We finished buying equipment for Meena, Flam, Raus, and Rebecca at the Albert Workshop and completing their crafting requests.
Incidentally, Flam and Rebecca use bows, so their armor is lighter, but if you look at their left halves alone, there isn’t much of a difference from us. Raus is heavily equipped like a front-liner, but still not as much as Meena.
“Well then, shall we go hunting? I’d like to say that, but I also want to get started on the blueprint for the Beast Carriage, so let’s just get used to our equipment today.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Using unfamiliar weapons can lead to injury if you’re not careful, and Meena won’t be able to join us for hunts for a while, so let’s get accustomed to our weapons today and tomorrow, and start hunting in earnest the day after tomorrow.”
Prim and I are used to our gear, but Flam, Raus, and Rebecca have just upgraded their equipment from iron to magic silver, so the way they handle is quite different. Therefore, we need to let them get used to their weapons first. Raus, in particular, has also changed his shield, making it even more so.
Meena, by the way, had an Order job and headed to the Order’s Guild a little while ago. We are scheduled to stay at the Silver Ore Inn tonight, but this situation will continue for a while, and judging by her expression, Meena seemed a little lonely.
“Also, since we’re here, why don’t we take a look at some magic?”
“Agreed. Then we’ll hunt until around noon, and after that, we’ll head to the Crafter’s Guild to work on the Beast Carriage blueprint.”
Many days have passed since we decided to build the Beast Carriage, but we haven’t even finished the blueprint due to lack of time. Fortunately, or perhaps not, with the Black Fenrir around recently, no one has been coming to Feel. No, a Trader did come the other day because an Order traveled all the way to Emosion, but even so, there weren’t many. Therefore, the Crafter’s Guild hasn’t received any large orders, and they know we’ve been busy, so they haven’t rushed us. However, we can’t afford to slack off because of that, so I want to finish the blueprint today and have them start production within a few days.
“You were ordering a Beast Carriage too…?”
“I mean, the earnings of G-rank Hunters are incredible, aren’t they?”
Raus and Rebecca are looking into the distance with a wistful expression, but it seems we are among the higher earners even within the G-rank. I’m P-rank, but even compared to other P-ranks, I earn a lot, which even Kamina was surprised by. There’s also the element of luck, but the number of private requests we’ve received in the past few days was insane, so I expect things to calm down soon.
“There were many requests that absolutely required us specifically due to various circumstances. Normally, they would be spread out, but they all concentrated on us, which is reflected in the payment. Once more Hunters are available, it will surely decrease.”
“Even so, you still earn more than us, right?”
“No, I usually take requests from the bulletin board, so the rewards don’t change by rank. For higher ranks, the number of monsters to defeat increases, and there are also private requests, which makes the difference. Oh, and we can also hunt rare species normally, so that’s an additional factor.”
This measure is to prevent low-rank Hunters from losing motivation, but the rewards for defeating monsters are fixed at a certain amount unless it’s an emergency request or a material gathering request. Emergency requests, in particular, are situations that require immediate resolution, even to the point of issuing requests, so the rewards are quite substantial.
“Is that so? Then, around here, what’s profitable to hunt?”
“Of course, it’s monsters of Mylight. We have Orcs and Feather Drakes, so if you want to earn steadily, you can.”
Feather Drake is a popular choice, being a high-value item as both material and food. Come to think of it, our stock of Winger Drake is running low, so we should replenish it soon. Raus and Rebecca look surprised, but this is our daily life, so don’t neglect to try and get used to it, okay?
Side: Prim
Today, in addition to getting used to our weapons, we’re also going to try using magic based on Yamato’s advice. So, we’re planning on a simple hunt, but since we’re here, we’ve decided to aim for Lake Rabbits and Blue Lake Bulls near Veil Lake. We haven’t hunted much near Veil Lake ourselves, so I think this is a good opportunity.
“Raus uses wind-attribute magic, and Flam and Rebecca use water-attribute magic, right?”
“Yes. Undine, or rather, Yokai Races, specialize in certain attributes.”
“They specialize so much that attributes they’re weak against as a race are very difficult to use.”
Yokai Races are a female-only species, but they also specialize in magic. Undine are suited for water-attribute magic, Harpy for wind-attribute magic, Vampire for dark-attribute magic, and Fairy for light-attribute magic. This means that Undine like Flam and Rebecca can use water-attribute magic with incredible precision, but conversely, they are very weak against fire-attribute magic, making them less versatile compared to other races.
“Then let’s start with something simple, like the Arrow series.”
Since there were no monsters around, we decided to teach them how to visualize magic. Fire, earth, wind, water, thunder, ice, light, and dark attribute magic are often used for attacks, but they are very difficult to use as they are. You can customize them to your liking, and many people use them that way, but such magic is classified as Unique Magic, making it slightly different from attribute magic. However, Unique Magic can be taught to others and allows for the effective use of magic power, making it very convenient.
“What is the Arrow series?” asked Raus, tilting his head. I’ll explain in a moment, so please bear with me.
“The Arrow series is magic that shoots magic in the form of an arrow. It’s a Unique Magic that Yamato and I developed. Remember when Yamato taught us about the importance of imagination at Prada Village?”
“Yes. Ah, so by making it arrow-shaped, it becomes easier to attack, right?”
“Correct. Like this. ‘Ice Arrow.'” Yamato demonstrated, and ice took the form of an arrow and appeared around him. The ice arrow hit a nearby, conveniently sized rock, and ice began to spread from the impact point, freezing the entire rock by the time we realized it. He often uses ice-attribute magic, or rather, water-attribute Engraving Magic, because he’s good at it, so it’s easy for him to visualize the magic too.
“I-It’s amazing…”
“You don’t have to try to shoot many at once from the beginning. Especially for Flam and Rebecca, since you use bows, it might be easier to visualize them one by one.”
Ah, that’s true. And if you can freely use the Arrow series, wouldn’t archers not need to buy arrows? While it’s certainly useful for feints, being able to use it when you’re running out of arrows is a huge advantage.
“L-like this?”
“It’s difficult, but since you’re used to arrows, it might be easier to visualize them in arrow form.” As expected, the two archers are imagining arrows quite easily. In that case, it might be better for Raus to start with the Arms series.
“Yamato, wouldn’t the Arms series be better for Raus? Especially since wind has no substance, making the Arrow series or Lance series difficult to grasp.”
“That might be the case. Raus, you’ll switch to the Arms series, which is magic that imbues attribute magic into weapons.” Raus was worried if his imagined arrow was actually forming because wind is invisible, but with Wind Arms, which imbues weapons with wind, it should be fine. It wraps around the sword like a swirling vortex, so it’s difficult to see, but it should be easier to visualize.
“Like this… no, swirling wind means… I see, it’s a tornado!” Raus pondered for about thirty minutes, but it seems he’s grasped the trick. Actually, I also need to practice to increase the precision of my Extreme Flame Wing. Raus’s imagination was also helpful to me.
“Yamato, let me try for a bit too?”
“Understood.” And so, I immediately used my Extreme Flame Wing. Until now, I used it with the image of sending wind into the flames, but this time, I focused the flames in the center and made the wind swirl around them. As a result, I could feel it burning more intensely with less magic power than before. I see, by making the wind swirl like a tornado instead of just blowing it in, it can be used evenly throughout and for a longer duration. That’s why the flames become stronger, and since there’s no need to gather wind with magic power, the consumption is reduced.
“Oh, it has more power than before. It looks like you’ve got the hang of it.”
“Thanks to you. I used Raus’s idea as a reference, and it’s become quite easy to use.” My previous Extreme Flame Wing consumed too much magic power, making it a true trump card. Even so, I tried to use it as much as possible to get used to my body and reduce magic consumption, but I thought it would take a little longer to get used to it since I’ve only been using it for a few days. However, by changing the imagery, it dramatically improved the effect just like that, so I realized that my previous way of using it was wrong and this is the correct way. Magic requires imagination, but efficiency is also important.
“That’s the Feather-Clad Magic, Scorching Wings, isn’t it? The fire is incredibly strong. Did that also get stronger through imagination?”
“Yes, but it wouldn’t have gotten stronger just by imagining it normally. With Yamato’s idea, it’s like layering the Blast Wing over the Scorching Wing, that’s the kind of imagery it is.” Rebecca, who was practicing Aqua Arrow with her sister, seemed very surprised when I suddenly used Extreme Flame Wing. I feel a little bad, but I can’t practice in town, so if I have an opportunity like this, I have to do it.
“Raus, how is it?”
“It’s hard to see, so I can only tell by feel, but I think it’s probably going well.”
“Indeed, wind is hard to visualize. However, this isn’t limited to wind; since magic uses magic power, if you feel the magic power, not just the flow of the wind, it will become even clearer.” To use magic, you have to consume magic power, but to imagine a form is also to create that form with magic power. Therefore, it’s not uncommon for success in the eyes of others to not be the case for the user themselves. In fact, when I first used Extreme Flame Wing, Yamato thought it was successful because of the increased flames, but I only perceived it as having taken shape because it consumed so much magic power.
“Also, I think it’s probably due to the influence of evolving into an Ancient Human, but I seem to be able to feel people’s magic power now, and I can do things like this too.” Saying that, Yamato imbued his Mithril Blade with Wind Arms. Yamato’s Wind Arms, by interacting with his magic power, could be clearly seen spiraling around the blade. Did he materialize wind using magic power, or rather, make the wind’s magic power visible?
“I-It’s amazing…”
“No, this was only possible because I used it while thoroughly focusing on the wind’s magic power. Raus, look carefully at how my magic power is flowing.”
“Huh? Ah, yes. From the hilt, it’s flowing in a spiral, like climbing stairs, and it feels like wind is diffusing from the tip of the sword.”
“That’s right. This is the Wind Arms you’re using, Raus. At the tip of the sword, it diffuses, or rather, it blows out, so it would be better to circulate it like this if possible. And if you release it at the moment you slash or thrust, its power will be significantly amplified.” I see, so now that I can sense other people’s magic power, I can also offer suggestions on how to improve it. If I look closely, Yamato’s eyes seem to be turning blue, but it’s not my imagination, is it? Ah, they’re back to normal.
“For Flam and Rebecca, as expected from those used to arrows, I don’t have much to say. However, if you’re going to use them instead of arrows, I think it would be good to be able to use not only water-attribute magic but also earth-attribute and ice-attribute magic, which have more substance.”
“Ah, that’s true. I’ll try it.” It’s a genuine concern for archers. However, if Aqua Arrow, Ice Arrow, and Earth Arrow can be used instead of arrows, it would be a great relief. It can prevent the worst-case scenario of running out of arrows. Well, due to magic power constraints, it probably won’t completely replace them.
“Prim’s Extreme Flame Wing is almost complete, wouldn’t you say? I didn’t know what it was like before, but just now, the Scorching Wing and Blast Wing were clearly overlapping, and a spiral of wind was circulating in the flames. All that’s left is to improve its precision.” My Extreme Flame Wing looks like that objectively, does it? But I’m happy that the Scorching Wing and Blast Wing appeared to be overlapping. Originally, Extreme Flame Wing was proposed by Yamato with the aim of making the flames burn more intensely and further strengthening them by doing so. And today, with Yamato finally giving his stamp of approval, I can say that Extreme Flame Wing is a magic that has been completed for me. If I get used to it, magic power consumption will decrease, and its precision will improve, so I’ll actively use it from now on. And eventually, I want to be able to layer the Swift Thunder Wing onto it as well.
