back in the day, i read every lore book i found in shadows of amn. had to ctrl + R often during fights tho. in my defense, i was just a kid at the time ?
100% accuracy and grammatically correct not guaranteed
obligatory text moe
A numbing holiday I didn"t yearn for
ikinari biri biri no deban ka yo
It has been one week since I"ve registered as an adventurer and the duel event that followed right after.
I was only experiencing peaceful daily life ever since, as if the initial rush to reach Draknil was but a dream.
Well, I did have some kind of icy performance occasionally when I"m out at the forest or rocky area to do some guild request. But that was still relatively calm compared to before arriving here.
Chloe seems to be satisfied, being able to seriously focus towards repaying her debt.
ーーーBy the way, rock comb lizard stew was as delicious as I expected. Before being cooked, the lizard"s rocky c.o.c.ks...o...b..does prove true to its namesake. But after being stewed properly, it became soft and tender.
Due to time taken to achieve this state, the flavor of the stew permeated thoroughly throughout the meat. And despite its tenderness, it still retains chewy texture similar to a simmered pork, albeit with higher richness in flavor.
ーーOh, I forgot to mention. The rock comb lizard hunting botchan messed up previously was properly completed. Since I procured it with minimum damage to the ingredients, extra reward was added, just like the other time when I went for horn rabbit.
My purse is getting fatter and heavier~
I"ve completed four request this week, excluding the first two. Two of them are magic beast hunting and the rest are material procurement. Needless to say, those magic beasts are of the delicious variety. Lack of request for hunting magic beast led me to undertake the other type of request to pa.s.s time.
One thing that must not be forgotten is, I am a j.a.panese high school student of modern society. In the span of a week, students have two precious-as-gold days.
Indeed, its none other than Sat.u.r.day and Sunday. Unlike earth, this world doesn"t have the concept of fixed holiday. Rather, the people here decide their rest day weekly depending on circ.u.mstances.
Having said that, I"m currently reading in my room. I"m trying to learn more about this world and at the same time, it also serves as a reading practice. Today"s t.i.tle is [Magic Course Even a Child Can Understand].
Faima did teach me something about magic and mana, roughly speaking. However, that was an open-air cla.s.s with no writings whatsoever. Its doubtful if I can remember everything she said. Unfortunately, I don"t have convenient ability such as perfect recollection of memories. So, I"m also reviewing Faima"s lesson using this book.
For me, this is a reconfirmation of Faimsensei"s cla.s.s but I"ll explain nonetheless.
Mana is an invisible substance that exist within everything in this world. Its an [extremely unstable] substance but by its own, it causes little to no effect. This instability is utilized using magical formation to provide [direction] for mana and that process in turn, is the impetus for magical phenomenon.
The same characteristic is also the reason why each individual has a different apt.i.tude for attributes. To be precise, mana existing inside each individual is oriented towards their respective attributes.
ーーーーーThe explanation up to this point is an interpretation of a high school student for an introductory text intended for 3-year old children.
「………Now that I"ve reviewed it again, spirits are quite different.」
Just like how magicians utilizes mana, I use the spirits to cause a phenomenon. But after reading the book, I was made to reaffirm the difference.
Spirits are a collection of consciousness without any ego of its own that exist everywhere in this world. It is invisible but unmistakably present. In that regard, it is similar to mana. However, the decisive difference comes from the existence of [consciousness] or lack thereof.
The spirits won"t do anything by itself but its" consciousness is definitely there. It will gladly accept anything I wish for, as long as it stays within a reasonable scope. Conversely, the spirits firmly refuses unreasonable demands.
For example, a magician with fire attribute. Although it may be difficult but using magic of other attributes such as water or wind can somehow be managed.
Doing the same with Spirit Art is impossible. Spirits can"t handle attributes other than ones" own apt.i.tude, no matter how hard one tries.
Listening to that alone might lead one to believe spirit art is inconvenient but its advantage lies in the extensive range of phenomenon that can be created. Phenomenon related to [ice] can be manifested physically as long as the image used to create it is stable.
There"s no need to go through complicated magical formulas.
In addition, there are three steps in using magic which is [kneading mana –> spell composition –> activation of magical formation].
Spirit Art on the other hand only go through two steps. [image consolidation –> activation]
Invocation speed is Spirit Arts" forte.
Then again, the biggest weakness of using spirit art is the [backlash] that occurs when a spirit art phenomenon created using a very strong image is destroyed.
ーーーWhen the various ice construct I imagined collapsed while I"m still connected to the spirits, pain experienced by the spirits that coagulated into that construct was also shared by me. In my case of an extreme backlash, the pain goes beyond the limits of my mind, gaining the momentum capable of breaking the barrier of mind and body, ultimately physically injuring me.
「Using [ice] only as a heavyweight weapon is a bottleneck huh.」
Needless to say, ice is a [solid matter]. And my offensive using spirit art incorporates sheer ma.s.s and solidity.
Due to the grace of the spirits, my ice made using spirit art has density comparable to that of [iron] and that quality increases further with an even clearer image.
However, there are those who can destroy even that casually.
If I was capable of using spirit art of fire or wind attribute, even if it was confronted head-on, things would not have gone half as bad. Because both attributes does not have fixed form.
Actually, I"m already developing a technique to overcome that limitation of ice attribute spirit art but its quite difficult. Although I can control it to some extent, its still far from effective enough for combat use. I think it will be a powerful a.s.set when completed.
After mulling that far, I close the book while exhaling. Using my head sure is tiring. Let"s take a break.
「So, what are you doing?」
I"m sitting on the bed in my room looking down on Chloe who was groaning on the floor for quite a while now. She came in earlier when I was reading my book. I allowed her entry but..
「In Hinoizur, there is a day once per week whereby every citizen have a day off de gozaru. This one also intends to recuperate today to restore one"s strength for tomorrow de gozaru yo.」
……………Can it be?
There is a high probability that a j.a.panese brought in j.a.pan"s culture, influencing Hinoizur in the process.
「No, not that one. I don"t mind you coming into my room but what"s up with all the groaning? If you"re not doing well, go back and sleep.」
「This one does not feel unwell de gozaru yo. Since it is a waste of time just silently idling by, this one was training.」
Saying so, Chloe positioned her hands in front of her chest as if to clap but kept it separated about 20cm apart and began to groan again. Thereupon, a light flashes right in the middle of her hands. From there, purple lightning flashes regularly.
「………Magical training?」
「That is correct de gozaru. This one possess meager amount of mana, thus wasting away the inherent abilities of a black wolf de gozaru kara na. From time to time, this one trains in this way in order to increase one"s amount of mana while practicing this one"s spell de gozaru yo.」
The amount of mana that dwells inside a person can be increased the same way we improve our muscle strength which is through repeated use and recovery. However, talent (inherent ability) is more important than total amount of mana. It is the biggest wall that differentiates a magician with the general public.
「To be honest, even for the purpose of strengthening one"s own body with mana and attacking the enemy with a spell, this one"s amount of mana is overwhelmingly insufficient de gozaru yo. At best, this one can only electrocute an enemy through direct contact de gozaru.」
Is she a human stun gun?
Maybe its not transmitted properlyーー
ーーis not what I can say to Chloe right now. She"s slumping while laughing bitterly in self-ridicule.
「………Those that registered as adventurers at the same time as this one has already been promoted to B-rank de gozaru. A clan member with the same lightning attribute as this one had even reached rank. Compared to them, this one still stays a C-rank even to this day. This one was even manipulated by unscrupulous people into becoming an a.s.sa.s.sin. haaa……… ……What is the point of saying all this. How miserable de gozaru na.」
Chloe monologue gradually descends into a spiral of negativity. She"s usually cheerful but once in a while this ookami-san becomes despondent like this. Both her ears and tail droops down feebly.
「No matter how much effort oneself puts into training and polishing the skills, those who only possess meager amount of mana will never be able to compete de gozaru yo.」
「Isn"t it be enough if you just get close and electrocute your opponent?」
And deliver the fatal blow after slowing down the enemy.
「Its because this one cannot touch them to begin with de gozaru yo. No matter how fast this one"s mind can react, one"s own body cannot react at the same speed de gozaru. This one cannot hope to catch up with the speed of a serious black wolf. Since a black wolf with lower amount of mana will inevitably be inferior in speed, this one has no reason nor ability to contend with speed de gozaru.」
Apparently, amount of mana plays a big role in combat even for non-magicians. Then, I suddenly realized.
「………We"ve been talking normally but its surprising that you can continue doing that.」
[That] refers to the magic training Chloe started earlier. Even while being depressed, purple lightning continues to flash rhythmically between Chloe"s palm.
「It may not seem so but this one have been doing this practice since childhood de gozaru kara na.」
「………To be exact, what kind of training is it?」
「It is a training to maintain a spell while releasing constant amount of mana. Originally, this training is done with larger amount of mana but since this one is training indoor, the output is accordingly low de gozaru. With this level of output, this one can maintain it even while sleeping but if its performed seriously, this one"s mana will be depleted in 10 minutes de gozaru na.」
「Hmm………」
「tte Kannshi, that"s dangeーー」
I stick my finger into the electricity generated between her palms as an experiment before I can finish hearing her warning.
Conclusion.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTT! ! ! !
「nguaaAAAAAAA! !」
「KKannshiiiiiiiii!?」
I got careless and was only expecting some slightly numb sensation.
In reality, the shocking pain that got me screaming like crazy spread from my fingertip to my whole body.
At that moment, a different type of pain from that of electric shock pierced my mind. But before I can begin to understand what it is, I fainted.
「For goodness sake, what are you even thinking about de gozaru na, Kannshi! This one thought one"s own heart was going to stop de gozaru yo!」
「um Real sorry bout that. My bad, Chloe.」
I fainted due to shock but I"m wide awake now. When my consciousness returns, I saw Chloe halfway into tears in front of me. After she confirmed that I"m awake, she put aside that crying face and put on her mask of anger. Because I"m totally in the wrong this time, I"ll obediently accept her scolding.
「I didn"t think it was that intense, ya know.」
Even after fully awake, my head is still dizzy.
「No matter how low one"s mana is, this one have lightning attribute de gozaru kara na! This one is also resistant to electricity and fortunately, the spell just now was only moderate in terms of [power] de gozaru na.」
That was moderate huh…
If she went full power, that"d be instant death for me isn"t it.
「………Hold on, if you manage to hit the enemy with it, isn"t that good enough? They"d be unable to fight normally after getting hit with that.」
「This one already said it de gozarou, that was just a training session. Generating lightning between this one"s hands is easy de gozaru. The difficulty jumps up exponentially when this one tries to use it against an enemy de gozaru na. Amount of mana required also increases correspondingly de gozaru yo. It is an exceedingly inefficient method to be used in combat de gozaru. Even if this one considers applying it directly , without physical contact with the enemy, it is not possible de gozaru shi na.」
Things seldom go as one wishes huh.
In my case, equipping tekkou on my hand will enable me to hit the enemy with an extra punch. But when you need direct physical contact, said armor becomes a nuisance instead.
To begin with, her weapon is a type of one-handed sword. Reinforcing her hand with more protection will increase her burden and in turn, decreases her sword handling speed. How about setting aside her original way of fighting, which emphasizes sharpness rather than the weight of a single blow and try incorporating magic in it.
………hn?
Wait a sec.
That"d work!
In other words, Chloe just have figure out how to incorporate magic while keeping her original fighting style. Instead of using swordsmanship and magic separately, a combination of both will surely be better.
「Say, Chloe. If you were to shock the enemy, how would you do it?」
「Similar to what I did de gozaru na, directing my palm towards the enemy.」
「I see. Indeed. Right, I just came up with an idea for you.」
What came to mind was a famous s.p.a.ce war robot anime. I"m not referring to the white hero armed with beam sword and rifle. Its an enemy machine the hero encountered.
It was a ground based blue-colored robot with a horn piloted by a grumpy ossan.
Specifically, the whip and sword that robot wielded.
If what I recalled is feasible, Chloe"s complex might be reduced to some extent.
Thus, a peaceful and (physically) electrifying holiday comes to an end.
biri biri da na. bikkuri s.h.i.ta wa
sure hope i translated n phrased all the in-depth setting by the author adequately.
last 3 ch of this mini arc are longer. ch51 is comparable to interlude, i think. oh the horror ?
when this page goes live, ill no longer be able to continue……
…sitting in front of my desktop. oh the pure horror of it ????. im sure ill go [my eyes! ! ! taiyou-san ga, mabushii sugiru~~!]. could someone summon chiyo-nee to resurrect me later ?. ahem. the holiday itself was planned earlier this year. i kinda forgot about it until recently ?