures.

"Perfect. New test subjects," he thought, a grim satisfaction settling over him. He assessed if he could dispatch them quickly, but then a different thought struck him.

The wooden sword. This was the ideal opportunity to truly test its capability on large monster combat.

He moved in, not with the stealth he often employed, but with a direct approach.

"GROOAA!!" The first gorilla-monster, noticing the approaching intruder, roared, thumping its chest, and charged. Shin met it head-on, swinging the wooden sword with all his might.

CRUNCH! The blow landed squarely on its armored chest, producing a dull THUD that resonated deep within the monster. The creature staggered, its single eye widening in surprise and pain.

The second gorilla, alert now, moved to flank him. Shin pivoted, a blur of motion, and delivered a punishing blow to its side, forcing a pained GRUNT from the beast.

He weaved between their clumsy, powerful attacks, his wooden sword a relentless hammer. He aimed for pressure points, for the softer underbelly of their armored hides, for anywhere he could transfer maximum impact.

Each swing was calculated, designed to shatter and disable, not to cut. He battered them, denying them any chance to recover, turning their massive strength against them by unbalancing them with each concussive hit.

The air was filled with grunts, groans, and the heavy THUD-THUD-THUD of wood on hardened muscle and bone.

The other gorilla managed to recover a bit and deliver a decisive blow to Shin, but Shin noticed this and just evaded, making distance.

Due to this, the other monster managed to recover, and its armored arm suddenly glowed.

"Enhancing magic, heh. Let's see which is harder," Shin noticed the familiar glow and pattern, which most monsters he had hunted did.

He welcomed the change as an opportunity to test the wooden sword's limits.

The two beasts, though badly beaten, started to attack Shin. Shin, for his first counter-attack, delivered a blunt swing of his wooden sword. This time, the target monster blocked it with its enhanced arm.

But unfortunately, the monster's expectation was shattered, similar to the armor on its arms. A SHATTERING CRACK echoed as a spiderweb of cracks spread across the glowing armored limb.

Shin was pleased with the outcome. With renewed vigor, he continued to relentlessly beat down the two monsters, now fully confident in the wooden sword's superiority against even magically enhanced armor.

Once both gorilla-monsters were reeling, dazed and severely wounded but still conscious, Shin quickly manifested his obsidian knife. 

In a swift, almost imperceptible movement, he delivered fatal blows, ending their suffering efficiently. A wet SLICE followed by a heavy THUD marked their demise.

After defeating them, Shin meticulously dismantled their corpses, processing the monster meat into carryable sizes.

As he worked, he discovered something peculiar: weird two spherical objects nestled within their remains. They felt smooth and heavy, unlike anything he'd encountered before.

"Seems like it's not a special organ," Shin thought, collecting the two objects. After setting aside the dismantled monster, Shin was now standing in front of the door which was previously guarded by those monsters.

He then turned his attention to the large, enigmatic door. It was covered in ancient, intricate designs, and in its very center, a spherical hole perfectly matched the objects he'd just found.

"So these two are the keys," he mused. Without hesitation, Shin inserted one of the spheres into the indentation.

A soft, ethereal GLOW emanated from the door as faint lines of light traced the intricate patterns across its surface. With a low, grinding RUMBLE, the massive door slowly swung inward.

What surprised Shin was not another cavern, but a vast, circular room supported by numerous pillars.

His brow furrowed at the sight of such sophisticated, human-like architecture.

A structure down here? After all this time? A deep sense of wariness settled over him, hinting that something far more complex lay ahead than just another monster or resource.

At the far edge of this pillared chamber, another door stood. Shin approached it cautiously.

This one was different, covered in unfamiliar runes and lines. He pushed, but it refused to budge. It felt sealed, impenetrable by brute force alone, as if demanding something more, perhaps... magic.

"Magic, huh? That sounds impossible for me," Shin muttered, his usual practical approach asserting itself.

"Sure not one will be mad of me using this," he thought, already manifesting his obsidian knife. He wouldn't be deterred by ancient seals.

He plunged the knife into the door, not slicing, but brute-forcing a cut through its impossible material. The door resisted with a humming VIBRATION, a surprising resilience that spoke of immense power.

"Tch, quite harder than expected," Shin grunted, straining. It took around five grueling seconds of sustained effort, a noticeable drain of 5% of Shin's total stamina, before the knife finally carved a jagged opening.

A drawn-out SCREEEEECH of stone protesting against the blade filled the air.

Shin pushed the severed portion aside and stepped inside.

The room beyond was dimly lit, but as his eyes adjusted, he saw it: a figure embedded within a colossal, cubic stone, covered in the same intricate lines as the door.

Shin squinted, his mind struggling to comprehend. A non-monster creature? In these impossible depths? The sheer unlikelihood of it sent a jolt through him.

Then, a soft, feminine yet undeniably tired voice echoed, a fragile whisper that seemed to emanate from the very stone itself, cutting through the silence.

"Who... is... there..."