kscans

Chapter 203 - The Perplexed Magician

That day, Faren was once again receiving Yuri's guidance on creating Magic Stone Tools, also known as spartan training, when Yuri posed a simple question during a break.

"A staff?"

"Yes. Faren-san, you don't use a staff while you work, do you? I was just wondering if there was a reason."

A magician's staff is an auxiliary tool that helps control the activation of magic power. It has the effect of increasing a spell's power, convergence rate, and activation speed, but to put it simply, it all boils down to enhancing the effects of magic. On the other hand, it was unnecessary, or rather, ill suited for tasks that required the precise manipulation of minute amounts of magic power.

"They also have the effect of enhancing concentration and endurance, so it's not like they're completely useless, you know."

"So it's not something that's absolutely necessary."

Seeing Yuri impressed and saying he had learned something, Faren, in turn, became curious. This boy seemed to know nothing about staves. Could it be...

"Eh? Me? Well, it's embarrassing to admit, but I only just recently learned that staves were essential."

Yuri answered with a bashful look, but that meant nothing less than he had been subjugating numerous monsters without ever using a staff. According to the master of this mansion, Adon, he had personally witnessed Yuri easily dispatching a pack of Greed Wolves. It was also certain that he had hunted Thrustboars and Gambit Grizzlies, and was likely involved in the subjugation of a monster called a Tyranbot. All of them were C-class or higher, potentially even B-class or higher monsters, and he had heard that it took a party of C-class or higher to defeat them.

He had done all that alone, and without the support of a staff, with ease?

Faren was well aware that Yuri was an outlier, or rather, completely off the charts, but this made him want to know more.

"Eh? My magic training methods?"



"So, what did the boy say?"

Professor Magam asked, looking a bit timid yet unable to hide his curiosity. Faren couldn't conceal his wry smile. How would his master react when he told him what the boy had said?

"Because of where he lives, he said he never slacked on his training for offensive magic. But other than that, he hasn't done any special training. He just uses it in his daily life."

"Hmm, just uses it in his daily life."

Professor Magam looked as if his guess had been wrong, yet he couldn't quite accept Faren's answer. It was a well known fact that using magic in daily life increased one's amount of magic power and control. There was nothing strange about the boy putting that into practice, but...

"Yes, in his daily life. He said he hunts the monsters that attack him by digging pitfalls under their feet with Earth Magic, and he uses Water Magic to bleed his prey."

Faren finished his explanation in a flat, emotionless voice.

Professor Magam was already taken aback by the idea of digging a pitfall with Earth Magic under a charging monster, but the subsequent use of Water Magic left him frozen, his eyes and mouth hanging wide open. What did he just say? Bleeding with Water Magic?

"Impossible. Manipulating water that contains impurities and suspended matter should require an enormous amount of magic power."

When Yuri first bled a Mudderboar, he consumed 37 magic points. For reference, the average magician in this world has about 50.

"Yes. But it seems he did that on a daily basis."

"On a daily basis..."

Let me add a little explanation.

In this world, Water Magic, in direct opposition to Earth Magic, is not suited for manipulating water that contains anything. Or rather, it specializes in extracting and manipulating only the water from a source mixed with other things. To be specific, it can take only the water from a pond mixed with mud, water plants, and fish. And because of this characteristic, it is well suited for obtaining potable water. On the other hand, it is thoroughly unsuited for manipulating a liquid containing impurities as is. While something dissolved into a solution like salt water might be manageable, manipulating a liquid containing mixed or suspended matter was, while not impossible, considered extremely difficult by common magical knowledge. And yet, he had manipulated blood, containing blood cells and who knows what else, and extracted it from a body? If he called it bleeding, that could be the only explanation.

"I tried it once when I was young, but it was beyond inefficient. It was so ridiculous that I gave up on it quickly. But that boy didn't give up?"

"I found it suspicious myself and questioned him about it, but it seems that, well, to hang a giant monster upside down, he lacked the height, let alone the strength."

"Mmm..."

After all, at the time of his reincarnation, Yuri was a seven year old child. No matter what he did, the feat of hanging a monster upside down was impossible, leaving him no choice but to rely on Water Magic, no matter how inefficient. Hearing that explanation, one could understand the harshness of the situation Yuri was placed in, and the skill he had cultivated by surviving it.

"I also asked an elf man named Nagara at Adon-shi's mansion, and it seems to be abnormal even by their standards. He was holding his head in his hands."

"I can imagine."

"I did try to see if I could manipulate milk or soup with Water Magic after I got home, but..."

"And how did it go?"

"It was terrible. I couldn't move the ingredients in the soup at all, and the milk was out of the question."

"I'm sure it was. That requires an enormous amount of magic power and concentration. Even just to manipulate a single cup of milk."

"Yes. After some trial and error, I managed to move it somehow, but just as you said, sensei, a single cup was my limit."

"And he was doing that with the blood of an entire monster. I know his life literally depended on it, but..."

"Yes, his circumstances are more cruel than harsh. To survive in a place like that... Even if he says he uses magic in his daily life, the weight of those words is different from ours."

"His 'daily life' must surpass what we would consider 'special training'."