Episode 6.17

The day after, Lecan's legs felt heavy as he made his way to Shira's house.

She's probably going to make him drink poison considering she mentioned green potions yesterday.

But he's not sure if 14 pieces are enough. As she's taught him about 17 kinds of poison.

"Oh there you are. Now then, I have taught you 17 kinds of poisons made from herbs. You've memorized their smells and colors as well. Also how to use and detoxify them. Today, I'm teaching you five kinds of poisons. They're not made from herbs. But from snakes and spiders, see."

There are five small jars.

"First, it's the <Flat White Snake (Urasuruin)> poison. This is a poison used to assassinate nobles. It's highly lethal and immediately effective, it's also tasteless, odorless and fairly transparent, and you can take it with you into many dungeons. Hence, it's hard to trace back. Nobles won't use a poison no matter how effective it is if it can be traced back to its maker, you see."

This poison is tasteless and odorless and fairly transparent, but your skin will feel tingling if you get it closer to the poison. Moreover, it gives off a slight peculiar irritating odor when it's mixed in a tea above a certain temperature.

Lecan was made to take the poison in both the raw form and mixed in tea. He had to immediately take green potions afterward. This was to make him memorize the feeling of having the poison spread in his body.

He was made to learn several poisons in a similar manner. It was over in half a day, but he was already worn out by that time. The inside of his mouth and stomach wouldn't have been restored with just green potions, as such he also took some red potions, but the nausea didn't go away.

Noon break was the time to practice magic.

"Well now, try firing a <Flame Arrow (Beyart)>. Don't forget to reduce the power."

An extremely tiny <Flame Arrow> hit the center of the target fur.

"Very good. You've got a good control. This magic is very practical you see. You can make it explode on impact if you get to mid level. At advanced level, you can raise its destructive power even more, and depending on your mana quantity, you can put out dozens or even hundreds of it at once. I saw a magician used this magic against a 5000 strong army once a long time ago, half of the army was decimated in one shot."

Shira took the fur off the target and put it on the floor.

"However, <Flame Arrows> are not well suited for defeating dungeon monsters. Since it's got no penetration power. So the one I actually want you to learn is the higher version of <Flame Arrow>; <Flame Spear>. Watch closely."

Shira slowly held out her fingers, invoked her mana and when it all converged from every part of her body into her right hand, she recited the spell.

"<Flame Spears (Bandroux)>."

A spear of flame shot out of her entire arm, and it had blasted the target right as Lecan thought it just flew out.

Shira repositioned the target back, then she spoke to Lecan.

"Now, give it a try."

Lecan closed his eyes and recalled how the flow of magic went with Shira. It looked as if she projected the spear out of her finger, but it's actually not. She kneaded mana from her entire body and converged it in one spot.

Lecan controlled his mana just as he pictured.

"<Flame Spear>"

"Ah, you dummy!"

A huge pillar of flame manifested, a loud explosive sound echoed. Flying lump of soils hit Lecan's legs.

Cloud of dust enshrouded the surroundings, followed by raining soils. A huge hole has opened on the target fur along with a smoke rising out of it.

"Dearie me. Another rumor to go around the neighborhood it is. Like, the witch sneezed out or something."

"Sorry."

"Well, it's way too late to mull over that. But I suppose there's no need for practice. Next is to test it out in a dungeon."

"Is that okay."

"You're the type that learns in real battle anyway, aren't you?"

That's exactly correct. Lecan is already devisings several ways to potentially use this magic in his mind.

Eda came by in the evening. Lecan taught her [Draw] for a while, but eventually Shira spoke out.

"It appears like space magic is not for you. Time to try out the next magic."

Eda looks dejected.

"Now then, Lecan. You're going in a dungeon right. There's no set days this time, so go venture out to your heart's content."

"That's great. It takes time since I can't avoid climbing my way out if I go down deep."

"Eh? Can't you just instantly go back to the floor you've been on already?"

"I heard that you can't."

"You can. There are several magic beasts that are about twice as big as the average monsters on each floor. Go beat two of them in a row."

"Two in a row?"

"Those big units spawn on the same spot you beat them, so beating two in a row is a simple matter."

"What'd happen when you did."

"You'd get the <Mark> of that floor. Then when you enter the same dungeon next time, recite <Floor (Sijmel)> at the entrance, floors with <Marks> on them will show up in your mind, afterward you simply think of the floor you want to go to and recite <Teleport (Palpu)>."

'That's it', Lecan thought. He saw adventurers who disappeared after reciting something when he first entered Golbul Dungeon. They must have recited the spell Shira told him just now.

"I had no idea. What should I do when I want to go back."

"Simply recite the same spell and pick <Ground Floor>. However, you can only use this spell in the pathways, or in other words, the stairways on other floors besides the <Ground Floor>."

"H-hold it right there! Lecan, you're going to a dungeon?"

He's got a bad feeling about this, but there's no point in lying here.

"Yea."

"Oh me! Me! I'm going with you too!"

Lecan absolutely won't take this encumbrance with him, thus he cuts it short.

"Do as you like. I'm leaving tomorrow."

"I'm going with you!"

"There's no way you'd catch up to my speed."

"Uu~~~~uu~~~uu~~~~"

Afteward, Shira asked Ledcan if there was any way to take Eda with him, so Eda got on the momentum and threw a huge tantrum.

"You're just going to drop dead at the floor I'm going to."

"Eda-chan. You can find strong magic beasts in the neighboring forests depending on the spots. It's still not too late to hunt them down when you have time to spare between other quests and take on dungeons once you get stronger."

"But, but those arrows are so pricey. I can't afford them. I dunno how am I supposed to hunt."

Then how are you working as an adventurer, Lecan almost asked her that, but he refrained to. He can't afford to complicate this any further.

"Lecan. Don't you have a bow Eda-chan can use."

Lecan himself was eager to finish this unproductive talk. As such, he took out a bow from <Storage> and handed it over to Eda.

"T-this is?"

"It's a magic bow called <Bow of Ishia>."

"Magic bow?"

"Take a stance."

"Ah? And the arrow?"

"Just try taking a stance. Then pull the string just a bit. Good. Then put your mana in the core part, here. Good. Then recite this. <Dish>."

<Dish> means <Arrow> in Lecan's world.

"D-desh?"

"Not desh. Dish. Do not shoot."

"Dish!"

<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka.com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>

The bow's core emitted a faint light that immediately formed an arrow.

"Uwaa"

The surprised Eda let her hand off the string.

The arrow was shot out.

Lecan caught the flying arrow mid air. The arrow then disappeared in his hand.

"I told you don't shoot."

"A-amazing. I've never seen a bow with Grace before!"

"The arrow will disappear once it hits the enemy. You can shoot another arrow after that arrow is gone. Once you're used to it, you can shoot three arrows at once. Careful not to get ahead of yourself, shoot too many and run out of mana."

"Amazing. Can't believe I got stuff this nice."

"I'm just lending it. You'll give it back later."

<Bow of Ishia> is a useful weapon to attract attention of faraway magic beasts, but Lecan has gotten its replacement in the form of <Flame Arrow>. Thus, he decided to lend it to her. He's got nothing to lose even if Eda lost it.

Right as he thought that, he realized his mistake.

This magic bow might be something that stands out too much in this world. Or maybe something that doesn't exist in this world. He just realized that.

"Oh my. I'm not sure which dungeon you got that from, but that's quite a nice thing. Not to the point of being too conspicuous though."

Shira promptly and nonchalantly told Lecan what he wanted to hear.

"Un. It feels like Eda-chan will quickly lose that bow."

"That's not true at all. I definitely won't lose it."

She's probably going to show it off to everyone and then get it stolen, such thought Lecan.

But if that happens, Eda will also lose face to show up here, and that's a good thing, better even.

"Here, take this bag with you. This is a <Box (Luuf>), you see."

"<Box (Luuf)>!"

"Moreover, this <Box> is a special Box my friend made that allows only its first user to take items in and out of it. Don't let that bow away from your sight when you're awake. And put it in this bag and then wrap a string on it around your shoulders when you're asleep. Get it?"

"I got it!"

<Bow of Ishia> actually has a fatal flaw. Its arrows always go straight even in windy conditions, and never lose momentum. They fly straight within its range but immediately disappear the moment they go outside the range. As such, you'd lose sense of normal bows and arrows if you use this bow.

However, that's none of his business.

Now that the hindrance is gone, he can enjoy exploring the dungeon once again, freely and without a time limit.

That's the important thing for Lecan.

"Lecan, these are for you."

Shira held out five pills.

"These are?"

"These are mana recovery medicine I made. Leftovers from last year, see. Take them with you in the dungeon."

[Episode 6 Legend of the Witch] End/ Next Time [Episode 7 Golbul Dungeon Revisited]