Now then――real Sergent drop!
…I got all fired up, but now what do I do?
Is it really okay to suddenly attack Father with a hammer?
Is it really okay to swing a hammer straight down at the top of Father’s head?
…No, that is not okay. It really does not feel okay.
Swinging a hammer straight down at my father’s head sounds insane just from the words alone…
「Alec? You can come in now」
「Yeah…」
What should I do. For now, maybe I should avoid the head?
Since it is called a Sergent Drop, maybe the target should be the feet?
…Should I try smashing the hammer into his shin?
That sounds extremely painful too…
「Is something wrong?」
「Y-yeah…」
Realistically, even if I swing the hammer seriously, it probably would not hit Father.
It was the same with swords. I have crossed blades with Father many times during training, but my sword has never touched his body.
Even so… even so, I hesitate.
This sense of weight. The weight of the Alexis Hammer No. 1 in both hands makes me hesitate.
If this thing were to hit him, even by some chance, what would happen to Father…?
After all, Father looks like a slender handsome man.
Thinking normally, if you smash a slender handsome man with a five-kilogram hammer at full force, disaster is unavoidable.
…Actually, whether he is a slender handsome man or a bald, heavily muscled guy, hitting someone with a five-kilogram hammer just brings to mind serious injury.
「Father…」
「Hm?」
「You would be okay even if this hit you, right…?」
「Hm? Yeah. I would be fine」
Father answers calmly.
From the way he acts, maybe he really would be fine? He does not seem like the type who only dodges with technique and speed but would die instantly if actually hit, like someone with paper-thin defenses.
「Ah, you are worried that I might get hurt if that great hammer hits me, Alec?」
「Yeah… You look pretty slender too」
「I do not really get very big, you see…」
He is an elf after all…
And that way of saying it. Is that something he is sensitive about?
Did I just touch on a delicate topic for Father?
「Thank you for worrying about me, Alec. But it is fine」
「I see」
「If you want, why not try hitting me somewhere at random?」
「Eh?」
「How about my stomach? Hit it with all your strength. I will be fine」
「Your stomach, with all my strength…?」
That is a ridiculous suggestion…
He is telling me to smash his stomach as hard as I can…
Well, he must be confident.
Confident that his abs will not even flinch from a hit like mine.
…But there is one thing that worries me.
What if my aim slips?
If I hit not his stomach, but a little lower than that, what would happen…?
Would it really be fine to smash that part? Would there be no problem? Could Father endure it?
Or rather, even Father would get angry, right? He is always gentle and calm, but surely even he would snap if I did that…
「Alec?」
「Umm… let us not do that. I get that you would be fine, so I will skip it」
「I see…」
For some reason, Father looks a little disappointed.
Maybe he wanted to show his strength to his son.
Even though he was in serious danger, Father is so carefree…
「Alright, Father. I am really going now, okay?」
「Yeah」
「Then… here I go」
After one last confirmation, I grip the Alexis Hammer No. 1 again.
I still have no idea how to properly hold a great hammer, but I take a stance anyway and raise it up.
Aiming for the head is too difficult.
I aim for his shoulder instead.
I swing the raised great hammer down toward Father’s shoulder.
「Here I go!」
「Yeah」
「Guh」
Father does not move from his spot and calmly strikes the great hammer from the side with his sword.
That alone knocks the hammer off course, and I end up hitting the ground.
I pull the great hammer back and reset my stance.
This time, I decide to swing from the side.
I pull the hammer back and then swing it with all my strength in a wide horizontal arc.
「Take this!」
「Yeah」
「Guhhh」
Father pulled his body back and dodged the great hammer.
Having suddenly lost my target, I was dragged along by the hammer’s momentum and lost my balance.
I forced strength into my body as it flowed sideways, somehow regained my stance, and raised the great hammer again.
…I see.
From that exchange, I learned one thing.
It is full of openings.
Each motion is large, so the openings are large too. Or rather, it is nothing but openings.
When I wind up the great hammer, that is an opening. When I miss with it, that is an opening. When I reset my stance, that is also an opening.
This looks like it will be hard to use properly. I need to reduce the openings a bit, or make sure I do not miss so much.
For now, let me try a few more things.
「Take this!」
「Mm」
「Hng」
I swung the great hammer sideways again and aimed at Father’s feet, but of course he dodged it.
So I did not stop the momentum of the missed swing and tried spinning around once.
I end up showing my back to Father for a moment, but this lets me face him again.
…Now that I try it, the moment I show my back also feels like a fatal opening.
Even so, I kept the momentum of the spin and swung the great hammer sideways again.
「Take this!」
「Mm」
「Hng」
He dodged it effortlessly again.
With no other choice, I spun around once more.
「Take this!」
「Mm…」
「Hng」
One more spin.
「Take this!」
「M-mm…」
「Hng」
After spinning around so much, I started to build up quite a bit of momentum. My rotation speed increased.
But since my attacks were far too simple, there was no sign of the great hammer hitting Father.
Time to add a little change.
As Father stepped back to dodge my spinning horizontal swing.
Take this.
「Doryaaa!」
「Whoa」
I let go of the great hammer with both hands and hurled it at Father with all my strength.
That was my all-out hammer throw, but unfortunately Father dodged it.
From his voice, it sounded like he was fairly surprised, though.
「That one startled me—」
「Uoooooo!」
「A-Alec?」
「Uoooooo!」
「Alec…」
Since I had finished my all-out hammer throw for the moment, I decided to scream with all my strength.
「Oooooo………… phew」
「W-what on earth was that, Alec…? It felt like you were shouting harder after you threw it…」
「Um, I think that is just how it works」
According to my memories from my previous life, that is how it was.
People who throw hammers always scream at the top of their lungs after throwing them. I do not know why, but I remember seeing that a lot.
「Also, why did you throw it in the first place?」
「I did not feel like it would hit, so it was a last resort…」
「Isn’t that last resort a bit too fast?」
「Should I have spun more times?」
「No, that is not what I mean…」
I did four rotations before throwing it, but maybe I should have spun more.
Still, four rotations feel like the right number somehow.
「More importantly, isn’t throwing it a bad idea? If it hits, fine, but if you throw it and miss, what do you do then, Alec?」
「Well then… I would quickly pull out a sword from my magic bag, I guess」
I do not have one on me right now, but in a normal fight I would be wearing my magic bag.
So after a hammer throw, I could quickly pull out a sword and manage somehow.
「A sword…? Ah, in that case, I suppose that is fine…」
「It is…?」
Just the fact that I would use a sword seems to satisfy Father already.
「But let’s not throw it in the garden. It is dangerous」
「Sorry」
「It flew quite far too… Ah, could it have landed in Miriam’s flower bed…!」
「No, that part is fine. I threw it toward a direction where there was nothing」
「Oh? Is that so. You seemed to have quite a bit of presence of mind there, Alec…」
At the moment I threw it, I made sure to check that much.
I am not going to make a mistake like throwing a hammer into Mother’s vegetable garden. I am not going to do something that cliché.
「Still, it is dangerous, so let’s not do it in the garden」
「Sorry」
Next chapter: Mystery of the “Sword” Skill
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