Chapter 76: Ariela’s Barrier
A
“You’ve gotten quite good,” I said.
“That’s because I was making fences every single day. All I had to do was focus on condensing my Magical Power and making things harder. I figured if I could make them harder, the power of my Stone Lances would increase, and I’d be able to shoot more of them too. But, it’s cracked, so I’ll practice more.”
“Hey, hey, what are you doing so early in the morning? And what in the world is this?”
“It’s an emergency Shelter. Fran and the others can use this, so they can go into the depths or hunt large prey safely.”
“Oh, since Fran can make Shelters and Domes, we’re safe as long as we don’t get ambushed by Beasts.”
“Besides, Wolves and Dog-type Beasts can attack from inside here, so it’s easy.”
“From inside this?”
“Even against large prey, being able to attack with a Shield between us is a big advantage.”
“Ariela, gather with your companions around Fran. Fran will envelop you with a Shelter and show you how to attack from inside.”
At my words, Ariela stood beside Fran and beckoned to her husband, Dorado.
Glen and the others followed suit, standing around Fran. With a cry of
“Woooah!”
“Amazing!”
“It really was instant!”
“Please look up. Since this is Earth Magic, if it’s completely sealed, you’ll suffocate and die, so I’ve left airholes. I’ll open holes for attacking now.”
After explaining to the astonished group, Fran demonstrated by opening holes so they could see outside.
“Are we supposed to attack through such small holes?” Glen asked, peering through the hole in front of him.
“I just opened them so you can see outside for now. The holes for attacking are much larger.”
Saying that, Fran enlarged the hole Glen was looking through into a vertically long slit.
“I’ll make this Shield bigger too, so you can use not only bows but also javelins. However, if you make the holes too big, you might get counterattacked from outside, so you need to be careful.”
“How are you doing the incantation? Even for Reduced Chanting, it’s too short.”
“It’s just Reduced Chanting for things like Shield or Shelter.”
“Magic can activate with just that?”
“The Shelter is right here, isn’t it? I was skeptical at first too, but I became able to do it by following Shinya-san’s words.”
I stepped out of the Shelter and observed it carefully from the outside. When Fran released the Magical Power from the Shelter, it crumbled.
Ariela was surprised yet again, which was amusing to watch.
After that, I had Fran slowly demonstrate how to create a Shelter to solidify Ariela’s understanding of the process, and at the same time, had her practice creating Shelters using Reduced Chanting.
To the question, “What about Shield?” I told her that Shelters have a wider range of uses than Shields, so she should learn that first, and left it at that.
After practicing for about three days just outside Deelgo Village, we headed to our assigned post for the shift change.
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When we arrived at the rotation point, they were in the middle of a chaotic battle with two Brown Bears. Or rather, I could hear somewhat disheartened voices.
《Damn it! Put your back into it more!》
《It’s no good, I can’t block it all!》
《This place is insane!》
《Let’s just let them pass behind us!》
“Fran, I’m counting on you.”
“Okay! Call out to them for me.”
“I’m sending Hoo-chan and the others to their rear, so be careful.”
It seemed there were injured people, and their numbers looked fewer than before the rotation.
“Good work out there! Need a hand?”
“You’re late! Hurry up and take over!”
“This is the craziest post I’ve ever been assigned to!”
A Shield materialized between them and the Brown Bears, momentarily halting the fight.
While Hoo-chan and the others attacked the Brown Bears’ legs, Fran moved forward, dispelled the Shield’s Magical Power, and simultaneously fired Stone Lances.
As one Beast’s movements stopped, she shot Stone Lances from the side at the other one, which was still struggling against the Shield.
It wasn’t a fatal wound, but its movements dulled, and it let out a roar of anger. Fran, however, paid it no mind and fired a finishing blow, ending the battle.
“Haaah, we’re saved.”
“How do you take them down so easily?!”
“Being sent here means you guys must be a pretty famous party too, huh?”
“We’re just country folk from Zandra.”
“Even so, those are some impressive skills. First a Tamer with a cat-like child, now this. Is this place where nameless powerhouses get sent?”
“I was asked to cover a shift just once, and I really regret it.”
“I’m never coming back to this place again.”
“I have Potions if you need them.”
“Please. We used up all our Potions in no time.”
I offered five bottles of lower-intermediate Potions, and they looked surprised. I told them I didn’t need money and handed them over for the injured to drink.
We were late because we’d been practicing magic, so I didn’t feel like taking money for the Potions.
We let them rest inside a Dome Fran created, and while waiting for the next Beast to appear, I had Ariela practice making Shields.
During that time, Hoo-chan and the others moved to the front and took up a警戒態勢.
Glen and the others, having seen Fran take down the Brown Bears, watched Ariela’s practice with peace of mind.
When Ariela’s Magical Power ran low, it became chat time while watching Fran fight.
“Shinya-san, my Magical Power is down by half, so please take over.”
“Fran, how many times can you use your magic now?”
“I think I can use it about 50 times. I’ve used it 32 times today, so please cover me until my Magical Power recovers.”
“Hmm, you seem to be conserving your Magical Power well.”
“Yes, I don’t want to die, so I’m following your teachings. Normally, I’d rest after about 34 or 35 uses, but I wanted to see you hunt, Shinya-san.”
“But you don’t need to hunt small fry like Orcs. Unless it’s a pack of seven or eight or more.”
“No, no, the Orcs here are a size bigger than the ones near the village!”
“It’s fine to let them pass behind us. Even if it’s two or three High Orcs, just let them go. The real defensive line is behind us, with parties of Silver rank and above, so it’s not a problem.”
“Still, you said Shinya hunted most of the prey, right?”
“I’d like to see how you, a Tamer, managed to take down that much.”
At the urging of Dorado-san and the others, I switched places with Fran, but dusk was already approaching.
Glen and the other members of Tanza’s Shield immediately moved to back me up, but Ariela’s Magical Power hadn’t recovered, so I had her rest and asked Fran for backup.
We let herbivores pass by, and also ignored Horn Boars and small groups of Orcs.
However, if it was a large Horn Boar that Hoo-chan alerted me to, I’d rush over while Hoo-chan held it back, use Dominate for an instant, then Release.
I’d charge in before it recovered from the Release after its movement stopped, and thrust my Short Spear into its chest.
Fran and the others watched with wide eyes as I easily dispatched them with movements combining Dash and Agility, and thrusts using Super Strength.
Against a pack of High Orcs, in addition to Dash and Agility, I incorporated Soo-chan’s Jump, charged head-on, used the opening from Dominate and Release to perform a triangle jump to get behind them, and swung my Short Spear using Golden Bear’s peerless brute strength.
With the weight and sharpness of the Demon Steel Short Spear, I’d slice through the High Orcs’ necks, leaving them barely attached by a sliver of skin, killing them instantly.
To be honest, if I used Dash, Agility, and Jump, Dominate and Release weren’t strictly necessary, but I prioritized safety.
I wonder what kind of faces they’d make if they knew I was also wearing magically enhanced clothes.
Not many large Beasts appeared before nightfall, and the day ended without Fran needing to back me up.
“Whoa, Shinya, you’ve gotten ridiculously strong too!”
“Were you always that strong?”
“Swinging around a Demon Steel Short Spear like that… that’s strength on par with the wolf-folk, bear-folk, or even the black dragon-folk!”
“And those Forest Wolves of yours do some fine work.”
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After Fran and the rest of Osius’s Fang took up their positions, it felt like the number of Beasts heading west had decreased.
After about a week, there were fewer large Beasts than at the beginning, and the number of times we simply saw them off without fighting increased significantly.
Because of that, I had more free time and ended up helping Ariela with her magic practice.
“You’ve watched Fran’s magic carefully, right? Just picture that solid Shelter in your mind.”
“I know that much. But you were the one who taught Fran magic, weren’t you? I heard she learned how to use Magical Power from scratch from you.”
“Shinya-san, Barrier Magic doesn’t have offensive spells, so it’s hard to teach. Besides, when it comes to controlling Magical Power, no one can match Master.”
“I think an Earth Magic Shelter and a Barrier Shelter are the same, though.”
“So, what’s the method for using less Magical Power? I understand what Fran is saying, but the Magical Power I release from my arm just doesn’t decrease, you know?”
I asked Ariela where she was storing the Magical Power she sent to her arm.
She explained that she prepared Magical Power in the space from a little past her elbow to just before her wrist, and sent it out simultaneously with the voice for the Reduced Chanting “Shield,” but pouted that she couldn’t condense it midway.
Unlike Fran, who learned Magical Power Manipulation by making small arrows, I wonder if it’s different when starting directly with Shelter.
Fran, when she was making fences in the village, had learned by practicing reducing her Magical Power as I’d told her. She’d become able to freely control the amount of Magical Power she released while using magic.
I thought it would be difficult for Ariela even if I explained this method, so I decided to teach her a way to prepare Magical Power before chanting a spell.
“Ariela, you can gather Magical Power before using magic, but you can’t control the amount, right?”
“That’s right. It’s impossible for me to reduce the Magical Power when I’m sending it out.”
“So, let’s try a different method.”
I mark Ariela’s arm with charcoal to visualize the area for pooling Magical Power.
I use her wrist as one boundary. For the other boundary, I make a mark on her forearm about two fingers’ width from her elbow, towards the wrist. We begin by practicing gathering Magical Power only in the space between her wrist and this mark.
Though Ariela is skeptical, I have her continue practicing gathering Magical Power from her Magical Power Pool into the space between the marks on her arm.
Once she gets used to it, she should be able to instantly use just the necessary amount of Magical Power without having to pool it beforehand.