Chapter 10

Rai and Ashley began extracting the magic crystals from the seven lizardmen.

Ashley placed her hand on the area around the lizardman's heart and began to mutter something. Then, her hand began to glow, and a green gemstone about one centimeter in diameter slowly rose from the lizardman's body.

(Can I do this? But there's no choice but to try.)

He made up his mind, rolled his eyes, and placed his hand on the chest of the dead lizardman. Seeing this, the sensation of being pierced by a spear returned, and a sense of guilt for killing a living being welled up inside him.

(I killed them... Was this the right thing to do? Even if it was to survive... No, this isn't Japan. If I get stuck in my own common sense, not only will I suffer, but others will too... In fact, I almost put Ashley's life in danger... I have to get stronger...)

He decided to abandon the common sense he had lived by for eighteen years in Japan.

(But can I really do that...)

He changed his mindset and focused on extracting the magic crystal. He placed his hand on the cold lizardman's body—whether it was cold from the start or had become cold after death, he couldn't tell—and began to concentrate. A soft light began to emanate from his hand. Gradually, the light grew stronger, and a green gemstone about one centimeter in diameter floated up.

"I did it!" he exclaimed involuntarily.

The two of them divided the work and collected the magic crystals from all seven lizardmen. The lizardmen had no useful parts other than their skin, which was scaly and difficult to process, so there was little demand for it. They decided to leave the lizardmen's bodies and return to the lake.

When they reached the shore, it was still about two hours before the fisherman Corder would come to pick them up. Ashley looked at her body and said,

"My clothes are stained with lizardman blood. I'll clean my armor and sword, so can you keep watch?"

He had fought with a spear and hadn't been splattered much, but she had been splattered over a wide area. He thought there was something he could do and suggested,

"I can clean it with a purification spell... I can't clean your body, but I can clean your sword and armor..."

Rai suggested this, but Ashley replied,

"It's better to conserve magic power. Since it's just the sword and armor, it won't take long."

"I hardly use any magic power. Besides, the smell of blood attracts monsters. It's better to clean it as much as possible. No, I want to clean it."

He bowed his head, wanting to make up for his earlier mistake. She agreed and let him do it.

When he imagined the purification spell, three colors of light—blue, gold, and silver—enveloped her body. After about twenty seconds, the light faded, and the blood and dirt on her body were completely gone. She was surprised by the sight.

"It really does clean... You could make a living just by teaching this spell! I might even want to rely on you for the rest of my life. N-no, never mind..."

He was surprised by her last words and was at a loss for words.

An awkward atmosphere hung between them. Rai broke the silence.

"I'm really sorry about earlier. It was the first time I saw a monster coming at me. The lizardmen seemed as terrifying as dragons..."

Tears welled up in his eyes, not from the memory of fear, but from regret at his own inadequacy.

"I won't do that again! I swear. I don't want you to look at me like that..."

She looked at him and thought,

(He really has lost his memory. The first time I fought a monster one-on-one, I was terrified too... That was when I was eight and fought a goblin for the first time. Thinking about it, I can understand Rai's fear... I'm too soft on him, I realize...)

"Stop talking. We'll take on more extermination requests from tomorrow. Got it? And stronger monsters too."

He nodded vigorously and changed the subject.

"Got it. But I want to practice magic to get stronger. Is there a place where I can do that? Preferably somewhere out of sight..."

She looked a bit puzzled and asked,

"In the forest outside the city, it should be out of sight. Why do you need a place out of sight?"

He spoke carefully, as if choosing his words.

"I think my magic is unusual. Even the purification and storage spells surprised you. If I accidentally use strange magic without realizing it, I'll stand out. I don't want that... Is that weird?"

"I see. That makes sense. Let's look for a place on our way back from the request."

At that moment, he remembered that his right ear was hurting. He asked Ashley, "Do you know what a healing spell is like?"

"Healing magic uses the power of light, water, and tree spirits, I've heard, but I don't know much about it. ...I was healed by a light healing spell before, but I don't really understand it. It was healed while my wound was covered in light."

He thought, "I see," and placed his hand over his ear, imagining the activation of cells and casting a spell. He couldn't see it clearly, but it seemed to be enveloped in light, gradually warming up and the pain fading away.

"Is it healed? Can you check?"

Ashley, who had been watching in surprise, hurriedly checked his ear.

"It's healed. You can use healing magic too... The possibility of you being a paladin is getting higher..."

She muttered this to herself, but he heard it because it was close to his ear.

"What do you mean? Paladins use light attributes... So what?"

"I've only heard rumors, but paladins are said to be better at healing magic than attack magic. They can supposedly shoot 'light arrows' from horseback, but I haven't heard of them using it much."

He thought about it but couldn't come up with an answer due to lack of information.

(Magic and swords are hard to combine, I guess? I didn't set it up that way...)

In his setting, there were supposed to be magic swordsmen who used fire magic and elf warriors who used wind magic.

"Maybe there aren't many magic swordsmen?"

"That's right. They exist, but I've never heard of a magic swordsmen who is excellent in both. Without the assistance of magic tools like wands, the number of times magic can be used is drastically reduced. I think mages only use swords for self-defense. However, elves are different."

(I think I understand. In this world, imagination is important in magic. If the image is unclear, it's inefficient and consumes more magic power. To prevent this, efficiency-boosting tools like wands are used, which is why there are few magic swordsmen. Without a weapon that boosts magic efficiency, it's hard to combine both. If you have a talent for a specific attribute, like elves, the efficiency problem is solved, but you need to be more careful with magic practice.)

While talking, two hours passed, and Corder came to pick them up. He had already heard that they had defeated the lizardmen and was surprised, his cat ears standing up straight.

"You've already defeated them? Please get on the boat."

When they returned to Ratley Village, they went to Kieran the mayor and showed him the magic crystals, reporting that the request was completed. The mayor, who hadn't expected them to finish in just three hours, was surprised, his round eyes becoming even rounder.

In the mayor's house, they used a magic tool to write "request completed" on an orb and decided to return to Moulton.

It was only 2 PM, and if they returned to the city, they would reach the guild before 3 PM. Since they had time, they decided to look for a place to practice magic.

They followed the road to the city and entered the forest on the east side. After walking for about ten minutes, they found a depression.

"I think this will do. Ashley, can you keep watch for me?"

She immediately agreed and went to the top of the depression. Confirming this,

(Well, which magic should I practice? I need to focus on magic I can use reliably to avoid holding Ashley back. To do that, I need to master light attributes and practice earth or wood attributes for surprise attacks. Let's start with light...)

He summoned a "light spear" and threw it at the slope. However, it was slower and less powerful than he imagined.

(The size of the light spear is fine, but the problem is the speed and power. How can I increase the speed? ...Wait, do I need to make it a spear? The standard for beam weapons is beam rifles or laser cannons. There's no need to make it a spear shape.)

He commanded the light spirits to gather and decided to shoot the concentrated light instantly. He extended his left hand forward and began to gather light. It took about a minute to gather the light, and then he shot it forward. A "crackling" sound like thunder echoed, and a small hole opened in the slope.

(Did the sound come from the air being torn by the concentrated light? It can be used almost like a gun, but the weakness is the time it takes to concentrate the light. If I reduce the power a bit, will it take less time?)

He tried several times, but reducing the power made it fail to activate, and it still took about a minute to concentrate the light.

(It's more like a lightning cannon than a laser cannon. I don't know the range, but it seems to travel about fifty meters. Whether I can aim is another matter... It's hard to improve further. Let's try a light arrow with tracking ability.)

He created a light arrow about thirty centimeters long and shot it at the slope. It was faster than the light spear but only as fast as a regular arrow.

(Is it influenced by the image? Spears have the speed of a spear throw, arrows have the speed of a bow, and lightning has the speed of light... There's room for improvement...)

He created another light arrow and this time imagined a tracking function. Imagining it as a missile rather than an arrow, the initial speed was slower, but it seemed to accelerate. It felt like the range was longer than when he imagined it as an arrow, but in the narrow depression, he couldn't tell for sure.

Regarding the tracking, it could change course slightly, but not enough to be considered true tracking.

(There's room for improvement in tracking. Still, what does it feel like to gather "light" into a spear or arrow? Is it an image of light spirits hardening? I don't understand...)

While thinking about this, he tried to manifest another light arrow but suddenly felt dizzy and squatted down.

Ashley, seeing this, rushed over in a panic.

"Are you okay? You've been using a lot of magic power, so I was worried..."

Looking at her worried face, he said, "I'm fine. I just felt a bit dizzy," and stood up immediately. Seeing this, she suggested, "Let's go back for today," and the training session ended.

Ashley had been watching his magic from the top of the slope and was amazed.

(I've never seen a magician, even the best elf magician Sartus, cast so many spells in a row. The initial light spear, the subsequent lightning, and the light arrow that changed course... If I were targeted by that lightning, I wouldn't be able to avoid it. That light arrow would be hard to defend against too... Still, to cast so many spells in such a short time... Is he really human?)

She thought about this and realized how many times she had been surprised in the past three days. She smiled naturally.

(What an interesting man. I've been feeling unhappy lately and was thinking of leaving this town, but now I won't be bored.)

While keeping watch, she saw him almost collapse from magic exhaustion and rushed down the slope.

(Magic exhaustion? Did he lose his memory and not know