Chapter 25: Full-Scale Start
Right now, Fran can use magic around 20 times, but she doesn’t know how much Magical Power she’s actually using.
The number of uses, when I first asked, she said 15 or 16 times, but she hasn’t noticed it’s increased.
I should also teach her how to conserve Magical Power so she can use magic for attacks at least 20 times.
Though, it’s just secondhand knowledge from light novels, it’s been quite useful so far, so it should be fine.
“Fran, when you cast magic, you can feel the Magical Power leaving your arm, right?”
“Of course. If I couldn’t do that, I wouldn’t be able to use magic.”
“Well then, whether it’s an Arrow or a Shelter, when you’re using magic, do you know how much Magical Power is flowing?”
“How much? The amount necessary for the magic, I suppose.”
“Really, from what I’ve heard, that’s not the case. If you know the amount of Magical Power flowing, you can use magic even with less.”
“Is such a thing possible?”
“I don’t know. I’m not a mage, after all. But your magic has improved with the teachings I picked up, right?”
“It certainly has improved, and adding Magical Power was a surprise.”
“Whether it’s an Arrow or a Shelter, if you create it while wishing for it to be as hard as stone, you can do it, right?”
“Yes. It’s a relief that they’re not flimsy like before.”
“So, try to sense the amount of Magical Power flowing from your arm. And then, how about trying to stop the flow at the very end to reduce it? I’ve heard that if you reduce the Magical Power used too much, the magic won’t activate, so if it doesn’t work, you can just go back to how it was.”
“Right. If I try and succeed, my attack power will also increase. I’ll try it starting tonight.”
While Fran practices shooting Stone Arrows, I’m practicing with my shortbow, but there’s one thing bothering me.
The speed of her Stone Arrow and my arrow are almost the same, and they fly in an arc even at a distance of about 30 meters.
It’s probably because Fran has a fixed image of arrows flying in a parabolic trajectory.
It seems we really need to use a crossbow to imprint the image of a straight flight path.
Even powerful magic is useless if it’s slow enough to be dodged.
“We have more visitors.”
Hearing Fran’s voice, I peered through the darkness.
Beasts wandering at night appear from time to time, but tonight’s visitor seems to be a Wolf-type; it’s not yelping.
We’re practicing magic inside the safe and secure Dome, but today, I decided to have her shoot to check her Stone Arrow.
“Fran, try shooting it when it gets closer.”
“Huh? Bringing in another Beast will make us stand out. Can’t I just drive it away with a Bullet?”
“There’s something I’m curious about with the Stone Arrow, so please do it. And use incantation within your mouth.”
“Understood.”
She mumbled something and with a shout of
And it was slow.
The first shot hit, but because it was slow, it wasn’t a fatal wound. It let out a
The second shot missed as its companions, startled by the cry, moved. A flustered Fran shot a follow-up, but it missed widely.
“That’s enough. It doesn’t have as much power as I thought.”
“Huh? But even with a bow, it’s about like this. If you want to take it down in one shot, you need a strong bow and heavy arrows.”
“Make one Arrow for me.”
The Stone Arrow she handed me was a little over 60cm long and a little over 1cm thick, the size and thickness we decided on before.
To increase its power, you need speed and weight. Even if we achieve crossbow speeds, with its current state, the power won’t increase much.
It’s useful enough in anti-personnel combat, but against Beasts, you’d probably have to shoot many to take them down, and a Stone Lance is too powerful.
“Fran, sorry, but could you double the thickness of the Arrow?”
“Is the current one no good?”
“Didn’t you say it yourself? ‘If you want to take it down in one shot, you need a strong bow and heavy arrows.’ It’s fine for anti-personnel combat, but it seems too light against Beasts. You’re not aiming to be a soldier, but to subjugate Beasts, right? Then having more power in a single shot is more advantageous.”
“True, that one from earlier got away even though it was hit.”
“If you can take down numerous Dog-types or Wolves in one shot, you won’t have to waste shots.”
“So, it’s back to practicing Stone Arrow from scratch, huh?”
“I think Stone Lance is fine as it is. Launching it is the same as an Arrow, so practicing with Arrows is enough.”
While Fran practices making Arrows, I’m playing with Bee-chan and the others.
Starting with squad flights of 25 each, then dispersion and regrouping drills with 10 and 5, and simultaneous attack training from the left and right.
Sometimes, they’d surround a target, circling it, and practice attacking from behind or from the opposite direction the target was facing, indulging me in a playful mood.
Fran, tired from making Arrows, watches this, looking exasperated.
Koo-chan and his group said they were scared of Bee-chan and her swarm flying in formation nearby, so I placed their ‘my home’ in a spot I indicated had plenty of food.
Of course, I buried it in a thicket of grass where Bee-chan and her swarm couldn’t enter.
I have them accompany me on Medicinal Herb gathering to pass the time, and they seem happier and more comfortable than always cowering in their nest.
The gathered Medicinal Herbs are in a Rank 3-60 Magic Pouch, so I can go sell fresh ones anytime.
Fran’s Stone Lance modification was also completed, and when we tested it on a Goblin, it was blown away in one hit.
Before, when an arrow pierced them, they’d make a huge fuss, but now they go quiet in one shot, and even if they resist, we can deal with them easily.
Thanks to that, we’ve accumulated over 50 Goblin Magic Stones, so we decided to leave Goblin hunting to other Adventurers unless we’re attacked.
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We decided to return to town once for the final preparations, but just as we reached the highway where the town was visible, we encountered some thugs.
They were the nameless party of five who had said something like, “If we meet in the forest, let’s get along.”
“Ah, we ran into them.”
“To think they’d come all this way to be practice targets for your toned-down Bullets. They’re surprisingly kind, aren’t they?”
“Am I really the one who has to deal with them?”
“If someone picks a fight, an Adventurer buys it, right?”
“No, no, apologizing and running away is also what Adventurers do.”
“If it gets dangerous, I’ll have Bee-chan and the others attack them from behind.”
《Bee-chan and everyone, don’t attack until I give the signal.》
If 50 Killer Bees attacked them, it would likely be too late by the time I stopped them, so I decided to designate specific ones.
《Units 1 to 5 only are allowed to attack! The rest, fly a little further away and stay hidden. When I give the signal, Units 1 to 5 can sting up to five times.》
《Ehh~, I want to sting a lot!》
《I want to eat meat later~♪》
“Yo, long time no see. Well? Feeling like taking us on now?”
“No way! That Horn Boar back then was covered in wounds, wasn’t it? You saw the Orc we defeated, right? We don’t want to team up with weaklings. Understand?”
“Hoh, is that so? Shall we test if we’re weak then?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to stop? You’ll get hurt.”
“Damn brat, getting cheeky!”
He drew the sword on his back, so I signaled Fran.
With a nice
“You bastard!”
A Stone Bullet shattering and a man sent flying. Her rate of fire is slow, but I guess this is how it is in anti-personnel combat.
As three of them drew their swords and lunged at Fran simultaneously, I ordered, 《Go!》
The moment she started shooting Stone Bullets, Bee-chan and her swarm, who I had sneak up behind them, attacked all at once.
At the same time, the rest who were on standby overhead descended with a loud buzzing and danced wildly.
Stung by the bees, the three of them ran off, so I had Bee-chan and the others slowly pursue them.
《Master, they stopped moving.》
《Slowpokes!》
《We won’t forgive Master’s enemies!》
《That’s enough now. Everyone, come back.》
“Phew, that was scary. You should’ve helped me sooner!”
“Hmm, that was a situation where you should have created a Shield in front of you to defend. Or created a low barrier at their feet to trip them. Fran, you need to use magic flexibly according to the situation.”
“I haven’t practiced anything like that!”
“You can make a Shield, so you could make a low shield, or make a vertical one horizontally. Since you can use magic, think about how to use it.”
“Normally, people wouldn’t think of such things!”
“It’s Earth Magic, you know. There are plenty of examples, from construction and road building to castle walls.”
“Ah… right.”
“If you can use it freely, you’ll make a name for yourself as an unparalleled mage.”
She seemed to be pondering my words, then her face broke into a grin.
This girl, she’s not imagining herself being famous, is she?
“Fran, are you thinking of a nickname like the Guild Master who ran away, Owen the Hellfire?”
“Huh? N-n-no, I’m not thinking about anything like that!”
Even if you deny it with a red face, it’s completely obvious.
Maybe I should bestow upon her a nickname so embarrassing she can’t even say it.
“What should we do with these guys?”
“Leave them, of course. Whoever passes by can do as they please.”
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“Fran, Shelter!”
“There are a lot of them.”
“Well, we’ll be attacking from a safe zone, so it doesn’t really matter.”
I take out a shortbow from my Magic Pouch and, from the arrow slit Fran opened for me, I aim and shoot at the Howl Dogs.
Beside me, she’s taking down one Howl Dog after another with Stone Arrow.
As a result of my shooting Stone Arrow and a stone crossbow simultaneously, and repeatedly demonstrating their flight speed and trajectory, her Stone Arrow’s speed and power increased significantly.
Before I could even loose my second arrow, Fran had already taken down three or four of them, so the fight was over in an instant.
“Will you Tame them?”
“Dog-type monsters are yappy and noisy, you know. If I Tamed one and took it along, it’d be like loudly announcing my location, so I don’t need one.”
“Having our location revealed would be bad, wouldn’t it. In that case, shall I deliver the finishing blows?”
She delivers the finishing blows to the Howl Dogs that are down but still breathing, and tosses them into her Magic Bag.
I’d like to Tame a Wolf-type monster, preferably a Forest Wolf, which are said to have large builds, but it seems there aren’t any around here.
It’s not that there are no Wolf-type monsters at all, but I haven’t encountered any since I started hunting in earnest.
So far, I did Tame a Horned Rabbit, but it only had the [Charge] characteristic, so I immediately released it, killed it, and it became dinner, you see.