Chapter 11
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Parker POV
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“What the hell!! It was frickin hard. Look! My axe was chipped. And my armor was dented in several places! Can we survive 2 weeks like this?” Hart complained as he sat down, biting some fruits.
“John, that is a B monster? The party was supposed to consist of only 5 people. We have twice that number. Why is it so hard?” Nana complained, “a wrong move there, and we could get killed.”
“That’s what’s written here.”
“Stella, what spell is that one earlier?”
“I copied Fay’s spell.”
“You can copy by seeing?” Will was astonished. Everyone also had their jaw dropped at Stella’s abilities. I can use magic a little, so I knew how hard it is to use one. And the bigger the spell, the bigger the risk. For example, when you are casting a fireball, you might explode it on your hand, or the flame might burn your hand. That was unlikely for such a small spell, but you might mess up its firing trajectory. Stella’s ability to use advanced magic without an accident is unbelievable.
“No, it is not actually a copy. I just reproduced the spell effect. If you affect mana, you will cause a certain phenomenon. By combining this phenomenon, you will get your desired effect. This way, you can replicate any spell. But its efficiency is terrible, not to mention the risk is very high. From the chant, I think Fay is much safer.”
“Isn’t it actually harder?” Will looked towards me. So, instead of memorizing 1+1 equal 2, she is studying how 1+1 equal 2. That way, she can also do 2+2 and 4+4? That’s crazy.
“That aside, aren’t we really terrible. In this battle, only Stella, Parker, and Hart are noticeable.” Nana points out the crucial part I am aware of just a moment before “sorry I can’t be of any help. Its attacks look dangerous.”
“For mages, Stella, teach them thunder. Will should be able to do it. As for the rest, hmm. I have no idea. I can’t really blame anyone since we lack experience. But we should improve more on teamwork.”
“And how should we do this ‘teamwork’?” Riki and Riko asked. “We tried to follow your order to the best. But our body strength is weak. We might get killed. Just a brush from its thin tail earlier is enough to send us flying. We did not receive much damage, but it hurts a lot.”
“Well, that’s the point. Which is why I can’t blame anyone.” I said.
“Should we turn into 2 teams?” John commented
“What did you mean?”
“I think the problem for our vanguard is crowding. I couldn’t get a good aim for my spells earlier because you all were around. I am afraid of friendly fire.”
“Me too.” Chloe answered, “I was afraid my bow would hit you, so I only fired 2 shots
“I am the same” I guess only Stella had no problem with aiming. It was a blind spot. We need to correct our tactic.
“So, John, what do you think we should do?”
“If I say that all vanguards should just protect mages and baiting enemies, will that be acceptable?”
“That’s no fun. You get all the kills!” Riki and Riko complained
“Riki, Riko, this is not a game. We are brainstorming. We should look into every opportunity.” I denied the twins’ complaint “John, so you suggest everyone except mages and archers become tankers?”
“Well, that’s basically it. I think it is more efficient against stronger foes. Standard tactics in RPG.”
“This is real, John. Our enemies are alive and have their own minds. We are in a real-life battle in 3d space. There are no such skills as taunting. So, how do you think we should tank?” I asked. I do not deny his words, but I just want them to be practicable. We should consider this possibility.
“Erm... I have several ideas. But I think you and Stella are better at this, right? You have practiced it quite magnificently from my point of view In battle training against our instructor. Right?”
“Ahh, that was quite a splendid combination indeed,” Nana commented.
“You should teach us,” Will commented. Now I am in a bind. How should I teach them? It was all instinctual. Should I pass the bucket to Stella?
“Stella, how do you do it?”
“Simple. Instead of complex coordination, we should settle our behavior. Aggressive or defensive. For that training, DA means defense and attack. There were only 2. The first letter was for parker, and the second one is for me.”
“So DD means defense-defense. I did not fully understand it, though. How do you attack? How do you defend?” Hart asked
“you judge them by yourself. So it is very flexible. But incredibly difficult. Just imagine a game where you can’t control your allies but give vague orders like defense, attack, support, or retreat.”
“It is no different than the battle against the rhino! We can’t use this strategy. The command against rhino is better than that, but the result was worse!”
“That tactic requires a great individual situation analysis. Which is why I am uncertain how to teach it to you.”
“I see. That’s quite hard to adapt to 10 people per party. Any idea, Stella?” Nana asked.
“Mmm.... yes. Break into 2 parties. If we encounter strong ones, we will attack them in turns. If we meet a weak one, we will move separately.”
“What about the composition of the party? That’s no different than John’s idea, right?”
“The 1st is Hart, Me, Nita, Riki, and Nana. The 2nd is Parker, Chloe, Will, John, and Riko.” So she pointed out the names directly. The composition wasn’t bad; each had a strong magic attacker and a defender. If it were me, these 5 people’s roles, the tanker would be Hart and me, the mages would be Stella and will, and the vanguards would be the twins. Sub mage would be Nana and John, and the rear guard would be Nita and Chloe. Nita used magic, and Chloe used a bow. But their personality matched that of rear guards; they were timid and good at observing the situation. Roles were divided based on disposition, not talent. Just as fay said, any talent can become any role.
“Who is the leader? Well, the second team is obvious. Are you going to be the first team leader?”
“Nana is fine.” Surprisingly Stella didn’t appoint herself but Nana. She was pretty cool-headed, and she could make some sound judgments. She has shown her skills in the mock battle with our instructor. But this was surprising. Why didn’t you appoint yourself, Stella? Intelligent ones should try their best to lead others, so they don’t fall into mistakes. And besides, you can command better in the position of leader. If it is like this, you need to inform Nana, and she needs to tell the others. The organization would stretch needlessly. Well, her tacitness is a minus, and she sometimes speaks in riddles as her memory is still nowhere to resurface. Maybe she realized she would only confuse her comrade if she were to be the leader.
“Eh? Why me?”
“Alright. I am cool with it.” Will and Hart agreed. “Though you are not as good as Parker when we battled with our instructor, you performed quite well.”
“Haah... alright.” She sighed
“Let’s call it a day. We will camp here and take turns in night-watch.”
“Parker and Stella should guard in midnight.” John raised a suggestion.
“Why?” although I am not really against it, why he pointed us specifically?
“In games, monsters tend to be dangerous during the night. Just in case? Is that not acceptable? Of course, when anyone on any duty was attacked, everyone was obliged to wake up and help us fend off the assault.”
“Okay.” Stella nodded
I glared a little at him. His reasoning was sound, but night duty in the midnight was highly exhausting. Maybe he thought it was better to have a capable person on the worst shifts? Seems like we would always get the worst job. Did I need to refuse a little? Stella already nodded. I was pretty tired after fighting with that rhino. Maybe it was also best to take an early rest?
“Very well. And so, there will be 5 shifts Riko with Nita, Nana with Chloe, John with Riki, and Stella with me. You knew why the shifts were like this, right? Please use your talent to the maximum. Sense approaching enemies.”
“Alright. Let’s sleep. Nana, let’s go first.”
“No, we will. We didn’t do much before, so I have some energy left.” John unexpectedly volunteered. Well, it didn’t matter. I would just go to sleep until it was my shift.
“Huh, Stella, you didn’t sleep?”
“I am not sleepy. I will help set up the perimeter with John and the rest. Please rest well. You were hurt a little before.”
“Alright.”
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Stella POV
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“hmm....” I watched the bonfire John was making with his magic. After that, he inspected the quest he received. I think he is sorting them out. John was in charge of quests since he was the one taking them out. He had already collected the rhino’s tusk.
Now, what should I do? I am not sleepy, but I also have nothing to do? Should I climb and watch the sunset? How do I climb? I should have practiced the wind magic for it. But it isn’t easy. The branches on this tree are high, and if I messed up, I would be seriously injured.
“Stella, about thunder magic that you used earlier. Please teach me.” Will came to me while I was staring at the woods before me.”
“Sure. First, you need to gather mana, as always. Chanting is based on your imagination. If you have a clear image, you can make the best spell.”
“But I don’t understand. I have already pictured it to the best, but it doesn’t come out easily. What’s the difference?”
“It was just like ice-making that we used our first magic.”
“Ahh, you can make it to the next stage? But no matter what, I can’t make it past ice making, and it can’t be used at battle since it has no shooting speed, unlike ice bullets.”
Hmm... now, how should I teach him? I was always bad at communicating. Only Parker fully comprehends me. I can’t make it seem to be clear to others. I have tried to teach Nana and John, but they were saying things like your method is crazy, or as expected of genius, I can’t follow you. Now, what should I do?
“First, let’s make a chant. Imagine thunder. You have seen my spell, right?”
“umm, yeah?” I don’t think he does. He seemed unclear in his voice. His face also seemed confused.
“Should I show you again?”
“That would be wonderful!” he nodded again with all smiles. He is pretty easy to read.
“Please watch.” I started to gather mana. He is gazing at me. Inspecting my every movement.” Not at me. At the spell.”
“Huh? What spell?” he asked curiously. I made a mistake. Mana is invisible. He should not be able to see it. How should I explain it now?
“Look at my hands. Can you feel anything?”
“No. Well, I can somehow sense it, but I have no idea what I am supposed to look at” He can’t feel it. Mages should be able to feel a little mana emitted from others. Or is he just inexperienced? Or am I special? I can sense it clearly and even replicate it when someone uses a spell. I wonder how other mages do it? Can Fay sense mana?
“Umm..” I made a troubled face. Will was anticipating this. Wait, Will just wants to know about thunder, so isn’t it okay if I just describe thunder at my best? He can train it afterward. He doesn’t need to be explained about some book about mana and magic making in the library.
“So, what should I see? Where should I put my concentration?”
“Well, first. I will show you thunder. Please watch the sky. Right there. I will make a thunder spell, and it will hit that location. Please remember what happened as clearly as possible.” I pointed where my spell would start at the sky and pointed at the ground where my spell would hit. He seemed to understand what I meant.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“First is when the sky turns dark. It is necessary to generate the lightning.” I explained while manipulating mana to create lightning. After that, a bright flash of light struck the ground leaving a small crater. I lowered the power since it was just training. But the sound was deafening. I wondered how the people at our camp would react. But Will already got permission, so it should be fine.
“Dark cloud..., then lightning.. okay, I will try...” he closed his eye, trying to recall what happened a moment ago.
“To imagine the magic better, maybe you should use a phrase with a dark cloud in it?”
“Dark cloud that brings forth lightning..... something like that?” Will said.
“Alright. Try it”
“Dark cloud that brings forth lightning, I call thee. Strike down my enemies now!” Will said with vigor and closed his eyes. And he swung his staff exaggeratedly downwards, but nothing happened. Why does he pose exaggeratedly like that? You can’t see if you close your eyes. You can imagine the spell better if you close them, but you won’t see your enemies attack that way.
“Why??” he knelled down in defeat.
“You chant it wrong. Umm. When you chant, you should see your surroundings and determine if your mana has already produced the desired result. For example, when you chant until the dark cloud, you should first see the change in your environment. Is the sky already turned dark? Please match the timing.”
“Okay.”
“There should be 3 stages, first is forming the cloud, second is aiming, and the third is execution,” I said towards will. He seemed to understand it. The basic is just that, simple, right? Why does everyone have to use chants to do it? I keep wondering to myself.
“Dark cloud... that brings forth lightning....” he said the chant more slowly this time. The sky slowly turned dark.
“Okay, in about 4 seconds, you can continue with the next chant,” I said while measuring the environment. It should be okay for minimum power now. Will nodded, and after a while, he continued.
“Eh?”
“I call thee, my lightning. Strike down my enemies now!” he said while swinging down his staff. This time, the thunder really appeared, and with a booming sound, it struck directly in front of us!
“Wahh!” Will couldn’t help but scream as he was blinded. He used his lightning too close! It was just 7 meters away. I reflexively closed my eyes and ears and took cover somewhere just before the lightning struck.
“What is that sound!!” Parker and the rest scattered from their tent in panic.
“Sorry. I was just practicing.” Will, who was covered in dirt, apologized
“Ahh, is it the thunder spell that I mentioned? But why the sound seemed so close? And you seemed injured!” Parker was in a panic.
“I messed up. Hehehe.”
“Stella.” Parker sighed and called me.
“Yes?”
“Please teach him about safety first. He isn’t like you. He might kill himself with his magic someday. Please be stricter about safety.” He stared at me. It is kind of unfair, but I guess he is also right? I sensed there was something wrong, yet I didn’t stop him.
“Yes. I am sorry.”
“Waah. Just 5 steps more, and you are a goner, Will.” Nana commented. “The crater was almost 5 m in diameter. It really was close.”
“Yes. I am sorry.” Will bowed down in apology. He realized that he was just a few steps away from death this time. I am sorry, Will, I should teach you more carefully.
“The damage seemed bigger than Stella. Isn’t it?” Hart commented
“You can’t just look at the ground. Stella’s spell was a direct hit, so most damages went to the rhino’s body. She might also lower her spell strength in consideration of our safety. And even if the damage is bigger, we also need to factor accuracy.” John replied
“Well, I don’t want to get hit by that. Will, I want you to fix your accuracy. I feel uneasy if your spell almost killed your own life.”
“Yes. I am sorry.”
“I-i-it is just his first time. s-s-so isn’t it fine?” Nita unexpectedly defended Will
“We might be harsh, but it is for his sake. We can’t cut corners here. No one blamed Will since there was no damage done. We just warned him.” Parker replied. “Okay, continue your training. Safely this time. We will go back to sleep.”
“Sorry.” I apologize once more
“It’s fine. If you apologize too much, it would be hard for me too. I just say this for both of your safety.” Parker then left with the rest of the team.
“Alright. I think I get the hang of it. I just need to work on accuracy, right Stella?”
“You need to work on power too. You might exhaust yourself.”
“Alright. Thanks.”
“I will leave now. Please train safely, okay?”
“Sure. I am not an idiot. 1 mistake is enough for me. I will not do it again. I am just excited to be able to cast higher spells.”
“It isn’t really that advanced, you know? It is good for C rank but normal for B rank.”
“Huh?”
“Our teacher phrased them differently. Advanced means level 3. In other books in the library, there are up to 5 levels. If you phrase it, it should be beginner, intermediate, advanced, tactical, and extreme.” I said while wondering. Why our teacher only told us up to rank 3. Considering our time here was just 2 months, I couldn’t blame them for not teaching them yet. Usually, you would need 1 year if you wanted to learn up to the intermediate level. This was their first summoning. I guess they didn’t know what to do with us either. They are underestimating us. But it was better than overestimating us. If Parker didn’t tell them we couldn’t fight, we might be dead by now.
Will looked at me blankly. “And you already can use up to extreme?”
“No. Only up to advanced. Thunder is on the higher side of advanced magic, which I just recently learned. Ice blast is another advanced magic I learned but is on the lower side.”
“How come you knew them then?”
“If you read some books about magic, you will find the general use of them, which is why I knew. The level itself isn’t official. I mean, the education system in this country is poor. I somehow feel weird when learning here.” I said, speaking out loud about the inefficiency and some weird feelings mixed inside when I learned from teachers
“So it is very different than in our world.”
“How is the education system in our world?” I ask with curiosity
“It is school. The school has a certain curriculum that is from the government. Like levels, there are classes in schools. Faith academy is pretty much like school if you ask me. But our school is more focused on theory rather than practice.”
“I see. Faith academy is the only school in this country then. Because the other education system is something like tutor-pupil relationship governed by freelancer guild.” I explained the things I learned and several pieces of information I also learned when reading in the freelancer guild
“Whoaa. That’s horrible.”
“Okay. I will scout around. See you.” I waved my hand. Now that he can cast thunder, my job is done, and I decided to take a stroll.
“Byee.”
I want to bathe. I should be able to make one. I just need the place. Let’s see, 10 meters behind our base should be enough. Then, what other construction? If you are talking about a house, you will need a kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. Since we are in the middle of a forest, we will also need a fence and watchtower, if possible. With earth magic, I can compress the soil. But it is impossible to make bricks since they are made with clay. My earth magic can’t differentiate them yet. For the bath, we should just make a box and then fill it with stones. I can separate them. It should be enough if we made them 50 cm deep and 3 m wide. Or should I make a small one by carving a big stone? Let’s see if we can make them first. It is really tiresome. If it is only for me, I can use ice magic to make the entire structure.
“Stella, what are you making?” Nana came to ask.
“I am making a bath, you see. First, you make something like a box. Compress the soil with stones as its floor, and it is done.”
“Ahh. Let me help!” Chloe came in high spirits. Afterward, we made a 5-meter wide bathroom with a 3-meter wide bathtub. The leftover 2 meters are for toilets. The process only took 2 hours, and a crudely made bathroom was made.
“It doesn’t feel really nice, isn’t it?” Chloe gave a wry smile. The rock is hard. Even though we chose round ones, I can still feel the rock piercing my butt. I can totally understand their feeling.
“Well, this is in the middle of the jungle. We should just be happy we can take a bath.” Nana also gave a wry smile
“I am not Japanese. Why can’t we have a shower?” Chloe complained
“I can make a shower. But it is only for myself....”
“And that’s the answer. Learn some magic first before you ask. To make a shower is simple if it is only for yourself. You only need to chant, and water will gush out from your finger. After that, you only need to maintain it. I can do it, but... I am not very fond of cold and ice baths...” Nana also gave a wry smile.
“With an oversized bathtub, we can pour water and heat it using fire magic. It is very convenient.” I replied.
“It is quite big,” Nita commented.
“Well, we have 4 women and 6 men. To increase efficiency, we should build it big. If we made them small, the person who can’t use magic would have trouble.” Nana answered.
“Ahh, by the way. You boys outside! If I catch you peeping, you will have some experience bathing inside ice blocks!” Nana shouted outside. This bathroom was roofless. The fence was made of compressed soil, which was also applied to the door. We couldn’t make any roof as the steam from the bath might cause it to crumble.
“Gyaa!” I can hear some screams from the back of the bath
“Damn it, Will, why are you screaming?” I heard a whisper. But it is loud enough for us to listen to them clearly. Did they try to peep? Maybe I should give them some warning shots,
“Of course not, Nana. What are you talking about? We are just standing here to wait for our turns to bathe.” Parker replied with an indifferent tone in front of the bath. His words are pretty trustworthy. But what about the one that is screaming, then? He can’t possibly help or overlook them right.
30 minutes later, we went out, and the boys went in. I am tired. Let’s sleep. As for the other things, let’s finish them tomorrow. If I sleep now, I can gain 2 or 3 hours of rest before my watch. They are really ruthless. Telling me to stay alert at midnight.
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Richard POV
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“The heck. They are making a hotel in the middle of the jungle. Soft straw beds with a cloth over it in addition to a bath and toilets included!” Bane was making a fuss
“They are certainly different from us.” Fay smiled as she made a temporary shelter from earth magic.
“They are living in luxury! I can’t accept this!”
“Bane. They have the same handicap as us back then. They are different from nobles that used hundreds of gold plates for their trip.” I answered. To be honest, It was pretty surprising that they could manage in the woods like this. They don’t even have the proper knowledge about animals. If they knew, they would not ask for a fight with a belue rhino, they would not mindlessly injure a revenger wasp, and they even diligently set up a night watch.
“I can’t argue that.”
“By the way, I think we have some bad news.....” I said while opening the letter which I had just received from soldier scouts in the city
“This is.....” Und made a worried look
“Is this fine? Aren’t they rushing things?” Bane commented.
“What else can we do? We are really pressed for time.” Fay said while looking worried.
“In the worst-case scenario, we might have to cancel the trip midway,” I muttered.