Chapter 10 (2/2)

Like always, whenever he is astonished he switches to Kansai dialect and performs a Tsukkomi. All his stats had increased significantly, and he had three new skills. He couldn’t believe it, and he was still just level 8. Levels were considered the amount of progression a person had, for Hajime, this meant he had a lot of potential to grow.

“Magic Manipulation?”

He wondered if he could directly control magic then. Hajime pondered if the earlier sensation he felt was magic. To verify his thoughts, he concentrated to attempt this “magic manipulation.” The crimson lines emerge again when Hajime concentrated on that sensation. He imagined an image where that sensation gathered into his right hand. Slowly the sensation returned and he could feel the movement of magic.

“Whoa!”

When he attempted to raise his voice at the sensation, the magic started to gather around the magic formation on his glove. The surprised Hajime tried to transmute, and the ground rose easily.

“Seriously? I don’t need to chant? But the principle of magic said that direct manipulation of magic was impossible. Only demons could perform it. Maybe after consuming demon flesh I obtained the ability?”

Right on the dot! Hajime had for sure gotten the ability of the of the demons. He wanted to test out “Lightning Clad” next.

“How do I use it? If you mention “Lightning Clad”, it has to deal with electricity. Was it what the wolves casted with their tail?”

He tried different ways to invoke it but nothing changed. Hajime did not know how the magic felt like, so he did not know what to do. Groaning, he remembered when he learned how to transmute, and recalled that imagination was important. Magic was not just about making a magical formation, another part was the image formed.

Hajime imagined an image of static electricity crackling. On the tips of his right hands emitted an electric burst.

“Oh! It came out. Now I see. For demons, the most important part was to imagine its magic.”

After he got a hang of it, he repeated created a discharge of electricity. Unlike the wolves, he could not launch his lightning. Maybe this is why it was called “Lightning Clad”, he was able to clad his body in lightning. Practice was necessary to control the current and voltage.

Lastly, the “Iron Stomach” skill. Maybe next time he ate demon flesh, he wouldn’t be wrecked with pain. There was no food in the labyrinth. Does he take starvation or the pain? This skill can maybe solve this question for him, and he anticipated it.

Hajime took a piece of wolf meat and fired it with lightning. After his starvation was cured, he did not want to eat raw meat. He fired it until it was brown.

Making up his mind, he swallowed it. 10 seconds…1 minute…10 minutes passed and nothing. Hajime started to grill more meat and consumed them. There wasn’t any pain that assaulted him. He wondered if it was because of the skill or had he just developed a tolerance for it. Hajime did not know, but he rejoiced. With this he did not have to taste hell everytime.

Hajime ate until he was full, and decided to return to base. He finally had the possibility to beat that bear demon. Determined, he decided to work hard to develop his new skills.

Other wolves were carved for their meat. Compared to his first time with them, this time it was easy. He returned to the area with the God’s Crystal and created a storage to store the carved meat with this transmuting.

* * *

A few days have passed since Hajime returned to the base, and all this time he had been training his transmuting and new skills.

Everything was going well, and all his skills were progressing well. His transmutation skill went through a change. The skill had acquired a derived skill from itself. “Mineral Appraisal” was the name of the skill. In the Royal Capital of the Kingdom, only high-ranking smiths had this skill.

Usually the magical formations needed to power appraisal magic are much bigger than the formations used for offensive magic. The facilities that could perform these huge magical formations were limited. For those that had the skill, they could easily analyze any mineral with just a chant and magic formation as long as they touch it. This derived skill was acquired by training the transmutation skill for many years, it was not an innate skill.

Hajime decided to check the neighboring minerals with his newfound skill. When a person uses the skill the description will show up on their status plate. For example,

Green Light StoneThis stone has the ability to absorb magic. Green light is produced with this saved up magic. If it is split, all the accumulated magic will be released in an instant.

What a very simple description; it did the job though. Hajime grinned and laughed as a thought came up. From here he could search for minerals to make powerful weapons that could be his trump card.

Combustion StoneAn inflammable ore. The structural component is used to fuel the combustion; continuously burning will reduce size until nothing is left. Explosion may occur if many are lit in a sealed area. Its power is equivalent to a higher level fire spell; this depends on the amount and rate of compression used in forging.

When he read the description, he felt a thought develop in his brain. This stone may play a similar role to gunpowder. If this was the case, then he could create a weapon with extreme firepower with his transmuting. Hajime was excited. There was going to be a lot of trial and error. The amount of effort needed to design it would not be small. Even though his transmuting had saved him many times before, it still lacked a real means of attack; the idea that he would get a real weapon had him rejoicing.

Ten days have passed since he ate the wolf, and finally he had succeeded producing his project.

With an attack that could exceed the speed of sound for a short distance, it was a modern weapon with great firepower. Overall length was 35 cm, it had a revolving magazine that held 6 bullets made from Tauru Ore; the hardest known ore in this area. The barrel was elongated. Bullets were made using Tauru Ore as the projectile and compressed powdered Combustion Stone was the propellant. Oversized revolver would accurately describe the firearm. Combustion Stone was not the only explosive to propel the bullet. Using his “Lightning Clad” skill, he could produce electromagnetic force to help accelerate the bullet; like a small rail gun. This equated to a power that was 10 times stronger than an anti-matter rifle. He called it “Donner”. Hajime wanted to have a partner to rely on.

“I did it! With this I will be able to deal with that monster!”

Hajime had designed “Donner” using modern firearms as the model: he looked at his masterpiece and laughed slightly. This world’s craftsmen only knew how to make a good sword or armor. Right now, a new weapon has been created in this world that was ruled by swords and magic.

* * *

Tauru OreHard black ore. Hardness 8 (On a scale of 10 being the hardest). Resistant to impact and heat. Vulnerable to cold. Becomes fragile if cooled. Binds if heated.