Chapter 74: Overflowing Beasts
“Shinya, this is probably your first forced summons, and you don’t have experience subjugating with multiple parties, so follow Tanza’s Shield.”
“We’re counting on you, Shinya.”
“We’ll leave the dangerous stuff to you~♪”
“Leave the backup to us!”
“Does that mean I’m the only one who’s going to have a hard time?”
“The strong ones take the lead! That’s common sense for Adventurers.”
“Yeah, there aren’t many guys who can go out Searching alone and hunt this much prey.”
“Taking down a Golden Bear in one hit is a feat even Magicians can’t easily pull off.”
“I’d love to see how you landed that one blow to its head.”
“So, Sub-Master, where’s our assigned area?”
“South of the starting point, to the left, closer to Klyunza. When reinforcements from Klyunza arrive, we’ll head a little deeper in.”
“I feel like I’ve drawn the short straw here.”
“It’s not a feeling, you did draw the short straw. Really, having an out-of-spec powerhouse around is tough.”
“Even the Sub-Master didn’t expect that much prey to come out of your Magic Bag.”
“You should have seen the Sub-Master’s face.”
“He was grinning from ear to ear, like he was sure of a big profit.”
“It’s obvious he’s prioritizing the Guild’s earnings over the town’s safety.”
“But remember, the prey you defeat will be bought at 2/3 the usual price. 1/3 will go to compensate the injured and the dead.”
“My Magic Bag has gotten lighter, but I’d rather not end up carrying back corpses.”
“Your Magic Bag, what’s its capacity like?”
“Hey, hey, Ariela-san, you shouldn’t ask about someone’s Magic Bag.”
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
“Again? Isn’t this a bit too much?”
“Shinya~, you’re not picking the spots with the most prey, are you?”
“It’s half a day west from the place I was told.”
“Right~? Even if Shinya hunts them down so easily, subjugating Beasts multiple times a day is tiring.”
“Well, Shinya gets the most tired, but we get dragged into it and get tired too.”
“We’re ignoring the small fry and herbivores, and it’s still like this. I wonder what the Deep Forest is like.”
“I don’t really want to know. If they told me to go, I’d retire from being an Adventurer.”
“We should tell Shinya to let half of them flow to the rear.”
“Yeah, if we don’t pass some prey to the lord’s army and the reinforcements, they’ll nag us about it later, and it’ll be annoying.”
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
“Is it really okay for us to be resting?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. We’re letting the guys waiting in the back have some prey.”
“This Camping Barrier is convenient, isn’t it?”
“But they charge a hefty sum of Gold Coins for it. Ariela-san’s Barrier would be more convenient and free, right?”
“Even so, setting up 6 to 8 Barriers and pitching a tent is a pain.”
“At this time of year, the drafts are cold, so it’s tough.”
“About that, can’t you make a Shelter… a Dome-shaped Barrier?”
“I don’t really get that. I hear rumors about it, but I have no idea how to do it.”
“A friend of mine is an Earth Magic User, and he makes Domes for camping. I can teach you that method, if you like.”
“Really! How do you do it?”
Ariela-san bit at the offer, but a big one got caught in my Search.
“Wait a sec, I can’t let that one get away, so I’m going. Take care of Hoo-chan and Mii-chan.”
“Alright, be careful.”
“A Red Bear?”
“And it’s huge!”
“A guy who hunts things like that so easily is finally C-rank, huh.”
“Before this forced summons started, he was D-rank, after all.”
“He’s skilled enough to pass as a platinum ranker.”
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
I don’t want to reveal too much of my hand, but I can’t afford to be picky, so I decided to subjugate it with a battle of attrition, mixing in some tricks.
I don’t know what the standard for a Red Bear is, but it’s bigger than the Brown Bear Fran subjugated, so I can’t let it go.
It’s in plain sight from where Glen-san and the others are, but since it’s far off, I use Dominate to stop its movements, then immediately release it.
The moment I release it, I charge from the front, leap over it, and punch its snout to agitate it.
As it stands up with a roar of anger, I stab it once from behind and move away.
When it turns around to face the attack from behind, that’s its last moment; I aim for its heart and throw my Short Spear.
It’s not just Super Strength; it’s the Peerless Strength I received from the Golden Bear.
Taking the Short Spear that buried itself deep enough to protrude from its back, I leap onto the staggering Red Bear and pull the Short Spear out.
I’ve already subjugated around twenty little bears, so I know where the heart is. If I stop its movements for just a moment with Dominate, it’s an easy opponent.
However, I can’t find any sign of the Magician-like person Amadeus was supposed to have Summoned.
They might be here, but the defense line is so wide I can’t tell, and I can’t even hear how much the other parties are hunting.
It’s not like I particularly want to meet them, but if there was a skilled Magician around, I’d leave this kind of attrition-based subjugation to them.
I put the Red Bear into my Magic Bag and return to the Camping Barrier, where Ariela-san was waiting with an excited look on her face.
“Shinya, tell me about that Earth Magic User’s Dome!”
“He was just like you at first, Ariela-san. Though in his case, since it’s Earth Magic, it was a crude hut for camping. I told him what I heard from an acquaintance of mine, and he became able to instantly create sturdy Domes and defensive shields, things he named Shield.”
“What kind of practice do I need to do?”
“It’s more about understanding your Magical Power than practice. First, you need to know your own Magical Power capacity and how it moves.”
“My Magical Power is 64, so I can’t just use magic willy-nilly.”
“That’s precisely why you need to grasp your Magical Power capacity and its flow first.”
“The flow of Magical Power… you mean the Magical Power that leaves the Magical Power Pool, passes through the arm, and goes out when you use magic, right?”
“Yes, he started by practicing consciously controlling that flow.”
“Control? I was taught that when you use magic, the necessary Magical Power passes through your arm and goes out. Is that wrong?”
“Forget that. It’s just a story I heard when I was a kid, but when I taught him that and he did it, he improved dramatically. Now he can instantly erect Shields or create Domes, and he’s skilled enough to subjugate a Brown Bear with Stone Lance.”
“Hey~ Shinya, if you teach me that, big sis will teach you something good too~”
“Hey, hey, Mom, stop snorting like that!”
“Oh, the day Doran gets dumped by Ariela-san is near!”
“To seduce a man right in front of her husband, Ariela-san’s got some nerve.”
“Ariela-san, choose me, a man full of charm, over some young punk.”
“No, no, if you’re going to give up on your husband, go for the leader~♪”
“You guys, you’re prepared for the consequences, right!”
The companions answered Doran’s roar with bursts of laughter; he was completely being played.
“If you’re serious, Ariela-san, I’ll have you use magic until you’re on the verge of running out of Magical Power before bed every night, starting tonight.”
“That’s a method to increase Magical Power, isn’t it? I don’t have a Divine Protection, so it’s meaningless for me.”
“No, it’s to grasp the flow of Magical Power and to confirm how many times you can use magic. If you don’t understand that, even if you get a little better, further improvement is impossible.”
“Ariela, don’t rush it. It took you years to get to your current skill level, and you’re already a great help to us.”
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
After dinner, I had Ariela-san create a barrier to check her Barrier Magic, but since everyone was free, it turned into a lively observation session.
Outside the Camping Barrier, she showed me how she creates her usual plate-shaped barrier.
Watching up close, she seemed to be muttering an incantation under her breath, and when she suddenly let out a kiai, the barrier slowly materialized.
It resembled the Earth Magic barrier Fran showed me in the beginning.
“Do you know how much of your Magical Power you’re using for that?”
“Even if you ask about the amount… I can make about 14 or 15 of these.”
“What about the flow of Magical Power? Is it flowing smoothly? Or are you wringing out your Magical Power?”
“It feels like I guide it from my Magical Power Pool to my arm, and then push it out with a shout.”
“That amount you push out? Can you increase or decrease it?”
“Wait a minute, you can do that?”
“You can. Or rather, he became able to do it, his magic became more powerful, and he can use it almost instantly. Shall we try one thing?”
I took out my Short Spear and slammed it against Ariela-san’s barrier.
With a light thwack, the barrier vanished.
With Peerless Strength added to Super Strength, I might have misjudged how much to hold back.
“No way… This thing can withstand an attack from a Brown Bear.”
“Could you make it one more time?”
Her prized barrier having been easily destroyed, she muttered an incantation with a serious face and created another barrier.
Facing the completed barrier, she said challengingly, “Try breaking it again!”
“Rather than that, cast magic on this Barrier again. However, try pouring your Magical Power into it while wishing for it to become hard and strong.”
To a bewildered Ariela, Doran encouraged, “Give it a try. If you can do it, you’ll improve even more than now.”
“Just like when you create a Barrier, send out your Magical Power while wishing for this Barrier to become hard.”
Staring at the Barrier with a serious face and thinking about something, she’s probably thinking of an incantation, just like Fran.
She muttered under her breath a few times, gave a single nod, then placed her hand on the Barrier and, after some more mumbling, let out a spirited 《Hah!》.
Though looking uneasy, she looked at my face, nodded, and stepped aside.
Alright then, let me give it a shot.
I did a light practice swing and slammed the Short Spear into it from the front.
With a 《BASHIIIN》 sound, the Barrier trembled and vanished.
“It’s several times harder than before.”
“But it was still broken.”
Muttering in frustration, she raised the barrier-wall again and re-infused it with Magical Power.
She really hates losing, it seems. I’m looking forward to what’s next.
This time, she looked at me as if challenging me, then moved to the side, crossed her arms, and watched.
When I slammed the Short Spear into it with about the same amount of force as before, it resounded with a hard 《GAAN》 sound and stood firm without even trembling.
《Oooh, it held this time!》
《As expected of Kaa-chan, she’s really something!》
《What an interesting method.》
《But, you can’t use it in the middle of a fight.》
“It’s alright. If you can do what you just did, you’ll be able to make it hard in one go too.”