Chapter 33: Days of Training and Trials
The Village Chief and the others were watching Fran’s and my exchange with great interest.
I had her double the length of the pillar, which had already been doubled in thickness. Then, after doubling its thickness once more, she buried it in the ground to prevent it from toppling over.
About 2.5 meters were buried, leaving a little over 4 meters above ground. After having her double the length of the above-ground portion, I consulted with the Village Chief.
“This should be a little over 8 meters tall now. What height are you looking for?”
“This height is more than enough. However, the pillar seems a bit thin; will it be alright?”
“I’ll have her double the pillar’s thickness, and with Fran’s Earth Magic, its strength should be no problem.”
As I said that, I had her double the thickness again, making it over 20cm thick.
With that pillar as the center, I had her create anchors at four locations—east, west, south, and north—each about 5 meters away. I then carried a rope, climbed the pillar, and tied it to the top. The bottom of the rope was secured to an anchor, and I used a weighted string to adjust the pillar until it was perfectly vertical.
“You’re quite knowledgeable.”
“I saw them do this to make pillars straight when building a house.”
Once all the ropes were taut, I asked the onlookers to test the pillar’s strength.
“Is it okay if it breaks?”
“It’s fine. If it breaks, Fran will make something even sturdier.”
“That’s a terrible thing to say,” Fran muttered.
“Either way, Fran will be the one making them, so it’s the same, isn’t it?”
“Well,” Fran said, “it seems the Village Chief and the others have had this in mind ever since they found out my Earth Magic improved. When I came back with souvenirs, they’d already spoken with Dad and the others, you know.”
Poor Fran-chan.
“By the way, how many times have you used magic?”
“About 17 or 18 times, I suppose.”
“Don’t use any more than that.”
“It’s safe here, so wouldn’t it be alright to use a little more?”
“This is outside the fence, you know. If you don’t constantly consider the worst-case scenario, what will you do if a Beast attacks when you’re on the verge of running out of Magical Power? Always keep at least a third of your Magical Power in reserve.”
“You’re right. But I wonder how many hundreds of these we’ll end up building.”
“Don’t erect more than 20 a day. Guys like Rebun-san will start complaining that you’re slow or cutting corners, but don’t pay them any mind. If they have complaints, just tell them to do it themselves.”
The men who had been trying to break the pillar under the Village Chief’s instruction couldn’t even make a noticeable scratch on it and seemed to have given up from exhaustion.
Seeing that, Fran grinned smugly.
The next day, they added diagonal reinforcements to the erected pillars and continued setting up more along the drawn lines. The pillars were placed snugly side-by-side, making it impossible even for monkeys to climb. Furthermore, the plan was to eventually join the bottom and top sections of adjacent pillars tightly together to increase overall strength. It seemed Fran had discussed these details with the Village Chief and the others during the night.
Since Fran was busy with her work, I, the useless one, went outside the village to diligently train in mastering Jump and Agility. Mii-chan, playing the “it” in our game of tag, was the perfect partner for practicing chasing while using Jump and Agility.
During one such day of training, Bee-chan delivered the long-awaited report: 《Master, a large humanoid is here!》 It was the discovery of an Orc.
《Thank you. Can you guide me?》
《Number 43 will guide yooou!》
Seeing Bee-chan fly down, Mii-chan’s fur stood on end. Perhaps she’d been traumatized ever since being stung by Bee-chan and the others, as she would growl and growl whenever the buzzing of wings approached. While calming Mii-chan, I hurried through the forest towards the Orc’s location, guided by Number 43. I had been refraining from acting alone far from the village, so I’d waited a long time for this and was really looking forward to it.
There were three Orcs, and Bee-chan and her companions were surrounding and attacking them to pin them down.
《Mii-chan, only attack the back of their legs. Absolutely do not go around to the front or aim for their faces.》
《Yes, Master! I’ll do it just as we practiced!》
《Alright, let’s get behind them.》
They were too busy swinging their arms and roaring to drive away Bee-chan and her companions, so they weren’t paying any attention to their surroundings at all. I circled around to one Orc’s back, then jumped from about 15 meters behind, lunging in. As I landed, I lowered my body and slashed at its Achilles tendon with my Short Spear.
“Gugyaah, Gah!”
“Gowaaahhh!”
The instant I slashed, I leaped back. Mii-chan also deeply gashed its calf and rushed to my side. The Orc I’d struck heard its own scream, turned, spotted me, and roared, but it was being hindered by Bee-chan and her companions.
《Mii-chan, get behind it!》
《Yes, Master!》
The Orc wanted to attack me, but as it grew flustered by Bee-chan and her companions obstructing it, Mii-chan snuck up from behind and cleanly slashed its back with her sturdy claws.
“Gyaaaaaah!”
The Orc collapsed after its leg was slashed, but it was still quite vigorous, so I switched to coordinated attacks with Mii-chan. While the Orc was distracted by me, Mii-chan would pounce from behind, cleanly slash its other leg or the base of its neck, and then leap away. When the Orc, realizing there was an enemy behind it as well, turned around, it would be my turn to jump in with my Short Spear, give it a quick stab—psst—and immediately retreat.
It didn’t take long for all three Orcs to stop moving, but the truly difficult part began then. After delivering the finishing blows to two of the near-death Orcs, Mii-chan and I took turns injuring the limbs of the remaining one, which still had some fight left, to wear down its stamina.
(Tame) [Orc: 11]
It was still quite vigorous, so while making sure to injure it non-fatally, I watched the number decrease.
(Tame) [Orc: 3…2…1]
(Tame, Tame) [Orc: 2-1]
Good grief. As usual, its wounds healed once I Tamed it. I’m curious, though, what would happen if I Tamed something after shooting it with a shortbow arrow and leaving the arrow embedded.
《Can you hear me?》
《Yes, Master.》
《Your name is Orc.》 [Orc, 2-1, Gluttony, Super Strength]
I wish their abilities wouldn’t just flash in my mind for an instant and then disappear when I name them.
《Yes. Orc, it is, Master.》
(Skill) [Shinya, Humanoid, 18 years old. Tamer – Ability 1, Amadeus’s Blessing, Tina’s Blessing, Lifestyle Magic – Magical Power 10/10, Search Mid-Rank Middle, Presence Detection Mid-Rank Middle,
It was way too much for one person to eat, so I stored it in the 5-90 Magic Bag or offered it to Fran-san and the others.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
After Taming the Orc, I repeatedly checked on it whenever it returned—which it did countless times—and then released it. Around the time the trees budded and their leaves grew lush, the numbers disappeared.
I wanted to test it with Soo-chan, but since she’s so popular with the village children, I couldn’t release her.
Since I have no intention of walking around with an Orc, I decided to release it without any reservations. 《Tame・Release》
From behind the Orc, which was looking around restlessly as its domination was broken, I shot it through the heart with a shortbow, felling it. I extracted its Magic Stone and tossed the carcass into the Magic Bag.
It might seem cold-hearted and ruthless, but, “This is just the way of the world, forgive me!” I mused, affecting a nihilistic air.
Checking my Skills, Super Strength was still there, so I became convinced that those numbers definitely indicated the number of days for an ability to become permanent.
While I was checking my Skills, I noticed that the number of Bee-chans had decreased.
It’s unclear whether it was due to their lifespan or if they were lost in battles with Orcs and the like, but a decrease in their numbers is bad, so I decided to replenish them.
That said, calling them one by one and beating them is a pain, so I decided to try using Domination.
I had Bee-chan No. 1 call the swarm, and I tried Taming a Killer Bee hovering in front of me.
Just as I thought, Domination can Tame a species without needing to weaken them.
I assigned them the missing numbers, and the Bee-chan army was restored.