Vol 2 Chapter 1 (2/2)

Pure water that flows gently and kindly.

Bestowing the fields with blessings. Streaming holy water that heals the body and cleanses it.

Contrary to its gentle side, a river may flood and tyrannically wash everything away.

Showing the might of its power to anyone that stands in its way.

I imagined my fingertip overflowing.

…………Why? Why isn’t anything happening!?

So, is this s.h.i.+t meaningless unless I possess a magic skill, after all?

Thereafter, I tried Wind, Earth, Dark and Light one after another; however, nothing happened at all.

Still.

In this world, the days are a.s.sociated to these elements.

The day of the Origin is still left.

『With this, the a.s.sessment of the apt.i.tude is over.』

What……the.

『If you have the apt.i.tude in all six elements, you’re extremely lucky. There’s a possibility that you have the apt.i.tude in Origin Magic. Origin Magic is literally the magic that governs the source 《Origin》 of everything. Even in their dreams, one cannot use magic of all six elements. Further details have been provided later.』

Disregarding my feelings, the book lined those words up indifferently.

It’s reasonable, though, for it’s a book.

『Although it’s extremely regrettable, if you have a.s.sessed the apt.i.tude……yet you don’t have the apt.i.tude in any of the elements——please close the book. Anymore would be a waste of time.』

『You’re not a green caterpillar.』

……Whoever wrote this book, come oooout.

I’ll chop you up!

My trembling right hand was curled into a fist. My left hand was holding it back.

『If you damage a book, you’ll have to compensate』——those words echoed inside my head.

「Fuu……haa……」

Taking deep breaths, sucking useless mana into my body during the process, I regained my composure.

『——Now then, if you have the apt.i.tude, don’t be hasty for you’re merely at the stage of chrysalis. The next section explains how to practise mana refining.』

Thereafter, for a long time, I looked over the text.

Here’s the summary.

The elemental magic isn’t the manifestation of a phenomenon through chanting a spell. Fire in case Fire Magic, water in case of Water Magic, so on and so forth——the accurate expression would be the materialization of a pract.i.tioner’s image through converting mana.

Nevertheless, the pract.i.tioner can a.s.sociate a name to the manifestation of a phenomenon——magic, that is to say, in order to draw a clear image.

For instance, 『Flame, burn the enemy』.

If I called that out, the image would be vague……resultanly, a sloppy flamethrower-esque flame would fly toward the enemy.

『Ball of Fire (Fireball), burn the enemy』

If I called that out, consistent to my image, a highspeed ball of flame would soar toward the enemy.

Spear of Flame (Fire Lance), too; any would do. As long as it clarifies the image, one can name it by and for themselves.

Doing so, a pract.i.tioner can manifest a phenomenon with relative ease, it seems.

If one doesn’t feel the need to shout, they’re most welcome.

To what extent a pract.i.tioner can convert mana in the atmosphere to manifest a phenomenon, as explained earlier, is called mana refining.

Mana sucked into the body is an explosive while the body of a pract.i.tioner can be considered a converter that converts mana in the atmosphere into magic.

This quant.i.ty of conversion decides as to what extent can magic be used.

As for heavy flood……to manifest such a magic, an enormous quant.i.ty of mana needs to be converted.

Therefore, the converter of a novice pract.i.tioner can’t possibly invoke such a magic.

Most likely……the quant.i.ty that can be converted is directly related to the skill Lv.

Sure enough, the contents of magic I imagined were excessively grand.

With the insignificant quant.i.ty of mana converted, there was no way for the magic to invoke.

Without any magic skill, if I imagined fire on a matchstick, something might happen……however, I have no intention of wasting time on that.

Oh well. So, elemental magic will vary from one pract.i.tioner to another.

There will be a difference in the quant.i.ty converted, of course. Moreover, the magic manifested through a pract.i.tioner’s image will be multifarious.

The other day, when the healer used Light Magic to heal Arnold-san’s injury, he had such an image of light.

If I could, I would shoot a laser beam of light.

Well, that’s the gist of it.

By the way, Origin Magic seems to be almighty.

There’s a possibility of creating a compound element by combining all six elements of magic.

It’s all a dream.

However, that said, the conversion of mana is considered difficult. It supposedly takes time for a pract.i.tioner to succeed.

It’s difficult to increase the skill Lv……is that it?

At the end of the magic textbook, I saw this, 『You’re close to eclosion. Be a splendid artist and flap to the sky,』 written and closed the book.

Just because you wanted to say this, you came up with such a t.i.tle?

Couldn’t you draw the a.n.a.logy with a bird or something?

Oh well. Since it’s quite easy to understand, it can be deemed acceptable……it’s about time.

When I gazed outside the window, the shadow cast by the sunlight had lengthened. I’d better be leaving for Jig-san’s place.

I put the book back on the shelf……uh……h

「Oh, this textbook is a part of the green caterpillar series, huh? He, there’s one on Spirit Magic, too……」

I opened the book to browse just a little.

『——Preface: Before reading further, it is recommended to confirm whether you’re an elf. If not, please close the book.』

——Before wasting another moment, I closed the book.

——Facing Jig-san’s shop in the Industrial District, I shoved anything magic to a corner of my mind. With my heart throbbing, I stepped into the shop.

「Ou, you’re here, huh? If you came for your sword——here.」

I subconsciously let out a breath.

What Jig-san brought from inside his workshop was a sword with the dull l.u.s.tre of obsidian.

Running down a part of the scantily curved jet black sword blade was an organic red veined pattern.

Is this aesthetic pattern a vestige of the red horn which turned black? Or, is it the result of Jig-san’s craftsmans.h.i.+p?

Such an admirable beauty……it’s fascinating.

「——……Hey…..you listening? Hey!」

「Eh, ah……yes.」

Enjoying the stupor stricken me, Jig-san briefed about the sword.

「You requested it to basically be a one handed sword which can also be wielded in both hands. That posed me the biggest challenge. Typically, the blade of a two handed sword tends to be at least 1m long which makes it difficult to be wielded with your height and arm length.

Despite Jig-san’s bushy moustache, I attentively listened to the contents of his explanation.

「Therefore, the length of the blade has been restricted to 70cm. In exchange, more s.p.a.ce has been added to the hilt in order to accommodate left hand. To utilize the strength of both hands, the centre of gravity will have to be adjusted……give it a swing.」

As told, I grasped the pa.s.sed on sword with one hand and brandish it as is.

「——It feels so natural as if I’m swinging my own arm.」

「……Fumu, well done. Next, both hands.」

The moment I added my left hand to the hilt of the sword, I could feel the sense of stability increasing further.

As is, I struck it down from overhead.

「Looks good.」

Twiddling with his moustache, Jig-san leaked a satisfied smile.

「Amazing……it creates an illusion as if the power of my whole body in its entirety has been imbued in the sword.」

「It’s not an illusion. By the way, it’s single edged, however……the tip of the sword is double edged, so be careful. Two third of the blade is single edged while the proximity of the sword tip is double edged.」

「Eh……why is that so?」

「A Single edged sword tip reduces the piercing power of a sword. It wouldn’t matter if the opponent were a human; however, if the opponent were a tough monster, it would be troublesome. If you brandished an unedged sword tip at such an opponent, there’d be a risk of it snapping. I believe you have the ability to some extent; so, that’s why.」

Gu!

With iron will, I prevented my brain from reinterpreting Jig-san’s words. Thus far, I have already committed excessive acts of discourtesy toward Jig-san.

「……What happened to you? Well, that’s about all the explanation……lastly, call it a blacksmith’s intuition, I can feel a strange power dwelling inside this sword……but it doesn’t seem to be evil, so rest easy.」

「Does this sword have a name?」

「Nothing in particular. It’s a bespoke item, after all……so, calling it just sword would do. If you’re so inclined to, why don’t you name it yourself?」

I see……name it myself, huh?

Since Jig-san has authorized, I’ll oblige.

Jet black sword blade, red pattern……

——Alright then, I have decided. Your name will be!

Having paid my thanks and sheathed the sword in an already prepared scabbard, I left Jig-san’s shop.

From tomorrow onward, I’ll hunt the Smagobs until my Sword Arts skill reaches Lv3. Simultaneously, I’ll receive rank D quests.

Well, it’ll get busy.

On my way back to Feeder Pops’, I concentrated my consciousness on my beloved sword.

《Red Veins Shrouded in Jet Black (Noir・Meld・Rouge)》——An exclusive (Unique) weapon. ※Blood Ogre Horn

Unique: Pulsation of Blood (Blood Pulse)——Minute increase in the sharpness for every person from the same race killed by the user.

This……is this the effect of that guy’s rare skill?

If killing a person from the same race——killing a human increased its sharpness……I would turn more and more into a vice thief.

However, I won’t do such a thing.

Tomorrow, I’ll let it drink as much blood of the Smagobs as it wants.

——While caressing the sheath of my beloved sword, Noir, I arrived at Feeder Pops’.

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