The Old Man’s Morning
A martial artist always wakes up early.
While the sky was still dark, I cracked open an eyelid slowly.
Looking at the clock, which is equipped to the dorm room, I check the time.
….Four-thirty in the morning. Umu, the time I wake up hasn’t changed.
Waking up this early was a habit from my previous life. After waking up, I would first exercise.
Only today could I practice, due to the fact that today was one of the two free days in the school week.
My cla.s.smate who slept on the top bunk ── Eric Paris Star── was a friendly boy with freckles. So as not to wake him up, I got off the bed without making a sound.
On the opposite side of the bunks was a closet for storing clothes. On the top were clothes for everyday use. There were also hooded robes inside, robes that you had to wear in order to practice magic at the Academy.
This childish robe was woven so that you had room to grow into it, but unexpectedly, it also helped in training (Magic?). Though it was better left unsaid, the hooded robe was also good for disguising your ident.i.ty.
Even though it had this feature, I was thinking of not using it. However, when I thought about how awkward it would be if I were spotted in the crowd without the robe, I decided that having the robe would be more safe. Also, if I were to wear the robe, I would be seen as an aspiring mage (magic student?). There would be no way for anyone to think that I was a martial artist.
──Either way, I still needed permission to leave the school, so I didn’t need to wear the hood when leaving the school.
When I removed the hood in front of the mirror, which was equipped on the inside of the closet door, I saw a person who didn’t seem to be a mage (magic student?) in any way.
Fumu, this is my twelve year old body── eh, I’m still not accustomed to this.
Unexpectedly, I retained my coppery hair even in this life.
My eyes were a dark emerald at the current time*. My facial features were said to have been this way from my childhood(?)──but, I think it seems more similar to those of my father.(* note: Probs referring to the time right now -> 4:30 AM)
Even if you were to live harmoniously side by side, it would be expected that your race wouldn’t have a future if you didn’t have children.
──Nevertheless, when one looked into my eyes, they would find it to be strangely sharp. Though it was probably due the years from my past life, when I had been very aggressive.
Yet──it was said that elves separated themselves from other races because of the fact that they were good-looking and that they themselves knew this. Because I had not really thought about it too much, a certain evaluation of myself sprung out. (TL note: I think he’s saying he’s not good-looking)
……Feeling unexpectedly handsome, I felt a little admiration for my own reflection. Reflected in the mirror, besides my eyes, was a pretty boy, as well as my own wry smile while thinking this.
Come to think of it, how long has it been since I’ve looked at myself in the mirror?
In my previous life, there was also a large mirror in the dojo. However, it was unpleasant if you liked that kind of confirmation, and it got in your way. (TL note: I think he means by the light reflecting off the mirror)
It was also my fault at not checking it out myself due to having little interest in my appearance. Perhaps it was because of this that I still didn’t believe that this was my face.
──Fumu. I guess I better shave/groom myself after my beard grows.
I think some hair is okay, such as hair that could be shaved casually and didn’t get in the way.
Well, it’ll be long before I start doing that. Thinking of this cliche, I remembered what I had vowed to a certain person while leaving the room.
During this time, while the sun still wasn’t up, the hallway of the dormitory was silent.
It was certain that not even one percent of the dormitory had woken up. While breathing in the cool morning air, I left the dormitory. (TL note: Finally…)
When you went out, there was a pleasant scent of morning dew. It would be exaggerated to say that one would get up early just because of this.
「Oh, Slava Marshall. It’s quite respectable that you’re up early today.」
Called out the voice of a plump guard when I had reached the school gate.
I go out every day whenever it becomes a holiday, so it has become a routine to see me go outside.
As usual, I will have to get issued a permit so that I could go outside, so I put smile on my face.
「I can do whatever I want as long as I don’t break the rules right? Can I get my usual permit?」
「…Yeah, certainly. Though bocchan is trustworthy, I have to say this because it’s part of the regulations. Be sure to be back by curfew to avoid dangerous things, okay?」(TL note: You all should know that ‘bocchan’ means boy by this point)
Returning my greeting with a kindly laugh, I started preparing for my exercise.
When doing an intense workout, preparations are necessary.
──Seems like this is going to be intense. (TL note: Didn’t know how to make this make sense from JP to Eng)
I noticed that a corner of my mouth had curved up without me knowing.
Moving my body without restraint on a holiday, huh? (TL note: Original line was “ 思う存分体を動かせるとは、休日とはなんと素晴らしき日か。” but this sounds better in context when converted to English | Comment if you have a better TL)
While suppressing these feelings that had been delaying my exercise, I silently finished my preparations.
I started running through the road that was surrounded by trees while increasing my speed gradually.
By the time my speed had reached the speed of a horse, I was already far away enough to not be seen by the guard.
Now I have to suffer the act of wearing this hood. A boy who was hurtling at speeds faster than a horse would obviously attract some attention──however, even if I was being chased, it would be no problem, unless my face was seen.
……My endgoal was one of my childish fantasies come true, a secret base.
Finally, I reached the point where I could decrease my speed, and I leaked out a small laugh.
It had taken around 30 minutes of running to reach my desired location.
My secret base was inside the Academy’s forest, which was pristine due to the fact that it was far from the school.
The alt.i.tude of my base was about 2,000 Mrytle. It was also guarded by the part of the forest that was rarely tread into due to the fact that it was deep inside the forest. (TL note: I don’t know what Mrytle is, but let’s think of it as 1 Mrytle = 1 Meter)
──Basically, it’s on a mountain.
It was visible to the Academy, but people rarely came here. The mountains’ name was “The Sacred Arubaku Peaks”. (TL note: Sorry, I got something like “Mt. Arubaku Mt.” so I switched it up a little)
On the top of the mountain, which was surrounded by woods, ferocious monsters that had adapted to the cold dominate the place. Most people who came here usually left before staying too long.
Since there were less people here for a variety of reasons, it was natural that I could practice my Shijima style without restraint. Ah, it was like a free luxury training field.
It was worth my time to come here on holidays, as it was only a 1 hour round trip.
Having reached the top of the mountain, the place I usually train at, I looked at the Academy from the top of the mountain.
In the current season, by the time when I had gotten to the top of the mountain, the sun would be rising.
While I was watching the sun rise, I muttered:
「If only this mountain were a little farther away, but then again, it would also serve to be a dent in my training.」
Although it would have been more complex, sweating for thirty minutes was enough in this time of year.
The reason it would have been more complex was due to the fact that tree roots would suddenly appear and could only be pa.s.sed with footwork and reaction speed. If you used magic to avoid these roots, you would only end up as a failure when you ran out of mana.
That said, if the location of the training was any more farther than necessary, I would lose more precious time training my fighting style.
Good luck did come unexpectedly though. As I was thinking about the inconveniences of my current body, I put down my luggage.
「Well then, I guess I’ll start with Zen training.」
With an empty stomach, I breathed in a chestful of the cool and clean morning air, which had been nurtured by the untouched forest, and crossed my legs in meditation on slightly damp gra.s.s.
……A serene wind shook the leaves of plants, and good air was generated by this unspoiled piece of nature.
This was one of the living conditions that the spirits who lived on mountains preferred. The farther away the mountain from human society, the better. They also preferred a luxurious training environment as well as living near elves. This one couldn’t help but feel jealous from the amount of attention that the elves were getting.
Anyway, it was likely that my Zen training would advance today. While correcting my feelings and the corner of my mouth that had distorted in joy, I concentrated my mind.
──I immersed myself in nature. The spirits in the mountains, which were residing in the woods, gave off a feeling of cool blue. (TL note: Changed the ‘who were residing’ to ‘which were residing’ due to ambiguous ident.i.ty.)
While I was absorbing the high quality of magic from the spirits, I thought about the rare entering of human spirits that were even higher in quality.
The mana of nature was currently acc.u.mulating in my body. The high quality mana that I was absorbing was just the tip of the iceberg, and made me want to stay in Zen forever.
「（──Mu? The spirits are noisy.）」
While I was in my state of Zen, the spirits had started acting up as if they were terrified of something.
This fluctuation had ruined my state of Zen so I searched using my senses──
Apparently, there seemed to be customers.
Just as something produced a slight rustling sound in the vicinity, I slowly stood up.
At the same time, the spirits, which had surrounded me during my state of Zen, scattered away. Although it was a little earlier than I had expected, I might as well.
It was an exceptionally fine visitor, contrary to what I had thought.
In this mountain, a ferocious monster feared nothing, not even bloodthirst──it would even hunt it’s own kind and be proud of it!
What was unexpected was that they could gauge their opponent’s competence. They had overwhelming confidence in chasing escaped prey as well. Ah, these facts were part of the reason why people didn’t usually come here.
「A Xen.o.bea, huh?」
Slowly, from the rocky shade, a creature with a huge stature covered in fur emerged.
That being said, this was from the view of elves, humans, and humanoid creatures, but even so, it was still impressive to have a stature of 3 Myrtle.
……No, the scale wasn’t a big problem. What was noteworthy about it was its muscle density.
The muscles of this beast were like iron sand and they swelled up until they were bursting.
If the beast were to flex a little, the muscles would probably pop.
The beast, Xen.o.bea, was of the bear kind. Its fighting spirit was strong, and so was its appet.i.te. However, what people feared the most was its skeletal frame.
With the muscles I had described previously, it had the ability to tear a warrior that had magical power enhancements and armor, into two.
In addition to the high density of muscle, its fur was wire-like and could repel a two-handed heavy sword.
A Xen.o.bea could live anywhere and its population was small, so it usually didn’t attack human towns.
However, when it did, it’s like a natural disaster. Even if you yielded most of your crop to the beast, it wouldn’t 「Stop」and proceed to eat people. Due to this, vigilante corps were dispatched in every village and the adventurer guild would send out a quest for extermination. Sometimes, even the kingdom’s soldiers were dispatched to kill the beast.
──No way, what is such a big shot doing in a place like this.
Raising a growl that seemed to resound deep inside the ground, the Xen.o.bea slowly approached me on all fours.
In his ‘steps’ was the pride of being at the top of the mountain ecosystem, thus making me wryly smile.
I released the magic that I had been suppressing everyday and an indescribable feeling washed over me, similar to how you can hear your heart pump blood if you focus.
I got into my fighting stance and in addition, lowered my hips and closed my hand in order to put emphasis on impact.
Well, whatever.
Let’s attribute this to my good luck. After all, it wasn’t every day that you could chance upon a big shot like a Xen.o.bea.
──Emergency. My words, that didn’t get through the dumb beast, got through by the means of my killing intent.
The most primitive way to tell if someone was an enemy or not was through killing intent. The Xen.o.bea, being a beast, of course felt the intense killing intent and was rushing up here as fast as possible while destroying the ground.
It was difficult to a.s.sociate the high speed, which the Xen.o.bea was going at, with its huge stature.
However, it was true, to be honest.
It didn’t know how to be clever because it was 「Straightforward」. If this tactic was to be used against another wild beast, it would have probably won. However, if you included the various elements when fighting me──
We, who have devoted ourselves to 「Martial Arts」 in order to gain strength, are martial artists. (TL: No sh*t Sherlock -> Fixed with jorgelotr’s comment)
Pure violence was easy to understand, thus it wouldn’t take long to defeat him.
My body had firmly met with the eyes of the Xen.o.bea. Since my body looked like a sh.e.l.l, the Xen.o.bea tried to mow me down while I use a flat hand.
My aim was his eyes. I never go「Soft(Easy)」whenever I aim for this place.
Simply put, I just wanted to take away his view.
While I was escaping from being mowed down, I aimed my hands towards the Xen.o.bea’s pupils like this ‘一”. (TL note: Hope it means palm down)
Because my martial arts were tempered by my years of training, my hand had the same purpose as a blade. If a master were to use a mighty magical power to reinforce it, it would be as if he/she were using a famous blade. (TL note: Such as Muramasa’s ‘evil sword’, amirite)
As a result, screaming as though if it was the end of the world, echoed through the mountain.
The eyes were now pieces of dead flesh due to being pierced by his hand. Birds that were nearby immediately flew away and beasts also ran away in terror.
In a matter of just seconds, only the Xen.o.bea and I were left, with the sound of mad roaring due to the pain I inflicted on him by stabbing his eyes.
Once you destroy eyesight, the enemy would thrash around for a while, like an idiot.
Having a little fun is okay, is what I thought in a little s.a.d.i.s.tic manner as I watched the thrashing Xen.o.bea.
──Then I raised my fist and punched the Xen.o.bea. In my previous life, during the time I was young, I used to pull off more complex moves to defeat someone….but I’ve realized that a simple punch can also defeat an opponent.
This was because in nature, absolute rulers took pride in being able to take a few punches, thus creating their ego. If a beast could read what couldn’t be 「Seen」, it wouldn’t be inferior to any beast, the only exception being the 「Mountain King」due to its superior power. I sighed.
「……Want me to give you some mercy?」
While sighing and thinking that the Xen.o.bea was more 「Wild」compared to the previous monsters, as well as being more satisfying, I stepped towards the Xen.o.bea. (TL note: Original says something like delicious so I a.s.sume that the author meant that the Zen.o.bea was a more ‘satisfying’ opponent)
While avoiding the floundering of the enraged bear, I slipped into a crack in his defence and hit him palm bottom. (TL note: For those who don’t know what palm bottom is, google ‘Palm Bottom’ and check out the Naruto site that comes up)
I withdrew the palm, added magic into my hand, and struck him at the same place palm bottom.
It was as if the Xen.o.bea was a balloon made out of paper; he flew up and then started bleeding from his orifices. The reason for this was because I had struck him with my magic, disrupting his body functions and then it burst from inside of him.
It’s been a while since I killed a 「Strong」creature──surprisingly, no emotions pop out of my chest.
I jumped back to avoid getting blood from the orifices of the Xen.o.bea onto my clothes, and I sighed.
It was an idle killing. Well, it doesn’t matter what I get to fight, as long as I get more experience with this body.
Moreover, it challenged me with killing intent. Even if it was an animal on the extinction list or on the side of the law, I would still kill it.
「I don’t feel anything from this either, huh…」
I put my hand onto the nape of the Xen.o.bea and dragged its nonspeaking corpse.
Despite being a ferocious animal, I was still the one who killed it in the end. If I did not remove the corpse of opponent away, I would feel guilty because I had been taught to clean up my own messes by my old master.
If it’s something this big, it’ll be time-consuming…perhaps I’ll 「Get out」on the day after tomorrow.
Due to the decreased amount of animals challenging me, I was pleased that a pretty strong create challenged me….
I have become rather troublesome.
While dragging a ma.s.s of 1,000 kilos, I make my way towards the waterfall to tan the skin of the Xen.o.bea.
…..I guess this can be counted as ‘work using physical force’. Even something this small can help in the way of bodybuilding, after all.
If this meat is left alone, the animals nearby will eat it.
While lamenting that I couldn’t train anymore today, I used physical strengthening magic to help me dismantle the bear.
…..I had thought it didn’t matter, but being an elf wasn’t that bad. I thought I was pretty good looking…and this was the only time I thought this.
I took out deodorant from the bag which I had prepared in order to train. Although it was used to get rid of the smell of sweat, I knew that it could also be used in order to erase traces of smells of blood.
I did the same thing a few weeks ago, but the smell of it from then…no, the important thing is that I try.
By the way, the cost for the deodorants and my training tools were obviously too expensive for me to buy, so I sell the skin or nail of the ferocious beast whom I defeat.
However, this time I fought a ferocious beast that even soldiers and adventurers have trouble against──and thus my day went by.
Though it was popular for young martial artists to take an animal as a foe, good grief. I only killed animals in order to kill off my boredom and keep myself sharp. (TL note: Cuz you don’t want to be dull c^:)
When I thought about my previous life, I realized how much time I spent doing meaningless things. I guess I’ll work harder to hone my 「Martial Arts」.
However──even a ferocious beast of this level isn’t even enough to make me fully satisfied. I wonder when I’ll fight a truly strong opponent…