Bord held out his arm, muttering, “Shield, less mana. Shield, less mana. Shield, less mana,” before finally declaring, “[Shield—Hah!]”
A wall of ice about two meters tall and wide slowly materialized two meters in front of the dome. It formed far more slowly than his Ice Lance usually did, which was odd.
“Were you able to reduce the mana output?”
“No. It feels about the same as usual. I can’t expect to get it right immediately, but I’ll keep practicing. Still, I never imagined shortening a chant would be this easy.”
“That’s because you’ve cast Shield so many times that the word alone now carries the same image as the full incantation.”
He was probably drawing mana from the reservoir inside his body down to his wrist. He had no idea that I divided my mana into a hundred portions, but there was no need to explain that much. Once he understood that a spell could manifest with less mana than he currently used, he would gradually learn to reduce the amount himself. Since he had already managed a shortened chant on his first try, finer control probably wouldn’t take him long.
“If you can learn to use less mana, you’ll also be able to do this.”
I extended my arm beyond the dome and cast “[Whirlwind!] [Whirlwind!] [Whirlwind!]” in rapid succession, producing three miniature twisters.
“Even for a short chant, that’s ridiculously fast.”
“You’re pulling mana from your arm up to your wrist, right? If you use less mana, you can ready the next spell faster.”
He probably couldn’t imagine me dividing my mana into a hundred tiny portions, but what I had told him was still true. After instructing him to move on to the next exercise once he could reduce his mana output consistently, I returned to my own dome.
I heard Bord’s voice faintly from next door, but I must’ve been more tired than usual from all the walking—I fell asleep almost immediately.
I woke to an unsettling presence. When I lifted my hood, the darkness made it hard to see, but the presence was coming from the direction of Olga’s dome. Thinking some light would help, I cast Light—not as bright as a car’s high beams, but enough to illuminate the area.
A huge fox stood between my dome and Olga’s, sniffing the ground. It raised its head when the light struck it.
Why the hell is there a fox bigger than a wolf out here?!
Several bowstrings twanged from the direction of the camp shelter, and the giant fox jerked with each impact. As expected of veteran adventurers, they had been ready.
“Leon, why is it so damn bright over there? What’s that?”
“Just a light.”
“Just a light?! You really are something else.”
“Whoa, that brightness nearly made me miss my target!”
“It’s too bright, isn’t it?”
“Tone it down a bit—we don’t want to attract more monsters.”
I gradually dimmed the Light, though I wished I could project it farther. Despite all my practice with Life Magic, its range still reached only about four meters, even when I added more mana. Water could fill roughly four-fifths of a wooden bucket, which was barely an improvement. Flame had grown to about one and a half times the size of my fist—useful for cooking, but little else. At least I had mastered Refresh, an advanced form of Clean.
Early to bed and early to rise—that was common sense for adventurers. The forest was still dark, so I boiled tea with a small Flame.
When Olga and Bord woke up, I poured them each a cup.
They looked at the kettle heating over the Flame and shook their heads in disbelief.
“Olga, how much capacity does your Magic Bag for spoils have?”
“It’s Rank 5. I added ten points to the preservation rating of a standard 5–10 bag.”
“And the cost?”
“The 5–10 bag cost seventy gold coins—7,000,000 dara. With the additional preservation rating and the handling fee, the total came to eighty-two gold.”
So a 5–10 bag cost seventy gold, and adding twenty more points of preservation would bring the price to ninety-two gold with fees. Combined with what I had already deposited at the guild, I might be able to afford one within a month.
“So you don’t normally hunt big game. Is that why you use a Rank 3 Magic Pouch?”
“Yes. But a Rank 5 Magic Bag could hold a small cabin, couldn’t it?”
“Not satisfied with the dome?”
“It’s too damp when it rains. And in open fields, the sunlight is blinding.”
“True enough.”
“A cabin would make camping much easier. At this time of year, a small fire would keep it warm enough. How are you producing that Flame?”
“I’ve practiced ever since I first learned Life Magic. I wanted to know whether I could strengthen it, but after eight years of daily practice, starting when I was nine, this seems to be my limit.”
“So you’ve tested running out of mana, then.”
“Yes. Whenever it’s safe, I empty my mana before going to sleep. I recover from mana exhaustion faster now.”
“Has your mana increased?”
“I’m not sure because I haven’t used a measuring board again, but my recovery time has definitely shortened.”
“With your short-chant method, I can cast faster now. If I can learn to use less mana too, I’ll be able to use more spells overall. I’ll keep practicing that.”
Once everyone was up and breakfast was finished, I was again placed at the front as scout as we headed south.
That day, we found a group of five High Orcs.
Their position wasn’t ideal, so the party decided on an ambush and told me to hide my presence.
The seven burly men silently slipped behind rocks and into bushes, and their presences vanished completely. I had never tried anything like it, so I awkwardly copied them and crouched in the tall grass.
I remembered reading that Tree Hiding meant blending into the forest through complete stillness and a clear mind, so I crouched and repeated silently, (I’m a harmless little stone. Just a pebble lying here…)
Then, damn it, the High Orcs changed course—straight toward where we were hiding.
The orcs passed right in front of the men without noticing them.
I could see them clearly, but that was probably because I knew where everyone was.
(I’m just a stone… just a stone…)
But then—the last High Orc locked eyes with me.
We stared at each other. It tilted its head curiously.
I conjured a small [Whirlwind!] in front of it, stirring up dirt and flinging it into its face.
The whirlwind floated up in front of the High Orc’s face, swirling around its head.
It panicked—but it was already too late.
The dust-filled whirlwind darkened as it sucked up soil and blinded the creature completely. The startled High Orc rubbed furiously at its eyes while the four ahead turned around in confusion. I expanded the first whirlwind and let it scoop up even more dirt.
Before the High Orcs could react, I enlarged the swirling winds and wrapped them one after another, blinding all five. Dust blew toward me as well, so I surrounded myself with a clean-air [Whirlwind!] to preserve my vision.
The High Orcs, their eyes filled with dust, staggered helplessly in place.
As I wondered what to do next, I noticed Olga and the others staring at me with exasperated faces.
I wanted to tease them about their supposedly perfect Tree Hiding, but I settled for beckoning them over.
“Well now, I saw you wrap them up in those whirlwinds, but what did you do afterward?”
“I let the whirlwinds suck up dust to blind them.”
“You really are skilled with magic… and creative, too. So, what’s the plan now?”
“They’re thrashing around too much. I’m not confident with a short spear, and my bow’s not much better, so I’ll leave the finishing blows to you.”
“Couldn’t you just keep spinning them around?”
“I could spin them until they died, but their noses would bleed and the bodies would end up battered and soaked in blood. The guild would start asking awkward questions if I brought them in like that.”
Launching them into the sky and letting them fall would ruin the carcasses too. Better to leave the finishing work to the muscle-bound professionals.
“I’ll split the spoils with you—just finish them off, please.”
They dispatched the High Orcs with weary smiles but refused any share of the spoils. The carcasses were too large for my Magic Pouch, so I asked Olga’s team to store them in their Magic Bags. …Yes, I really needed a Rank 5 Magic Bag soon.
Later, we encountered a nostalgic sight—a Black Bear.
This one was claimed by the Strongarm team, so I simply observed their subjugation.
Bord chose firm ground and cast Shield, then produced seven more in quick succession and arranged the eight walls in a semicircle. Under Allen’s direction, the group split up. Maven and Daring moved into the open as decoys, positioning themselves so the bear would charge toward the shields.
As soon as the Black Bear spotted them, it changed course.
The two bolted toward the semicircle of shields.
Allen and Galb hid on opposite sides of the route with their bows drawn, ready in case anything went wrong. Olga and Bord waited at the front of the semicircle, weapons ready, as the two decoys ran through the gaps between the shields.
When the bear came into view, Olga struck his short spear with a knife, producing a sharp metallic ring, while Bord fired an Ice Bullet to provoke it. The others shifted quietly into position behind the shields.
Olga faced the charging bear with his short spear raised and released a fierce battle cry. He backed slowly into the narrow gap between the shields, which was only wide enough for one person. The Black Bear lunged into the semicircle, and arrows struck from both sides while Allen and Galb fired from behind it.
Even with arrows buried in its hide, the bear roared and charged straight at Olga. He retreated through the shield gap and met it with his spear. The bear thrust an arm through the opening and growled, but before it could force its way farther in, more arrows struck and an Ice Lance drove deep into its flank.
Watching from inside my small dome, I remained alert for danger, but all I could do was admire Strongarm’s smooth, well-practiced subjugation.
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