Book 1: Chapter 5

Book 1: Chapter 5

Training Inside the Forest

It seemed this good natured big man Feld would spend a whole day to beat the basic into me.

I didnt understand how he reached that conclusion. I more or less trusted Feld, but the fact that it didnt feel like I would be able to escape with how strong Feld was and my uneasiness in regard to close quarter combat just by relying on that womans knowledge made me decided to obediently accepted his offer.

We woke up together in the morning of the next day. Feld shared his black bread with me and we lightly toasted it over the fire before having breakfast. The children in the orphanage often complained Black bread is hard and taste bad so I want to eat white bread. Certainly black bread was so hard that it felt like you were biting a leather sandal when nibbling on it, but I didnt really hate it.

It didnt have softness like white bread, but the inside was sticky and it had proper taste when you bit into it. If it was made from properly grinded flour and baked carefully, the result wouldnt be that bad. Black bread tasted bad usually because of the fault of the maker because they used bad quality black wheat flour and cut corner in the cooking. Even then the black bread at the orphanage was the worst though.

First boy. Have you ever seen your status before?

Feld stood up imposingly after breakfast. I shook my head at his question. In the first place I couldnt instantly understand the term status and I only finally understood it when the information surfaced from the knowledge.

It seemed that status didnt exist in that womans so called previous life, but in this world there was a convenient technique to display your strength in numerical value based on your life force, magic power, ability, etc.

Status was the information of your personal capability that could be seen through Appraisal. But there wasnt anybody who could do such thing near that orphanage, and I also had no memory of having my status checked when my parents were alive.

But according to that womanor rather according to the lesson from that womans teacher, the commonly used Appraisal wasnt any great sorcery that connect the mind to the information of this world or peeking at the information of the opponents soul, but something that sensed the opponents strength through the users sight, smell, skin, and magic power, revised the information, and converted the information to numerical form. That was why what Appraisal could find out was only the opponents current magic power, stamina, and their overall combat strength in numerical value.



Other than that it seemed there was also Complete Appraisal that could perfectly read the opponents information, but that womans teacher told her that even if by some chance she got the chance to learn it, she absolutely mustnt do so. The reason was that taking a peek at the information of other persons soul and the world would put a burden to those who had limited length of life. It seemed the cost of performing Complete Appraisal for such person would be their life span. One couldnt such skill properly unless they were dragon or high elf who possessed eternal life span.

It seemed that in the past there was someone who obtained such appraisal ability through Divine Protection, but that person held strong suspicion toward other people and he didnt tell anybody else about his ability. Because of that it seemed his life span was decreasing pointlessly without he himself realizing it.

Convenient ability that could be used without any visible compensation that needed to be paid in exchange for itespecially the special ability(cheat) that woman was longing for. When facing something like that, it would be better to think that there was definitely something hidden behind it.

Can Feld use it?

Yeah, not long ago I finally became able to use it as skill. This is your capability from my perspective. Can you read letter?

Feld said that while writing on the ground using a wooden stick.

.

Magic Power : 8/13 Stamina : 22/26

Overall Combat Strength : 21

.

Well, youre just a kid so its only this much. Have you memorized the numbers?

It seemed that my numbers were really weak. I compared the letters with my knowledge and adjusted while nodding with a conflicted expression. Then Feld threw something at me.

This is?

Thats called Appraisal Crystal. It was created by processing a special crystal that reacts to magic power. By peering using that, it will assist you in reading and quantifying a living creatures strength and magic power. After you use that many times, you will naturally become able to use Appraisal by yourself, but for now peer at your own body and think I want to see strength. It should be good for around two more uses, so use it while firmly imagining your own numbers just now in your head.

A tool to assist you in appraising huh. I did as I was told and peered at my own hand using the crystal while wishing to appraise, then some kind of letters and numbers floated in the crystal.

Compare the numbers there with the numbers from before. Are you able to match them successfully?

.

Alicia Race : Human

Magic Power : 8/13Stamina : 21/26

Strength : 3Endurance : 4Agility : 5Dexterity : 5

Overall Combat Strength : 21

.

After I nodded saying that It matched, Feld suddenly activated his Body Strengthening while telling me to Appraise him next.

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Feld Race : Human

Magic Power : 177/210Stamina : 354/370

Overall Combat Strength : 1378 (During Body Strengthening : 1764)

.

The difference was too wide that I couldnt even grasp how strong he was. Was it Feld who was strong or was it me who was too weak? Even while being dumbfounded, I read up the numbers before he silently nodded.

Well, the numbers are mostly matched. There will be minute differences in the number between each person depending on how they read the numbers, that crystal Im using should be engraved with the commonly used way of reading in this continent that the adventurer guild decided on, so if you remember it then it should be easier for you to do a comparison with other people.

I stared at Felds numbers for a while before the letters vanished. Then the appraisal crystal also lost its radiance.

How many times you need to use this before you can learn Appraisal?

Let me thinkit was around 60 times for me, but well, normally you cant learn it until you use it a hundred times.

You can buy this?

Usually one of it can be used for around ten times. Its market price is around three silver coins per piece.

So expensive. No, perhaps I should consider it as cheap if you could see how strong the opponent was with this. But, a silver coin could be used to stay in a normal inn for three days with breakfast provided, so I guessed that the average adventurers would rarely use this.

With this you have learned the basic of using appraisal crystal. Also based on your combat strength, it looks like you dont have any combat skill at all. Well, thats just what I expected. We are going hunting next.



In other words, even though Feld only had sword skill, it didnt mean that he was an amateur in using baton.

The skill you could use was seared into your soul, so if you were powerful to some degree, even if your weapon wasnt the weapon you specialized in, you wouldnt be reduced into an amateur in battle. To be more specific, if you had level 3 in sword skill, you could also handle weapon that had similar way of usage with the proficiency of level 1 at least.

What is Battle Skill?

If the knowledge was accurate, Battle Skill was the special move that was used by warrior type combatant. But that woman didnt have any Battle Skill despite possessing short sword skill.

You will be able to use it with an application of Body Strengthening. Battle Skill is considered as non elemental magic with one monosyllable chant. There are also monsters that can use Battle Skill with their roar so I dont really know about it in detail, but Body Strengthening and Battle Skill are pretty much treated as advanced level non elemental sorcery that rivaled element magic.

How do you learn it?

H~mrecently you can ask to be taught Battle Skill at adventurer guild if its just rank 1. You will need to pay though. Other than that the only way is to take lessons from someone who can use it or becoming a disciple at somewhere.

Hm~m

So it was the same like magic, you needed to learn it from someone elsetroublesome. After that Feld instructed and corrected my knife holding form, my slashing form, my thrusting form, blocking form, etc. From there I understood how that womans short sword skill was pretty half-baked. I got impressed instead that she was able to acquire short sword skill with that.

He taught me of several basic forms while correcting my movement by hitting my arms or waist. But there wasnt any time for me to perfectly learn them, so after seeing that I had become able to move somewhat properly, Feld trained my hard through practical training.

I was using the knife while Feld was only using a wooden stick, but in the end my knife couldnt even snap the stick. After that I got thrown many times to learn the way to fall safely. Feld himself was teaching me with earnestness, but was it really alright to train a seven years old child in this way?

.

After continuously training with everything I had, I became unable to move again from fatigue. Felt poured water on my head with Water and forcefully recovered my stamina using Heal.

Originally it isnt good to use Heal too much like this in training because you wont build up your stamina this way, but we have no time, so its fine I guess. You are really determined boy so I think that you will be able to become quite strong. After you learn the short sword skill, if you also learn Body Strengtheningwait, you can use it already arent you? Anyway just be careful of running out of magic power.

What will happen if your magic power run out?

You will simply faint. Normally your magic power will recover after sleeping for a night, but if you faint from running out of it, you wont wake up for half a day. Besides you will get starved if your magic power decreases until rock bottom. If youre unlucky you might even die from emaciation while you are unconscious, so never use all your magic power unless its really an emergency.

Understood.

Certainly that was dangerous. Especially in my case, there was a risk of getting killed by wild animal while I was unconscious. I should be careful of that if there was even the slightest risk to my life.

After that I was taught of the way to use Body Strengthening and the points that I should be careful with. Originally you would naturally become able to circulate magic power to your whole body in the process of obtaining close range combat skill level 1, and from there you obtained Body Strengthening.

Also, Body Strengthening would consume 1 magic power for around every count of one hundred, though there would be some degree of variation depending on the individuals proficiency in controlling magic power, so I was taught to bodily learn how long I was able to fight. In my case I was already able to do the basic of body strengthening, so it seemed that I would be able to learn short sword skill relatively quickly if I was able to perform the forms properly.

I seriously trained so that I could remember every single thing that Feld taught me. Feld also seemed to feel my earnestness and treated me not as a mere kid but as a person. Perhapsboth of us was sensing that the time of parting was approaching.

.

Well, I only taught you the basics of the basics and it was in a rush on top of that, but I think that Ive at least crammed the minimum into you. I need to get back onto the road already, boy. Stay in good health-

Feld said that when he ran out of time with the evening approaching. He shouldered his luggage on his bag.

Yes.

It was a sudden encounter and harsh training. But, there was kindness and warmth of an adult that I never felt since I became an orphan from his words and large hands. I looked down because the kid side inside me felt slightly lonely, then Feld rubbed my head that was covered with ash and sweat roughly.

Bye. Be stronger the next time we meet.

Yes.



With such parting words, Feld turned his large back on me and started walking toward the direction of the town before night came.

The good natured and kind large back. Seeing that back, the figure of Otou-san who I thought of having the largest back overlapped with it. I saw off that back until it was completely gone from view under the evening sun. I took a deep breath and swallowed the loneliness of my heart into myself together with it.

Normally nobody would bother with an orphan. But even though it was only for a short time, Feld had taught me the way to live. I held nothing but gratitude for him. I held the rabbit meat wrapped in leafs that Feld left behind for me and stamped out the bonfire before another traveler came. Then I hid myself inside the forest.

I checked whether the food that was hanging on a branch had gotten swarmed by insect or small animal, then I climbed on a tree and focused my hearing to the sound of the small rivers flow nearby from on top of a thick branch.

I had put out the bonfire so that nobody could find me, but I already didnt need it anymore.

Fire

I held my hand forward and chanted the daily life magic. A small spark lit although it was still crude. And then I listened to the waters flow while chanting Water. I slurped at the water that dripped from my fingertip. To regain my stamina and magic power, I had a light nap while every few minutes I would be on guard against the surrounding that was growing dark.

A certain incident became a hot topic in the town where the orphanage that Alicia was living in was located.

In this country, influential nobles with the rank of count and above would act as caregiver that managed some dependents, which were nobles with the rank of viscount and below who were possessing territory in some distance around them. One of them was Count Taurus. There were two murder incidents that occurred in a town in his territory that was governed by Baron Horace that was located at the north near the border.

One of the victims was a woman who seemed to be an adventurer sorcerer. Looking at how her possessions were stolen, the murder was thought as a robbery crime.

The territory of Baron Horace was located at the countryside, but there was a forest at the north where monsters lived in large scale there. The area around here was bustling with a lot of adventurers. It was rare for those adventurers to visit this small town. Even so for the citizens who were aware of the temperament of wandering adventurers, they considered this incident simply as a result of a quarrel between adventurers and didnt pay much attention to it.

But, it was a different story when the victim was a citizen of the town, which was the old woman who was managing the orphanage. It wasnt because the citizens looked up to the old woman, but because she was a necessary person who undertook the troublesome job of taking care of the orphans while only getting small sum of donation. Because of that even when the old woman went a bit too far when disciplining the orphans, the adults of the town would pretend to not see anything.

With the murder of the old woman, the mayor who was governing this town investigated the orphanage. There he found proof that the old woman was selling children as sex slave to fill her own pocket. The mayor suspected that perhaps the old woman was murdered with the involvement of a slave trafficking organization, so he tried investigating where the children were sold to, but he couldnt even grasp how many of the orphans had been sold, so in the end the incident was treated as an unresolved case.

Baron Horace who received the report from the mayor asked his caregiver Count Taurus to introduce him to someone who could manage the orphanage. Until that person arrived, it was the barons servant who took care of the orphans. Their temporary caretaker assigned the orphans to do voluntary labors for the town.



Among them, a seven years old girl who was assigned to clean out the mud from a ditch picked a half chipped magic stone. Her eyes sparkled as though she was mesmerized by its bewitching radiance.

Yes. I, want to be the main character(heroine).



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