༺ A Small Action Gets The Snowball Rolling ༻
I momentarily forgot that foods had certain compatibility.
“Guuueeeeegh…….”
It was obvious when thinking about it. Everything had its own pair. Coke should be had with pizza or fried chicken, not served as a soup with rice.
The combination of chocolate and mint was god-awful. They were enjoyable on their own but if eaten together, it became a horrific mix.
It might have been okay if it had been processed but…. Eating it raw like this was going to cause a stomach ache.
I had been so focused on the theoretical aspect that I forgot my common sense. After giving myself feedback, I wiped my mouth with my sleeve.
Still, it was my first meal of the day. I couldn’t possibly spit it out, so I swallowed it with great difficulty.
“Ugghh…….”
The consequences of that was some dry heaving.
At least no one saw me like this.
If Professor Hasfeldt had witnessed this, she would’ve scolded me. Her preaching tended to cause all sorts of profanities to surge within which would’ve worsened the situation.
I decided to quench my thirst for now at a nearby brook. After washing out my mouth a bit, it was a little more refreshing.
– Be sure to return before 5 p.m.
The mana stones were gathered and my stomach was settled. I decided to descend to make it back on time.
Crash! Crash! Baaang!
The hell was that?
I moved towards the source of vibrations.
Not just because I was curious. I had to go this way to climb down anyway.
Craaash!
The ground shook. I shifted my center of gravity and stabilized myself.
Then I lifted my head and looked straight. The cause of the quake was beyond there.
“Why on earth is an Iron Drake all the way here!”
“How would I know!”
Iron Drake. A dinosaur-type Magic Beast covered in hard iron.
Though it looked like something from the cretaceous period, they were somewhat common in this world, almost as if it had never gone through a mass extinction event.
Mm, a flying lizard bastard. It had a nasty temperament to go along with its appearance.
Why was it here?
Iron Drakes lived deep in the woods. They usually didn’t appear on the mountainside like this.
I looked further. Two female students trembling in front of the iron reptile, one male student in front of them getting ready to run for it. Lastly, another male student with red hair at the very front chanting a spell.
I knew they were Academy students. What I was looking for was the color of the sash tying their robes.
Green. They were first years, still fresh into school.
“I’ll buy some time, so go call a professor!”
“Are you stupid, Lorewell! You can’t hold it off by yourself!”
The student standing in the middle was right. Unless they received some kind of prior teachings, a first year’s magic was absolutely no match against a Drake. Throwing a few fireballs at an armor thick enough to block armor-piercing shells would hardly leave a scratch.
That Lorewell kid was a Fire Mage judging by his eye color. He was going to need an intermediate at the very least to fight against that beast using Flame Magic….
Huh, wait. Don’t I have one with me?
I rummaged through my hip sack and pulled out two scrolls. Both of them were for the instant firing of ‘Light Arrows’.
Light Arrow was an intermediate Flame Magic. Furthermore, these were special ones that had immense penetration force. It should have the destructive power of an advanced magic against a Magic Beast with tough shells.
For the moment, I didn’t know why an Iron Drake had come all the way down to the foot of the mountain. All I knew was that like this, those students would die.
I finished my assessment in an instant. And like always, I moved as soon as I made my decision.
“Bullet!”
The flame shell that flew forward with a whoosh was deflected by the beast’s shoulder blade. The male student at the front let out a swear.
Meanwhile, the fire that got deflected off the beast landed near me. How lucky. Pulling out a stick of mana grass, I lit the end of it without even using a lighter.
Hisss!
Siiip, haaaa.
Do you see this sidestream smoke1smoke that specifically comes from the end of a lit cigarette/pipe/cigar apparently? It’s incense for your soul.
As I inhaled the mana grass smoke deeply, mana circulated within my body. It really was a bothersome task. I opened the Light Arrow scroll and poured mana on the paper.
It was an instant.
Shhhhk, boom!
“Kwaaaaak!”
A light too fast for the naked eye ripped into the Iron Drake’s thigh, penetrating through its armor.
The arrow exited through its lat on the opposite side. Did a machine even have a lat? Regardless, it undoubtedly punctured through that area.
The Drake, now missing its side, couldn’t hold its balance. Without missing a beat, I climbed up its back.
“……!”
I locked eyes with the male student at the forefront. We could introduce ourselves later.
More importantly, the mana all dissipated with that attack. It would take time to burn more grass so I decided to give the remaining scroll to the student.
“Take it!”
“This is……?”
The distance between the student and the Drake was about a meter. The paper could be tossed to him without hindrance in this proximity.
Whoosh, went the paper as the student caught it.
“Do you know how to use it?”
“……Yes!”
He nodded as if he understood.
Boom!
The scroll was immediately used. The Light Arrow that was fired from the front pierced through the Iron Drake’s chest. The beast’s movements slowed significantly.
Now was my chance.
Most reptile or amphibian type beasts had mana stones on the back of their heads. Once the stone was removed, the beast was disabled.
It was the same as with the Magnet Turtle. I used the staff for hunting Magic Beasts. I pulled the steel staff from where it was tied to my back and held it out.
Whiiirl, the staff spun in the air eight times and then struck the Drake’s cervical vertebrae. Rotational inertia increased the further the axis was from the striking point.
“Kuh… waa…aaaaak…….”
That single strike would have been enough to smash the back of its head.
Its shell came off and the dark internals were exposed. Viscous oil that flowed like honey, wires that were stained black, and bones made of lead. No matter how you look at it, it wasn’t a living creature.
I rolled up my sleeves and pulled out the mana stone from inside. There were hematites and bronze stones. Crrrk, the sound of something disconnecting could be heard. The life in the Drake’s eyes faded.
I walked down the lifeless body of the Drake.
As soon as I stepped down, my eyes met with that of the male student’s. After taking a look at the male student behind him, then the trembling female students in turn, I returned my gaze back to the red-haired student.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No. Thank you for saving us.”
“Anyway, that was strange. A Drake doesn’t usually come all the way down here. Do you know anything?”
All four students shook their heads in response.
“We’re not sure either. We’ve just come out for a practical.”
“M-maybe it wasn’t a big deal? Like it was needing food or something…….”
“I’m actually curious about you.”
At the casual speech at the end, I turned my head. It was the other male student with a large stature.
“Gold eyes…. You’re the one of the Golden-Eyed, no? How did you use magic?”
“Hey, don’t be rude to someone you just met.”
This sometimes happened when talking with someone I met for the first time. I would always stay silent in such cases. Since I wasn’t someone of this world, I didn’t feel like I could adequately explain my kind to another.
With Lorewell deterring him and me not saying much else, the air became uncomfortable.
I suddenly looked up at the sky. The sun was slowly setting into the west.
It was hard to gauge the exact time from the sun’s position alone. It wasn’t like I had a watch with me either. That was a luxury item for a slave.
To break the ice, I asked the student who was at the head of the group what time it was.
“Right now? Hm……. It’s 4:30 p.m.”
“Ah.”
“Why? Do you have something?”
“Sorry. I’ll be leaving first.”
With that, I ran down the slope. I heard a voice calling out, ‘Excuse me!’ but I didn’t have the leisure to look back.
If I didn’t hurry, Hasfeldt was going to kill me…….
That was the only thought occupying my mind.
**
“So……. shouldn’t we repay her for helping us…?”
“We’ll probably see her eventually. She seemed to be from the Academy judging from her robe.”
“But I’ve never seen a robe like that. Was there a senior with a black belt?”
“I’m sure there is. Forget it, we need to take this thing down. The sun’s going to set on us.”
**
– Be sure to return before 5 p.m.
The world was against me.
Why? Because I got here at 5:01 p.m.
“You’ve been taking it quite easy lately, haven’t you?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Did I not say your collar will go back on if you aren’t back in time?”
“You did.”
You did, but…
Honestly, this was unfair. I ran to the point of tasting sweetness in the back of my throat2ketosis, the burning of fat when exerting body which builds up ketones in the bloodstream, yet I was late by a hair. And having to work in the early morning as punishment because of that hair’s difference had my teeth positively clenching.
Professor Hasfeldt was very strict with time. She had no leniency, to the point that she was angered at a minute’s tardiness.
“The reason why I send you out without a branding or collar is because I trust you. Don’t you also think you’ve done well for the past three years?”
Man, here it was. Hasfeldt’s signature trick question.
The answer to this couldn’t be ‘yes’. I knew this according to the big data I accumulated over the last three years.
“Not at all. I’m still lacking despite your gracious teachings, Professor.”
“You know your place, then. Your performance is still disappointing. I will give you an opportunity to make up for it.”
Tens of sheets of magic paper were dropped in front of me with a thump. At the edge of the top most paper, the words ‘Chaser Flow’ was engraved on it.
It was a new kind of magic.
The amount was ridiculous. With shaking hands, I took the papers. Besides the first sheet, the others had nothing on it.
“The first one is a template. You work with it as the base. I will finish up the Light Arrows myself so please complete those.”
It wasn’t a normal magic circle. It was the most complicated out of all the ones I’ve seen. As I stared at the geometric symbol that seemed to squiggle from top to bottom, it felt like my head was going through a phase shift.
“By when?”
“Do you really not know? Complete it by tomorrow morning.”
“Um…. What about sleep?”
“You can rest and work at your discretion while in the dorms. This is all you need to work on. Ah, you said you hunted an Iron Drake earlier, correct? Then you can use that to fabricate.”
“Ah, alright….”
“If there’s nothing else, then you can go back. And make sure to return as scheduled the next time you go outside.”
Professor Hasfeldt gave her dismissal. The money that she gave me for food was only two bronze pieces.
Wow, being underpaid was the same anywhere. This didn’t need to be a similarity.
The only thing that could be bought with two bronze coins was a single piece of rye bread. If the restaurant owner was generous they would give a complimentary soup with it, but there was no time to spend looking for such a place.
In the end, the last meal of the day was eating a dry piece of bread. By the time I passed the Academy’s research wing and arrived at the shed, it was fully digested.
I turned the old handle and entered the pig pen. It was where someone lived, but wasn’t a living space.
After letting down my bag and other miscellaneous things, I let out the air filling up my lungs.
“He, hehe.”
I wasn’t lamenting. If that was the case, I would’ve been cursing through the roof of this shed.
Description: [Creates a massive flow of heat, burning any designated targets within a 10 km radius. The flow of all heat is under the absolute influence of the caster.]
[▷ This magic has not been mastered.]
One of fourteen existing Ultimate Flame Magic. I’ve been waiting to learn it.
I didn’t expect the snowball of helping those students earlier to roll like this.
“It actually turned out for the better.”
It was good that I persevered under a powerhouse.
