Two weeks have passed since I started my street urchin (survival) life.
By the way, this continent has what’s called Spirit Week, divided into seven days: Light, Darkness, Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void, with the Day of Light being a day of rest. Lamenting that “darkness has fallen upon the world” on the Day of Darkness, when work begins, is a classic old man joke.
And a month has thirty days, and a year has 360 days. After spending such two weeks, it sounds good to say that I’ve gotten used to life in the forest, but it’s only because this country is in the southern part of the continent and the climate is warm. If it were midsummer or midwinter, I might have died a long time ago.
I’ve been on alert for the past two weeks because of the old woman and that drunk, but there hasn’t been any sign of pursuers.
During these two weeks, I’ve continued my usual training and basic Mana Control practice. In the meantime, I went to town once to replenish what I needed for my forest life.
I also saw those siblings at that time, but perhaps because I handed over the drunk’s wallet at that time, they seemed to have eaten something decent, and their complexion seemed a little better.
For the time being, my relationship with those two is more than strangers but less than acquaintances. The older brother, Jill, seems to see me as a rival for some reason, but the younger sister, Shuri, waves at me with a full smile when she finds me.
The phenomenon I discovered of moving my hair as an extension of my Mana, after several attempts, turned out to be not at a level where I could move it freely like limbs, but only to the extent that I could move it a few centimeters when I swung it around.
After all, the world isn’t that kind. Still, after doing it about a hundred times, my accuracy increased by about 20%, and I felt that the power also increased a little.
More than that, the problem is that since it’s just my hair tied up and lengthened, it unravels after using it dozens of times. Maybe it’s because my dexterity is low, but because I’ve been re-braiding my hair so many times, my dexterity has increased by 1 before I knew it.
So, my current status is like this.
[Aria (Alicia)] [Race: Human Female] [Rank 0]
[Mana Capacity: 43/52] 7 Up [HP: 28/36] 4 Up
[Strength: 3 (3.3)] [Durability: 4 (4.4)] [Agility: 5 (5.5)] [Dexterity: 6] 1 Up
[Stealth Lv.1] [Night Vision Lv.1]
[Utility Magic x6] [Non-Attribute Magic Lv.1] New
[Mana Control Lv.1] [Detection Lv.1]
[Overall Combat Strength: 24 (During Body Enhancement: 26)] 1 Up
I didn’t learn the Dagger Arts Skill in these two weeks, but instead, I acquired Non-Attribute Magic at level 1. I haven’t learned the Appraisal Skill yet, but I feel that the accuracy has improved considerably by concentrating and using it.
Since the Non-Attribute Magic with levels is [Body Enhancement] and [Combat Art], I probably acquired only [Body Enhancement] first, which I should have learned together with close combat skills.
If this value is correct, then Body Enhancement level 1 is a 10% enhancement.
…Which means Feld can use Body Enhancement up to level 5… in other words, close combat skills up to level 5, which is the limit for ordinary people. No wonder he’s so strong.
The reason I’m only learning Mana-based skills is probably because my body is still a child, so I can’t handle body-based skills.
I was told that I would be able to learn close combat skills quickly because I have the basics of Body Enhancement, but even if I can learn a skill that takes two to three years in half a year to a year, I don’t have that much time to spend now.
Is it no good just tracing the form accurately? Maybe there’s some kind of trick to it.
The reason my Mana has increased somewhat is probably because I’m training my Mana and because I learned Body Enhancement, which is Non-Attribute Magic. But the reason my HP has increased is probably not just because I’ve gotten used to life in the forest, but also because of the “pain” coming from my leg joints?
At first, I thought it was muscle pain from excessive exercise and fatigue, but the “knowledge” inside me told me it was “growing pains.”
It seems that such a phenomenon occurs when a person’s body grows rapidly.
But that should happen after I turn 10 and my body gets bigger. So, when I wondered why such a phenomenon was happening to me at the age of seven and looked up the “knowledge,” some information about Mana came to mind.
It’s rare among commoners and below, but noble children who have been training their Mana since they were young seem to grow faster.
Nobles grow faster and age slower. That’s because nobles are the ruling class with blue blood chosen by God… or so some nobles seem to be saying themselves, but according to that woman’s teacher, it seems that such a phenomenon simply occurs when there is a lot of Mana.
Certainly, my current Mana is more than that of the average adult. But even among the nobles in the “knowledge,” there shouldn’t be many examples of growth accelerating around the age of seven. Perhaps it’s not so much that the number of skills or combat training is affecting it, but rather that they’re not doing such desperate training from the age of seven.
In short, to summarize, my body is growing rapidly because my Mana has become as large as an adult’s, so my joints hurt.
Therefore, it doesn’t mean that it will heal if I rest my body, so there’s no reason to stop training. Still, the efficiency is still poor, so I decided to focus on practicing “Magic.”
Before thinking about what to choose, first, the “Magician” system is important.
The first is the “Magician,” which I have been considering all along, who uses his own Mana to interfere with the surrounding Mana Particles and perform Attribute Magic.
This is the most common “Magician” and is easy to use because it can be used in any situation.
However, as a drawback, the power and effect vary greatly depending on the user’s mental strength. And although it depends on the level of proficiency, it requires a long period of mental concentration, so there was a danger that the user could become defenseless while performing Magic.
The second is the “Spirit Magician,” who makes a “request” to the Spirit by using his own Mana as “compensation” to make the Spirit use its power.
If you increase your affinity with the Spirit, you can suppress Mana consumption, and it is easier to obtain higher power than Magic handled by humans.
On the other hand, if the Spirit is in a bad mood, the power will decrease, and Earth Attribute cannot be used on stone pavements, and Wind Attribute cannot be used in caves. Using fire in the forest will make the Water Spirit dislike you.
In the first place, it seems that you can’t use it unless you can hear the voice of the Spirit, so it’s impossible for me.
The third is the “Summoner,” who uses a magic circle to summon Spirits or contracted Monsters.
It’s similar to a Spirit Magician, but the difference is that once you make a contract, the summoned creature will follow the caster and fight as an ally unless you do something extremely heinous.
Mental concentration is required when summoning, but once summoned, the caster can also fight as a warrior or Magician, which is an advantage, but to make that contract, you need to be liked or subdued by the other party. And it consumes Mana while summoning, although not as much as Body Enhancement, so it’s normal for high-ranking Magicians and warriors to learn it for self-defense, and beginners rarely start with it.
That’s why if I were to learn Magic, “Magician” would be the only choice from the beginning.
There are six attributes of Magic.
People can use Magic of the attribute that suits them best among these… is the general view, but if we assume that Utility Magic is the basis of these six attributes, then most Magicians learn all Utility Magic as a hobby, so the idea of individual attributes becomes strange.
Perhaps individual attributes are likes and dislikes that are influenced by past experiences, preferences, living environment, and so on. And by using that attribute a lot, a [Magic Stone] that generates the Mana of that attribute is created in the body?
But, haven’t the Magicians of the past noticed what even a child like me can think of?
After all, there may be something “behind the scenes,” like a “Divine Protection (Cheat).”
If it takes ten times to learn a favorite attribute, it will take a hundred times to learn a disliked attribute. Elves, who are said to have eternal life, are an exception, but if a human tries to master Magic, it will take decades even for one attribute.
Therefore, it is more efficient to cut off the attributes you are not good at and extend your strengths.
And even for Elves who are good at Magic, Forest Elves who live in the forest cannot use Fire Attribute. Isn’t this because they unconsciously avoid “fire” that burns the forest?
For the time being, it is inefficient to practice multiple Magic, and assuming there is something “behind the scenes,” I think it is better to learn only one or two.
Then, instead of trying various things to see which one I am good at, I should think about my combat style and choose only based on efficiency before my tastes become fixed.
If I simply think about combat, Fire Magic is the best. Fire is effective for most creatures, and if the fire spreads, I can expect burn damage.
If there is a weakness, it is that the burn damage may come back to me, and since flames have no physical weight, the speed of release-type Fire Magic is slow.
For example, in the case of a [Fire Arrow] spell, it only has the speed of a child throwing a stone with all their might, so any decent warrior would avoid it.
Earth Magic’s [Stone Shot] has physical destructive power and should have about the same speed as a sling used by an adult, but a [Stone Shot] with low Mana can be easily defended against with hard armor or shields.
If you could create ice arrows with water magic, they would be fast and have considerable power, but water magic has many spells with anti-biological effects, so its physical destructive power is low.
With wind magic, it’s difficult to see, so it’s hard for the opponent to notice, and it’s also fast. But both its anti-biological and anti-physical effects are lower than other magic.
Light Magic can restore stamina and heal wounds. There are also spells to eliminate poison and defend against magic attacks, but there are very few means of attack.
Dark Magic has many illusionary and support spells. If you become skilled, you can learn spatial spells and even use Spatial Transfer, but such spells can only be used by court magicians.
And like Light Magic, Dark Magic has almost no direct means of attack.
Each one has its pros and cons. Considering that, that woman who could use both Fire Magic, with its attack-specialized power, and Water Magic, which could close wounds and provide simple treatment, might have been ideal as a general magician.
What am I even looking for in magic in the first place?
I want a “weapon” as a means of survival, and even if my Mana has increased somewhat, I only have about the same or slightly more than an average adult, so relying on attack magic that consumes a lot of Mana seems dangerous.
Attack power can be improved by training in Dagger Arts and throwing, so I should learn a system that supports that.
–Hyun!
The thrown iron skewer sticks into the ground.
I’ve been practicing throwing with that iron skewer for the past two weeks.
The iron skewer, blackened with burnt soot and rusted, was made of forged steel as expected after I sharpened it with a whetstone for about two full days.
It was difficult to use as it was, so I tried sharpening the tip like a Blade. It took time to be able to use it, but I’m really glad it was steel. I wondered what I would do if it was just cast iron after all that effort.
But still, it sticks into the soil but not into the trunk of a tree. You might think that’s no good at all, but I’ve improved a lot just by being able to throw it straight.
That’s why I decided to learn [Light Magic] and [Dark Magic] to support close combat and throwing.
The reasons I chose these two are because I wanted to be able to heal my own injuries since I’m doing close combat, and I wanted a way to recover my limited stamina.
Also, now that I’ve learned Stealth, I thought it would be compatible with the illusions of Dark Magic. Instead of forcibly defeating the enemy head-on, I’ll outwit them, set traps, and run away if necessary.
Fighting fair and square is something to leave to knights or muscle monsters like Feld-san.
Now, I was about to start magic training… but that woman must have trained in all the attributes of magic to find out her affinity, but she didn’t remember anything about Dark Magic at all.
No, it’s possible that she wasn’t interested, so she didn’t listen to her teacher’s lessons from the beginning…
Instead, she had a considerable amount of “knowledge” about [Light Magic].
When I wondered why she had such a bias in her knowledge, it seemed that the “me” in the [Otome Game] could use Light Magic, so she studied it desperately.
When I asked why she didn’t learn it even though she was so interested, it seems that she easily learned Fire Magic and Water Magic, and got bored because it became more fun.
…I can see that concentration is important for a magician.
Next time, I will learn magic.