Chapter 11: Lightning… You Cut It Off?

I raised the Orb of Dreams, which was emitting a soft yellow light.

A few days ago.

After Vermouth poured all his mana into it to treat his granddaughter’s illness.

The Orb of Dreams changed.

Wizards in this world have their own different attributes.

Typically, fire, water, wind, etc.

And Vermouth’s attribute is electricity.

That’s why the bead, resonating with his mana, has changed like this.

His entire mana, accumulated over 40 years.

It was enough to change this small bead.

A tingling sensation that stimulates the five senses, faintly emitted from the bead.

Feeling that, I closed my eyes.

I create an image in my head.

An iron sword of a suitable size.

Thinking of that, I put mana into the Orb of Dreams.

Wooong.

A slight vibration felt on the hand holding the bead.

And the bead soon began to take shape properly.

The same appearance as I thought.

I swung the sword, which felt moderately heavy, around.

Whoosh.

Every time I swing the sword, I hear the sound of it roughly cutting through the air.

“Fortunately, there’s no problem.”

I thought there might be some problem.

But I sighed in relief at the sight of it working properly as usual.

Actually, I was a little worried.

Vermouth said that it was simply given an attribute by his mana, and.

He said there would be no problem, but I couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

So, I waited.

For the day to come to this place where I can safely test it.

The special training room located on one side of the gym.

This is a special place created for wizards and swordsmen to freely test their abilities.

The walls are all made of anti-magic material, and.

This whole place is enchanted with various magic, including restoration magic.

There is no better place to test things without any worries.

Because I can’t cause a riot in the middle of the capital of the empire.

But I didn’t come here just to check the status of the Orb of Dreams.

One thought that crossed my mind when I heard Vermouth’s explanation at the time.

The Orb of Dreams has been given the attribute of electricity?

…Then, can’t I, who is not a wizard, use something similar to magic?

The moment that thought crossed my mind.

I slapped my knee.

There was a similar villain in the comic.

Marc of the Black Flame.

A rather powerful villain who wreaked havoc with a magic sword imbued with the power of black flames.

He had never learned magic, but the sight of him wielding power comparable to magic only with the power of the magic sword was quite impressive at the time.

Although I’m not in exactly the same situation as him.

The Orb of Dreams is not impossible, even if it doesn’t take the form of a sword.

That’s why I came here to find out if I could use the power of electricity.

But.

“…How do I do it?”

No matter how much I think about it, I don’t know how to use that power of electricity.

I’ve been thinking about it for a few days, but I haven’t found the answer yet.

In the comic, they just put in mana and did something somehow, but.

When I try to realize the ingenious idea in my head, my head starts to throb.

“…Let’s just try it.”

Thinking complicatedly doesn’t suit my personality.

I first put more mana into the Orb of Dreams, which is in the shape of a sword.

But there is no reaction.

This is not it.

Then….

This time, I focused my mana only on my palm.

And if I apply it as if coating the surface….

Crack!

“It worked.”

Sparks surrounding the entire sword began to fly in all directions.

Seeing that, I was convinced.

This is it.

If I use it like this, even a swordsman like me might be able to use power similar to magic.

I got excited and pressed the button on the wall.

Beep.

[The simulation will start. Please set the stage.]

“Stage 2.”

Stage 1 is a normal monster with no abilities.

This level is enough for even ordinary people to deal with.

But from stage 2, monsters that can be called monsters in earnest.

I immediately called stage 2 without hesitation.

[The virtual battle stage 2 simulation will start shortly.]

A mechanical sound is heard through the speaker, and after a while.

-Grk.

A hologram was created in front.

A monster with green skin, about the height of an elementary school student.

A goblin.

It started to glare at me, licking its smelly mouth.

A goblin is suitable.

The reason for their notoriety is that they always live in groups in tribal units.

I can easily deal with one at my current level.

I gripped the sword covered in yellow sparks tightly.

And I immediately rushed towards the goblin.

-Grk? Grk!

The goblin starts to get angry at me.

I immediately swung my sword at it.

But.

This speed seems a little fast…?

The sword is swung much faster than the speed I swing.

But the moment the sword was swung towards the goblin without even having time to feel that something was wrong.

“Eh…?”

Kwa-gwa-gwang!!

Electricity spreads forward with a tremendous explosion.

And the goblin caught up in it disappeared without a trace in an instant.

…Awesome.

Seeing the sparks that filled the space, I quietly muttered.

As expected, life is all about items.

After that, I was excited and swung my sword in all directions until my mana was completely exhausted, and I eventually collapsed on the floor.

One thing I realized as a result.

Using electricity consumes more mana than I thought.

And.

When all the mana is exhausted and you become exhausted, you feel quite terrible.

Lethargy and fatigue that engulfed the whole body.

In addition, the feeling of loss from the body being empty.

Really.

It feels bad.

“Are you recovered to some extent now?”

“Yes. I think my mana has returned a little now.”

The infirmary teacher approached me as I seemed to have recovered some of my energy while lying lethargically on the bed.

Soon, she began to examine me, shining a flashlight in my eyes.

The infirmary where I staggered in a state of mana exhaustion.

The infirmary teacher looked surprised when she saw me like that.

I guess she didn’t expect there would be an idiot who exhausted his mana on the first day of admission.

“Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with your body. But what did you do to become exhausted on the first day?”

“…Ahaha. I was testing a few things….”

“Be careful. If you use mana so roughly, the core that stores mana will be damaged.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Honestly, I didn’t know I would use up all my mana.

I thought I would stop when I felt it to some extent.

But I, who was dealing with the unfamiliar power of mana for the first time, had difficulty grasping that boundary.

And it ended up like this.

I’ll have to be careful next time.

I almost got sent to the hospital.

“Goodbye.”

“Yes. Take care of your body.”

Feeling that some of my mana had returned, I opened the door of the infirmary and went out.

“Are you okay?”

As soon as I opened the door and came out, a familiar voice spoke to me.

“I’m fine. I’m all right now. More than that, we’re both first-years, so speak informally.”

“…Can I? I heard that nobles hate that.”

“Don’t worry about it. Those guys are weird.”

Ed scratched his head as if embarrassed.

I waved my hand at him and said.

“That’s right. I was surprised that you suddenly collapsed.”

Well, what’s there to be surprised about.

I staggered out of the special training room and barely made it here with his help.

Ed probably saw a person with mana exhaustion for the first time in his life.

According to my memory, he, who was born with tremendous mana from birth, has never used up all his mana even once in the comic.

Ah, I’m getting angry all of a sudden.

Someone has a lot of mana from birth and uses it generously, but.

It’s a little unfair that I, an ordinary extra, am staggering like this after just swinging a sword a few times.

‘Come to think of it, he learns magic later, right?’

Based on his innate talent.

Ed, who could originally only use the sword.

He later awakens a hidden talent, and.

Eventually, he becomes a magic swordsman who uses both magic and swords.

Sigh, you protagonist bastard.

I suddenly feel a stomachache.

But soon, I straightened my mind.

The protagonist is the protagonist, and I am me.

I had decided to live my life doing what I wanted.

Actually, there’s one thing I felt in the special training room.

Until now, I’ve been swinging a sword or training my body just for the purpose of not being left behind while traveling.

But a while ago.

After making a tremendous attack with lightning, I changed my mind a little.

A spectacular attack that made my eyes widen.

And overwhelming power.

Is all this really what I did?

It was exhilarating to the point of doubt.

A sensation I’ve never felt before.

It was really addictive.

Feeling the sensation that still remains on my fingertips, a certain desire began to arise in my heart.

A little more.

The desire to become stronger.

******

Knock knock.

“May I come in?”

“Come in.”

When the man’s permission fell from inside the door, the young man outside the door entered.

“It’s been a while. Father.”

“Yes. It’s been a while.”

“How have you been?”

“You’re as consistent as ever. Julian.”

A huge library.

Count Vermore with white hair sitting in the middle of it.

A young man with the same hair color as him greeted him with an exaggerated gesture.

The Count looked at him with a satisfied smile.

They sat on the sofa and shared the joys and sorrows of a father and son who hadn’t been able to solve for a while.

Meanwhile, their topic moved to their youngest.

The story of Louis.

“By the way, where did Louis go?”

“Isn’t it the age to go to the academy this year? He’s probably taking classes at the academy by now.”

“Oh, I was going to see my brother’s face after a long time, but it’s ruined.”

Louis’s older brother.

Julian smiled slightly, not at all disappointed.

“By the way, I’m worried. I wonder if that guy will be able to adapt well to the academy….”

“Don’t worry about that. He seems to have become quite an adult now. He started holding a sword again some time ago.”

“Louis…?”

“Yes.”

Julian, who opened his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe it.

It seems that the news that his brother took up the sword again is quite shocking.

Clearly, the Louis he knew had put down the sword for some reason.

And his personality also changed suddenly.

Is his brother really becoming an adult, as his father said?

He thought, bringing the tea to his lips.

I need to make time to meet Louis once.