Day 4
{Max Mana +14}
{Intelligence +1}
‘Will I ever get used to that?’ I got up and stretched, feeling more like a cat than human.
“Up already?” I looked around to see Selena, just putting on a shirt and I quickly turned away.
‘Do bras not exist here?’ “Good morning…”
“I’d like to go to the church early today, but if you’d like we could share a breakfast first.”
I looked out the window and the sky was just getting bright. Not quite sunrise.
“Why not?” Sure it was early, but I always was a morning person.
I got up and switched to my dress while Selena wasn’t looking, and we went downstairs for food.
“So Taishi. What plans do you have for today?”
“I want to try hunting solo.” Of course I also wanted time alone to get some coin.
“Already? I was thinking about getting you some shoes first.”
I shook my head. “Sorry Selena, but it feels fine barefoot for me. I mean, unless I start getting blisters or cut feet there’s no need.”
“Fine, I give up. They’re your feet, but what about weapons? Those goblin knives aren’t going to last long you know.”
“I already spoke with Ven at the weapon shop. We have plans but I need money first. Hence the hunting today.”
“Ah, thinking that far ahead. I’d think you were older than me if I didn’t know better.” Well considering she said she was 19 the other day, she actually was older than me. Even counting my past life. “Anyway, you make sure to be careful today, and bring plenty of water. Magic won’t help you get water out there. And stay closer to town or you’ll start facing archers.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
The sun was just rising when I got to the well to fill up. There were other hunters also getting ready and I got a few looks. I had tucked my hair into my dress so I thought it had to be me being barefoot. It wasn’t until I headed for the gate though that someone questioned me.
“Hey kid. You planning on going hunting like that?” The one who spoke was somewhat small but wore a heavy cloak and hood.
“Yeah, but I’m just going out to practice some magic and hunt a few lessers.”
The woman shook her head before replying. “That’s not the problem. Doesn’t the desert heat dry out your fur?”
“Huh?” That wasn’t at all what I thought she was concerned about. Then she took off her hood and showed me her own brown cat ears.
“You must have gotten lucky if you can stand the heat out here. Most of us nekos need to cover ourselves out here.”
Well that explained why there were so many cloaks being worn. “Thanks for the warning ma’am, but I’ve been fine after a whole day outside. I didn’t know it could be an issue for cat fur.”
“I don’t know what ‘cat’ is, but yeah. For most it’s a big issue. Maybe it’s your fur color.”
‘Wait, so it’s not cat girls, but nekos? Isn’t that japanese for cat anyway?’ This world seemed to follow its own rules when it came to languages. Still, it seemed as if I’d lucked out with my hair color. Either that or Tanas cheated when he brought me here.
Suddenly the woman started rubbing my head. “Anyway, be careful out there kid.” Without waiting for my reply she left and met with a group of other hunters leaving for the plateau.
Head rubbing aside I’m glad she spoke up. It made me realize just how much I was standing out. Not that I minded. If I was going to enjoy myself properly then of course I wanted to stand out. Fame is a wonderful thing in games, and I figured it would be the same here.
As if to prove my point, the outbound guard at the gate recognized me. “You’re Taishi right? We heard from Selena and the afternoon guard about you kiddo. Just be careful out there. Something’s brewing.”
“Thanks.” ‘I really have to thank Jils for that.’
When I finally got to the plateau I decided on going west along the cliff so I wouldn’t get lost. By then I had recovered all my mana so I began. As I walked I gathered any gold and silver from the ground and occasionally grouped it into little balls in my hand.
{Sustained Magic +1}
After a little over an hour my skill finally went up. From then on I was able to draw the metals a little easier, though I was only able to continue for another half hour.
“Alright, time to hunt.” I didn’t bother seeing how much I had acquired. All I wanted was to have fun while my mana recharged.
My first goblin kill was a bit sloppy. I almost didn’t block his knife in time, though after that it was simple. Even when I fought two at once the lesser goblins were just too slow to be any real threat. And the best part was the mana I got back.
Remember how the little wisp of something showed up as my first goblin died? That turned out to be his mana. And as I fought with low mana, those little wisps would fly into me. It was only about 2 mana each time, but every little bit helps.
{One Hand Blade +1}
Once I achieved that, I figured I could finally try dual wielding. Using one of the knives I looted, I attacked my next goblin with two of them.
“Ow. Shit.” I’m glad no one was around because the moment I struck with it I dropped the knife. Selena was right when she said I’d hurt myself. It nearly stabbed my foot! I persevered though, and started fighting with just my left hand.
{Skill Unlocked - Off Hand}
“Finally.” It was horrible. Every other skill I got was unlocked after one try. Off Hand took four goblin kills though. And even with it I still couldn’t attack well with my left hand.
“Damn it.” My dream was fading. My berserker mage dream. If I could just fight like I did when my unique skill activated I would be set.
It would’ve been so fun. But no. I was too clumsy. I couldn’t understand how to move, my footwork was almost nonexistent, and I kept losing my balance when attacking with two knives. And they were smaller than the swords I’d planned.
It was no good. Not only was it difficult, but it wasn’t fun either. I made up my mind right then, dual wielding swords sucked.
Calling it quits early, I spent my regained mana on drawing some more precious metal. It was still early afternoon when I got back and sold my meager loot for 11 copper. Then I stopped by the coin exchange and received a whole 6 silver 52 copper. Not even close to enough, but I still went to the blacksmith shop.
“Welcome. How can I help you?” This time I was greeted by the actual shopkeeper that Ven had told me about.
“Hello, um Ven said to mention her name when I came back.”
“Oh you’re the one? I’ll go back and get her. It might take a little so feel free to look around." She walked out through a door in the back and I was left alone in the store. Not very good security, but I suppose people were quite trusting in general here.
I casually looked around at the weapons on display as I gathered my thoughts. A lot were the typical one and two handed swords you’d see from medieval Europe, but there were also metal maces, spears, and all sorts of daggers and knives. I was disappointed to not see anything like a traditional Japanese sword.
A couple minutes later Ven came through the back door wearing a leather apron and taking off her heavy gloves.
“Sorry kid. I was just finishing up a knife. I must say I didn’t expect to see you today.”
“No, I’m the one who has to apologize. I may have to change or cancel that order.”
“I told you it wouldn’t be easy to get the coin.”
“No, it’s not that. If I had a couple weeks I could get enough. I just found out today though how hard it is to balance while holding two weapons that size.”
“I see… I figured a neko would be able to handle it with a tail.”
“Yeah, maybe I’m a bit clumsy with mine, but I also lack the strength to hold on.”
“Really? Mind showing me your stats?”
{Taishi} {Title - Blood Soaked Loli}
{Level - 22} {Mana - 8/72} {Age 15}
{Jobs - None} {Condition - Normal}
{Weapons}
{Strength - 10}
Goblin Knife
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
{Toughness - 6}
Goblin Knife
{Endurance - 22}
{Dexterity - 21}
{Equipment}
{Intelligence - 45}
White Dress
{Combat Skills}
Unarmed - 0
Unique Skills
One Hand Blade - 2
Selfless Blade - ∞
Off Hand - 0
1 use remaining
{Magic Skills}
Kinetic Magic- 0
Fire Magic - 0
Sustained Magic - 1
“You really are a beginner at this aren’t you? You know you could just train your strength and you’d be fine right?”
“Yeah but, it also wasn’t very fun.”
“Ah. Now we come to the real problem. You want to have fun while killing monsters.” When she put it that way it made me feel like a psychopath. “Oh I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that different people find different things fun. Have you ever had fun killing a goblin?”
Thinking back, even when I hunted with Selena, it wasn’t the fighting I enjoyed but the hunting itself. ‘Did I ever…’ Then I recalled my first goblin. How much of a rush that was. And I did used to enjoy beating up my punching bag back home.
“It is kind of fun punching and kicking. But that couldn’t be viable right?”
“Unarmed then? Well you do have a point. Unarmed is fairly useless if you don’t have the weight to put behind it. Wait, it wouldn’t be that bad if your punches had some threat. Give me a moment.”
Ven went back to the back room and dragged her wife out. “What is it you need Ven? You told me to watch the forge.”
“One second. Taishi, this is Eve my wife. Hun, this girl seems perfect for that knife you were working on. If it works out, get a mold and bring it back to me.”
“Really? Okay Ven, just don’t lose track of time again and miss dinner.” As Ven disappeared I could tell who the boss here was. Eve just smiled as she went behind the counter. “Now, Taishi is it? Ven might do the heavy lifting but I’m the one who designs what she makes. Right here is a test model I was thinking might sell in Antor. What do you think?”
What she pulled out wasn’t some normal weapon. It was a dagger, but with a sideways handle and a thinner piece to connect the two. As she handed it to me I realized exactly what it was.
“A push dagger.” It was shaped very much like the self defence push knives back on Earth. The handle was meant to fit into the palm of a fist, with the dagger going through the fingers in a way so you could punch with it.
“Oh, you’ve seen one before? Rats, I thought it was the first. What did you call it, push dagger?”
“Yeah, or punch dagger. This might just work. A little uncomfortable though.” The connecting piece was wide enough to dig into my fingers.
“It is a bit too big for you. That’s probably why Ven said to get a mold.” With that Eve pulled out a block of clay and unwrapped it. “If you think this would work we’ll need a mold of your hands. What do you say?”
After all the disappointments of the day, just hearing that cheered me up immensely. “Yes!”
After that was done Eve told me the price. “Two of these in steel should be roughly 12 silver. We might have to reinforce them, but since these are the first ones I won’t have you pay for that.”
Only 12 silver! So much cheaper than sword and it looked more fun too. “I have 6 silver with me, so would it be possible to get one done by tomorrow morning?” With this possibility in front of me, the last thing I wanted was to go hunting with my stupid knives again.
“I think we can do that for you. I’m sure Ven’s already got the steel cooking too. Come back tomorrow morning.”
With my spirits soaring I dropped of all my stuff at the inn before heading for the baths. I blame Selena for making me like baths. And lo and behold there she was already soaking with her eyes closed. I couldn’t help myself and jumped in right next to her.
“What? Oh Taishi. Don’t surprise me like that.” Oh it was good to see her jump.
“Sorry Selena, well not really. You looked too peaceful just sitting here.”
“Oh come off it. Today was worse than a full day of hunting.”
“Don’t tell me Chi got to you too?”
“No no. You see, the longer a person waits to learn magic, the harder it is. It took me almost five hours before I could leave her room.”
‘What?’ It took me quite a while too, but not nearly that long. “So did you get any hands on practice?”
“Ah, the fireball? Mine didn’t even reach the ground. But I did find something I was good at. Shielding.”
“That does sound like you. You use your shield more than your sword.” She was like the embodiment of a tank character. Adding shielding magic on top of that was unfair.
“Yeah, but I need to practice it some. Do you want to come hunting tomorrow?”
“Of course. Actually, do you think we could try out some bigger packs too?” I figured magic like Chi’s fireball could decimate a group of goblins if they were close enough together.
“We would have to camp out in the desert if we wanted to fight packs. That means spending half the night on watch.”
“Alright! Now I’m looking forward to it.”
We finished up and ate out before turning in for the day. Back in our room we discussed what kinds of magic we could try out. Neither of us had much experience though, so it was all just speculation. Even so we talked for a good few hours about that and other little things before finally going to bed.
CHI - INTERMISSION
Hi! ♥ It’s Chi again!
I figured Selena wouldn’t tell Taishi what all we talked about, so why don’t I?
I was surprised to see Selena waiting outside the church the moment I woke up. I mean, really. The sun just rose and I hadn’t even had breakfast yet. It was pretty funny watching her fidget around waiting for me.
After grabbing some food I took her to my room. Since it was my second time teaching magic I was able to get all the stuff in the right order this time.
Unfortunately Selena couldn’t feel her mana that much. After hours of trying I came up with an idea. Why not have her cut herself a little and I heal it? That way she can feel my mana becoming hers at the same time as her feeling her own mana work.
If you’re reading this Selena, I apologize again for drooling. Healing just feels sooo good!
The best part was, it worked! We finally moved outside to actually use magic and I brought her to the same spot as Taishi.
Selena wasn’t that good at doing a fireball, but after some testing we discovered she’s great at shields. When she tried my version of fireball, her shield didn’t break on impact. Instead it bounced! That silly woman made it too strong.
We talked about a lot after that and got to know each other. But looking back on it, mostly we talked about Taishi…
Wait! You don’t think she loves Taishi too?! Do I have a rival?! Noo!
I have to make sure Selena knows Taishi is mine! Tomorrow. Yes, that should be good. I’ll go see them first thing in the morning!
Maybe I’ll even see Taishi sleeping! ♥
END - INTERMISSION
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this one. It took a long time for me to decide on Taishi's weapons, but when I thought about her size and shape, all I could think was "She'd be a perfect ninja. Like Akatsuki from Log Horizon, but with a tail." The white dress makes it impossible for her to be the stealthy type though, so I looked for a weapon that was similar to ninja weapons and didn't need strength. Push daggers are awesome for that. Google it. Easily concealed but still good enough to punch through armor. And the best part: I've never read of them in any other novel, ever.
Question for the readers: Would you like a separate chapter that describes and details all the stat mechanics that I use? I even have formulas for stat/skill exp gain and how int affects that. If so, would you prefer it to contain spoilers of all the different skill types available? Or should I just update it occasionally as new skills show up in the story?