CH 263

Chapter 263 : Mark Cutter Shatter The Log!

「Fwahaha! This is the last one!」(Deel)

The last log was cut into quarters along with Deel’s silly laugh.

After Deel piled the firewood he made randomly in the corner of the site, he approached me who was still cutting logs.

「Yo, Kid, how’s your work going?」(Deel)

「Great. I can now control three Wind Slicers at the same time.」(Mark)

「Three? Fwahaha! Lying is not good, Kid. You know, it took me five years to be able to control three Wind Slicers at once!」(Deel)

「I’m not lying. Watch this.」(Mark)

I made three wind saw blades and attacked the ground with them, leaving three claw-like marks on the ground.

Seeing what I just did, Deel was dumbfounded for a moment. He then coughed once to clear his throat and smiled at me.

「F, Fwahaha…! That’s my disciple! You should keep practicing until you can control five blades at the same time like me!」(Deel)

I don’t remember being his disciple though…

He might sound as if he didn’t want to admit that I’m better than him, but I honestly think that controlling five Wind Slicers is not easy.

『How could he act like your master when he never taught you anything? I really can’t stand this guy…』(Nicola)

『He taught me nothing, but I learned by watching him doing his job. But… Yeah… That’s not how a master and a disciple work together.』(Mark)

I didn’t have trouble making wind saw blades to cut trunks into logs for the first time, but I had a hard time when I had to make ‘X’ shaped blades to chop each logs into four parts.

At first, I imagined two blades overlapping each other and making a cross shape, however, when I tried to cut a log with that, the log shattered into pieces.

Perhaps, because I combined two blades together, the power and speed became very unstable.

When I saw the log shattered into pieces, it reminded me of an anime opening saying, “Devil Cutter shatters rocks!”

At that time, I wondered why a cutting-type attack could shatter rocks. It is called Devil Cutter, so it should CUT rocks. That’s what I thought. However, now I understand why.

*/TL : Mark is talking about the opening song of an old anime called “Devilman”

There’s a phrase “デビルカッターは岩砕く/ Devil Cutter shatters rocks” in the lyric which made many of its viewers wonder, “It’s called Devil Cutter, so it should cut rocks, not shatter them, right?”

It was difficult for me to control the power, so I watched Deel, thinking that I might learn something.

After watching him carefully, I noticed there were something like strands of green thread connecting his fingers with the ‘X’ shaped blades he made.

I believed that those strands of green thread were thin wind-attributed mana.

At that moment, I learned how Deel controlled his wind blades.

Soon after, I tried to do the same thing. I imagined strands of thin wind-attributed mana connecting my fingers with the two ‘X’ shaped blades I made in front of me. After that, I could control the blades much easier.

Still, I couldn’t increase the number of the wind blades.

When I added two more blades, I started to lose control somehow even though I controlled it with the thread of wind-attributed mana.

I’m sure I’ll be able to control more blades if I keep practicing, but for now, I could only control three blades at the same time, but I think it’s good enough.

I’m honestly happy that I learned something, which took a Gifted person like Deel five years to learn, in only about an hour.

While enjoying such a sense of accomplishment, I started piling up the firewood I had made so far.

While I was doing that, Norwell-san approached me as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with a towel.

「Yo, Cucumber Boy! So you’re helping too, eh? Thank you!」(Norwell)

「You’re welcome. It was good magic practice for me.」(Mark)

「Haha! That’s great, but don’t push yourself too hard, okay? There will be something interesting going on after this. You may enjoy it, so I suggest you stay here for a while. It won’t be long.」(Norwell)

「Eh~? Norwell oji-chan, what is ‘something interesting’ you’re talking about~?」(Nicola)

Nicola suddenly joined the conversation.

She asked Norwell-san, but Norwell-san dodged it.

「It’s a secret. Tori and the others are preparing for that now. Look forward to it!」(Norwell)

Actually, we already know what they are preparing.

Tori-san and Tyran-san and the legion sheep that Tyran-san brought were nowhere to be found when I realized it.

「Well then, I guess I’ll bundle up the firewood while waiting.」(Norwell)

Norwell-san took out a rope from his pocket as he said that as if he was trying to change the subject. He then started bundling the firewood with the rope.

「Norwell-san, what are you going to do with all this firewood?」(Mark)

「We can’t use it as it is, so we’re going to store it in the village storage and use it next winter.」(Norwell)

「I see. So you can’t use it right away.」(Mark)

Freshly cut wood contains a little bit of water, so it won’t burn easily. That’s why you need to dry it first to remove the water completely.

「That’s right. You need to dry it first. By the way, we have enough dry firewood that had been stored since last year in the village storage, so this winter won’t be a problem for us.」(Norwell)

When Norwell-san said that, Deel suddenly joined the conversation and said something shocking.

「Fwahaha! Actually, we don’t have any dry firewood in the village storage!」(Deel)

「Huh…? What do you mean!?」(Norwell)

We all stared at Deel with our eyes wide open.

He puffed out his chest and answered with a grin as if he wasn’t guilty at all.

「You know, because Celine is here this year, I planned to hold a luxurious festival so that she doesn’t want to leave this village again. In order to do that, I need a lot of money. That’s why I sold all the firewood in the village storage to the peddler who came a while ago. Fwahaha!」(Deel)

Listening to what Deel said, Norwell-san facepalmed and shook his head.

At the same time, the man with the battle axe was walking over here while carrying his battle axe on his shoulder.

He glared at Deel and yelled. He seemed to hear everything.

「Deel, are you an idiot!? ーNo, I know you’re an idiot, but, seriously? You sold all the firewood!?」(man)

「Yup! But no need to worry because I have a plan! From tomorrow on, I will blow all these firewoods with wind magic every day! By doing so, I’m sure they will be dry before winter comes!」(Deel)

「Huh? Are you really sure about that?」(man)

「You can trust me! I’m a genius after all! Fwahaha!」(Deel)

「…Uwaah… There’s no way I’ll trust this guy ever again…」(man)

Looking at Deel’s annoyingly confident expression, the man sighed heavily and muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, Norwell-san folded his arms and thought for a moment. He then glanced at me.

「That’s right! Cucumber Boy, I think you can do it!」(Norwell)

「Do what…?」(Mark)

「You remember when you saved my life in the forest, right? Since you defeated an Evil Fungus by yourself, you must have received a big amount of Ether from it.」(Norwell)

「Yeah, that’s right.」(Mark)

「Ohh! I’ve heard about it! So this boy really saved your ass, huh? That’s Celine’s disciple for you!」(man)

「I expect nothing less from my disciple! Fwahaha!」(Deel)

「You shut your mouth and think about what you’ve done!」(man)

「Uuu…」(Deel)

Deel fell silent after the man yelled at him while holding his battle axe.

Seeing Deel who became quiet, Norwell-san continued talking.

「When I was attacked by Evil Fungus’ dark magic, I noticed that darkness was its main magic attribute. Cucumber Boy, did you realize that you have become better at using dark-attributed spells since you received that monster’s Ether?」(Norwell)

「Now that you mention it… When I helped Eclain-san brew Gupul wine, she said that the wine I brewed was much better than before.」(Mark)

「That’s great. Since you can brew Gupul wine using dark-attributed mana, then I’m sure you’ll be able to use Drain to absorb the water from these firewoods.」(Norwell)

“Drain”, huh…?

In some JRPGs, Drain is the spell that can absorb enemies’ life or physical strength.

It indeed belongs to the category of dark magic.

The question is… Will I really be able to use it…?