I woke up with the sunrise the next morning as well. There should still be people at the campsite. I strained my eyes in that direction and thought I could see a faint red color.
It’s harder to discern during the day than at night, but the perception of seeing Mana Particles attributes as ‘colors’ from last night is still continuing. It seems this isn’t just my imagination, but really because my brain has started to ‘recognize’ colors in Mana Particles.
But Feld and that woman’s master both said to ‘feel’ the Mana Particles. So, perhaps ‘seeing’ them is unorthodox. Right now, I can only feel the surrounding Mana Particles within a few meters, but if I ‘see’ them, I can understand a little further.
I have a feeling this will become my “weapon.”
If I train my sense of feeling Mana Particles a little more, the range of Mana Particles I can see might also expand. And I’ll consciously focus on my current perception to train myself to see the colors more clearly.
While being aware of ‘seeing’ Mana Particles as ‘colors’ and ‘feeling’ them with my senses, I started my daily routine of collecting wild grasses and blackberries, moving away from the campsite.
The food situation is really precarious. The dried meat and cheese will run out with tomorrow’s portion, so should I head to town soon?
I stopped by the upper reaches of a stream along the way, washed the blackberries, and washed my face. Rinsing my mouth well and scrubbing my teeth with the shaved stems of medicinal herbs is something I’ve been told to do repeatedly since my parents were alive.
Finally, while replenishing my water bottle with 【Water】Utility Magic, I thought about what I was able to do last night.
After being able to see the colors of Mana Particles, by being aware of the surrounding colors, absorbing them, and matching them with the color of my Mana, I felt like my presence had blended into the Forest. If this isn’t just my imagination, it might be very advantageous for 【Stealth】.
“…………”
When I consciously focused on the colors of Mana Particles and strained my eyes, the surrounding scenery was faintly colored, and I could “see” even what I couldn’t see.
Recalling the feeling from yesterday, I inhaled Mana Particles with my breath and dyed the transparent, non-attribute Mana within me with the same “color” as the surroundings.
Even though attribute Mana Particles are overflowing in the surroundings, why does my Mana become non-attribute? Come to think of it, the reason why I become hungry when I use too much Mana is because the creatures of this world also take in Mana Particles as a nutrient. Does that mean my body only takes in the attribute of Mana Particles?
I’ll postpone the consideration for later, and instead took in a lot of the earth’s yellow, water’s blue, wind’s green, and darkness’s black, and instead took in a lot of light’s white.
…It’s not completely the same. Rather than the ratio of the attributes I absorbed, my Mana Control to fine-tune that ratio is probably immature. Moreover, the ratio of surrounding Mana Particles changes slightly when I move, so I needed to fine-tune my Mana each time.
…Am I going to continue this throughout Stealth?
Feld also said that during Stealth, I should read the flow of surrounding Mana Particles and match it. Matching the flow of Mana Particles… He might have meant matching the density of Mana Particles and unconsciously matching the attributes.
It’s very troublesome… but well, I have no choice but to do it.
I resumed collecting wild grasses while training to match the color of my Mana.
I’ve had enough of mountain vegetables from yesterday, so I’ll mainly pick medicinal herbs that seem useful for medicine.
Medicinal herbs used as household remedies in ordinary households grow relatively everywhere. This seems to be a type of disinfectant that eliminates germs from wounds, cures abdominal pain from mild food poisoning, and has disinfectant effects.
(っ!)
At that moment, a green snake suddenly appeared from the nearby thicket.
The green snake is a snake about 1 meter long with only a weak paralyzing poison, and it’s a docile snake that doesn’t attack prey larger than wild mice. Even so, it will attack if it becomes dangerous, and if bitten, I’ll be paralyzed and unable to move properly for an hour.
I don’t want to be paralyzed in a place like this, especially not in a village.
“…………”
But the green snake didn’t notice me right next to it. Is it because I’m matching my Mana that it can’t tell I’m here?
According to that woman’s “knowledge,” snakes can sense the heat of living things. If that’s the case, can I even deceive heat detection by matching my Mana? No, maybe the snakes in this world are sensing the Mana of living things? Either way, I’m relieved that I’m able to Stealth to the extent that I’m not detected by wild animals.
I pulled out my Knife to match the flow of the surrounding wind, and then swung the Blade down on the snake’s head. The green snake thrashed and tried to wrap around my arm. I didn’t panic and slowly and deeply stabbed it, then cut its neck and squeezed out the blood.
Around noon, I returned to the Campsite where the travelers were gone, and after confirming that there were no merchant’s carriages, I started a fire and began preparing a meal.
I’m tired of undercooked wild vegetables, so I’ll safely grill them today. Feld had just made cuts and peeled off the snake’s skin in one go, but I don’t have that kind of muscle strength.
So I thought I’d cut it into chunks and peel them off one by one, but even that was difficult because of the bones, but when I circulated Mana throughout my body as part of my Body Enhancement training, it became a little easier to cut.
It took me more than 10 minutes to finish processing what Feld could do in a few seconds.
I skewered the chopped snake pieces on skewers I had prepared and roasted them over the fire. I also roasted the washed medicinal herb roots, cheese, and dried meat over the fire.
It tastes better compared to yesterday. Just in case, I ate the medicinal herbs at the end, and the taste ruined everything.
While taking care of the fire, I noticed that fragments of the clay pot I made yesterday were left. The pot hardened with 【Harden(Hard)】 should return to just clay when the Mana is removed.
Could it be that only the side that was exposed to the fire has become earthenware?
If I do it well, even a roughly made pot might properly become an earthenware pot.
In the afternoon, I practiced with the Knife and the newly made Sling.
For the Knife, I just accurately traced the Dagger Arts form. Occasionally, I used Body Enhancement while worrying about my remaining Mana.
Basically, the reason why it takes time to acquire Combat Skill Level 1 is because it takes time to acquire Body Enhancement, which I should learn during training. So, I predict that if I train by incorporating Body Enhancement, I’ll acquire it faster than other children.
For the Sling, I threw the pebbles from the stream at the tree trunk many times.
At first, the stones didn’t fly straight, but after continuing for an hour, I was able to hit it to some extent. Even so, the limit of hitting it properly is 3 meters, and further training will be needed.
“…Huh?”
But at that time, I noticed a strange phenomenon.
When I was training to circulate Mana throughout my body while practicing with the Sling, I suddenly felt like my accuracy had improved.
Was I unconsciously using Body Enhancement…? But does Body Enhancement have such an effect?
I couldn’t find any such records even when I looked up the knowledge. When I held the Sling again while circulating Mana throughout my body, I noticed that Mana was flowing, albeit weakly, only through the string part made of my hair.
Even after being cut off from me, my hair still has a slight amount of my Mana remaining, and it reacts to my Mana and blends in as if flowing.
Having recognized my own Mana, I’m flowing Mana along the flow of my blood. I thought that Mana was flowing automatically with the flow of blood, but perhaps I was moving the Mana itself with my own will.
If that’s the case, there’s a possibility that I was unconsciously moving my hair as an extension of my body and subtly correcting my aim. If I flow Mana while being aware that it’s an extension of my body, I felt like the accuracy of the Sling would increase even further.
Besides, I felt that this could be used as a new “weapon,” so I started making a “new weapon” using my hair while it was still bright.
“…It might be usable.”
In the twilight, I tried using what I had made, and I thought that I had barely… assuming the opponent would let their guard down, but I had created a way to fight, and I decided to move on to the next stage – heading to the neighboring town.
I replenished my water and organized my luggage that day, packed the bare minimum of luggage and half of my money into that woman’s bag, and set off the next morning as soon as the sky began to brighten.
The distance from this Campsite to the neighboring town is a distance that adults can reach by setting out early in the morning and arriving by evening. In my case, being still young, should I consider it about 50% longer?
If possible, I want to take many breaks and still arrive by tomorrow morning.
I ate only blackberries again while walking, and gnawed on medicinal herbs as a countermeasure against food poisoning.
As someone with that woman’s “knowledge,” I’m impressed that I can prevent illness with just this, and then the “knowledge” that “people with higher Mana Capacity are less likely to get sick” came to mind as common sense in this world, and I was convinced.
If I properly eat a meal that includes multiple attributes, my body might become stronger.
I trained to sense the ‘colors’ of Mana Particles while walking, and occasionally incorporated Body Enhancement as well.
Since I can only gauge the passage of time through my own senses and the angle of the sun, I was especially careful not to overuse my Mana.
I also decided to use this time to practice Utility Magic I hadn’t learned before: 【Light】 and 【Dark】.
【Light】 is a spell that creates a small light, about the size of a candle flame, while 【Dark】 can block light and negate the effects of 【Light】. The reason I put these two spells off was that, unlike the other four elemental spells, I didn’t understand their principles.
With Water, I could just imagine gathering moisture from the air, and with Wind, I could just push the air along with the Mana Particles.
Since then, I’d come to recognize the ‘color’ of each element, and by consciously gathering Water Mana Particles, I was able to produce more water.
So, shouldn’t I be able to use Light by gathering white Mana Particles?
“【Light】”
As I chanted, a small light appeared in my hand. It was so small that you wouldn’t notice it unless you knew it was there, and it disappeared the moment I let my guard down.
…What’s wrong? If 【Light】 is successful, the light should last for about 15 minutes. Come to think of it, the 【Light】 I saw at the Orphanage seemed to be cast on an object.
Separate the Mana from myself. To sustain it, I need to gradually burn that Mana… consume it as fuel, like oxygen for a flame?
“…【Light】”
When I cast 【Light】 on the tip of my Knife, a dazzling light spread out.
“【Dark】!”
I hurriedly gathered Dark Mana Particles and slammed them into the light, and the 【Light】 disappeared as if canceling out the Darkness.
Was that strong light because I only gathered Light Mana Particles? Also, because I had the image of burning it, I felt like the separated Mana didn’t diffuse but burned out in an instant.
I can’t use this properly without practice. But I’m satisfied that I was able to use not only 【Light】 but also 【Dark】 on the spur of the moment.
I hid from passing carriages and travelers in the Forest, picked Blackberries, and ate the last of the dried meat and cheese, roasted over a small fire.
The only food left is Blackberries and wild grass that I can find in the Forest. I still can’t catch rabbits with my slingshot, and I could look for snakes, but I prioritized going to town.
As evening approached and the sun began to set, I began to wonder whether to use 【Light】 to continue further or hide in the Forest and wait for morning, when I suddenly noticed a change in myself.
“…I can see… at night.”
Just two days. But as a result of using that time to strengthen my ‘recognition’ that Mana Particles have elemental colors, I could now faintly distinguish plants, the ground, and the sky by their elemental colors.
If I concentrate even further, I feel like I can even see the location of non-attribute animals.
I can clearly see about 20… no, about 15 meters in radius. But if I can see that much, I can walk at night.
I hid in the Forest once more and searched for the ‘blue’ of the Water element, picked Blackberries that contained a lot of it, and rested my body.
I’ll go as far as my stamina allows me to today. Thanks to using Body Enhancement frequently, I still don’t feel very tired.
After a short meal break, I proceeded along the main road, erasing my presence by matching the color and size of the surrounding Mana Particles.
After several breaks, I finally saw the walls of the next town late at night.
I don’t plan to skip over the training too much, including the settings.
Next is finally my first battle.
Next time: Infiltration into the town.