Episode 2: Pop and Squeeze
When I woke up, my body ached all over, and the faint light outside indicated that dawn was approaching. I had carved a door-shaped cut into the wall of the Dome and fashioned a pin to open it, but it was quite a challenge. I created a bolt with Earth Magic and infused it with Mana to withstand any attacks from outside.
Nibbling on some leftover hard bread, I peered through a peephole to observe my surroundings and ensure my safety. No matter how much knowledge I had from light novels, it wouldn’t guarantee my life, so I had to be cautious. As I chewed on the tough bread, I vowed to store all my food in Spatial Storage from now on. The cold meat was too hard, and my jaw was getting tired.
According to my light novel knowledge, Spatial Storage had a time-stopping function, so if I stored my food, I wouldn’t have to worry about running out. However, I needed to check it, so after today’s Transfer Magic experiment, I would test the capabilities of Spatial Storage.
I remembered a wise saying from a great figure in China: “If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” Or something like that. And wasn’t there something about no improvement leading to no progress? No, no, it was about quality improvement and organization without improvement… I stopped. That was a strange direction to be heading in, and it felt uncomfortable.
Still, using a bit of magic made me tired and sleepy quickly. I had to be careful; if I ran out of Mana and collapsed, it would surely mean my end, so I needed to be cautious. If I got too tired, I might just become a living Buddha…??? No way, I didn’t want to die, so I decided to take a break and cool my head.
As the sun rose higher, I began by cutting grass to create a soft bed. This area had hardly any grass, so adventurers didn’t come here for medicinal herbs, but I struck gold. Bell Flowers! They stood about 25 cm tall, with 4 to 5 bell-shaped pale purple flowers blooming on straight stems. And to top it off, they were in a cluster! Normally, finding 2 or 3 would be considered lucky, but these were blooming hidden among sparse grass. I cut them from the base, being careful not to touch the underground rhizomes, as I had been told to cut them cleanly if I wanted to harvest them again next year. Each one was worth at least five copper coins. A chuckle escaped me, and I felt a bit embarrassed.
For now, I had made my bed. Inside the Dome, I created a frame with Earth Magic measuring 180 cm long and 100 cm wide, piled high with the cut grass. Tonight, I would be sleeping on a soft bed of grass, feeling like I was in paradise. I sealed the door of the Dome and headed toward the town, searching for medicinal herbs along the way, and returned just before dusk.
I went straight to the Guild and presented the gathered herbs to the lady who bought them.
“Oh, you have three Bell Flowers! Kaito, you were lucky today. That makes 16,200 Dala in total.”
“Thank you, Fuyusa. Can I get it in copper coins?”
“Sure, that’s 16 copper coins and 2 iron coins. Keep up the good work!”
“Thanks! See you later.”
I needed to go to a different location tomorrow; I couldn’t let the cluster of Bell Flowers be discovered. I had stored over 50 in Spatial Storage, so I didn’t have to worry about income for a while, but I needed to sell them gradually. Adventurers never reveal their earning spots to others, so I wouldn’t tell anyone about my hunting grounds either.
Before the sun set, I went to the market and bought two cups of salt for 4,000 Dala, which was expensive since it was transported by carriage from a distant sea. I also bought ten solid soup cubes for 3,000 Dala; they were like hardened miso and needed to be dissolved in a cup of hot water or broth. The taste was salty, resembling a thin soup, but without any ingredients. I purchased five loaves of bread for 1,000 Dala and six assorted filled breads for 3,000 Dala, spending a total of 11,000 Dala. I loaded the items I had put in my medicinal herb bag onto my backpack and headed home.
If my father weren’t around, I would have stored the dishes, pots, and pans, as well as the bedding and clothes, in Spatial Storage. However, since he was home, passed out from drinking, I went to the back room, took out one loaf of bread from the herb bag, and stored the rest in Spatial Storage. Tomorrow morning, I would take out the bedding and clothes, but I would store everything except what I was wearing.
As for the pots and pans, my father didn’t cook, so I planned to take what I could use.
After finishing my meal, I quickly went to bed to prepare for tomorrow. In the middle of the night, my father climbed into bed and started snoring, so I quietly got up, stored the pots, pans, knives, and dishes, and lay back down until morning. When it was time to help at the market, I stored the bedding and blankets in Spatial Storage and told my still-drowsy father that I wouldn’t be home for a while before leaving the house.
After finishing my usual two helping spots, I spent the 1,000 Dala I earned and the remaining 5,200 Dala from yesterday to buy skewered meat, freshly steamed potatoes, and boiled beans. I packed these into my medicinal herb bag and secured them to my backpack as I left the town.
With enough food for a while, I didn’t need to rush back home, so I decided to venture even further than yesterday. I found a clear area with low grass and sparse trees, and I declared it my campsite (with a serious face). It was my first time here, but the visibility was good, so I thought it would be a great spot since I could easily see if any beasts approached. However, I was foolish to think that way. I had forgotten that the further I got from town, the higher the danger level became.
Moving to a small hill, I constructed a Dome just big enough for me to sit in, preparing for a siege. I made peepholes on all sides and reinforced the Dome with the remaining Mana. I used just enough Mana to avoid losing consciousness and observed the approaching beasts through the peephole.
There were seven Wolves, and since my figure had disappeared, they were sniffing around the ground, wandering around the Dome.
This is terrifying! Is this what the presence of wild beasts feels like? My spine tingled, and I couldn’t help but tremble at the knees. With no means to fight back, I poured the remaining Mana into reinforcing the Dome and resigned myself to fate, saying goodnight.
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It was cramped, and my body ached when I woke up. The fact that I was alive meant either the Dome had held up or I had been ignored out of disinterest. I was lost in thought when a chilling sensation crept down my back.
Peering through the peephole, I saw the Wolves lounging beside the Dome. I thought, “Kaito, you’re in a dire situation,” but since I was inside the Dome, my safe zone, I was not in immediate danger.
Feeling cramped and sore, I decided to expand the Dome, making it longer so I could lie down without worrying about the ground being dug up. I solidified the ground and laid down bedding and blankets, using all my remaining Mana to reinforce the walls and floor before entering my second deep sleep.
When I awoke for the second time, it was pitch black, and I could barely see my fingertips. I lit a small light and slowly sat up. The presence around me hadn’t changed; I could tell the Wolves were still nearby, but I couldn’t see anything through the peephole in the darkness.
If there was no immediate danger of dying, I decided to fill my stomach first. I took out a filled bread from my medicinal herb bag and began munching away.
As I pondered what to do next, I realized that if using magic made me faint so easily, I wouldn’t have enough lives to spare. I had no spare lives to rely on. There was no guarantee I would be reborn somewhere else, and I absolutely did not want to experience the pain of being eaten by a beast!
After thinking and thinking, I remembered that in light novels, Earth Magic users often fought beasts by trapping them in pits. What would be the best approach? First, I would try using Earth Magic without placing my palms on the ground.
Focusing on the ground on the opposite side of the Dome, I imagined a hole opening up and channeled my Mana. I felt my consciousness slipping away again…
When I woke up, I realized I had opened a hole with the intention of trapping the Wolves’ feet in it. The hole was about 30 cm in diameter and deep… I had used all my Mana, so it was quite deep. How foolish of me; if I was considering the diameter, I should have thought about the depth too.
I covered the deep hole and imagined creating another hole with a diameter of 30 cm and a depth of 1 meter next to it, then shouted, “Open, Sesame!” …It worked!
Alright, if I could open a hole and a Wolf’s foot fell in, I would squeeze it shut. Pop and squeeze, that’s the plan!
Having fainted three times, it was now completely bright outside. Hmm… there was no presence. Peeking outside, I found no Wolves around. What happened to my pop and squeeze plan?
However, since pop and squeeze didn’t seem to use much Mana, I decided to think about offensive magic. As an Earth Magic user, Stone Bullet came to mind, but I couldn’t take down a beast with just a pebble. I wanted to go for the more impressive Stone Javelin, but firing one shot and running out of Mana would be a disaster.
The Stone Lance seems to consume too much mana, so I’ll lower it down to something more manageable, like the Stone Arrow. How about a length of 40 centimeters and a thickness of 3 centimeters? Even so, I’m too scared to practice outside, so I’ll just make the decision for now.
Once I step outside, my first task will be to practice with the Stone Arrow today.
I widen the hole a bit and observe the surroundings to ensure it’s safe before I create a door in the dome and quietly step out. Safety check complete! I set up targets at 10 meters, 15 meters, and 20 meters, gradually moving them back, then quickly retreat to the dome and secure the latch from the inside.
I can sense that I haven’t even used half of my mana, so I should be able to practice with the Stone Arrow a little.
I get right to crafting the Stone Arrow, making it 40 centimeters long and 3 centimeters thick, sharpening both ends. I need to create and shoot quickly.
I continue practicing making arrows relentlessly, but when I feel my mana running low, I wait for it to recover and repeat the arrow-making process until the day comes to an end.