Chapter 10 : Adventure Level 2 (3)

Before starting the swordsmanship match, I first fixed the spellbook I had damaged.
Mana could accumulate to its limit and potentially explode.
I stood in the center of the Preparation Room, holding the wooden sword.
Do Yugeon stood a short distance away.
The rules were: if I could land a valid hit on the blindfolded Yugeon within the time limit, I win; if not, he wins.
The rules themselves were disadvantageous to him, but it was Do Yugeon, not me, who set them.
He claimed he could win just by blocking.
He might genuinely be that arrogant, or maybe attacking while blindfolded is difficult, so he’s intentionally posturing.
Whatever his intention, the advantage was clearly mine, so I accepted without hesitation.

I did some stretching and took out my smartphone to set an alarm.
The time limit was 10 minutes.
“Close your eyes now.”
He closed his eyes.
Standing there loosely holding the wooden sword, he looked completely defenseless.
Can I really just charge him?
“What are you doing? Hurry up. Time is ticking even now. You don’t have much leeway, do you?”
“What do you mean, no leeway?”
First, I took off my shoes.
Then, holding the wooden sword, I ran and swung lightly toward his shoulder.
The descending sword hit his wooden sword and sliced through empty air.
He really can block. Okay, no holding back from now on.
Readjusting my grip on the deflected sword, I immediately thrust.
He deftly moved sideways to dodge.
“Where does it say you can dodge?”
Taking a step forward, I swung horizontally.
He quickly backstepped to avoid it.
“I never said I wouldn’t dodge.”
Speaking while dodging, he seemed utterly relaxed.

Well, my stride is shorter, so he can probably dodge just by backstepping.
If he keeps running away like this, he could avoid me not just for 10 minutes, but all day.
Then let’s make him unable to run.
Moving my mana, I grabbed his feet.
He seemed to notice and quickly moved his foot to evade the mana, but I caught it again.
Now he can’t run.
“Hey! Using magic isn’t fair!”
He shouted in panic.
Still didn’t open his eyes, though.
“The rule was just not to attack with magic.”
I swung diagonally from above.
As he ducked and blocked, the sword grazed over his head.
Got him now.
I steadied my stance and kicked.
I even took off my shoes for this.
He caught my foot with both hands.
“Kicking too?”
He asked, still holding my ankle.
“The rule was a valid hit, so it doesn’t have to be the sword, right?”
I tried pulling my foot back, but he wouldn’t let go.
“Took off your shoes and everything—really determined to win, huh?”
“More importantly, let go of my foot.”
With one foot lifted, it was hard to keep my balance.

He grinned suspiciously and tickled the sole of my foot.
The ticklish sensation traveled up from my sole.
It wasn’t agonizingly ticklish, but it was the kind that set your nerves on edge.
“What are you doing all of a sudden?”
“I’ll let go if you promise not to use magic and not to kick.”
I swung the wooden sword, but perhaps because my stance was awkward, he dodged easily while continuing to tickle me.
I tried resisting with all my might, but I lacked the strength to break free.
“Alright. Alright, stop it.”
“Promise not to punch either?”
“Yeah.”
He let go of my foot.
Ugh… Such humiliation, how shameful.
If only I had a bit more strength, I could have gotten out.
I really do need to exercise.

I took a deep breath and stretched.
Swinging the sword from an awkward position must have strained my arm, making me tired.
Or maybe it was just from being tickled.
Checking the alarm, there were still about 4 minutes left.
Since I was tired, it would be better to end it soon rather than dragging it out for the full 10 minutes.
“I’ll end it with the next blow.”
This time, I’ll use magic to win. I promised not to use magic, but I didn’t promise I’d keep that promise.
“Is the 10 minutes up?”
“Not yet, but I’m tired. How about it?”
“Fine by me. Closing my eyes—”
While he was speaking, I charged and thrust the sword.
He dodged sideways, but I used magic to change the path of the thrusting wooden sword, turning it into a horizontal slash.
He didn’t dodge but blocked with his sword.
Expected this much.
Using magic, I pulled my sword back, avoiding Do Yugeon’s sword, and thrust again.
He changed his stance and blocked the sword with the flat of his blade.
He blocked that?
He opened his eyes.
“Hahaha! I win!”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re great.”

I carried the wooden sword back toward the weapon rack and placed it in a suitable spot.
Losing even after using magic is deflating.
Seems I really have no talent for swords.
He also approached to put away his wooden sword.
“But didn’t you use magic just now?”
“Didn’t use it.”
“I’m sure the wooden sword moved impossibly, and I felt mana too?”
“In my opinion, you’re mistaken. Maybe you’re tired? You should rest.”
“No, I definitely felt it with my Mana Sense.”
“It’s because your magic talent is lacking.”
He shook his head.
“No, no. You used magic. I’m sure.”
“You won—do you really have to push it?”
“The world of competition is cruel. You used it, right?”
“So what if I did?”
“If you broke a promise, you have to pay the price.”
Expecting so much from a match with no stakes.
“Then what price do you desire?”
“A wish, perhaps.”
“……”

Various thoughts flashed through my mind.
Is this kid trying to use our friendship as leverage to demand money? Or is he testing how much I’m willing to give? What’s a reasonable amount?
The more I thought, the worse I felt.
It’s unlikely he’d actually do that anyway, so let’s stop thinking about it.
Looking at him, he was clearing his throat awkwardly, seemingly embarrassed.
If you know it’s embarrassing, why say such things?
“I’ll at least hear it out. What’s the wish?”
“You know I messed up my midterms. So Mom cut my allowance.”
“Didn’t know that. And?”
“I’m short on money for food for our plans this weekend… so, could you treat me then?”
He dragged it out this much just for that?
Sometimes, I really don’t understand what goes through this kid’s head.

Hunting became routine, and by mid-June, my level had somehow reached 4.
Do Yugeon was eager to hit level 5 right away, but final exams were approaching, making it impossible.
Even without finals, I was getting tired of hunting and would have refused to aim for level 5 anyway.
He seemed determined to keep his promise to study starting two weeks before finals, setting aside his disappointment and beginning to study.
Does he hate the idea of cram school that much? Then he should have studied earlier.
I doubt how much studying he can actually do in just two weeks.

Meanwhile, many instances of magic use appeared online.
Looking into the level of mages, it seemed most had a Mana Sense skill range of about 3 meters, with some talented individuals reaching 4-5 meters, and a very small minority around 10 meters.
…What? Isn’t that too narrow?
Consequently, the more I browsed online, the more puzzled I became.
Although I haven’t measured it, I can easily perceive several hundred meters without effort, and even further if I concentrate, so seeing the skill ranges in online examples being so narrow was confusing.
Is it the difference between the skill and innate sense that doesn’t require the skill? Is that it? It must be, right? It’s not like I’m strangely the only one with hundreds of meters, right? It’s not like Do Yugeon said, that I’m a once-in-a-lifetime genius, right?

What was even more perplexing was watching videos of the supposed 10-meter geniuses; they seemed to struggle just to move mana.
Even the leading mages who had been practicing since the skill appeared could barely create wind, let alone shoot mana.
Isn’t the problem how to utilize mana, not how to move it? Why can’t they just shoot it? Why are they like this?
Most recently, a video surfaced showing someone sprinkling water and creating a small rainbow using magic wind, which became a hot topic across magic-related sites.
A rather amusing application.
Earth science allowing rainbows via magic is amazing…

Amidst this, a Mage board was newly created on the Exploration Alliance site.
Since it was the Exploration Alliance, I thought more substantial news about other mages might finally appear, so I checked the board.
▷ Title: Isn’t Magic Swordsman Board more fitting than Mage Board?
▷ Author: 3.14159m Mage
The rank chart based on skill range is like this.
10m: Top 0.1%
5m: Top 1%
4m: Top 10%
3m: Top 30%
2m: The rest
Anyone below 2m is a magic swordsman, right?
Place is full of magic swordsmen—totally a magic swordsman board.
▷ Comments
RaidLeader15: How about Fan Board instead of Magic Swordsman Board? Magic is useless in combat, but the wind is cool.
└ Author: Someday, mages will have their revenge.
└ RaidLeader15: “Someday.” But right now, all mages are swordsmen, so why talk about mages? Do they call fans mages these days?
└ Author: Mages will have their revenge.
3.999m: Why exclude 3m from magic swordsmen? 3m are magic swordsmen too.
└ Author: Excluded cuz I’m 3m.
SpearLover: Why magic swordsman? Ignoring magic spearmen?
└ Author: Who uses spears in the forest these days? Can’t even get into parties.
└ SpearLover: No friends?
4mPartySeeker: Isn’t calling them magic swordsmen wrong? If someone has the talent to use magic during combat, wouldn’t they be able to shoot mana by now? Would such a person really bother using a sword? Conversely, all of us who lack that talent are just swordsmen who can’t use magic.
└ Author: They’re self-proclaimed magic swordsmen living out a fantasy.

Reading through, I realized there wasn’t much substance.
It was full of posts like this, no different from the talk circulating elsewhere online.
This place was the same as everywhere else.
The Exploration Alliance’s standards were always like this, but please, you guys too? This is baffling.
Are people truly talented in magic just not the type to use the internet? It’s a weak guess, but it seems more rational than the conjecture that I’m a once-in-a-lifetime genius.
Ignoring Do Yugeon’s uninformed claims that I was indeed a genius, I spent my days troubled.

Then, someone possessing talent exceeding 10 meters posted a video.
It was 20 meters.
The 20-meter mage went beyond verifying their maximum range and even uploaded a video shooting mana.
The power was pitifully weak, barely enough to knock over a beer can, but it was a positive sign.
Proof that more geniuses were hiding than were verified online.
They must be out there somewhere.
Geniuses more outstanding than me.
Geniuses who will resolve problems, whether fantasy incidents or cosmic horror events erupt.
I can just trust them and live as a bystander.
Whatever happens, I can just go to school and live my daily life as usual.
Yes, that’s right.
I have no responsibility to clean up the problems that might arise.
Even if I have talent, there will surely be people more outstanding, so the responsibility lies with them.

Do Yugeon, who started studying two weeks before finals, did well on the test.
Objectively, the scores weren’t great, but they improved compared to before, granting him a reprieve from cram school, so it could be considered doing well.
He had the brains for it after all.
As soon as the exams ended, he immediately made plans and threw himself into leveling up.
The goal was level 5.
Because internet rumors circulated that at level 5, not only goblins but also slimes would be added as mobs.
Supposedly a different type of slime than the ones we initially caught.
[Level Up]
4 → 5
“Alright, I’ll check.”

Hugging the spellbook I had been carrying with magic, I closed my eyes.
The range of mana sensing increases with proficiency, and now I could cover the entire forest.
This virtual space itself isn’t incredibly large, though.
I sensed hundreds of goblins, and amidst them, I felt a single slime.
Its shape was different, and slimes have strong mana, making it easy to find.
There was only one, perhaps confirming the rumor that slime appearance frequency increases as you kill goblins.
Pointing in the direction, Do Yugeon took the lead.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen a slime.”
Slimes had stopped appearing in the city long ago, so it had been quite some time.
“Yeah, has it been two months since we caught slimes in the city?”
“Hmm. First sighting was April 30th, and the last hunt was May 4th, so a little over two months.”

The slime we were heading toward now probably wouldn’t be weak like the ones before.
Exaggerating the possibilities, I might have to die and resurrect, or get injured enough to need a hospital.
Various dangers kept coming to mind, but we went to hunt it anyway.
We could approach slowly, and if I judged it truly dangerous, we could run away then.
Is that too optimistic?