It has been roughly two days since we have departed from the house. During that short amount of time I actually encountered a [Demon] of all things. [Demons] are frightening creatures with powers second only to [Gods]. Zygel is a town located at the very southeast of Pearlhide kingdom. It is one of the so-called small villages, they are scarce on resources but their surroundings are filled with natural resources which they are incapable of acquiring. For a village or city to function what you need most is not money, but resources! Resources are the vital essence of a village, money is only second. Of course even with a wealthy village, as long as you are weak it will not give benefits, in fact it may give harm due to the amount of unprotected wealth.
Of course there are mercenaries, but mercenaries cost a lot, especially when their job is to protect a whole village. From the information I've heard from Aine-san, she said that Zygel has no mercenaries because they do not have the funds to do so. They are the most successful small village in the southeast area, most villages in this area do not possess even half of Zygel's wealth.
My goal right now is to get money and influence, without these, my plan would be crumbled to pieces. Although it may not be as easy as it sounds, as long as I do things that shock the village, I may gain their support in the future. Of course this won't amount to much but if they suddenly rise in fortune, I would greatly benefit.
"Kai, we are almost there. You can see it if you look straight ahead."
I look into the distance and see vague shapes of buildings, I then widen my eyes cause it has been the first time I've seen an actual village in this world. When you hear the word 'village', you'd think of huts as houses but by no means are those huts. They were constructed with stone, and it looks like they are fairly well-built. As we near the city of Zygel, I use my power to search for any threats near the village, only when I figured out that there were no beasts did I let my guard down. I let out a slight yawn as I remember our tiring journey of walking for two days.
"Tired? We'll immediately check in at an inn once we get there so you can relax."
I slightly nodded as I smiled when I looked at Aine-san and head forward.
It looks like there are guards but no gates or any other form of protection, I can see what can make this place a target for bandits.
"Kai, villages still need identification before you enter, here's a card."
"Card?"
"It's called Identification Card, there are many different types of cards in this world but this is just for basic necessities."
I look down on the card she gave me and see that it is actually pretty neat, you'd think it wasn't from this world and was from Earth. It had a light blue-ish color with the words forged in black. It looks like the words are carved and not just written there.
"You can use it to enter villages and cities."
"There are no other uses for it?"
This seems like a card that doesn't have much value.
"You also need it when checking in at inns and other public services."
"So without it?"
"You'd basically be isolated to the forest."
I take what I previously said back, this is really important! I look at her with wide-eyes but quickly gain my composure and hide the card.
"Ah wait, imbue your mana first."
"..Okay?"
I hold the card and let my mana flow from my body to my arm, it headed like water streaming towards my hand and fingertips. The card suddenly glew a faint blue light and it looks like the words were enchanted.
"Cards aren't officially for use until owners use their mana to awaken it. When the owner of the card is verified, the owner will always know the direction of which the card is in. Although you can't make it magically appear, the distance has no limit and can be found anywhere across the world."
What started as something pretty simple turned pretty complicated. We conversed as we walked towards the guard. He was wearing armor made of bronze, equipped in hands were a sword and a shield. The guard raised his brow and said with a casual voice:
"Identification Card."
Aine-san held out her card and glanced at me to do the same. After a few seconds of looking back at the card and us his eyes' gaze went up and said:
"You may enter."
It was that easy?!
"Aine-san, won't that mean that intruders can get in anytime?"
"Not necessarily, they won't let in suspicious people."
What does she mean by 'suspicious'? Because a guy wielding a sword in broad daylight could not be considered suspicious here, black clothing maybe? Although dimensional storages exist, few have access to it. The main reason is the price, only the rich can afford one, if you buy the lowest-quality one then a small village may be able to afford one, but a single person who doesn't have even a bit of money can not buy it. With my skills of being able to make dimensional storages, I can get rich just by making some and selling them, although rich people buy it all the time, the quantity available is scarce. One rich family buys at least 10 high-quality ones, a village buys 1 low-quality, this is for the village elder's personal use.
A village elder is someone who has influence inside the village and has quite a bit of wealth compared to the average citizen, they are also stronger. If a citizen is at 10, an elder is at 30, and a ruler or a chief has 50. As I've said before, a village's ruler can change anytime, as long as they follow the proper duel instructions and defeat the old chief in single combat, they can replace them immediately. Anyone can see how flawed this system is, there is a loophole though, the person who will take over as chief has to be acknowledged by two elders.
In a village, most citizens will be afraid of elders for their power and even follow their every whim. Like mindless robots being controlled, although they do not do it willingly, the power of an elder is not something anyone can doubt, the stronger the village, the stronger the elder and chief.
I wanna see the status of the village right now, Aine-san told me that it is currently the best village around here.
"I found an inn, over there."
It looked pretty average, it had 4 floors and 2 rooms one side per floor as I can see. I'm guessing the first floor has the receptionist and the lounge. I looked up and saw a sign board at the very top of the structure, it said 'Ye ol' inn', how could I not have expected that? Of course the first inn we've encountered would be like that. We walked in and saw that it looked pretty good on the inside, the floors were shining and the walls were painted peach with proper care. I looked around for a moment before my eyes landed on the desk, a really cute girl with long straight brown hair and brown eyes, her figure was outstanding to say the least! She looked the same age as Aine-san, before I knew it I was already evaluating her, it appeared like she didn't own the inn so I scanned around a few more times and saw that there were really no other people.
We walked forward and she greeted us with her smiling face.
"Welcome dear customers, what would you like?"
"A room, one should do."
"Beds?"
"Two."
"Right this way Ma'am."
She put her hands in a guiding motion and walked towards the stairs, you couldn't see a speck of dust in this inn! Who would clean this diligently?!
"Your room is room 302, if you need any assistance please come down to the receptionist area."
"Thank you."
"It is my pleasure."
These manners! It feels like she isn't even a person from this village and is actually a sheltered girl from some rich family! She went back down descending the steps after she gave us the room key, I looked at her descending figure for a few seconds and head inside the room. As the door opened and I got a look at the room, it was actually not all that extravagant compared to the interior, they were probably all just for show so that they would feel like the rooms were as good looking as that. Aine-san sat on the bed and sighed.
"What is it?"
"I was just tired from the journey, and that girl from before, she's strong."
"You could sense it too?"
"Yeah, at the very least I'd say she's the strongest person in this village if she didn't conceal her powers."
When I was looking at her earlier, I managed to sense her aura a bit, I didn't observe her status seeing as that was a bit rude, but I could feel that she wasn't ordinary at all. She is a bit far from my strength but I'd say she can give anyone else here a run for their money. I may be strong but I lack actual battle experience, like with the wolf, I had power but I didn't have enough skill to use it. I should improve my battle sense, just being strong without skills would be like a tiger with no fangs or claws. I said that but it is easier said than done, although my battle sense is a bit better than before since I fought wolves, I still had to rely on my time power to win. Skill is a big part of it but I should not forget that I have the body of a 10 year old.
At the very least I should get used to fighting using a small body.
"Aine-san, is it possible to train my battle sense?"
"It is, just fight, fight, and fight."
"So keep fighting until I get used to it?"
"See, you catch on quickly, you'd get adjusted to battles in no time."
Easier said than done.
"Aine-san, since you're a support, aren't you also inexperienced in battle?"
"I am a bit weaker at frontal battles but I am entirely used to fighting."
"In that case, I need someone to train me in hand to hand battles."
"..Well, the purpose of this trip was to improve your skills so you could survive alone."
"Yeah.."
"And that's why we are not getting a trainer."
"So I can adapt and experience on my own?"
"Exactly."
Why do I feel like we're not getting a trainer just to save money? She is right though, my own experience is better than learning from a professional trainer. I might get to dependent on having people teach me that I would forget that I have my own skills and it should work better that way. Although I do have the experience of my past life, I've seen a bunch of fantasy shows and martial arts shows, I can probably train that, I doubt this world has them. This would be a lot harder for a regular person but my memory can remember anything with one look, this will be child's play. I can remember my mistakes so I wouldn't have to repeat them again.
"Aine-san, I need an area to practice my skills."
"Hm? What kind? Magic or physical?"
"Physical for now."
Aine-san pondered for a bit while looking up as she was trying to remember something.
"Ah, I remember a place where you can spar with people using martial arts, beside that is a place with wooden targets for fighting. They are quite durable."
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Where is it?"
"Northwest of this inn. Find a place called 'Zygel Martial Court'. It is really big but anyone who will practice martial arts are allowed, knights always gather at this place for hand-to-hand combat."
"Are weapons not allowed?"
Aine-san shook her head.
"No, killing is also not allowed."
"Heavy injuries?"
"Barely acceptable."
This might be the perfect chance! I can test my body enchantment magic. My fists would be as hard as a rock if I enchant it, I wonder if enchantments are allowed? I stepped out of the room and looked back at Aine-san.
"Aine-san, I'll be back soon I just need to practice some attacks to further increase my skill."
"Nn."
I go back down the first floor and see that nobody's there, not even the lady from earlier, I wonder if something happened or this place always gets left alone like this. I walk out of the inn and nothing seems out of the ordinary, my senses don't tell me anything. I am quite perceptive about my surroundings and see that I found nothing wrong other than the lack of people I head towards the northwest of the inn. As I walked I saw a lot less people, even less than yesterday. I wonder if something really happened? I head towards the court and saw a lot of people circling around it. Something definitely happened, the court was as wide as a stadium but for some reason, people are outside. I've heard this town isn't too strong so the court might've gotten taken over or anything involving criminals. Then again I shouldn't
assume too fast.
"Beat him up! I'm counting on you Yuto!"
"I bet all my money on you, Yuto! Hurry and win!"
The crowd was screaming as if their lives depended on it. Their voices were filled with belief that the person named 'Yuto' will win. I was looking behind the crowd and realize that nobody is actually inside the court besides two people. A tall guy who had has his hands in a fighting position, he wore no armor and had no weapons. On the other side was a person who wore a cloak, they were a head shorter than the previously mentioned guy, judging by their appearance you could tell they are trying to hide their aura and figure. They did a pretty good job concealing themselves but it can't fully escape my eyes. I cast [Vision], it enhances my sense of sight by three times. It can increase the range I see and also enhances the details. If I want to look at some text that is not even glasses can read I can do it effortlessly, at a
distance even.
My eyes went past the crowd and landed on the figure of the person wearing the cloak. By their slight movements I can tell that the person is a girl! Her attitude is pretty calm, much like she doesn't notice what's happening around her. Or could it be overflowing confidence that the enemy can't hurt her? If that's so then that means she must be pretty strong. I'd hope it would be the latter, if a girl was beat up right in front of my eyes, I might jump in and save her. I'm strong enough to defeat everyone here with magic, I'd lose when it would come to hand-to-hand combat though.. I shook my head and decisively thought to myself 'I came here to get stronger, not to see how weak I am'. When you encounter a scene like this you'd think the person who's name was being shouted will win but I can't help but feel that that isn't the case. The girl was really calm and had no assumed fighting posture, it doesn't look like she's channeling magic either, could it be she's waiting for the enemy to charge before attacking?
Yuto looked like he had an overbearing confidence that he'd beat this girl instantly so his fighting posture was full of openings, if he faced an experienced opponent with that he'd get wiped out instantly. I even feel like I'd win easily against him..
"Hmph! I'll give you a chance to attack, if you manage to make me heavily injured in three moves, I'll surrender!"
I was correct, he really had a huge amount of confidence in himself, most people like this die early. I look back at the girl and saw that she twitched, it looks like she's mad.
"You.."
Oh? Looks like she isn't hiding the fact that she's a girl, she suddenly spoke out like that and everyone is looking at her dumbfounded. They actually thought she was a guy.
"You..are..asking..for..death!"
Her voice loudly echoed throughout the arena and I saw that the people near the front who had been shouting for Yuto shuddered. I can feel the strength in her voice, in terms of power she's near Aine-san. She's not quite at the level where she'd be Aine-san's match but I can tell she'd at least give Aine-san an injury before losing. The girl's cloak suddenly bursted out, the edges of the cloak at the bottom were fluttering like a really strong wind was pulling it out. Everyone's faces in the arena were shocked and had fear. That girl is definitely a [Magician], why is she at a [Knight's] training area?
She stretched out her hand to the right side and a mana suddenly wrapped around it, it was invisible but the pressure it was emitting caused the surrounding area to have strong gusts of wind. Yuto's face changed as he went from a fighting pose to a defending pose. It looks like he plans to grab her wrist when she charges and throw her to the side. I can tell he doesn't want to injure a girl but I think he's aiming for an instant knock out. I can feel that his right hand is slowly being filled with magic, he'd probably try to hit the area around her neck to shut her down.
The girl walked a step forward and an immense pressure overwhelmed the entire arena, I can see why the people are outside now. As she stepped forward, she vanished into thin air along with her shadow. In an instant she went from her original position to the front of her enemy, she didn't use magic and that was actually her natural speed! Her power is shocking but what's even more shocking is that speed! It looks like she's aiming for an instant knock out before the enemy can get to attack or defend! A smile formed from the side of the man and his hand suddenly switched positions as the girl's fist was gonna hit his chest. His left hand grabbed the girl's wrist and his right leg switched positions as he threw her to the side, before she left the floor his right hand at a frightening speed shot out towards her neck. Before it could reach, the girl looked like she had predicted everything and in an instant her right foot reached the floor and her body along with it. She sweeped down at the floor and caught the guy off-balance.
"Wha-!?"
The guy shouted but before he could finish, the girl's right palm hit his chest, and with a loud cracking sound, he got pushed back by at least ten meters. The arena was as wide as a hundred meters and when they saw him get pushed back, everyone's faces of fear and shock were even more filled with the same emotions! My eyes widened as I saw everything very clearly, she had used only a little amount of mana yet she already injured the guy! I can tell that the only attack filled with mana was her palm! With her footwork and skills you'd think she was actually a [Knight]! If I can be as strong as skilled as her then nobody would dare attack me carelessly! Everyone was speechless and the loud arena was so silent that you'd think there was nobody there. If one were to listen closely you'd hear the sound of a coin dropping towards
the floor!
"What happened?! The girl just vanished into thin air and Yuto countered but.. he was countered instead!"
"How did that happen!?"
"She's even more skilled than Yuto! Who is she!?"
Noises of disbelief erupted from the crowd's silence as everyone finally digested what happened. Yuto was kneeling on the floor with blood at the corner of his mouth. He wiped it off and looked at the blood and his calm expression turned into that of rage. He glared at her and clenched his fist, he suddenly jumped out and covered the distance he flew in an instant but, he wasn't nearly as fast as her!
"You dare! I'll beat you so bad that you'd wish you hadn't crossed paths with me!"
There it is, he revealed his true nature. The crowd's expressions changed as they saw him and looks of disdain even appeared on some. They only appeared for an instant before retracting, it looks like this Yuto guy has a really terrifying background!
The girl clicked her tongue and in an instant she jumped out towards him. His face which was filled with rage expressed shock as he suddenly increased his momentum to charge straight at her. He raised his right fist and shot it out towards the girl. He roared as his expression of anger returned.
"[Stone Breaking Fist]!"
"!"
Everyone's faces changed as they opened their mouths and stared wide-eyed. His fist looked like it actually grew a bit! His former smooth skin also looked like it could smash a tree in a single hit as his hand turned greyish. By the skill's name I can guess that this makes his hand nearly as hard as stone! I should also get skills like that! The girl's usual demeanor changed as she stretched out her left palm and also screamed.
"[Redirection Arts: Rebound]!"
"!!"
Everyone's expressions changed even more! It looks like this move was well-known because even Yuto's face turned green. She stretched out her palm but the posture didn't look like it was gonna hit him, no it was gonna catch the fist! As his fist landed, a cracking sound could be heard throughout the arena, if you heard it you'd guess it was from the girl, contrary to that belief, Yuto's wrist was the one that cracked! It sounded really painful! His attack reflected back at him and hit out all at once, the force that he exerted went back and broke his entire arm as he groaned in pain. His eyes had tears streaming down but it didn't look like he was gonna back down.
"RAHH! YOU WRETCHED WOMAN! PREPARE TO FACE THE WRATH OF MY GUILD'S GREATEST ART!"
His voice sounded really desperate, it was more like he was trying to get her to surrender before actually using the move. Everyone's faces changed but it looks like they already knew who the winner will be.
"The [Redirection Arts] are powerful. I'm afraid that even his clan's greatest art would pale in comparison."
"I agree, that girl is definitely from the legendary Blue Waters."
"The Blue Waters are the only ones who learned the [Redirection Arts] in the past thousand years right?"
"Yes, and that is what makes them the most fearsome, they are the only descendants."
A group of adults conversed with each other even with the battle going on.
"[IRON ROCK CLAN SECRET ART: MOUNTAIN KING'S FIST]!"
"!!!"
The group of adults who conversed with each other earlier face's changed.
"To think he had learnt the secret art at the young age of twenty-one, he's truly a prodigy."
"It's a shame that he used that on the wrong enemy."
By the fighting style of the man, it looks like he uses fists as his main weapon. And if you go with the flow of this battle, the damage he will do will just reflect back at him and injure him instead, did he not think this through? It would've worked on a different enemy but from what I heard, the [Redirection Arts] will reflect the damage back at him and even destroy himself with his own power!
The girl was as tranquil as water as she stretched out her right palm in unison with her left palm. The flow of mana around her increased greatly as her hands gently made a rotating movement. Her hands went back to the side, it looked like she was dancing with her hands. The view was really a spectacle, if only she removed the cloak, I'd bet she'd entice a lot of males!
"[Redirection Arts: Full Counter]."
Everyone's faces were now full of awe and shock, it looks like the 'Blue Waters' was an extremely formidable guild. I don't know the conditions of a clan yet, are they bloodline-related? I do not know yet but all I know is that everyone in the clan trust each other. If I will join a clan in the future, I need a good influence and a reliable source.
By the power of [Rebound] earlier, I can tell that it only reflected fifty percent of his attack. Will [Full Counter] reflect one hundred percent? If that's true then it may be the most dangerous and powerful art.
As his left hand stretched out, a pressure like a mountain pressing on everyone's bodies caused everyone to not look directly. It felt like a mountain was crushing them slowly but surely. His left hand looked like it was as hard as iron and approached the girl's palms. As his fist landed, she pushed out her palms and a bright light passed through Yuto. It looked as if all the power was converted into magic and shot back! Isn't that even more dangerous than a one hundred percent return?! The white light blasted Yuto as he was sent spinning as blood spurted out from his mouth. His whole body looked like it had been crushed as he landed on the wall of the arena.
BOOMMMMMMM
His body made contact with the wall and a large amount of dust burst out and covered a fourth of the arena. It took awhile for the dust to clear but when it did, everyone's faces were filled with fear and respect. Yuto was inside the wall and a crater appearing five meters were stretched out from all angles. The people who were above that part of the wall were filled with fear and it looked like some of them even fainted. His body had bruises and blood all over, if one didn't see what happened they'd think he was dead already. The girl held back, if one weren't an idiot, they can tell. It was suddenly silent again until one person shouted.
"Sh-she won!"
With that, everyone's silence disappeared and screamed as loud as they can.
"It's the first time I've witnessed such a battle!"
"Me too!"
"Are they really youngsters!?"
"If you told me they were actually experts who look young I'd believe you!"
More and more praise were given. It looks like that spectacle was really good, I would not know since this is the first battle I've seen that wasn't by my gramps. Gramps would instantly defeat everything and everyone so I can't really tell if this battle was good. Wait, if that girl is really that good, should I get her to join me and Aine-san? She might even train me! Do guilds allow members to leave temporarily or not be around the area? I hope so.
"Huh? Where is she?"
"She disappeared?"
"She didn't take the prize money for defeating an undefeated warrior."
"They'll probably keep it unless she takes it back."
I scan the crowd for the person and saw a cloak being thrown. I could see the girl wear a different cloak to disguise herself and ran towards the exit.
You may have fooled everyone but you can't fool my eyes.
I channel mana and with frightening speed, reach the exit before her.
"Hey!"
She shuddered back and took a fighting pose. I'd guess anyone would be scared if they suddenly fly towards you at blinding speed and greet you like it's nothing.
"Who are you?"
"Me?"
I point at myself and put an innocent smile on myself to hide my real intentions.
"I'm Kai. Nice to meet you."